Michael looks over the abilities and smiles to himself, yet another ridiculously powerful spirit to add to his growing power base. The ability to collect and devour souls was a scary one, which was made even more apparent to Michael when the knowledge of how to use the skill burrowed its way into his mind... He could only describe it as truly... Demonic.
Now this wasn't surprising given that Shadow Fiend was literally a demon, but he was sure anyone who'd see him doing it would be at best scared or worried, and at worst disgusted enough to instantly demand a crusade against him...
Still, he wasn't planning on stealing souls in front of anyone he didn't already absolutely trust, nor was he going to leave survivors to start spreading rumours about him.
He flips open the now named Book of Demigods to Shadow Fiend's page, quickly spotting the realistic portrait of the demon. Unlike in the game which made Shadow Fiend look somewhat goofy, right now he looked like a horrific mass of shadow bathed in crimson light, that occasionally let slip the face of a soul that was trapped within the being.
Shadow Fiend couldn't really be called humanoid, or any of the sort... Even the being's mouth and eyes were just held that held shining crimson lights. Needless to say, he wasn't looking forward to meeting the Spirit when he had the chance.
Finally, he decided to access the roulette wheel to see what items he'd find this time. Most of the items he had weren't all that useful... His Flamecloak was more than useless in the Deadlands, the Blink Dagger wouldn't function due to the constant burning you experienced... Even his Phase Boots were a little useless when Dagon could just teleport in front of him...
Shaking his head, he just spins it, not expecting anything of worth to appear.
Holy Locket, an artifact that gains charges when spells are used nearby it. It can expel the charges to heal and supply mana to someone. It also passively boosts the users stats.
Wind Lace, makes the user slightly faster... Preeeetty trash.
Hand of Midas, turns a target into gold... Nice? Not all that useful considering that he had a Philosopher's Stone passively generating gold for him anyway...
Michael stores the items in his inventory, he'd hand some stuff out when he got back, maybe he could play everything off as him taking a small vacation or something... Yeah, no, that wasn't going to work.
"Well, time to get back and face the thunder then." he mutters as he slowly gets to his feet, beginning to cast Dimension Gate again to return to Winterhold.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon his return to Winterhold Michael was first greeted by the sight of his Spire that was basically completed, only requiring the final touches, along with the Eye of Magnus... Oh, he should probably check on that, shouldn't he?... Eh, he'd get to it once he'd found the girls, it couldn't be too bad right?
The next thing he was greeted with was a few stone towers that were being constructed by the workers that lacked any jobs now that his Spire was basically done.
They weren't even a quarter built yet, but there were already ballistae positioned near each site, as if they were ready and waiting for a threat to appear. The siege weapons were created by Skyrend of course, meaning that his business had picked up, especially since Winterhold, one of the smallest and most isolated places had bought some.
He continues walking around Winterhold in search of the girls, eventually spotting Tiffania walking back from the 'Eredar District' as it had started being called.
She looks at him and continues walking, only to do a doubletake to finally recognise him. "M-Michael!" she exclaims, rushing forward and dive-bombing him in a hug. "Where have you been!? It's been weeks since you disappeared!"
"Would you believe me if I said 'On vacation?'" he asks and chuckles when she punches him on the arm a couple times.
She then grabs his face and looks over his face with a worried expression, "What happened to your eyes... And your hair!"
Ah, she's talking about Auroth's Blood Gift... The changes didn't just extend to his hair and eyes, he'd started to grow small thin scales around his forearms, elbows, shins and knees. Thankfully, that appeared to be the extent of it... For now at least. "I may have had a haircut..." he jokes while catching the girl in a tight hug, incredibly happy to finally be back and out of Dagon's grasp.
She pouts as she hears his answer, "I'll get the others so we can talk... But first." she grabs his arm and starts dragging him to the inn. "You need to make up for all the trouble you've caused me!"
...
He grins, "Sure, you know I'd never say no to that..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's half a day later that the rest of the group finally realised that Michael was back... And that was only because of the numerous complaints the inn had received due to the sounds coming from his room. He and Tiffania had forgotten to use any silencing spells in their haste...
Anyway, Michael and a red-faced Tiffania sat down with everyone else, Maria, Saya, Megumin, and Illococoo, before he told them anything however, he made sure to ask the most important question. "What happened to Saarthal?"
"Ah... That's what you first say? No 'Sorry for ditching you all with no prior notice' or anything?" Saya asks in bafflement.
Michael shakes his head, "No, that comes after you answer my question first. Saarthal is a big fucking deal, tell me what happened and I'll tell you how I ended up in literal hell." he shortly says, not wanting to dance about the subject matter, even with how happy he was to see them all.
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"E-ended up in hell?... Fine." Saya mutters, not sure if he was being literal in his use of literally, but people did literally use literally in the wrong context... Literally?
Saya shakes her head at the stupid thoughts manifesting, "Your girlfriend here took charge of an expedition into Saarthal after Tolfdir and the Arch-Mage decided to look into it once it'd been dug up."
