Power Corrupts: College Days (ch. 60) (Patreon)

Lili slammed into me like a little bullet, so she was lucky that I wasn't wearing my armor. Books clattered to the ground upon the collision, spilling from her backpack. Her fingers gripped my jacket while she buried her face into my leg. I had almost forgotten how small Lili was. She barely came up to my waist.

"It's good to see you too," I returned, placing a reassuring hand on her back. "It's been a while." Too long really. It had been necessary to split up. Saving the world was too big of a task for just one person. But it felt like I spent more time away from Lili than with her. First was the coma that she had fallen into after nearly being murdered by the Soma familia, then almost as soon as we arrived in Skyrim, she goes to the College to learn magic for when the final battle comes.

She made the best call. It was the smart decision. It just put us on opposite sides of the country.

"Hestia misses you. So did I. And we got your letters," I told her, making Lili look up. She let go of my pants, wiping away the tears that had gathered in her eyes with the back of her sleeve before she sent me a beaming smile. "How has the College been treating you?"

"Lili has learned a lot! Magic here is very different than back home -- it's a lot more uniformed and it can actually be learned," Lili started, sounding excited to share her own experience. That much I knew already -- outside of a few races, magic was just something you had to cross your fingers and hope you got. Even those that innately had magic, there was no telling what kind of spell your falna would create. And each spell that it did make were typically unique to the person with that falna. "Lili also has an abnormally large amount of an inner energy called magicka!"

I nodded, following along, "It might have something to do with the fact you're an adventurer."

"Lili is a supporter!" She corrected, "But Lili can't imagine how much magicka she would have if she had higher stats." Lili seemed to mull it over, looking down away from my face, only to let out a panicked sound when she realized that she had dropped her books. Dropping to her knees, she started picking them up, so I did the same. On the cover of one, I saw a familiar symbol.

"Illusion magic?" I asked, handing the book to Lili to place back into her backpack after a quick damage inspection. Casting an eye on the other books, I saw that same symbol a few more times. Lili's shoulders dropped a bit, telling me I had seen something I shouldn't have.

She nodded, "Lili wanted it to be a surprise, but Lili is learning Illusion and Restoration magic to start with. Both fit well with Lili's role as a supporter and both are extremely versatile."

"Sounds like good choices," I said and I saw Lili flush at the praise. I meant it too. Lili was speccing into becoming a white mage, which was perfect for her role as a supporter. Healing went without saying, but Illusion covered the buffs as well. I wasn't sure how they would play out in reality, but that didn't change that the picks were pretty much perfect for her. Not to mention -- of the World Perks I had chosen, I picked Expanded Magic. So Illusions might not just be limited to buffs. "I mean it Lili."

Lili offered a smile as she straightened up her books. "Lili has liked it here," she confessed. "Lili had heard of a magic school before, but she never thought that she could go. Everyone here has been really nice to Lili too!" She quickly reassured. Then I realized that she probably thought this was a check up on her.

At least one of us enjoyed the past couple of weeks. "Good! How's Vilkas?" I asked, recalling that Farkas's twin had come here to search for a cure for lycanthropy. “Did he ever get anything sorted with his hand?” The one that had been cut off trying to save me. To that, Lili lit up and I knew my answer.

“Lili can show you!” She decided, standing up and adjusting her backpack that had a fresh tower of books on it. “Lili was on her way to see him when you showed up -- actually, Mr. Jericho, how did you get here? Everyone said that the passages to Winterhold were already closed in.” That was annoying, but given that this was the furthest point north in Skyrim, I guess that wasn’t much of a surprise. It did mean that I was stuck on using the Mark and Recall spells and exploring in this area was going to have to wait.

“That's… kinda hard to explain,” I admitted as I followed Lili through the halls. They were empty, but soft light seemed to come from the walls themselves so it was easy to see. “I don’t suppose Sheogorath showed up at any point?” I asked her and Lili nearly missed a step. She whipped around to look at me, a bewildered expression on her face. Given who I was asking about it could be because she was here or she just hadn’t heard that the gods descended.

