46 C46 The Sphere

'Would anyone care if Mars or one of Saturn's moons blew up...'

— — —

"Yawn."

Sitting up in the debris of my bed, I slowly come to.

Soon, a smile etches itself on my face, 'I sense good things in my future...'

-Ring—Ring-

A metal plate appears in front of me.

Tapping it, I say, "Goldmann speaking."

A woman answers, "Sir, you have several deliveries tr—"

"It's okay, let them through; I'll be there soon."

"Yes, Sir."

I hang up on my assistant.

There's been no office romance with her; I'm not Tony.

'She's not bad looking, though—' I shake my head, "Focus."

It seems that being sated after a million years of neglect, a certain part of me is more 'active' now.

Standing up, I put on fresh clothes—not that I'll need them for much longer.

The deliveries being made to my lab are everything I'll need on my world travel.

A place I spent many hours at, digitally, in my last life.

Giving one last glance in the mirror, I leave.

It doesn't take long to get to the company and to my lab, where several pallets are situated.

'I'll just pack these up and leave.'

I've already checked to make sure I can take stuff to other universes, multiverses, etc., and I can't.

I can store stuff in personal dimensions, but those dimensions still exist in this multiverse, and if I leave it, it becomes harder, or impossible, to access them.

'I could make a storage ring or something, but I've already got something better.'

I can just put them in my escape tool.

I wished for it to be upgradable, so... That's one of the things I did.

There are many ways to upgrade it, but so far, it's able to do most of the things I want just by increasing in capability along with my soul.

'Apparently, the highest quality soul-binding also means its power scales with my soul strength.'

I shrug and pull out a black sphere from nowhere, after which all the crates disappear like they were never there.

Then I pour my soul energy into the sphere, making it expand slightly and emit light from the grooves covering its surface.

Displayed around me on hologram-like projections is the structure of my current multiverse—which I sweep away since I don't care about it at the moment.

Then, through intent, I searched for the next world.

Unlike most multiverses, the one I'm looking for has a very distinct shape; that of a tower.

Calling it a multiverse may not be entirely accurate; the version I'm looking for is more like a multiverse fit into a single universe.

I'm also making sure I find one where I can spend as much time as I want without time passing here.

After an hour or so, I find one that's more or less what I'm looking for.

'Hmm, I suppose this one will do.'

The one I found is safer than the Marvelverse, but I'll still have to be careful until I set some things in motion, or I'll be forced to find another one if I'm found out.

All I have to do now was make sure I end up at the right time, in the right place, and—in the right body.

'I wanna try being a protagonist; to see, and feel, how fate twists and turns at my every decision; how the entire world's destiny is tied to my own.'

The new 'world' I'm going to is far outside my current metaverse, which means even the most basic laws work differently, let alone that this one in particular works especially differently.

That means I will have an entirely new system of magic and laws to learn and that most things I know now will only serve as a reference to help speed me along.

Of course, nothing will happen to my soul, and I'll still be just as strong—

'But I won't know how to do jack shit with the native energies—and my body will be slightly stronger than a mortal, though, I'll remedy that as soon as I can.'

It may seem dangerous as I'll pretty much have to relearn everything, but if things get hairy, I can just 'Toggle God Mode' and start blowing shit up as I'll still be able to use my soul-related powers.

'As long as I don't fuck anything up too soon and just play along while fulfilling the "prophecy," I'll be fine—'

My blood starts boiling as I remember the face of a certain NPC that was undoubtedly the most idiotic character in the whole game.

'Besides, if I don't play along, then I won't be able to deal with that arrogant little bitch while still feeling vindicated.'

Shaking my thoughts away, I identify the person I'll be taking over.

I pick a specific time to do so; it needs to be at a special and coincidental moment.

'A—fateful moment—they might say.'

Setting up everything, I double-check, then recheck again as I don't want to screw up.

Assured that everything is in its place, I start activating the spherical escape tool.

It glows gold from my soul energy and starts looking like it's here but somewhere else, like an electron whose location can't be pinned down.

Then, while reaching my full output, I disintegrate into golden energy, which enters the sphere.

Then it, along with me, disappears with no one the wiser.

'Nor will anyone, as I'll be coming back at the same instant I left.'

I can't see anything while I travel since this is an escape device before anything else, and letting in whatever 'light,' or lack thereof, out there would be a security risk.

After an unknowable amount of time, I can tell I'm about to arrive.

'As long as I'm quick enough, it, or he—whatever—shouldn't notice I've taken over its 'chosen one,' especially with the tool's help.'

My 'sight' goes from pitch black to a scene eerily similar to one I've seen before.

A soulscape.

Except, this time, instead of a crystal, it's a greenish-blue ethereal-looking shard; it's as if it was broken off from something, yet it's still its own being.

Something else different is that I'm way more powerful this time, and I can consume it in no time—which is what I did.

Though, I consumed it while being sure the 'gods' of this world can't tell by using my device's cloaking ability.

