155 Chapter XVIII: Ye Olde Scrolle
"Ugh" I groan as I try and blink my eyes open, they seem far heavier for whatever reason so it takes me 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 me worriedly while Tolfdir blasts me 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 remembered, the massive sphere that no doubt contained a literal sea of enchantments thrummed with power even after all this time, 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 moment the lexicon sunk into its intended place the entire room lit up and the crystal above us started channeling sunlight by whichever arcane means the Dwemer 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' movement produced nearly launched Marco off the platform. Some 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 some 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 immediately.
The moment my hand touched it my third eye went into overdrive, the prophecy contained within metaphorically slamming itself into my mind as images of dragons burning settlements at the behest of a massive black specimen 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 warhammer 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 me with confidence "Oh..." Is all I managed to mutter before I lost consciousness.
(Back to the present)
Instead of answering me, Tolfdir simply continues channeling restoration for a while before giving me 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 comes out as sarcastic.
The old fart smirks as if to say 'Should you really be asking me that right now?'
I roll my eyes "The moment I touched it it immediately connected to my... special sight, I wouldn't ever attempt something like that even in a controlled environment."
He huffs and walks away, I knew he wasn't really pissed at me, 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 something about 'black wings in the cold' or something, 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 memories, 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 wormed itself into my mind and my head snapped up to Tolfdir "Please tell me my eyes did not start deteriorating." Going blind would be fixable with my special talents but not having to devote time 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 moment 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 me 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 times, you always know more than you should, and in some 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 some lightning falling from the heavens and I will truly become the young master I was always meant to be...
I sigh deeply as I get up, taking a moment to orient myself with the constant assault of information that will no doubt take me 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 me from faceplanting into the ground from the sudden influx of noise.
I swear if I find out that some divine fuckery happened just so I would get a prophecy rammed into my face for shits and giggles I will burn a bitch.
The subdued yet constant presence of Mephala 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 time below ground was coming to an end!
Even if I did like exploring the ancient city, I was not built to spend so much time underground, and our settlement 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 time I focused on training and studying while also working on the many projects available to me. The very idea I could be studying engineering, anatomy, and straight-up genetics at the same time, and in many instances on the same day would honestly be baffling if it didn't fill me 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 me 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 became far more effective against her, much to my annoyance.
It wasn't all doom and gloom thankfully, the constant sparring matches against someone who could now break my bones like a dry twig made me improve my finesse and skill with polearms at a rapid rate, soon pushing me over the boundary of a mere adept and into the realm of an expert spearman... or was it glaiveman?
When it came 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 kilometer and then tell me 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 me 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 me was an absolute nightmare, the mechanisms keeping the tiny containers that held the instructions on shrunken tablets were so complex it took me 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 me with optimizing my designs immensely, better gear placement, better weight distribution, better hull composition... on and on it went.
And finally, the Falmer...
I was both satisfied and not. Any of our attempts at the less magically capable were quickly met with failure while those of greater talent we were able to restore in relation to their own innate ability. We theorized it might have something to do with the strength of their lineage or something 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 me 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 moment she learned about Auri-el and the other traditions of her people she immediately became a devotee, and if she wasn't already bound by her obligations to me she would have no doubt already become a priestess.
Her newfound mania for solar magic was, of course, an immense 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 immediately, the newly formed ash sludge rushing into Nightshade like a wave. She starts trashing lightly but the determined glow in her eyes stops me 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 mere frantic fit of deep breaths. I absentmindedly toss a robe with a complex self-cleaning enchantment 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.
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And the scrolls have foretold
if one was so bold
to deny me my stones
they would not grow old.
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