At midnight, thick fog rose from the snowy plains facing the sea northwest of Winterhold.
Although it is a normal natural phenomenon, Arthur, who is keeping vigil at night, is still vigilant.
Logically speaking, he should not be responsible for keeping vigil after a battle with a ghost dragon, but considering that the three Farkas brothers first fought continuously with countless snow elves and dwarf machines in a certain Dwemer ruins, and then were mysteriously
He had to fall into the underground river, and finally climbed out and made a fire to dry his clothes and armor. Then he was chased by the ghost dragon that appeared inexplicably for a long time...
Well... let them have a good rest in Lydia's "position". Arthur looked at the giant ebony shield leaning on the mountain wall not far away. Lydia was sitting next to it with her knees in her arms, seemingly
Already asleep, Babas lay at her feet.
At this time, the location of the members of the comrades-in-arms group was just an ordinary depression at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, but neither the snowflakes blown by the wind nor the gradually dispersing dense fog could approach the circular range centered on Lydia's shield.
What caused this result was the magical effect stimulated by Lydia's giant shield "Fragile Snowflake Wall", but just like its name, it can't block anything except snowflakes, so it can basically only be used to
Set up a temporary campsite at night when the weather is still good.
According to Arthur's memory, in an event that no longer exists, she even held up this shield to withstand a direct attack from the true form of the demon god Hircine. That was not something that the "Snowflake Wall" could do.
Every time Lydia showed different characteristics, he felt that Lord Balgruuf was in great debt.
"What are you looking at?" Ella suddenly appeared in front of Arthur, blocking his gaze from looking at the giant shield and Lydia.
"I was thinking that I have to take good care of her for her father." Arthur blurted out subconsciously: "Ah, no, I mean..."
"Hey, you think so too?" Ella, who was a little confused at first, suddenly woke up: "Let me tell you, I have met Lord Balgruuf's wife, she is a very gentle and beautiful lady, and now she spends all day in Longxiao
The naughty children running around in the palace are not similar at all, but they have a lot of similarities with Lydia. I guess she must be the mistake the lord made when he was young, and that Ileris——
"
Oops, Arthur raised his eyebrows, why did he start gossiping with Ella? If he continued, there would be no need to change shifts, he could just stay overnight.
Arthur braced himself to listen to Ella's arrangement of the lord's romance, and at the same time tried to pay attention to the movements outside the "position".
——00:27——
Snap, snap.
"Hush! An enemy is approaching!"
When Ella deduced that Balgruuf and Wild Eagle Tilma also knew each other, and maybe there was some grudge between him and Craco, Arthur finally heard the faint sound of footsteps stepping on the snow, so he quickly interrupted Ella
of gossip and picked up weapons.
"Uh-huh." Ella snorted dissatisfiedly, showed Arthur the sharp claws protruding from the back of her hand, and then quietly walked around to the side in the direction of the sound.
Whether it's a snow leopard or a snow bear, consider yourself unlucky if you show up at this time.
"Well..." A tall and thin figure gradually appeared from the thick fog, stopped outside the "position", and a slightly hoarse old male voice sounded: "'Advanced enchantment'? Then there may be high elves here.
, yes, possible.”
"Wait, Ella! That's a human being!" Arthur quickly spoke out to remind Ella, who had sneaked behind the man, to stop killing him.
"I saw it!" When the huntress pounced, she had already retracted the sharp claws on her hands and pointed them like a knife as if she was planning to knock the man unconscious.
After all, he appeared near the adventurer camp in the middle of the night. Even for humans, the necessary vigilance is——
Boom!
The loud noise and air waves caused by Ella's fist colliding with something instantly blew away the nearby fog, revealing the appearance of the visitor - it was a man wearing a dark mage robe, with gray hair, somewhat empty eyes, and a
A tall, thin old man with a blue beard.
...Bluebeard?
"Enemy attack!" If they could still sleep after such a big movement, they were no longer a circle. From the time Ella launched the attack to the time when the fog dispersed, the three Farkas brothers had jumped up and surrounded the old man.
Lydia also picked up her shield and stood beside Arthur, while Barbas... was still sleeping.
Companions always protect the strongest one, and Arthur feels very helpless.
"It's the 'Ebony Armor Technique'!" Ella reminded loudly as the attack was directly deflected.
"Tsk." Arthur heard Wilkas smack his lips.
The armor spell in the transformation magic has almost no effect at low levels. "Wood Armor" and "Stone Armor" are basically just layers of parchment, which can be broken when poked. The more advanced "Iron Armor" is generally used by mages.
", it will give the caster the same defense as wearing an extra piece of iron armor. As for the "Ebony Armor" that can only be cast by masters of the transformation system, I have never heard of it being broken before the duration ends.
Therefore, what appeared in front of them was a powerful magician who had at least reached the master level in transformation magic. It was basically impossible to subdue the opponent with force.
"Master, what brings you here?" Seeing that his companions seemed to be embarrassed, did not take out their weapons, and still had room for negotiation, Arthur took two steps forward and spoke proactively, "I thought you were a monster before, I'm very sorry.
"
Not long ago, he had a conversation with Tovdir, who was also a master of the transformation department, at the Mage Academy. Although that master was a little nervous, he could basically communicate... maybe.
From the current point of view, if the Bluebeard Master is really malicious, I am afraid they will have to challenge the "Ebony Armor Technique".
"I'm looking for 'elf'," Master Bluebeard glanced at the comrades in front of him with a dull gaze: "The seal of a demon needs to be opened with the blood of elves, all kinds of things."
It feels like he said something outrageous in an understatement, the devil's seal?
"Then how many kinds have you found?" Arthur continued to talk bravely.
"There are only snow elves who ran out of the ground, and lost abandoned elves," the old man glanced at Babas, who was finally awakened and still a little dazed, and then said: "But it is difficult to meet high elves, wood elves and
Become an elf, this place is too remote."
"Abandon the elf?" "Change the elf?" Farkas and Wells asked in confusion.
"In the language of the Nords, it's Orcs and Dark Elves." Wilkas explained to his two brothers.
"Nords and dogs are useless." Bluebeard turned around with some disappointment and was about to leave. It seemed that although he had some problems with his head, he at least had no intention of becoming their enemy - not necessarily if there were elves in the team this time.
"Please wait a moment! Are you Master Septim Sigris?" Arthur suddenly called out to the old magician.
Although it is just a guess, due to the battle with Duneville and the wind and snow, it is not certain where we are at this time. It is also possible if we accidentally approached the mage's "forward base"
.
"That's right, but he's just a 'scholar' and not a 'master'." The old man with blue beard looked at Arthur: "What's the matter, Dragonborn?"
Sure enough, it was seen. It seems that powerful people can directly see blood veins?
"I hope... to take a look at that 'seal'. Maybe we can unlock it," Arthur quickly came up with an excuse: "Even if that doesn't work, I can help you collect blood."
The seal that requires the blood of elves to be broken is undoubtedly due to the devil's bad taste. Perhaps he hates elves extremely?
If Mr. Septim was concentrating on this matter and asked him to help find the Elder Scrolls, he would undoubtedly be rejected, and at this time they have more important things to do - recasting Uthrad
.
Since the two places are not far apart, you can consider helping the old man solve this matter first, then asking him to help deal with Silverhand, and finally looking for the Elder Scroll. Judging from the encounter that lasted just one or two rounds, this
The shortcoming of the team's lack of magical means is already obvious.
"Okay," Septim looked at Arthur silently and thought for a moment, "I haven't tried the dragonborn's blood yet. After all, it's hard to catch them, from the empire and the royal family."
Does this count as digging a hole to bury yourself? But you, old man, must not arrest the imperial royal family. Skyrim Province is already in chaos.
——01:42——
After nearly an hour of trekking, the thick fog in the middle of the night dissipated a lot. When the old man with blue beard said "We've arrived," a huge iceberg suddenly appeared in front of the members of the comrades-in-arms group.
With the faint reflection from the snow, you can see that a metal sphere as big as the entire mare's banner is embedded inside the iceberg. Its weird brass shell and mechanism prove its identity as a dwarf artifact.
"Why did an iceberg appear on the snowfield?" Ella's eyes widened and she looked towards the coastline which was still some distance away to the north.
"It was originally floating on the sea. I dragged it up for the convenience of research." The old man paused and said, "Use magic."
No matter how you think about it, it can’t be human, okay?
"This thing seems..." Arthur looked up for a while and frowned.
This perfectly round dwarf artifact has no interface with the outside world. It is not so much a part of a certain ruins as it is deliberately abandoned after being sealed. So what is sealed inside?
"Follow me." Septim silently led Arthur and the others around to the back of the iceberg. There was a staircase carved out of the iceberg that led directly to the interior of the sphere, as well as several residences dug into the side of the road for the convenience of research.
In an igloo, of course, the furnishings are extremely crude.
There is a circular mechanism that looks like an entrance above the giant metal sphere, surrounded by some kind of ancient writing. It is facing the "living room" of the igloo. It can be seen that Bluebeard has been studying it for a long time, but he can't find its way out.
enter.
"The general idea of those words is: After reading the 'Grimes', a stupid Dwemer used the contents in it to ask Azula. Azula couldn't answer, so he killed the Dwemer in anger and killed them.
The Grimoire is completely sealed, and anyone who finds it is asked not to open and read the Grimoire." Septim said silently.
"Then you still want to open it?" Farkas asked blankly.
"Since the Dwemer have been exterminated, who wrote this text? The Demon God?" Ayla glanced at him.
"Other witnesses...eh?" Farkas was stunned.
"Wow! It smells like [Hermaeus Mora]!" Babas barked around the "entrance".
"That makes sense." Septim said that he had no reaction to the fact that dogs could talk, and just fell into thinking: "Then the grimoire should be..."
"Anyway, let's give it a try." Arthur cut his finger with the blade of the sword and dripped the blood into the device next to the circular mechanism that obviously served to hold liquids.
Rumble——
The huge sphere made a roar as if something was rotating inside, and from time to time there were clanging and clicking sounds of certain mechanisms matching each other. Finally, the circular mechanism in front of it slowly retreated and moved sideways, revealing an endless line.
It is too long, a metal tunnel that reaches directly to the center of the sphere.
It can be clearly seen from the outside that at the end of the tunnel is an empty sealed metal space. The only thing inside is a square altar with a huge book with a dark green cover.
