Power Corrupts: The Best Laid Plans (ch. 71) (Patreon)

Time seemed to slow down as the days ticked closer and closer to Alduin's arrival date. The first few weeks passed by in a blur of activity -- the enchanters that the Emperor promised arrived and began their work. Last-minute construction was being done on Helgen as well. Hestia organized drills for the citizens to head into the bunkers beneath their homes while triple-checking to make sure they had enough food to sustain them for some time. Weeks, possibly.

Sheogorath and the Nerevarine, in the meantime, made their own preparations. Talos vanished once again, as he often did, so I couldn't recruit the Ebony Warrior. It was annoying, but it was what it was. I had my own laundry list of things to take care of, but the most pressing was Dragonrend and making sure that someone could hit Alduin with it.

Of the three words, I had managed to use two -- Mortal, Finite, but the last word for Temporary was giving me some trouble. Angier assumed it was because I was heavily influenced by learning Unrelenting Force. Temporary was backtracking in understanding, but I was making decent enough progress. Just not enough to make me willing to put all my eggs in one basket.

For once, I was stuck at the house while the others left on an Adventure. Lili, Serana, Aela, and Farkas all left to retrieve an Elder Scroll, the same one that the Dragonborn had in the game to learn the Shout. I was stuck meditating and thinking about the word Temporary instead of taking action. I was ansty, but all four of them could take care of themselves. Even if they had been gone for a week.

"Jericho?" Hestia questioned, standing behind me, running her hands through my hair. "I think we should update your status now," she voiced the idea. I slowly opened my eyes, mulling it over for a moment. I had avoided getting my status updated for months at this point to maximize my skill gain. But, I think it was finally time that I cashed in on those free perk points.

I nodded before I pulled up my shirt, revealing my sorely neglected falna. Hestia placed her hands on my back after having a single drop of blood fall from her finger into the falna, filling the room with a bright white light. And then I was hit with a barrage of windows worthy of a Windows.exe error. They stacked on top of each other, piling up and I could only sigh as I sorted through them.

Jericho

Level: 45

Title: High King of Skyrim

Health: 5000

Magika: 1500

Progress to next level: 81,000/250,000

Strength: 200 (+151= 351)

Endurance: 250 (+225= 475)

Dexterity: 175 (+169= 344)

Intelligence: 150 (+77= 227)

Sense: 200 (+240= 440)

My stats came along nicely, all things considered. I would have to re-enchant my armor to make it weaken me enough again, but my plan worked -- taking away the bonus and my lowered stats made it easier to gain more. It had been a real grind for the first half of the jump, my stats barely budging at all. Now all of them were in the ballpark of two hundred. So, when I finally hit level fifty, I should see a considerable jump in strength as I officially hit level 3 for the Danmachi system. Might be worth holding off on the armor until I level up so I know how powerful the weakening enchantments needed to be.

Separating a few menus, I saw that I had finally hit another milestone for more Stat perks.

You have reached 200 in Strength! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:

Tactile Telekinesis: What's the point of being able to lift a car if you can't keep it together because flimsy metal bends in your grip? With Tactile Telekinesis, any object that the user touches will maintain its structural integrity despite size or building materials.

A Need for Speed: Strength stat values are converted into MPH at a 2:1 ratio. I.e.; for every two points of strength, the user can sprint up to a speed of 1mph.

Absolute Control: It's tough living in a world of wet cardboard. With Absolute Control, the user never has to worry about squeezing a little too tight.

Huh. Those… were some seriously good choices. I see why the choices for perks got moved up to every hundred stat milestones. Still, there was a clear winner amongst the three choices. With little hesitation, I decided on Tactile Telekinesis -- the latter two definitely had my attention, but I wanted to see all my options before I started spending my hard-earned free perk points.

You have reached 200 in Endurance! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:

You Are What You Eat: The user can now receive bonuses from eating food, such as temporary stat increases. All potion effectiveness has been doubled.

Fast Regeneration: Health recovery rapidly increases. Dismembered limbs will now regrow. Additionally, a severed head can be reattached to the user's body.

