Disclaimer: English is not my first language. I'm using Grammarly to check the Grammar and using Word to write it.
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"Ready?" Mia asked, holding a timer.
I inhale deeply, centering myself before resting my hands on the transmutation circle. There's a small wooden cube at the center of the circle.
I nod.
"Begin," Mia starts the timer.
Identify each component, visualize the new form, reorganize the elements, and execute.
The circle begins to glow, and the little wooden object slowly reshapes itself, turning into a cylinder within seconds.
Mia stopped the timer. "19,32 seconds," she raised an eyebrow.
"Told you I could go faster," I wipe the sweat from my brow.
That's my best time so far.
Mia lifts the cylinder, scrutinizing it, "It's true, you finished faster this time, but the quality suffered," she said. "The sides aren't smooth, the shape isn't symmetrical, and most importantly," with a swift motion, she snaps the cylinder in half. "It's brittle."
"Of course it is," I sighed tiredly.
"Don't get discouraged by this, Ben. You're still learning, and this is a considerable improvement. In just three days, you went from theoretical study to practical. That isn't something many can claim to have achieved," Mia reminded me gently.
"I know, I know," I rubbed my temple in annoyance."It's clear as day that I'm learning faster than before. It's just...it doesn't feel fast enough."
Two years isn't a long time.
"You said lord Zelretch is looking into a way to give us more time, yes?" Mia asked.
I nodded.
"Then all we can do is to focus on your training and accumulate as much power as possible," Mia said.
"What happens if he-"
"You can't dwell on that, Ben. What we're doing is already a massive undertaking. We need to focus on what's in front of us; otherwise, we'll never get anything done," Mia said.
"I kinda hate how calm you're being about all of this," I grunted.
"Oh, trust me. I'm freaking out on the inside. We just can't do that at the same time," Mia shrugged.
I snorted at that.
"Now, let's move on from this topic before things get depressing around here," Mia said.
"Seconded it," I said.
Mia nods, pleased.
"Wanna grab something to drink?" Mia asked.
I nodded.
We left my workshop, grabbed something from the fridge, and sat at my table.
"Getting back on topic. Your previous attempts weren't bad either. Focus on quality for now, then we will work on your speed," Mia said.
"You still could have let me have this moment before you pointed out the flaws," I said as I drank some water.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't point out what you need to improve on," Mia crosses her arms.
That is...fair.
"Hey, when are you going to let me work with magical reagents?" I thought of the pile of miscellaneous weapons and armor that's sitting in a corner of my workshop.
The last three days were more exhausting than when we were attacking the Merchants.
I've been reading all the material Mia prepared without taking a break. When I'm not doing that, I'm crafting mystic codes to get more familiar with how to make them. Everything I've made so far is high-quality, but ultimately mundane in nature.
There's only so much I can do with non-magical resources.
She hasn't allowed me to use magical reagents yet.
"When we have more for you to work with. You already said that you will make us proper cape costumes, yes?" Mia asked.
I nodded seriously.
No more hoodies and a simple face mask.
Now, we will have proper costumes.
"And that will probably use all our stock," Mia said.
"Can't you buy more from your contacts?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I can," Mia said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But it's not enough anymore. If you really want to advance item construction, we'll need massive amounts of magical reagents, far more than my contacts can supply."
"Is there anywhere we can buy in bulk?" I asked.
Mia giggles like she heard a funny joke.
I crossed my arms.
Mia coughs, embarrassed, "Sorry. To answer your question: while it's possible to buy in bulk, no one is going to do that kind of business with nobodies like us."
"I take that offering a literal mountain of gold isn't going to make a difference?" I take another sip of water.
Mia hums thoughtfully, "It would depend on who we would try to make a deal with, but they wouldn't accept only gold as payment."
"Why? What's wrong with it?" I asked.
"It's the same problem with your plan for making money. If too much is introduced into the market, the value will plummet," Mia explained.
"And they get less than what was agreed on. Got it," I rubbed my chin. "So, like, is cash better or...actually, what would a magus care about?"
"Oh, they do care about money, some more than others; there isn't any doubt about that. Thing is, others would prefer something more valuable than any currency can ever be," Mia said.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Once I heard a rumor in the Clock Tower. Around the eighteen hundreds, one of the lords issued a bounty for some rare material, no idea which one, and the person who did bring it back would be rewarded with a favor from the lord." Mia places her hands on her hips.
I whistle in surprise.
That is more valuable than gold.
"Is that true?" I asked.
Mia shrugs, "Maybe, I never looked deeper, but you get the idea. It doesn't have to be a favor. It has to be something that would be worth their time."
"What about a friend? Someone that you can ask for help," I suggested.
Mia's cheeks flushed red, and she pressed her lips into a thin line.
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"What do you want me to say? I spent all my time studying and learning magecraft," Mia admitted with a blush. "And the Clock Tower isn't the kind of place that's easy to find a friend where you don't have to watch your back. Everyone there is a trained psychopath."
I raised my hands, "Hey, I'm not trying to say anything. Just surprised that you didn't have an active social life. You're such a nice person."
Mia covers her face with a groan, "Can we please move on from this? I really don't want another talk about how much of a failure my social life is. Had plenty of those with my mom." She rubs her temples.
Moving on.
"What're our options?" I finished the water.
Mia sighs and leans back on the chair, "There are some people that I can try to give a call to, but we don't have much leverage."
"What if we offer a mystic code in return? I can whip up anything that they might want," I offered.
"Are you ready to step into the spotlight, Ben? Cause whatever you create is bound to draw attention," Mia said seriously.
I tap the table, lost in thought.
After a moment, I shook my head.
"Good choice," Mia said.
"Wanna leave this for later?" I asked.
"Yes," Mia said tiredly.
"Let me make you some tea," I go to my stove.
"By the way, how are you feeling?" Mia asked suddenly.
"Tired and kinda of hungry," I said, placing the kettle on the stove and turning on the burner. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Just checking to make sure you're okay after using so much reiryoku. I'd rather not be caught off guard if you start feeling unwell," Mia explained.
"You checked my soul and said it was fine. Hell, you even told me it was stronger," I said.
"I know, and still can't believe something like that is possible. It goes against everything that I was taught," Mia crosses her arms. "But it does mean that eventually you will be able to use stronger kido spells."
The higher-level spells need more juice than I have at the moment.
That reminds me.
"Did you find anything about those shinigami names I told you the other day?" I asked.
"Nope," Mia shakes her head. "I looked through all mythologies and couldn't find even a trace of them. What I do find particularly interesting is the zero division that you talked about. It indicates some form of hierarchy, but I can't find it anywhere. I do have a theory on why that is, though."
"What?" I asked curiously.
"Since it was the grimoire that gave you these kido spells, I think they also originate from another dimension like myself," Mia said. "It's why there's no information on them, no matter where I look."
Huh.
It must be the same with item construction.
I can't explain it, but something about this whole 'legacy level' feels like something straight out of a video game.
Does that mean that there are worlds that follow video game rules?
"Okay, that does track, but does it affect us negatively in any way?" I asked, turning off the stove as the kettle began to whistle.
"From what I can see so far, no, it doesn't. I just don't like the fact that we're basically flying blind here," Mia said, slightly annoyed.
I make a cup of tea and give it to Mia.
"Thank you," Mia says, taking a sip of tea.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body. Cidhna Mine grants me access to a wealth of ores, ranging from ordinary metals to those imbued with magical properties.
"Unbelievable," I rub my hair while chuckling.
"What happened?" Mia asked.
"I got a mine," I said drily.
"...what?" Mia asked, surprised.
"Come on," I said as I walked to my workshop.
Mia quickly catches up to me.
There's a new door in my workshop, a solid oak door with a strange symbol carved into its center.
Opening the door, Mia and I enter a cave.
"Ben, what's this place?" Mia looked around.
I opened my mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of someone running towards us.
"Halt! Who goes there!?" A man shouted.
A group of guards halts in front of us, their swords raised and pointed in our direction.
Mia tensed up and was getting ready for a fight, but I placed my hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"It's me," I said calmly.
"Milord!" The guard exclaimed in surprise before putting away his sword.
The rest of the guards quickly follow suit.
"I apologize. I wasn't aware that you would visit the mines," The guard said nervously.
"It's fine, you guys are just doing your job," I waved off his apology.
The guards eased up when they realized I wasn't upset with them.
"How may I assist you today, milord?" The guard asked.
He must be the leader of this bunch.
Got to remember that.
"This is my partner Mia," I pointed at her. "I want to show her the mine and see how much ore was mined today."
"Of course. Right this way," The guard said.
"Oh, one more thing. You guys are to treat her with the same respect that you treat me," I said.
"Understood," The guard turned to Mia. "I'm Captain Thadeus Stormhook, commander of the Cidhna Mine guard. My men and I stand at your service," he bowed respectfully.
The rest of the guards follow suit.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Thadeus. I'm Mia McCarthy," Mia returned the bow.
The guards started to walk deeper into the cave.
Before I could follow them, Mia grabbed my arm and leaned closer.
"Who the hell are these people?" Mia whispered with wide eyes.
"It's pretty clear that they are gua-knock it off," I said, swatting her hand away as she pinched my side a little too hard. "You know that doesn't work on me."
"Don't get smart with me, mister," Mia said, deadpanned.
"Milord?" Thadeus called out.
"We will catch up in a moment!" I said.
The guards glanced at each other and resumed walking.
I turned to Mia.
She crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and started to tap her foot impatiently.
"Okay, okay. Look, this mine is enormous, so it came with guards and workers to manage the place," I explained.
"There's more peo-wait, that isn't important right now. Who are they?" Mia asked.
"The perk said they are NPCs," I said.
Mia tilts her head in confusion.
"It means non-playable characters, like the background extras in a novel," I explained.
"That's a...interesting way to call them. They must be homunculi," Mia rubs her chin. "Hm, can they leave the mine?"
"I'm not sure about that, and they shouldn't do that. It would be hard to explain how they got here," I said.
Mia hums in agreement.
"Now, come on. You're going to love this," I said with a smirk
Mia and I venture deeper into the cave until we reach an entrance. Inside, we're met with a vast chamber filled with people mining ores and hauling them away in carts to another part of the mine.
Multiple tunnels lead to other sections of the mine.
"Oh my god," Mia looked around with wide eyes.
Yeah, I knew this place was huge, but seeing is another thing altogether.
All right, let's see what we're working with.
"Thadeus, is there a dossier about what kind of ores have been mined?" I asked.
"Yes, there's milord," Thadeus turns to a guard. "Go grab it," he ordered.
The guard saluted and left.
After a moment, he returned and gave us the dossier.
"Do you recognize any of these names?" I asked, reading the dossier.
"I never heard of any of-wait!" Mia grabs the dossier and brings it closer to her face. "There's mithril here!" she hissed.
"I take that's good?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Good!? This is-I don't-How the hell-" Mia rambles incoherently.
I place my hand on her shoulder."Take a deep breath," I said calmly.
Mia takes a deep breath and calms down.
"I'm sorry about my outburst. It's just that mithril doesn't exist in modern times anymore," Mia stops for a moment. "Well, except for the mithril gauntlet that the Queen of the Clock Tower possesses, but that's besides the point."
I glanced at all the ores being mined.
What else of value is here?
"Are there any books with information about the ores?" I asked Thadeus.
"There's a library filled with encyclopedias with all the information that you desire," Thadeus said. "Should I lead you there, milord?"
"Thank you for the offer, but we will do that later," Mia said quickly.
I raised an eyebrow, "I thought you would love to check those books out," I whispered.
"Oh, I want to do that so bad, but I would stay there for hours, and there's something else I want us to do," Mia whispered.
Okay...
Let's see what else is important.
"Is there a forge here?" I asked.
"We have many, milord. We use it to produce new pickaxes and fix our armor and weapons," Thadeus said.
"Any of them not being used?" I asked.
Thadeus shakes his head, "All of them are currently being used. I can free one of them, if you wish, milord."
"Nah, that's okay. I was just curious," I shake my head.
Shame, that would have saved me some time.
Welp, gonna have to build a forge later.
One of the guards whispers something to Thadeus.
"There's some extra equipment in storage, enough to build another forge," Thadeus said.
Nice.
"Find a spot that won't get in the way of the mining operation and set up the forge there. Only Mia and I are allowed to use it, understood?" I said.
"Right away, milord," Thadeus said.
He and the guards left to find a place for a new forge.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body, and nothing happens.
I don't even care that it was a miss.
This mine is amazing.
"Welp, we don't have to worry about resources anymore," I said with a smirk.
"In the ore department at least. There are other kinds of resources that we need, but this is huge," Mia looked around. "Do you have any idea of what any magi would do to get their hands on this place?"
"They would commit every crime against humanity, and invent a few new ones along the way," I said dryly.
"Pretty much, yeah," Mia nods in agreement.
"So, what is it that you want to do?" I asked.
"We're going to buy some groceries," Mia said before leaving the mine.
...what?
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The Cidhna Mine perk came from the Celestial Forge.
I do find the resource section on the Akashic Grimoire to be lacking in some aspects.
There are perks there that I liked but something like ores or phantasmal parts isn't part of that list. Which is a shame.
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Please leave a review. It helps me to stay motivated.
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If you like my stories and wish to support me, you can find me over at pa-tre-on (slash) Regulareader.
Or at Ko-fi.com/regulareader
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CP Points: 100.
Cidhna Mine (Elder Scrolls Skyrim SB) (200CP):
Nobody escapes Cidhna Mine, that's how the saying goes anyways. Cidhna mine is an extensive set of tunnels snaking into Nirn which the Silver-Blood Family uses as a prison and as a source of much wealth. Yours isn't that same dreaded mine, though it's similar in many ways. Placed in a reasonable location of your choosing is a copy of the mine, while the original was predominately used for silver mining yours is much greater. Throughout the mines are extensive reserves of just about all of the ores found in Skyrim at the time, ranging from Ebony to Stalhrim and will produce an incredible amount. These reserves will replenish themselves once they begin to run dry and the mine will be manned by NPC guards and workers, though you could always appoint your own workers and guards if you wished. In future jumps it updates to include new material in the mine.
* Gives unique skyrim materials