C63 Da Fluff

Before Savos could catch onto anything wrong, or they react, I let him 'stop' time. After which, I put down my hood and said, "Speak," in a soft but commanding voice. It was finally an occasion where I could play the 'hidden-master-who-finally-reveals-himself' and I wasn't going to pass it up.

—

"I was right," muttered the other monk, "you were preventing the connection from being made in Saarthal," his eyes started moving back and forth, as if searching his memory, "But how? We never saw you having this capability in any of our—"

"Nerien!" the first one, who I remember being called Quaranir, caught his breath only to lose it again, shouting at his companion that was about to let something spill. That companion, who was now back to his senses, tried regaining some of his image, "{Ahem}, um... ah, yes!" and rather poorly, at that, "The situation here grows increasingly dangerous with every moment that artifact, the one you and your people have taken to calling the Eye of Magnus, remains here. It is imperative that it be—"

"What my—colleague, here, {inhale} is trying to say," luckily Quaranir wasn't so foolish to act so presumptuously and cut him off after catching his breath—again, "is that through every possibility we have seen, whether disaster can be avoided or not, rests on your shoulders. I believe that you being more powerful than we had originally thought lends credence to the situation being even more dire than had been anticipated," he paused, taking another breath, "We, the Psijic Order, cannot intervene directly, as it usually causes other—problems. Thus, we implore you to take action and prevent the coming tragedy," he then bowed slightly.

I looked at the two for a moment, letting them marinade in the silence.

I could tell that they were surprised at me being powerful enough to prevent, or allow, their use of time magic, but I could also see that it didn't affect their attitude much, either. And now, considering exactly who they are, and where they come from, it makes sense. So... I guess that means I'll have to go down a couple levels, from the 'hidden-master-who-finally-reveals-himself' to the 'I-finally-revealed-my-hidden-cultivation-level-after-42-chapters-of-being-shameless' guy.

What a bummer.

Just before things reached too high of an awkwardness level, I {sniff}ed and then scratched the back of my ear, "So... what's this 'disaster' and what am I 'supposed' to do to stop it?" They looked at one another, then turned to me and said—

Exactly what was said in the game.

That the Eye is too powerful to tell exactly what will happen, only that something will, and that I must find the Augur of Dunlain as "His perception may be more coherent than ours." After saying that, they had to stop freezing time, so I put up my hood and then, as soon as everything was back to normal, I started walking away, since "Time is of the essence."

"Um, why are you leaving? These men have been—" {buzz}, then cast a spell on the 'Arch'-Mage so that he'll think everything went normally.

{Sigh}, "All in a day's work..."

—

Yes... work.

All this work is too much, that's why I've been making 'something' that'll help me cope with all of this burden. 'Something' that'll let me reduce all the strain that I'm under. 'Something' that'll let me—

"Meow~"

—fluff my stress away.

{Purr}, rubbing against my leg, was a glossy black cat. I picked it up, making sure to scratch the back of its ear while doing so, and then put a collar made from a very—strong—metal on it. The collar was enchanted with numerous effects, most of which, being for protection and concealment. That's what I was making, the collar.

My travels are far too dangerous to bring along an unprotected cat...

While my current level of magic attainment in this new system has yet to catch up to my old level, it's now enough to do a great many things. A rather important one of those 'things' is something that I can do with a combination of illusion and alteration magic. Combined in the right way, and at a high enough level, it lets me hide things from a certain 'something' that never gives me any privacy. And while I can't yet do everything I want, I have been able to resume some small experiments on adamantium.

"Meow."

Like making a nearly indestructible collar, stuffed to the brim with overpowered enchantments, for this adorable little fluff ball, making it capable of—

{Purrzz}

—sleeping through anything...

After putting 'Da Fluff' in its own little pouch on the inside of my cloak, that's unfortunately still made from ebony—one must have priorities—I gathered some last minute supplies. They went in my bracer—previous a bracelet—that was also upgraded to the same level as the collar. Then I started making my way down to the Midden, where the Augur, a floating ball of light, was calling home.

Who this 'Augur' truly is and whether he has anything to do with the Order, I don't know. But, if he proves to be... unsavory, I may just turn it into chum.

