The Divine Hunter

Chapter 468: A World of Difference

[TL: Asuka]

[PR: Ash]

Alduin was still raining down meteors on the burning town, but our friends had already escaped the vicinity of Helgen. Now, they were safely standing behind a mountain that blocked off the burning town. A gust of breeze sauntered through the air, and the veils of dusk slowly came down upon the land, staring at the view of the mountain.

The trio that had just escaped their predicament heaved sighs of relief.

“Praise to be Talos, we got out of that safely.” Ralof patted Flynn and Roy’s shoulders in gratitude. “And thanks to you two too. Or those Imperial dogs would’ve gotten me.”

“Oh, not at all.” Flynn waved his hands sheepishly. “I wasn’t of much help. You guys saved me, really.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re all friends now. You don’t get out of a life-threatening situation together and say nothing about it. So what’s next for you two? Anything you have in mind? You can come to Riverwood if you want. Lay low for a while. My sister has a sawmill there. It’s not far from here.”

Flynn nodded and stared over the river at the mountain’s base. “I’m a homeless tramp. It’s great that you’re willing to take me in. But what about our new friend? We don’t even know his name.”

“The language barrier proves to be a problem.” Ralof rubbed his chin. “Pardon me, but I’ll give you a nickname. Your eyes are really striking, so why don’t I call you Goldeneye?”

Roy frowned in curiosity.

“No shaking of head. I take that as a yes, then. Goldeneye… Yeah, you might not understand me, but you don’t talk much, so I assume you’re used to loneliness. A fellow homeless person, huh?” Ralof wrapped his arm around Roy’s shoulder and winked. “Come with me.”

Flynn followed Ralof, while Roy looked at the lush woods around him for a moment before he too followed them. The passage of the mountain was home to a big patch of purple flowers with thorny stems and leaves.

‘Thistle

Perennial

Habitat: Found in low areas.

Effect: Increases cold resistance, ?

Slightly poisonous.’

***

The thistles back in the world of witchers had a different look and effect than these thistles. If the strange constellations, Nordlings, and dragons failed to give it away, these thistles now practically told him he was in another world. And the barrier between worlds is what’s stopping me from contacting Gryphon.

“So that’s what Evil-Eye meant when he said I couldn’t stay. He exiled me to another world. Unbelievable. How the hell did they do it?” Fury flared in Roy’s eyes. “Grandmasters, Idarran, I’ll remember this. Payback is due.”

***

The trio descended the mountainside and stopped before a circular plateau. Standing before them were three stone altars the height of a regular adult male positioned in three points that would form a triangle if linked.

The altars were cylindrical with a hole in the middle of them. And on their surface were three different images. One was a man with a sword, another was a person with a dagger, and the last was someone with a staff.

“Seen these before?” Ralof crossed his arms. “Standing Stones. Thirteen of them in Skyrim. Corresponds to the number of constellations we know.”

Skyrim had nine administrative divisions. Its land was vast and rich with secrets. Flynn was but a young wanderer. This was his first time seeing a Standing Stone.

“And these three are known as the Guardian Constellations. The Warrior, The Thief, and The Mage. If any of you are born in their season, they’ll strengthen your talent if you touch them. Lasts for a month or so.”

Flynn was born in the season of The Lady. That was one of The Warrior’s constellations. He closed his eyes and approached The Warrior’s stone.

Roy felt his medallion hum, and he looked at his new friend. Once he put his hand on the Standing Stone, the stat he gained from The Lady changed from one point to two. Then the witcher took a step ahead and stood within the circle’s center, his eyes on the Standing Stones.

‘Stone of The Warrior

You have no constellation. But if you come in contact with it, you shall receive Blessing of the Stars—The Warrior (Passive). Lasts for one month. Those born in Last Seed (August) are tough and quick to temper. They are masters of weaponry. +1 to Strength. You master weapons at a twenty percent increased speed.’

