Suddenly, Askuna was looking at J'zargo and J'zargo was looking at Askuna. They looked a bit comical in those Daedric armours, but Askuna could immediately feel the changes that had happened to him.
Askuna was both dead and alive at the same time, a true impossible hybrid of a glitched character. As an undead, he didn't need to breathe, yet his Werewolf version loved to breathe full breaths of air. His existence was a contradiction.
"J'zargo feels insecure being stared at like that," the smartass Khajit remarked, referring to himself in the third person.
"J'zargo, we are not on Nirn anymore," replied Askuna, watching his supposed ally's reaction.
J'zargo cocked his head and said, "Is that so? Perhaps you've had too much sugar. It often helps, but J'zargo knows from experience that any medicine can be a poison when overdosed."
Askuna ignored him and moved towards the entrance and opened the door leading to the forest. He then looked at J'zargo, who rubbed his left eye and said, "Is that Illusion magic Khajit sees?" before also heading towards the entrance.
"No, J'zargo, we are in a completely different world now, one that I have observed from afar and know the future events of," said Askuna, moving backwards from the doors and gesturing with grandiose flair. "But since I know how much you love magic, I thought I'd give you an opportunity to experience it based on completely different rules from Nirn!"
J'zargo looked around, considering what Askuna had said, then shrugged and replied, "J'zargo sees it. Khajit believes it."
"Good," said Askuna. "But be warned, there is an extremely strong foe there. We'll need to work together to vanquish them."
"Mhm," hummed J'zargo, casting several spells and saying, "fascinating."
"What is fascinating?" inquired Askuna.
"J'zargo doesn't know. Khajiit remembers when you gave him this armour, yet for some reason, it only surprises him now that it makes his magic free of cost," said J'zargo, observing the flame at his palm.
Askuna chose not to comment on this. To not let J'zargo fall into an existential crisis, or what's worse, to keep himself from questioning the logic of the last few hours
"Well, let me test my inventory," said Askuna, trying to recall his items. A black hole appeared next to him, and he plunged his hand inside, rummaging for a while as he mentally scanned his inventory.
Meanwhile, J'zargo stopped what he was doing and observed him with a perplexed expression.
Askuna took out a tome of the destruction school on the expert level and tossed it to J'zargo. "J'zargo, have you mastered the forces of destruction yet?"
The cat perked up at a familiar question, then scrunched his eyebrows and said, "No, J'zargo didn't. Right after Saarthal, J'zargo decided to follow you, Askuna, in hopes of finding powerful magic on your adventures."
Before Askuna could respond, J'zargo's mood dampened again, and he asked himself, "Khajiit can't remember why he thought this was a good idea..." He looked at Askuna questioningly before shrugging and muttering, "Too much moon sugar?"
Askuna ignored the slight 'probably' unintentional jab because he suddenly realized a minor detail, which assuredly isn't a comeback, so he said to J'zargo, "Uhh, J'zargo, I don't know how you will take it... but in this plane, moon sugar doesn't exist."
J'zargo looked at Askuna blandly, then moved his head robotically and answered, "J'zargo hopes you are wrong."
"Yeah, let's discuss our plan of action for a while," said Askuna, as he went inside the house and took out two chairs, setting them in front of the entrance.
They sat there first in silence, admiring the beauty of nature, and then marvelled at how J'zargo put things on fire and how Askuna had extinguished them. Askuna then told J'zargo about Ainz Ooal Gown and then more about what he planned to do regarding Nazarick.
When the info dump ended, J'zargo yawned and stretched. "J'zargo feels very tired right now. J'zargo will go rest for a while."
"Sure, buddy," answered Askuna before taking out the Skeleton Key from his inventory and staring at it with fascination. It felt strange to him that he had an almost instinctual sense of how to use the key as if some higher power was guiding him.
Yet the same power told him he lacked a tiny bit to use it properly. "Damn," said Askuna, feeling a little irritated. He was only five levels short of the maximum, which meant he lacked probably twenty minutes of lockpick breaking.