“Why does Mr. Jericho know the new Archmage?” Lili questioned, and it was my turn to give her a bewildered look.

“The new what now?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around that change. “When did this happen? What happened to the old one?”

Lili shifted as she resumed walking, “It all happened just before Lili and Mr. Vilkas arrived, so Lili didn’t see what happened… but Lady Sheogorath sentenced the old Archmage to become a mudcrab for cowardice.” That… sounded like something that Sheogorath would do. Still, it meant that she knew Savos Aren’s story. How he had left two other mages behind when they had confronted a Dragon Priest. Which was bad enough, but he also sacrificed them to erect a barrier to seal the Dragon Priest away.

And, to be fair, that might have been the right call. I wouldn’t judge him for that. Though, from the sounds of it, Sheogorath most certainly had.

“Then Lady Sheogorath declared herself the new Archmage and no one really felt like arguing with her. Lili doesn’t know if it means anything since Lady Sheogorath hasn’t come back since her appointment. At the moment, Mirabelle Ervine, the Master Wizard, runs the place,” Lili explained the situation.

That sounded… fine? It sounded like an issue that I really couldn’t do anything about. A problem that couldn’t be solved. Naturally, that made me suspicious as all hell. There was another shoe that was going to drop. I could feel it. I just had to find it first and, hopefully, I could put out this fire before it became a massive pain in the ass.

“Well, before she left, she put a Mark in the College that let me teleport here. I was at the Throat of the World with the Greybeards a few minutes ago,” I told her, and Lili made a noise of awe.

“Magic is incredible,” she decided, earning a chuckle from me.

“She also has a Mark back home. She and Hestia are… friends,” I figured, and this time I laughed when she made a noise of shock.

“That sounds really dangerous, Mr. Jericho!” She pointed out, but I could only shrug in response to that. So far, Sheogorath seemed to be in my corner. Something like here and at the Throat of the World… I couldn’t begin to say how great this was for me. Even if I didn’t master anything, especially because I would be dividing my focus, I would finally be taking a serious step forward in both areas.

“Maybe, but Shegorath seems to be on the side of the angels at the moment.” Moreso than the other gods I’ve encountered. In fact, she was shaping up to be my biggest ally when it came to taking down Alduin.

Lili seemed doubtful, but we arrived at our destination before she could argue the point any further. We reached a door at the end of the hallway, and upon pushing it open, Lili revealed the library. I was hit with the smell of old books, ink, and paper. It was an odd smell, but one I found that I enjoyed. And the source of the smell was impressive.

The library looked like it came out of a fantasy novel. Almost to the point that it didn’t look real. The room appeared to be a circle, maybe set in a tower, with the walls covered in bookshelves. Countless books were stacked up on their shelves, almost to the point of bursting. There were so many that additional shelves were placed to hold the spillover and even they were all but overflowing. A handful of chairs and desks were sprinkled about for research, but I’m guessing that people were encouraged to take their work with them. Like Lili had.

While the halls had been empty, the library had some people milling about. And, by far, I saw the fewest Nords among them. I saw Bretons for the most part, along with a handful of Redguards. The rest were either Khajiits or elves. There was one solitary orc behind a counter, and I recognized him as the librarian. However, someone else caught my attention.

Sitting in a corner with a pile of books gathered around them was Vilkas. He rose a hand as a greeting -- the same one that had been cut off. I walked towards him with Lili right behind me, "It's good to see you whole again," I told him as he rose from his chair.

"It's good to be whole again," Vilkas agreed. "It wouldn't be the case without Lili," he said, offering the arm for me to clasp. I did, proving that it wasn't some illusion. "The ice held out long enough for them to reattach it. I still need some checkups to make sure that it stays that way, but it's good as new." More good news. It made me suspicious. "Are you here alone?"

I nodded, knowing what he meant. "Your brother is fine and back in Whiterun. There was a cold snap, so they decided to winter there." I told him and I saw some tension ease out of him. "I'm here because of magic. The Mark and Recall spell work again."

