Off-Brand Dementor
1.9k 12 86
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

On Nirn Island, at the back of a small house, Ben wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and sat cross-legged at the centre of a rune circle surrounded by a ring of burning candles. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and a petty soul gem with a bluish hue suddenly appeared between his palms.

Ben began chanting in the ancient language of the Psijic Order, and Magicka slowly escaped from his hands, enveloping the soul gem. The rune circle drawn on the ground emitted a soft light under Ben's chanting, and cracks started to appear on the soul gem.

Crack Crack

The soul gem shattered into small fragments, and for a split second, one could see the silhouette of a wolf escape it before dissipating into the surroundings. Though it looked like a failure, the rune circle on the ground glowed brighter, and an illusory dome formed over it, trapping the dissipating soul inside.

Under the dome, the soul condensed into a white mist, making it look like a college dorm room full of potheads. The mist slowly started swirling around in a circle under Ben's control, forming a whirlpool around him. It rotated faster and faster, getting closer to the centre. As it reached Ben's chest, it condensed even further and started emitting a golden glow before getting absorbed into his body.

Ben felt a warmth enter his chest, which slowly travelled to the rest of his body and enveloped him in a feeling of bliss. It felt as if he was floating weightlessly in a sea of clouds under the warmth of the sun. All his tension washed away as a heavy burden, which he didn't know he had been carrying, lifted from his soul. It was the most comfortable feeling he had ever experienced.

Although Ben's title as the Dragonborn suggested that he had the blood and soul of a dragon, the reality begged to differ. While he was stronger than most humans his age, he was nowhere near as strong as a dragon, neither in body nor in spirit. Perhaps he would achieve that level of strength once he reached level 100, but right now, he didn't stand a chance against a full-grown dragon. None of his spells would even go past its hide.

Another question was whether he could absorb dragon souls in this world, even if he did indeed have the soul of a dragon. After all, the dragons here were not the same as the dragons in Skyrim.

And if he was capable of absorbing souls, why should he limit himself to dragons? His body had shown a propensity to absorb pretty much everything until now, even a deathly hallow. Perhaps he wasn't a true Dragonborn, but whatever he was, it was much better.

Unlike the Wizarding World, souls were much more understood in the Elder Scrolls universe, and Ben used this understanding to devise a method to absorb souls from soul gems. According to the knowledge from Skyrim, a soul could roughly be broken into two parts: AE and Animus. AE is the Ego, the core identity, or the continuity of the soul, and it is contained within the Animus, the lifeforce of the soul. Animus is what mages and enchanters are most interested in, as it powers the enchantment and acts as sort of a battery.

And since Ben already knew what would happen if he absorbed someone's Ego or identity, as he had in fact done so already when he took over this body, he had to design this rune circle to separate the AE from the Animus. Once the Ego was separated, it probably moved on to the afterlife of its choosing where it would stay until being assigned to another vessel.

The Animus or the battery pack of the soul that had been left behind was gobbled up by Ben's soul, increasing its size and capacity.

But there was a limitation to this method as Ben could only do this with petty souls using his current level of rune knowledge, as separating the AE from the Animus was no easy task. Weaker and smaller souls of non-magical creatures like rabbits, wolves and foxes were ideal for now, but he was certain that this won't be a problem in the future.

Ben wasn't the first person to try something so outlandish, Necromancers and Conjurers had devised similar methods in the past, after all, it wasn't child's play to control an army of Undead or to subdue a Dremora lord. There was even a method to cultivate a pseudo soul called a Twin Soul, it practically doubled the amount of conjured creatures under one's control, it was advanced magic that need one to be at least an Expert Mage.

Ben didn't stop after absorbing the soul but summoned another petty soul gem, the whole process was repeated again for four more times. It felt so good that Ben could not stop himself from absorbing one soul after another, only when he absorbed his fifth soul, he started feeling stuffy and full, just as he had felt after the end-of-the-year feast. He felt like he couldn't take another deep breath or else his soul will burst open.

"AahH, I'm finally full,' he said letting out a fake burp.

Ben was sure that if anyone outside knew that his favourite food had just changed to souls, he would be quickly crowned as the next dark lord.

"Let's see if it was all worth it," he said summoning the Dragonstone to himself.

Ben wasn't disappointed as soon as it appeared in his hands; he could feel a slight hum coming from it, indicating that it was responding to him again. Unfortunately, Ben was too tired to carry on any further. He needed time to digest today's gains. He went back to his room and fell flat on his bed, fast asleep within seconds.

--Dreamscape--

Whelp, he eats souls now, happy? Even if you aren't, you'll just have to accept him for who he is, an off-brand Dementor.

Help me out at Patreon.com/DreamyApe

86