Chapter XXXIII: Firsties

"Needs more firmness" I state as I poke a rather flimsily made artificial bone atop the research table in front of me.

I hear a huff to my right "That much is evident Reyvin, it is after all merely the preliminary result." Phineas explains in a patient drawl.

My eyes move to Tolfdir who was up to that point patiently watching over our work "I feel..." He trails off "That we rushing as is, we should focus on making a working prototype with functional marrow before we focus back on the actual integrity of the bone."

Phineas nods along "As you say Master Tolfdir, making a body that would merely fall apart under its own weight would be a waste of time and gold." He flicks his hand toward his apprentice "Write that down brat."

Marwyn nods rapidly and starts scribbling everything down.

I scratch my chin for a bit before asking aloud "Would it not be more effective to use sacrificial rituals to substitute our lack of progress?"

Phineas shrugs "It could work... but we aren't trying to merely create a body" He stares at me with surprising amounts of life in his 'eyes' "Imagine what we could learn about the mortal form if we understood every single step of its creation!" A grin forms on his face "Besides, we all have all the time in the world."

"That we do" Tolfdir and I join in with a chuckle while Marwyn pretends to merge with the wall.

"Back to the point" I force the conversation back on track "We could use the rituals to speed up the process via mysticism and sacrifice and then reverse engineer the whole thing, we would, naturally, likely miss some of the smaller details but some progress is better than no progress." I explain patiently.

Tolfdir hums thoughtfully before nodding "Young Reyvin's words do hold some merit." He looks at his elder student "We could try this avenue if we find our progress stalling."

The light of excitement in Phineas' illusory eyes dims slightly and he nods with a sigh "Yes, of course, we can always make different stages of homunculus as we expand our knowledge."

His words remind me of a very important thing "Just to make sure we are all on the same page" I draw everyone's attention to me "We are not involving the Daedra with this project unless all three of us explicitly agree, is that acceptable?"

Tolfdir nods immediately while Phineas scoffs "Are you sure you should be the one to comment on involving Daedra, Lord Dagoth?" He asks mockingly and before I can even try to explain the difference he rolls his eyes "Yes, yes I understand, no need to get all excited."

I let out an amused snort "Whatever you say you corpse."

We bicker for a while before there is a knock at the door of Phineas' laboratory, the lich quickly makes sure everything is in order and not about to get damaged before he invites our visitor inside.

In steps Mirabelle Ervine and greets the three of us "Masters." She sends a passing glance to Marwyn "High Enchanter"

And wasn't that a nice bit of news? My boy finally became an expert! Though now that I think about it that might have something to do with the fact I kept throwing projects at him...

My internal raving is interrupted as she goes on "You are all expected to attend the welcoming ceremony in twenty minutes, your presence is mandatory."

Tolfdir nods happily while Phineas tilts his head "I thought there was an entire two months left for that" He mumbles.

I deadpan at the lich "It is already Frostfall you senile bag of bones."

He scoffs "I have better things to do than concern myself with something as trivial as time." The lich even raises his nose arrogantly.

A throat being loudly cleared draws our attention back to the Master Wizard "As I was saying" Mirabelle repeats thinly "Get going to the lecture hall" She glares at us "Please."

"Alrighty then" I clap my hands and quickly glance at Marwyn "You coming?"

He chuckles and shakes his head "No, I better tidy everything up here before I have to get back to enchanting."

I nod, only a bit sheepishly, and walk out after the rest had already left.

As I leave I hear my friend mumble "Ah, the perks of being a nobody..."

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(General POV)

The Hall of The Elements is filled to the brim as the welcoming ceremony for this year's new arrivals at the College of Winterhold was about to be held. The senior students filtered in as quickly as they could as to not disturb the atmosphere for when the 'newbies' came.

The many Masters had already arrived and were standing to the sides of the small podium meant for the Archmage and were chatting animatedly with each other. One of the Masters, a Dunmer was completely stunned, stuck gaping at something hanging off the belt of another of his kind, who in turn merely ignored him.

That all stopped when one of the teachers rose their hand and everyone shut up, the entire hall becoming as silent as the grave.

The new students started walking in one by one, though only some were moved by the quiet reception.

The first to enter is an excited looking Khajiit, his excitement only marred with a tinge of directed arrogance, a large amount of folded scrolls hung from his belt in a very unsafe manner, this of course, did not bother the cat man at all.

