The Path of Knowledge:Part 2

"But our brethren, the Dwemer, scorned the Daedra, and mocked our foolish rituals, and preferred instead their gods of Reason and Logic." - Vivec

Chapter 6: The Path of Knowledge:Part 2

The two Nords and Dark Elf treaded the ash covered lands, following him to the Dwemer ruin. They soon arrived at their destination which was a glorious, abandoned city that was off the coast of Solsthiem. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but the feeling the vestiges left Levy a sickening feeling; she could feel Hermaeus Mora's aura. As Gajeel and Jose looked, something automatically caught the Dark elf wizard's eye.

"Hmm. This place was deserted when I was here last." Jose mused. Gajeel looked harder and picked up on what Jose meant; there was a bandit's camp outside the ruins "Reavers we call them here, annoying if you ask me. We'll have to clear them out."

"Where exactly are we headed?" Levy swallowed, trying to not get sick from the aura.

"The book is housed in the main dome." Jose interpreted, pointing to the dome in the center "I sealed the door the last time I was here, as a precaution against thieves and other meddlers."

"So all we gotta do is go in there and get the fucking thing?" Gajeel questioned while cleaning his ear canal with his pinky.

"Oh no, it won't be so simple, you'll see the moment we go into the ruins. I remember where we need to go." Jose suddenly performed an Ebony flesh spell "I also remember I cleared the riff-raff in this place out last time I was here! Just where do they come from?!" he raced over to one of the Reavers beginning to zap and kill them. Unsure of what to do at this point, Gajeel and Levy shrugged and joined the Dark Elf in killing the Reavers.

The outlanders and Solsthiem native slashed, jagged, dichotomized and put to death the members of the reaver camp until there was nothing but mangled bodies in a pile.

"Maybe now we can finally begin what we came here for." Jose huffed while dusting his sleeves off, he then made his way over to the main door of Nchardak with Gajeel and Levy. A large pair of doors that were deep blue, gold, copper and every color that symbolized the Dwemer stood in front of them with a Dwemer ingot- crafted gate in front of the door, blocking the entrance to everyone on the outside. From the looks of it, this was considered a wealthy city for the Dwemer.

"The Dwemer of Nchardak appear to have been fond of these control pedestals." Jose explained "Luckily, I found a cube to operate it inside on my last visit. I sealed the door when I left to keep out ignorant meddlers; let me unlock it."

He pulled out of his cloak an automation cube. It was medium sized, octagonal yet cubed and covered in gold plating. An odd stand was near the door that was gold plated and red lining. He placed the cube on the stand which caused the inside of the cube to glow red. When the cube was removed, the gates began to shift and revealed the door to Gajeel, Levy and Jose.

"Shall we?" Jose invited. He opened the doors to the ruins revealing a large room that was timeworn from years of uninhibitedness. It was similar to the ruins back home; but it seemed more manor-like then the rest. As Levy walked in the place, she could suddenly feel her knees grown weak and bucked only to have her arm snagged by her husband.

"You alright Lev?" he asked concerned.

"I-I'm fine." she swallowed "Just have to get used to this aura."

"If you ain't comfortable, you could go back to the mushrooms or Ravenrock-"

"No, I can handle this! Just not used to the darkness this book we're after is omitting." Gajeel looked up and looked at Jose.

"Hey Elf!" Gajeel barked "Where the fuck is that book?"

"You can see the book right there." Jose pointed to the glass decal on the floor. The Nord couple made their way over to the location Jose pointed. There, sitting idly and oh-so innocently was another black book, locked in the glass encasing below them. "So tantalizingly close...But trust me, no magic will open that."

"Have ya tried at least grabbing a fucking hammer and beating the shit out of it?"

"I'd have had the book already if I could. No, we'll have to do this the hard way. If we can restore the steam supply to this room, I'm certain I can open it. As you'll see, that's easier said than done." he began to make his way to the elevator "This way to the boilers." they followed him to the elevator and pulled the lever which took them to the lower levels of the ruins.

