One-Tap
"Mana Void." Michael casts and Jernil attempts to block it with a duel cast Ward, but the spell just bypasses his defences completely and causes blue light to explode from the Nord, encompassing not only him but Sorkas as well.
*ChraaaaAAAK!*
"AAARGH!"
"AAAAHHHGH!"
The distinct shouts ring out as people shield their eyes from the sudden light show. It ends quickly enough, however, leaving both Jernil and Sorkas' bodies on the ground unmoving.
...
A moment of quiet passes when people realise that the duel had ended, a few Mages versed in Restoration magic rush over to see the damage the Nords had taken. No one knew what spell had been used, so some were just checking on the bodies to soothe their curiosity over its effects, more than just healing the two Nord douche-bags.
Indeed, they were both lucky that Jernil hadn't wasted that much Magicka, otherwise they'd have both been instantly killed by the spell. For now, they were just left with most of their Magicka sucked out of their bodies in a manner not too dissimilar to what Tiffania and Charlotte had experienced.
They were both pale-faced and running a fever, but with the number of Restoration users around here, they'd probably survive... Probably. Michael inwardly smirks at the results and glances over to Nirya, "Good enough?"
She slowly nods, "I-it seems so... I thank you for your help, Michael..." she catches herself and straightens her posture, "Rest assured I will leave your friend alone, she will see neither hide nor hair of me!"
Michael nods, "Good, then, I'll see you around, probably." he says and starts walking off towards the Kitchens to finally grab a meal.
"I-uh!" Nirya's voice continues however, "Would you-, do you want to... Have some tea?"
...
Michael is actually surprised to find himself considering the offer... Man, he really did just have a thing for elves didn't he? Regardless, he catches himself before he does something stupid and shakes his head, "Sorry, but I've got other things to do."
"M-maybe another time then?" the High Elf presses, leaving Michael to let out a sigh.
"Nirya, I want nothing to do with you, leave me and my friends alone and we'll get on fine. I may have helped you, but that was less for you and more for myself." he states, causing her expression to quickly change to one of both sadness and anger. She hides it though, forcing herself to nod and walk away.
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The duel between Nirya and Michael versus the Nords quickly made its way through the rumour mill, and soon enough everyone in the College of Winterhold, and even the town of Winterhold had heard about it.
This is probably why Sorkas and Jernil fled the moment they woke up. Either not having the money, refusing to apologize to Nirya, or a combination of both. Either way, Michael didn't think he'd be seeing them again, not unless they planned to ambush him outside of the College, which wouldn't go well for them.
Of course, there wasn't really any consequences for Michael, aside from earning Master Malyn's ire for forcing two of his students to flee, and the Arch-Mage who had Michael show him the spells he'd used in the duel, both Blink and Mana Void.
None of this really impeded Michael's magical education, however, allowing him to learn a couple spells from almost every school after a month or so in the College. Aside from the Candlelight Alteration spell and the Flames Destruction spell, one of the first things he endeavoured to learn was a spell called Equilibrium.
It was a Novice Alteration spell that would exchange health for mana, something that most mages couldn't really do without risking their lives... But for Michael? Who had stupidly powerful regenerative abilities like Shadow Dance? He could spam Equilibrium all day without a single problem.
So long as he stayed out of sight while he cast it, he'd regenerate most health than the spell exchanged, essentially allowing him infinite mana to play around with... There were still a few problems with this however, Equilibrium only exchanged a fixed amount of health, mainly to stop people from dying instantly when first trying it. A good amount of mages weren't the most healthy people, so exchanging more health than it did would be incredibly dangerous.
Of course, this also meant that Michael could only regenerate so much mana per second. He'd have to channel the spell for a minute or two just to gain enough to cast a Laguna Blade, not something he could do mid-battle, along with the fact his Shadow Dance wouldn't be active if seen.
Aside from Equilibrium, he also learned the Fury Illusion spell, and the most basic Healing Restoration spell. Which, while not really useful for Michael, could be used to save someone else's life should the situation require it.
Michael's new training method of constantly casting and draining his magic had a number of effects of course. While it helped him get familiar with this world's particular method of casting magic, crafting Formation with his magic before expelling it, it also acted to constantly strain his magic, steadily increasing it faster than his old methods of training did.
Indeed, even the Book of Heroes displayed his progress, in both stats and new abilities :
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Name : Michael Tahlin
Rank : Hero
Stats :
Strength : 28
Agility : 47.2
Intelligence : 32 > 35
Birthsign : The Mage
Abilities :
[The Mage] : Enables user to learn all magic-based skills 20% faster.
[Gandalfr] : Enables user to utilise any weapon at two ranks above their current proficiency while granting them the knowledge necessary to use them. While wielding a weapon, temporarily gain +100% in all stats.
[Language Comprehension] : Enables user to understand all spoken tongues, and increase the rate of which they learn reading and writing.
[Basic Mana Manipulation] > [Novice Mana Manipulation] : Allows user more control over his magic, spells, and some abilities. Mana efficiency and control of power is increased.
[Pain Tolerence] : Allows user to endure great amounts of pain with little to no negative effects as a result.
[Apprentice basic Swordsmanship(Two handed swords/One handed swords)] : Determines how skilful the user is when handling swords.
[Apprentice basic Dagger techniques(Single edge, curved, straight, double edge.)] : Determines how skilful the user is when handling daggers.
Affinities :
[Lesser Water Affinity], [Fire Affinity], [Lesser Lightning Afffinity], [Lesser Darkness Affinity]
Spirits :
Commoner Tier :
Shadow Shaman : MAX
Slark : Lvl MAX
Riki : Lvl MAX
Hero Tier :
Anti-Mage : MAX
Lina : Lvl 10
Magic :
Tamrielic
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The book allowed Michael to select the new 'Tamrielic' magic subset to see all of the spells he'd learned, this would probably extend to every other magic system he learned.
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Tamrielic magic :
Alteration :
Novice :
Equilibrium
Candlelight
Illusion :
Novice :
Fury
Destruction :
Novice :
Flames
Conjuration :
Novice :
Empty Link
Restoration :
Novice :
Healing
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