HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 32 (Patreon)

Chapter 32 - Volsung

Damn, I really got carried away last night.

Usually, I am not much of a fan of Alcohol, normally avoiding it. That goes for both my Lifes. But last night, the stuff just flowed.

We’d been drinking moderately at first while telling our tale. I let Agnar do most of the talking while I flirted with that sexy redhead huntress.

Not that I managed to make much headway there. I probably don’t have enough muscles on me.

Then another guy joined us in the mead hall of Jorrvaskr. He wasn’t one of the Companions, just some random dude who walked in with a bottle of wine.

After that, the party really started. He had a way with people, convincing everyone to party hard. Not only that, but he was particularly interested in me, and… to my embarrassment, I told him quite a lot about myself.

Great, now there is some random guy walking around with the Knowledge that I can travel between Worlds.

I told him about other Worlds, then ranted about how Dragons seemed to have avoided us yesterday, even though we were mainly looking for them while working through the targets on my list in Skyrim.

He then made a valid point that I simply should—

Still naked, I quickly looked around my sleeping spot and found a fine, leather-bound tome a few meters away from me, safely placed on a flat Rock.

I quickly grabbed it and opened it.

Inside, I found my own handwriting. A bit scratchier and more twisted than usual, but still mine. No surprise there, since I wrote it while I was drunk.

There were also several drawings of what looked like Magic Circles from Mushoku Tensei. But instead of their Symbols, they used a strange combination of several ancient Nord Runes, Elder Futhark from my World, and even the written form of Dovahzul.

That shouldn’t work, right?

Then more memories flashed back into my mind. The Stranger pointing out that I should simply combine Magics from different Worlds to create new ones, and challenging me to do so.

My competitive pride took over, and I started working out a group of new Summoning Spells on some Paper one of the Companions had grabbed for me, under the watch of a group of cheering Nords who wanted to fight some Dragons.

The strangely knowledgeable Stranger pointed me in the right direction each time I got stuck. Even with things that belonged to other Worlds?

Something that should have been drunk gibberish, which I was reading right now, strangely made a lot of sense. Seriously, none of what was written in this Book should work. It was just drunken rambling.

Yet, somehow, it made sense!

Once I was finished, we all moved outside of Whiterun, where I…

I turned around and walked behind the dense collection of trees South of me, which pretty much hid what was behind them from my view, only to face a truly shocking sight.

Not only were Agnar and a ton of the other Companions spread out in various states of undress, happily snoring in the burnt clearing, but they were also surrounded by several piles of Dragon Bones!

In the Center of it all was a strange Magic Circle I had transfigured into the Ground last night.

Only the Stranger was nowhere to be seen.

Oh, and my Clothes were there! My magically expanded bag too. Thank God!

Why the fuck I had decided to dance around naked in the clearing around a pile of Dragon Bones to celebrate summoning one Dragon after another was a completely different matter. A Question I preferred not to answer for the sake of my own Sanity.

At least I learned how to absorb Dragon Souls and their Knowledge now! After summoning and slaying twenty-three of them, I had finally managed to learn it from Agnar.

Also, on the last page of the bound Book, which yesterday had still been a few loose stacks of Paper, was a Summoning Circle I hadn’t created. Neither did it have any descriptions or toughts wriiten out.

In the Center of it was a Rose.

Yeah, I am not going to try that one.

———

“Hahaha! Didn’t I tell you? My friends are impressive! You spent a night among the Companions like a true Nord!” Agnar laughed as we flew towards the next location with a Dragon Priest in the East of Skyrim, having decided to clear the East first.

“Well, they went with us on a drunken Dragon-killing spree… Impressive is certainly a word I could use for them.” Or utterly insane.

At least I collected a ton of Dragon Materials too. Not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but it never hurts to have more Materials. Learning how to absorb Dragon Souls is also a nice boon.

And now that I have a method to summon Dragons from all over Tamriel, that’s useful too. It’s not even the only thing I figured out last night.

Somehow, I ended up as a drunken Genius who figured out how to apply Mushoku Tensei’s Monster Summoning to the Monsters in this World through the application of local Runes, while using the Runes of my World as a bridge between the two Methods.

How it actually works is honestly still a jumbled mess in my head. But it works. That’s what matters.

We tried it on another Dragon this morning.

There is now a genuine Dragon Graveyard just outside Whiterun.

“Don’t think so little of yourself, my friend! What else could you be but a Nord? Blood may say one thing, but the spirit speaks louder. Who else would dream up a ritual like this after the Dragons took to avoiding you? You brought them down upon yourself just to hunt them! Now that’s a true Nordic Dragon hunter!” Agnar laughed boastfully as the Wind rushed into our faces.

There is no time for us to waste. Even with the White Phial already in my Hands, after receiving a detailed list of locations for collectibles and a map from Rias, the number of Goals I have has increased massively.

My main objectives are rare Magical Artifacts, like the Dragon Priest Masks, especially those ancient ones created with unique Enchantments, so we can study them in peace back home, and the different Word Walls containing the various Shouts so I can learn them.

The Thu’um is basically a Divine Power. A Cheat Code that grants you control over reality, if the Lore is truthful.

While normal Magic accomplishes something similar, the Thu’um is several levels above that. There’s no way I’m going to pass up on that now that I can learn it!

Mom, Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria will be collecting the more mundane Materials through trade. Things like normal Enchanted Artifacts for research, Books we don’t have yet, crafting Materials unique to this World, and all that.

My responsibility is the more dangerous stuff, hidden in dangerous places.

With me now being able to summon Dragons, I won’t need to look for them anymore to gain their Dragon Souls. We can just farm them in our free time while setting up camp!

That goes for other Monsters too.

Our goals for the next few days in the East of Skyrim are the three Dragon Priests: Hevnoraak inside Valthume, a Nordic Ruin; Otar inside Ragnvald, another Nordic Ruin; and Volsung at the summit of Volskygge.

Besides that, we will try to pick up every Word Wall in the eastern half of Skyrim. Of course, that will give us a shit ton of Loot too.

Most of the Gold goes to Agnar, while I will be collecting the different Artifacts, Materials, and Books we encounter.

Once we are done, we are heading towards the Center of Skyrim…

“Are you sure they will grant me my request?” I ask Agnar.

“Of course. Don’t trouble yourself over it, my friend. The Greybeards are more than welcoming to a Dragonborn. And by all rights, you are one now, even if I’m supposed to be the Last Dragonborn. Hah! Seems fate has a strange sense of humor.” Agnar replied without a care. “Worst comes to worst, I’ll fetch the Eternal Snow for you myself. I’ve climbed the Throat of the World before. A little snow won’t scare me off.”

“I hope so. I really don’t want to make an Enemy out of the Greybeards. They are honored all over Skyrim,” was my reply before I added, “And you probably will be the Last Dragonborn. My stay here is limited, and I won’t be in Tamriel for long. You will outlast me by many decades, making you the Last Dragonborn. Also, I know of another Dragonborn who is still around. He will probably bother you sooner rather than later: Miraak.”

“Miraak? Who in Oblivion is that supposed to be?”

“A Dragonborn who calls himself the First Dragonborn. I’m not sure how true that claim is. He was a Dragon Priest on Solstheim back in the Merethic Era and ended up in servitude to Hermaeus Mora after craving Knowledge. He’s been trapped in Apocrypha ever since.”

“And why would he trouble me? I’ve never even crossed paths with the man! How could I? I’ve never been to Apocrypha!” Agnar wondered in confusion.

“Eh, something about you being a Dragonborn threatening his Plan to escape from Apocrypha. Now that I think of it, he may bother me too if I become known as a Dragonborn,” I admitted. “We will cross that bridge if they actually come.”

“He sounds like a fun challenge!”

That’s one way to see it.

———

I block another large spear of Ice flying right at my head with a Wall of Earth I create from the ground in front of me. Meanwhile, Agnar is busy taking care of the several Frost Atronachs Volsung has summoned, which have been trying to flank us.

Sending a Cutting Curse from behind my cover barely does anything more than rip a bit of his tattered robe apart before I have to quickly pull my head back behind the Wall, dodging one more Spear.

Dragon Priests are no joke. They are some of the most powerful beings in Skyrim. And those floating Corpses look even creepier in reality than they do in the Game, with their corpse-like appearance and tattered clothes.

They are pretty much the first Liches of Tamriel, as they were used as a reference for Lichdom by famous Necromancers like the King of Worms, Mannimarco.

Although their method of reaching undeath was quite different. These powerful undead Dragon Priests were granted extraordinary powers and knowledge in Arcana by their Dragon Masters.

Using all that Knowledge based on the Magic of Dragons, they uncovered their own method of Lichdom by using the Lifeforce of their worshippers instead of using powerful Artifacts to shackle their Souls to the World of the Living.

Together with their followers, the now-Draugr, they buried themselves in Nordic Ruins, awaiting the return of their Master, Alduin, the World Eater.

All that power and Knowledge, combined with their undead nature, makes them quite challenging to kill. For example, they have strong Magic Resistance, allowing them to tank quite a bit of most Spells, while his strong Wards do the rest.

His resistance works differently from a Protego, and somehow also applies to Elemental Magic. I do more damage by squeezing Volsung against a Wall with Earth Magic than through the impact of the Spell itself. The easiest way to handle them is to tank their attacks while dealing with them in close Combat.

But Volsung is a Master Conjurer too, keeping Agnar quite busy in the middle of a small horde of Frost Atronachs.

Divine Strike Magic from Mushoku Tensei would be quite nice right now, but I haven’t really put much effort into learning it before coming here. I didn’t see much of a point in it, since undead were quite rare in the Wizarding World and DXD.

Inferi could be easily dealt with using my Fire Magic.

I have been taking too much time hiding behind my Earth Wall, as it has begun to freeze and crumble in front of me. In the next moment, a gust of Icy Air flies towards me, giving me barely enough time to create a gust of Fire to cancel the Spell out.

But that only gives me a few more Moments before the next Ice Spears are already flying towards me.

Forcing me to pull out my trump card, I use my line of sight to Apparate behind the Dragon Priest, sending several Fireballs into his back and causing a bit of damage to him. But only a bit.

His tankiness is enough to endure it, and I have already revealed my new Position. A continuously channeled Greater Ward Spell is already between me and him again, while his other Hand is already forming new Ice Spears.

This has been much easier in the Games… Here, it’s as if that thing has infinite Mana. That continuous Ward is really annoying. While I have been working out, close Combat is not my strong suit.

And I really don’t want to Tank Ice Spears while hitting him with a Sword. One into my Head and I’m dead.

“FUS RO DAH!”

With a rumble, I let loose my currently strongest offensive Shout, the nature of Dragon Magic allowing it to break through his Wards and send him stumbling backwards.

Followed by a few more Fireballs hitting him head-on.

But that opening lasted only seconds before the Dragon Priest caught himself.

Yet, Volsung suddenly froze as a warm feeling filled the area, followed by white, silvery Light.

An ethereal, white, glowing raven flew through the entrance, pushing Volsung aside and forcing a pained scream out of the Dragon Priest before it halted right in front of me and opened its beak.

“Meet us in Morthal. We will wait there!” Mom’s voice came from her Raven Patronus before it dissipated.

“Thanks, Mom. I will,” I muttered with a confident grin, pointing my Wand at the undead Dragon Priest.

My thinking had been far too shallow. Here I was regretting not learning Divine Strike Magic, while I already had access to a similar type of Magic.

“Expecto Patronum!”

Intense, silvery-white Light escaped my Wand in the form of a three-legged crow, flying straight out of it and crashing right into the still-stunned Volsung.

My Patronus didn’t just graze the Dragon Priest. It kept hitting him again and again.

No Greater Ward could block its maneuverability as it simply kept flying around him.

And just a few seconds later, the Dragon Priest stopped levitating and dropped onto the cold ground with a thump, leaving behind his dead, robed body and his Mask.

All that trouble for probably the shittiest Mask ever.

It grants Water Breathing, which I can already achieve with a Bubble-Head Charm, increased carrying capacity, which I don’t need, and a twenty percent increase in bartering.

But well, I need it for completion and the last Mask.

“That was quite entertaining,” Agnar said as the Atronachs he had been fighting vanished, while giving me a wide grin. “So, Morthal instead of High Hrothgar?”

I gave the Dragonborn a blank look before replying with a nod.

“Morthal it is!”

[-- End of Chapter --]