Stamina Man: Full stamina recovery has been halved from 30min to 15.

The choices were a little less good, but I could see each one being valuable in its own way. I've never been dismembered before, so I hadn't known that I wouldn't just be able to grow a limb back. Each choice was more situational, but they were situations I rarely faced.

In the end, I chose Fast Regeneration. Of the choices, it offered less overt benefit(,) but just because I hadn't lost a limb yet didn't mean that I wouldn't. Especially when I would soon be butting heads against Alduin. You Are What You Eat was a close second, but only because of the double effectiveness of potions. Stamina Man came in third because I very rarely found myself out of stamina at all, so the diminished timer meant little to me. Not to mention the existence of stamina potions.

You have reached 100 in Intelligence! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:

Book Eater: Books are now labeled as consumables. Any information or skills contained within can be imparted on the user without needing to read them.

Education Focus: The user can pick one field of specialization to gain a 50% increase in experience gain.

...Huh. That was a tough choice. Book Eater sounded like it would grant me access to Skill Books, which would be welcomed. Though, I was a bit leery considering it sounded like I would have to eat the book in question. Education Focus would have been really nice to have prior to my training montage. Both were perks that would make grinding easier in the future but between the two of them… Book Eater was my first choice to get access to Skill Books. Though, I already decided that I would likely spend a perk point in Education Focus. If not now, then soon.

You have reached 200 in Sense! Please select the perk you wish to be awarded:

Night Vision: The user can now see perfectly at night as if it were a brightly lit room.

Expanded Vision II: The user's vision is expanded an additional 15 degrees for each eye.

Detective View: The user can hyper-focus his senses to pick up details that would ordinarily be missed, allowing for a state of mind that offers an easy-to-see trail of the user's prey.

Again, all three sounded nice, but there was a clear winner. I picked Expanded Vision II and was sorely disappointed that I didn't see an expanded Vision III appear. The human eyes could see about 180 degrees, with about a third of that being the peripheral vision. With Expanded Vision I, I could see through my peripheral as if it were directly in front of me. The second rank granted me an additional thirty degrees of vision, allowing me to see what was behind me to a degree.

With a few more perk points invested, I could get full 360 vision. As a frontline fighter, that was practically a wet dream. Maybe, at some point, I could get something like the Byakugan so I could see for miles in every direction.

My choices selected, I noticed I didn't get a choice for Dexterity. It was a little confusing because I didn't get to take a perk at the 100 point mark… but I guess it was waiting until I hit 200.

Setting aside the window, I turned my focus onto my skills.

Skills:

(General)

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

Massage (55/100): Skilled hands make targets tension and exhaustion melt away.

Kissing (70/100): An intimate act between lovers that, if done well, can bring pleasure to the target.

Sex (75/100): Greatly enhances parameters when engaging in sexual intercourse. (perks available)

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

(Combat)

Footwork (50/100): The basis for all martial talents. Effectiveness is determined by Dexterity.

One-handed (25/100): Governs your effectiveness when using one-handed weapons, including daggers, swords, maces, and war axes. (perks available)

Two-handed (50/100): Governs your effectiveness when using two-handed weapons, including greatswords, battleaxes, and warhammers. (Perks are available)

(Armor)

Heavy Armor (50/100): Governs your ability to move and fight in heavy armor. (Perks are available)

(Stealth)

(None)

(Magic)

Enchanting (100/100): Infusing the soul of the slain into an object to grant it mystical properties. (Perks are available) (Skill is able to be prestiged)

(Thu’um)

Unrelenting Force (75/100): Your Voice is raw power, pushing aside anything - or anyone - who stands in your path.

Dragonrend (65/100): Your enemies are stripped of their natural defenses, rendered mortal and vulnerable.

(Crafting)

Woodwork (7/100): Craftsmanship involving wood.

Stonework (10/100): Craftsmanship involving stone.

My Skill list seemed a little more filled out, which was nice to see. What stood out the most were two things -- my enchanting skill had hit 100, allowing me to do something I hadn't seen before. Also, I had hit milestones with the Thu'um, but I didn't have any perks available, so I'm guessing that I couldn't get any. Unless I reached a 100, possibly.

Curious, I clicked on the prestige notification and saw another window appear.

Gaining prestige in a Skill can only be done once the user has achieved mastery! Doing so sets the skill's progress back to 0, but allows the user to pick one special and powerful perk. In addition, the perks that the user did not choose will be reused in selection while new perks will be generated.

That was… incredibly useful to know, I thought to myself, going to select a few perks. Between good teachers and my own diligence, I had mastered the art of Enchanting fairly quickly. In truth, I was more of a master novice -- my fundamentals were absolutely solid, but I had yet to try my hand at more advanced and complex works.

(General Available Perks)

Kissing:

Smooth: Target of smooth feels heightened emotions of Happiness and Love.

Talented Tongue: The user’s tongue is rather adept at bringing targets pleasure.

Sex:

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

Snug Fit: Size difference is no longer a concern.

Release Valve: The user gains the ability to ejaculate on command.

(Combat)

Footwork:

Foundation: Footwork is the basis for all martial arts. 5% exp gain for all martial skills.

Light On Your Feet: Reduced response times. Effectiveness determined by Sense and Dexterity stats.

Roots for Feet: The user plants himself like a tree and absorbs whatever is thrown at him. 10% reduced damage that can be considered impact.

Flash-Step: The user is able to quickly dodge to the side to avoid a strike.

Reflection: Due to the user’s stance, some damage may be reflected onto an attacker.

One-handed:

Sure-Grip: When using one-handed weapons, the user cannot be disarmed.

Two-Handed:

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

Air Strike: From the tip of the user’s sword, an additional six inches of sharpened air emerge for greater cutting length.

Sure-Grip: The user cannot be disarmed.

Arc-Strike: The user can launch an arc of wind at an enemy.

Double Swing: In a single swing, the user can attack twice.

(Magic)

Enchanting:

Alteration Focus: Enchantments that focus on altering a stat, such as fortification of strength, give an additional 10% exp.

Status Effect Focus: Enchantments that focus on creating a status effect, such as producing fire or lightning, give an additional 10% exp.

Speed Enchanting: The process of enchanting an item takes less time.

Perfectionist: Significantly reduces mistakes during the Enchanting process, thus making them more powerful.

Touching Up: Enchantments can be altered after being finished.

Double Up: Two enchantments can be placed on a single item.

(Prestige)

Enchanting:

Less for More: The user is able to get more out of souls. Petty souls now have the quality of Normal souls, normal souls have the quality of greater souls, and greater souls have the quality of black souls.

Soul Stacking: The user gains the ability to stack souls. Quantities are: 100 petty souls for a normal soul, 1000 normal souls for a greater soul, 10,000 greater souls for a black soul.

That, I thought, taking a moment to look over my long list of choices, was a lot of perks to choose between. Some were easier choices than others, but some were far less so. Worse, in the six months I’ve been in Skyrim, I only gathered up an additional ten perk points by gaining various titles like Undead Slayer, and Bandit Slayer, not to mention King and Thane of Skyrim. And, for a long time, it felt like I had done pretty well in that regard. Ten additional perks? That was awesome.

Except those ten additional perks wouldn’t let me get everything that I wanted.

Still, I had to go through the perks I needed first before deciding anything with my perk points. I did see a few repeats, but that was just because the perks were available rather than me reaching a milestone. Skipping over Kissing, my gaze landed on Sex and I felt my heart split in two. One hand, I had a perk that I desperately wanted and with heroic force of will, I had refrained from spending a perk point to obtain. On the other, I had a perk that I desperately needed -- the ability to control when I cum?

Next round, I told myself. Plus, I could always pick up some traits that I wanted when I jumped worlds. With little hesitation, I selected Snug Fit. It could be considered a waste given that there was a magic spell that accomplished the same thing, but I didn’t know the spell. Not to mention the natural limitations of magic.