In hopes of solving this problem, he took out Oghma Infinium, the accursed book of Hermaeus Mora. The eldritch ink, moving pictures, and lines gave him goosebumps.
Using the book was equivalent to connecting with it and telling it what one wanted to read about. Askuna didn't understand how he was doing it, but it seemed he had an intuitive knowledge of how to read it, perhaps because he had read the book before in-game.
Therefore, he searched for information on lockpicking, the Skeleton Key, and other facets of unlocking potential. The information presented was immense, but soon he realized that his intuitive understanding of lockpicking wasn't based on actual knowledge, but rather instinct.
It seemed like he would have to study these things on his own to deepen his understanding.
Sighing and closing the book, Askuna wondered how his spell absorption worked, but testing it would require him to remove his enchanted items, and he didn't want to take that risk.
What if he wasn't in the Overlord world but something completely different? Or what if, hypothetically, a time traveller or returnee was waiting for him to drop his guard?
On the other hand, the ability to transmigrate someone to another world implied the existence of entities or will capable of watching him constantly or interfering with the world and its rules.
He shuffled through his mind to access his available spells and abilities, and the first one he tried to use was his conjuration spells.
He attempted to summon a wolf, an elementary spell, but it failed to manifest with the characteristic shimmering blue glow that indicated his spell absorption was working.
He wondered if understanding how his abilities worked might help him make conjuration spells work, but he wasn't sure if it was even possible to have both of them at the same time. If not, then it would not be worth the risk of disabling his protective veil.
Theoretically, it should also protect him from abilities, poisons, and other status effects. It is simply too strong to risk messing with. What if he only got an inferior version after resetting it or something
Askuna pondered the game-like mechanics of his situation. He knew he was immune to poisons thanks to his vampiric and werewolf side, but he probably could still be injured by drinking potions.
He realized that there was probably a mechanism in the world that separated what was considered a potion and what was considered a poison. However, he soon realized the futility of such contemplations and decided to move on.
Casting the bound dagger spell was an interesting experience. Askuna felt as if the complicated process of summoning and shaping a Daedra into the form of a dagger was done effortlessly and immediately.
He felt a slight connection with the dagger as if he could sense the figurative mind of the Daedra that amusingly wanted to slide its blade across his neck and kill him. This made him apprehensive about ever holding a black gem in his hand, lest he makes a mistake and seals himself within it.
Although he had the Azura's Black Star in his inventory, he was slightly apprehensive about holding or interacting with it at the moment.
Instead, Askuna decided to use his Black Market ability, the only summoning spell he was capable of, to summon a Dremora Merchant. The ability was instantaneous, and from the black hole of summoning, a poorly-robed, red-skinned male with horns emerged.
"Ah, a fresh mortal who seeks to bargain with me," the summoned merchant spoke.
"Yes, what do you have for sale?" Askuna asked, and the man blinked for a moment before showing a black portal of inventory and said, "I'm sure we can strike a sale."
Askuna reached into the Black Market inventory and noted several pieces of Daedric armour and weapons. He found nothing particularly special or noteworthy, so he asked the merchant, "Tell me, are you able to procure other items on commission?"
"Why, yes, of course, I am," assured the merchant.
Before Askuna could continue, the Black Merchant suddenly disappeared, so Askuna reactivated his ability. The merchant reappeared, saying, "That was... annoying."
"I'm sorry, but I can only summon you for a minute each time," apologized Askuna.
"Then you are a failure of a mage. No matter, so what would you like to commission?" inquired the merchant.
Askuna took out the Daedric gauntlets from his inventory, which were heavily enchanted with resist fire and frost. He then asked, "What's the asking price for these gauntlets?"
After appraising the gauntlets, the merchant let out a low whistle. "Mortal, you've got something special here. I'll offer you 1500 gold for it."
Askuna chuckled, shaking his head. "I don't think so. I'll sell it to you for five million gold, and put it on a debt tab."
The merchant's eyes widened, but he quickly composed himself. "Mortal, while I agree that these gauntlets are exceptional, that price is absurd. I could offer you a hundred thousand gold."
