Chapter 15: Dealing with Vermin

As I ran down the hallways, I was forced to leap and dodge here and there to avoid the roaring flames Ariane must have unleashed on her opponents.

I could easily go through them without harm, but I would still need to test all my capabilities before I go trying to kill myself.

I made it into the dungeons and found Ariane, Danka and a few now free Elf children trying to make their way out of the burning estate.

When the girls noticed my voice, a number of screams were let out and they all hid behind Ariane.

Ariane: "It's all right, this man is a helper that I employed. Artorias, our business is done here. We need your help to get us out."

Artorias: "That wouldn't happen to have anything related to the burning structure we are trying to escape?"

Ariane: "I-I-have no idea what you're talking about!"

Danka: "She used too much flame magic."

Ariane: "Danka!"

Artorias: "Enough! We need to get out before the place comes collapsing ontop of us! Stand behind me!"

Ariane and Danka's little argument came to an immediate end and they, along with the children, stood behind me.

I told them to cover their ears, they looked questioningly at me for a moment but obeyed.

Time to let out the big guns!

Artorias: "FUS RO! (Force, Balance!)

A wave of force was unleashed and the wall before me was decimated as it exploded outwards.

I only used two words of [Unrelenting Force] since I had wished to be the lore version of the Dovahkiin.

Thus, I should be equal to Miraak in his younger years when he had battled Dragon Priest Vahlok, which caused a landmass of Skyrim to split off and that landmass became Solstheim.

And that was just by the sheer power of their Thu'um. Imagine what mine is if I was the Dovahkiin from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that defeated Miraak at his strongest in Apocrypha, where he had spent thousands of years learning and mastering his abilities from the endless stores of knowledge of Apocrypha.

And as expected, two words were more than enough as I had accidentally destroyed the surroundings outside as well.

I looked back and the others were wincing at the pain of my Shout.

They quickly recovered and we fled, once u were able to see the forest, I teleported us over.

I will need to learn the Psijic Monk method of teleportation in the Mysticism school of magic.

That way I can teleport anywhere I remember and can see in my range of sight.

I approached the group of four girls that were around Ariane, and I used "BEX (Open)" on their Mana Eating Collars, causing them to fall off their necks.

The kids hugged me and one even tried pulling my mask off.

Hahaha, I knew this would happen, luckily the Dragon Priests also thought of a solution to this. Magic. It cant be removed as it is magically attached to my face and can only be removed by me, or with the appropriate magic.

"It Just Works."

Any Universe's most infamous words.

After the kids had been dealt with, they were washing up at the river near us and within our range of view.

Meanwhile, I was with Danka and Ariane and gave them the parchments of the Elf Contacts I got and handed them to Ariane.

She looked at it them with suspicion for a moment before she opened one and glanced over the contracts. Wrinkles started to crop up on her forehead.

Danka: "This...!"

Artorias: "Those are the elves' sale contracts. Since the names of the buyers are written down in several places, you should be able to use them to locate the buyer and find the elves. Also, Two more elves are in the feudal lord's castle. Furthermore, this contract is unmarked, but I assume that they have been sold to the Empire. It won't be long before they cross the Border and saving them may be too late by then."

Danka: "Ariane, this is bad."

Ariane and Danka began conversing on what they should do to save the Elves sold to the Empire and the remaining two in the Feudal Lord's castle.

I had pitched in and told them that I can locate the Elves en route to the Empire with my [Clairvoyance] spell while explaining its function.

(A/n Imma do a time skip here cause it kinda boring to just repeat. So it's gonna go fast this chapter since I want to wrap things up and move onto Volume 2 where I have more freedom to write)

Danka had taken the role of exciting the Elf Children back to Lalayoya.

Meanwhile, me and Ariane had teleported to the top of the Feudal Lord's castle.

There were a few guards stationed here who noticed us and almost sounded the alarm.

But I was faster as I skillfully threw several knives in three different directions, hitting my targets dead centre of their hearts.

This was the first time I had killed someone that was somewhat innocent.

The others were r.a.p.i.s.t.s and bandits, but these soldiers were simply doing their jobs.

It was impossible for me to know if they really are innocent or guilty of any sin.

Ariane: "Artorias?"

Artorias: "It's nothing. Let's s continue onwards."

I did my best to push away my feelings of guilt at having killed the potentially innocent soldiers mixed among the guilty ones.

Ariane and I made our way to the Lord's chambers undetected.

Occasionally I would slit the throat of cast a silent [Soul Tear] shout on my opponents while using [Detect Life] and [Clairvoyance] to make our way to the destination while avoiding as many guards as possible.

I didn't want to kill any more innocent soldiers, but I guess it was too late for that. The best thing I could do was to still maintain my Humanity and stay true to who I am.

I have no idea if Mannimarco's curse is affecting me, but I don't plan on finding out, I'll cure myself of this curse ASAP once I reach the Hot Spring or talk to one of the Dragon Kings of this world.

I could talk to "him"," he" does live at the Hot Spring since the Dragon King's Tree resides there.

(A/n In Anime it is called the Lord's Crown or something, I don't care, I follow novels and manga since that is better than Anime.)

Or I could talk to "her" since "she" lives at the Elf Capital of Maple. She used to be BFF with the Elf First Cheiften Evangeline.

Ariane's sister is very close friends with "her". I guess she is the best choice since "he" kinda acts like a dumbass.

(A/n sorry for not using their names. I don't want to spoil it for those that are Anime only watchers.)

...

We eventually came upon a pair of large ornate doors, we knew this was the place.