The next three were fairly easy picks -- Light on Your Feet, Air Strike, and Sure-Grip. Each would be immediately useful for combat rather than perks to make grinding easier. I was a tank build, but I was an in-your-face tank build. Moving fast was a must, having extra sword length as a trick up my sleeve could never hurt, and never being disarmed? That one spoke for itself.

That brought my attention to Enchanting. In a way, it was the easiest choice -- I had four perks to choose with, so I just went with the top-level stuff first and worked my way down. Double Up, Touching Up, Speed and Perfectionist -- though, I did learn that the latter two had additional ranks that I could further invest in.

Lastly, that brought me to the prestige perk. Both were similar in function(,) but different in execution. With the Black Star, Soul Stack was the more appealing of the two. Simply put, I did a lot of killing and using the Star as a storage device, I could reach the same level as the Archdemon from Dragon Age by killing enough mob characters on top of snagging the final boss's soul. A two for one.

Less for More, however, was an instant buff to what I could do with souls. And I could only assume that bump would apply to a soul of a boss character as well.

It was profoundly annoying that I couldn’t use a perk point for it, but there wasn’t anything else I could do.

In the end, I went for Soul Stack. It just had too much potential for me to ignore.

Last free perks points burning a hole in my pocket. I had an idea of what I wanted. Ten free perks. So many, yet so few. My first pick was Absolute Control, simply because it was a natural pick. Next was Education Focus, which I left blank to use whenever I needed it. Lastly, of the Stat perks, I decided on Detective View -- it wasn’t directly useful in combat, but with my growing Sense stat, it would be an incredibly valuable perk.

For combat, there were obvious perks to take. Arc-Strike and Double Swing -- one gave me a ranged attack, and the latter increased the power of my swings. The other natural picks were Flash-Step and Reflection. And, just like that, I was already down to three free perks. I looked over my choices for a long minute, mulling over what I should do with them. It was tempting to snag the cheap exp boosts, but those were something that I could buy later.

Out of all the skills that I had… The one that offered me the most future growth was Enchanting.

So, I dumped all three points into it -- I gained Speed Enchanting II and III, drastically cutting down the length of time it would take me to enchant an item while also snagging Perfectionist II. My enchantments wouldn’t just be much faster, but with the reduced mistakes, their base power would be increased.

I almost couldn’t wait until Alduin showed up.

“And… done,” I finished, confirming the changes and dismissing the window. I felt my skin crawl for a moment, my body adjusting to the massive influx of stat points I had been sitting on for some time. However, when the flash of discomfort passed, I rolled my neck to find that I felt better than ever.

“Your stats sure went up a lot,” Hestia muttered, patting my back in a congratulatory manner before letting my shirt fall back down. “You sure worked hard, Jericho,” she said, leaning forward to wrap her arms around my neck, half leaning off the couch that she sat on, so her breasts were pressed into my back.

I reached up and placed my hand on hers, letting out a breath that felt like I had been holding in for near six months. To think that I picked Skyrim to have an easy go of it after Danmachi. I should have just let the Dragonborn, who probably wouldn’t have been Serana in that case, deal with the whole mess and just kept my head down to study magic and get loot. This jump was easily a thousand times more stressful than Danmachi. At least then, the entire ordeal only took place over the course of a week for the most part.

"Everyone has been. Vilkas found a cure for Lycanthropy," I started. I didn't even have to tell him about it, he simply found it all on his own.

Hestia let out a breathy laugh that tickled the back of my neck. "Our familia is going to grow a bit," she said, clearly pleased with the fact. Though, not as much as we had originally assumed. The Emperor and the gods weren't the only ones that had been screwed by the rules set during the Moot. One of the rules set to limit gods and familias from spreading their influence too quickly applied beyond kingship.

For Aela and the others to join the familia, they would have to abandon their Lycanthropy to shake off the hooks Hicine had on them as well as leave the Companions. And that, I knew(,) was going to make them have second thoughts. For some, they grew up in the Companions, and leaving that behind wouldn't be easy. More than that, though, even if they did want to leave, that would mean gutting the Companions of seasoned warriors and taking most of the Circle over to the Hestia familia.