The lower ruins were dark an felt a little cooler then most ruins Gajeel and Levy visited in the past. The sounds of machinery running could be heard, the sounds of pumps filled with steam working, gears clanking together all while the ruins deteriorated into nothingness; the fact these ruins still worked was a miracle and showed good craftsmanship.

"The last time I was here, I only explored a small part of the ruins." Jose explained while walking down a flight of stairs "I was here alone then, and I find an assistant is absolutely essential for this kind of dirty, dangerous work."

Sounds like yer just trying to save your own hide. Gajeel thought to himself.

"Nchardak, The 'City of a Hundred Towers'. In its day it was the largest of the great Dwemer Archives and perhaps the most advanced. In the old stories, when the Nords came to conquer it, it's said the Dwemer submerged the entire city beneath the sea until the invaders gave up. I have my doubts; but the city was a marvel of Dwemer engineering. Now reduced to this."

"Losing all of this just to try and gain immortality." Levy sighed "What a waste."

"Indeed." Jose replied "But good considering we can study their ruins they left behind." they followed Jose into the Great Chamber where a pedestal stood and a large flooded area.

"As you can see, most of the lower levels of the city are flooded. but it isn't hopeless - the old Dwemer pumps still seem to work. Watch." Jose pulled his cube out and put it on a pedestal similar to the one outside but with a blue lining. Moment he placed it on the pedestal, the cube turned blue and activated the pumps, water started to drain into the pumps, revealing four more boilers below.

"Holy shit." Gajeel said, his eyes wide as saucers.

"The pumps only operate when a cube is in the pedestal." Jose annotated "And unfortunately, I have only one cube." he pointed at the four boilers below "These four boilers provide steam to the room upstairs. They're shut down, but they still respond to the control cubes. So, if we can find four more cubes, we can turn these boilers back on and restore steam power to the room upstairs. Then I should be able to open the book's protective case. Bring that cube. We'll need it." not wanting to argue, Levy took the cube from the pedestal and they watched as the lower parts flooded again. Jose made his way over to a panel which showed a map of the entire city "Yes... here we are. This device shows the location of four more cubes in this section of the city. It looks like most of the cubes were moved to the lower levels, perhaps to try to control the flooding before the city was abandoned." he pointed out multiple red lights on the panel, revealing the locations of all the cubes "Interesting, that would suggest that the city must have originally sunk during the first cataclysm of Red Mountain! Or that the Dwemer's servitors continued to try to preserve the city after their creators' disappearance!"

"Fuck does that mean?" catechized Gajeel.

"It means that either the former inhabitants flooded the city when the Red Mountain erupted thousands of years ago to prevent Theiler." explained Levy "Or that the machines flooded it themselves so their masters had a city to return to."

"Precisely!" Jose added "Three of the cubes are through here." He pointed to a nearby door "This seems like a sensible place to start! You should be able to unseal this door with the control cube I gave you."

"I'll take the cube Lev." Gajeel told her. Levy nodded and pulled the cube out of her inventory, handing it to her husband who made her way over to the nearby pedestal near the door and placed it on it, watching it turn red and opening the door. The room was large and showed years of wear and tear.

Levy spotted the second cube nearby and pulled it off it's pedestal, placing it in her husband's inventory.

"I hope the rest of the cubes are this easy to find." Levy admitted.

"Although knowing the Dwemer, I rather doubt it." Jose pointed out. They jaunted through the area until they came across a group of Dwarven spiders, ready to fight the three intruders.

"Now this is more like it." Gajeel sadistically smirked "Been wanting to kill Dwemer related crap for a long time!" he whipped out his sword and then bashed one of the spiders until it was nothing but pure scrap metal. Levy pulled out a one handed sword and began to slash away at the creatures. Jose conjured lightning from his bare hands and began to electrocute the Dwemer creations, hoping to create a short in their circiutry. When they were finished sending these creatures back to the mechanical hell they belonged in, they found a bridge with two pedestals nearby.

