Chapter 51: Knife's edge
Huh, you didn't expect this now, did you?
Yesterday, after reading some comments and the overall opinion, I decided to write the next chapter after a certain idea hit my mind.
Did I finish it around 10 minutes ago? A bit too early since...
Normally, I would post this on P@treon first, and next week, do another lengthy edit, going over a few suggestions and adding more ideas I had over the week before posting it.
But since I am eager, I'll be posting this now.
I think it went out pretty well, I did everything I wanted, and stopped at a nice point, going over my initial ideas for this Class while also revealing some more.
Of course, I'll be here to hear your suggestions and in the end, change anything if someone gives me enough of a reason or inspiration.
Remember that I wrote this on the fly, and edited it once, so there may be more mistakes and inconsistencies than what you are used to.
And! I'll post several images in this chapter, so if you don't see any, just wait, I'll be going immediately after I post this...
Hopefully.
Peace!
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So, I forgot to mention this, but this chapter starts after he got the new memories.
This means that what happened at the very end won't happen.
Sorry for that, I forgot to mention it.
----------------------
…
"Hugh!" Philip said as he opened his eyes, breathing rapidly
/Cough!/
'He coughed continuously as the shock was severe…'
"I feel terrible… My eyes are unfocused and my head is spinning." He mumbled as he held his head with his right hand
That wasn't a pleasant experience, almost worse than last time.
No, it was worse, despite being fragmented, it was bigger, and despite it being akin to a movie I marathoned, I'm still a bit confused...
"... Huh?..." Philip questioned as he looked around
'The smells, the looks, the feel… Everything was different.'
"Am I?..." He questioned himself as his focus slowly returned
'He was currently inside a room made mostly of wood.'
'It looked vintage, with its simple wooden decorations and furniture, candle holders, simple tapestry, and more.'
'There was a single fireplace made of stone, lit with a warm fire that heated the room he was in.'
'The bed he was in was different from before, this time, it looked to be of a decent quality, almost luxurious as it seemed to be made out of a combination of feathers and a brown material similar to cotton wrapped around the pelt of an animal he couldn't recognize.'
"Damn." Philip mumbled as he got up from the bed
If I'm not back in the training room, this can only mean…
I'm in Nirn…
"Well… Better not assume things for now."
'Philip took a deeper look, spotting several things.'
'First, he went to the side where a mirror and a small bucket with water were located, and he immediately noticed a major detail…'
"I'm… Blonde?"
And my eyes are green now, great.
'Philip noticed that his appearance had changed, his hair became blonde, his eyes green, his body became frailer, and his complexion was slightly more ashen.'
'His face was still somewhat the same, if someone truly knew him, they would probably ask if he was cosplaying as some character...'
'Philip took a last glance around the room, starting to piece together his situation.'
"It's exactly like the memories… This means…"
"I became Eddy?"
The son of the Merchant, and the main character of this background…
If I pieced everything properly… Does this mean that I've taken his place?
But Eddy didn't look like me in the least, is this some sort of conversion?
"Regardless…"
'Philip turned around going towards a small drawer next to the bed.'
'There was a reason why Philip came here first of all places.'
'In the memories, Eddy would constantly write on a Diary before putting it beside his bed, creating something akin to a small biography.'
'Albeit he would be constantly changing his sleep location due to always traveling around, he always kept this habit…'
"Here it is." He said as he grabbed a small book with a red cover
'Reading this Diary would give Philip everything he needed to know about his surroundings and environment without the need and risk of asking someone about it.'
But this is?
'On top of the book was a small leather, it was open, and it seemed slightly beaten up as if Eddy had folded it in anger before opening it again.'
'Don't blame Philip for not remembering this detail, he might've not even received it.'
'His memories were akin to fragments, just enough for him to have an idea of what sort of life Eddy lived, not entirely how, or his personality…'
"I would like to scout outside, but this comes first."
'He opened the letter, revealing its contents…'
[Son… If you're reading this, it means I'm now with Talos…]
"A letter to his son?..."