To be blunt, I didn't have high hopes for a high turnover. Aela was a maybe. Farkas and Vilkas were also maybe but I was leaning towards no.

"There's still Serana," I pointed out. In recent times, before leaving to retrieve another Elder Scroll, she seemed to get along with everyone well enough. Everyone enjoyed dry sarcasm when it came from a pretty face.

I felt Hestia start to mess with my hair after withdrawing her arms from around my neck. "Do you think she'll say yes?" Hestia wondered, naturally insecure(,) but it was valid concern about the High Vampire. Simply put, her situation was worse than the Circle. Molag Bal and Akatosh had a stake on her soul -- neither had descended, but with rules in play, joining a Familia specially signed you up for spending eternity in their realm of Oblivion.

"I don't think she'll say no," I answered. "She's a shy one, but if she really wanted to be left alone, she would just read in her room instead of hanging out in the living room." I'm pretty sure that Hestia was braiding my hair, much to my amusement. My mane of hair had gotten considerably longer over six months.

"I'll ask her when she gets back. And I should probably talk to Aela as well to make sure that they know they're always welcome, even if they choose not to join." Hestia said as she made a small braid before moving to make another with a few locks of hair.

I made a sound of acknowledgment, looking into the fireplace as a log shifted, sending up a plume of sparks. "You're not upset?" I asked, thinking she would be.

"Before you and Lili joined, I would be crying my eyes out right now," Hestia admitted. "Back then, I just wanted a Familia. I almost didn't care who became my first child, so I'm really lucky it was you and Lili. Now, I want the children who join my Familia to do so because they want to." She finished off another braid before swiftly moving to another. "I think you would look really good with a bun," Hestia voiced before undoing her work to start to tie my hair up in a man bun. I didn't exactly agree, but I decided to let her have her fun. As a way to apologize for being gone so much(,) and for being so busy even when I was here.

Hestia sighed, "This reminds me of the War Game. The day before it." I had been thinking of something similar.

"We still have some time left," I reassured her. I had the date marked off exactly six months when I arrived before Alduin was scheduled to arrive. "A few more weeks."

Hestia made a noise of acknowledgment, but it was clear to see that she was anxious. "We've prepared everything that we can," I told her. "All that's left is doing it."

That the stage we were in. Everything was in place. All that was left were the final touches.

A knock came from the door, making the two of us sigh. I'm not sure why we bothered to close the thing. "My turn," I said as I stood up, taking a moment to marvel at what it felt like to not have a mane of hair brushing the back of my neck.

"Like it?" Hestia questioned as I caught my reflection in a mirror above the fireplace.

It didn't look bad, I guess, eyeing the bun of hair located at the back of my head. But… "Sure," I tried, hearing a huff from Hestia.

"You can't lie to a god, Jericho," Hestia pointed out while I headed for the door. I knew as much, but I was hoping that a half answer and not hating the hairstyle would trip up her lie detector. Grabbing hold of the door, I pulled it open and looked down at a courier. Small, waifish thin, but he didn't gape up at me like others.

"Your Highness, there's…" he trailed off, while I sighed.

"A dispute with the Orcs," I finished for him. "Where?" I asked, swallowing a sigh. It seemed like the orcs were the cause of all of my most recent headaches.

The courier nodded, "In the market, your majesty."

I nodded, looking over my shoulder to see Hestia giving me a megawatt smile and a thumbs up. I returned it with a thin-lipped smile before heading out the door while the courier scampered off. Diplomacy was not my strong suit, but it didn't have to be when it came to Orcs. They respected strength, and it was generally accepted that I was by far the strongest in the city. If only because Orc and Nords alike didn't count magical power.

Heading down through the streets, I ignored the bows and looks of awe as I passed, idly messing with my hair a bit so it didn't feel so tight against my skull. There was a moderate evacuation going on, urging people to temporarily leave the city. Some did leave. Most were determined to stay, and more arrived as if attracted to the danger.

