HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 27 (Patreon)

Chapter 27 - Winterhold

The Word Wall kinda ended up being a dud.

No matter how much I looked at it, Magic Power Eye or not, tried to read it, touched it, felt it with my Magic, or whatever else I could come up with without looking like an Idiot, nothing magically taught me a Word of the Thu’um.

Sure, I knew that I would also need a Dragon Soul to unlock the Knowledge required to use it. But the Last Dragonborn was still able to learn a Word directly from a Word Wall without it.

That was probably just a Game Mechanic, and in the real Version, he had to actually read the Word from the Wall and later find a Dragon Soul belonging to a Dragon with the right Knowledge to use it.

As far as I could tell, the Word Wall was just that a Wall with text on it. I was pretty sure this Wall taught Ice Form. It’s one of the funnier Shouts to use on an opponent, and it’s useful, too.

Or maybe you need to be a Dragonborn to magically learn a Word from it?

Which I am not. But I should be able to learn the Thu’um through my bloodline gift.

That failure didn’t mean we left the Mountain empty-handed. Besides the Dragon Bones, which we stored in our expanded bags, I also created an exact replica of the Word Wall with the Geminio Charm before shrinking it down to take with us.

I was still planning to study it later.

Once we changed into some proper Winter Cloaks enchanted with heating Charms to protect us from the Cold, we pulled out our Brooms, used the Disillusionment Charm to blend into the environment, and began heading North.

“What are we looking for?” Tracey asked from in front of me as we flew in Formation.

At the head was Ghislaine, who could now use a Broom without it being a massive drain on her miniscule Magic Power reserves. While she had always been able to use Magic Items, her small, untrained Magic Reserves made them difficult for her to use for long. Something like a Broom for continious flight, would have been out of question.

That had changed when she became a Devil. Her new Race granted her a proper Demonic Core, supplying her with larger reserves of Magic and a proper recovery rate.

Directly behind her flew Mom, ready to intercept any attack with her Magic if necessary while shielding the ones behind her.

In the Center directly behind and safest Position was Astoria, flanked by Daphne and Tracey, who flew side by side. With Astoria being the youngest and least experienced, they would be able to shield her if necessary.

And in the last spot, right at the back, was me. I would be covering all of them while also protecting our rear. With Ghislaine and me being our most experienced Fighters, I felt it was a good idea for us to take the most important roles during the Journey.

Our Fight with the Dragon had just proved how much our Party Ragnarok had grown during the six Months we spent as active Adventurers, travelling across the entire Continent.

We may have started out as F-Rank Adventurers like everyone else, but in reality, our Party easily qualified as D-Rank. Back then, however, we lacked the practical experience and firepower for anything higher.

But killing that Dragon in such a dangerous Environment proved that we were easily A-Ranks at this Point. Sure, it may have been the weakest kind of Dragon in Skyrim, but its nature as a durable, Magic-using, flying Monster made it easily an A-Rank Job.

S-Rank would probably be a more accurate Adventurer Rank for our Party. The Peak amongst Adventurers.

Sure, there were stronger people in the World of Mushoku Tensei, but you wouldn’t really find anyone at King-Rank or above working as an Adventurer. If you did, it would only be under exceptional circumstances.

King-Rank was about the Combat Power of an S-Rank Party. I mean, in combination. Ghislaine alone already fit that criteria.

“Just make sure that we’re heading North, with a slight drift to the East!” I shouted through the wind blowing against us as we flew through the Sky.

“You already said that before we took off. But what should we look out for? Like some Landmarks?” Tracey clarified her question.

“Ideally, what we’re looking for is a small Settlement in front of a massive Structure hanging down some Cliffs toward the Coastline, connected only through a narrow bridge. That’s our Goal,” I communicated through the wind. “If you see some ruins in a Hole, then we’re on the right path. From there, we should head a bit further East while still generally keeping North!”

For now, I decided to avoid entering Saarthal. While getting the Eye of Magnus was enticing, it would also attract the attention of the Psijic Order.

And I had no idea what their true Motivations were. They had let the Eye of Magnus go to the College of Winterhold first, while apparently knowing about the Future, or at least some events that would happen, which ended up causing several deaths before they took it away anyway.

That didn’t sound like something the good guys would do.

“What are we even going there for? It’s definitely colder further North. I don’t believe there are no Cities further South,” Astoria said with annoyance. Even with warm, enchanted clothes, flying through this Weather was no fun.

