Chapter 9 - Making Progress - Part 1

(Rewritten chapter. I'll be posting the next one in 30 minutes. After that it will be 2 chapters per week. Enjoy!)

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(In the last chapter)

I went out of Dragonsreach and found myself going down the stairs while keeping an eye out to see people's reactions when seeing me, I was only wearing a bandage to cover my arm, which pretty much gave out my identity as the 'cursed young man'. Like that I and Gwydion made our way towards Jorrvaskr to find Abjorn and also take the test...

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With Gwydion on top of my head, we headed towards Jorrvaskr. I was curious to see if they would allow me to be part of the companions now that my arm is known by pretty much everyone, well it's not like they've seen it but they'll still believe that they're right to think of me as a monster, they're humans after all, what they can't control and is unknown to them will always be branded as something bad. Still, the companions are people of basic beliefs and principles, you're strong? Then you're cool and able to hang around with them. I and Gwydion were having a heated debate over some...interesting topics.

(Gwydion): 'What I'm saying Nero, is that a harem is the only way to go about it. There's no other way, only the true and right one. The one that will guide people towards the promised land, where we'll forever live in happiness, and joy, and women!'

(Nero): '...No' It's as simple as that. I can't imagine myself in a normal relationship, let alone one with many partners. (Sorry to y'all, harem lovers. I can't picture myself writing one, too much trouble for me. I originally thought of Nero having one wife and still plan on sticking to that)

(Gwydion): 'Tch. What the hell Nero!? Why won't you turn over to the dark side!?!? We have cookies man! COOKIES!!!' I forgot to say the latest thing I noticed about Gwydion. The little fucker is a walking mass of memes, references, bad jokes, etc. He said that the thing he was the most interested in after seeing my memories was the sense of humor of my previous world. He also stated that it's stupid to censor humor and jokes just because you don't like them, he understood the overly offensive ones were going to be censored but the others were acceptable in his opinion.

When we reached Jorrvaskr we approached the main doors and entered through them to find Abjorn fighting against Ria in a fistfight.

(Nero/Gwydion): "..." We went silent as we saw Abjorn get completely played around by Ria as if he was a child. If he threw a punch, she would dodge and counter with one of her own in a tricky angle, that would more often than not, meet Abjorn's weak spots like the liver, head, joints, and...nuts. Getting bored of playing with him Ria finished him with a powerful right hook to the temple, which nearly knocked him out, and would have done so if she hadn't controlled her strength in the last second. She noticed me standing at the door, as well as all the people in the hall of Jorrvaskr, who already seemed to know about me and my arm if their silence is to be taken as a reference.

"...." The awkward silence was broken by Ria who began to stride towards me.

(Ria): "Finally! I thought you were never going to appear around here anymore after those rumors began to spread. Don't pay any mind to these idiots, they're not strong enough to be noticed anyway," Her words caused some of those present to frown, flinch and scoff. Though even after saying that no one stepped up against her, I guess that proves her status as the strongest rookie.

(Nero): "Well, I was still interested in that training offer. Is it still valid?" Her being so accepting of me despite all those rumors made me think greatly about her already.

(Ria): "Of course! Let's go to see Aela first, she will issue your test. After that, we can test your current skills and see what we can improve." She said those words while showing a big smile, which made me think of her as some kind of barbaric and savage big sisterly figure.

While we were about to begin walking away an excited wild Abjorn appeared.

(Abjorn): "Nero!!! How are you, man? Are you fine now? What the hell happened to you that night? what..." He kept bombarding me with questions without letting me answer a single one of them. When we managed to calm him down we began walking towards Aela's room. After a while, Ria asked me about Gwydion, as she hadn't seen him when we cane to Whiterun a couple of days ago.

(Gwydion): "Well I guess it's fine to talk to you two as I've got good impressions about you. My name's Gwydion, and I'm Nero's partner. We'll be adventuring together from now on." He introduced himself with his usual proudly demeanor which was weakened by his childish tone. Now that I think about it I don't know his age. Does he even have one at all?

