13 Chapter II: Settling in

A/n: Introducing some new characters, I didn't want to reuse the ones from the game (they would also start later anyway) so I just made a bunch of originals. toss me a stone or twenty if you've liked it.

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The inside of the dormitory is dimly lit in an ethereal blue coming from the lamps on the walls, there is a main hall area with a kitchen and some tables surrounded by ten rooms.

Mirabelle points us toward two of the rooms and leaves to get back to whatever she was doing before we interrupted her. We split up and start exploring.

The room is spacious for what one could expect as a student, there is a bed, some shelves, and a table all of seemingly good quality. There is also a couple of books filled with beginner spells for all of the different schools of magic, When I am done with exploring this should keep me occupied.

I take my time to sort my meager possessions and decide to look around and possibly meet my fellow apprentices.

Entering the previously empty main hall I notice two Nords, one male and one female talking to each other animatedly about something, they notice me and the man quickly waves me towards them.

They both look very similar, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Twins I guess as I greet them "Hey there, I am Reyvin. My companion and I joined the college sometime earlier, I am guessing you are our fellow apprentices?" I say while pointing to Morrigan who has joined us after hearing the conversation, she also introduces herself to them.

He smiles at me and says "I am Bor, and this is my sister Brienne" She waves at us "We joined the college a day before the two of you and were just discussing the first lesson, apparently the archmage himself will be holding it! I wonder what it will be about, some secret magic or maybe even a recipe for luck?"

His sister smacks him on the head while giggling "No you idiot, of course he wouldn't that would be irresponsible."

I let out a quiet laugh "Well I wouldn't say no to a luck potion but your sister is most likely right, I am guessing he will teach us something basic and universally important. We will know in two days anyway. What brings the two of you to learn magic? Please do take no offense but while this is Skyrim it is rare for nords to actually try"

Hearing my words they both frown before Brienne speaks up "It is true that most nords look at magic with disdain, but some families are still known for following the old ways of our people, for example, our clan the Flame-heart have been renowned defenders of Dawnstar for centuries now."

I nod at this "I see, please forgive my dumb question, I am new to Skyrim and the reaction among your people to mages is usually neutral at best"

Bor chuckles at this "I wouldn't be surprised if some of the idiots called us elf lovers or something equally idiotic for using the thing that is in every one of us just so they can feel better about their own inadequacies" Brienne seems saddened by his words but doesn't correct him.

All of us turn silent as the atmosphere turns slightly awkward when Morrigan of all people says with genuine curiosity "So what spells do you know?"

We spend some time discussing our skills and what we want to learn at the college. The Flame-heart clan is a clan of renowned destruction mages but is also known for their healing skills, when I mention my modifications to my pyromancy spells they both seem surprised. "How did you manage that? Controlling Magicka to that extent at our level should be almost impossible, even the brightest mages take years to modify their spells." Bor asks his brows furrowing.

Thinking about it magic control has always been way too easy for me, at first I thought it might be the talent I got combined with the mage stone, but after hearing Bor's explanation I think back to every time I have been modifying my spells. It seems that I have been activating my third eye and using it to guide the Magicka instinctually, do I have a weird magic-byakugan or something, or is having a visual aid just that helpful? Well, whatever it is it has helped me immensely already. "I don't know what to tell you, I guess it's just Dunmer being good at fire control" I pretend like he didn't already know that. No reason to air out all my secrets to people I just met.

He looks at me not quite angry but irritated that I am playing dumb and shrugs "Whatever, keep your secrets" and quickly changes his demeanor, likely throwing it to the back of his head "So about that bound weapon, I get that you need a mental image but for whatever reason I just can't get it down."

We continue discussing for a good hour before we are joined by our remaining classmates, we exchange greetings and get back to our discussion with the three now joining us.

Marwyn is a short brown haired Breton from the city of Daggerfall, a member of one of the local historian families, who as Bretons tend to do wanted him to continue their trade and do literally nothing else with his life. He escaped his home to travel the world and follow his real passion, enchantment.

Tiberius Gracchus is the tall and bulky son of a legionary legate stationed in Skyrim, apparently his father wanted him to become a warrior like himself, but Tiberius being a lazy ass prefers to summon others to do his fighting for him. He convinced his father to let him go to the college, I guess the man just wanted his son to do something. Tiberius is also a massive empire simp, like seriously dude is there one sentence that leaves your mouth without praising the glorious empire? Thankfully the boner he has for the tower of white gold is shared by the hate boner he has for the thalmor.

The last of my new class is a Dunmer woman named Edrasa Moabain, she is apparently the daughter of the owner of the local mushroom tower, who I learned is the renowned staff-maker Dyrren of House Telvanni. She was basically forced to join the college by her father who didn't want to spend time teaching her the "Basic shit" she could learn here. Thankfully, she seems to have some interest in alteration magic, so it shouldn't be too hard for her. She has silver hair and is pale by Dunmer standards, she is also unnaturally pretty, like I thought I was straight up getting bewitched levels of pretty. Looking at her with my third eye I don't sense any illusions so it was most likely a permanent alteration ritual, or maybe she just won the genetic lottery.

Guarding my mind against the pitfalls of potential simpery I continue discussing all manner of topics with the rest of the apprentices, Morrigan seems to be getting more comfortable with people now that she is no longer on the run, hopefully she will one day be able to recover from the scars left by her mothers' betrayal.

After we are done talking sometime past midnight I return to my room and crack open the levitation spell book disguised as a mana theory paper given to me by the college. Just because it is against the law doesn't mean most mages will give a single shit, they might not use the spells in public, but I guarantee you they spam that shit more than I do flames.