When we barged in we saw the scene of a disgusting pig trying to r.a.p.e a pair of beautiful, almost naked, elves chained to the bed.

The man, who was the Lord, failed to notice us as we approached him and pulled him off the bed and onto his large filthy a.s.s.

Then the man had only just noticed us and tried shouting for the guards...

...

...

...

But no one came to his call.

I had placed muffling spells on the entire room, thereby preventing any sound from leaving.

I used my raw strength to rip the chairs apart from the elves, and I instantly cast "Bex (Open)" to unlock the [Magic eating collars].

Lord: "You...! D-Do you think that you can do something l-like this to me and get away with it!! I am a marquis of this country!! This me before your eyes i-i-i────"

When I turned around I saw Ariane was dealing with the Lord who tried to violate the elf woman I had just freed.

Ariane: "Are you perhaps misunderstanding something? Even if you're killed here, this country is in no position to retaliate against the elven country of Canada. Therefore, for breaking Rhoden's treaty... Disappear."

With that said, Ariane chanted her flame magic, but the two elves stopped her.

They wanted to kill the Lord themselves for the trauma they had gone through.

The two of them began condensing their mana, while I went to a certain painting to take care of some things.

I cast [Become Ethereal] and my body became ghost-like, I effortlessly passed through the wall and I was in a room filled with gold and various valuable objects.

I approached huge chunks at a time and swiped my hand, storing them inside my Inventory space.

I used the [Become Ethereal] shout once again and returned to the room, where I saw something I don't even want to describe, and the three Elf women.

With that taken care of, I teleported myself and the others away to the outskirts of Diento.

The two Elf women were surprised and pestered Arian about it, while I sorted myself out.

It was then that we noticed explosions occurring at the Lord's castle.

We did some small talk, and I gave Ariane the "Sword of the Lion King" that Arc gave in the novel. It bosted the user's attack speed primarily.

Ariane: "Are you sure you want to give this to me? It looks to be a really good sword."

Artorias: "No thanks, I'm all set with my own."

I point to the VT7 High-Frequency Blade Muramasa, and the Breton Hero's Sword at my waist and back respectively.

Ariane: "Haha, I suppose that's true. Thanks, Artorias."

Artorias: "Don't sweat it. Speaking of which, my payment for a job well done?"

Ariane: "Ah, yes! With the Heist done, here's your reward as promised."

 She tosses me the coin pouch and I catch it with ease and tie it to my waist. It would be difficult to explain and would only cause problems for me if my Inventory Ability was exposed.

Ariane: "Artorias, I'm heading to the closest village Lalatoya, would you mind meeting the elders?

Artorias: "And why would you want an outsider, a Human at that, to accompany you to an Elven village? I prefer not to if that is the case."

I feigned ignorance as I knew what would happen and what she is talking about.

Ariane: "Surely you jest? In order to invite an outsider, I first have to request it from the elders. And to be honest, I would like to continue to use your powers in the future... I would like to introduce you to one of the elders to gain their trust. And with you having some Elf blood, and a Elf Sister, it would improve relations with you even more. Perhaps you can meet the family and your sister if you would tell us about her. Is there a reason why you don't want to go to the Elf Settlement?"

I already said it was Human, so trying to go with Plan number 2 is a bust, guess I will go with Plan 1, no real change anyway.

Artorias: "If you swear to not attack me, then I will explain...and show the reason."

Ariane: "If I promise not to rise my swords will you show your explain yourself?"

Time to the story rolling.

I removed my mask and faced them.

They all had shocked expressions on their faces.

The elves on the side immediately took action as a surge of magical power flew out of their bodies.

However, Ariane stood in front of them and grabbed their hands to control them.

Ariane: "Artorias..., You, what happened to you?"

My Half Human and Half-Undead face was on full display.

(The Half Undead face looks like Josh from Until Dawn secrat ending, where he is in the process of transforming into a Weindego.)

Artorias: "An Evil Sorcerer who wanted to take control of my homeland almost succeeded in his endeavour but I went to confront him. As for what happened to him is unknown, only that he most likely survived. He had placed a curse on me to try and manipulate me into being his puppet but was unsuccessful as retained my free will. I've been travelling ever since then looking for a cure to my Undead state. It's been a very long time since that day."

I decided to take full advantage of my 100 Speech skill, if it even works, to lie between my teeth to persuade the Elves of my curse. I had mixed and mashed pieces in info from the Elder Scrolls series about Mannimarco and the events he played in during Molag Bal's invasion of Tamriel.

I also added some made-up things as well to make sure things made sense and weren't all gibberish.

The Elves wanted to attack me a second time but were stopped by Ariane once again.

Ariane: "Look closely. He doesn't carry the pollution of the dead. Could an undead use healing magic? Artorias used his power to help our brethren... He did not have to reveal his Curse's secret. Depending on the type of curse it is, the elders may have some insight on it."

Artorias: "And you are quite sure they would not mind...my present condition?"

Ariane: "Don't worry about it, they will be fine with it once I talk with them."

I place my mask back on and face Ariane.

Ariane: "I'll introduce myself once more. My name is Ariane Glenys Maple. A warrior of the Canadian forest from Maple."

She held out her right hand while saying so. I grasped it back.

"Artorias. I'm travelling to remove this curse of mine."

I originally didn't intend for this to happen in the exact same way as it did in the story, but it seems whatever being that reincarnated me wanted me to have an Undead curse of some sort similar to how Arc did in the original story.

But I'll forge my own path onwards, and conquer this corrupt and undivided world

Ariane: "Then let's go meet Danka upstream!"