Power Corrupts: A Stop on the Road (ch.49) (Patreon)

I felt like I left the Hold of the Reach unfinished as I sprinted through the flat tundra of Whitehold. There were ruins to explore -- there should be another Aetherium shard in the Hold, there were at least two named Dragon Priests, I didn't get a chance to thoroughly explore the Dwemer ruins that littered the Hold either.

But, all the same, I left.

The city of Markarth would be burning bodies for weeks, and after that, the city was going to face a host of problems. Like a food shortage, along with being underpopulated as Sanguine fucked off to somewhere. Not to mention the sheer amount of loot they had taken with them. If I had stayed, then I would have been stuck there for weeks, but I managed to slip out by offering an excuse that I didn't want to infringe on the Jarl's reestablished authority. After that, Jarl Igmund had been all too happy to show me the door himself.

Especially since I was taking Dibella and a number of her most devoted followers with me.

So, while I was leaving Markarth behind, I didn't exactly feel bad about it. I could always swing by that way and do a speed run completion of the Hold when I'm heading to the moot after winter. Jarl Igmund seemed to have the task in hand, and Falkreath would have to make do with the food shipments from Helgen. And hopefully, they would sort their own shit out because I was going home.

"Are we there yet?" Dibella asked, peeking her head up over my shoulder as I made a full sprint towards Helgen. The wagon had a handful of girls in it along with the supplies they brought. At first they had marveled at the speed I traveled, but they quickly lost interest in the terrain that passed in a blur.

"Almost," I answered as I pumped my legs. My armor was free of gore, as was my weapon. It hadn't even been a day since the battle for Markarth, and in a rare night of sleep, I awoke to songs about me being sung in the streets. And as soon as I woke up, only having stayed to make sure that I wasn't needed any further, I set out to Helgen.

As if summoned by my thoughts, I rounded the bend to catch a glimpse of Helgen for the first time in about a week and a half. The wall was being rebuilt from the look of it -- a new wall was being laid down a considerable distance away from where the original stood. The old stone was being used to build roads and houses as the town prepared itself to become a city.

"For Divine Hestia!" I heard someone shout in the distance, and that shout was followed by several more. I sprinted up the road towards the town, seeing dozens of men and women tirelessly toiling away. There were building materials set up to reduce walk times, not only that, but I saw that wagons were pulling into Helgen with more supplies.

Once I crossed the threshold, I took it all in. Houses were being demolished, dirt upturned so pipes could be set. Other houses were being built, hardy stone that wouldn't burn easy. The layout of the city was changing already -- it was still recognizable, but only barely. In all, it was a staggering amount of progress to achieve in such a short amount of time.

"Have I only been gone for about two weeks?" I muttered as Dibella and the others awed over the quaint little town. And giggling at people shouting at the top of their lungs, proclaiming their work for Hestia as a rallying call. Honestly, it was like they were psyching themselves up for battle rather than manual labor.

Though, the reminder of battle made my hands tighten around the bar to push the wagon. The memories of yesterday would never fade thanks to Perfect Memory. Time had passed in a blur as I mindlessly hacked and chopped at the Forsworn, but now the heat of the moment had faded, and I was left with the memory of turning Forsworn into just… meat for hours on end.

Pushing the thoughts to the side, I made my way towards where our home was last located. It could have moved. The roads had definitely shifted a fair bit, but the parts that looked mostly finished looked good. It was a far cry from the modern cities I was used to, but it was a step above the rickety shacks of Whiterun, stone instead of wood like Falkreath, and less ancient looking than Dwemer ruins.

Thankfully Hestia Manor was still there, and the progress on the other one that was being built had slowed as everyone worked on the entire city first. I slowed to a stop and the girls in the back groaned and moaned as they jumped out to stretch.

"Oh, it's so cute!" Dibella decided, looking at my home as she clapped her hands happily. "Don't you think so, Fjor?" Dibella asked, turning to the teenager that Dibella had been playing with on the throne back in Markarth. In the hours of travel, I learned that Fjor was the first and currently the only member of the Dibella familia.