"It looks like we'll need to lower the water level to make any more progress." Levy sighed.

"That won't be a problem." Gajeel smirked. As his eyes strayed around the room, he suddenly spotted a blue light coming from underneath the water; this caught his attention immediately "O-oi! I think I found another one!" He pointed to the spot where the light omitted which earned a smile from Jose.

"Excellent." he beamed "I assume those pedestals over there should do the job- one should do." Gajeel made his way over to the nearby pedestals and placed one cube on the pedestal, lowering the water a great amount. Another bridge drew down which gave Gajeel the opportunity to jump down and go after the next cube; but the opportunity was taken when two automatons sprung to life.

Levy and Jose prepared for battle against these machines while Gajeel was going to join the fray.

"Gajeel," Levy called out "We'll handle these machines, you go after the cube!" nodding at his wife's orders, Gajeel jumped down to the bridge nearby and ran across it to the small room nearby. Levy blocked a head on attack with her twin blades, diffusing it before stabbing the automaton in the leg, damaging it badly. Gajeel ran down the small hallway in the room and followed the direction the cube was in when suddenly, three dwarven spiders came from the walls to volley Gajeel, only to be destroyed on the spot. Jose electrocuted the automaton, frying it's main components. Gajeel soon made it to the area where the cube was resting and grabbed it. The room began to rumble, and the water began to ascend a little more, Levy grabbed the other cube which made the bridge that lead back to the Great Chamber fall down. The three made their way through the door leading back to the Great Chamber.

"The last cube is somewhere through the northern door." Jose explained "We won't be able to open it until the water level is lower." not hesitantly, Gajeel placed two of the cubes they collected so far on the stands , lowering the water in the great chamber and revealing a path, a door and a few more Dwemer mechanoids which were killed instantly. They followed the path into another room which was revealed to be the Aqueducts. It was a large flooded room with three bridges that were drawn up "Looks like we'll need those bridges down in order to get the pumps in here working." Levy looked and spotted three red colored pedestals. Looked like one cube was going to have to do the job.

She began to place the cube on each pedestal, getting different results; two bridges fell down while one stayed up, one bridge fell while the other two went up. It took only five minutes until Levy got all three bridges down. The three then took a nearby staircase to the platform that lead to the bridges. As they walked on the bridges, more mechanoids appeared but was killed on the spot. As they walked, Gajeel spotted a blue pedestal.

"Hey! Found the pedestal!" he called out. Now spotting it, the three made their way to the staircase that lead to the pedestal and placed the cube on it, lowering the water to where there was none left.

"I have an idea." Jose suddenly said "I'll wait here and retrieve this cube once one of you find the last one we need. Good luck!"

They surveyed the Dark Elf with distaste for a moment before Levy looked to her husband.

"I'll go after the last one Gajeel." she told him "You went last time, I think it could be in there." she pointed to a hallway on the lowest floor that was hidden from the waters. Not wishing to argue with his wife, Gajeel gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and watched as she jumped from their recent location,onto the ground and make her way through the new hallway. Her feet stepped in the puddles as she walked in the room. It wasn't until she began to hear the sound of the air being cut through. She jogged her way down the hallway until suddenly coming into a room. The room had nothing much of value except a large cage with the door to it wide open, two propeller like blades, swinging back and forth at a fast motion while two Dwemer statue heads spewed fire from their mouths protected the cage. Inside the cage, was the last cube, sitting so innocently on it's pedestal.

"Looks like they really didn't want people grabbing this cube." Levy smiled a little smartly "Too bad for them, my sneaking skills really improved over the year!" she crouched down and began to sneak her way over to the blades. She watched as the blades swung by befor tumbling passed them, making sure not to get cut in the process. When she reached the flaming statue heads, she ran passed them and grabbed the last cube, deactivating the traps and rising the water to her waist. She quickly placed the cube in her inventory and made her way out of the hallway, reuniting with her husband and Jose.

