Simon would wake up early every day to exercise for a while before breakfast. As a Mage, he still needed to maintain his physical fitness. If he ran out of magical energy, he'd have to moonlight as a Warrior, and without a good body, he'd probably get beaten to a pulp by his opponents.
The Tundra remained calm, with no unusual visitors. Human activities were confined to the vicinity of the mines at the northwest mountain pass, and people did not wander far, ensuring Simon's secluded life.
Regarding the magical tattoo experiment, he decided to improve it by dividing it into two parts: one would still be tattoos, and the other would involve creating External Armor.
The new inspiration came from Necromancy.
The soul will that activates an enchanted magic array is not necessarily a soul stone; experiments proved that an autonomous will is also feasible. After all, it only provides a regulator for the flow of magical energy, so Undead can naturally be used.
The External Armor is essentially a resurrected Undead, but used as armor, serving as a magical artillery platform.
Alternatively, instead of Undead, Simon could achieve the same effect by introducing a Soul-sucking Tapeworm to the External Armor.
First, he addressed the tattoo portion.
Simon shaved off his sexy chest hair, then drew the runes and array for a Healing Spell. After successful branding, they would take root in his skin and could not be washed off, only removed by replacing the skin.
Activation… Success!
Compared to self-casting, this was a different sensation. First, his skin felt hot, and golden life magical energy rippled out like water. After covering his entire body, it slowly seeped into his muscles, bones, and internal organs. The entire process did not use Simon's own magical energy, nor did it require him to restrain natural magical energy; he simply focused his mental power on the skin of his chest, and the array was stimulated to operate. It was very convenient and practical.
The drawback was that it was slow to take effect, but the advantage was its long duration.
The success of the tattoo greatly pleased Simon, and he immediately planned to cover his entire body with runes.
He drew a fire protection spell on his left arm, an ice protection spell on his right arm, a lightning protection spell on his left leg, and a magic protection spell on his right leg. With this set, Simon's magic resistance would skyrocket, likely allowing him to charge through spells for a while.
These protective spells would form transparent magical energy shields on his body, with a glass-like reflection, looking very beautiful and solid.
He drew a Stoneflesh spell on his back, but he was not satisfied with it. As a relatively basic spell in the Alteration school, its effect was quite mediocre. If he found a better one in the future, he could tear off the skin on his back and redraw it.
He drew a Waterbreathing spell on his waist. This Alteration spell would form gill-like structures to filter oxygen for the caster. Argonians from the Black Marsh in southeastern Tamriel naturally possess Waterbreathing.
A fine Troll, he was finally bald now, meaning he currently had no specific spells he wanted, otherwise, he wouldn't have kept his hair either.
He had always wanted to continue summoning Oblivion creatures, but each time he summoned a different type, it required a different spell construct, and Simon didn't have enough skin, which is why he wanted to develop External Armor.
Ultimately, it boiled down to poverty. If he had enough soul stones, he wouldn't need to research these compensatory measures. soul stones, as a special crystal, have deeply hidden veins, usually found in abundance in Dwemer ruins, and are rarely seen otherwise.
Simon also wanted to venture out into the world, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Jonas. Besides, his magical knowledge hadn't reached a profound level yet, and there was still much room for improvement.
In his spare time, he began to study Necromancy, focusing on how to extract, control, and distort souls. As for the test subjects, he still used the goats that smelled delicious after death.
On one side was a Necromancy array, and on the other was a copper pot for hotpot. Those who endured became Undead; those who didn't became ingredients, simple as that.
[Spell Experiment]
Sheep Undead
Description: You have to eat one bite at a time, and things must be done one step at a time. First, master the basics of Necromancy, then research External Armor.
Step One: Place the Soul-sucking Tapeworm on the back of the sheep's head.
Step Two: Puncture the Soul-sucking Tapeworm to excite it.
Step Three: Extract life force with a Restoration spell.
Step Four: Distort and corrupt the sheep's white soul.
The previous steps were always completed well, but the fourth step always troubled Simon.
Conceptually, converting to Undead magical energy could corrupt the soul, but this process was chaotic and disordered, and the final result, lacking restraint, often led to attacks on Simon.
The Undead he created were immune to physical attacks and could only be killed with Destruction spells. This was quite reasonable; in games, those ghostly Undead were clearly soul forms, yet they could be harmed by mundane swords. The virtual world was quite unbelievable, but now that he was in a real situation, he had to be careful and cautious.
Simon ate mutton for three consecutive days but still couldn't solve the problem of Undead corruption. Either the sheep's soul was too distorted to return to its body, or the corruption was insufficient, lacking enough Undead power to drive the corpse, and the soul's binding force was still too weak, needing to be strengthened.
Problems kept piling up, but life went on, and it was time to see Jonas again.
Every time they met, it was a holiday for the tavern owner, as he always learned a new dish from Simon.
Simon also had a little research into Western cuisine; in fact, he was also a lover of food, but the state of one's life had little to do with the sufficiency of personal skills.
A person who lives exquisitely will always find ways to make his days look colorful, while a rough person, even if he knows how to change, often lacks the mood to take action.
When living alone, Simon was relatively rough and sloppy. When he had company, he had more enthusiasm for life.
Humans are, after all, social animals. Although Simon no longer relied on a collective, being part of one still brought him a feeling of warmth.
This time, he prepared some dried mutton to take back for Jonas as a snack. The Troll carried a ten-pound bag, traversing mountains and rivers, arriving in Winterhold once again at the agreed-upon dawn.
Winterhold truly was a village engulfed by winter. Simon had never seen a clear day there, not once. Besides the devastation, it could only be described as bleak. People numbed themselves with alcohol, born, growing, and dying in Winterhold, as if bound in a transparent cocoon, completing their life's journey. Either they left, or they died of old age there.
Strangely, many chose to stay.
Such a place was not abandoned.
It was strange enough.
It was as if this land possessed some magic; people living within it would have its roots grow into their bodies. Slowly, people would turn into trees, remaining on this wintery land, braving the wind and snow.
Those who said they would leave in their youth were ultimately buried in the woods outside the village.
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