Serana handed Jonas two items: one was the elder scrolls (Dragon), and the other was that suit of armor named 'Little Boy.' It was the fourth generation, completely unchanged. As Jonas touched the intricate enchanting circuits on the steel, he had a strange illusion of stroking silk. Language is a symbol, and lines are a type of music, but Jonas could hear that the music on this armor had been marked with countless rests, turning into a scattered melody—it was nothing more than a beautiful piece of scrap metal.
"It seems to be broken."
"Yes, my lover looked down on such outdated products, so he treated it as a key. Since it's a key, there's no need for it to kill people." When Serana spoke, people often ignored her presence and only focused on the content of her words. Jonas knew that his adoptive mother was truly a Great Master of Illusion; otherwise, she wouldn't have such influence and infectious charisma. Her attainments were beyond the comprehension of Mortals, like mountain ridges hidden behind a sea of clouds—one knows they exist but cannot discern their shape.
"Then, where is this a key to?"
"The place of the first encounter, and also the starting point of the journey to find him."
"Every word you say, I keep etched in my heart."
"Good child. Take the scroll to the Throat of the World, the summit of High Hrothgar, Kyne's Divine Tower. Open it, and you will be able to glimpse history."
Back then, three ancient Nord heroes banished Alduin at the Throat of the World, creating a rift in time and space. With the power of the elder scrolls, one can look back through history via the rift. Jonas would obtain the ultimate technique that the Thu'um Great Masters of that era were most proud of.
"That is a Thu'um called Dragon Break," Serana narrated. "The masters of the Shout burst forth their hatred for the dragons, channeling it through their own bodies and releasing it. By doing so, they forced the concept of death upon the dragons, making them fearful and weak, stripping them of their right to fly. It was this very Thu'um that shone brilliantly in the Dragon War of old. If you want to kill Alduin, you cannot do it without it."
Dragons are fragments of time, fragments of the Dragon God. They do not die. The dissipation of their physical shells is like a dream to them; when the King's horn sounds, they will naturally return.
But [Thu'um: Dragon Break] is something that even dragons fear, making them understand the life and death of a Mortal, and the dignity of a Mortal.
This is a magnificent Word of Power. It represents honor, will, violence, slaughter, madness, sinking, rebirth, and death. It represents the struggle of all lowly beings and the cry of the great side of humanity.
Jonas nodded, and Serana continued, "Your second enemy is the first Dragonborn, Miraak—a traitor to the Dragon Cult, a specter in Apocrypha, and a servant of Hermaeus Mora. He is a formidable opponent, even more so for you. Every time you slay a dragon, there is a possibility he will plunder the Dragon Soul. While you are strengthening yourself, he is also constantly recovering his power. I suggest you deal with him first before facing Alduin."
Miraak's influence is expanding across Solstheim. It was originally a territory of Skyrim, but it has been temporarily lent to the Dark Elves. The eruption of Red Mountain brought boundless ash and dust, making the Dunmer homeland of Morrowind uninhabitable, so some members migrated to Solstheim.
As for Miraak himself, he is a figure not particularly famous in history. His name means 'Loyal Guide.' During the era of dragon rule, he was a priest belonging to the Dragon Cult. He was exceptionally capable and ambitious, naturally unwilling to be a lapdog for his whole life. Historical records state that he led three Dragon Priests (Ahzidal, Dukaan, and Zahkriisos) to betray the Dragon Clan and flee to Solstheim.
At that time, Solstheim was a peninsula to the northeast of Skyrim, but it was severed during the battle between Miraak and the Dragon Cult's High Priest, Vahlok, becoming an independent island.
Miraak eventually lost in the battle against Vahlok. The three Dragon Priests who followed him were killed on the spot by Vahlok, and the temple was razed to the ground. His own body was destroyed, but his Soul escaped into Apocrypha, where he has been secretly accumulating power.
"Over thousands of years, how many figures have turned into mist? Records concerning such ancient ones are not entirely reliable." Serana, being an old relic from the First Era herself, naturally knew how unreliable history could be. Those who control the present control the past; it has always been so.
"I understand." Jonas simply listened to the instructions.
"Go then, do whatever you wish. I can keep that armor for you. When you want the third item, come find me again."
"Alright."
Jonas flew through the air, looking dejected. Amidst the biting wind and cold snow, he only felt invisible webs everywhere in the sky, binding him tightly.
He suddenly felt a leisurely joy welling up from the diaphragm between his chest and abdominal cavities, surfacing from the base of his brain. For a moment, his limbs felt numb and his scalp tingled. He relaxed his mage shield, letting the wind pour in from all directions, washing over his inner garments through the gaps in his brand-new robes. It was bone-chillingly cold, colder than ice, but his joy became increasingly unrestrained.
In the Void Realm ahead, an illusory Dragon Soul suddenly surged toward him, rushing into the gap between his heart and mind. His mental strength was like a small iron furnace, dissolving the dragon's Soul like icy blue liquid magma, taking thin roots in his Bloodline, spreading out from his pores, and moving across his face. His whole body trembled.
Someone had killed a dragon!
The existence of a Dragonborn actively attracts Dragon Souls, especially those forced into slumber, which are the most confused; in the dark void of time and space, they fly toward the place where the 'fire' is brightest. Fortunately, Jonas was an Awakened One who had overcome the dragon nature in his heart and possessed a power as bright as a sovereign's. By status, he was actually a Dragon King equal to Alduin—the Kingslayer—essentially a bottle opener, a peeler that pulls the Dragon God Alduin out of the armored Alduin.
"—A tool."
Dragon Souls surged in one after another, one, two... Jonas felt himself rising, not toward the macroscopic Universe in the sky, but toward the microscopic essential Universe.
He saw light and darkness floating on a massive glassy sphere before his eyes, like the eerie reflection of fine oil on the surface of a shaded pond in summer. All matter is energy, and all energy is matter—all are but dreams and bubbles.
Some shattered memory spheres flashed on the surface; it was his past calling out to him. Jonas couldn't see clearly, so he tried harder to rise, to make himself grander, on the sphere... Wait, the sphere was breaking! A giant vortex was on the back of the sphere, which he hadn't seen before, but now it was clear. In the vortex, countless transparent glass shards swirled and collided, bursting with intense light and spawning even more shards. It was expanding spontaneously.
Jonas's heart was seized by fear—a fear born of cognitive instinct. If he could still feel the existence of his physical form, then this fear must have spread like lightning from his genitals, a mixture of pain, despair, and humiliation.
This was an absolute—unforgivable act.
Jonas swore to kill the perpetrator of this vortex. Ha, definitely!
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