'Philip finished reading the first paragraph, it was mainly an apology...'
This can only mean that the father was expecting a certain life and death situation, and he ended up drawing the short end of the stick.
The problem is, according to the memory fragments, his father died peacefully in his sleep after a week of being sick…
Poison?
'Philip continued to read the letter, and he soon started to understand what it was all about…'
"I see… The letter is more about his father teaching the son about his secret, what made him so successful…"
"How to follow up on his steps… And also… The price he had to pay to get such a power."
And now… The debt has fallen onto his son… Me.
[... I'm truly sorry to leave you with such a hurdle.
I had planned 10 years ahead, yet it was not this that killed me, but actions so far away in the past I can barely even remember.
I never thought they would come back… Not now.
…]
'Philip continued to read the letter, and with a small sigh, he threw it up in the fireplace.'
"The situation looks grim." He said as he lay on the bed once more
Pretty much, his father died due to a conflict whose origins predate his success, something he was completely unaware was even a thing anymore.
And when he realized it, it was already too late.
People can sure hold on to their grudges...
"As for the rest, we first need to understand his source of success and the very reason why I betted on this background in the first place…"
'Philip closed his eyes, opening his new Status Screen…'
"It looks the same... Not quite."
'The classic menu he was so used to appeared, however, it was slightly different.'
'Usually, there were 4 options:'
'Magic, Skills, Items, and Map, selecting each would then open a new detailed Menu with several more options.'
(Image)
'But the map option had disappeared, and in its place was another individual screen, with the following information:'
[Name: Philip Vinten
Class: Dragonborn
Level: 1
Race: Human/Nord
Health -> 100/100
Stamina -> 100/100
Magicka -> 100/100
Abilities:
Battle Cry Lv5
Trading Lv6
Skills:
Resist Frost Lv5
Haggle Lv8
Conjure Daedra Merchant Lv1
Dragon Tongue Lv0
Traits:
Dragon Soul
Dragon Blood
]
"There is it… Summon Daedra Merchant." Philip said with a small smile as he ignored the rest
The reason why his father suddenly had so much success, always having items and materials at hand was thanks to this.
At any given moment, he could call upon a rare Daedra merchant that had a series of rare materials coming from all over Nirn and even multiple planes of Oblivion.
Some items were extremely expensive, while some others were inexpensive, all due to Daedra's perspective.
A small pile of Void salts could cost little to nothing for the Daedra, but for a Wizard, it could cost a small fortune.
"Because of this, Eddy's father always had something exotic and of value to sell, making massive profits every time."
As long as he had the minimum capabilities as a Merchant, then he was bound for success.
Of course, not without a price… But that's for later.
"As for the rest… This is… Unexpected."
My name, my race, my Level, my Skill Levels, and the information about my Health, Stamina, and Magicka can be found here, information that was previously scattered around the other options...
"It's certainly odd, but it makes things simpler, everything is in one place."
Aside from that, the system turned Battle cry and resist frost into Skills?
Previously, those 2 were intrinsic abilities of all Nords, being both a Power and a Permanent Active effect respectively under the Magic category.
If so...
'He quickly opened the Magic section, and as expected, the 'Powers' section had disappeared, leaving only the Slots for the Magic of each School and the Shouts.'
'Active effects were still there, and he, in fact, had two.'
[Well Rested -> All Skills Level up 10% faster for 8 hours]
[Blessing of Dibella ->+10 Speechcraft for 1 hour]
'He went further and checked each sub-section, only to find out he had no Spells.'
"It's certainly interesting, I wonder what this will mean in the long run."
Still, this is strange… Wasn't I supposed to have at least 1 Spell?
'He shook his head, not like he would miss them much.'
"Time for the Perks."
'He opened the Skill section, and a series of constellations filled his vision as he expected.'
'There was a total of 18 constellations surrounding his head, and Philip felt it was a hurdle to move his head around to check each, it was a bit nauseating...'
'But it was something he could get used to.'
