11 Chapter Eleven-The Gladiator Room Part 1

''Well I'll be damned, two summons at his age and skill level is ridiculous" My husband said from across from me.

"Yes…. The little one seems to be full of surprises." I replied as I took a sip from my goblet and turned my attention back to the boy as he began his battle against three scamps.

"At this rate, this won't be enough to force him to use restoration magic, you'll have to step it up a notch, don't you think dear?" I replied as a small smile found its way onto my lips as the boy used his sword to block a dagger strike then put his staff in the goblin's screeching mouth and set it ablaze.

"I wouldn't be so sure those little scamps are cunning, in numbers they learn from their fallen. I've read that in Oblivion even a fire Atronach will retreat from a group of ten scamps" I sent my husband a small glare as I realized he was reading a book titled 'The Many Species Of Daedra'. 

"Practicing your annoying teacher's voice already?" I asked him in exasperation. Even after all these years, he was still childish. 'Though it is cute' I admitted to myself after a moment.

"Of course….. He may be my first student but that doesn't mean he won't have to go through the absolute headache of having an aloof master." He said with a smile as he observed the boy beginning to struggle as his mana pool hadn't fully regenerated yet. Then his hand lit with a purple flame and he used it to boost his summon. Three arrows in each of the last two Scamps ended the second battle.

"I think the child might be a cheater... He bought that spell with the healing spell earlier today." My husband said, causing me to stop for a moment and really start observing him.

"Send another set, then a minute later another. This is getting interesting" I said with a giggle as I watched the boy get ready to take his small break. Only to curse as three portals opened around him, he had to quickly retreat from a clawed swipe and position himself behind the only summon he had left.

"He's got a decent battle sense for a novice, he said he was an orphan and he obviously has talent. His father was probably one of the captains or maybe a general during the great war." Alenor stated with a dark look on his face.

"That'd be ironic, don't you think? You'd probably be his father's killer then, that is the war where you earned that horrid name wasn't it" I asked with one of my smirks that always caused my husband to frown at my antics.

"Yes... I've already considered that possibility." He said with a sigh.

 It seemed the boy finally slipped up as the scamp unexpectedly threw a dagger that landed in his forearm causing him to drop his staff. Luckily it didn't seem to stop him from using mana as he summoned another skeleton archer directly under him and rolled away from a fireball.

"I'm sorry I brought it up dear, it's mere speculation anyway. I know how you despise the time when you were known as the Chosen Of Death. I don't look back on it fondly too much myself." I said as I placed my hand atop his and smiled at his bewildered expression.

"You're hilarious... Though it seems the boy is finally being pushed." Alenor said with a smile. It seemed the boy managed to defeat two in the minute. Unluckily his other summons timer ran out as three more portals appeared around him.

He decided he couldn't take four at once so he ran towards the one he had cornered and quickly ended it, though the little scamp didn't go down without a fight. As it was stabbed it managed to take a clawed swipe at the boy's leg.

'Two injuries then, one minor and another major. Not to mention he's dropped his staff. Now what are you going to do little one' Smiling I leaned forward slightly to catch every moment with my heightened senses.

Deciding that a frontal battle would just lead to more unnecessary injuries he retreated back toward his summon and waited for the little gremlins to come to him. He could've made a go for his staff but it seemed the scamps knew this and kept themselves between the boy and it. 

It worked out well for him as he seemed to regenerate enough mana to summon another of his skeletons and begin casting his healing spell while the skeletons guarded him. It only took him about twenty seconds to heal his arm and leg but in that time the three scamps managed to focus on one of the skeletons taking it out of the fight.

He decided he healed enough and charged forward, managing to catch one of the more foolish imps as he managed to cut off its arm. The other two then decided to focus on him due to their companion's cry of pain, a bad move. A purple ball flew towards the last skeleton, empowering it as it drew six arrows at once and killed the two scamps with limbs. The other that was still screaming in pain was quickly beheaded.

"Could've chosen worse as an apprentice dear." I said as I got up and kissed him on the cheek. He nodded slightly at my approval.

"Leaving already?" He asked.

"Yes, all of this fighting has made me...hungry" I said with a smile that caused one of my fangs to poke out slightly.

"Have fun" Alenor said as he began calling towards his charge.

POV CHANGE-CILUS

'Damn…. How many was that? Nine no…. ten' falling to my knee is exhaustion. I ordered my skeleton to run and throw me my staff before he disappeared from the consuming power spell.

[+1 Endurance] [+2 Intelligence] [+2 Dexterity]

Catching it out of the air I was surprised to see the runes on the walls begin to fade and no new portals open. 

