8 Chapter VIII: The Valtheim Towers and Eastmarch *Edited*

We got up early and after a hearty breakfast headed out toward the gates, there as expected awaited Jenassa, the elf from the tavern two days back. We finished all preparations and headed out.

The first day of walking went by quietly with me once again nose deep in my magic notes scribbling whenever I was not afraid of tripping, Morrigan gathering random herbs on the way and Durrak excitedly looking everywhere in hopes of impaling something, he did get somewhat lucky with a very starved wolf jumping us but that mostly just annoyed him as he got excited for nothing.

Jenassa was quiet the entire way and simply spent her time enjoying the walk.

The next day we were passing next to the two towers connected by a thin bridge over the river we were following, I believe the place was called Valtheim and It is usually a bandit camp, but the skeleton brazenly standing next to the entrance proved otherwise.

[Quest initiated: eliminate the Valtheim necromancer][Reward: vit 0.5]

"Looks like your wish got granted Durrak, we have a necromancer on our hands" I quip trying to get a count of the undead inside using my third eye.

"The necromancer offends the ancestors we must paint his blood on the walls" Says Jenassa coldly.

"Must we really charge into every situation we come across? what if the necromancer is more powerful than us?" Asked Morrigan already getting annoyed with having to fight again.

"If he was powerful the skeleton would have sensed us ages ago." I swiftly explain "No, its presence is barely worth calling a proper animation and I can only detect about a dozen of them of about the same strength"

"Then what are we waiting for, lets smash them!" the Orc says already putting on his new steel helmet.

"Fine, when he starts throwing lightning storms at us don't blame me" Morrigan huffs and also starts getting ready.

The presence I detect on the other side tells me that the necromancer is not really that magically powerful, and most of his reserve is tied up keeping the skeletons going, poor fool didn't even get the memo that you need rituals to have the undead be viable on your Magicka. I relay these thoughts to my companions who seem a bit less tense, well two of them do, the remaining one is just vibrating in place ready to go in.

They signal to me that they are ready and I start casting my firebolt, now spinning in my hand it should be much faster and more precise than before, I launch it at the first skeleton and it falls apart almost immediately, sensing that the necromancer has been alerted by the connection being cut I signal for us to rush in.

Cutting through the skeletons seems really simple until ice shards start raining from above, thankfully I was able to detect them in time and started throwing out wards on top of us, they hold, if barely and the necromancer already seems tired out if his magicka outline is anything to go by.

My Orc and Dunmer companions seem in their element as Durrak smashes the skeletons with his spear and Jenassa dances around them as much as the thin bridge allows her.

The undead are quickly dispatched and we race toward the tower before the rogue mage can escape, when we enter the room he is in he looks at us with a maddened face pulling out a scroll "YOU WILL NOT STOP MY GLORIOUS RISE! ALL OF TAMRI-" he is suddenly stopped with a massive improvised javelin to the face.

Durrak walks to retrieve his spear and spits on the ground "You talk too much"

[Quest completed]

I laugh my ass off internally as I feel just a bit more energetic than when started the day, we start scouring the place for loot but don't find anything too good except for some money and a bit of food, no matter, anything is good at the moment.

We decided to spend the night here after clearing the remains and burning them.

The next day we reach a nearby inn without any issue and are served some surprisingly good food by a cook who refuses to show himself, hmm this seems familiar for some reason but I can't put my finger on it.

We spend our time in the inn resting and chatting with the passing travelers who give us rumors of a troll blocking the way to Windhelm with a rather hefty bounty on it, when we hear this I don't even need to turn around to realize who is shaking the entire table with excitement.

When it comes to advancing my spellwork I finally got the bound weapon down, it is slightly weaker than a steel weapon for now, still being better than the iron one I started out with, the blade itself is mostly dark gray with red accents, and surprisingly it looks like a normal saber if a bit more jagged at the guard and tip and not whatever spiked hell the games conjured weapons are from.

We leave early once more and thankfully there is no troll waiting for us on the road, huh someone must have already taken care of it and now I have to deal with a moping orc on the road, joy.

Morrigan laughs at the poor orc and we continue on almost forgetting the presence of our other companion, well she seems to not mind I shrug as I take out my book and continue rereading the wards section. Thinking about the troll situation even if they are weak to fire they are still massive tanks and all it takes is one mistake for us to get mauled, so I will leave the troll-slaying for when I can do it from a good distance with magicka to spare.

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At the gates of Windhelm we are greeted by disdainful looks of the guards, one of the shits even spits on the ground when he sees me.

"And what do you want elf?" He asks in a very loud and brash tone.

I give him a very deadpan look and say in the most dead voice I can muster "To enter the great city of kings of course"

My tone seems to go over the dumbfucks head as he simply smiles and says "Well why didn't you say so, that'll be two septims per visitor, the city is already pretty crowded so we have to take measures"

Like hell I will believe that but honestly I am not spending my day in front of a city while freezing my balls of, especially since I am far more sensitive to it than a human. "Fine take the gold and let us in"

"I am glad we understand each other, watch yourself inside elf"

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As we enter inside I say "Ah the smell of discrimination, racism and hate, if it were warmer It'd feel like home" pretending that I ever saw Morrowind.

Jenassa snorts and waves at us heading towards the grey quarter, thankfully I already asked her how to navigate the place so I don't have to chase her now.

"So what are we doing here anyway? It would be easier to just buy supplies on the way and not stop in this.... lovely place" Morrigan's face visibly twitches as she attempts not to insult every Nord in earshot.

"Well I did say that I wanted to explore the world, might as well start with one of the cultural centers of the region, no matter how much of a shithole it is, and don't forget Jarl Balgruuf's letter" I answer quietly.

"Well be fine, the Nords won't dare be stupid when I whack them over the head a couple times" Durrak says without giving the slightest shit about all the nords looking at us, who then promptly turn around and continue with their day.

Huh, modern problems require ancient solutions I guess.

"Right, and for starters I think we should head into the grey quarter as well, it seems to be pretty big and I don't want to be visible in this kind of place" I say already planning on how to blend in.

My companions agree an we head towards the east of the city, meanwhile I check my progress:

[Vit: 7.5 => 8]

[Mind: 15=>15.2]

[Mag 130 => 133]

[Conjuration novice: Bound saber (steel)]

Huh so using the third eye helps my mind get stronger, useful to know. I think as we enter the miserable slum known as the grey quarter.