Askuna leaned in, his eyes sparkling. "Any Dremora Lord would go out of their way to obtain such gauntlets. You know that. Four million eight hundred thousand."
As the time limit ended, the Dremora Merchant disappeared. Askuna quickly resummoned him and heard a hiss as the Dremora appeared. "They would faster chop my head off and take them for themselves, than pay for it! I need to sell it to someone and it will put a big mark on me."
The merchant hesitated, but then his eyes narrowed. "Four million eight hundred thousand gold? Mortal, you must be mad. I'll raise my offer to two hundred thousand."
Askuna shook his head. "Four million five hundred and sixty thousand."
The merchant breathed out and said, "Do you know how insane this item and your entire armour appear to anyone who can sense magic? I'm still surprised that no one powerful enough has snatched it from a mortal like you. I'll be doing you a favour to buy it for one million!"
"Oh, dear Merchant, of course, no one is going to take it from me because I wear it and it empowers me. Moreover, I'm the one who created this armour, and I can supply you with more in the future. Furthermore, as a merchant, you have the necessary connections to sell this and future armour. Four and a half million." - countered Askuna.
The merchant contemplated it for a second and inquired, "How long does it take you to create one of those?"
Now it was Askuna's turn to be troubled. Honestly, he didn't know, so he just gambled and said, "Not long, but does time matter? I can provide you with more details later when I establish my workshop if the demand will be high. Four and a half million for the final price?"
The merchant was resummoned and nodded his head, saying, "Very well, mortal. It is a pleasure doing business with you. I can give you two thousand gold coins now."
Askuna shrugged and handed over the gauntlets, noticing that the coins the merchant gave him were not Septims, but Yggdrasill gold.
Askuna stated, "As for commissioned items, I am interested in purchasing any books on magic that you may have, including spell books, crafting materials, particularly ebony ore and Daedra hearts, alchemical ingredients, enchanted items, special items, and anything else of interest." He then produced one of the Yggdrasill gold coins and added, "And this too, of course."
The merchant nodded and replied, "Very well. Summon me again in half an hour," before vanishing.
Askuna shrugged and used the time to try out his spells one by one, noting how they felt and were performed. He always felt as if he were instinctively performing very difficult and concentration-demanding actions. Any small interference on his part would destabilize them, potentially leading to catastrophic results.
After roughly an hour or so, Askuna resummoned the merchant. "Hello again, the customer. I've decided to upgrade you to a VIP patron, so I will show you some more of my special wares," the merchant said, chuckling. "I believe my debt will be quickly paid off."
Askuna raised an eyebrow and reached his hand into the merchant's inventory. It was now filled to the brim with Yggdrasil items - data crystals, armour, materials, ingredients, special items, and books. He had to summon the merchant again and asked, "How much is each of these items worth?"
"Hmm," the merchant hummed, then said with glee, "Data crystals for a hundred thousand each, the divine apparel for seven billion, materials and ingredients also range from thousands to billions, and the rest is the same."- then the merchant's face contorted into a devilish smile and he said
"It is truly a nice deal you have given me, mortal, selling divine-level gauntlets for a mere five million, hehe" - the merchant chortled, but before Askuna responded he further added.
"However, in spite of our future partnership, if you have other armour, as you claim you do, I will offer you a fair price for it."
AAskuna needed more gold, so after the spell ended and the merchant was banished back to his realm, Askuna swiftly made his way to the enchanting table, drank fortify enchanting potion, and added some extra enchantments to his weapons and armour.
As he worked, he couldn't help but wonder if the conversion had truly elevated his items to divine-grade quality or if the merchant had simply been lying to him and he was still short-selling.
To err on the side of caution, Askuna refrained from adding enchantments that could nullify the costs of magicka or give insane boosts to attributes or skills. Instead, he focused on adding resists to fire, frost, poison, and shock to his gear.
He had five Daedric gauntlets, which he swiftly enchanted at the enchanter's table, performing actions intuitively.
Which was a pretty weird experience, as he was able to perform ultra-complex enchantments in a shockingly short amount of time.