Like, for example, a few tribes of Orcs that could teleport in and out of the city because Malacath demanded that his city-state of Orsinium be joined into the Mark and Recall network on the condition he couldn't use them to invade. Though that didn't stop people from assuming as much when a dozen or so orcs appeared out of them, each armored up to the gills and armed to the teeth.

It seemed like a reasonable mistake to make. Until it kept happening.

Making my way towards the Market, I reached the steps and, to my surprise, I saw that the situation was already being handled.

Aela stood between a band of Orcs and a few mercenaries and townspeople that thought they were being attacked. "We are all here to face a common foe -- the World-Eater. Let us not spill blood pointlessly, and instead spill the blood of our foe together," Aela said, looking between them. Neither side dared to advance for any one of a dozen reasons -- they knew Aela by reputation and by sight, or they saw the Ebony bow.

I made my way down the steps, "She's right. If you want to fight someone, it'll have to be me,' I backed her up, making the curious crowd's attention turn to me. "And, like I said a dozen times -- stop assuming we're being invaded by Orcs every time you see one. If they were going to invade, there would be more of them." I finished, making dismissive gestures for everyone to go back to what they were doing.

I looked to one of the Orcs, their leader. He seemed to be glaring at me for some reason, but I couldn't care less. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I reached them and saw Aela eyeing me curiously. "There's a barracks on the Eastern part of the city. You don't have to stay there, but that's where the others are grouping up." I told the Orc leader, who simply narrowed his eyes before stomping off with his band. Weird, but whatever.

Aela smiled lightly as our eyes met, "Should I bow?" She questioned, cocking an eyebrow at me. I hadn't seen her since… well, we last saw each other in the chamber of the Circle.

I smirked at that, and Aela smiled before punching me in the shoulder. I'm guessing that she read my mind -- that I would love to see her get on her knees.

"It's good to see you Aela," I told her honestly. "Are the others okay?" I questioned, suspecting that they were(,) but I wanted verification.

Aela's head bobbed, "All went well. We found what you said we would find. There was an avalanche in the mountains, so we had to take a detour, which is why we're so late. Farkas and Vilkas went back to Whiterun to double-check preparations there while Serana decided to go to the Throat of the World with Lili. I came here to inform you and Hestia." Okay, that was good to hear. "We also found some other things in the Dwemer Ruins, but that's not something we should discuss here."

I nodded, placing everyone in my head. Lili and Serana were doing what I had told them to do -- Serana was the Dragonborn, so she would be able to learn Dragonrend by watching that flashback. With her, we had someone that could use the Shout in its entirety. Right at the last minute, too. I still had a few weeks to master the final word, and I was feeling confident that I could.

It might be worth testing to see if Serana could learn any other Shouts while she was up there. Just in case. Especially considering the Graybeards decided that they would rather let the world end before lifting a finger.

"Can I get a hint?" I asked as we started to head to the stairs.

Aela just gave me a smirk, "It will be hailed as the greatest adventure of all time." She decided, telling me that whatever she had was something good.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words died in my throat as my ears picked up on a sound. Something far off in the distance, almost enough to make me think I had imagined it. I might have if I didn't feel a slight tremor race up my legs. My eyes narrowed dangerously, "EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" I shouted, my voice ringing out over the marketplace plaza. Almost instantly, the marketplace went silent as ordered by their king.

Then I heard it again. The distant sound of roaring. And this time… this time it was closer.

My gaze drifted up to the Throat of the World and my heart sank even as my gaze climbed upwards. Through the swirling clouds, I saw a figure beyond them. Little more than a spec considering the distance, but I could see that spec all the same.

A tremor hit me, like a shockwave coming from the peak of the mountain, so weak that by the time it reached me it just barely rustled my hair. Yet, the sky began to stir and the crackle of thunder almost managed to drown out another roar.

Alduin the World-Eater was here.

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One more chapter for the Skyrim Jump.