"Ugh" I groan as I try and blink my eyes open, they seem far heavier for whatever reason so it takes a minute. After what feels like an eternity I finally see light and in a single instant my consciousness returns fully, my ears pop and I see the others looking at worriedly while Tolfdir blasts with restoration magic.
"What the hell happened?" I croak as the pain assaults my everything.
(Flashback)
After we made sure that the automata were well and truly inactive we made our way to the observatory while commanding the adventurers to secure the area. The observatory chamber was far larger than I rembered, the massive sphere that no doubt contained a literal sea of enchantnts thrumd with power even after all this ti, all the while the arms of the massive contraption stood at attention, likely not having moved an inch for thousands of years.
"What a fascinating device" Tolfdir exclaims happily as we climb up, his eyes lighting up like those of a child as he looked over the unique construction.
As my companions were busying themselves looking around I made my way to the command pedestal and inserted the key I had taken from Tolfdir earlier, the mont the lexicon sunk into its intended place the entire room lit up and the crystal above us started channeling sunlight by whichever arcane ans the Dwer possessed.
I started fiddling with the buttons to find out what they did and was forced to slow down when the wind the massive arms' movent produced nearly launched Marco off the platform. So cautious fiddling later the crystal descended, opening up to reveal our prize. "Well, I'll be" Tolfdir mutters while the others gawked at the sight.
"We can gaze at the divine scribble longingly after we have it in a secure place" I say as I approach the literal divine will of this world "Never know when so Daedra feels funny and decides to take it for themselves."
As I say this I swear I can hear the pout in the back of my head.
With that said I unceremoniously grabbed the Elder Scroll's handle... and regretted it imdiately.
The mont my hand touched it my third eye went into overdrive, the prophecy contained within taphorically slamming itself into my mind as images of dragons burning settlents at the behest of a massive black specin of their kind bombarded my sight in rapid succession. The images soon shifted into a massive golden dragon launching a tiny bit of its power onto Nirn and a child with red hair soon being born, the barrage of visions ended with a woman wearing imposing armor and wielding a warhamr standing before a massive black dragon that felt like death, their battle imminent.
I drop the scroll onto the ground and run a hand over my aching face, the blood that no doubt left my eyes did not fill with confidence "Oh..." Is all I managed to mutter before I lost consciousness.
(Back to the present)
Instead of answering , Tolfdir simply continues channeling restoration for a while before giving the 'disappointed old man stare' "What were you thinking trying to tap into an Elder Scroll?!" He seems stuck between dumbfounded and surprised that I am even alive. I blink slowly "Master Tolfdir, do I look like a complete idiot to you?" I try and sound incredulous but my voice is so tired it just cos out as sarcastic.
The old fart smirks as if to say 'Should you really be asking that right now?'
I roll my eyes "The mont I touched it it imdiately connected to my... special sight, I wouldn't ever attempt sothing like that even in a controlled environnt."
He huffs and walks away, I knew he wasn't really pissed at , just worried. I turn to the others and ask "So, what exactly happened?"
Davos shrugs "Dunno what to tell you boss, you touched the scroll, started bleeding from your eyes, and muttering sothing about 'black wings in the cold' or sothing, then you fell like your strings were cut."
Minthara lightly flinches at those words, she had been thoroughly educated on the topic at this point and had a very good idea of what I might have seen.
I take a deep breath and start searching my mories, after a good while I was very surprised to find that I now had a deeper understanding of upcoming events. It wasn't information in the usual sense but I had a vague feeling of when things might happen and such.
A sudden thought word itself into my mind and my head snapped up to Tolfdir "Please tell my eyes did not start deteriorating." Going blind would be fixable with my special talents but not having to devote ti and effort to fixing a problem is still better, besides no one wants to go blind!
He shakes his head "That is the most surprising part, beside a little bleeding, nothing happened."
I nod and once more look inward, nothing around my eyes seems to have changed but the mont I even consider my third eye I am assaulted by information from all directions, so much that if I wasn't lying down I would have stumbled to my death.
A look at the system quickly informs of what happened.
[Awakened Third Eye => All-seeing Third Eye:
Mage Sight
Empowered Combat Precognition*
All-seeing: Vague feelings and impressions present themselves to your mind at all tis, you always know more than you should, and in so instances, more than you would like, strengthens clairvoyance to a great degree]
Great, a power-up after touching what I shouldn't have and nearly dying, add so lightning falling from the heavens and I will truly beco the young master I was always ant to be...
I sigh deeply as I get up, taking a mont to orient myself with the constant assault of information that will no doubt take a month to learn to control and direct and slap myself back into focus.
That proved to be a very bad idea as my followers had to stop from faceplanting into the ground from the sudden influx of noise.
I swear if I find out that so divine fuckery happened just so I would get a prophecy ramd into my face for shits and giggles I will burn a bitch.