Nonetheless, he summoned the merchant again and managed to sell the gauntlets for an average of 5 billion each, which he believed was a fair price based on his intuition from speechcraft. He knew he needed more knowledge to make a better estimate.
Afterwards, he restocked on Skyrim ore and alchemical materials, which were relatively cheap. Unfortunately, he could not find any enchanted items, spellbooks, or even soul gems in Skyrim. He only came across raw ingredients and armour.
"After several resummonings, in between which Askuna bought various wares, he finally asked, 'Do you have anything related to Thu'um?"
"No, mortal," answered the merchant with disinterest, "I have never heard of that term."
"Thu'ums, as in Dragon shouts,'" Askuna clarified, but it quickly became clear that the merchant was unfamiliar with this type of language. Even demonstrating the shout failed to produce any results.
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Further questions revealed that the merchant was completely ignorant about Skyrim and Nirn. This led Askuna to suspect that, somehow, the only things that remained with the merchant were his race, which bizarrely was now located in Yggdrasil lore, and the Skyrim crafting materials could be found in their homeland.
'Well,' thought Askuna, 'the instruction list did mention something about disconnecting the lore from the Elder Scrolls franchise. Maybe this is what it meant.'
Upon learning the prices of Skyrim materials and items, Askuna wasn't surprised to find that they were relatively inexpensive compared to other powerful items he had seen in the stock. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but notice that they were a steal compared to his last sale.
It's worth noting that ebony and Daedric armaments were the most expensive Skyrim items, comparable in price to adamantite.
Despite this, the merchant's selection still impressed Askuna. While there weren't many rare items available, most of the items were High-Class tier, with only a few better oddities in the higher price ranges.
Askuna was particularly impressed with the selection of ores and ingots, so he purchased one of each, along with several unenchanted armours and weapons made from those materials. He planned to enchant them himself in the near future.
After purchasing some enchanted items with the hope of learning them through disenchantment, Askuna's attention was drawn to the only divine item in the merchant's possession: the Horn of the Underworld. Supposedly, the horn would provide a boost to allies while causing negative effects to enemies in a certain area. Askuna was impressed to find that the horn was self-recharging, with a cool-down period of only five minutes.
Lastly, Askuna turned his attention to the merchant's collection of spells. Though disappointed with the limited selection, Askuna purchased what he could and inquired about the possibility of more spells being available in the future.
After the satisfying sale, the merchant said to Askuna "Mortal, this sale was most satisfying", before disappearing into his realm. Askuna quickly turned his attention to the spells he had just acquired.
The spells he had just purchased ranged from the first to the sixth tier of Yggdrasil magic. Askuna planned to throw the spells at J'zargo, confident that the smart Khajit would be able to figure them out.
However, when Askuna arrived at the bedroom, the Khajit was still sleeping soundly, and as he didn't have access to any forge around, so he decided to focus on disenchanting for the time being. Askuna arrived at the enchanter and just placed a random recently acquired item there.
Rest was a blur of motions, and some complicated magic, where he frankly had no idea what he was doing. But that didn't matter - when he stopped questioning the process, he found that he could perform the disenchanting perfectly.
Consequently, in some magical process, the mumbo-jumbo of information poured into his brain and somehow reassembled in a way that allowed him instantly become able to apply the enchantment on the compatible armament.
Incidentally, Askuna was not able to dissect all of the enchantments he had encountered. Some items just seemed unique for some unknown reason, much like the Skyrim items.
He had no way to appraise the items, and he didn't bother to ask the merchant for the names of all of the items, aside from special ones like the divine item, Horn of the Underworld.
With the ability to trade Yggdrasil items, Askuna felt that he could almost certainly join Momonga at this point and maybe even become a Supreme Being. But he didn't want that. He felt that he had a chance for so much more.
Now, the hard part was testing the ingredients. The best way to do that was by eating them, but Askuna didn't fancy that. He could combine them blindly, which might give him intuitive knowledge about the ingredients, but he decided to try the Oghma Infinium instead.
If the Merchant was disconnected from the Elder Scrolls franchise, then maybe the knowledge within the Oghma Infinium would also pertain to Yggdrasil.
With that in mind, Askuna relaxed in his chair and began to explore the boundaries of knowledge contained within the eldritch book.
…...........
"Askuna," J'zargo called out, "Askuna!" Startled, Askuna jumped up from his sitting position.
"What?" Askuna asked, surprised that J'zargo was already awake.
"J'zargo has been observing you for the past hour," the Khajiit said, "staring at the book without pause, not reacting to J'zargo or anything." It was only then that Askuna noticed that it was already dark outside and the torches in his hut were lit. 'How did they not burn the walls?' he mused to himself.
"J'zargo thought to ask if everything is alright," the Khajiit explained.
Oh, thanks J'zargo. This book seems to be cursed, entrapping someone in endless knowledge. I'm sorry, it may have taken hold of me," - explained himself Askuna while rubbing his head instinctively, but what he found was a daedric helmet instead.
"Endless knowledge? I see... wouldn't you like to share the book with J'zargo?" - asked J'zargo, only a little maniacally.
"Sure, I have a copy, it was created by Hermeus Mora, just so you know." - Askuna took out the second book and tossed it to J'zargo.
"Oh, that is quite dangerous then. J'zargo will embark on studying it only with the most protected mind," said J'zargo before stuffing it...nowhere, as he had no pockets. Then he asked Askuna, "Ah, would you mind storing it for J'zargo, for now?"
"Sure, buddy," replied Askuna as he took both books back into his inventory. He then prepared the spells to detect life in his right hand and detect dead in his left hand. "Let me check if there are any entities in the vicinity," Askuna cast both spells.
J'zargo appeared as an ally in blue on the detect life spell, and Askuna noticed some birds and moths flying around the lit torches in the house, but there didn't seem to be any greater threats in the vicinity.
As he thought about it, Askuna sniffed the air and used his vampiric and werewolf senses, which only registered one prey - J'zargo. 'Scary,' he thought to himself, then spoke to J'zargo.
"Yes... about what we have spoken about before. We need to reach the capital as fast as possible, where lies a genius princess whose mind we need to employ, and who will work with us if we also kidnap... her knight. ", started Askuna awkwardly.
Then he continued, "Right after that, we need to disappear as fast as possible, which, with our gear and two additional sneak rings for the girl and boy, should prove trivial."
Askuna paused and added, "Then we need to, in nine or ten days, somehow find a hideout of bandits on the road between two cities, and somewhere close to it intercept powerful individuals to take care of their artefact... dress, which..." he trailed off, his words becoming jumbled.
J'zargo nodded and interrupted, "Which J'zargo will wear and use to take control of the powerful vampire." he said, then added, "J'zargo somehow doubts that you are a good tactician."
Askuna shrugged off J'zargo's comment and replied, "I'm not, I wanted to come here with the Staff of Magnus and see how I failed."
Khajit then asked, "And how do you plan to convince this princess to come with us, and why wouldn't you just control the vampire first?"
"Hmm, good question. For the first part, I have no idea beyond just kidnapping her and then explaining our situation. As for the second part, we need the princess's help to come up with a good plan to subdue the vampire?" said not surely Askuna, his thoughts jumbled.
J'zargo shook his head, "J'zargo's opinion of you has worsened. You are a terrible tactician."
"Thanks, man. Anything else to say?" inquired Askuna, half-sarcastically and half-seriously.
"In fact, yes, J'zargo does have something else to say. The vampire you mentioned being immensely powerful. How do you plan to hold it down in place when J'zargo uses his attack on it?", prompted J'zargo.
"Hmm, good question. One way would be to sneak up on it, but I'm not sure if our sneak is good enough or if it will stay in place if we startle it...her," mused Askuna, tipping his chin with a finger.
"Anyway, I'll try to upgrade enhancements on the new armour I bought, as it may have better capabilities than mine if I upgrade it a little in some forge," said Askuna, then he suggested to Khajit, "while you could in the meantime test out your magic and armour."
