"So we made it to this big tomb, lots of undead everywhere." Rin had explained their journey to delve into this lost crypts. "I thought the place was already cleared out, because there were no zombies walking around –"
"Draugr" I corrected.
"—Draugr." She nodded. "So there were no Draugr walking around, we walk into a new room, lots of coffins, and there was a treasure chest."
"Oh gods did you go straight for it?" I face palmed.
"She went straight for it." Artoria said dryly.
Rin turned a little red. "As soon as I touched it, all the coffins in the room had their lids kicked opened and a stupid amount of Draugrs all stepped out."
"So, you engaged them." I nodded to her words. "In such an enclosed space, I assume you stuck to your spear and perhaps some small cantrips?"
"No." Artoria deadpanned.
"They startled. Me." Rin defended herself, casting a huff towards Artoria.
"They startled you?" I gave her a dry look. "And what happened when they 'startled you'."
"Blew them the hell up." Rin preened.
I looked towards Artoria.
"That is an unfortunately apt description of what occurred." Artoria sighed. "She screamed and threw one of her Rubies into the middle of the room, destroying most of them in the blast."
"Saber!" Rin huffed.
We shared a laugh at her expense, but she didn't seem particular distressed. I think this trip of hers was the best thing that's happened to her in many months. "How about the traps, those places are usually infested with the things."
"Oh god, tell me about it." Rin groaned. "Who puts jars of oil hanging on the ceiling!?"
"I just started saying 'fuck it' and forced my way through them all."
"Yes, Rin shared a similar mindset." Artoria sighed again.
"Blew them up?" I hazarded a guess.
"Hehe." Rin let out an awkward laugh.
"Alright, so navigated the ancient tomb filled with undead and traps, what was at the end?" I asked.
"Well according to the Journal's, these places were actually prisons for the sons of this amulet's original owner and maker." Rin explained. "I don't know the specifics, but they took the amulet when he died, and broke it up into three pieces. They were tyrants, ruling over the land until they were finally put down and sealed away."
"Fascinating." The Archmage finally spoke up, content to just listen in with amusement. "You still possess these journals?"
"Of course." Rin puffed up. "I knew you would want them. But….everything's kind of jumbled together in my bag after an…..accident. If you don't mind I can get them to you after sorting everything."
"No rush." The Archmage waived her off. "Please continue."
"This Draugr was able to use magic, and he was really good. He was able to teleport short distances, and his elemental mastery was surprising." Rin let out a sigh. "Honestly, I was taken by surprise. If not for Saber's magic resistance, I don't know if It would've gone as smoothly."
"Well, you know better now, right? I doubt any more magic wielding undead took you by surprise from then on." I tried to sooth.
"She did well." Artoria also chimed in. "The fight was not long, but she was able to support me as we took it down and claimed the amulet piece and its treasure as our own."
"They were durable, but not very fast." Rin added.
Ah, Reinforcement is quite the good spell. Most people using magic here had just bluntly forced the magical energy to elevate their body beyond normal means. That, or they simply exist at a much higher starting place similar to how humans were back home in the Age of Gods. Really, the most thorough strengthening spell I found here was Ebony Flesh, and its lesser equivalents. And even that mainly 'strengthened' as opposed to Reinforcement that increased every aspect of the body.
It's quite curious now that I think about it, but thoughts for later.
"Draugr have an innate resistance against magic themselves, as well." I tapped my chin. "Their necrotic nature simply makes spells have a lesser effect, though I suppose it's slightly different than actual magic resistance."
"Well, they burned well enough." Rin shrugged.
"Yup, that'll do it. They're weak against fire, for obvious reasons. There are probably some spells in the restoration school that also repel and harm them. Since the healing magic is the antithesis to undead, they should be able to deal quite a bit of damage."
"I didn't think about that." Rin look lost in thought for a moment. "I'll have to test that at some point." She muttered to herself.
"Well, regardless, what happened next?"
"We basically did the same thing again. Took a couple days of traveling, though we found someone willing to take us in cart most of the way there for some gold. Same kind of crypt, but this one had a bow and teleported around, was kind of annoying because it made clones of itself, but none of them were actually real until only one remained."
"Uh, did you find any books or anything about a spell like that?"
"No." Rin Grumbled. "And I looked all over, turned up every stone."
"She means that literally." Artoria added.
"Well done." I gave Rina thumbs up, one she mirrored with a grin. "More treasure, though?"
"Hell yes!" Rin pumped her fist in the air. "Lots of good things, gold, jewels, weapons, that kind of stuff. You're going to be so jealous~"
"Am I now?" I raised an eyebrow. "Shall I tell you of my adventure when you're done?" My lips curled up.
"What? What'd you do when we were gone?"
"Not much, just killed the oldest vampire in Skyrim, looted his castle." I casually inspected my nails.
"Bullshit!" Rin slammed her hands on the table. "I call bullshit!"
