Allegiances

"Fully manifest Daedric Princes have been expelled from Nirn before, it is just a matter of power, strength, endurance, and unity. Don't seek to enthral people to your cause, instead pursue civil negotiation and explain just how dire the situation has and will become. Gain allies, strengthen yourself, and educate yourself about the enemy." the monk urges.

"Don't you think I've been trying that already!? There's only so much I can do when I'm declared a barbarian warlord by most of the Empire and Thalmor, an upstart by the ash-elves and lizards, and I don't even know what High Rock and Hammerfell think of me!

As for power!? There's nothing for me to learn with a blade! The Thu'um is a long and arduous road, one you just told me not to embark on... Let us not even talk about magic, something Michael Tahlin and his personal College have me beat in at every turn!" Surtr angrily exclaims.

The ghost tucks some of his hair into his hood, "I think you might find the Empire's opinion of you improving soon enough." he states forebodingly, "And if you cannot find methods to strengthen yourself, look for others who can do it for you. We find your lack of trust in alchemy ignorant and wasteful. There are potions that can improve every aspect of you for a limited time, look to them if you have run out of avenues.. And remember, both of your opponents are dragons of a sort..."

Before Surtr can get another word in the monk dissipates, leaving him alone on the mountain. That conversation was a lot to take in, but it'd also granted him many options to look over to see their validity.

He didn't trust the monks, but that didn't mean they were lying. They had a mutual enemy, and Surtr was certain they wished to see Michael's destruction before his own. Besides, what rational person would want a fully powered Daedric Prince in their backyard!?

Plus, what was the ghost referring to when calling Michael and Miraak Dragons?

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Deep within the underground of Raven Rock, Louise Valliere was going over a ritual she'd been planning for many years, and had only just completed...

"So, what is this even supposed to do?" Joseph asks as he examines the ritual circle on the floor.

"It will reverse a mistake I made years ago... My familiar will regret ever crossing me." the pinkette growls as she begins the ritual.

Joseph steps back as the room is bathed in light, lightning bursts from within the circle and begins striking everything around it, but a magical containment field keeps it all restricted.

Unfortunately for Louise, her ritual wasn't exactly designed for what Michael had become... The whole thing explodes, destroying the containment field and scorching everything nearby, burning both Louise and Joseph rather badly as the lights quickly fade.

"Uuugh..." Joseph groans as he sits up, wiping ash and dust from his face with his equally dusty sleeve. "D-did it work?" he questions, knowing that at the very least SOMETHING had gone wrong.

...

Louise cleans herself with magic before jabbing her wand at the crater in the ground a couple times, then herself, before nodding. "It did...? He is no longer my familiar, and his runes should fade... Now I can claim another familiar as my own."

"Shouldn't you grant our lord those runes?" Joseph asks, his eyes going cloudy for a moment.

...

"Yes..." Louise agrees despite having felt conflicted for a moment? Or did she? "Good idea, I am sure Emperor Miraak would like my runes as a gift... Before that, I wished to speak with you about another ritual. The emperor would reward us greatly if we managed to succeed..."

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Michael twitches slightly on the couch as Tiffania stomps Megumin on Tekken, the duo sitting on the floor in front of the T.V going at it as if this was a professional competition.

"Something wrong?" Saeko asks, noticing his odd behaviour...

He shakes his head, "No... Just felt something odd, nothing serious though." he shrugs. It'd felt like a mosquito bite, except the bug couldn't get its sucker into his skin.

He takes a look at his book just to be sure but doesn't see anything... Well, apart from his severe lack of progress. If levelling up was a big ass problem before his ascension then it was impossible now... "Hmm, whaddya guys think about a vacation?"

Megumin tosses her control to the side, happy at the distraction from her losing streak, "Let's go to the Tekken universe!"

"No." Michael instantly denies as that place was worth less than Skyrim at gathering EXP...

"Are you sure you want to go somewhere? It wasn't that long ago that we visited other worlds... We should stay and help with Miraak..." Tiffania says.

"Ehhh, Surtr can handle him... Probably? Besides, Winterhold's got all of my Spirits guarding it. Ain't no one touching this place without getting their face stomped." Michael shrugs, "I need a place with powerful enemies... Like, near demi-god level at the least." he explains.

"Err, Dragon Ball Z?" Megumin offers.

"Pfft, I said near demi-god, not universe destroying. That cursed universe would crack our current one open like a rotten egg!... No, we're not going anywhere near that place, not even if I become the omega super god emperor of every reality everywhere."

...

"Why not just choose at random? I haven't gone exploring in so long..." Saeko states.

"Hmmm... Maybe..." he glances over his shoulder at the shadow in the corner, "Any idea Mercurial?"

...

"Yeah, I guess so." he jokingly answers at her silence. "Whatever, let's just go with that, see where we end up... Though, I'm not sure I want you guys with me to be honest, none of you are close to that level yet..."

Both Saeko and Megumin frown in irritation at this, they'd been working hard but hearing him say what they already knew was a hard pill to swallow.

"Can't you use Aqua's magic to resurrect us?" Megumin counters.

"Yeah... Only if there's enough left of you though." he retorts but gets an idea, "I can only take you if you agree to a small contract..."