บท 493: Antagonizing the Dog-goD

*Knock knock knock!*

Knocks echo throughout the Spire just as Michael was finishing up his experiments on Barbas... He'd been using [Necromastery] to... 'Fiddle' with Barbas soul during his free time. While the ability wasn't all that effective on living targets, if he pushed himself he could get it to work somewhat on things massively weaker than himself.

While he couldn't just pluck someone's soul out of their body, scraping, scratching, prodding, and pinching were all viable. Barbas screamed out in agony whenever he did this, but he couldn't less about the mutt's comfort since there were other more important things to attend to.

There was also the fact that Barbas' soul was far more durable than any other he'd interacted with. Indeed, Michael was sure it was denser and more powerful than the dragon soul he'd subsumed, which was a big fucking deal considering that it was a shard of Akatosh himself.

He knew that Barbas was a part of Clavicus' own soul, but he hadn't imaged that he'd contain such a big portion... While Barbas was basically powerless, unable to utilise Claivucs' strength on his own, his soul provided him with some degree of protection against Michael's experiments.

He was tempted to just cut the dog up and absorb his soul immediately, but he knew that Clavicus would retaliate, either by destroying Charlotte's soul, or doing some equally insidious.

"Michael," Tiffania says as she pokes her head into the room, "The Arch-Mage is asking for you, it seems important."

Michael crooks a brow, "So it was him who was knocking?... Fine." he reluctantly gets up, sending a final glance to the spasming and twitching Barbas, "Wait for me here boy, I'll be back before you know it."

"Uh...." the dog mutters in response, mind too frazzled to give a legible answer.

Michael heads downstairs and spots the Arch-Mage pacing back and forth at the door, unable to enter the border of the property due to the extensive wards he'd installed with the help of Rubick... Even the Arch-Mage would not broach them without the proper preparations. "Savos, did you need something?"

The Arch-Mage's head shoots to him as he hurriedly nods, "Michael, I know it might be arrogance on my part, but recent events have led me to believe that you are the root of all the world's evils..." he says, semi-joking.

"I thank you for recognising my talents... Now, stop stalling..."

"Have you been doing anything of note within, say, the past three hours?" the mage asks.

Michael slowly nods, "Has it been three hours? I've lost track of time..." he admits.

Savos lets out a long sigh, "Come here, look." he commands, pointing at the sky, directly towards the moon which seemed to be rippling, the now common sickly green colour dissipating before reappearing as if the curse afflicting it was malfunctioning.

"Huh..." is all Michael could mutter in response, not having considered any byproducts of fiddling with Barbas soul... Since the Moon Sickness was caused by Clavicus, it only made sense though. Funny that the Arch-Mage immediately blamed him for it though.

"Huh, indeed. May I ask what you were doing before I arrived?" he asks, the duo noticed the moon's malfunction returning to normal.

Michael nods, "I was conducting experiments on one of Clavicus' artifacts." he admits with a lie sprinkled in.

Savos in realisation, "I see... Then, the Moon Sickness cast by the Daedra must be linked to his physical presence in the realm. With the veil removing any direct or indirect action from him, you may have just found the solution to the Khajiit's plight..." he crosses his arms, "While congratulations should be in order, keeping this secret, for now, would serve in everyone's best interest. At least, until you can discover and destroy the other artifacts."

"Me?" he asks since he felt like he was having everything dumped on him, "Why can't you do it if you're so invested?"

The Arch-Mage shrugs, "I am currently working with both sides of the war to develop ways to fight off any potential dragon attacks, that take up most of my time now... I sympathise with the Khajiit, but my responsibilities lie with Skyrim. Besides, you're already doing such a good job of things, if that fails you and young Megumin could just blow up the moon." he drawls.

Michael frowns, "You're still just mad because of the bridge, aren't you? Give us a break already! I mean, I've literally ushered in an age without demons fucking people in the arse! Surely that's grounds for forgiveness?" come to think of it, nobody outside of the magical community seems to actually give a shit about his accomplishment...

The Arch-Mage smiles, "To any other organisation, sure, but with half of the College upset at the removal of almost all Conjuration magic, you would likely find your throat slit should you venture within the College walls... Myself as well should I formally align with you."

"So, what. Just dump the task of healing and freeing an entire race on my shoulders before pissing off back to your office?"

The Arch-Mage gives a sagely nod, "That's the plan... I will reveal anything I know of Clavicus' artifacts of course, but that's the extent of my assistance."

"I think I hate you..."

"Considering the events you've been involved with? I thank you for, ah, what did you call it? 'Jinxing' me?" he grins, "Enjoy the rest of your night, Michael." he says before wandering away.

"Smug bastard..."

"Not good news?" Tiffania asks as he slams the door shut.

Michael shakes his head, "No, in fact, it's great news, I just fucking hate the guy who delivered it." he now had a way to save Charlotte. He'd gather all of Clavicus' artifacts and sees if he could simply just pull apart the Daedric Lord. He honestly wasn't sure how much of his soul Clavicus had imparted to his artifacts, so it'd be interesting to see how much of him he could collect.