'These 18 constellations were contained within 3 distinct categories that took the appearance of nebulas in the sky, one Red, one Green, and one Blue.'
'Those were: The Warrior, The Thief, and The Mage respectively.'
'And in-between each of those Nebulas was the small constellations that represented the 3 crafting systems of the game, everything as per usual, and no changes could be seen here.'
(Image)
'Each of these constellations represented a Skill tree, starting at Level 1 and with a maximum of 100.'
'With Novice being Skill Level 0, Apprentice starting at Level 25, Adept Level 50, Expert Level 75, Master Level 100.'
"It seems the normal information is missing from here as well…"
Normally, my race, name, Level, and a few others would be here, but it seemed all was moved to that new page…
I can live with that.
But… Why are my Skills so… Obnoxiously low?
(He doesn't see this, but I'll make it simple for you all… And for me as well, since I can keep track of it:)
{Mage -> Illusion: 1; Conjuration: 1; Destruction: 1; Restoration: 1; Alteration: 1
In-Between: Enchanting: 1
Warrior -> Smithing: 6; Heavy Armor: 1; Block: 6; Two-Handed: 11; One-Handed: 6
In-Between: Archery: 1
Thief -> Light Armor: 6; Sneak: 1; Lockpicking: 1; Pickpocket: 1; Speech: 26(31)
In-Between: Alchemy: 1}
'Why are they low you ask? '
'Simple, because in the original game, you started with all of them with a minimum of 15!'
"This is rigged…" He said, depressed
The first Perk of each Skill tree can only be unlocked at Level 20, and that was pretty simple to achieve by doing a few things here and there and leveling up 5 times…
But now? I have an extra 14 stats to grind…
It seems the Nord's basic stats have been somewhat preserved, albeit distorted.
'Philip was certainly distressed, after all, this was how things should've looked like:'
'+10 Two-Handed for a total of 25.'
'+5 Block for a total of 20.'
'+5 Light Armor for a total of 20.'
'+5 One-Handed for a total of 20.'
'+5 Smithing for a total of 20.'
'+5 Speech for a total of 20.'
'And all other Skills at least 15…'
"Sigh… Nothing that I can do, this will only make my work harder and longer." He said as he stretched his arms
No point in crying over this, my time is limited after all…
"I'm starting to understand my situation… Next."
'Philip then checked the item menu, and it was as per normal, he saw the clothes he was equipped with, but that was mostly it.'
"I refuse to believe this is all I have." He said with a dark expression
I'll have to check around to see other things, after all, there are the personal wealth Eddy and his father accumulated over the years + the wealth of his caravan.
Of course, that money is not completely his, since it needs to be invested in many things so he can keep the business going and pocket some of the results.
It makes sense as unless you were extremely paranoid, no one would sleep with money.
"I'll check around once I'm done here."
'With a frown, Philip finished analyzing his Status.'
"In summary…"
"I am the son of a Wealthy merchant with an interesting Ability…"
My stats are low, making progression slow.
I don't have many Skills, but that is to be expected?
No spells…
My current items are dubious, I'll have to check that out.
I'm the Dragonborn… Not 'THE', just one of many it seems.
It doesn't seem I'm the last Dragonborn destined to take out the big baddy dragon…
But it remains to be seen where in the timeline I am.
"And to top it all off, I'm in a rush for time."
As I mentioned previously, there was a cost to gaining this Skill.
It isn't counted as a Spell under the Conjuration section, but more as an intrinsic ability.
This is what allowed a merchant with no Magic knowledge to cast such a Spell in the first place, a ritual of some kind, binding this strange Magic to him…
First condition:
Every time I summon the Daedra, at least 3K Septims worth of good needs to pass through his hands, either in or out.
This means, that if I summon him, the total sum of things I buy and sell to him needs to totalize 3K Septims, if it doesn't do so, he'll take something from me to make up for the odds.
And I would not like to find that out.
Of course, the merchant is impartial and he wouldn't rip me off as it was written in the letter.
