33 Chapter VI: Aftermath

A/n: I give my deepest thanks to Pato Senalima for their most generous support on Patreon.

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(Reyvin's pov)

As I opened my eyes the feeling of heavy exhaustion assaulted me, looking around I appeared to be inside a tent, outside I could hear a lot of people talking, alongside loudly rushing water.

Getting up was absolute torture, and just as I thought I was ready to step out a feeling of nausea hit me and I doubled over throwing up coagulated blood and the disgusting remnants of the potions I drank.

I hear someone get inside the tent and am suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands, Bor looks me over for a second and starts casting healing, focusing mostly on my throat. As he is doing that he speaks up "I didn't know you actually managed to learn the thu'um, we kept joking how you were wasting your time"

I go to respond but all I get is another wave of pain and nausea.

He signals me to stop "You fucked your throat up pretty bad, it isn't getting fixed without the help of a master, thankfully you only seem to be extremely exhausted and not dying."

I shake my head and mouth the words "So Nords can learn something useful huh"

He rolls his eyes, gives me the finger, and then offers me a waterskin which I greedily drink from.

While I am drinking like a man that just escaped the desert he explains the situation. Apparently, there is an entrance at the far end of the cave leading into some kind of Dwemer ruin, presumably overrun by either animanculi or Falmer. All of the surviving prisoners have been rounded up already and the guards are discussing how to proceed.

I nod along as he explains and show that I am no longer feeling like I am dying so we step out of the tent. Outside, sitting around a couple of fires there are about fifty Nords both old and young, most of them seem delirious or just very tired.

The guards notice me and give me a subdued cheer, if I continue with my stunts they might name me an honorary n'wah. I snort at the thought, and wince because snorting fucking hurts right now. Grabbing my spear from near the tent's entrance I start slowly walking toward Thorgrims position while using it as a crutch.

Even walking hurts at the moment, but thankfully my Magicka seems to be doing just fine, it is a bit erratic but that is to be expected after using destruction for long periods of time.

Thorgrim greets me with some respect in his eyes "Didn't know the greybeards recruited outsiders these days"

I shake my head and go to respond but Bor interrupts me by tapping me on the back and laughing a bit "He ain't no greybeard old man, he is just a nerd that thought it might be cool to shout"

The old Nord seems dumbfounded for a second but then just sighs and shakes his head "In any case, we lost five of ours and three are too cut up to do anything, can you continue on?" He asks with visible hope in his eyes.

I look at him weirdly before pulling out my notebook and writing down "Why are we even continuing on? Didn't we already save the prisoners?"

He shakes his head "Aye we did, but we also saw a bunch of the blind fuckers spying on us from the far entrance, leaving them there is just asking to get raided again, now can you fight or not?"

I explain that while I can use my magic, even running is painful at the moment. He breathes out "All right I can work with that, I've already sent two of my boys with this one's sister" He points at Bor "To call for reinforcements and someone to help the prisoners, we had to use quite a bit of our antidote on them, didn't want whatever the Falmer were using in their systems for longer than needed. They should arrive in about a day, so take the time to rest up and prepare yourself"

I nod and turn away to go and grab something to eat but he interrupts me "Hey kid!" I turn around and he tosses me a bottle of mead he got from wherever which I grab with telekinesis "Good job." I smile and walk away, Bor staying behind to chat with the old man.

Fortunately, we packed a lot of food for this expedition, not so fortunately the food fucking sucked, dry rations and if you are lucky some nuts, but it was better than trying to eat the mushrooms so down my horribly maimed hatch it goes!

Scorch appears next to me without any of my input and sits down on my shoulder while chirping some kind of happy tune he learned somewhere, it is relaxing.

I doze off and try to remember the feeling I had while truly using the thu'um for the first time, it was something so different from anything I have ever done that I find it hard to describe the feeling, the closest would be ordering something to happen with my very soul, but that doesn't do it justice. Thankfully my act of almost-self-immolation came with its rewards!

[Novice tongue: You speak, the world hears: Yol]

[Blessing of Kyne: you heal faster, the winds accept you as their own]

The traits seem to have split, seeing as being a tongue is now a school of magic. Also it appears I needed to actually push myself to unlock the power of the voice, meditation is cool and all but I now finally understand why it takes the greybeards decades to become decent tongues, dumbasses are never challenged so they stagnate. Well they are pacifists so good on them I guess.

My musing is interrupted by Thorfinn sitting next to me and offering a roast... whatever it is, deciding to not think too deeply I toss my dry ration back into its bag and take a bite, hmm tastes like chicken.

My young Nord friend breaks the silence after some time "Saved my ass again eh?" trying to hide his lack of comfort with the idea behind a joking tone.

I move as if I was laughing at him and write down "Better start getting used to it kid, we in the big leagues tend to do all the heroic deeds while you, the kids get saved!"

He rolls his eyes and asks with some irritation "How do you get so strong? What do you have that I don't"

I give him the trademark Saitama deadpan look and slowly raise my hand covering it in fire.

We are both silent for a bit until he facepalms and mutters "Ok I am going to go end myself be right back"

I interrupt him and write down "Still sure you don't want me to show you some spells? we do have a day to waste"

He stills for a moment, his pride warring with his desire for strength before saying "Alright, show me your ways o magic man"

I go to laugh, but all I get out is a cough, he seems worried but I wave him off and cast fast healing on my throat, getting the pain under control. I spend a good portion of the day showing him how to channel Magicka and how to make the most basic of flames, he manages to create a spark of fire which is actually quite impressive, but he seems dissatisfied. Leaving Thorfinn to practice far more than it is healthy I go for a patrol around the camp.

The guards all look at me with genuine respect now, their mood is a mixture of triumph and sadness, but since Nords venerate a heroic death at one mention of Sovengarde all of them cheer up.

The next day I find myself feeling a bit better, I can jog a bit now but that is about the extent of it, my voice is still fucked however.

The next day arrives without issues, early in what I can only guess is the morning I hear noise coming from the entrance of the cave, sending Scorch to scout just in case he quickly reports that there are about twenty guards coming alongside the Captain himself.

'Finally! Burning myself from the inside out is preferable to all the waiting.'

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