I've already made preparations for such a scenario...

— —

"There is no help for you here."

I've crawled my way through icy tunnels, troll infested caverns, abandoned experiments that somehow gained sentience, and even banished a dremora pirate back to the plane of Oblivion, so after hearing the dry, airy voice that can only belong to a disembodied talking light fixture, I for damn sure knocked on the door again!

"Still you persist? Very well, you may enter."

Inside was a magicka well with the Augur, in all his 'splendor,' floating above it like an overpowered magelight. As soon as I was near him, I could feel a compulsive force trying to make me focus on him. This is understandable, since he's supposed to be a 'higher being' and my current 'low level' body would naturally feel his pull, but... I still don't like it.

Especially when he's doing it purposely.

"I am that which you have been seeking. Your efforts—" {voom}, a magical barrier—starting at my bracer—flashed to life around my body before disappearing, as if it had blended into reality itself.

"Yeah, yeah," I rest my foot on the well's ledge, "I've met a few people like you. Augurs, that is. All the 'seeing into the future' and stuff," I press a padlock symbol on my bracer, after which a golden wave of energy rushes out in all directions, "Oh! And let's not forget the pretentiousness, there's never a lack of that," the only thing that made the wave special was that I'm the only one who could see it.

Though, that's not the same for the cracks spreading across my body that are leaking golden light intense enough to make the Augur look like a firecracker.

"And... {sigh}," I look 'through' him, to his 'core' that was now trembling and forced into silence from the sheer power difference, "it's always rubbed me the wrong way," reaching my hand out, I 'grab' his core, "Honestly, at this point, I don't care if you're actually an alright guy or not. I already know everything I need to know from you, so the only thing I need now is—" I give him a deep and almost remorseful 'sucks to be you' look, "—cat food," then crunch my hand, making the Augur's presence disappear.

Holding my fist closed for a second, I mutter, "I still can't believe that I could forget something so important. Da Fluff cannot go without food!" opening my hand, a small fish-shaped treat is all that remains from where the Augur's was.

{Sniff—sniff}

It must've smelt good because it woke up a slumbering alpha predator—one who slept through the smell of troll shit... Poking their head out from my collar, Fluff immediately stared at the treat, with drool rapidly accumulating at the chops.

{Scree—}, but they were interrupted by a loud screeching noise.

I, hearing this, quickly stuffed the fish in Fluff's mouth and got to work, "I really have to figure out why this isn't working. I've already taken into account..." the golden wave that spread out before was meant for shielding my activity from 'all those for whom it may concern' but it never lasts very long, and right now, it's starting to fail.

Sometimes it's an hour, other times it's just a few minutes, that's why I only have a couple of things made from adamantium. I simply don't have the time to make anything of significance, and whatever I do make needs to have concealing enchantments of every kind, or they'd be 'spotted' by existences I don't want finding them right now.

{Sigh}, after recording as much data as possible, I went to the magicka well and threw in a metal ball that was most definitely NOT made from adamantium, but instead, an enhanced ebony, "And... done," soon after throwing it in, the 'Augur of Dunlain' was back—kind of.

When I said that I was prepared for this scenario, I was more or less saying that I'm already going to do this anyway. Over the past few days, I had already compromised the Augur through all the magicka wells of the College. All it took were some of these metal balls that were enchanted for—

"Facsimile, eighty-nine percent accurate. Proceed with forceful reproduction of target anyway, Sir?"

"Proceed."

"Confirmed. Proceeding..." after that, the image of the Augur flashed a couple of times until it said, in a familiar airy voice, "Your... your efforts are... are in vain," it was choppy at first, "It has already begun. But those who have sent you have not..." but it eventually smoothed out.

Yes, it was a copy, though not perfect and not as powerful—but neither weak—it's enough to last the rest of my journey here without arising suspicion, as those 'balls' were able to learn enough to cover most scenarios as well as help 'pin him down' when I grabbed him, else he could've escaped with how he's connected to the College. And, as for the real reason I went through all of this trouble? It's because—

"Meeoww."