“Right, I didn’t explain that yet. We’re heading for the College of Winterhold, the only Magic Guild in Skyrim. It’s the best place for us to gain access to magical Knowledge! Besides, the natives of Skyrim don’t find Magic very Popular. Anywhere else, we would need to be lucky to get our hands on some Magic Books!”

———

Finally, after a few Hours of flying, we made out the edge of Winterhold. Real Skyrim was a lot bigger than the Games made it feel.

I didn’t just realize that based on how long the Journey had taken. I could also see it now that we had reached Winterhold. While it was the smallest of all the major Settlements in Skyrim after the ‘Great Collapse’, it was still a lot bigger than the three Houses and handful of ruins we saw in the Game.

Since I hadn’t visited any of the other Settlements in Skyrim yet, I couldn’t tell how Winterhold compared to them, but it looked like a small, rundown rural Town to me, with several abandoned ruins at the outskirts.

Under the guise of our Disillusionment Charm, we landed out of sight of the Settlement, a bit further down the Road.

“What now?” Daphne asked.

Ghislaine automatically looked at me, as did Mom, making it clear that I was the leader here. The three younger girls picked up on that as well and turned their attention toward me.

“Let’s just go to the City and visit the College?”

“Sure, but what is your actual plan? I don’t believe they would just let you in like that.” Mom gave me a look, clearly not amused by my lack of explanations.

“We could always join the College. In the Game, it’s not particularly difficult as long as one can demonstrate some Magic.” I shrugged. “But I’ve had a bit of a different plan. We prepared a lot for this Journey, didn’t we? Maybe a bit too much? Just follow me and you’ll see. We’re going to…”

Once we made sure that we looked presentable, we slightly altered the style of our robes with Transfiguration to fit more into the style of this World. We made them look more like rough, woven fabric, with some pelt and leather elements, and then we were good to go.

If it weren’t for the warming Enchantments on our Clothes, travelling on foot this far North would have been even more of a pain than it already was. Just wading through the Snow and climbing the steep hill to Winterhold was exhausting.

I could feel my Socks getting a little wet. Nothing that a Drying Charm couldn’t fix, but it was still annoying.

Honestly, I would have just melted the Snow in front of us, but we had reached Winterhold. The inhabitants were the greatest Magic-hating Nords in all of Skyrim, even with the College of Winterhold practically in their backyard.

Or rather, because the College was here.

At the edge of the Settlement, I made out a few white plants with Red Berries and immediately headed over.

“What are those?” Astoria asked with interest.

“Snowberries, a typical Alchemical ingredient in this Region. Their Alchemy is what Potioneering is for us.” I quickly explained as I harvested the ripe Berries before digging out a few of the plants and placing them in some pots I had gotten from my expanded bag.

This time, I was prepared.

“Don’t we have Snowberries in our World?”

Now that she mentioned it, we did. Thinking about it for a moment, I said, “I can’t really remember them being used in Potions, though. And these have Alchemical properties in the Games. Also, if I remember correctly, aren’t our Snowberries white? Better to take some of these Plants with us than risk missing something.”

“We haven’t even talked to anyone in this World, and you’re already thinking about our Family Business.” Mom chuckled as she secretly cast a Preservation Charm on the Plants once she made sure nobody was paying us any attention.

With the Plants safely stored away, we headed into Winterhold.

Walking into the poorest Hold of Skyrim got us some curious looks, but nothing more. While we were cleaner than the average inhabitant of Skyrim, our general appearance matched that of typical Nords or Bretons. They probably considered us some wealthy travellers or nobles.

Although, as soon as we began marching down the path toward the College, those curious stares shifted to suspicious, if not outright hostile ones.

The People here really hated that College.

Honestly, it was no surprise to me. Maybe the College caused the ‘Great Collapse’, or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was some illegal experiment, some rogue Mages, an accident, or simply a natural disaster. That didn’t really matter to the People in the long term.

What mattered was that they had suffered through that disaster, natural or not. It had devastated their Lands, destroyed their Homes, and taken away their livelihoods, while the College remained completely unharmed thanks to its protective Magics.

Following that disaster, the entire Hold fell into poverty while the College remained stable and carried on with business as usual. Of course the Population would blame the College.

They hadn’t done much to change that assumption, either. Sure, they sent some letters to the Jarl, but could the People of Winterhold eat those letters? Did they protect them from the Cold?

No.

The Mages at the College had made no real effort to help the People of Winterhold. They hadn’t come down from the College and used their Magic to help the People rebuild.

And the current Situation was simply the natural consequence of their inaction. They had nobody but themselves to blame for how they were treated.

Soon, we reached the beginning of a Stone Slope leading up into a Guard Tower, from which a long, winding Stone Bridge stretched toward a grand Structure, giving us our first real look at the College in the distance.

It was quite a bit more imposing than the Games would suggest.

As we headed up the Stone Slope into the Guard Tower, we immediately got spotted by a woman.

And one thing became clear to me: if this were a Game Version of Skyrim, then it was definitely a modded one.

Because the woman stepping out of the Shadow of the Tower looked nothing like an Altmer from any of the Games. While she fit the Lore description of being tall with a graceful, slender build, she was truly beautiful, reminding me of a real Fantasy Elf. She had an almost ethereal kind of beauty.

She had the pointy Ears and long, silver Hair. The only thing telling me that this was a High Elf from the Elder Scrolls was the slight yellowish tint to her fair skin.

Someone had definitely installed some adult replacer mod for this version of the World.

“Cross the bridge at your own peril!” Faralda stopped us. “The way is dangerous, and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry!”

“Then how can we enter the College?”

Faralda carefully observed each of us, noting our Robe-like clothes and lack of weaponry, which was usually more the Style of Mages.

“That depends on you. What is it you expect to find inside?”

“We are here for trade.”

That took her off guard.

“Trade? You are not here to join the College?” she clarified.

I smiled kindly. “While we are Mages, we don’t have the time to stay at a College for too long. Our available time is quite limited before we have to journey away from Skyrim. But we brought some items with unique Enchantments your College has probably never seen before, and we’re open to an exchange. That can also extend to an exchange of Knowledge!”

“Never seen before?” Faralda repeated, looking at each of us for any sign of deceit. “That’s a bold claim. But you may have a misunderstanding about our College. While you can attend our lessons and remain at our College for extended periods, there is absolutely no rule stating that you have to. As long as you fit our Standards, you may join our College and are free to come and go as you like.”

“In that case, what kind of Standards are we talking about?”

“Simply, a suitable understanding of Magic. Some basic Spells would be enough.”

“Even if you’ve never seen such Spells before?”

She looked at me with disbelief. “Are you underestimating me? I want to make it clear to you: I am a genuine Master in Destruction Magic. My Mastery in one branch of Magic doesn’t mean I am lacking in the others. I find it highly unlikely that you can perform a Spell I have never seen or heard of before!”

“You sound quite confident!”

“Alright, then! Feel free to perform any Spell you like. If I truly have never seen or heard of such a Spell, I will grant all of you Passage and admittance to the College immediately!” Faralda said confidently, with a glint of competition sparking in her eyes.

What to do, then? I could go with Transfiguration. Or an Element that isn’t Ice, Fire, or Lightning. Maybe some Summoning Magic?

Nah, that was too small-scale. All I had gotten around to so far was summoning some Light Spirits. I had confirmed that this branch of Magic partially worked in other Worlds, but only when it came to Spirits. For Monster Summoning, I would need to create the right Magic Circles first.

And a Light Spirit looked almost exactly like their Light Spells.

Oh, I knew!

“Alright, I’ll need your help for my demonstration. Please try to cast a Destruction Spell at me!” I requested confidently.

“I am a Master of Destruction Magic. My Spells are quite dangerous, so feel free to demonstrate a Ward without having me attack you. But I have to point out that Wards are not a form of Magic I have never seen before!” Faralda said flatly, a bit of disappointment tainting her voice.

“It’s not a Ward I’m going to demonstrate. Just cast a Spell. Any one will do!”

She looked at me for a moment but did as I requested. The others were also watching me with interest, having no idea what I was planning to do.

Not even Mom knew about this, since I hadn’t shown it off yet.

As soon as a Fireball formed above Faralda’s Hand, I pointed my own Hand at it and disturbed the Magic, causing the Spell to visibly disperse before she could cast it at me.

“That’s…”

“That’s something you haven’t seen before, right?” I completed the sentence for her, secretly happy that it worked with this World’s Magic.

“What was that?” she asked, giving me a look of shock.

“Before I give you an explanation, I want to know if I won the bet?”

“You did! No need to be so suspicious. Now tell me! What did you do? What was that?” Faralda asked impatiently. Even Mom and the others were looking at me with interest.

Having gotten her agreement, I saw no point in hiding the truth and began to give her a rough explanation, leaving the important details out.

“It’s called Disturb Magic…”

[-- End of Chapter --]