The younger girl, who I learned was seventeen, nodded happily as a smile tugged at her lips. I glanced down at her -- it was weird, I was only two years older than her but it felt like she was ages younger. The others were in their early twenties for the most part with a few nearing thirty.

However, the youngest looking, but one of the oldest, was nowhere to be seen. I told Babette to keep her distance in Helgen and it seemed that she took the advice to heart.

"Welcome to Hestia Manor," I said as I walked up the steps. My feet seemed to grow heavier with each step because it just felt so good to be home and I was nearing the finish line. Reaching out to the door handle, I twisted it and pulled.

Only to find that it was locked. Right, that was probably for the best. Reaching into my inventory, I slid the key into the lock and twisted… only to find that the locks had been changed.

"Did I get kicked out?" I wondered, looking down at the key with a hint of betrayal. The thought was a bit overdramatic, but I wanted to go home only to be blocked by a flimsy door I could tear apart with my bare hands. Swallowing a sigh and ignoring the giggling behind me, I knocked at the door to my own house and waited.

Instantly, I heard stomping coming from the inside. When they reached the door, I heard a sharp shout of, "Jericho!" Before the sounds of a half dozen locks being undone -- I was glad they had increased the security, but that raised a question of why they felt the need to.

"You're home!" I heard as the door was thrown open with unnecessary force so Hestia could throw herself at me. She would have brained herself on my armor if I hadn't taken a step back so she wasn't throwing herself face-first into a metal wall. She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed so tightly that her arms trembled from the strain. And I was never more annoyed with my armor as I was at that moment.

A sigh escaped me as I placed a hand on her back to return the hug. "I'm home," I agreed, savoring the moment. It was difficult to put into words, but the easiest way to convey it was that I really needed that hug. And I needed it from Hestia.

"What took you so long? I was really worried, you know? Aela and Farkas said that you were supposed to meet up with them days ago, but you never showed up…" she trailed off, looking up at me as she gave me a pout that did terrible things to my heart.

I hesitated to answer for a brief moment, the entire story weighing heavily on my tongue. And she saw that hesitance, but when I quickly pushed forward, she didn't say anything, "It's a long story, but I got tied up in Markarth for a bit. They were having their own problems and it wasn't a situation that I could leave alone," I offered the abridged version. Hestia looked up at me, worry in her deep blue eyes, but she nodded, accepting that answer for now.

"And Dibella-," I said, turning around. Only for Hestia to refuse to let go of me, so I ended up slinging her around so that her back faced the Goddess of Love and Beauty. I didn't get to say anything more because Dibella lunged at me. Or, rather, Hestia. She threw her arms around me as much as she could as Dibella sandwiched Hestia between us, making my goddess make a strangled noise.

"Hestia! I've been wanting to see you! You left so fast when you gave me some of your Arcanum!" Dibella announced, trying to crush Hestia in her embrace. There was panic in Hestia's eyes while Dibella hummed contently, satisfied with the hug.

I took a moment to process that. It was hardly a secret that Hestia had given her Arcanum away a bit too freely, but I hadn’t known that she hadn’t even known the Aedra before she performed the action. I figured that she was having godly talks behind my back before she arrived at the decision.

I should probably scold her for that. It was too late to do anything about it, but it was the principle of it. That was like… like having a billion dollars and giving away nine hundred million away to nine people you just met. Sure, it was a good deed, and you still had a hundred million dollars, but you could have had a billion. But I guess that was the difference between me and Hestia.

So, I didn’t say anything about it. I couldn’t bring myself to.

“Maybe loosen up, Dibella? I don’t think Hestia can breathe,” I pointed out, prompting Dibella to let go. Hestia began heaving for breath, letting go of me to put her hands on her knees to get her breath back. She glanced over at Dibella, and I expected to see a warm friendly greeting.

“What are you doing here?” Hestia questioned, not exactly hostile or anything like that, but I was expecting a more bubbly greeting since they were both Divines. Dibella, if she noticed, didn’t comment on it at all.

She laughed sheepishly, raising a hand up to scratch at her cheek and the action widened the silk robe she wore to display a dangerous amount of cleavage. Hestia bristled, darting over to close her robe while Dibella answered. “Ah, well, me and Sanguine threw a really, really, really big party! Then the Jarl got kidnapped, and some people tired to invade the city -- oh, but Jericho stopped them! It was all heroic too! They were building a statue of him in the city! But the Jarl doesn’t really like me much, so… here I am?”

Hestia blinked at the info dump, glancing at me for verification. I nodded, confirming the story. Though I hadn’t known that they were building me a statue. I really hoped it wasn’t a tacky one of me standing on a mountain of corpses, or anything.

“Oh, well…,” Hestia trailed off, tilting her head as she tied off Dibella’s robe. “You’re welcome to stay in Helgen. I don’t have room in the manor for everyone to get their own room, but if you don’t mind doubling up-”

To answer that, Dibella reached out and grabbed Fjor and buried her head in the crook of her neck as her arms wrapped around Fjor’s waist. “I don’t mind~! We can triple up, too!” Hestia stumbled a step back before she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I can’t get used to slutty goddesses…” Hestia remarked to herself, but I had to ask a question given that we apparently had enough room to house around twenty people.

“Are Farkas and Aela here?” I asked, prompting Hestia to look up at me before she shook her head.

“No, they left yesterday,” she informed. “They said they’re going to Riften and to tell you that they’re expecting you to actually meet up with them this time.” A small smile graced her lips, “They were confident that you were okay.”

Well, that was reassuring to hear. Not just that they had faith, but that they arrived safely. I would have to go meet up with them in Riften. If that place was a dumpster fire too…

“We should let you two catch up,” Dibella decided, “And I want to explore the city! Come on girls,” Dibella decided before she led the charge at the under-construction Helgen. We both watched her go, her followers obeying as they all walked away.

“She really goes at her own pace,” Hestia remarked before she looked up at me and held out a hand for me to take, “But let’s go inside and get that armor off. I’ve made a bunch of new rules while you were away -- one of them is no armor past the entryway !” She led me into the manor where she helped take off the armor.

As the door closed, I glanced at the number of locks on it -- there were over a dozen of them. “What happened while I was gone?” I couldn’t help but ask. And the painful noise that Hestia made wasn’t exactly a promising start.

“Ah, well,” Hestia hedged for a bit. “Sheogorath stopped by for a bit-”

“What do you mean Sheogorath stopped by for a bit?” I quickly interjected, recoiling from that statement. A pained grimace washed over Hestia's face in response. "Is he still here?"

"Maybe?" Hestia offered, sounding like she genuinely didn't know. "It would be easier to show you," she explained and that just made me nervous. I quickly took off my armor and shoved it on my inventory before I followed Hestia through the house -- and when we reached the kitchen, I saw what she meant. On the ceiling was a magical circle of glowing blue lines. I thought it was a rune trap at first, but given the lack of exploding, that couldn't be the case.

"Sheogorath just kinda pops in whenever they want using that thing. They called it a Mark. They also said that the ambient color would go well with the walls, and I kinda agree -- it's really useful at night!" Hestia proclaimed, kinda missing the point that the Prince of Madness could teleport into our house whenever they wanted. They?

"Is there more than one Sheogorath?" I questioned worriedly. Two gods brought Markarth to its knees accidentally. I didn't even want to think about what two Sheogoraths could get up to. Especially considering, judging by how things were going, I would end up being the one cleaning the mess. But, to that question, Hestia shrugged, which wasn't an answer at all.

"Maybe? I don't know how to explain it -- when I first saw them, they looked like a woman. Then after talking to them for a bit, their voice changed to a man's voice. Then I blinked and the girl became an old guy. But when I blinked again, they were a girl with a girl's voice. And when I asked if they were a boy or a girl, Sheogorath just said that they were a Sheogorath." That… sounded complicated. "But, it's not all bad! Did you know that Sheogorath used to be a human? Or, at least they think that they were. They were an Arch Mage and they cast a whole load of protections on our house!"

There were so many things that I wanted to say to that. But most notably was that Sheogorath apparently remembered being the Hero of Kavach. That was… I don't even know what that was.

"Do you know when they'll stop by again?" I asked, wondering if it would be good or bad to meet the Prince of Madness. But I had to if they were going to be popping in and out of my home like they owned the place or something.

Hestia nodded, "If he comes, then it's usually around dinner time. I think he can smell through the Mark." I had no clue what to do with that information. Hestia squeezed my hand as I dragged the other hand over my face, offering a tender look.

I wanted to collapse and hug her, but I needed to know something else, "And what's with the city, Hestia?"

Hestia blinked, "Eh? What about it?" I looked down at her for a moment and came to the only conclusion possible.

"Hestia, Helgen is going to be attacked by Alduin," I reminded her, and Hestia, thankfully, nodded to show that she still remembered that important fact. "Is it still being turned into a trap?"

"Yeah!" Hestia said excitedly, grabbing my hand and leading us to our room. Inside was a desk that was covered in rolls of paper, one of which was pinned into place so it didn't curl up. On the paper were blueprints for Helgen. Calling them elaborate would be a grand understatement. "Designing things is a lot of fun! The location is really great because we can use the mountains around us for natural elevation, oh, and there are underground springs that we can tap into for water. We followed the source that's in Embershard Mine and there's a whole system of underground rivers and stuff."

It felt like we were talking past each other -- Hestia was turning Helgen into a city that also was a trap, but I wanted a trap that looked like a city.

I looked down at the paper as I listened to Hestia excitedly ramble, detailing the purpose of something she pointed at. The city was something else. It was the design of a city that would one day hold millions of people and be able to support that number indefinitely. I hadn't seen Solitude yet, but looking at the slip of paper, I saw that the city would blow it out of the water. It was like she was building a better Orario in Skyrim.

"And the traps?" I asked, glancing at Hestia as she rambled about how nature would intertwine with the city. She looked a bit put out, but Hestia had to understand how important that was. It was the entire point of redesigning the city.

"They're being built. Stuff like ballistas and chain nets and stuff to keep Alduin from flying off. I'm convincing Sheogorath to use his magic to help out -- did you know he has a fork that can turn anything he stabs into a cheese wheel?" Hestia questioned and that sounded like something that would be right up the Prince of Madness' alley. "But… when you're fighting Alduin…"

I offered a smile as she looked down at her designs for a metropolis, "I do my best to make sure that he won't wreck the city too much." I reassured, hoping that I could keep that promise. Hestia beamed as she went in for a happy hug, and this time I could actually feel her hugging me with all of her strength.

She hugged me for a few moments before pulling away, "I also got a letter from Lili -- she says that they reached Whiterun safely awhile ago. They should be on their way to Winterhold by now though, but the Dragonstone was delivered. There's a group of people from Whiterun that are going to the spot that the map marked to dig up the dragon remains."

"Hope she's doing okay," I said as I took the letter from Hestia to read over it. It was in Lili's handwriting and it was emphasizing that they were fine and safe. From the look of it, Hestia had reread the letter more than a few times.

"The blessing that I gave her is still there. Lydia is fine too -- but she's been a bit over-eager with her training," Hestia said as she reached out to grab one of my hands with both of hers. "Everything has been okay," she reiterated as she squeezed down reassuringly while looking up at me. "You don't have anything to worry about."

I looked down at her, the proclamation feeling a bit… off. But that was probably just the exhaustion talking. So, I let out a small sigh as I smiled down at her, "Looks like it. But if you're able to redesign the city like this, then is there even a point in me becoming Jarl?" I couldn't help but wonder.

"You have to!" Hestia decided, her lips twisting into a frown. "I keep getting letters from everyone asking me to support them for something, or to donate some supplies for their causes! I keep telling them to leave me alone and I'm using all of the stone to build aqueducts, so they can't have any!" Hestia turned a trash bin that was filled with parchment, and I'm guessing that those letters were the offenders.

"Well, in that case, I guess there's no choice," I conceded. "As Thane of three Holds already, I have to say, my odds are good."

Hestia beamed at me, "Good!" She said as she pulled me to the bed. She made me sit down on it, and even then I was still taller than her. But she never let go of my hand as she looked up at me on a more even level than before.

"What happened in Markarth?" Hestia asked, the earlier cheer was gone, replaced with concern and seriousness. And, with four words, every trace of moisture in my mouth vanished. I shouldn't be surprised. Hestia knew me better than that.

"I… made the best choices that I could… but I don't know if I made the right choices," I told her. "It was a bad situation, Hestia. Really bad. And… I don't think there was a right answer, but…"

Hestia closed her eyes for a moment before she nodded, "I want you to tell me everything." She said and… I did. I told her everything starting right from where we began our journey to Falkreath. Meeting the Dark Brotherhood, making the deal to prevent any assassinations on our Familia, how that blew up in my face a couple of times, then going to Markarth and detailing how that situation went from bad to worse so fast.

Hestia listened the entire time, nodding along with the occasional grimace passing over her features as I detailed something distasteful. Like being willing to frame a man for something that he didn't do. Or denying a man's last request. Or slaughtering thousands and standing upon a mountain of corpses.

By the time I had finished, I felt utterly exhausted. More exhausted than I did after the battle for Markarth or the War Game. But it felt good to get it off my chest.

"This is my fault," Hestia decided, just like I expected. Her voice was thick with emotion, guilt welling up in her eyes. "If I hadn't divided up my Arcanum, then none of that would have happened-"

I pulled Hestia in, her face smushed against my chest and I felt tears soak through my shirt almost instantly. "It's not your fault," I told her, knowing that she wouldn't believe it. "You did something good. Something selfless. You helped people that needed help for a long time. What they do after isn’t your responsibility."

"But this happened when the gods descended back home! I should have known better! The Pallum race collapsed, entire countries were destroyed… but I was just thinking about the end result. I didn't even think about all the terrible things that happened before that point," Hestia argued. She trembled against me, her voice muffled to the point I could barely hear her.

"That still doesn't make it your fault. You did what you thought was right. And that's all there is to it. And I'm not going to let go until you believe that too."

Hestia let out a sob and I had to swallow a sigh.

I hated being right sometimes.

…

It took Hestia hours to calm down, and even then she still clung to me. I ended up dragging us both to bed, letting her rest on top of me while I used the pillows to prop my torso up. Her breathing wasn’t deep enough for her to be asleep, so she was likely thinking. Which was a good way to have your thoughts spiral out of control when you felt like crap, so I did what I could to distract her.

Like how she had been trying to distract me earlier.

“With Dibella here, and Sheogorath maybe popping in, I’ll stick around until he does show up. Just to make sure that everyone can get along okay,” I offered some comfort, a hand rubbing soothing circles into her back. Hestia let out a noise that sounded approving, but not quite happy. “Not that I think that it would -- I heard everyone in Helgen screaming that everything they did was for you. It was pretty inspiring. I don’t think any of them even noticed me.”

Hestia clung to me that much tighter, “It’s embarrassing. They’re making me out to be someone really important… so… it feels like I have to reach their expectations.” She explained, and I’m guessing that was part of the reason why Helgen was going to end up being a metropolis by the time Hestia was done with it. “They’re all working so hard…”

Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything?

“You have already exceeded them,” I told her, ignoring the disbelieving noise. “This place is going to become a paradise on earth, and things will level out. I promise that. Soon enough, once the novelty wears off, everyone will think most of the gods are pains in the ass like they did Orario.” That got a small giggle out of her, so I was making progress.

“Do… you blame me?” Hestia asked and my answer couldn’t have been quicker.

“Of course not,” I told her. “You aren’t responsible for what other people do. I know that’s hard to swallow -- I have trouble with it, but in the end, its true. No one forced the Forsworn to attack the city. No one held a knife to the throats of everyone partying and no one forced them to go with Sanguine. That’s on them.” In a way, having metaknowledge was a curse because I did know what would happen if Hestia hadn’t given away her Arcanum.

“I don’t blame you, and no one else does either,” I repeated as Hestia pressed herself against me, trying to eliminate any distance between us.

“But…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Even still, I knew what she was trying to say -- but I had to do some haunting stuff because of the domino she set in motion, and because of Perfect Memory, those memories wouldn’t ever go away.

“But nothing. You said it yourself -- Akatosh said this was an experiment to see if it was better if the Daedra had direct contact or how things were. He's the one that made it easy for the Daedra to cross the barrier into Nirn. If there's anyone to blame, then it's the Daedra and Akatosh,” I interjected, leaving it at that. Silence reigned in the room for a long while before I heard Hestia exhale as she pushed herself up a bit to look at me. Her expression was a mask of determination.

“We should update your Falna,” she decided. I blinked at the sudden decision, but I figured that it was better than her moping around being depressed over things that she had no control over. She scooted back, letting me take off my shirt before I laid down on my back. Hestia straddled my back and placed two hands on me after letting a drop of blood fall on my Falna.

Jericho

Level: 33

Title: Under Leveled

Health: 3200

Magika: 125

Progress to next level: 165,335/200,000

Strength: 133 (+151= 284)

Endurance: 190 (+225= 415)

Dexterity: 144 (+169= 313)

Intelligence: 110 (+77=187)

Sense: 160 (+240= 400)

Resistances:

Physical Resistance: 30% (10% due to Durable, Toughness and Oakskin perks)(15% due to Endurance)

Magic Resistance: 15% (due to Endurance)

Abnormal Resistance: 65% (50% due to Super Immune perk) (15% due to Endurance)

Fire Resistance: 15% (15% due to Endurance)

Cold Resistance: 65% (base 50%)(15% due to Endurance)

Skills:

(General)

Gamer Body (100/100): The user’s body is that of a video game.

Massage (55/100): Skilled hands make a target's tension and exhaustion melt away.

Kissing (65/100): An intimate act between lovers that, if done well, can bring pleasure to the target.

Sex (50/100): Greatly enhances parameters when engaging in sexual intercourse. (perks available)

Dishwashing (1/100): Stains and dried on food are easier to remove.

Cooking (1/100): Creating delicious meals with ingredients.

(Combat)

Footwork (23/100): The basis for all martial talents. Effectiveness is determined by Dexterity.

One-handed (30/100): Governs your effectiveness when using one-handed weapons, including daggers, swords, maces, and war axes.

Two-handed (25/100): Governs your effectiveness when using two-handed weapons, including greatswords, battleaxes, and warhammers. (perks available)

(Armor)

Heavy Armor (33/100): Governs your ability to move and fight in heavy armor. (Perks Available)

(Stealth)

(None)

(Magic)

(None)

(Thu’um)

Unrelenting Force (0/100): Your Voice is raw power, pushing aside anything - or anyone - who stands in your path.

Dragonrend (0/100): Your Voice lashes out at a dragon's very soul, forcing the beast to land.

(Crafting)

Woodwork (7/100): Craftsmanship involving wood.

Stonework (10/100): Craftsmanship involving stone.

(General Perks Available)

Sex:

Nutritional Value: The user’s semen has the nutritional value of a healthy protein-heavy meal.

Snug Fit: Size difference is no longer a concern.

Fertility control: The user can control the potency of their cum to prevent pregnancy or guarantee it.

(Combat Perks Available)

Two-Handed:

Bigger is Better: Maneuverability is not hindered by the size of a two-handed weapon

Strong-arm: All experience with two-handed weapons is increased by 10%.

Heavy Armor:

Tank: All experience with Heavy Armor is increased by 10%.

Here to Stay: Blunt damage effectiveness is reduced by 25%.

Huh. I had some surprisingly good perks to choose from. Bigger is Better sounded appealing, but I wasn't exactly sure how it would work. If I had something like the Dragonslayer, how could you make something like that as maneuverable as, say, a normal long sword? Or was I just over thinking it? Feather Step didn't make a lick of sense, so I probably was.

Strong-arm had its own appeal as an exp boost. Since my stats were so slow to increase, making up for it with skills was tempting. But Bigger is Better was my choice -- I hadn't begun actually learning how to use a sword yet from a teacher, and I could always pick it up later.

Here to Stay was picked for similar reasons -- because of my perks, when I was wearing the Ebony Mail, it was tough to hurt me. I wouldn't say it was impossible, not yet, but I had reached a point that most things couldn't do any considerable damage to me. And I wanted to continue that trend. So, as nice as exp gains would be, Here to Stay was the obvious choice.

Then there was the sex perks -- the last time I slept with Hestia before leaving for Falkreath had pushed me over the edge. And it was a real tough choice. A real tough one. While I hadn't encountered any real issues with size difference before, that didn't mean I wouldn't. For the most part, all the sex that I had was in Danmachi, an anime world. Now I was in Skyrim, which may not run on the same… kind of logic.

Fertility Control… I hated kids. I just didn't see the appeal. Maybe that would change one day, but for now that opinion was set in stone. A perk that meant I didn't have to worry about knocking anyone up? That sounded perfect.

But… I did have those extra perk points to use because of my titles… but no, I wouldn't waste them on something like this.

Markarth showed me the scale of what I was doing. I couldn't waste a free perk on sex when so much was at stake.

So, Fertility Control it was.

You have performed a feat worthy of a Title!

Journeyman Undead Slayer: 25% increase in the damage done to Undead creatures.

One Man Army: 15% base increase in all experience gains when outnumbered a thousand to one. An additional 1% is added for every additional thousand enemies.

Man of the Hour (3/9): Secret Achievement! A special title will be awarded when requirements are met: Becoming Thane of all nine Holds of Skyrim.

"Huh," I muttered, reading over my titles. I got some pretty good titles too. Not only that, but I had two additional extra perk points, bringing my total up to four. And I would save them -- I was going to have another training montage over the winter, so I would be using those extra points to buy top level perks. Not to mention the special title I could get.

Though, it would mean that I would have to become the Thane of Windhelm, but I could swing that. Probably.

"Jericho?" Hestia said, the light fading as the update finished. Her hands caressed my back for a moment before she laid down on top of me, her head resting between my shoulder blades.

"Hm?" I hummed, my eyelids feeling heavy. Yesterday was utterly exhausting. Now I was back home, laying in my bed with Hestia cuddled against me -- this was what I wanted and now that I had it, I just wanted to turn my brain off and sleep.

"Are you okay?" Hestia questioned, making me slowly open my eyes as I considered the question. And as I arrived at my conclusion, I realized that I couldn't lie to put her at ease.

"I will be," I half answered. It wasn't much different than the War Game. If anything, the War Game had been worse because they had still been living. They had begged and screamed as they died. But back then, I had been too angry to care. Too furious to think clearly. The War Game was a blur, while the butchery at Markarth was etched into my memory down to the smallest detail.

More than that, the old man… I didn't kill him but that blood was on my hands.

And as far as I was concerned, it was innocent blood. It was different than bandits and members of the Soma familia.

"Are you mad?" I asked, knowing it was a loaded question. She had a lot to be mad about.

There was a brief silence before I felt Hestia shake her head, "No. I can't say I would have done what you did, but… I understand why you did it. You were trying to protect me and Lili and everyone else. It didn't… go as planned, but… that's not your fault."

She squeezed me tighter as we fell into silence, the room filled with nothing but the sounds of us breathing softly. My eyes remained open, mulling over that for a long minute. I wasn't sure if I necessarily bought that, but it was something I was going to have to live with.

After some time, the silence was broken by Hestia. "Can you stay for a bit? I know you're busy, and I know that Alduin comes first but… I've missed you," Hestia whispered, shifting a bit so she was more comfortable and I realized we would be sleeping like this.

There was absolutely no way I could say no to that request.

"Of course."