34 Labyrinthian

{Hey Guys! I realized with no small amount of horror that if I cursed casually as I do in regular speech, the entire comment would disappear, not just my reply. I will try to reply to your comments without cursing lightly in the future, but the censorship is super bullshit. Peace!}

When Yuri got up the next day, he realized something strange about his bookshelf.

There was a book on it that he hadn't opened, without a title, and it was sitting on the top. He noticed it when he inspected the room first, but didn't notice anything strange about it and had a lot on his plate back then.

Yuri approached the bookshelf to inspect the two-inch-thick book, bound with red lining and with an emblem of a red bird spreading its wings on the front, also in red thread. Yuri opened it and found a note. Savos' same old yellow envelope style. He opened it and found his handwriting.

'Yuri, this is the Traveler's Grimoire. There are supposedly only 20 of these in Skyrim at the moment, all belonging to either our grandmasters or nobles of Solitude. Not even Jarl's can get these, so hide it well. There are 60 pages in them, and in each of the pages, you can bind and store a single item while eliminating its weight. Open the book to the proper page and press your hand on it with Magicka to extract the page's content you had stored. This isn't handy to store weapons you may need quickly, but anything else and this book becomes a necessity. My college has already mass-produced them for ourselves in secret, no need to feel indebted- Savy'

"Ha, he called himself Savy. Well, this will help me hide my inventory, and it's pretty cool not just as a study item. I should thank him"

Our hero suited up with his black mage robes and leather boots, greaves, and a black cloak with black leather epaulets before hooking the cloak together around his neck with his apprentice badge and donning his hood. His new sword and sheath were strung to his waist, Chillrend in his inventory. Yuri hadn't made a sheath for it yet, but it was on the list. It wasn't officially his anyway, he would be leaving it in the College after he collected its Record and bought it back.

'Wait, let me test that. System! How much can I sell Chillrend for?'

[Record worth 3,000 RP]

'How much can I buy it back for after I sold it?'

[...1,500 RP]

'Why did the system seem disappointed in me for a second. Alright, do it!'

And just like that, he was back to 9,600 RP.

{WhY dOEsn't He DO tHaT wItH ThE eYe OF mAgNuS Redd? Shhhh, my child, there is a reason.}

Yuri made his way out of his room and into Savy's office, where he was waiting at the desk he always was. Yuri held up the Traveler's Grimoire after he had already stored a few of his works in it.

"Thank you, Master"

"I believe I already mentioned that we were making those ourselves?"

"It doesn't make me any less grateful. It's a wonderful gift"

"Hmph, alright alright you'll make this old man blush. Are you ready for the outing? You look ready for a trip to the Daedric realms"

"Correction, I look ready for anything. Are you ready for this? I expected a heavier heart"

"Now don't go reminding me. With you by my side this will be much easier, hence it is now an outing. Now let's go."

Despite the nonchalant attitude, Master and Disciple walked the corridors without a word instead of 'translocating'. Savos had his Traveler's grimoire strapped to his side and hidden beneath his brown Arch-Mage robes and a brown cloak. He was walking with a staff made of twisted dark brown wood and a very powerful looking crystal at its tip. They kept in stride together, causing all who witnessed the apparent pilgrimage to make rumors of what the hell the Headmaster and his disciple had gone out to take care of.

Yuri and Savos left without incident, calling a carriage to go to Morthal. Yuri might be nearing superhuman, but his master was not and would need to rest before they entered the ancient Nord ruin. After a day of rest in Morthal, they traveled by carriage once more up the back of the mountain and stopped almost half a mile short of their destination. The carriage driver knew of the trolls native to this place, and would not entertain the tourists past here.

The pair made their way on foot before the path dipped down and stone arches met their gaze. The entrance to the once lively city of Bromjunaar lies before them.

Without a word the duo made their way forward, and without even entering they heard the heavy huffs of a Frost troll before it barreled past the short stone wall's doorway and charged toward them with a roar.

Savos lifted his staff, but Yuri had already launched a burning spear at it before he could react. A boom and a fiery burst sent the troll back through the doorway in pieces. Savos shook his head, Yuri shrugged, and the pair continued.

Yuri made note of the mound that would lead to the place where one could store the twelve masks before losing interest. The only masks he liked in the game were Volsung for its ability to get better prices and breathe underwater, and Miraak's mask for its style. Unless Morokei turned out to be godly and break his initial impression once he pulled it off the face of the wearer, he didn't think he would go around wasting his time to collect them unless they sold for incredible amounts of RP.

Two more trolls found them and Yuri decided to use his fists. Picking one up with telekinesis, Yuri went towards the other that had already descended a set of stone stairs and went into a boxer's pose.

'Maybe I should read up on some martial arts...'

The troll was already upon him and using its white-furred arm to swing a diagonal claw in his direction. Yuri swung his fist toward the incoming wrist and countered it before it could land. The troll stumbled and held its damaged arm in pain. It roared back in anger.

Yuri planted another fist in its jaw, sending it reeling down with a loud crack of bone. Yuri realized he couldn't use his partial fire fusion with his greaves on, so he stood above the downed troll as the one who was still being suspended against its will roared in anger.

Yuri slightly kneeled and sent multiple blows against the troll's chest, pound by pound a concussive noise echoed in the stone city every time Yuri's fist descended on the beast's chest and left a red mark. The marks turned into bloody wounds, the bones and lungs beneath its chest gave in, the beast's cries turned quiet.