I let Harkon's sword fall onto the table. "Oh no, the blade I got off that vampire lord..." I feigned surprise. "How did that get there!?"
"One of these days, Schweinorg, you and me!" She raised her fist up threateningly. "And put that thing away, it feels really weird."
"Yeah, it does." I didn't argue putting it back in my ring. "Was going to have Meridia see if she could 'cleanse' it of all the icky stuff."
"Are you going to add it to your growing arsenal?" Artoria asked.
"Eh, maybe just my collection, not to something I use for true combat." I scratched my cheek. "I was just interested in the fact that it was a 'katana' or something similar. A bit straighter and shorter, but also not a wakizashi, if slightly bigger than a normal one."
"That is true, I think Gram was a better sword and you opted to not set it to the side." Artoria agreed.
"Speaking of, I actually gave it to Thorum. It liked that fact that he apparently eats dragon souls."
"Curious, I would like to meet him at some point." Artoria gave a small smile.
"Of course, I think both of you would like him. He's a great guy."
"Yeah yeah we can meet your guy crush later. Let me finish my story." Rin interjected.
"Alright, Miss Grumpy, continue on." I gestured for her to continue.
Funnily enough, she wasn't actually upset or even put off by our little back and forth. I think before she held back some thinly veiled jealousy, but now it was just sort of our dynamic.
"Alright, so we got the last two pieces of the Amulet, but we needed to find a way to put them together. There was actually some notes and stuff left behind, a third tomb we were led to. Some sort of ritual site that required the pieces of the Amulet to actualize. Once we did that, it seems like the spirits of those brothers were still latched onto the pieces, so the sort of piggy backed off the ritual to create a ghost-like body."
"Can you describe the ritual in detail?" The Archmage asked?
I had forgotten he was there briefly, actually, I don't think he was all the way here, like a sort of avatar merely listening in when something interesting came up.
"I made a rough sketch before we left a long with the notes to it and I wrote down some of my own observations as well." Rin stated.
"Oh my, well done Miss Tohsaka." The Archmage gave out well deserved praise. "It truly is a boon to have you in my college."
Rin puffed up happily. "Of course!"
"The fight was a little difficult." Artoria began. "There were three opponents who were adept in magic and had some amount of martial skill behind them. Not to mention they lacked several weaknesses a living person would have, such as stamina. But they also lacked any kind of coordination, there were points where they almost fell over one another."
Rin let out a little snort. "The one with the bow actually shot the one with a sword in the head."
"The most difficult aspect was their teleporting." Artoria had a slight smile on her face. "The room we fought them in was rather large so they had quite a bit of room to maneuver."
"I took out the one with the bow and Artoria took out the other two. Once we finished, the ritual combined the Amulet and here we are." Rin finished.
Well, it doesn't sound like they had any major issues, but they also left out a lot of details. But it would probably take hours to recount every little thing. "And you guys didn't face anything outside of these tombs, no dragons?"
"The skies were clear the entire time. I made sure to keep a watch out." Artoria reassured me.
"Yeah, the worse we ran into was a Troll but –"
"You blew It the fuck up?" I finished for her.
"Damn straight." Rin smirked. "What about you, was this vampire strong?"
"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "And he was backed by a Daedric Lord, someone whose an enemy of Meridia and wanted to lure me out." A trap I walked right into. "He was a bit rusty though, so I was able to defeat him without much issue, but his mastery over blood magic was eye opening."
"Blood magic?" Rin repeated.
"Exactly as it sound, to manipulate blood. You can think of it as a branching school of thought from water manipulation. Though it comes with its own good and bad points due to the nature of blood."
"Will~" A person suddenly burst through the doors, her eye catching blue skin making me recognize her immediately.
"Jinn." I smiled brightly at her.
Her eyes swept at those of us gathered. "Rin, Artoria!" She practically squealed in delight, running over and giving each a big hug. Rin looked a little surprised at first, but happy all the same, Artoria welcomed it without any fuss.
"Hello Jinn." Artoria greeted.
"Jinn." Rin nodded her way.
"I'm glad you both are back." Jinn's smile was really contagious. "Did you have fun, were there new books you found? What's that around your neck? Did you fight any of those undead? What about spells, did you learn anything new? Or did you find any good treasure?" She immediately began bombarding them with questions.
Was always happy to see my genie this bright and ecstatic.
"Oh." Jinn interrupted her own rambling. "I actually had a quick question." She looked at me. "I was going through the notes and journals from Harkon's stuff you left at the house, and I got kind of stuck because it mentioned something about an 'Elder Scroll' but I can't find –"
"Pardon." The Archmage interrupted. "Did you say an Elder Scroll?" He seemed much more contracted on us than he was previously.
But honestly, the hell was an Elder Scroll?
***
I have no excuse for how late this chapter was released, just kind of got caught up reading a new novel.
Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone