章 378: Expediated

Ancano's annoying presence wasn't the worst of it however, he'd not only come to the College to become an Advisor, but also to gather information... Specifically, on Tiffania... How did Michael know this? Well, the Altmer had cornered her in the hallways more than once and asked many questions, most of which were aimed to incriminate her and give him a reason to take action.

The Thalmor knew that their presence in Markarth and the subsequent disappearance of Ondolemar and his allies weren't a coincidence, somehow, and were already making preparations to act.

Michael had received news from Brynjolf that he'd received many requests for information about him and his friends. Not only that, a Khajiit in the Thieves Guild had actually complied and given some!

Brynjolf had punished and expelled said Khajiit, but the damage was already done. The Thalmor had their names and other information that the Thieves Guild had... The only real boon to the situation was the fact that Brynjolf kept the important stuff close to his chest, stuff like Michael's ownership of Skyrend, the assassination of the Black-Briars, etc.

This left Michael with a choice. Whether or not to get rid of Ancano. He planned to do it anyway, of course, he had no desire to allow the elf even the possibility of investigating the Eye of Magnus, along with the potential death of the Arch-Mage... But eliminating him immediately after the elf arrived would be very suspicious, and would only draw more attention to the College.

Fortunately, Michael had already begun making arrangements for a time such as this... With Jarl Korir's permission, and Brynjolf's resources, he had more than enough to get started.

First, was a quiet excavation of Saarthal. It needed to be kept quiet so that Tolfdir, and subsequently Ancano, didn't hear about it. The former would be pretty miffed that Michael had convinced him and the Arch-Mage to forget about the sight, only to then uncover it himself.

His target was the Eye of Magnus, which, if his suspicions proved true, would be the perfect power source for his project.

Next, he'd begin excavation of the mountain that was directly west of Winterhold that overlooked the small town. To be frank, it was basically directly behind Jarl Korir's residence, which might be problematic in the future, but for now, he'd have the hired help begin creating steps and a plateau where his new property could be constructed.

While all that was going on, Michael needed to find and research various items that could assist him in his goals. While the Eye of Magnus would be an adequate power source(hopefully), that still meant that he'd need conduits, specifically, conduits that wouldn't evaporate under the immense magical energies that the Eye produced.

His original thought had been to use Grand Soul Gems, but he'd been disabused of that notion when conducting initial tests and research, with Saya's help of course. Soul Gems were simply too fragile to be used in such a manner, filled with a soul or not, they'd break after expending a certain amount of energy. So while they could be used as temporary batteries, they could only be filled once.

He'd thought about using various metals as well, Ebony, Mythril, and Adamantite were all valid options, though, he only had the former at the moment. Any of these would likely have to be used in conjunction with something else however, as while they could channel and transfer magic very well, they'd not be able to retain it...

Michael had almost given up hope of finding the perfect material... At least, until he received a small blue gem by Enthir, who'd heard that he'd been searching for odd minerals and materials.

What was it? Not even Enthir knew, only that it'd been found nearby a Dwemer ruin called 'Aftland'... A name which Michael quickly recognised as the place which led to Blackreach, a massive underground cavern that was completely covered in similar blue gemstones.

After some investigation, he'd found that the gem was exactly what he was looking for. No matter how much magic he channelled into it, it took it without any problems, barring its glow that intensified the more magic it held.

There was a problem though, the gem could not be cut, shattered, or altered by any conventional means... Not even the Arch-Mage was able to do anything to it. But, he did have some ideas about it.

He'd said that the gem reminded him of the substance known as Aetherium. Michael took it from there, heading to the Arcanaeum and scouring the place for knowledge about it, eventually finding some interesting records about the Aetherium Forge, a legendary artifact that was the only thing in existence that could alter Aetherium.

The only problem was, that it required a key of sorts. An Aetherium Crest... Which had been lost to the ages. That'd stumped both Michael and Saya, but he soon remembered the events back in Markarth, of that Dwemer staff that had what was most likely Aetherium built into it. It'd been self-destructed of course, but the knowledge of where the Forsworn had gotten the staff might lead him to where the crest was.

With that, Michael uses the Dimension Gate spell to teleport over to Markarth to see if Jarl Igmund had made any progress with the prisoner.

A short trip later, and yes, they indeed had. The Forsworn had been left in a sorry state after his extensive 'interrogation', but he'd let slip that he'd found the staff, Dwemer armour, and other artifacts within a place called Arkngthamz, which was apparently located in the Jerall Mountains, which was on the border connecting Skyrim to Cyrodil.

A long way, but hopefully worth the prize. Jarl Igmund had even begun setting up an expedition for the place, wishing to stop the Forsworn from uncovering any more dangerous artifacts... That, and his Court Mage's incessant requests to go there and investigate the place.