‘Stone of The Thief

Blessing of the Stars (Passive): Those born in Evening Star (December) are adventurous and sensitive to danger. They are masters of evasion and concealment. +1 to Perception. Your stealth receives twenty percent increased effect.’

‘Stone of The Mage

Blessing of the Stars (Passive): Those born in Rain’s Hand (April) are prone to pride and arrogance. They possess better talent for magicka. +1 to Spirit. Twenty percent increased efficacy for the learning of magic and meditation.’

***

A surprised Roy looked at The Mage’s stone calmly. So everyone who’s born in Rain’s Hand in this world can master magic? But he denied that assumption right away. None of those Imperials were mages. Magic is still a privilege open to a few in this world. But that’s probably not because of its complexity. Roy had a feeling it was something else. Magicka. Wonder how much different is it from chaos energy.

Roy touched The Mage’s stone without hesitation. A sliver of magicka flowed into his fingertips. White light gleamed on the stone’s surface and flowed to the top. Then, a string of white light shot into the heavens, connecting with the constellation in the skies.

Roy felt a surge of energy flow into his body, and a message popped up on his character sheet.

‘You have received Blessing of the Stars—The Mage (lasts for one month).’

Roy closed his eyes. Aside from the one-point boost to Spirit, he felt nothing else. Maybe it’ll show when I meditate.

“Goldeneye went with The Mage, eh?” Ralof arched his eyebrow. He looked a little surprised and disappointed. Roy exhibited great skill in combat during their escape earlier. He wasn’t a great swordsman, but he was faster and stronger than most Nordlings. Ralof thought he was a warrior. And an outstanding one at that. But now he thought perhaps Roy’s strongest skillset lay in the path of magic.

Mages were mysterious, powerful, and yet fragile at the same time. They would spend most of their time hiding in their own institute, doing abhorrent research. Nordlings thought of mages as weaklings and allies of evil. Aside from healers and mages who played the role of support, all other sorcerers were nothing but pests in the eyes of the Nordlings.

“If he is a mage, then I guess he can’t be a part of the Stormcloaks.”

***

Once done with the stones, the trio descended the meandering path. Roy harvested all the new plants he saw along the way. Nirnroots, thistles, water caltrops, and everything else. They overlapped with the herbs he was familiar with, but at the same time, they were also different. If I can bring these back with me, maybe we can come up with some new alchemy items. Or even potions.

“Why are you harvesting these plants anyway, Goldeneye? Are you perhaps a healer? Or an alchemist?”

Roy grunted.

Constitution: 24

Perception: 12

Will: 27 → 29

Charisma: 9

Spirit: 22 → 23

Skills: Massacre Level 7, Witcher Signs Level 3, Sword Mastery Level 3, Griffin Arts Level 6, Witcher Senses Level 2, Observe Level 2.

Meditation Level 10, Alchemy Level 3.

Elder Blood (Passive), Trial of the Grasses (Passive), Avarice (Passive)

Level 12 Witcher (840/12500)

1 skill point and 1 stat point remain.’

***

Roy allocated his stat point to Will once more.

‘Will: 29 → 30.’

And then a long wall of text popped up on the character sheet.

‘Your Will has now reached Rank Three. You gain…

Massacre has yet to reach Level 10. No abilities gained.

You can now bend more creatures to your will and tame more mounts. +1 to mount slots.

You have bound Gryphon to one slot. 1 slot remaining.’

***

Roy’s heart skipped a beat. I thought Massacre would be powered up, but I got a mount slot instead? Wait. Can the character sheet actually hear my thoughts? It just solved my immediate problem. Language barrier is a pain for me. If I can tame a local, I can communicate with them through telepathy. No language barrier in telepathy. A living, breathing translator.

He couldn’t unbind Gryphon. She was the only thing that could lead him back home. And now an extra slot just solved his problem. Then he was reminded of the grandmasters’ conversation back at the fortress.

“I merged with a shard of the Most High? Could it be? Could this shard be evolving according to my needs?”

One slot left. Roy opened his eyes and turned his attention to the sleeping Dragonborn. He would be a good candidate, but Roy couldn’t possibly turn someone who had saved his life into his mount. That was evil. And he would never tame a human. I need a better target.

***

Roy tried to allocate his skill point to Meditation, but alas, nothing happened.

‘Meditation has reached max level. Requires more information for further level up.’

Okay, so I need more information about Meditation if I want to keep leveling it up. So what should I do with my skill point?

Observe was an important skill, given that he needed as much information about this new world as he could. But Massacre could evolve if it were Level 10. His Will was high enough for that skill’s evolution. Roy wanted to level that up as well. What should I do? Spend it on Observe? Or do I spend it on Massacre? It’s already Level 7.

Roy couldn’t decide. After killing so many people in the war, Massacre was already on the precipice of leveling up. Spending a skill point on it now would be a waste, so he kept it.

His weapons still gained no new effects. He could only strengthen the powers they already had, but none was what he needed. He saved the chance to power up his weapon like he did with his skill point. Let’s see what happens if I save up two powerup chances.

***

That was it for his level up. And for the first time in this new world, Roy closed his eyes to meditate. It took mere moments for a flash of light to leave his body and enter the darkness that was the world of meditation. Unlike the witcher world, there were no colorful particles of elements here. Nor was there any chaos energy. But there were particles smaller than the elements.

These particles were like seeds of a fruit, surrounding him calmly. Beyond the horizon should be where the elementals’ dimension stood, but they were absent. What took their place was a great, shining hole that burned as brightly as the sun. Surrounding it were countless holes that hung in the skies like stars.

Just like how the elementals’ dimensions would produce elements and chaos energy to replenish Roy’s mana, these holes spurt out energy particles to replenish Roy’s mana, and they were fast. Eventually, Roy was getting drunk on these particles.

The energy back in the witcher world was like beer, but magicka was like liquor. Absorbing it could make Roy drunk.

Two hours later, Roy stopped meditating. He was done. The night was still dark, and the moons still shone down on the lands. Our witcher felt energized, but there was a hint of surprise in his eyes, the light of awe glimmering like stars within them.

Through meditation alone, Roy managed to absorb a small amount of souls.

‘+24 EXP (+4 from Blessing of The Mage)

Level 12 Witcher (890/12500).’

“I see. Magicka’s no mere elemental energy. It has souls and something else in it.” So I don’t even have to kill anything in this world to level up. I can do it if I have enough patience to meditate all the time. Twenty-four EXP in two hours. That’d be 288 EXP if I meditated the whole day. A lot more efficient than leveling up in the witcher world. But not the right time to do that.

“Magicka’s a lot purer and smaller than the elements. I suppose I can turn them into elements and cast spells with them.”

He tried to cast Staticshock, Furyfire, and all the other Signs in the world of meditation. To his surprise, they were thirty percent more powerful. But when he imbibed Roar in his Signs, they showed less potency than they did in the witcher world. Roar was a skill connected to the elements, yet there weren’t a lot of them in the air of this world. Nor could Roar manipulate magicka that easily either.

“The magic system here is a lot different than the one back in the witcher world. I’d love to witness it.”

Roy whipped out the bloodstone given to him by Vivienne. After he released Kunguran, the stone had been empty. The witcher meditated once more and tried to guide his magicka into the bloodstone. One of the elements in the magicka disappeared into the air, while another flowed into the stone. They were slivers of purple light, but unlike human souls, which were arrogant and fierce, the purple light stayed within the gemstone, filling it up.

A few hours later, the crimson bloodstone had turned light purple. A bloodstone filled with souls.

***

Roy observed it for a while. This might come in handy someday. I might need a mage to appraise this. The witcher tucked the bloodstone away and stayed silent for a moment.

Silvery moonlight shone upon him, illuminating the sadness on his face. Unfortunately, he did not see the balls of light that represented Letho or Coral here. The distance between worlds was too vast for his spirit to pass. “Coral, Letho, Geralt, Triss… I wonder what everyone’s doing.”