Besides... Daedra's can be brutal and malicious, but so can they be trustworthy as they are sometimes rather simple creatures, following their desires without much thought put into it.
Albeit most tend towards overwhelming violence, some can take solace in strange activities such as… Pirating.
Or buying and selling things.
"The Second condition..."
Each time this power is used, a value of 1000 Septims would be added towards a Pool.
This pool can be paid anytime, but the moment it is paid, the power would be taken off from Eddy's father forever.
But as you can see, he never paid that, and this is where things get interesting…
Because in the case of his death without this being paid, the debt would go to me, and If I manage to pay everything, I can keep this power forever…
This was Eddy's father's greatest desire, he would keep accumulating wealth towards this end so when he died, his son would pay for everything, making this ability tied to his Family bloodline!
'Yet Philip was depressed.'
"On another note, I have a time limit of 2 weeks to pay, which should've been enough…"
"But clearly, things didn't go according to Eddy's father's wishes, as right now, I have no idea of how much money I have on my hands…"
His sudden death was certainly not expected, and there is a great chance he has no money ready at all.
What happens if I don't pay?
Most likely, my soul will probably be taken as payment since it's the most valuable thing to me…
Fucking Daedra! If I had my previous body, I would turn it into cosmic dust…
Albeit even then, it wouldn't make a dime of difference as Daedras are technically Immortal.
"Paying wouldn't be a problem… If I had time."
My Skills are already low, so it'll take longer to raise them.
And I don't even know if they'll work in the first place.
In this situation, I have to do everything by hand.
No matter how high I raise my Skills, if I don't have the manual 'skill' to do so, I'll never properly brew a decent potion or enchant an item decently.
"I have 2 weeks to pay for this mess. A total of 237 thousand Septims…"
How much that is to an ordinary citizen of Skyrim?
"If I take the memory fragments into perspective, the overwhelming majority of the population within Skyrim are Farmers, living a rather humble, simple, but decent lifestyle."
Similar to Earth's rural countries, but 100 or so years ago when families had many children, married early, and didn't live long either.
"The average yearly expenses of a household containing 2 parents, and probably a few children around 3 to 5 would be around 35 to 40 thousand Septims, the price may change depending on the province they live in."
Since each Province has its own laws and sanctions, the tax they apply to their citizens can also vary, being either lax or tyrannical.
So 237 thousand is around 6-7 years' worth of their expenses...
Not much to a mage that can enchant gear that can go upwards of tens of thousands, but for the lone ass me, much less in 2 weeks, it is a fucking nightmare.
"Making money will be a pain in the ass…"
"My body isn't very fit, and I don't really want to risk myself fighting out there."
"Even if I could use my knowledge to raid a few places and probably make enough money..."
Skyrim isn't a safe place, much less a real-world Skyrim.
Incongruencies would be fixed, monsters I've never seen before would fill the gaps in the Ecosystem, and more dangers would prowl these woods.
'Philip grabbed Eddy's journal, reading entry by entry so he could have a better grasp of his situation, his environment… This world.'
…
/2 and a Half hours later…/
'And towards the end, he saw another note from Eddy's father:'
[... This is my dream… One that I once shared with your mother…]
[DING]
'Suddenly, the clear chime of the system ranged in his ears, startling Philip.'
[A Class mission has been issued]
[Acomplish your father's dream of having a plentiful plot of land near Solitude while also paying for his debts so you can live a fulfilling and promising life]
"??"
[This quest has a time limit of 2 weeks!]
"What the… Curses! Might as well ask me to marry someone as well!" Philip said, rather upset
It was hard to pay what I owe, now I have to buy a plot of land on top of that?...
And in the most fucking prestigious place in all of Skyrim?
Solitude is the Capital of Skyrim where the Blue Palace was located, and where the High King of Skyrim rules…
If that holds any meaning since each Province is rather independent.
Having a plot of land there would be… Hard, not just pricy, but the connections too.
