1 Chapter I
Remember that time when you were a kid? Those beautiful days when all you could worry about was if you were ever going to see your favorite show before you had to go to band practice, whether McDonald's or Burger King was better when it's clearly Wendy's (Pretzel Buns and the spicy nuggets are great, fight me!), or even better when you spend hours of your summer vacation grinding levels and beating a favorite game for the 300th time.
Yeah, me too. That game, for me, was Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim; this game was perfect, save for a few bugs. There is so much content and open-world space, and I'd still find more! Even when the game is released repeatedly, I appreciate the extra stuff they add. Not to mention the thousands of extra content modders add into the game, like Followers, weapons, and putting on different rings because seriously, why do they limit it to one?
Unfortunately, I haven't even had the time to play that game anymore since I turned 18. Now I'm forced to work a crappy job in a crappy restaurant so that I can pay off my rent and college funds. Thankfully, it's the end of the day, and I finally stocked up on enough vacation hours for a weekend to stay home and play my game. I must sound like a loser, huh? Well, what else can I do? I barely make enough money to pay for essential expenses, so I can never go out. Any friends I've made have drifted apart, and I have no family left. Yeah, when I say my life sucks, I wasn't exaggerating. My life sucks. At least I have one last bit of joy in playing my game when I don't even have the energy to deal with anything else.
I exited the doors and walked to my car, and I was so happy! It may have taken weeks, I may have had to take day and night shifts for months without much decent sleep, but now I can have two full days of nothing but grinding into my favorite game! Wonder what I should do?? Maybe I'll finish up the Winterhold quest! I have been wanting to get the Archmage clothes! Or perhaps I should see if there are any more dates I can see involving Serana! The Molag Bal quest expansion would be cool! I climbed into my car excitedly and took a deep breath; now I could finally relax-
Everything went black
What happened? Why did everything go dark all of a sudden? I thought I was blindfolded for some reason, but it turns out my eyes were just closed. I'm so sleepy that I knocked myself out sitting in the car. I open my eyes. It's bright and cold out for some reason, I try to rub my eyes only to notice what felt like rope tied tightly around my wrists. To my horror I came to the conclusion that I was kidnapped, that is until I hear-
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
My eyes widened. I'd be stupid not to recognize those words; I've heard them more times than I can count. I looked in front of me, and there he was, a big, burly man with long blond hair and a short beard; he looked a little different, but I was sure I already knew his name; this man was Ralof. But that couldn't be.
I turn to my left and see the two other men confirm my suspicions, Lokir, the horse thief destined to die from fleeing his execution, and Ulfric freaking Stormcloak. Unless this was a weird cosplay kidnapping, there's no doubt about it. I'm in Skyrim.
Moments pass as I witness these men arguing; meanwhile, I'm still silent, trying to process this incredible and terrifying moment. Our carts stop, and the Imperial captain starts to yell.
Imperial captain: STEP TOWARDS THE BLOCK WHEN WE CALL YOUR NAME!
I don't know how this could've happened. I finished my shift, and I was about to go to my car and drive home to sleep. But before even turning on the ignition, I wake up about to be executed! But this couldn't be Skyrim, right? But I can't be dreaming, can I? I haven't had a vivid dream like this since I started working! All I get are nightmares!
Imperial Captain: OFF THE CART PRISONER!! OR I'LL MAKE THIS EXECUTION INTO A TORTURE SESSION!!
I turn my head swiftly, surprised by the Captain. I always go to the side of the empire, but damn it, this lady was always a massive bitch. Then I turn to see Lokir behind me, who looks terrified.
Wait wasn't he supposed to go in front of me and die?
Well, since he's still alive I shouldn't let the poor guy die now if I'm aware of it.
I nudge him, and he glances towards me.
"Hey Lokir, trust me when I say don't think about running away. It'll all work out."
Lokir looks at me like I'm crazy and whispers.
Lokir: What in Oblivion are you talking about? And how do you know my name?!
"I know many things. It's hard to explain right now, but don't run ok? Trust me."
Lokir breathes heavily and sighs, then nods his head.
I get up from the cart and walk over to the Imperial bitch, and standing right next to her is none other than the man and legend himself, Hadvar. He sees me and looks up and down with a confused expression.
Now that I think about it, this is the point where I would pick my race. But there's no way I could do that, can I? I have to be like an average human already.
Suddenly, time stood still; everyone around me was frozen like statues. And for some reason, my restraints disappeared.
"What the hell is going on?"
I hear a random voice behind me.
"Why is that always the question you mortals say first?"
I turn around to see a strange figure enveloped in a beautiful shining light.
"Who're you?"
The figure strolls towards me, patting me on the shoulder.
Figure: Unfortunately, I have the option not to answer that question. Well, unfortunate, maybe for you, but great for me! It's more fun being a prick about it, haha!