After I finished, I changed my soul 'form' and 'aura' to the same as the previous guy's.

It's not hard to do since I'm him in the same way that I'm Zadkiel.

I finished just in time to be 'hit' by a golden speck of light that quickly spread across my soul and then radiated out to my body.

'Heh, I'm successful, and now I have an excuse for my golden soul.'

Drawing an end to my 'takeover,' I decide to wake up in my new body and new world.

— — —

The first thing I notice while regaining consciousness is—my ass.

It feels like I've been sitting on a wooden bench for a whole day without moving.

'I suppose that isn't too far from the truth.'

Next, I register the scent of nature; it's as if I'm surrounded by trees.

'I'm pretty sure I smell a horse too...'

Then I start focusing on my ears.

'Oh, yeah; definitely a horse.'

The sound of wooden wheels accompanied by occasional neighs ring in my ears.

'It'd be relaxing if my—'

I'm broken from my thoughts by a voice.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

I open my eyes and look at the blond guy opposite me and do everything I can to stay calm and not smile in childlike glee.

"You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

"Must've been," I look down at my bound wrists, "everything's still a little fuzzy. Must've been hit too hard on the head; I can't remember much."

'He doesn't need to know that I have the Dark Brotherhood after me.'

Before Ralof can answer back, Mr. Thief starts talking about how he doesn't like storms and is afraid of the rain—or something like that.

Then Ralof went on to kiss Ulfric's ass and pound a little Nord Honor into the thief.

The rest of the trip was like expected.

Ralof became continually more gloomy as we neared Helgen, while Ulfric would grunt once in a while.

After arriving, we were moved off the carriage.

The first thing I've noticed so far is that Helgen is larger, and there are many more prisoners than in the game.

'Almost a hundred if I count right.'

One thing that stayed the same, however, was the thief.

Like a universal constant that transcended all boundaries, the thief ran off while spouting more nonsense.

After which, an almighty arrow pierced all those boundaries, making the thief take much more than just an arrow to the knee.

'Should've stopped yelling and ran harder.'

It was soon my time to be called up, and once I was, I stalled for as much time as possible.

I don't feel like having the medieval dominatrix of a captain making me kneel, nor do I want Alduin showing up while I'm in a vulnerable position.

Seeing that I wasn't on the list, Hadvar asked who I was.

"Zadkiel. I—don't have a last name—not anymore."

He nodded and wrote what I said, "Not a very Nord name, but—you picked a bad time to come home, kinsmen."

"I was actually traveling to Hammerfell, but—I suppose that won't happen anytime soon," I look down at my bound wrists, "I don't really know how I got caught up in all this business."

Gesturing to my tunic, I continue, "I'm not exactly a soldier if you go by looks."

Hadvar nodded and looked like he believed me.

Turning to the captain overseeing the rest of the prisoners, he asks, "Captain. What should we do? He's not on the list."

Then he gestures to my tunic, "And from what I can tell, he isn't involved with the Stormcloaks; he doesn't even have armor."

She, in all her wisdom, says, "Forget the list. He's just another casualty of war. He goes to the block like all the rest."

'Well, nice to meet you too—wait—is this what a medieval Karen looks like?'

After that, I'm led to the rest of the poor saps that'll soon be in Sovngarde.

But before I reach them, I hear a roar from far in the sky.

I stop and look up, 'So it starts—'

//Notes//

Yes, it's TES V: Skyrim.

No, it's not as weak as you may think.

— —

If you're not familiar with Skyrim, then it shouldn't matter too much, as I'll try to make it so you can follow along regardless.

But honestly, even if you haven't played it, you probably still know enough to understand the story.

— —

If you are familiar with Skyrim but haven't delved into the lore much, then you probably won't understand where everything's coming from.

Part of it is lore, part of it is fan-derived lore and theories, and part of it is me filling in the blanks and/or doing it how I want.

/If you're unaware, The Elder Scrolls has an unreliable narrator. That means there's no "this is how it is, and that's that" like in other games./

— —

If you happen to be a TES Loremaster, just keep in mind that I rank myself as an apprentice in terms of lore, and it's mostly centered around the Skyrim game.

So don't expect a super in-depth Elder Scrolls novel.

If you want that, then go read the 'Dragonborn Saga.'

— —

To fill anyone in:

The Dragonborn has a kill contract on him from before the game starts, and it's likely they tried fleeing to Hammerfell, where there is no Dark Brotherhood.

The Dragonborn is almost certainly a Shezarrine(an avatar of Lorkhan/Shor/etc.).

That's what I meant by the soul being like a shard, a piece of a greater whole.

You don't have to be born a Dragonborn; bloodline doesn't matter; what matters is if Akatosh blessed you or not.

The golden light was Akatosh's blessing.

This is my own alteration, as to my knowledge, it's never specified if the Dragonborn was born as one.

— —

I'll be making some style changes as well.

In this story, dragons are going to be DRAGONS!

Six-limbed and giant creatures of dominance, power, and destruction!

Not the scaly turkeys from the game.

— —