"This is giving me a headache…"
[Disclaimer, due to the nature of this Class mission, your basic abilities have been adapted to fit the scenario]
[Your body capabilities have been readjusted…]
[Some of your Main status skills' effects have been nullified while some of your Traits have been suppressed]
"Of course, thank you for reminding me I'm a normal ass person again…" Philip said as he rolled his eyes
Well… Not quite normal as some of my Traits are still working, suppressed doesn't mean deactivated.
"Urg… The only good news would be the fact I don't have to deal with the Dragons." Philip said in a low tone
From what I read in the Diary, it has been a bit over a year since the Battle of the red Ring took place and the White Gold Concordat was signed, banning the worship of Talos from Skyrim.
Hammerfell has been renounced as an Imperial Province, and Markarth has been retaken from the invaders…
From what I remembered, Skyrim took place in the year 200... Or was it 202?
"This means there'll be no Dragons for at least 25 years…"
Unless I'm extremely unlucky and meet a Dragon that has lasted millennia in some cave like the one that lives with the Graybeards… I'll be pretty fine.
Damn, I feel so nostalgic talking about these…
'Nevertheless, reality soon dawned upon Philip…'
"But things aren't all smooth and sailing."
Skyrim is full to the brim with bandits, assassins, and other sorts of dangers.
I'm not strong enough to protect myself against those, and I'll never put my faith in these sellswords that protect the Caravan.
"This is certainly better than Dragons though…"
But one thing's for certain, it seems the future Civil War has already started to show itself.
Unrest all over Skyrim, the Stormcloacks and their views clashing with the current situation of the Continent…
War means business… For those that can make good use of it.
Don't call me a Demon, the demon here are the people calling the shots.
I have a life to live, and I have no intention of handing my Soul to a Daedra.
Even if that means stealing.
I can pay them later if necessary, but can someone give me a new Soul if the Daedra steals mine?
Of course not.
'Philip closed his eyes in deep thought.'
…
"Phew… I think this was all."
A mission, a goal, something tiresome to do, but so is life.
"Before I explore the rest of this place…"
[Opening Beginner Nord Legend Package]
[You have received:
-Miniature Word wall x1
-Book, Dragon Language: Myth no More x1
-Book, Children of the Sky x1
-Book, Nords of Skyrim x1
-Iron Sword x1
-Iron Armor x1
-Health Potion x5
-Vegetable Soup x5
-50 Septims
-Ale x10
-Sweet roll x10
]
"It's all… Oddly simple."
I expected a bit more, but this is already better than nothing…
'He opened his Status Screen, checking up what he had…'
"Basic potions… Food… Drinks… And a barely noticeable amount of money."
3 Books, 2 focused around on the Nords, and 1 being kind of a Dictionary of the Dragon tongue, teaching how to translate it.
Finally, an Iron sword and Armor, true Nordic Style…
Finally… A miniature… Word wall?
'As the name said, when he opened the inventory, he saw a small stone object within the Miscellaneous section.'
"If this was the game, I would be golden to venture outside…"
But in here…
My greatest fear is as always, injuries…
How effective is a health potion? Do I just drink it and bam? It works magically?
I'm asking because there is magic in this world...
I only have 100 health points, probably an indication of my maximum physical condition.
A potion heals 25, a quarter of my total health.
Does this mean that if I were to break a bone, it would heal it?
Unlikely, and I have no intention to test it out, I can probably ask an alchemist pretty easily about it...
But, my situation and that of a normal person are different...
/Creak…/
'Philip got out of bed for good this time.'
"Alright, let's test this one out." He said as he took out the Miniature Word wall from within his inventory
"... It's smaller than I thought."
(Image)
'The word wall was extremely detailed, but it was about the size of a Pc monitor.'
/Whispers…/
'As soon as he took it out, faint words echoed in his ears, calling him, wanting to tell him something…'
'He put it on the ground, and gazed at the object, and let the words flow into his mind…'
'Smoothly, with no pain, he started to understand those words, it was something akin to a song, a Mantra, a tale of a Nord, a Dragonborn…'
[Dragon Tongue Lv0 -> Lv3]
'With this message, this strange feeling disappeared, and the stone wall returned normal.'