Behind him enters a Nord, completely unbothered by the cold reception he walks up to a free spot and sits down silently, many of his seniors get the impression that he was at least faced with battle due to the focus he projected.

The third to enter was a tall Altmer, a bit of an unnecessary statement but for this specimen it had to be reiterated, he walked in with leisurely steps while an ornate lute hung off his back.

The fourth person to grace the hall with their presence was a red haired Nord woman with lightly pointed ears, unlike her new colleagues she came in wearing a mix of leather and chainmail, all enchanted, and with a warhammer resting atop her shoulder. Her eyes were filled with confidence, just until she saw one of the Masters lazily tapping a folded scroll in their hands, she quickly found her seat after seeing that.

Half of the massive doorway was suddenly shrouded as an absolute unit of an Argonian walked in, he wore the robes the college gave out to all new students over his pitch black scales, yet his size of well over two and a half meeters made it evident that he was having a hard time moving in the largest piece of clothing the Master Wizard could find.

The last to enter was a young Dunmer lady, she quivered in fright as she surveyed the quiet hall and generally gave everyone the impression of a sheltered noble kid running away from home with how she scampered toward the nearest seat and attempted to look as small as possible.

The new students exchanged glances while some among them fearfully scanned the college staff. The young Dunmer lady froze completely as she noticed one of the teachers wearing the symbol of a three eyed beetle on their robes.

Just as she was about to scream there was a quiet *Pop* In the air and the Archmage appeared atop the podium while clapping his hands with a merry smile.

"Welcome" He greets "And welcome back" He sends a wink to the older students "How nice it is to begin yet another year of education at our glorious institution. And with so many faces too!" He exclaims with what only an idiot would believe was genuine happiness.

One of the masters coughs, though some might say the cough was more of a snort.

The Archmage continues without missing a beat "I am truly flattered that you have all chosen our college to pursue the great art of the arcane, and while I would love to throw you all into the thick of it and get right down to the magic of things we have to go through the most accursed thing of all... the rules!"

Any excitement they might have held immediately leaves the new arrivals.

"I see you share my excitement." Savos smirks, receiving a couple of glares from the more bold students "So let me get right into it" He completely ignores them "Much like previous years any and all research is permitted within the bounds of the laws of Winterhold and Skyrim" He tilts his head "Or do whatever you want, so long as you don't get caught that is."

The massive Argonian's mouth twists into a grin that would terrify most experienced guardsmen as he hears this bit, the Dunmer sitting behind him shivering as her instincts scream at her.

"Speaking of research, you are all to practice safety measures and caution while around other members of the college" Savos flicks his hand toward the Khajiit and his scrolls all lift into the air while neatly folding themselves "The next time I see you wearing them like that around others I will be confiscating them."

The cat man nods rapidly "J'zargo will remember."

"See that you do" Savos smirks but said smirk is one of pure menace "Where was I... Ah!" He raises a finger "So long as you aren't around others do whatever you wish, if you plan on blowing yourself up kindly do so out of the range of your colleagues and preferably somewhere where your ashes might be easily scraped of the walls." He smirks "I hear the Hall of Refinement is great for such things."

The Nord woman and the Altmer share a dubious look.

"Speaking of the Hall, any disputes among yourselves are to be solved there and under supervision" He stares right at the Argonian, causing even the beast-like creature to shiver in discomfort "Any unsupervised conflict or injury will be strictly punished." His voice is as cheerful as always but there is an underlying coldness that would shake even an experienced warrior.

The Argonian gulps and nods quickly.

"Also" Savos draws their attention once again "Moving to the lower levels of the college is something done on your own will and the college takes no responsibility to any dismemberment, loss of hair, loss of life, loss of will to live or loss of soul freedom you might accrue below ground." He pauses dramatically just long enough to revel in the horrified looks before continuing "The same goes for the Daedric library, the moment you walk into that section of the Arcaneum the college holds no obligation to protect you save for a Master's good will."

"Back to the program, you will all have to choose..."

The Archmage goes on to explain the three school rule, making jovial, or just plain disturbing, remarks along the way, thoroughly impressing upon his new students how dangerous a lack of caution might prove to be.

As he finally finishes the new students look like their souls had left their body, he nods in satisfaction before, much like two years prior, his demeanor shifts and he asks the question "Now then, can someone tell me... What is Magicka?"

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Gib me zwei stein!

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