Savos raised an eyebrow at this display but remained quiet. He had no idea what went on in the days he was secluded, but he was beginning to guess.

Yuri had learned what he wanted to. Without looking up, he silenced the suspended troll by snapping its neck and turned to Savos.

"Moving on?"

Another shake of his head, but Savos was glad he brought Yuri along. The pair went to another set of stone stairs to their now left and climbed them before coming to a magnificent door. Stone arches surrounded and took the same semicircle shape of the 10 foot high 20 foot long door, with a sort of fixture jutting out of the middle. They were about to enter the place when six apparitions made their presence known in a circle behind them.

'Shit, I forgot about this'

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Spoke a transparent blue Argonian woman in mage robes.

"We'll be back at the college before anyone even knows we're gone" Replied cynically another, presumably Nord female ghost.

Yuri looked back at Savos to find his frown the deepest it had ever gone, his eyes threatened to close. Yuri didn't interrupt, he knew Savy likely hadn't been back here to know this was waiting for him.

"You would care about that since you're the Arch Mage's favorite" Spat an Imperial sounding ghost man. Savos adopted a depreciating smile. He likely accumulated a number of sinister accusations when he came back without his friends and competitors.

"Don't forget, this whole idea was Atmah's to begin with" Spoke Savos himself, in ghost form.

'Huh?! He's right here!'

Savos wasn't confused at all. Yuri would ask later.

"Let's just get inside, see what's in there" A Nord-sounding ghost man interjected before they all vanished.

"...So I assume those we your dead colleagues...master?" Yuri softly questioned.

Savos had grown silent. "Vestiges of regret. When powerful mages have powerful regret they may sometimes leave behind apparitions of warning around their place of death."

"But you're obviously still alive?"

"But I left behind just as much regret. My apparition was likely here to piece together the story of warning the rest of my colleagues wanted to tell. I didn't need to be dead for the land to use me."

"Does this effect happen often?"

"It is highly unlikely. The place of regret or death needs to be magically significant or hold importance to an otherworldly figure. I imagine it is the person we're here to kill that is making the effect possible in the first place. Those aren't real ghosts, by the way. If they were, they would be saying much more. Let's go" Savos changed the subject.

Savos stepped forward and pulled out what looked like a round door knocker before placing it in the fixture's underside and using it to strike the door twice. He pulled out the door knocker and it swung open forward in two pieces.

They stepped forward after a pause into a very large hall with three sets of descending stairs into a familiar gate and lever entrance. The only problem was that the stairs all the way down was littered with skeletons, both dead and 'alive'.

With a creaking noise, about half of them stood up and pulled out bows and swords to try and approach to kill. The door swung closed behind them. Savos aimed his staff and knocked it against the ground before a chain lightning broke out and struck a dozen of them into pieces. With a flick of his wrist, Yuri took care of the rest in a hail of light spears.

"I can see that Light magic of yours getting seriously popular among dungeon divers." Savos remarked.

"I can see that you aren't using it, Master. Mind telling me why?" Yuri tried to lighten the mood by sending a dig at him.

"Haha, not everyone is the bastard of some Aedra, Yuri. Give me a few years and I'll catch up" Savos shot back, still partially convinced of his theory though.

"I can't tell if you're joking or not. Onward!"

They made their way to the last set of stairs before the raising gate, but the two Draugr Deathlords who sat on thrones at each side of the wall there thought otherwise. Their fully armored selves stood up and each spoke:

"Fus..."

"Shit!" The two living said simultaneously. Savos tried raising an ice wall, while Yuri thought to kill the enemy on his side early. Before his Deathlord could say 'Ro Dah' it was peppered in spears of light from top to bottom and turned into dust shortly after.

"RO DAH" In a wispy rasp, Savos opponent completed his shout. The complete Unrelenting Force shout collided with Savos' ice wall and completely shattered it, sending him hurtling toward Yuri. Yuri turned around and used ESP to catch him, while Savos used ESP to slow himself down. There was no collision.

The shout was still coming. Yuri raised his hand and pressed with gravity magic with all his might. In a clash that looked like it was distorting the air around the point of collision, a terrible boom broke out before the shout was canceled out and Yuri stopped his magic.

This Deathlord received the same treatment as the other, filled with light and ice-induced holes and erased.

"How did you guys take care of the Deathlords last time?" Yuri asked.

"We didn't. They weren't there. Morokei is growing stronger"

"Morokei?" Yuri pled the fifth.

"The man we must kill. A dragon priest from a forgotten era, donning two ancient and powerful relics. Up for the challenge?" Savos leered jokingly. He knew the answer.

"Sounds like money and glory to me, let's go!"

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Yuri switched the Nord lever, raising the gate and revealing a tunnel in greater clarity. It was 50 feet long, and along the walls that curved in a half-circle from the flat ground were depictions of mages, dragons, priests, and warriors of an era long past. On the other side, an identical gate and switch could be found.

Before they moved, Savos warned. "Once we open that gate, the one behind us will close permanently and there will be no way back. Believe me, I've tried"

Yuri raised an eyebrow, then looked up and warped the wall that housed the gate with earth magic, filling in every steel gap with stone and blocking the slot that housed it off completely before hardening the stone once more. He looked back at Savos, whose face warped into a wry grin at the disciple who held no need for common sense. This dive wasn't going to go the same way as last time at all.

The apparitions appeared once more, and they looked back for a moment at the young and pensive fools who were debating whether to continue before moving forward themselves and ignoring them to not spoil the mood. Very soon, those warnings wouldn't be necessary anymore.