...
"And...?" Michael asks, knowing that shit would've hit the fan if they'd found the Eye.
"And what? You never told us what was actually inside there. Tolfdir has almost been living there yet he hasn't found anything of interest, aside from a few jars with historical significance, or at least, that's what he says." Saya shrugs.
Michael lets out a breath, "Thank fuck for that... Did you guys find anything while you were down there?... Any... Jewelry?" he inquires, knowing that a certain amulet was the key to progress further into the ruins.
Megumin shrugs her shoulders, "Just some rings... Ah, didn't you find a necklace?" she asks, looking to Tiffania who nods.
"I did. It was hanging on a trapped wall, I got it out with some elemental manipulation. It's hidden in my room in the College."
"Good. Alright, we at least that didn't go wrong... Anyway, I guess it's time to talk about what I've been doing..." he pauses as everyone leans forward in attention. "Might as well get the worst of it behind us... Charlotte killed me." he states, causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"W-what!?" Maria exclaims while everyone else has similar reactions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It takes a while for everyone to calm down, but Michael eventually manages to explain the events that'd occurred. From Hircine forcing him into the Hunt, to his death at Charlotte's hands, to his rebirth in Dagon's realm, and finally to his escape.
The girls were all in disbelief at this, and only Tiffania initially believed him she too had died and been reborn due to Michael and her mother's ring.
Maria was in tears after hearing about her daughter and her actions in the Hunt. She'd left the room not long through the explanation, wanting some time alone to process everything.
"Sorry, but none of this explains what happened to your appearance..." Saya says, gesturing to his physical changes.
"Well, I may or may not have gotten some help from a dragon..." he trails off, unsure how to explain it all without revealing the whole truth of the Book of Demigods.
Surprisingly, they aren't too surprised by this. "Oh, another dragon?" Megumin says.
"Yeah-no... Wait what?" he asks, confused at her words.
"Ah, you haven't heard about it yet, have you? The people in Rorikstead all claim to have seen a dragon fly overhead. A big black one that flew from the peak of the Throat of the World."
...
...
"You... You sure it wasn't just Illococoo or something." he pauses, "Has anyone received word from Helgen?"
Illococoo pouts, "I've been good! I haven't flown around in so long!"
"And no, there's been nothing from or about Helgen." Saya states.
Michael nods, now knowing that not everyone is aware of the dragon's return yet. Alduin flying around means that Helgen was destroyed however... And that the Dragonborn was now in Skyrim... "Wait, why are there stone towers being built around the place?" he asks, if the dragons were still just rumoured then why build them?
"Jarl Korir is standing with Ulfric, and now that Torygg is dead the Empire is coming with full force... Winterhold needed 'some' defence." Saya says.
"Huh, alright." he taps the table a couple of times in thought, "It's getting late, you guys go get some sleep. I'll go deal with Saarthal in the morning." he says, prompting them all to leave, Illococoo headed for where Maria should be.
When it was only Tiffania and Michael left, the elf looks him over, "Are you going to be okay? I know you left some things out about your time in Oblivion..."
"I'm fine. Let me just get some proper sleep and I'll be as good as new." he says, having not mentioned the fact that he'd been tortured to death a hundred or so times.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day Michael was up early, retrieving the Saarthal amulet from Tiffania and heading directly for the ruins, intent on recovering the eye and completing his Spire.
Utilising Cloak and Dagger to max efficiency, he invisibly slinks through the ruins until he finds the caged off area where the necklace would usually reside. He Blinks through the bars, puts on the necklace, and blasts the now glowing wall apart, revealing a path to the eye.
He steps into the room when everything around the place feezes, a ghostly person appearing at the side of the room. "Stranger, you have..." the robed ghost trails off, unable to see anyone... "Er, hello?"
...
Michael silently snickers at the confused Psijic Monk, apparently bypassing space and time was easy in the face of finding one invisible guy... The monk continues to dumbly stand around, occasionally asking if anyone was there until his spell ended, causing him to disappear.
With that issue sorted, Michael blasts a nearby coffin open, revealing a hidden entrance. "Time to grab me an eye."
After killing many Draugr, frostbite spiders, and even more Draugr, Michael eventually makes it to a large hall with the magically glowing Eye of Magnus in the centre of it, brilliantly glowing with the sparkling blue of intense ambient magicka. Before that however, he needed to deal with the large, incredibly pissed off-looking Draugr who was now staring straight at him...
"A shame you guys lack souls, I bet you'd have made a good meal..." he says semi-jokingly before being forced to dodge the undead's Thu'um and arsenal of Destruction magic.
What ensued couldn't really be called a 'fight', even if the Draugr was completely immune and unkillable due to the protection of the eye, a single blast from the Staff of Magnus turned it inside out before it crumbled to dust.
Michael blows the end of the staff as if he was in an old western. "Now that's what I call a 'Staph invection'... No, that's crap... Now that's what I call my 'Magnus-Opus!'... Ugh, I fucked this up."
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
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