"Hm?" I look at Fluff, who's looking up at me with a half-eaten, but continuously regrowing, fish in their paws, "Yes, yes, I agree. It's time to go. The atmosphere down here is rather drab and unfit for eating."

—cat food.

Why can't I go through this much trouble just for cat food? It's a never ending supply, after all...

— —

Sitting against a wall, next to a set of massive double doors, was a robbed man.

{Thud}

"Hm?" hearing what sounded like footsteps on the other side of those doors, his eyes lit up.

{Thud-thud!}

"No... that's not—" but hearing it get louder, and faster, his eyes started going from excitement to fear.

{Thud-thud-thud!!}

"No, no, no!" he started backing away from the doors, "Damn! Not when I was so close! If only I had the—"

{THUD-THUD!!!}, "Yeehaw!"

"Huh?" though, upon hearing a shout of—excitement?—through the thumping, he stopped, and looked back. Though, that didn't stop the thuds from growing louder; he could feel the vibrations clear through to his head. At least he could until—

{BANG!}

A centurion blew the doors right off their hinges as it ran through, continuously blowing steam and heading straight for him faster than a galloping horse. "Hahaha!" The other thing to note was the lunatic riding atop it like an amusement park ride.

"What in Obliv—{crack}," the robbed man had no time to dodge and was clipped by the automaton's leg and thrown against a wall. Back to sitting on the floor, with blood leaking from his lips, he reached for his satchel and took out a— "Oh, by Akatosh's scales," unfortunately, he wasn't thrown far enough and, {splat}, was crushed by one of the doors...

—

{THUD-THud-thud-pssshhh}

Coming to a stop at the doorway to the Oculory—the dwarven equivalent of satellite imaging—I patted the centurion's head, {ting-ting}, "Alright, big guy, this is our stop," then hopped off, sparing no thought for the paranoid Synod mage that was being turned into a flesh pancake.

Reaching the top, I replaced the missing lens, then went to the control center and started rearranging the lenses to show the location for the Staff of Magnus. In this case, I actually need to do this, since, while I know where it is, it would take a while to find the exact location, and I'm aiming for a speed run right now. I want to see if I can get it before Ancano takes control of the Eye.

{Phsew}

After a few tries, they all lined up and displayed a map of Tamriel. There were two glowing spots on it. One was where the College is, and the other was further west, the place where the staff was. After recording it, I messed with the lenses so that anyone who comes in the future will have to do some work in order to figure out how to get it working again.

"Okey-dokey, time to go."

Descending back down to the entrance, I see the centurion still standing there, "Should I?" it looks like it'd be fun, but, "No. Too clunky," deciding to leave it here, I find the exit and leave, happy in knowing that, so far, I'm outpacing Agent Double o' Crispy.

— —

"Why am I doing this again?" I ask a draugr—who's also a quadruple amputee. He only growled in response, so I was forced to answer myself, "Oh right, it because something that can control 'that' is definitely something I want to examine."

With my expression slowly turning to one of hurt, I look down at the draugr, "Ugh, you never talk to me or let me know what you're thinking! Am I not good enough for you, or are you just—just... I think... Maybe we should start seeing other... Look. It's not you, it's—wait a minute..." I blink a couple of times, "No, it is you! You're not Jenny!" I then 'laugh nervously' before cutting off his head.

Turning to a nonexistent camera, I say, "Well—haha—that was sure embarrassing," and roll my eyes while awkwardly sidestepping away...

Refocusing once again, I can see, passed the remains of a dragon thrall, the doorway which leads down into the ruins of Labyrinthian. {Sigh}. Unfortunately, the impromptu acting didn't stop me from becoming depressed just thinking of going through another ruin right now.

Which is why I'm not going down there.

Instead, I'm—{bzz-woosh}—going to have my 'helpers' go down and get the staff for me. Looking at them swirl around, I can't help but smile a bit. I can say that I've genuinely come to like them. They're always so... cheerful—even when there aren't, their mannerisms are still fun to watch.