Vilkas made a face, "I thought I heard as much. These clever folk ran about the place when old spells were able to work again." That was something I hadn't considered. What other spells would suddenly start working again now that the barrier had been restored? Mark and Recall was just one spell, after all. Maybe flight? Did that one get taken out of the games- wait, no, it hadn't been in Oblivion either.

"I've kept my nose out of it for the most part. I've just been researching my curse," Vilkas explained, gesturing to the books around him. I looked at the piles -- some of them looked old.

"Burning the midnight oil?" I questioned, knowing that it was late. I know college operated on its own time and sleep schedule, but I didn't expect to see them both up and in the library. I actually felt kinda bad about it -- Vilkas' appearance told me that I was right based on the dark bags under his eyes. He was looking through old books for an answer I already had. But I didn't regret my choice of leaving him in the dark.

"Have to. For clever folk, they sure are fierce when it comes to the library. At night is the only time there are few enough people here that I can get any research done. Can't check anything out on account that I'm not a student and the Orc says I have muscle for brains, so I can't be trusted to care for the books without adult supervision." Vilkas sounded more amused than anything by the development and a glance at Lili showed that she agreed based on her sage nodding.

I looked around at the students milling about -- some of which sharply looked away when I caught them looking at me.

"How goes your quest?" Vilkas asked, making Lili perk up as well.

"Uh… progress has been made, I think. I've been Thaned in five Holds, and I learned how to Shout. Now I'm here to learn some magic," I gave the cliff notes and highlights. There was a time and a place to give them the full version of how utterly fucked Skyrim was, and it wasn't now. In response to that, Vilkas' eyes widened in shock. "It hasn't been smooth sailing, but no one has died. I mean, no one that I didn't want dead." I corrected, because a shit ton of people have died in the past month.

"Mr. Jericho wants to become a student?" Lili questioned, sounding hopeful, even if she tried to disguise her tone. I nodded.

"I'll be splitting my time between here and the Greybeards, but I'll be spending most of the winter here," I told Lili, smiling lightly at just how happy the news seemed to make her. "So, how exactly do I sign up? Is there a tuition fee or something?" I asked, and it felt weird to think I was becoming a student again. And this time I was learning a far, far more interesting subject than computer science.

Lili nodded, "There's a test to see if you can join. They give you a spell to perform, but there are ways around it. Lili…" Lili's face began to burn, "Lili had to sing to summon a bunch of birds to qualify since I couldn't perform any of the listed spells. That's changed though!" She quickly added, as if I would think she had been doing nothing the past weeks.

There was a small issue. "Hm. I can't do any magic, though," I admitted. In fact, I don't think I've even touched my mana bar so far. "Hell, I've only read a single book on magic." The one about enchanting on the road. Even then, there hasn't been any time to use what I've learned. Every enchantment I've found so far was too powerful for me to break down.

Vilkas let out a small laugh, "Aye, sounds about right. You could use the Thu'um. That might impress them enough."

"Or Lili could teach you some spells!" Lili added, beaming up at me. Given that she was a student herself, I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. And just because I managed to use the Thu'um once didn't mean I could do it on command. My Skill with the Unrelenting Force was at twenty-five, which seemed to be the bare minimum.

"Eh, I'll think of something."

…

The answer to my problem was shit loads of money. Just like a normal college of the non-magic variety. A small 'donation' got me through the door. Hell, it could probably get me a diploma. And, I had to admit, it felt damn good being able to throw money at problems to make them go away.

"The College will gladly accept this donation. Liliruca Arde has also vouched for you so, despite your… inexperience with the mystic arts, you are welcomed to this ancient hall. You will have to work hard to catch up to your peers, but I believe with a willingness to learn, you can achieve everything you set your mind to." Mirabelle Ervine actually sounded like she meant the words as she accepted what was essentially a bribe to let me in.

She was a Breton in her late fifties to early sixties -- she had brown hair, her skin had a natural tan to it, but because she so rarely saw the sun, her skin was also pale at the same time. She wore wizard robes while she sat at a desk in a richly decorated room. It wasn't the Archmage's quarters, but it was a sizable office that could double as a small library.

"I appreciate it," I said, shoving the heavy chest of gold and jewels forward to seal the deal. Lili was outside, but I knew she could hear everything that was going on.

"It might take a day or two to make an enchanted set of robes to fit a man of your stature. In the meantime, please wear whatever makes you comfortable -- so long as it is appropriate," Mirabelle said, her gaze roaming me. It lingered on the Hestia Armor on my arm. I think I would need to put that in my inventory. Just to be safe. "We encourage our students to focus on their fields of study. You can take as many classes as you wish, but..."

"Jack of all trades, master of none," I quoted. That was fine. I had an idea of exactly what I wanted to learn. "I was hoping to learn enchanting."

I wanted to learn more. Alteration to buff myself. Destruction to cast powerful spells that could kill. Maybe dabble a bit in Restoration to learn how to heal myself if I was ever in a pinch. However, this was a time to focus. I was already dividing my time and ability between the Thu'um and magic. I couldn't afford to divide it up any further.

Mirabelle seemed a bit surprised at my chosen field. I'm guessing she thought that I would have picked Destruction or something by virtue that it would let me kill things faster. Or I looked like the type that would leave the enchanting to others. Which, to be fair, I did consider, but Enchanting was a skill that I would be able to take with me beyond Skyrim. An enchanter, not so much. That, and no one knew what I wanted better than me.

"Very well -- if you wish I can introduce you to your teacher. Sergius Turrianus is an Expert in the field and the greatest registered enchanter in all of Skyrim," Mirabelle stated as she stood. However, her gaze lingered for a second as her lips quirked down with a frown. "To warn you -- he is a brilliant… if very abrasive man. Like many others, he has been exploring the limits of magic that were once forgotten after the Oblivion Crisis."

Shrugging at that, I replied, "Fine with me. So long as I can learn something, then I can put up with a little attitude." I dismissed the issue, wondering how the barrier being restored would effect enchanting.

Mirabelle seemed thankful and hopeful that I would maintain that position after I met the guy. "Then please follow me," she requested and I did exactly that. A perk of a place like this was that they went with grandiose architecture, so that meant doors I didn't have to duck to enter. Every once and a while, as she led me through the College, she would stop and explain what something was -- essentially giving me a tour of the place.

It was useful, but I found myself distracted. Now that I was actually here, I was thinking about the College Questline. So far, all of them had been thrown off the rails -- The Companions were all giving up their Lycanthropy. The Thieves Guild was being run by their patron deity. I became the patron of the Dark Brotherhood, and I just had to kill Cicero when the time came to make sure it stayed that way. That just left the College Questline.

Even that was thrown off the rails by the Archmage being turned into a mudcrab.

While that could be a good thing, I don't think the Eye of Magnus was just going to remain hidden forever. Once it was discovered, that Thalmor agent would fiddle with it, and the only way to stop it would be the Staff of Magnus. Without a few things of the Archmage, it couldn't be retrieved.

Not to mention… I could use both on Alduin. Honestly, I wasn't sure what the Eye of Magnus was, but between it and the staff, they could be some much-needed firepower to take down Alduin. I wasn't even sure how I would use them, but when the world was at stake, I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

"I hate to ask this," I started, making Mirabelle pause. "But has there been any progress reversing the Archmage's… condition? There were some things that I needed to ask him."

Mirabelle frowned deeply as she continued to walk, expecting Lili and me to follow. "There has been none. Sheogorath might be mad, but she is what she claims -- an extraordinarily powerful mage. We haven't given up, of course, but… it seems likely that we are stuck with her initial sentencing."

Shit. "Which was?"

"Whenever she stops finding it funny," Mirabelle answered. Double shit. She shot me a look over her shoulder, and I saw she realized that time frame could be just as long as I thought it would be. I got a snapshot of Sheogorath's humor back home. It was possible that she would find that funny forever.

