Chapter I: The passage of time

A/n: Had to reupload the chapter to move it to volume 3, it wouldn't let me move chapters between volumes for whatever reason, sorry for the inconvenience

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After the visit to the Telvanni wizard, Ryevin settled into a monotonous if exhausting rhythm.

Most mornings were filled with grueling exercises alongside sword and spear drills, making his arms feel like they were on fire.

It was not without its rewards however, Reyvin no longer looked like the usual elven mage twig, but now sported a lean yet muscular build. He also realized he prefers the spear to the sword, the longer range being far more comfortable to his mage mindset, thus he focused a lot more of his time on mastering it.

His reputation among the guards also rose, as they expected him to give up after a couple of days of training, his perseverance having impressed them.

After the morning 'fun' and a good meal, the classes would begin. Thankfully the schedule was very relaxed with him usually only having one lecture a day, even if they all lasted for hours.

From his enchantment lessons, he learned how to carve runes into different metals with more precision, and also a trick to add runes to clothing without the tedious stitching. He did have to learn how to manipulate souls so he can use the gems better, which helped his mysticism along.

As his first task for the college, he aided the enchantment master with preparing a shipment of swords for the Solitude legionary garrison. The pay was very lucrative so he splurged a bit and bought a full padded armor and chain-shirt to go with his robes.

Tolfdir taught him how to better use alteration to directly empower himself, as well as a more powerful ward and telekinesis spell, and as he promised he showed a technique to shape metal using magic.

When Reyvin asked why this method was not as widespread the old alteration master explained that while it can be used to shape the metal, it was only really useful for jewelry due to the forging process being necessary to make the metal useful for making weapons or armor.

Reyvin also asked about the transmutation spell, but Tolfdir said that while he did know it he would keep it to himself until the young students proved themselves responsible enough not to abuse it. Morrigan who was also present for the alteration lessons got pissed at this but Tolfdir merely explained that this was the exact reason why he refused them.

After some time, they were also taught the wind-ward spell that should be of use against archers.

The desturction lessons made him yearn for his morning physical training, each time Faralda would force him to push his Magicka reserve to its breaking point, and when she was done with that she would drill combat tactics and spellcasting techniques into his head. Reyvin almost regretted signing up for this, but he knew he was growing in skill and power so he grit his teeth and bore it.

He did make great progress in his destruction skill, reaching the low adept level upon throwing his first proper fireball, scorch seemed a bit put off that his gimmick was now obsolete but he also seemed to be growing a bit in the past months so it wasn't all that much of a bother.

Reyvin decided to take some focus from his pyromania and try and master some lightning magic, as its projectiles were far faster, if a bit weaker. The lightning bolt and greater sparks soon joined his repertoire of spells.

Naturally, as any man of culture as soon as he got his sparks to a sufficient level he found himself screaming about unlimited power while torturing a poor practice target. Even Scorch looked at him weirdly for a time after that scene.

He didn't simply let his restoration training lag behind either, while he couldn't really get more complex spells he did practice his usual healing and got it to work faster.

The Arcane Ascension technique seemed to reach a limit for a time, no longer improving his Magicka reserve, but his third eye was still devouring a lot of Magicka so he kept at it. After three months of this, his head started itching like mad and he felt like a barrier has been broken when it comes to his bloodline, he now seemed to be able to predict the movement of others by half a second.

When he asked Urag about where to go next with his exercise, the old orc first made him do it in front of him and with a surprised tone congratulated him on setting a record for mastering the technique by a large margin, which made him grin like a child.

The gruff librarian then explained that he needed to let the new power settle in before adding elementally charged Magicka to the process. When asked about how long the settling would take he answered that it should be at least half a year.

Meditating on the thu'um also seemed to slow down after the initial push, he did still progress enough to speak YOL instead of whispering it without knocking himself out, but shouting it without risk still seemed very far off. It was still a very relaxing process and Reyvin found himself spending entire evenings just sitting on the college wall and enjoying the wind.

Reyvin's colleagues were all progressing in their own studies.

The Nord twins would join him during battle mage training, and after finding out about him learning from the guards they also decided to do it.

Marwyn was spending more and more of his time studying the soul, and when he thought he wasn't being watched he read up on dark rituals. Thankfully he still seemed to hold his passion for enchantment and was progressing there as well.

Morrigan was going completely wild with how much she learned about alchemy, the madwoman even caught the eye of the alchemy master, who started teaching her with more attention whenever he wasn't higher than the red mountain.

Edrasa seemed to be satisfied with merely being a passable student, only really getting interested when altering people through restoration or alteration was the topic, when that was the case she would excel.

Finally Tiberius continued on with his single-minded focus on conjuration, and surprising everyone actually made a contract with a group of three scamps, the little daedra were not powerful, but they could use pyromancy at a low level. In his gleeful mood, he challenged Reyvin to a practice match so he could show off, but was quickly returned to Nirn from his high horse with a lightning bolt to the face, after a bit of dressing down from the Dunmer he finally accepted he would have to actually learn how to fight.

During early Evening Star (December) the young elf also celebrated his 17th birthday.

And now, four months after joining the college Reyvin was getting ready for his first serious outing, joined by the Nord twins. As they were waiting for the briefing, he checked his progress with a satisfied look.

[Name: Reyvin] [House: Dagoth]

[Age: 17][Race: Dunmer][Birthsign: Mage]

[Str: 11][Dex: 12.5][Vit: 14][Mind: 20][Mag: 210]

[Mage]

[Destruction-Adept: Searing flames, penetrating firebolt, frostbite, greater sparks, lightning bolt, fireball]

[Restoration-apprentice: Fast heal, steadfast ward]

[Alteration-adept: Empowering stone-flesh, metal transfiguration, wind-ward, mage-light, telekinesis]

[Illusion-novice: Calm, enrage]

[Conjuration-apprentice: Bound weapon (steel), Familiar bond (Scorch)]

[Mysticism-apprentice: Arcane ascension (settling), stable levitation, minor soul manipulation]

[Enchantment-adept: rune-carving, identification, soul-imbuing]

[Alchemy-apprentice: basic potions]

[Warrior]

[Swords-apprentice]

[Spears-apprentice]

[Thief]

[Stealth-novice]

[Traits:]

[Fireblood: Born under the flames of the red mountain you are blessed with 50% resistance and 20% damage and control toward fire]

[Ashen bond: Through your bond with Scorch you attain greater control over flames and restoration, you also seem to heal just a bit quicker]

[Blood of Dagoth: You descend from a mad religious extremist, who non the less achieved a degree of godhood, providing you with a prolonged lifespan and the third eye trait]

[Awakened third eye: Your blessed perception has been further improved through your efforts, now granting you the ability to predict the movement of others while enhancing your magic sight.]

[Aspiring tongue: You have taken the first step on the road of a tongue, an ancient art lost to most. Kyne blesses all who follow her teachings, even if they aren't her creation]

[Minor blessing of the warrior: You seem to learn how to fight in melee a bit faster]

[Minor Dunmer paragon: Dunmer will tend to have a good impression of you]

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