|3rd POV|
Zelretch sits on the stone while the corpse of a vampire lies on the ground next to him. He can see the fight inside the cavern and see if the fight between Ryan and Cicero is interesting. Even though Ryan has a stronger physical strength, Cicero has the upper hand.
He can see the string of black energy coming from the coffin not too far away from the fight, feeding the jester with power. He wants to track where this energy is coming from, but he decides not to do it. He doesn't want to get that attention even though his curiosity demands him to do it.
He already made a promise, and he is a man that keeps his promise.
He sees Ryan gather the energy of the world and purify them. Seeing the process of Senjutsu, Zelretch shudders a little because he knows that Gaia and Alaya from his world will do anything to keep him from leaving.
He needs to ensure they do not do anything too far and make the one watching over Ryan angry. When he feels someone is copying his knowledge, he takes a peek into that being, and what he sees is something that makes him shudder in fear and excitement.
Fear because he knows that being can destroy a multiverse and build it anew. He is excited because it is something new to him, and the being lets him make Ryan an anchor that lets him explore a new world.
He shakes his head when he sees Ryan's body start to change after absorbing enough of that energy. Zelrecth leans forward as he looks at the flow of energy in Ryan's body and observes him, taking a note to see if he can do what he is doing or if it needs some kind of special body to do it.
So far, he has noticed that only someone with a unique body can absorb Natural Energy. Regular humans can move the natural energy into their bodies, but they do not have the ability to absorb it. The natural energy only stays for a second before disappearing. Not only that, Zelretch also noticed that if someone wants to absorb the Natural Energy, they need something to purify it.
Normal humans or even a magus cannot do that.
Zelretch smiles a little when he sees Ryan manage to land a clean hit and follow it with a decapitation. However, his smile turns into a frown when he sees the same black energy from the coffin once again appear and take the soul of the jester alongside the coffin somewhere around the world.
He uses the Kaleidoscope, searching for the coffin's location, and to his surprise, it is no longer in this realm. He can find it, but it is outside of this realm. He let them be and instead focused on Ryan and the others.
They manage to kill all of the assassins and leave the cave. Ryan looks at him in confusion but decides not to ask him about it. After burning the entire cavern system, they leave the area and return to Falkreath.
"So, what are you doing coming here, Zelretch? I thought you were in college by now?"
Zelretch looks at Ryan and creates a small barrier around them so the others hear a mundane conversation between them.
"Oh, I still did. I leave a homunculus to stay there to record what I learn. One of the masters is about to give a lecture before I sense you are about to do something exciting. So I put one of my homunculus in my place and came here."
Zelrecth has a dozen homunculus of himself in his vault in another world for him to use to attend something mundane like a monthly meeting in the Clock Tower or a lecture.
"Right. How is it? Did you learn anything from that place?"
"Oh, yes. Nothing out of the ordinary, but they are fascinating nonetheless. The spells are crude and unrefined, but they are versatile if people expand them. Sadly, I don't think I can use them in my world."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because the spells use mana that is unique to this world. It will not work with me as I cannot contain or produce the mana. However, you are different as the mana you produce can change nature."
"Really?"
"Yes! That is why you are a fascinating human, Ryan. Your nature is so flexible that it will adapt to any world rule. If you are a normal magus, I will not hesitate to dissect your body and learn your secret."
Ryan steps back and says.
"Please don't dissect my body."
"Hahahaha! Don't worry. I will not dissect your body. Observing you is enough. Anyway, did you know what kind of coffin was in that cave? That thing is weird. I can see the corpse, but there is something more to it."
"Ah… That coffin is the resting place of something called the Night Mother. She is the wife of Sithis, the Lord of Dread, Void, Chaos, Doom, and Discord. Some say that he is the literal Void, but I cannot confirm it."
Something connects in Zelretch's mind as he nods his head. Now he knows where the soul of the jester in that weird coffin goes. It is the realm that Sithis rule. Even he knows not to enter God's domain unprepared.
"He sounds like bad news."
"He is. Lucky for us, he cannot step into a mortal world without discarding his divinity, just like the Aedra. He can only go here through blessing and champion."
"Then it is good you kill them before one of them becomes his champion."
"Yup. Anyway, when will you return to college?"
"I will leave the homunculus there for today. I want to see what kind of blessing you will get from the Goddess who gives you that command."
Ryan looks at him in shock and says.
"You know about that?!"
"Of course. The two of us have a connection, you know? Because of this, I can hear what that Goddess is saying."
"Right. I don't know what kind of thing she will give me as they do not say anything when I am done with their tasks. However, the blessings from Arkay and Orkey are great. They are mostly a blessing that lets me kill an immortal."
"Truly? Even when that said immortal, do they not have the concept of death in them?"
"Ah… Tiamat, huh? I don't know about that. I don't think my blessing can kill her, and I don't want to try it out."
"Fair enough. I don't even want to fight her when she is at full power. Anyway, I am curious about the nature of the blessing you will get from the Divine Being of this world."
Before Ryan can say something, a pillar of light appears and hits him from the sky. An image of a woman wearing fur clothing and holding a spear smiles at him. This is Kyne, the Warrior Goddess of Nord and she just blesses Ryan. Not only that, but she also shows the world that she just blesses a mortal and makes him her champion.
Something that irritates Akatosh as Ryan can feel the Dragon of Time roar in his soul in anger.
'That bitch!'