'It became just like any other object, devoid of any special meaning.'
"I guess this was everything of my beginner's help…"
Although I still have some books to read, I'll first take a look around.
'Time to start this adventure.' Philip thought as he looked around one more time
'Bellow his bed, inside the wardrobes, and hidden inside the wood of the room...'
'Philip went over a series of hidden places where treasures were hidden, all in accordance to the Diary.'
'Why was everything hidden? Because Eddy's condition wasn't good.'
"Eddy's father was the main pillar of this Caravan, and according to the diary, after his death, people started to have greedy eyes over his things." Philip said as he took a small coin pouch from within the wall
Since he died a few days ago, Eddy had tried his best to secure his situation, he wasn't stupid, but this situation had been so sudden he had no time to prepare at all.
Not only that, he was relatively paranoid of thieves and even assassins being contracted by his peers.
He hid most of his money all around and had the Caravan guards protect his room constantly, spending quite a bit.
When I say "quite a bit" I mean only around an extra few thousand in fees.
"We are currently within Falkreath, a Hold in the South of Skyrim."
Eddy's father died in Cyrodiil, not long before they started moving to Skyrim.
In a plan to not stop, Eddy took control of the situation and made the Cavaran move non-stop only stopping within the Hold.
Originally, the plan was to move from hold to hold, finally stopping at Windelm before boarding a boat to Morrowind to make more trades.
"Yet fate had something else in mind."
'Philip opened his inventory section and started to count...'
"Eddy had become paranoid towards the end, even though I said only crazy people would sleep with money, it seems he was one such case."
In total, I have...
[121 Thousand Septims]
"And around 40 more in pure Gold, Silver, and other gems." Philip said in a deep tone
It's a good start, albeit not even close to the amount I need for the debt, much less for the plot of land.
"On a good note, like in-game, these don't weigh much if any at all, so I'm not over-cumbered by carrying what is equivalent of a person in Gold."
This is Eddy's pure wealth, if we count the items within the Caravan, this value would increase significantly.
Due to the War, Eddy's father had moved there to trade things like medicinal materials, weapons, and other provisions.
Thanks to his Unique power, he excelled and profited greatly, making everyone, including the sellswords profit.
Everyone seemed to either respect, or fear Eddy's father, but now that he is dead, things have taken a turn for the worse.
"This is my situation..." Philip said as he scratched his chin
'His eyes sharpened as he said:'
"Change of plans."
From everything I have observed so far, I have 2 choices in regards to how I should act.
The first one is to tie myself to the Caravan and make use of it to earn a lot.
Following the same actions as Eddy's father to rake in a lot of Gold...
But that isn't enough.
To make up for it, I'll have to start working on my own...
The second one is to grab this money and move out, making use of it to improve myself as I venture out...
It is dangerous, but at least, my fate doesn't remain at the hands of people I've never seen before.
"The problem is, both of those options are heavily reliant on my Skill growth."
'In-game, Skills would level up based on many things.'
'Most forms of Magic are based on usage, some on damage dealt.'
'The 3 crafting trees are based on usage, be it on the value of the potion you make, or the weapon you smith.'
"I'm leaning towards the first option, despite the danger there is in staying with the Caravan, the value I can have from it is too big."
Even if only a small bucket to the fire, the money I'll gain from it could help me.
The second option is a bit too dangerous, perhaps simply moving to another hold would do the trick?
Leveling up other Skills such as Alchemy, Smithing and Enchanting should do the trick...
If things work like that...
"In the end, it'll be up to that." Philip said as he cracked his knuckles
'He looked at the door of his room, he felt gloomy simply thinking about the outside...'
'Shaking his head, he sat down on the bed and took out 3 books, the ones he received from his Beginner Package as he started to read them.'
...
/Around 6 hours later.../
/Munch.../
"This soup is rather decent." Philip said as he ate his vegetable soup
(Do you eat soup, or do you drink it?)