Eventually they all stood—floated—straight with their chests puffed out and heads held high, like fiery soldiers waiting for orders. {Clap-clap}, I gained their attention—even if I already had it—and said, "Did she already give you all the specifics?" they nodded in unison, "Good! I don't care how much damage you do or how many things you take, just get it to me as soon as possible. We're on a tight deadline and I don't want any slackers, so pull your weight or—" my eyes narrow and I speak with absolute graveness, "no more new dresses—for—a—month."

Their 'eyes' grew wide with horror before turning deadly serious and white-hot with determination. Not waiting any longer, they all turned around and headed through the doors. I kneeled down and touched the ground, "Jeez," it had already started softening from just that burst of emotion. Standing up, I mutter, "I guess all that time spent upgrading their gear was worth it, then..."

—

I only had to wait a couple of hours for them to bring back what I wanted.

"Huh," the staff, it's kinda, "ordinary..." I look at it a second, then shrug and put it to my side. I'll start figuring it out in a little while.

{Crackle}

One of the atronachs brought the dragon priest's mask as well. I examined it, "Hm? Tonal crafting," something I've yet to get information for—beyond the basics—even after absorbing forty-something dragon souls. I put it in my storage and then patted the atronach's head, eliciting a delighted twirl from her.

Seeing this, the others started patting—or just hitting—each other's heads to see what was so great about it. They must not've felt anything special, because they started inching closer to me, with their big eyes looking up at me. I, of course, knew exactly what they wanted, and so I gave it to them... a 'special' feeling, that is.

{Yawn}

Or, at least I was going to, until someone woke up at 'just the right time,' demanding my attention. Which they got—along with multiple ireful gazes.

—

After sending them back to Infernace, I started examining the staff. Since there was no sense in leaving until I received a message from the monks, I just decided to stay and figure this thing out, as it could prove very insightful for many things.

I was already getting some ideas for adding functions to my bracer...

— —

{Sniff—sniff}

Smelling something—familiar, I stood up from the wall, staff in hand. Tilting my head, I sniffed again. A smirk started taking form on my lips, {whirl}, I started twirling the staff in my hand until—{p-bang!}—I threw it like a javelin fast enough to make a sonic boom. It flew to the front door of the ruin just as someone was entering. {Shi...} It went through them like a hot knife through butter, leaving a small, fist sized hole where their heart was supposed to be.

Walking up to them, I said, with an arm outstretched, "I thought I could smell chicken," their only response was to fall on the floor with disbelieving eyes. {Pa} It didn't help after seeing the staff—that they had come for—return to my hand by itself, "Oh, did Ancano not tell you that I'm a bit of a—well, it doesn't matter anymore, now, does it," I finished as the last bit of light left his eyes.

After making sure the Thalmor agent, Ancano's partner, was dead, I went back to my wall and continued studying the staff while waiting for the monks. Up till now, it had already been a few days—it seems I outpaced Ancano by much more than I anticipated—but given what I can feel in the ambient magicka, I expect to be seeing one of them real soon.

—

It didn't take more than thirty minutes for me to 'feel' something trying to weasel its way into my space. I let it through, and lo and behold, it was the same monk who tried messaging me in Saarthal. "It-it is imperative that you r-return to your College. The Thalmor agent, Ancano, has taken control of the Eye. If he's allowed to go on much longer, he may cause irreparable damage to Nirn!" why he stuttered, I don't know, but neither did I care to figure it out and immediately left the ruin, heading back to the College.

I had new toys to try out, and I'm not talking about the staff...

— —

//Note//

Da Fluuuuuff!!!

— —

Did the Dragonborn Saga have a cat from the college too? I can't remember, but if it did, I can say that I'm not trying to copy anything. I only remembered that there might be after writing that part.

— —

Augur theories

They're a few theories about the Augur.

If it makes you feel better, this one's responsible for the 'Great Collapse' and wasn't a good dude.

—

Or maybe he was completely innocent, and the MC totally just murdered someone...

Heh, heh, heh...

— —

I can only write about so many ruins.

Mzulft is just a repetitive series of rooms, so I had the MC go straight through everything.

Labyrinthian is a... another Nordic ruin...

— —

Probably won't do Dark Souls, but if I do, I'll check out FightinCowboy's walkthrough.

— —