Proceeding to the alchemical table, the first thing Askuna did was try to replicate another version of the fortify loop that uses interchangeably fortify enchanting potion to build fortify alchemy apparel, to build fortify enchanting potion.
After the transition, the fortify restoration potion didn't seem to increase the strength of his enhancements, so he would have to do it the old way. It was quite tedious as he would have to enchant the entire armour, ten rings, and several necklaces with the same enchantment of fortify potions before he could proceed.
He didn't have any pre-made armour with his smithing skills, but he had bought some random pieces from the merchant and had previously created a surplus of rings and necklaces.
It seemed he could still wear ten rings and ten necklaces, which was the same amount he had worn during the glitch when he transmigrated. He regretted not equipping more of them back then. However, they were already quite stuffed under his armour, so it was probably for the best. Otherwise, he might have suffered a chest cave-in upon arrival or some of them would have been destroyed.
After the whole ordeal, he did manage to multiply the strength of his alchemical enchantment several-fold, as all of them were on the same level as the previous ones. However, after creating several more enchanting potions, the whole ordeal seemed to have diminishing returns, as they were only slightly better than the previous ones.
"Slightly better is still better," shrugged Askuna. Who knows, maybe if he secured more ingredients and spent more time on it, those diminishing returns would eventually equal twice the initial boost.
Having even a 1.2 increase in his enchantments would make a qualitative difference at the higher tier, especially if all of those enchantments could be classified in the divine tier.
He used 'detect life' to see J'zargo outside, probably flinging fireballs or other destructive spells without care for magicka usage, now that he could. "Or using highly dangerous spells that he doesn't feel repercussions from because of immense protection from his armour," mused Askuna while frowning.
"Meh, let him have his fun. Maybe he will teach me magic later, so I can also use my high reserves... from items," decided Askuna before choosing the best available armours with his knowledge of smithing. He selected those he could upgrade later on with the ingots of materials he had bought
He used 'detect life' to see J'zargo outside, probably flinging fireballs or other destructive spells without care for magicka usage, now that he could. "Or using highly dangerous spells that he doesn't feel repercussions from because of immense protection from his armour," mused Askuna while frowning.
"Meh, let him have his fun. Maybe he will teach me magic later, so I can also use my high reserves" decided Askuna before choosing the best available armours with his knowledge of smithing. He selected those he could upgrade later on with the ingots of materials he had bought.
And he had no idea which ingot corresponded to which material. Something told him he would intuitively know when it came to working on it in the forge, but he had no way to judge them now or even how good they were, aside from the price he paid when buying them, which he had also forgotten... incidentally.
There were probably methods smiths used to test materials or even some form of identifying magic, but he didn't know them. So he went with what little he remembered when buying them and added the enchantments to the armours.
After finishing all his preparations, Askuna stepped outside to find a large crater of destruction tens of meters away from him and a small fire still burning. "Yeah... let me see if I can pack something into my inventory," he muttered to himself.
First, he tried the entire house, which was a bust. Then he tried the alchemical and enchanting stations, and luckily, they did fit. He glanced around, but he didn't find anything else of importance, so he shrugged and left the house. As he walked towards J'zargo, he could see that he was still channelling a highly destructive area-effect fire magical storm.
"So, how's it going buddy?" Askuna asked J'zargo.
J'zargo straightened from his Super Saiyan pose and looked at Askuna, still channelling the magic around him. He noted that it had no effect whatsoever on Askuna and was absorbed in blue wisps into him. "J'zargo feels unlimited power!... and mastering destruction magic shouldn't take long," He said, and Askuna could tell by the tone of his voice and the way he spoke that J'zargo was grinning behind his helmet.
'What a mad cat', joked Askuna in his head, then he spoke.
"Cool, we need to find the capital. The armour you're wearing should make it so you won't tire at all. So, I propose we just run until we find a road, then a settlement and ask some questions there while we cast invisibility spells," suggested Askuna.
"Fine idea, but J'zargo doesn't know the invisibility spell," J'zargo shook his head.
