If someone knocked Athias out and told him they dragged him all the way back to Nchuand-Zel, he wouldn’t able to tell if they were lying. The long hallways of stone they toed through were lit up by the same caged glowing crystals. The same humming pipes ran above, though active and hot to the touch. Pillars, some crumbled away and others ready to give out at a moments noticed, held up the structure.
The Dwemer didn’t appear to waste time on variety when it came to their cities. Don’t get him wrong, it was impressive compared to the rest of the world and interesting to theorize how the Dwemer managed all of it, but the unknown factor wasn’t as prevalent now that’s he already been in one.
Athias and Katria led the way, shields at the ready while Remiel and Auri brought up the rear. It was rather reassuring to have someone else at the frontlines; it was unlikely that someone or something would slip past and attack the other two.
“If these are the ruins you were searching for, I assume you know the name?” Remiel spoke up, filling the hall with something other than the constant hum of machinery. “The Dwemer naming conventions were quite literal. Knowing it might help us be prepared for whatever is ahead.”
“I believe these ruins were once known as Arkngthamz. The translation isn’t as clear but I believe it would come out to something along the lines of, the city of gifts or city of the gifted.” Katria explained without looking back.
“Arkngthamz? As in the lost city mentioned in the Aetherium Wars?”
Katria armored grip tightened around her axe. “Yes.”
“Oh, this is so exciting. These ruins could be even more interesting than Nchuand-Zel. This should’ve been a city of engineers, hence the same. Perhaps we’ll come across some experimental Dwemer technology or-“
While Remiel rambled on, Athias kept one eye on Katria. The mention of her stolen research awoke a deep anger that shone in her eyes though she hid it well.
“Hold on, I hear something.” Auri said.
They fell silent and stopped.
The hum of the pipes. Scrap’s faint whirls. Their breaths.
Metal rolling across stone.
“Spheres.” Katria warned mere moments before said automatons turned the corner ahead. Three of them; a small patrol carrying out their orders thousands of years after their creator’s disappearance.
[Dwemer Automaton]
[Model: Sphere]
「Durability: 90/100 Energy: 60/100」
Bolts came their way, flying far faster than any arrow could. Athias blocked the one aimed for him, advancing despite the force of the shot. Katria lagged a little behind but kept pace with him, the two closest automatons forced to switch to blades.
He shoved its first slash aside and retaliated with his own. The automaton buckled against the force but rebounded quickly, swinging its blade again.
Locking blades with one of these things wasn’t as different as he expected. Its humanoid design imparted flaws similar to any race; strike the joints of man or mer and they were liable to stumble, falling off course of their intended action. So long as he struck between the denser plating and at their limbs, the same went for the spheres.
Even so, several slashes latter and all Athias managed to do was lower his stamina and knock off a handful of durability points. He could hold this thing here, but a sword -elven make or not- wasn’t going to see this thing destroyed.
Katria employed a far different strategy to his own. She used the groove of her axe's head to parry and knock aside her sphere’s attacks and slammed her dwarven shield into it as if to crush the automaton through pure force. And the woman clearly had the power for that to be possible, each bash depleting the thing’s durability by tens of points.
Athias replicated the strategy, shield slammed into his automaton with a grunt. It was far more tiring but got far better results.
Katria finished off hers first, one final bash to knocking plating off the autmaton’s face. As it fell a dwarven arrow soared overhead. It hit the third automaton’s arm just as it fired a bolt at Katria, the projectile knocked off course and cutting cheek.
It tried to fire another as Katria rushed it. Scrap fell from the stone roof, blades cutting into the sphere’s back. It rolled forward into a bash from Katria’s shield.
Athias finished off his not long after, joining in on taking down the final member of the patrol. An easy task between the three of them.
“That spider is amazing.” Katria commented wiping the blood from her cheek. The cut was far from fatal, but would scar if it wasn’t taken care of.
Athias raised a hand, golden orb forming in it. He caught her eyes and Katria nodded. He aimed it at her and the golden light shifted into dancing threads, the cut their stage. It was sealed in moments, a small amount of missing magicka and blood all that remained to prove it ever existed. If they had someone else to reliably take up a front line position, he could play the part of healer effectively with how much magicka he had.
Auri and Remiel were fine, having used pillars as cover for the fight.
“And he’ll be even better once I finish fixing him up.” Remiel said, kneeling down to pull some parts from a sphere. The pinkish, white stone she extracted from it drew his eye.
[Item: Lesser Soul Gem]
[Description: Despite what its title suggests, this gem is only capable of holding the energy produced by a soul rather than the soul itself. Often used as a power source in magical pursuits.]
[Status: Filled]
The gem glowed slightly, Athias able to pick out the same faint light from the other automatons.