"I see. Well… with Sheogorath, you might have some luck convincing her that another punishment would be funnier," I offered. "Maybe something like… like Lycanthropy, except with mudcrabs. The Archmage could be himself most of the time but one day of the month, he turns into a werecrab." It sounded stupid, but something like that would be right up Sheogorath's alley.

Mirabelle seemed to consider that, "I will take your words under advisement." She said before she approached a room. I shared a glance with Lili, who offered a shrug while the Master Wizard knocked at the door. I hoped she would take the bait. I didn't particularly care about the Archmage, but I did need his things to get the Staff of Magnus. "What is it you need to ask him about if I'm able to ask?"

"It's about the ruins of Saarthal. I'm a member of the Companions, and one of our tasks is to hunt down pieces of Wuuthread. We have most of them, but with the rediscovery of Saarthal, I was hoping to find a way to fuse them back together again." A lie, but a decent one. Only instead of pieces of Wuuthread, I would yoink the Eye of Magnus. While I spoke, I heard someone cursing on the other side of the door.

She seemed to think that over before offering a shallow nod. "Excavation is on hold for the winter, but when spring resumes, I can allow you to join the efforts as a student. Provided that you earn that privilege," she added like she hadn't taken a massive bribe to allow me into the school.

By that time, the door finally swung open to reveal a scowling middle-aged man. Sergius Turrianus had a receding hairline that left the top of his head bare while the sides were covered in gray hair. The sight was completed by his hastily put on robes. "Mirabelle? By the gods, what is it? I'm in the middle of very important-"

"This," Mirabelle interjected sharply as she gestured to me. "Is your new student. Effective immediately." If it were possible, the old man scowled harder as he looked me up and down.

"I'm not taking any students," he responded with a lack of fear. My eyes narrowed, meeting his glare with one of my own. Surprisingly, he didn’t back down. “I don’t care who you-”

“Jericho, Captain of Divine Hestia’s familia and her lover. Thane of Whiterun, Falkreath, Markarth, Riften, and Windhelm. There are some other titles, but those are less important.” It was the first time I really threw my metaphorical weight around and dropped names, but I think I might make a habit of it based on how Sergius’ expression shifted until it looked like he ate an entire lemon tree.

Even Mirabelle seemed caught off guard. Sergius looked at me, like he was trying to call me out in a lie. I was tempted to pull out my badges of office from my inventory, but I still wanted to keep that on the down low. If I could.

And, as it turned out, dropping some names changed his tune. “I… well,” he tried, grasping for a reason to tell me to fuck off. But, luckily for me, he found none. “I guess I have no choice in the matter.” He didn’t. I was here to learn how to enchant. “Very well then. Come inside. Are you another student that’s going to suck up my invaluable time with meddlesome questions?” He asked Lili, and for a moment, I thought she would say yes just to spite him.

Instead, Lili looked to me, “Lili will find you after class!” She decided for me, not even bothering to hear my confirmation before she skipped off to her own classes. I watched her go before I turned to Mirabelle, who offered a thin smile.

“Enjoy your stay in the College, Jericho…” she trailed off, a bit caught out by which title that she should be using.

“Just Jericho. And thanks,” I said, offering a small nod. With that, she walked away, leaving me and my new teacher. Looking back at him, I saw him give a mild glare at me, clearly displeased that I was interjecting myself into his life. But this is what he gets for being a teacher -- people that wanted to learn from him.

He audibly swallowed a sigh of annoyance before he took a step back, welcoming me into what seemed to be a classroom. I thought it would be his room or something. It was relatively small, at least in comparison to everything else. There were three rows of seating, each row slightly higher to see the teacher at the bottom. A walkway marked down the middle, leading to a desk that clearly marked his own place of study.

The classroom itself was a bit of a wreck. I’m guessing that his policy of no students wasn’t just for me. The lower rows of seating were used as shelving for various items and the medieval equivalent of a blackboard was covered in arcane symbols and… math. Shit.

