A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 9:

"Wake up." I felt a prodding in my shoulder, I was still drowsy, and my head was killing me.

"Wake. up." I heard and felt it again.

I groggily lifted my head up to look at the...person poking me. He was, not a race I had seen before. An elf of some sort, the people weren't freaking out, so I was assuming that his species wasn't uncommon.

"The fuck do you want?" He was dressed well, too well. He had a permanent look on his face that screamed, 'I'm better than you'.

"How uncouth, not that I expected any more from a two-bit mage." He scoffed.

What time was it? I don't think it was noon yet, maybe early morning. I fell asleep at the counter....that's a bit embarrassing. It didn't look like the owner minded though, I think I paid him enough as it was. I think we were celebrating far into the night.

Even as I looked around there appeared to be a few more people passed out here and there. I guess this wasn't an uncommon occurrence.

My eyes focused back on the man who had been poking and insulting me. "Who are you, and why should I care?"

Again, that little scoff he gave made me want to punch him. "I am Ancano, Thalmor emissary and council to the Arch Mage of the College." He proclaimed, perking up like a peacock.

"Neat."

"Yes, quite." It looked like he tried his best to not appear annoyed at my remark, failing horrendously. "I have heard of your feats yesterday and am gracious enough to offer you a place at the College."

This feels all kinds of wrong, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm too curious to see where this goes. "Oh, how kind of you, good sir. How could I ever repay such 'generosity'?"

"I see, you do indeed have some manners befitting someone more learned than these barbarians. I will ignore your earlier outbursts." He turned his nose up. "You are lucky to have caught the eye of some very powerful mages, they are curious about the spells you evoked in your battle."

Ah, there it is. I guess some descriptions of what I had done were spread around, some idiot heard the rumors. I guess my 'foreign' magic would be interesting to those who devote themselves to the magical studies.

"You said your name was; Ancano?" I wanted to make sure.

"Indeed." He nodded, clearly pleased with himself for some reason.

"Good, I didn't want to get your name wrong, that would just be embarrassing." I cleared my throat, drawing a bit of attention on myself. "Go fuck yourself, Ancano."

Trying to learn my mysteries? Do I look like I was born yesterday? If this was the Clock Tower he would have been killed trying this shit on someone else.

There was some snicker and laughter around the room. I saw Dagur try his best to hold back his own laugh, I just tipped my hat at the man and smirked.

"Y-you!" He exclaimed in surprise. "How dare you!?"

I think I saw his hands light up, ready to cast a spell. Only, the sound of steel being drawn from its sheath filled the room.

It looked like several guards had woken up from their naps and were all pointing blades at Ancano. He paused, looking at me, then looking over the room.

The magical energy he gathered had dissipated and he just scoffed. "I expected nothing less from such uncivilized barbarians."

"Says the idiot that was about to invoke a spell in the middle of a tavern....a fire spell, in a building made of wood. Do you need a lesson on what happens to wood when it catches fire?"

He narrowed his eyes. "No wonder the Thalmor are needed in Skyrim. Truly you all need a strong, guiding hand."

I didn't really get the gist of what he was saying, but the guards around me were...enraged, for lack of a better term. The looks on their faces, I could only admire their control as they clenched their weapons.

But, I drank with them last night, sort of built a bond with them. Is it weird that I felt annoyed because they were insulted?

"You wanted to cast magic? Let's step outside then, you and me." I stood up, looking him in the eyes.

"Hoh, you wish to duel me?" He looked on at me with disdain. "Hmm, I haven't the time to waste with the riffraff...."

"I'll give you the knowledge of my spells if you win." I cut him off, I knew what he was doing, didn't really care either.

He paused looking at me before smiling. "Is this the part where you make a demand of me, if you win?" He waived his hand nonchalantly. "Go ahead, demand whatever nonsensical thing you wish if a miracle occurs."

"Your clothes."

The whole room was silent.

"....pardon?" The elven mage looked at me in confusion.

"I. Want. Your. Clothes." I enunciated. "You will walk back to the college, buck-ass-naked when I win."

This was two-fold, first I wanted to humiliate him, I already felt that there would be no common ground between us and he was utterly insufferable. Second, I actually wanted his clothes. They looked high-quality and I thought I could take them to a tailor and maybe use their materials for something to my tastes.