(I want to clarify that Gwydion speaking isn't something that will get them into problems or anything. It's just that he doesn't wanna talk in front of people that he and Nero don't trust.)

(Ria): "Wow, is he one of those Alfiq's? They are really rare outside of Elsweyr. I heard they're even able to use magic, can he do that? That'd be so cool and badass." We all started talking about what it would be like seeing Gwydion using magic until we reached Aela's room.

As Ria was about to knock on the door someone opened it from the inside. We saw Aela and Skjor coming out of the room with mischievous smiles until they realized we were in front of them and they changed to completely stoic faces.

(Ria/Nero/Gwydion/Abjorn): "....."

(Aela/Skjor): "...."

Skjor just pushed Ria to the side and began walking towards his room. 'What the hell is wrong with this guy?' me and Gwydion thought the same. As soon as I'm strong enough, that guy is getting a beating. 'We're gonna beat him up? HELL YEAH!' It seems Gwydion was even more excited than me. I guess he didn't like the idea of Ria, who accepted us without complaints nor did she hide what she thinks of us, being pushed around like that.

(Aela): "I assume you're here for your test. Let's go to the main yard so we can begin." She played it off as if nothing happened but an annoyed aura leaked from her, which didn't go unnoticed by us, well Abjorn is an exception.

He had a conflicted face and looked like he was thinking about something important. 'He looks like he's shitting himself.' Gwydion's remark was only heard by me, which caused the others to look at me weirdly as a chuckle threatened to come out of my mouth.

When reaching the yard Aela sat at one of the tables and explained the test to me. First, Ria was going to test my hand-to-hand combat skills. Then she'll be testing my skills with daggers, and shortswords herself. I did jiu-jitsu in my past life but the muscle memory was all gone. Only the theory remained with me, so I'll need to train that again. Still, I felt confident on this first test.

(Ria): "You ready, pretty boy? You better not hold back if you don't want to have a couple of your bones broken" I knew she was just teasing me...with that I meant the pretty boy part. I know she won't hesitate to break my bones even if it's a spar.

(Nero): "Don't worry, I know very well you're stronger than me, there wouldn't be any point in me holding back." This caused a small smile to form on both Ria's and Aela's faces.

(Gwydion/Abjorn): "Go Nero, slap/kick her ass." I think you can perfectly guess which comment is who's.

Aela gave the commencing signal and Ria began to sprint towards me. We first engaged in a basic fists fight, I threw a punch and she would dodge it, whereas when she threw one herself it would be really difficult for me to dodge it. More often than not I ended up blocking with my right arm to avoid any type of injuries, after all, it only was the beginning of the test.

She started pointing out the mistakes I did like looking where I wanted to strike, thinking too much about what my next move would be, making swings too wide and easier to predict. Our time fighting helped me understand various things I hadn't considered about unarmed combat. After a while of following this setting, I wanted to test my jiu-jitsu and also try to show off a bit in the process. Letting Ria take the advantage with me retreating and only defending myself I started to set the field. As I only had the knowledge and theory left I wanted to wait for the perfect moment, so it would be a little easier.

(Ria): "What's this boy? Why aren't you retaliating anymore? You tired out already?" She began mocking me to get me riled up I guess.

(Nero): "....." I didn't say anything as all of my focus was on her movements, and when I noticed an opportunity I instantly took it.

Ria began to grow annoyed at me only defending so she was going to give a strong jab to my nose when I appeared to be distracted. I swiftly dodged her punch and slammed my back against her torso while sweeping her feet with my own and grabbing a hold of the arm she used to hit and pulled her over my shoulder against the ground. I wasn't planning on giving her any serious injury so I didn't apply much force to the pulling motion, that way she landed ass first on the floor in front of me. I grabbed her on a choking motion with my right forearm and gave a very lightly squeeze while pulling her other arm over her head, leaving her without any chance of retaliation. She managed to give a weak tap to my left shoulder with her left arm after which I released her.

Pretty satisfied with my performance on that throw and chokehold I turned around to ask Aela how I did and saw them staring at me with their mouths opened.

(Aela/Abjorn): "...."

(Abjorn): "WTF! Where the hell did you learn that stuff? You never used it when we fought on those ruins." He seemed to be greatly shocked about it, but I guess Abjorn's reaction isn't a way to measure something, as it will always be either too exaggerated or too bland.

(Nero): "I didn't because we always had weapons at that time. Also where I come from, if you know any sort of fighting style or technique and you use them for anything else other than self-defense, you would end up in prison because you're a living weapon that's capable of killing people whenever you want. On that shoulder throw and chokehold I did to Ria I could've killed her by asphyxia, breaking her neck, or even slamming her head or her whole body on the ground with enough force to kill her. After all, that technique uses the opponent's force against themselves."

(Ria): 'That's so cool and handy! I always have problems fighting opponents that are many times bigger than me but with that technique, someone shorter can win against someone like Abjorn without too many problems problems'

(Aela): 'Dangerous...'

(Abjorn): 'That fucker! When did he become so cool? And why does my bad luck let it be in front of Aela!?'

(Ria): "Boy, would you be able to teach me those techniques? If it's not something private or exclusive of your family of course."

(Nero): "Sure. This isn't something exclusive of us so I don't see any problems in teaching it to you." Ria has helped me with that spar and she never made unnecessary or weird questions about me. I feel that teaching her jiu-jitsu will be a great way to repay the help I'm gonna receive from her starting today.

(Aela): "Alright, let's go on with the test. You'll now be fighting me using knives and/or daggers and after that we'll go on to shortswords." I wasn't as confident with Aela's test, but I'll still give it my all. Now I sound like a certain blonde shinobi kid...Believe IT!

We got into positions and started engaging each other. She wasn't too fierce like Ria, but that doesn't mean I was doing better. Every one of my slashes with the daggers were deflected by a hair's breadth and countered with an imaginary killing blow (It was meant to be a killing blow but she pulls away before truly hitting him. She doesn't want to kill him, it's just a test.) that I was only able to dodge once. The only time I managed to do something was when I somehow parried her knife with one of my daggers and slashed at her wrist and chest, which won me a kick at my stomach and an approving nod of Aela.

(Aela): "Color me impressed Nero. No one can contend against me for so long while using daggers or knives within the companions. After all, it's my favorite weapon after the bow. You have great talent with those daggers so you better keep and use them to practice. Come to me when you want a lesson on how to use them. Tho' it won't be for free of course, as you'll pay me with favors. Now let's move on to the swords."

I had already heard that Aela liked to ask for favors as payment for everything so she can avoid doing tedious jobs and the like. She also seems to like asking for others who are strong to go hunting with her as some sort of hobby or sport.

The following fight was barely passable in her opinion. She told me that I needed to get used to the sword's length, she wasn't an expert at them, but swords were something she used from time to time, so her words held some weight for me. Besides that, she pointed out my error just like Ria did and I was finally able to pass her test.

Ria congratulated me before asking for another spar to take another look at my jiu-jitsu and finally, after ending that, Abjorn began to tell me about his life in Whiterun during these 2 days that I was unconscious, and also about his fight with the dragon. He was pretty shocked and excited about being the Dragonborn, as that would allow him to achieve a lot more power. Nearing the end of our talk, he began to talk about how he was depressed after seeing Aela with a man in her room but that he refused to give up on her.

I checked how much time was left before the status effect that prohibited me from using my abilities would wear off and there was still well over a month and a half (Around 1 month and 25 days more or less. I don't remember how much it was XD) so I decided to spend this time training my abilities here in the companions and see if I can find another skill book that will earn me another one of those common skills.

I was also interested in buying some spell tomes for Gwydion as he told me that learning magic seemed interesting and he wanted to try it, so I went to Farengar at Dragonsreach and bought one novice level spell of each school of magic: healing (restoration), candlelight (alteration), raise zombie (conjuration) and courage (illusion). Except for the destruction school, as I got him the 3 novice spells of frostbite, flames, and sparks. That way he will be entertained for a while.

After our magic shopping spree, we went to the inn to have a meal as it was already dark outside. I got some beef with potatoes and Nordic mead. Gwydion was eating dried fish with water, he told me that not all cats liked drinking milk while feigning being offended by my assumptions. After our meal, we went to the room and I sat on the bed while Gwydion began reading his new magic books. I wanted to take a look at the cards that I got as, with all that happened today I wasn't able to do so before.

Imagining my connection to the cards was very similar to feeling the one I had with Gwydion, but it seems it was still different because when he bonded with me, his connection to the cards broke and they formed a new one with me. Which is to say that they are a complete part of me now, doesn't matter if Gwydion was its previous bond as it was a provisional one made with no intentions of lasting forever.

Getting the hang of the feeling around my connection with the cards, I instinctively knew what to do, like if they were with me since my birth or like having another limb that you used the most. Following my instincts, the main card of the deck appeared in my hand. It was like all the other ones, the only difference being the 4 cats at the corners of its front. I noticed that the once blank space on the back of the card was now filled with a picture that seemed like a replica of the mark on my left hand that represented my bond with Gwydion.

(Gwydion): "Nero, as you already know, the cards can hold the magic spells that you want them to have. But the main card is special, as it will define the bonus effects of the other ones, for example: let's say that your main card holds a fury spell, and you want to use one of the cards that has a fireball spell. The enemies that are damaged from the fire and don't die will be affected by the fury spell if they aren't able to resist it. You can also choose to not apply said bonus effect and go with just the normal spell if it will befit more the situation. That however doesn't mean you can use infinite combinations. Some spells won't work with each other like you can't apply a calm effect to a fireball, because their natures are opposites to each other, as fire is often related to chaos and destruction."

(Nero): "I see, but then how do I pick the best spell that will benefit me the most? It will never be able to work with every spell after all, no matter what I put on the main one."

(Gwydion): "That's the thing about these cards, partner. You have to choose one spell that will affect the others in a way that will suit your style. Do you want to influence people by using an Illusion spell as your main card? Or are you going for the more savage one with some destruction spell? Maybe the reserved and careful one with an alteration-based build? The choice is only yours Nero. I believe you will pick something really interesting." Him trying to sound all mysterious at the end didn't help the serious atmosphere at all. "It's not necessary that you pick one immediately. You can think about it and choose the one that will suit you the most."

(Hey, I just wanted to say that Nero will only be able to use magic from TES world. For now at least. If you guys want me to give him magic from other games, animes, etc. then let me know about it and it will be done in the future, I'll probably give him some kind of upgrade for his cards and input the new magic, and done! Anyway, enjoy the rest of the chapter.)

(Nero): "Good to know that. I don't want to rush a decision like this one. Well, I'll be reading a couple of books I bought for myself and then go to sleep. What about you?"

(Gwydion): "I don't need to sleep now that I'm bonded with you as that thing you call mana will keep me alive without the need to sleep or eat. But I still like to do those as they bring pleasure, so after reading a couple of these and testing their contents I'll also go to sleep." I didn't know he lived from my mana but I guess it's better than having no use for that thing. "I know what you're thinking about, but your mana isn't useless, because now that the cards bonded with you, you'll most likely have to use it to engrave the spells on them. At least that's what I think." I see, well it makes sense if the cards are bound to me. We went to sleep after finishing our readings.

And like that, we spent a whole month and 21 days. During which I trained my martial arts and armed combat, and Gwydion learned all the spells he had so I bought him new ones and we also found some of the more...questionable spells while raiding necromancer's caves and the like.

I also read various books that we acquired here in Whiterun or during our tasks with the companions outside of the city and gained their respective skills: Herbalist's Guide to Skyrim (Alchemy), The Black Arrow-Book II (Archery), The Rear Guard (Light Armor), Night Falls on Sentinel (One-Handed Weapons), The Armorer's Challenge (Blacksmith), Three Thieves (Sneak), A Dance in Fire-Book VI (Speech). I would've never thought that books would be so hard to acquire in this world, not to mention that some of them were found inside of bandit lairs or fortresses.

I bought one book related to the magic skill trees but it didn't give me anything so I assumed my only way of using magic was through my cards. Also, as there is no book or skill tree related to unarmed combat I didn't get a skill for it, though that doesn't mean I didn't get better at it.

I upgraded my gear, which is now consisting of:

-My previous longsword (the one from dark purple steel) which was reforged by Eorlund, the blacksmith of the companions, after I helped him in a matter regarding his family situation and rewarded me with the opportunity to get my weapon upgraded, it still looks the same but is now sharper and durable. Being reforged, it lost its enchantment, but I already had a plan for that. I named this sword Dyrnwyn (White-Hilt) as it lost its previous red and black color on the hilt during the reforging and came out a pale white, which made a weirdly great combination with the dark colors of the blade.

-Two daggers made of a rare metal that came from Elsweyr, I spent a pretty penny on them, which made my heart bleed as I'm a cheapskate by heart. I mainly use them for indoor battles where my longsword would hinder me, though I like them just as much if not even more than my sword. They don't have any enchantment. I named the daggers Ebony & Ivory (like Dante's pistols) 'cause one's blade is pure black in color while the other is a clean silver. Tho' Gwydion wanted to name them 'Catastrophe Spellblades of Shadow Strike and Infinite Deception'...Alright, I admit it sounded badass but it was too long to be engraved on the blades.

-My armor was sold and replaced by normal clothes that looked very similar to Ezio's assassin outfit in assassin's creed 2, but without the armor parts (it's fully made of cloth) and the assassin's sign in the middle. I wanted to make my own hidden blades but I didn't even remember how they worked, except for the basics, so I'm studying this world's knowledge about science and other things to make them on my own. Yet said knowledge is very little, at least here in middle and southern Skyrim.

-My magic cards deck was complete, and I had chosen the spell iron flesh (he will be able to upgrade his main card's spell to the maximum level) as I was confident in my damage output, and this way I would get rid of the need for armor which will enhance my Devil's abilities that are centered around speed and dodging. As for its effects on other spells, Ha! it'll be seen later. Also, Gwydion and I found out that with every level up, 2 new cards would appear on the deck, giving me the capacity for 2 more spells. Originally I had 31 cards and now they increased to 41.

This is what my status looks like after this period of time.

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(I erased Health and Stamina cause I never used them)

Name: Nero (Host)

Race: Devil/Human

Level: 8

Experience: 5350/12800

Upgrade points: 4

Mana: 200/200 (Creating one card cost him 100 mana per day, so he only upgraded it a little and saved the remaining upgrade points)

Devil Essence: 100/100

(Perks): Devil's Blood (infant - Requires LVL 10 to upgrade)

(Status Effects): -Devil's Awakening (impure state)

(Fighting Styles): Unique move sets that allow a specific approach while engaging enemies.

-Trickster LVL 1: Centered on dodging and adopting a mocking style to taunt the enemy. Moveset:

*Dash LVL-1 (Allows a single burst of speed that covers a maximum of 3 meters and gives versatility to the user's fighting style. Costs 50 Devil Essence).

*Wall Hike LVL-1 (Acrobatic maneuver that allows the user to run, be it vertically or horizontally, on a wall for 1,5 seconds and use it to move around the battlefield. Costs 50 Devil Essence).

(Abilities): Devil Bringer (Demonic strength and durability - Requires ??? to upgrade).

(Common Skills): Pickpocket LVL 3, Alchemy LVL 6, Archery LVL 7, Light Armor LVL 5 (I made it so normal clothes like mage robes count as light armor), One-Handed weapons LVL 8, Blacksmith LVL 3 (A pain in the ass), Sneak LVL 7, Speech LVL 3 (Loner type. Not the one who makes the haggling in the group, when he has one).

(Unique items/weapons/armor): Alkahest (Card Deck's name. A hypothetical universal solvent that can dissolve every other substance, including gold. It was much sought after by alchemists for what they thought would be its invaluable medicinal qualities).

(Summons): (none)

(Quests/Objectives): (none)

(Followers/Companions/Party): Gwydion (Bond)

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Chapter word count: 4419