“Mind if we take a second to collect the soul gems from these things?” Athias asked.
“Don’t take too long.” Katria said, looking ahead, one foot bouncing.
He’d be just as antsy if he thought his life's work could be right around the corner.
Athias moved to one of the other fallen automatons, doing his best to recall what he could about this place. The bits and pieces he did remember were completely useless; the ruin was just too intact to reconcile with the disjointed wreck it had been reduced to in the game.
If they played their cards right, they just might be able to avoid triggering its collapse entirely.
----------------------------------------
Athias rummaged to the bottom of his bag, pushing aside books and supplies until he found the yellow hardcover tome he was in search of.
「Item: The Manipulation and Bolstering of Life Energies」
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
「Description: A spell tome detailing the theory behind numerous novice level restoration spells. The practical exercises are completely harmless.」
He had put the spells documented in the tome on hold in favor of other schools. He would continue to do so. This was meant for someone else.
He looked across their camp.
Workshops, full of old dwemer tools and automaton parts, made up the majority of the rooms in Arkngthamz. Occasionally they came across communal sleeping and bathing areas but they were far fewer in number. Assuming Remiel was right, the Dwemer that called this place home must’ve been workaholics, little to nothing available in the way of recreation. Who knows, maybe work had been recreation for them; Remiel was happy to tinker away with Scrap given the chance.
After taking down several patrols, his heavy armor and block rising through the battles, they turned one of the workshops into a campsite. Their bedrolls were placed in the back end of the wide room, away from the doors and machinery. The automatons restrained their patrols to the halls, but they’d still have people on watch once it was time to turn in.
Athias sought out Remiel, who had cleared one of the stone tables to work on Scrap.
[Dwemer Automaton]
[Model: Scrap]
「Durability: 70/100 Energy: 73/100」
The thing still wasn’t in perfect condition but with a new soul gem and Remiel affixing new plating recovered from other spiders they encountered, it was well on its way to peak condition.
“Remiel.” Athias said.
Remiel was completely deaf to his call, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she worked. He half heartedly brought the spine of tome down on the back of her head, not quite hitting her, but drawing her attention.
“Oh, sorry. Did you need something?”
He waved the book at her. “I want you to learn a spell.”
“Learn a spell?” She groaned. “If I said no, could I go back to my work?”
“Sure, but when we all die and this spell could’ve saved our lives, I’m going to haunt you.”
“Can spirits haunt other spirits?”
“You want to find out?”
“A little.” Remiel lowered her tools. “Go on and see how the new plates feel, boy. I’ll deal with our friend here.” She said to Scrap who crawled off. She fully turned to him, leaning against the table as she wiped oil from her face. She only smudged it around, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “You do remember me telling you I’m no good with magic, right? I’m pretty sure I told you.”
“With how much you talk, what haven’t you told me?”
“What’s the spell? Maybe I’ll use it on a certain rude bastard when he’s not looking.” Remiel threatened. It wasn’t much of a threat considering what he had in mind for her.
“Healing Hands.” Athias revealed.
“Nope, no can do. I tried to learn that years ago and here I am, a fully grown adult who still can’t use that basic spell.”
“Did you have someone teaching you?”
Remiel shook her head, frowning. “No. By that point most people accepted I had zero talent for magic and no mage wasted their time on me.”
“Didn’t you say learning magic without a teacher is difficult? This time I’ll be helping you figure it out.”
“Are you qualified to teach others about magic?”
“Not in the slightest. Think of it as an experiment.” Athias said. “I don’t want to call you useless but that’s exactly what you were in those last few fights.”
“Hey, I think Scrap-“
“You’re not Scrap, Remiel. An automaton isn’t going to be able to do anything if one of us ends up stabbed and we’re all out of potions, but if you learn this spell, you’ll be ready to get us out of that tough spot.”
Remiel huffed. “You know, normally I find talking to people difficult because they don’t say what they mean. You just say a lot of mean things.”
“Maybe.” Athias agreed, glancing towards Auri. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed Scrap crawling towards her, calming down after realizing it was Remiel’s automaton. He and Auri were generally blunt with each other; he wouldn’t be surprised if that made him come off as mean when he wasn’t trying to be. “But am I wrong?”
“I suppose not.” Remiel deflated, all defiance gone. “When this ends up being a waste of our time, don’t blame me.”
She was being too pessimistic. How hard could it be to teach a person a spell?
Quite difficult as he soon found out.
He and Remiel had taken up seats directly in front of each other, blood leaking from a miniscule cut to his thumb while she aimed a yellowish-gold orb at him. None of that energy came to him, stuck in her hand no matter how hard she tried or what advice he offered.
Athias didn’t understand.
On a fundamental level, the basic healing spell and Healing Hands were almost identical. The user converted their magicka into an energy with rejuvenating properties then infused it into a wound. The differences started when it came to directing.
“Remiel, when you heal yourself, what are you doing with your magicka?” Athias asked.
She dropped her arm and the golden ball faded away. “Basic conversion.”
“And how much of your magicka do you convert?”
“All of it.” Remiel said. “I’m not skilled enough to isolate parts of my magicka.”
Athias hummed, starting to realize where exactly he’d gone wrong in trying to teach her. “I’m guessing you don’t know how to dualcast either?”
“Of course not. Unless they’re training for battle, that’s not something novices learn until they have a selection of spells under their belt. I’ve tried but…” Remiel explained, trailing off with a shrug. It felt like he was the one being taught here.
Now came his final question. “How good at you at sensing magicka?”
“Obviously, I can feel my own magicka. If I focus and get lucky I might be able to feel the magicka around me but that’s never lasted more than a few moments.”
Athias leaned back in his chair, staring up the stone ceiling.
Conversion, dualcasting, magicka sense; all those terms and more had been basic principles that every tome he read referenced with bare bone explanations. With how effortlessly he taught himself to do all of it and how the game streamline everything, he assumed they were easy things people learned before ever considering themselves novices.
Truth was, his birth-sign might as well be a cheat code.
A window popped up in response to his thoughts.
[Birth sign: The Apprentice]
[Description: You were born into this world during Sun's Height beneath the Apprentice Sign. For better and for worse your body is more attuned to the energies that flow through all of Mundus.]
[Effects: Magicka regeneration has been doubled. You take double damage from magic based attacks. Your spells are twice as effective. You are twice as susceptible to illusion spells while weakened.]
For better and for worse your body is more attuned to the energies that flow through all of Mundus. That wasn’t some throw away line. He was so attuned to magicka in all its forms, whether it be from himself or the ambient energy of the world, that he generally interacted with it without thought.
From the beginning he could feel his magicka flowing through him and instinctively knew how to use spells. If he needed to throw up a ward while casting Oakflesh, converting and moderating the magicka rushing through his arm into a stable shield while hardening the rest was as easy as breathing. Forcing his magicka through the world around him so he could use illusion spells barely required thought; in fact it required so little that he was able to keep Muffle up without paying attention to his magicka.
Obvious drawbacks aside, the benefits were insane. All those hard work beats natural talent stories almost felt like bullshit now. When someone had a starting point so far ahead of others, sabotage was the only way they’d end up falling behind.
Remiel sighed. “I told you this would be a waste of time. I’m no good with this sort of thing, so I’m better off focusing on my research.”
“Hold on, I have an idea.” Athias said, focusing a large amount of his magicka in her direction. She didn’t react, only watching him curiously.
He tried to focus solely on her, but for all his natural talent, it was a struggle. It was so hard to tell where her magicka began and stopped when it sat within a literal world full of it. The magicka around them was like a bottomless sea, no end to be found, his magicka bar falling faster the harder he attempted to ram through its depths. Once the bar fell to its halfway point he gave up on that approach.
“Give me your hands.” Athias said, his own extended. Remiel didn’t voice her confusion, just looking at him strangely as she laid her gloved hands on his palms.
Athias felt her magicka in a flash.
It was small. And fidgety? That felt an apt description; unless he was doing something with it, his magicka was completely still but hers flicked about randomly, eager to do something, anything.
He urged his magicka towards hers.
Remiel’s magic reacted. It regarded the foreign energy cautiously, darting around it like a curious animal. Then tossed all that caution to the wind and touched it.
Remiel’s hands and magicka shot back. “What in Sheor was that!?” She exclaimed, quickly pulling off her gloves and looking her hands over.
“My magicka.” Athias said.
“How do you sleep if you feel that hot all the time?”
“How do you sleep with your magicka bouncing around all the time?” Athias shot back. His magicka felt normal to him; he had a feeling that was how everyone felt about their magicka.
“Good point.” Remiel put her gloves back on, curling and uncurling her hands. “While that was an interesting experience, I don’t see how it will help me learn a spell.”
“You felt your magic move didn’t you?”
“I did but-“ Remiel stopped short, brownish-green eyes brightened by realization and her usual curiosity. “You want to show me how I should be manipulating my magicka like that? I’m not sure how effective such a method will be, but I’ve also never read nor heard about it. Can I get my journal and take some notes?”
“Whatever helps you.”
Remiel practically sprinted to her tent, Katria and Auri giving them curious looks. He shrugged. An explanation could wait.
Athias hoped this spur of the moment approach worked. Simple descriptions weren’t enough for Remiel. If he could show her how exactly he used his magicka when he did something, in theory she should be able to replicate it on her own.
He might be able to teach her entire spells without a tome depending on how well this worked out.