He snorted, holding back his anger. "You will rue the day you angered me." He stomped out of the inn.

I just followed after him ,along with the entirety of the Tavern who came to watch the show.

He atleast had the good sense to walk outside of town to avoid any....collateral damage in the immediate vicinity.

The townsfolk started lining up, more than were in the Tavern, I guess news travels fast here. I think I saw Svord give me a thumbs up in the back.

"Well, let us discuss the rules of this duel." Ancano stated.

"No killing, no maiming, no large-scale collateral damage. You hurt the spectators; I'm taking your head." He seemed like the kind of person who would 'accidently' cast too powerful a spell near people he disliked.

"Fine, your terms are accepted. Shall we have someone give a countdown or would you like to make the first move?" He said arrogantly.

I just raised an eyebrow, I withdrew my sword-cane from my hat and unsheathed it.

"How uncivilized, a mage wielding a sword." He rolled his eyes, summoning a staff from....somewhere? I wasn't really paying attention. "I shall be magnanimous, feel free to cast your spell, I shall not respond until you are finished"

Should I just run up and stab him? Nah, I got a better idea.

[Oh, this is going to be good.]

I just smirked after hearing Ddraig.

Leveling my sword at him, spellcircles began to envelope the blade.

The dimensional refraction phenomenon, an aspect of the Kaleidoscope that allows me to pull an infinite amount of magical energy from parallel worlds. The circles thrummed with power, collecting and condensing the mana, ready for use.

"Ether Cannon."

My sword shuddered, I briefly panicked that it would explode at the power, I had kept the output of the spell at the bare minimum and even so, the weapon couldn't handle this kind of spell.

I saw my Ancano's eyes widen as he pulled on an impressive amount of magical energy to cast a spell similar to Lesser Warding. Was it a higher tier variant of the same spell?

It didn't matter, my beam of iridescent light tore through his barriers like they were paper.

His cry of pain was heard, deafening the crowd. He fell to the ground, clutching his lower stomach, screaming out in pain as blood seeped from his mouth and poured through his fingers.

I calmly strode over to his prone position, I saw a white light erupt from his hands, trying to heal himself. It would be slow going, but my aim was impeccable, there would be no lasting damage if he got healed, so I didn't violate the rules.

I withdrew a couple potions from my storage, I practically shoved the regeneration down his throat and dumped a healing potion on the wound. This wasn't out of mercy, mind you, he still had part of his wager to uphold.

"You lost." I said plainly, as the bleeding began to stop

He wobbled to his feet, taking a few steps back form. "Y-you dare!?"

I raised an eyebrow, did he think I wouldn't notice what he was doing? I saw him channeling his own magical energy into spell, trying to hide it. I just began casting my own spells, bringing runes into existence with a hand behind my back.

"Strip." I ordered again.

I saw him contort in rage, hands clenched. "I am a Thalmor Emmisary, you dare to lay a hand on me!? Your punishment is death!" He threw his hands up and a large amount of mana was expanded, something came into existence.

A large, towering, ice-figure stood between me and the arrogant elf.

Another sort of elemental?

No matter, I pushed my hand to the ground and brought all the runes together.

"Bindings of Gaia."

Massive roots sprang from the frozen tundra, shooting up and wrapping around the ice-creature, binding it in place. They didn't stop, shooting towards Ancano, grabbing, and pulling him prone to the ground.

"The duel had been concluded and you tried to kill me, I wonder what the punishment for attempted murder is?" My blade pressed against his neck, and I leaned down next to him. "A two-bit mage, huh?" I whispered.

"The Jarl would enjoy having the Thalmor Emissary in his dungeons." Svord walked up next to me, clearly hearing the exchange.

"Would he now?" I raised an eyebrow, a smile shared between me and Svord. It seems like this Jarl doesn't like the Thalmor, whatever they are, and Ancano looked rather pale at the thought.

As I contemplated what to do, a teleportation-type spell had activated a few feet away and a man walked out. Another elf, it looked like a different.... species though.

"May I request you remand him into my custody?" The man had an authoritative voice to him, yet at the same time he gave the aura of a sort of kindly old man.

"Archmage" Svord greeted, maybe even with a little respect.

"Svord, it's been a while." The Archmage returned.

