Chapter 409 - To The Sixth Labour

A/n: sorry for yesterday. I broke my glasses 👓 and I am a blind cat without them.

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"Mister, I am here."

Outside Whiterun, Grey Sand was waving to Jon. He was positioned on the crossroads southeast of Whiterun with a large sack.

Jon approached him with the horse then jumped down.

"This is him?" Jon pointed at the sack.

"Yes, Mister. He is here."

"Good job, at least you are the only one who did it right tonight."

"What do you mean, Mister?"

"Sigh! I am sorry for your loss. I remember telling all of you not to engage in combat when you see the Traitor but they seemed to have their own plans and almost ruined mine."

"What? What happened to them?" Grey Sand was shocked.

"I'm sorry, they didn't make it when they faced the Traitor. I was outnumbered too but at least I got out."

"This... How..."

Jon gave a pat on the shoulder to Grey Sand who was too shocked to react.

"I have... I have to report this." At last, Grey Sand came to a conclusion.

"I have a better idea." Jon spoke, "Leave this place. Return to where you came from."

"Wha... But I..."

"You are not fit for this life, at least you can already tell. Spare yourself and go home. Take the east, don't look back." Jon said as he threw a bag of coin to Grey Sand.

"But, Mister..." Grey Sand wanted to say something.

"Hm?"

He looked a bit complicated but his face eased up.

"Thank you, Mister. I promise I'll repay this favor one day."

"No need. Oh, by the way... throw that sack in the river before you head out."

"... Yes, Mister."

"Farewell."

Jon turned around his horse and headed west.

***

Five days on the road were fast to travel from Whiterun to Eastmarch but Jon was already seeing the Gates of Windhelm. A horse like Joergen may look ordinary and all but its speed and stamina were the real deal.

Thanks to spells like [Thundering Hooves] which buffs the speed of the horse and [Healing] which can heal fatigue, Jon made Joergen turn from a normal horse with the bloodline of the Yakudan Charger to a Thunderbolt of a horse.

Now and after some time of riding, Jon was facing the Velothi Mountain, the large mountain range that separates Skyrim and Morrowind. The Shrine of Boethiah where he is supposed to be is on a nearby summit somewhere. He dispatched his Familiars in the air and finally pinpointed the place with the most activity around the mountains, surely this is where he should go.

An hour later, he was in front of the Shrine of Boethiah with many people gathered around the place. One of them should be a Priest of Boethiah.

For convenience sake and to not repeat what happened with the Morag Tong Agents, Jon have already canceled his transformation along the trip and made some spare Transformation Potions just in case. He now was only using his mask to hide his face.

Jumping down from his horse, Jon walked forward and took out the [Ebony Blade] for the concerned other party to recognize it. However, the people in the shrine kept staring at him without doing or saying anything.

These people were all warriors which was what expected from the followers of the Daedric Prince who is always portrayed as the Goddess of Destruction.

Jon could already tell how these fanatics think so he walked to an open space which seemed to be used as an arena.

"Good call." Someone spoke to him.

Jon turned around to see a woman with a strange ceremonial armor and weapons taking the initiative to speak to him.

"And you are?" He asked.

"I am a servant of Boethiah, He Who Destroys and She Who Erases."

"That's confusing... but cool."

"Well, I presume that you are the red haired one by the [Ebony Blade] you are carrying."

"What's up with the red hair thing wherever I go. This is Skyrim, you know. Half of us is kissed by the sun."

"Indeed, but our Lady has a thing for red hair. May we see?" The woman said pointing to her hair.

"Sure." Jon removed his mask barely enough to expose his hair and covered it again.

"So it is you, the Labourer of Azura."

"Yes. I was told to come here by Mephala. Where is my so-called Guide?"

"She is close." Another voice replied.

Jon looked towards the speaker and recognized her.

"Aranea? Why was I dragged all the way here?" He asked.

Aranea, the Priestess of Azura and her prophet, walked towards Jon and eyed him up and down.

"I do not understand why too." She replied.

"Huh?"

"For some reason. You were outside the vision of Lady Azura." She said.

"Why is tha..." He asked in confusion but then remembered.

He was wearing [Greed] the whole time. [Greed] had a property to completely hide all the signals.

Jon knew that but he had the mask on his face so no one saw the strike of realization come to him. He was amazed that he had an advantage over the Daedra and they didn't see it coming. He only conversed with Mephala because he was near her perception, she was even surprised to see something she couldn't see through.

'Hehe. At last, I have an advantage.' Jon laughed in his mind.

"Ehem... so because I was out of Azura's vision, Mephala told me to come and meet with you here." He asked.

"Yes."

"I see. I'll recommend you some eye drops later. They should work really well." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"You!" Aranea was provoked right away.

Now that he has an advantage, he should hide it well and not abuse it else the Daedra will come up with a way to keep an eye on him.

"So, Priestess, I am done with the Fifth Labour in four chapters surprisingly. Where is the next shit show?"

"You insolent... sigh! Azura, help me. Your next destination is Morrowind."

"Wait! No poem or a riddle?"

"Not this time. Your mission is to help the Reclamation movement and you will cooperate with a team of other Labourers."

The Reclamation is the new religious movement in Morrowind after the Tribunal and it is about worshiping the three Good Daedra (Boethiah, Azura, Mephala) after the fall of their Anticipations, the ALMSIVI (Almalexia, Sotha Sil, Vivec).

The ALMSIVI were the God-Kings of Morrowind ever since 1E 700 until the beginning of the Fourth Era. This can be said as 4000 years of worship, now that the Dunmer are returning to worship the Good Daedra, things must be changing dramatically in Morrowind.

Jon may have managed to corrupt a Piece of Azura's power and cause her Divinity to weaken so he must fix some of the results as far as the Daedra are considered.

"What will my mission be?"

"I was not told, only your guide will have answers. But if you want me to guess, it will be probably stopping diseases, rescuing the distressed, protecting something. With your set of skills, I see no stopping you."

"And my guide will be."

"She will be here any..."

"Krilon?"

Aranea was explaining things to Jon before someone call for him. Jon looked towards the caller and so a young woman jumping off a Storm Atronach Horse.

She was wearing a rough riding hood and carrying a spear on her back.

Jon's eyes blinked a few times not expecting to see that person at all.

"Isha?"

"Tall Papa! It's really you."

It was Isha, the first Labourer that Jon met and the one he journeyed with across the Shivering Isles where they met with Sheogorath. Isha is the keeper of the [Spear of Bitter Mercy].

She walked over to him looking up and down until she saw the [Ebony Blade].

"Goodness! Your Labours have started as well?" She said.

"Yes... You too... How on Nirn are you still Labouring? Weren't you heading to your Last Labour last time I saw you?" He asked.

"Yes... For some reason, it is taking too long. Man, it is really good to see you."

The two struck it really well last time they saw each other and parted on good terms.

[A/n: Isha is a Redguard spear maiden with dark skin and a muscular body, four years older than Jon. Appeared in chapter 301.]

"You two know each other?" Aranea asked.

"She is the one I had to help in my First Labour."

"Oh, that's her."

"Wait? I am your first?" Isha asked... then noticed how it went wrong.

"I am totally not sure how to answer that. Yes... No... Maybe... Yes and No. Yes for Labour and No for First. God! This is awkward." Jon became confused.

"I mean helping me was your First Labour?" She corrected.

"Yes, that's the right way to say it... My first time was a threesome by the way."

"Why do I even need to know that?"

"Just to clarify things."

"You two can get a room if you want." The priestess of Boethiah invited them in.

""Yuck!""

The two of them were the total opposite of each other's types after all. They are both sadists with a preference for the meek slender type of the other gender.

"Anyway. I was really worried about the wielder of the [Ebony Blade], turns out it's you. Wait... shouldn't I be worried since we are friends and this blade... you know?" She said mentioning the infamy of the [Ebony Blade].

"Oh! That... Bruh! You know me, do I really look like someone who needs a blade?"

"Right! You are really a very powerful mage." She nodded.

Jon was worried about the infamous blade but being known as a mage is sure better.

"Guide, I guess I'll leave him to you." Aranea said.

"It's okay. Krilon is a good friend of mine. You're ready to go?" Isha said.

"Sure but before we head out, mind telling me what exactly are we going to do?" He asked.

"We work for the Reclamation Temple and get hired by the Local Lords. Our current objective is to gather at the old city of Mournhold at the new borders."

"What for?"

"Our Employer is currently there. She is someone big in the city."

"Mournhold? She? Someone big?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you heard the name of [The Old Woman of Mournhold]."