"Uh...ok? Then what's the whole point of you being here?"
Figure: What? You see, the whole place is frozen in a world not like your own, a bright, beautiful creature like myself, and you don't have the basic understanding to know of your situation? Don't you humans make movie references about this in your Japanese animated stuff?
I can tell right away this guy was annoying, but I guess it was a dumb question if I think about the situation I'm in.
"Well, I was thinking it was a dream, but I'm going to take a wild guess that this is an Isekai situation, and you're the God about to give me the run down?
The figure snaps their fingers and pats my shoulder. It was only for a second, but I could tell from the moment their hand planted on my shoulder the amount of weight put into it. This guy may act like a jackass, but they were no doubt a powerful being.
Figure: You got that right, pal! I'll be discussing you're death and your reason for being here! As well as what you can do! For a limited time, of course! There's no particular reason for that, though. I have things I'd rather be doing other than this.
This guy was seriously ticking me off. I died and he's acting like it's not a big deal?? Wait, die?!
"I died?! What happened? I didn't get into an accident, did I?"
Figure: Nope, you're ok. Truck-Kun didn't claim another victim this time. That credit goes to your world's crappy economy.
"Huh?"
Figure: Because you were overworked, your body finally failed as soon as you relaxed. You pretty much died from a mental and physical shutdown on your body.
"I had a cardiac arrest?!? But I was only 22!
Figure: Yeah, you were pretty healthy compared to the average human, and an American at that. But you didn't give your body enough rest, so the old internal clock came ticking its last tock.
I wanted to let out a big scream, but I took a deep breath. What's done is done, and while it's not the most glamorous death, I'm at least glad it wasn't a painful one.
"So now what?"
The figure snaps their fingers, and a notepad and pen pop up. They grab the items and start putting on glasses they pulled from...somewhere, I'd rather not dive into that rabbit hole.
Figure: I need to confirm some information with you before you start your new life.
"So is this like reincarnation or...—"
Figure: No, if you reincarnated, you would start as a baby. This is more like transporting your body and rewinding it to a healthier state, that being when you turned 18. We call this the Phoenix Migration protocol.
"Phoenix Migration? Why the hell would you even make that?"
The figure shrugs.
Figure: It seemed like a more convenient system. I mean, would you want to go through puberty again?
I shudder as I reminisce about the voice cracks and acne.
Figure: I didn't think so. Now, onto business!
The figure gives me their clipboard, and it's filled with all sorts of information, including a line asking for my name, the day I was born, and sex, the standard stuff you'd see in, say, a medical form.
Figure: You'll need to sign here, here, and here!
The figure snatches the clipboard away and gives me a peace sign.
Figure: Thank you so much-
The figure does a double-take on the clipboard and looks back at me.
Figure: Sir! Now I hope you'll make this adventure worthwhile!
Before they could leave, I tapped their shoulder.
"Uh, I'm no expert, but shouldn't I have a status window showing what race I can pick?
The figure raises an eyebrow and looks at me like an idiot. You know the look, that stupid condescending look where the top of his lip lifts from one corner of his face, and his head is tilted back.
Figure: Race? What part of this thing, not being reincarnation, did you not understand? You don't have a new body, so you can't be a new race!
"I mean, I get that, but a normal human without any traits or special race abilities that other races have? Isn't that a little more challenging for me?"
The figure brushes their head with their hand before sighing.
Figure: OK, listen up. Nirn is parallel to Earth, meaning they're both essentially the same planet, albeit with slight differences. Those subtle differences, though, can be covered...like magic in this world and lack thereof in yours. Meanwhile, your DNA isn't too different from the DNA of certain races in Nirn. Therefore, any dormant mutation within you will be active in response to being in Nirn as an instinctual survival method, meaning you become that race, realistically this wouldn't happen quickly but again in this case it's normal, so if any scientists or student who corrects anything is reading this you can stop right now!
The figure points to a random space, of all the magical figures giving me guidance I had to be given the crazy one, great. The figure looks back at me.
Figure: You will appear slightly different but still retain most of your original appearance as a reaction to the rapid mutation, slightly different skin tone, different height, build, ya know, the good ol isekai ugly to beautiful trope, you definitely needed it! Go ahead and look. Your status window just popped up to show your race now.
I turned around, and what do you know, the talking light bulb was correct. A status window contained my health, stamina, magicka, regeneration speed, and carry limit. They were marked, but so far, I didn't see any numbers for some reason. And then I made my way to the tab marked Race, and to my surprise, I saw the names Breton and Orc.
"Hang on, this isn't right. Why are two races listed here?
The figure takes a deep breath, looks at their clipboard, and flips through some pages.
Figure: Says here in your paperwork that you were Bi-Racial when you were still on earth; is that true.