/Poof.../
'Philip closed his book with a calm gaze.'
{Smithing 15 -> 20}
{Two-handed 20 -> 25}
{One handed 15 -> 20}
{Light armor 15 -> 20}
{Block 15 -> 20}
{Speech 26 -> 36}
{Uh... HA!}
{Level up}
"Huh? So I finally Leveled up!"
'In Skyrim, you don't level up by killing creatures, but by leveling up Skills, the higher their Level, the more Experience they give.'
I thought this would never happen... Was it because my Skills were below the minimum line?
That would be quite sad...
{Uh... HA!}
{Level up}
What?...
Did it level up multiple times?
Oh! Is it because of Speech?
I don't quite remember how it was calculated, but considering my initial high Speech value, I should've been at least Level 2...
{Uh... HA!}
{Level up}
"..."
'The repetitive sounds of a man shouting echoed in his ears, greatly annoying Philip.'
"I see why my Skills were so low, I just had to read these books first."
'Philip opened his Stat menu:'
[Name: Philip Vinten
Class: Dragonborn
Level: 4(1)
Race: Human/Nord
Health -> 100/100
Stamina -> 100/100
Magicka -> 100/100
Abilities:
Battle Cry Lv7
Trading Lv6
Skills:
Resist Frost Lv5
Haggle Lv8
Conjure Daedra Merchant Lv1
Dragon Tongue Lv5
Traits:
Dragon Soul
Dragon Blood
]
"Yup, not only did my 18 skills increase but so did those."
Reading the book on the Dragon language increased it from lv3 to lv5, and so did Battle cry when I read the books about the Nords.
There is still a lot I can understand from the book on the Dragon language, but this will do for now.
"Regardless... It seems there was indeed some light at the end of the tunnel." Philip said with a big smile
'He opened his Skill screen.'
{Mage -> Illusion: 15; Conjuration: 15; Destruction: 15; Restoration: 15; Alteration: 15
In-Between: Enchanting: 15
Warrior -> Smithing: 20; Heavy Armor: 20; Block: 20; Two-Handed: 25; One-Handed: 20
In-Between: Archery: 15
Thief -> Light Armor: 20; Sneak: 15; Lockpicking: 15; Pickpocket: 15; Speech: 36
In-Between: Alchemy: 15}
Finally, this is the standard start, albeit my Speech is relatively high...
Likely due to my start as a Merchant.
In any case, that doesn't matter now.
"What matters is that now, I have a chance of completing this damn mission."
'Philip took out his sword from his inventory, it was an ordinary Iron sword, very rough looking, classic Nord design, but it was sharp.'
(Image)
"Every time one of my Skills leveled up, I received a tiny bit of knowledge, akin to a... Enlightenment of sorts."
With this, I now have a certain understanding of how to smith, enchant, and do some alchemy work.
It's not like I was oblivious to how those worked, but Alchemy and Enchanting aren't simple at all.
While smithing is something that is bound to take time...
"I can't say if the speed of Skill growth is the same yet, as I received a lot of Skill experience from reading those books."
But my situation improved a little.
"Anyway, now it's time to expend those Stat and Skill points." He said with a smile
...
.
.
.
Notes
If you're still confused about where this chapter starts, allow me to clarify.
…
'Memories… Fragments of a life he never lived passed through his mind quickly, like a fast-paced movie.'
'Year by year the man, Eddy, grew older, eventually taking over his father's business upon learning the truth for his success…'
'A certain strange power, magical in nature, almost evil in nature… Depending on who you asked...'
'What is the extend one is willing to go for wealth and success?'
…
The chapter starts from here, previously, he woke up in his training room, but not anymore.
Sorry for not making things clear.
There are a few more details I ended up forgetting to comment, such as the value of things.
Skyrim's economy was... Bad, but we can't point at Bethesda too much.
Still, I don't think an Elder Scroll can be sold for 6K and be done with it...
So it's up for us to change the value of things.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone