Purple Tree

Afterwards I kept training with my new spell more.

Since I currently didn't have many spells that I could use from afar, I decided to keep all 1000 units of my magicka in my body in case I needed to use them instantly.

I was currently training so that I didn't deliberately need to keep the magicka in my body to use Magicka Burst.

It would be great if I could use directly from my magicka pool. But I was not in a hurry. It's not like pulling the magicka in my body took time just that I needed to deliberately focus on it. It only amounted to being focused on transferring the magicka into the body.

There was another reason for using it straight through my magicka pool. While the magicka was coursing through my body, I couldn't use other spells, well, only if I bring it all to my body but still, the cost for Magicka Burst was a lot so I had to have all my magicka in my body for security measures.

While training, I didn't forget the reason of my departure from Rorikstead.

I had a goat to steal from a giant.

A giant to whom I sold the goat fairly…

Now that I think of it, that makes me the bad guy doesn't it?

But what did I get in exchange of the goat?

Meh. Whatever. Maybe I could find about it in the future.

So, I pushed the hypocritical thoughts aside and focused on my mission.

After a few days, the giant's camp became visible. It was herding to its mammoths with a huge club on its shoulders.

It was an open plain which left me no chance for sneaking towards the goat so I approached it in the open.

After testing with Magicka Burst, and with my Domain, I was quite confident of my chances with the giant.

Soon, it noticed me and warned me from approaching by hitting the ground with the club.

Every time the ground was hit, it was like a mini earthquake, but I didn't falter.

I took out my falchions and prepared for the incoming combat.

After seeing that I was undeterred, the giant took this as a cue fro challenge and started running towards me.

Every time it stepped on the ground, the ground shook. I had to focus on keeping my balance.

I took a deep breath, and rushed forward with a burst.

A small crater was left where I was previously standing.

My speed took the giant by surprise since it couldn't even mount a defense against my attack which slashed its tendons.

With wide eyes, the giant dropped down on its knees.

That's 500 units of magicka for you. I couldn't even be seen with naked eyes. But apparently it was a bit too much for my current opponent since giants weren't exactly known for their speed. 150-200 units of magicka could have done the job too.

Now that my opponent was incapacitated, I went for the goat that was happily munching on the grass.

I had no intention of killing the giant since it was actually innocent, as for its wounds, they were merely scratches for giants. They had exceptional regeneration only lower than trolls.

I took the goat by the horn and started leading it towards Rorikstead no matter how much it protested.

"Come on, I'm bringing you back to your owner. Don't resist." I knew that it wouldn't understand but doesn't stop one from trying, does it? Who knows, there might be some talking animals out there somewhere.

After a few days of travel, Rorikstead appeared in my vision.

I didn't waste any time and found the Redguard man that was waiting for his goat.

Upon seeing me his first reaction was displeasure, but upon seeing the goat by my side his face expressed his euphoria.

He pushed everyone that was in his way and hugged the goat.

"Oh Gleda! My Gleda! And not a scratch on her! Happy day! Mwah mwah mwah" and he started kissing the goat.

It was just pecks at first but soon the kisses became something deranged.

"Mmm! Mmm!"

What is this guy doing?

Then, I locked eyes with the goat.

'Is that disgust?' Is this goat actually looking at me with disgust? What is happening here?

"Mmmm haaaah mmmmh!"

Okay, wow this guy is getting too personal with a goat.

I grabbed him on the collar and yanked him back, separating him from the goat.

I locked eyes with the goat once more.

'Is that relief?' Okay this goat was too weird.

After separating from the goat, the man came back to his senses and looked embarrassed. "Sorry about that. After not seeing her for so long I got a bit excited tehe." He knocked on his head with his knuckle at the end.

"Just…" I locked eyes with the goat once more, this time it had a pleading gaze. "Just promise not to do this anymore."

"I promise I promise. Now, for your situation, you left a note explaining why you kidnapped Gleda but must of it was gibberish and the rest was unreadable because of spilled mead but I could read a sentence. It was something like 'after repaying Ysolda in Whiterun'."

"Anything about someone named Sam?"

"Nope, Nothing."

"Sigh I was going to head to Whiterun anyways."

"Oh good luck with that. Meanwhile I have more important stuff to take care of." He said and took the goat.

I grabbed his shoulder and said, "Hey, no more of that weird stuff got it?"

"I got it, I got it. No more." He said but I couldn't fully trust him so I knelt next to the goat and whispered in its ears. "Hey, if he tries anything funny, just kick him in the nuts. You can run towards the giant's camp afterwards, you know the way."

"Meee." The goat gave me a nod.

Then they departed.

A bizarre encounter indeed.

After that, I went to the inn to rest before departing.

I couldn't see neither Erik nor his father, but there was another person behind the counter.

I rented a room and went straight to sleep.

The next day.

I woke up with the first light feeling refreshed and ready for the journey ahead.

I replenished my supplies and left the village of Rorikstead. Destination Whiterun.

It was in the second week of my travel that I chanced upon a strange place.

It was a giant camp from the looks of it, but what made it strange was, there was a purple mist surrounding it.

I quickly noticed the reason since it was quite in the open.

It was a purple tree.

It released a strange purple mist to its surroundings, and the water that it sat upon was in purple color too.

After looking carefully, I even saw a spigot sticking to the tree.

'Are they drinking something from it?'

While I was inspecting the strange occurence, because I didn't deliberately hide myself, the giants in the camp took notice of me.

"Raaah!"

They were not like previous giant, which was pretty peaceful unless someone approached its camp. These ones on the other hand, behaved aggressively.

As soon as they noticed me, they started running towards me with the intent to turn me into a paste.

'4 of them but better be safe and say there are 6 of them.'

Since I couldn't see the whole camp, it was better to be sure and think there are more.

I took out my blades and focused on the approaching giants and then I noticed a peculiarity.

They couldn't run in straight line. They were swaying from side to side while some of them even fell on the ground.

'Are they seriously drunk? I somehow came upon drunk giants?'

They were seriously drunk because I didn't even need to lift up my blades since all of them fell on the ground and started laughing madly.

"Sigh, whatever." I heaved a deep sigh and went closer to the purple tree, paying no heed to the cackling giants.

There were bowls with purple liquids in them, indicating that whatever came out of the tree was what made them drunk.

I took out an empty potion vial and turned the spigot sticking to the tree.

Soon, the vial was filled with a purple liquid.

I took a sniff and it smelled sweet. I took a sip and it tasted sweet too.

It had a good taste making me second guess whether it was actually what made them drunk but I soon regretted my decision.

Even a sip was enough to make me tipsy.

"Woah! What the hell?"

This stuff was too strong.

My vision turned purple a little bit and I felt the numbness in my body.

But having magicka course through your veins wasn't just for show. It quickly dispelled the foreign status and my vision cleared.

But I noticed something else too. I felt more robust and full of vitality after drinking a sip.

So, I quickly filled all the empty vials in my storage with the purple liquid.

I was sure that it would sell for a lot and I could it drink it whenever I wanted some alcohol.

I filled all the empty vials and left the camp from where I came.

The giants had fallen asleep after laughing to their heart's content.

Now I understood the reason. Even a giant couldn't get away easily after drinking a bowl of it.

Soon after, I left the camp to continue my travels.