Archmage, someone high up in the College, perhaps?

"I apologize for the commotion he's caused." The mage looked at me. "I can promise that he was operating under no authority of the College and his views and words in no way reflect upon us."

I looked towards Svord who just gave me a nod. I didn't really care either way, dump him in the river, throw him in jail, his existence meant little to me. "He's all yours." A bit of good will towards my future 'home' wouldn't be too bad either.

I was about to undo my spell until...

*Snap*

The Archmage snapped his fingers, and my roots began to unravel and returned to the ground. The summoned being was dispersed and returned to whatever realm it was summoned from.

I couldn't help but blink and stare at this 'Archmage' frankly.....he was giving me a familiar feeling, like I was staring at my previous self. That well of knowledge that seems unfathomable and the quiet confidence that he could handle anything that came his way.

Of course, the Archmage only just gave me a kind smile...though I think he was smirking a bit, but I didn't feel any amount of arrogance from it.

Well played.

[He's strong.]

Can you tell how much?

[The current you can't handle him. Using those devil terms....at least ultimate class.]

Ah yes, the devil's way of measuring power. Lower-class, middle-class, high-class, ultimate-class, Satan-class, and Super-class.

Godly beings tend to be operating at a minimum of Satan-class power, usually in the realm of what is referred to as Super-class.

"I thank you, young man." He pulled Ancano up from the ground and applied his own healing spells. They were strong, I could see they were many fold stronger than the basic one I knew. He turned his gaze towards the bloodied elf. "Now, I believe you have a wager to uphold."

I paused and I think everyone around us stopped too, I don't think they expected that.

"Y-you can't be serious, Archmage. I'm an Emissary of the Thalmor!" He exclaimed.

"Then perhaps you should act like it in the future." He narrowed his eyes.

"I'm your...confidant, how would it look on the college if I were to parade around in the nude?"

"Oh, it will look very poorly on us, I can you tell that already." He conceded, but power began to swell up, and his eyes glowed faintly. "But it would forever taint our pride if we didn't uphold our own agreements and were known as untrustworthy. Do I make myself clear?"

You know, it didn't feel like a 'play', or just making a scene to save face. It seemed genuine on the surface, and I usually trusted my instincts with such things.

He kept spouting nonsense about being an 'Emissary' no doubt there would be political fallout if he died, even if he was the one at fault. I could concede that point, which was why the Archmage was probably thanking me. Even Svord was willing to allow the Archmage to take him, and his own men appeared to loath the man.

I really need to learn the political situations of this land.

The Thalmor Emissary shuddered, sweating profusely under the Archmage's gaze. "Of course...." He spit out as he began undressing and tossing his clothes on the ground.

He was shivering as each layer was taken off and he began to put his hands on his underwear, but I decided to stop him.

"That's enough." I stated, earning their attention. "I don't think anyone wants to see that."

"Indeed." The Archmage smiled in amusement. "Make your way back to the College, Ancano. We will be having words later about your assumption of power over the College's decisions." Oof, sounds like someone was going to get a spanking. "And you had best be properly clothed by the time I return."

No one spoke as the elf began his walk of shame. Truthfully, I expected a lot of laughter and jeering, but I think the townspeople were just too stunned to say anything.

The Archmage once again turned towards me. "You are an interesting young man." He flicked his wrist and a parchment appeared in his hand. "I would hate for us to be called liars, while Ancano did not have the authority to do so... I would like to officially extend this invitation to join the College."

I grabbed the parchment, opening it up to read. "This just says. 'He can join' with your signature." I deadpanned.

"Did you think it was difficult to join the college? There is only the basic requirement to be able to cast a few beginner spells and the guard would let you in." He laughed, flexing his hand and disappearing from the spot. Only the distortion of magical energy leaving a tell sign that he had teleported away.

"What just happened?" I asked Svord.

"That would be Archmage Savos Aren, head of the College."

"He seemed....." Frankly I didn't know the word to use. What was the combination of powerful, quirky, funny, scary, grandfatherly.....oh. "Eccentric."

"Aren't all mages?" Svord chuckled. "But he is respected."

"Really, I thought everyone here hated mages?"

"Yes, that should tell you something." He pat my shoulder and walked back towards town.

I picked up the clothes off the ground, now let's see if I can find a tailor.

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