"Do you have the cube?" Jose called out

"I got it in my bag!" Levy hollered.

"Good, good! Then I'll take this cube and we can be on our way. Watch out, the water's rising even higher with both pumps shut down." he pulled the other cube off the pedestal and the water hiked to even greater feets, to the point Levy was swimming in it. Gajeel and Jose dived into the murky water, making their way back to where they came in "That was easier than I expected." Jose shook himself off of the water his clothes absorbed "I'm glad you two were here to do all the hard work."

"Come on," Gajeel smirked "Let's get that fucking book."

The three arrived back at the main chamber, all the cubes now in their possession and ready to do what needed to be done.

"With the cube I retrieved from the pumping pedestal, we should now have five cubes." Jose explained "Exactly what we need! Now we can finally see about getting those boilers started." he pulled one of the cubes off the pedestal, allowing the water to rise only up to the boilers level and then tossed the cube to Gajeel. Now with four cubes in hand, the Nord couple made their way to the four boilers and began to place a cube on each one. The boilers came to life and began to take the water surrounding it in and work the machinery that had been dormant for so long.

"Finally." Gajeel sighed with relief "Fucking finished."

"That seems to have done it;" Jose smirked "good. It took longer than I'd hoped, but at least it's finally done...Look out! Another Steam Centurion!" The couple looked at the opposite side of where they were and spotted a Steam Centurion, awakening from it's hidden location for the first time in years, making it's way towards them.

"Should we run?" Levy queried.

"Nope." her husband sneered devilishly "I got this." he pulled out his two handed sword he received as a gift from his wife for their wedding anniversary and positioned himself.

The Centurion began to run his way towards Gajeel who was timing his movements. The moment the Centurion reached a certain point, Gajeel ran towards the machine, somersaulted over it and stabbed it in the neck with the sword, setting it to go haywire and explode. Levy stood there speechless.

"My Gods." she managed to muster "That was incredible!" he smirked hearing his wife's words and just loving how she was boosting his ego.

"Hate to interrupt the moment," Jose called out "but I'm going upstairs to see if the machines are working!" remembering the reason they were here, the two Nords joined the Dark Elf and made their way to the elevator, back where it first started.

The sound of steam working it's way through the mechanisms could be heard through the room as they made their way over to where the Black Book was. It was now Levy had grown used to the aura of the book and felt unaffected by it's sickening feeling.

"Now that the boilers are working," Jose explained "it should be simple to release the book from it's protective case." Levy made her way over to a button that was nearby and pressed it. They watched as the large magnify glasses swirled around the ceiling and got into the position the sun was in, providing solar energy and forcing the pedestal to make its way through the flooring and revealed the book. Just like the one Gajeel and Levy found in God Serena's temple, it sat on the pedestal oh-so innocently.

"At last." Jose smiled while rubbing his two hands together "I hope it was worth it. Please, be my guest. You deserve the first look. Besides, it could be very dangerous. These books are known to drive many people insane." once again, the Nord couple looked at Jose with distaste before Gajeel took his wife's right hand gently.

"I'll read it." he told her "It's better I do Lev, so far it seems like I'm the only one able to handle that God Serena bastard. Besides, if I were to let you read that thing and something happened, I'd be lost without you. And I'd find every single way in the book to kill Daedras." Levy was moved by her husband's words.

"Gajeel..." he gently kissed her with a ton of passion.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Be careful!" Gajeel nodded to his wife before making his way over to the book and opening it.

Similar to what happened in the temple, the book's pages glowed a green aura the moment Gajeel opened it and black, slimey tentacles jutted out after the Dragonborn.

"Oh good." Jose weisenheimingly said when witnessing Gajeel reading the book "Be sure to say hello to Hermaeus Mora for me if you see him." Gajeel wanted to say something snide in return; but he couldn't because his vision turned to black.