"Well that was impressive, I expected you not to know anything about how mages fight" Alenor said as he rose from his seat and approached me.

"Fighting barbarians and running from a dragon makes you learn quickly" I said with a slight smile as I began to cast the healing spell to finish healing my busted arm and burning leg.

"Yes, do-or-die situations usually are valuable to learn from, granted you survive. Your mana usage is decent, retreat when needed, attack with magic only when necessary, using your staff as a substitute when your mana has run dry. It seems you've already learned part of what I was planning to teach you here" Alenor said as he stuck his arm through space and began 'rummaging' through it.

"So does that mean we're doing something else?" I asked curiously. 'Sure it was hell, but this seems like the safest way for me to level up. Little goblin exp-bags. Except getting stabbed... shit burns' sighing in relief as I watched the thin red line on my forearm disappear.

"There it is….. What kind of master would I be if I didn't have at least one copy of every spell book from my school" Alenor said as he threw me a yellow book. 

"How much?" I asked him curiously as I observed that it was the lesser ward spell. 

"Nothing, it's part of your training. Now what do you know of wards?" Alenor asked. 

"Um, magical shields that protect the user from damage?" I answered. 'Rarely used them. More of a hit them hard and kill them quick' when I played a mage. Or summoned my minions and cast fireballs from a distance'

"The most basic of understanding, try to learn it." Alenor ordered as he paid close attention to me.

[Would you like to Learn the Restoration Spell-Lesser Ward?]

With a mental affirmation, the book broke into particles of light and entered my head. Looking up I noticed Alenor's confused expression. 

"Well... That's something I've never seen before, you didn't even read the first page. Did you learn anything?"Alenor asked.

"Layers, the basis of wards, are stacked layers of mana charged with restoration energy. The more layers the more damage that can be resisted. The mana usage increases exponentially more by each layer that is added" I answered from what I learned from the book. 'That is kind of freaky... like I'm just a computer and a spell tome is a USB drive'

"....yes, that is what you would've learned from that specific tome, but can you cast it?" He asked as I raised my arm and the air was dispersed as a thin shield of mana appeared. 

"Insanely talented children aside, we'll be continuing now. I will be summoning different Daedra at random and at different intervals. No sword, focus on dodging and blocking what you can't with a ward. Since you love your summons so much they'll be your only mode of attack. A word of advice?" Alenor said as he took my sword from its sheath. Deciding I'd be worse off without the advice I nodded to him. 

"Sometimes using yourself as bait will be the only path of survival" He said with a smile as he flashed back to his seat and the room's runes relit with power.

'I really need to ask him how this room works, how the hell can he control so many summons?' My curiosity got the better of me once I realized another portal opened across the room. I realized quickly that this wasn't another scamp, proven true when the temperature in the room rose.

(Lvl 8) Fire Atronach

It was very different than in the games, more demonic. Like a true fire demon from the pits of Oblivion. Noticing it swing its arm back I knew what was coming next. The demon did a quick twirl and a fireball was barely blocked by a hastily made ward. 

'I guess he's taking me off easy mode' With a bead of sweat falling from my brow I sent my arm backwards summoning two portals behind me.

A group of arrows flew through the portals heading straight for the atronach, showing impressive speed it dodged them all with surprising grace. 

'There never going to get a shot off if I don't limit its movement' Thinking quickly I decided to take Alenor's words to heart and charge in. Souls rolling between bursts of fire I ended up a few feet away from the monster and summoned my ward with both hands. What I expected next came true as a literal sea of fire came from my enemy. 

'Come on you bony bastards, take the shot' I prayed, the waves of flame seemed endless as I began to sweat buckets, thankfully the ball of conjuration energy I sent finally hit one of the skeletons boosting its power. A second later an arrow pierced the demon's crowned forehead and flew straight through, banishing it back to Oblivion in an explosion of fire that my ward barely handled as I was thrown back into a tumble.

[LEVEL UP +5 stat points. +1 Intelligence]

'Well, that's nice…. It would make life so much easier if I just put all my stat points in Intelligence, Could have over five hundred mana' I debated as I finally slid to a stop from the explosion.

[Conjuration skill evolving...…Novice-Apprentice]

[Rewards:1 Perk point, +1 Intelligence]

'Finally! I've summoned at least twenty skeletons! Should've hit level 25 a long time ago if this was the original Skyrim system.' Finally rising back to my feet as a portal opened and took one of my skeletons back home. 

"The next will be summoned in ten minutes, take a little break" Alenor said from his desk as I sighed in relief and fell back to the ground.