In response, Askuna rummaged through his inventory, mentally checking his books. "Lightning? No. Fire? No. Ahh, Illusion!" he exclaimed, taking out the book and tossing it to Khajit. "Learn it. I'll keep casting it for us, so you can observe how it works."
J'zargo agreed, watching carefully as Askuna performed the spell with one hand and then with two. He read up on the theory of invisibility and began practising the spell himself, repeating it over and over until he felt confident. Meanwhile, Askuna struggled to understand the novice book of sparks, making little progress.
For an hour, they worked in silence, both focused on their respective tasks. Eventually, Askuna asked Khajit to explain how he was casting the spell. Khajit talked about intent, visualization, concentration, and other concepts that sounded like something out of an anime Shonen logic.
He didn't understand any of it, so he switched one hand for a telekinesis spell. It was quite different from other spells, as other spells had a single cast or continuous effect, whereas telekinesis allowed you to continuously invoke the magic to do your bidding.
In some magical worlds, such as in the world of Overlord, such magic would be considered system-breaking, as mastering it would give a level of growth beyond the usual levels, tiers, and limits of the system. It was the same as allowing simple mana manipulation, which would completely disrupt the balance of the world. Askuna couldn't help but wonder about the limitations of magic and the systems that govern it.
What would that entail? Imagine a level 100 character who can no longer learn any new spells or advance to higher levels due to some cap, or perhaps a lower-level character who faces barriers every few levels that require some inhuman feat or grinding to overcome.
Now, imagine that this individual learns how to control the mana around them or master an element like fire or lightning. They could strictly progress their power with it without advancing any spells. Alternatively, they could create a spell with a certain limit of progression, beyond which one cannot climb using the framework of the spell. This would prevent the kind of system-breaking growth that would throw off the balance of the world.
It's a timeless question that can be adapted to any system, such as whether a battle healer can use their immense mana regeneration to constantly destroy and heal their body, or whether one can strengthen themselves with ki or mana manipulation. Can one use chakra to store it by condensing it, or use it in their bodies, or maybe control it as a whirlpool around them?
'Seeking exploits and growth skills of any system is what we humans do, so now the question is how much can I do with the spell of telekinesis? Can I learn how to fly with it, and then make others fly and then stop them with force in place and so on and on?' - thought Askuna to himself.
'Or is there some hard limit, upon which the spell will be used with the maximum power it can, or maybe my mind will be overloaded with sensation? Then why not push boundaries in some other way, by potions, developing artificial hive minds, or...' - Askuna was nudged in the shoulder by a suddenly appearing hairy hand.
"Oh, sorry, I have fallen into a stream of thoughts. Have you finished learning the spell?" Askuna questioned the Khajit.
In response, J'zargo performed the spell, and a slight glimmer of a translucent veil covered the spot he was in, making him practically invisible to anyone who wasn't actively looking for him.
"J'zargo wonders now, if you are using some moon sugar and care to share it, or are just easily scatter-minded because J'zargo finished fifteen minutes ago, and was waiting for you to realize it," J'zargo remarked.
'Oh,' exclaimed Askuna jovially, and added, "I appreciate your comment, J'zargo, but I must disappoint you as I do not use any such substance." Then he remembered that he could buy items from the Abyssal Merchant and said, "But there may be a way to create it later, dunno, will see."
J'zargo's ears perked up, and he replied, "J'zargo is pleased and thankful for receiving some hope."
"Right, say, do you think you will be able to learn telekinesis just as fast and then we'll figure out how to fly?" asked Askuna, taking out the Oghma Infinium and the Telekinesis book and levitating them before J'zargo.
"J'zargo can try," he responded. As before, Askuna tested the limits of his telekinetic skills by quickly combining his intuition for casting the spell with practical application. He rapidly progressed to being able to pull up and control four objects with dual casting. But that was his limit.
He couldn't lift objects that were too big, including J'zargo, and when he tried to use the spell on himself, it self-absorbed. Then he tried to use it on his armour and was surprised that it worked, but it felt quite weird to fling himself to his hands all the time.
Basically, he had to strike the Superman pose, where his armour would go chasing his hands, in order to fly. His gauntlets had Resist Magic, so he couldn't pull them, but he could do the same for boots and helmet which simplified his usage.
Askuna eagerly shared his newfound knowledge with J'zargo, and couldn't help but notice how the power of unlimited magicka and the lack of concern for injury made him increasingly bold in his attempts to learn the spell, where he would just botch it up, try again, explode something between his hands, and try again.
He would likely swiftly master all other spells Askuna had in the same manner, so that was a plus. Perhaps he would upgrade them in the future. Regardless, Askuna had plans for Shalltear. He had some potent potions of the fortify illusion, destruction, restoration, and alteration at his disposal.
His first course of action would be to drink a potion of alteration and try to paralyze her. If that failed, he would drink a potion of illusion on her and hope that the Calm spell would not be counted as brainwashing, although it probably would be.
If the previous attempts fail, he will resort to weakening Shalltear with a banish undead spell before trying to subdue her with telekinesis on her armour. Then, he will launch himself at her like a cannonball with telekinesis and strike her with his shield. As a last resort, he will slay her.
Some paranoid voice in his head tells him to be ready in case J'zargo tries to use this ability on him, however unlikely it is.
Several hours later, after they became proficient in semi-flying, they soared into the sky and cast an invisibility spell with one hand, choosing the direction of the nearest city.
While the speed of their flight wasn't exceptional, the unlimited magicka made it effortless to maintain their concentration. It was certainly easy for him, and when he asked J'zargo, he also said that it was quite simple, so Askuna didn't dwell on it.
The biggest concern was boredom. Sure, he was flying in the sky, but after several minutes, the novelty wore off, and he had to focus on extending his hands to the right position and adjusting them occasionally.
Despite being invisible, they could still hear each other, but Askuna also relied on his other senses to keep track of J'zargo, occasionally using Detect Life when needed.
It took him a while to reach the medium-sized city, and they eventually landed in the town square. It was mid-morning, so there were a few people around.
Maintaining his invisibility, Askuna began to cast the Harmony spell, a master-level illusion spell that would make everyone in the vicinity less responsive to violence, suspicion, or negativity.
After performing a bizarre dance required during master-level casting, a huge explosion with a harmonious bell chime reverberated through the entire square.
'Only one person resisted the spell, so that's J'zargo, as he was probably around 300 in Skyrim level due to his power levelling with me, which made him quite resistant to these sorts of spells or it could also be due to conversion of levels limitations or resistances in the New World or whatever,' mused Askuna to himself as he strolled over to the first person in sight.
From the corner of his eye, he saw people starting to run in their direction, attracted by the light from the explosion. Therefore, he did the only logical thing he could think of and cast Harmony again.
Then, more people arrived, so he cast Harmony for the third time, and then the fourth. J'zargo couldn't help but comment, "J'zargo now fears for the integrity of your whole plan, if that is an exposition of your strategic thinking."
"No, that is only an example of what to avoid in the future," retorted Askuna.
"How about we enter through the front gate next time?" suggested J'zargo.
"Ooo'kay, for sure we will." responded Askuna, then turned to the first passerby he saw and asked, "Excuse me, could you tell me the name of this beautiful city?"
"E-Libera," answered the passerby.
"Thank you, and which way leads to the capital of the kingdom?" asked Askuna.
"Re-Esize is to the west," replied the passerby.
"...Which way is west?" asked a slightly embarrassed Askuna.
"...Are you a moron?" asked the passerby incredulously.
Askuna recast his spell and went to the second person, asking the same questions. This time, the last answer was different.
"Go that way to the west gate and follow the main road," the passer-by number two pointed out. When passer-by number three confirmed the direction, Askuna cast Harmony for the last time and reapplied invisibility before flying there with J'zargo.
After several minutes, J'zargo mentioned, "J'zargo wonders if he should do the talking and handle the approach next time."
"Sure, buddy, it's all yours," answered Askuna, before throwing a fireball at J'zargo's helmet.
After, five minutes their childish exuberance of an impromptu tag game surely ended, for sure.