"Yes, but what does that have to"—
Figure: Well, like I said, this world is parallel to your original. Albeit some slight differences. Even some races, like elves, can have some DNA similarities to races on Earth.
"Well, I guess Breton makes sense since they're still human, but why Orc? What could be the earth's equivalent to Orcs??
Figure: Oh, lots of places, mainly countries or states that people look down on, such as—
The figure looks at their list
Figure: Florida and New Jersey, to name a couple. There are other countries, of course—
The figure looks away.
Figure: Of course, those areas are the only ones the author knows of without risk of backlash.
"What the hell is this guy looking at?"
The figure then looks back at me with pity.
Figure: You poor thing, no wonder you died. Just look where you were raised.
Once again, this figure pissed me off, but I held my tongue. The figure walks off but stops after several steps and turns around.
Figure: Right, I almost forgot, try to survive while you're here. If you die...that's it for you, so if you want to stay and live in this world, don't die. Any other information you need...well, you'll have to wait. CIAO!
"Wait? What do you mean I have to—"
A bright light glows to where the figure is, and they disappear. That douchebag better hope that he won't talk to me again next time because I will knock his skull off.
I turn back to my status window and inspect the details, as follows:
Health:
Magicka:
Stamina:
Health regeneration:
Magicka regeneration:
Stamina regeneration:
Carry weight:
Grail of Betony: A treasure hunter in Skyrim carries the mythical Grail of Betony. A Breton possessing the Grail regenerates Magicka and Stamina 50% faster.
Spell Mantle: Magic resistance increased by 15%. You also gain 25% spell absorption when Magicka is 25% or less.
Stones of Galen: Each standing stone grants its additional effect.
Bloodlust: When entering combat, gain 25% movement speed and 300% Magicka and Stamina regeneration. Bonuses gradually decay to zero over 20 seconds.
Shockwave: Once per battle, jump to cause a tremor that staggers opponents and may knock them off their feet.
Strength of Steel: Weapons and armor are 20% stronger, but enchantments on them are 20% weaker.
Quest rewards:
Stagger 150 enemies with Shockwave to unlock...
Berserk: 1/day - Doubles attack damage and critical strike damage and halves spell costs for 15 seconds. While off cooldown, may activate randomly in combat.
Discover 10 standing stones to unlock...
Shared Ancestry: 1/day - Invoke your Aldmeri-Nedic heritage to gain the racial power of a living human or elven target for 300 seconds.
What the hell? Quest rewards? Shared Ancestry? Shockwave? These aren't in the original game! These are from the mod Imperious! A mod created by Enai Siaion to make the races you play unique and more diverse! I love that mod! Does that mean mods are included here too?!? Thats insane! But also cool! I just hope it's only the lore friendly ones, last thing I need is Thomas the Tank Engine running into my ass.
After 10 minutes looking through the status screen I think I was able to set my stats up. Since I'm a halfbreed I'm given the choice of what abilities to use, to say this is overpowered would be obvious but I can only select 3 abilities and only 1 power for myself, thankfully that isn't a problem, and my regeneration rates are picked from the highest numbers from my ancestries, so I'm left with:
Health: 105
Magicka: 105
Stamina: 115
Health regeneration: 1.0%
Magicka regeneration: 3.125%
Stamina regeneration: 5.5%
Carry weight: 350
Spell Mantle: Magic resistance increased by 15%. You also gain 25% spell absorpotion when Magicka is 25% or less.
Bloodlust: When entering combat, gain 25% movement speed and 300% Magicka and Stamina regeneration. Bonuses gradually decay to zero over 20 seconds.
Grail of Betony: A treasure hunter in Skyrim carries the mythical Grail of Betony. A Breton in possession of the Grail regenerates Magicka and Stamina 50% faster.
Berserk: 1/day - Doubles attack damage and critical strike damage and halves spell costs for 15 seconds. While off cooldown, may activate randomly in combat.
Each of these abilities have no drawbacks for me, Bloodlust, Grail of Betony, and Spell Mantle are all passive abilities so they stay on without me needing to activate them. And Beserk is the best one to use when I'm in a tough spot, though it's weaker then Beserker Rage since the duration is shorter and it doesn't halve the damage I take, I still can do double the damage when I fight. But it activates randomly, meaning I have no control over it, might be risky but I'm prepared to take the risks.
Now the real fun can begin, I click the tab to continue and time slowly begins to move again, everything is back to normal and I am bound in rope again. Hadvar, who still looks confused, walks up to me and finally speaks.
Hadvar: Who are you?
I guess this is it. No going back now, this is the start of my new life here in Skyrim. This is really my life, and I'm going to live it exactly how I want! Lookout Nirn, first I deal with Skyrim! Then you! This whole world is going to go topsy-freaking-turvy!