“Welcome to Enchantment… what placement are you?” He asked, closing the door behind me as I stepped inside. I didn’t even know what that meant.

“I read a book about enchanting once,” I answered him, making the man sputter as a look of pure horror dawned on his face. “But I didn’t understand a fair bit of it-”

“A novice! You are an utter novice, and you… Look. No disrespect,” he said in a tone that implied a hell of a lot of disrespect, “but what in Oblivion are you even doing here? Why are you trying to learn enchanting? You’re a Nord!” He snapped at me, dragging a hand down his face as he brushed past me towards his desk. I followed him, looking over his head with ease, and saw what looked like an enchanting table.

I considered how to answer. I might have underestimated how much he didn’t want to teach me. The hope was that he would jump at the chance to teach a student with so many titles, and maybe hear a word about the money I dropped to get my studentship. For me to learn anything, he had to want to teach me something.

Considering it for a moment, I pointedly reached into my inventory and pulled out Azura’s Star. He gaped for a moment, then his eyes widened to the point they nearly fell right out of his skull. “I found this in some ruins. It’s a bit of a long story, but the gist of it is that some asshole sealed himself inside of the star to achieve immortality by kidnapping people to devour their souls. Or something.”

“Malyn Varen,” Sergius muttered, looking down at the Azura Star with awe. It looked the same as it had -- damaged, but still richly decorated. “I knew him. He was my teacher years ago. I earned this position because he killed one of my classmates researching that damn star.”

Huh. I didn’t know that. “Sounds about right. I want to kick him out of the star, then I want to use it for my own enchanting. But I don’t know how to do either of those things, so right now the thing is about as useful as a paperweight to me right now.”

That actually managed to get a laugh out of Sergius, “Azura's Star… Every enchanter dreams of getting their hands on it. And a novice that doesn’t even know how to enchant has it,” he muttered to himself with a chuckle.

“Most enchanters don’t go exploring ancient ruins,” I remarked with a shrug. His tune had changed. That was promising. Now he would want to teach me, even if it was only because it meant he got access to the star.

Sergius nodded, “A fair point,” he conceded. “Well… if there’s any bright side to you being a novice, it means that you have no bad habits to train out. Enchanting is a delicate process -- of all the mystic arts, it's the closest to art rather than science. Your canvas is an item. Your paint is the soul of a living being. The power of an item is determined by the skill of your art, the durability of your canvas, and the potency of your paint.”

He adopted a lecturing tone as he walked to his desk. “I will assign you some reading that will further explain the fundamentals… you said you’ve read a… a book about enchanting. Which was it?” He asked, straightening everything up at his desk. I noticed how he wasn’t even commenting on my inventory. Though, that could just be because of how distracted by the star he was. His eyes darted to it, and I could practically feel his desire for it.

“It was a book about breaking down enchantments to learn them,” I explained before a hand dripped into my pocket to retrieve two necklaces. “But I never got a chance to apply what I learned. Not many enchanting tables in Skyrim, and I’ve only found a few enchanted pieces that I would be willing to break down.” I passed the necklaces over to him. There were a pair of gauntlets that I picked up from a bandit as well -- in the game, they had fortified two handed, but I wasn’t sure if that was the case here.

Sergius took the necklaces and inspected them, “A hazardous method. Essentially, by tearing apart an enchantment, you learn the strokes and methods to create the piece of art. Useful for some, but very wasteful,” he remarked before he handed the necklaces back to me. “Careful with those. They are a minor fortification of Strength -- if you aren’t careful with them, then you could break your arms with a single swing.”

I nodded, “I saw as much happen when the guy I took them from took a swing at me.” I explained, looking down at the necklaces. I had them for so long that I had nearly forgotten about them. As far as enchantments went, more Strength wasn’t what I needed. Still, it was a start.

Tucking them away, I focused on Sergius.

“I’m ready to learn if you’re ready to teach.”