The subdued yet constant presence of phala in the back of my mind quietens down to a suspicious degree as the thoughts enter my mind...
(One month later)
Finally, after more than half a year my ti below ground was coming to an end!
Even if I did like exploring the ancient city, I was not built to spend so much ti underground, and our settlent and mines were now developed to such an extent that I was no longer needed for security or organization, so it was decided that two masters would leave and a rotation will be set up.
Seeing as after I recovered I had a massive amount of free ti I focused on training and studying while also working on the many projects available to . The very idea I could be studying engineering, anatomy, and straight-up genetics at the sa ti, and in many instances on the sa day would honestly be baffling if it didn't fill with a sense of pride.
The homunculus project Phineas started was going relatively well, we were still in the initial stages and were gathering information on what materials were best to use for such an endeavor, the old lich was so enthusiastic about the whole thing he gave tips and advice about anything I asked without so much as a blink.
Two weeks after we got the scroll I also finally managed to make Minthara control her newfound draconic pride, well... I managed to an extent. She didn't suddenly turn into a haughty annoyance but insults and provocation beca far more effective against her, much
to my annoyance.
It wasn't all doom and gloom thankfully, the constant sparring matches against soone
who could now break my bones like a dry twig made improve my finesse and skill with polearms at a rapid rate, soon pushing over the boundary of a re adept and into the realm of an expert spearman... or was it glaiveman?
When it ca to my eye, the first three weeks were hell. I could see EVERYTHING! And while that may seem like a good thing, try looking with a million eyes from a million directions in a radius of over a kiloter and then tell how good it is.
Still, as always, a painful struggle was a very good motivator to improve, thus my control over my abilities and my skill in mysticism skyrocketed like mad finally allowing to once more use my sudden talent for foresight without blinding myself.
After the tale of our dragon-slaying spread, hordes of adventurers attempted to descend into the darkness, the generous donation of their lives and deaths to our cause allowed us to push more fully, and soon most of the 'surface' of Blackreach stood under our control, now patrolled by my improved animonculi.
Speaking of the death robots, the puzzle box Mzark had given was an absolute nightmare, the chanisms keeping the tiny containers that held the instructions on shrunken tablets were so complex it took days to even understand what I was supposed to do.
It was like a Rubik's cube but instead of six colors, it had forty.
Still, I did manage to unlock the first level, and the lessons within helped with optimizing
my designs imnsely, better gear placent, better weight distribution, better hull
composition... on and on it went.
And finally, the Falr...
I was both satisfied and not. Any of our attempts at the less magically capable were quickly
t with failure while those of greater talent we were able to restore in relation to their own innate ability. We theorized it might have sothing to do with the strength of their lineage or sothing similar due to the elves of this world generally being 'better' all around the more Magicka they held and thus more connected with their ancestors.
As always, the unfortunate part of holding intelligent hostages was that they got uncomfortable ideas, like liberty, or not wanting to serve the grey elf that butchered their kind by the thousands, so I had to deal with that as well.
It cost three perfectly functional potential magi...
No matter, I will simply keep at it and one day I will be able to ungoblinate these elves! And the first step to that righteous removal of goblination was the ritual we prepared for today. I entered the concealed part of my compound once more and soon found my way into a highly enchanted ritual chamber. Edrassa, Phineas, and Tolfdir were already waiting inside with a very nervous Nightshade standing in the middle of a large circle at the room's center. Both Masters were very enthusiastic about seeing the 'final product' as it were, and Nightshade had managed to accumulate enough Magicka for the potential risk to be worth my
while.
Still, I had to play the benevolent lord so I did "Are you prepared Nightshade?" I ask firmly. The almost-elf nods quickly "Yes, I wish to see the true sun."
I chuckle at her words, the mont she learned about Auri-el and the other traditions of her people she imdiately beca a devotee, and if she wasn't already bound by her obligations to she would have no doubt already beco a priestess.
Her newfound mania for solar magic was, of course, an imnse boon.
"Very well" I nod "Take a deep breath and prepare to channel the ritual."
She does so and I start counting down.
As I reach one I activate the circle and all the expensive components we gathered disintegrate
imdiately, the newly ford ash sludge rushing into Nightshade like a wave. She starts trashing lightly but the determined glow in her eyes stops from interfering in any way.
Hours pass as she is covered in the muck and useless remnants of the ritual components, her trashing now a re frantic fit of deep breaths. I absentmindedly toss a robe with a complex self-cleaning enchantnt her way and she puts it on without much of a fuss.
The filth falls off and I am stunned by what I see. Silver hair, deep blue eyes, a mature, if petite, stature, and a very attractive pale elf looking at her hands with happiness.
Step one, complete.
And the scrolls have foretold
if one was so bold
to deny my stones
they would not grow old.
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