Chapter 341 - Hedge Magic

A/n: HUN KAAL ZOOR (Call of Valor), @g0lb0r has been summoned from Sovngarde.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Gods! That crazy man returned!"

"Look at him, all blood and guts! He did it again, didn't he? That crazy man."

"He's insane. Don't look to him in the eye."

"Why allowing such a man in town? He clearly enjoys killing, what if he goes berserk on the people?"

"Shut up, woman. This man was hurt by the Hagravens and has a grudge on them. They say he attacks Hag Covens and kill those Briarheart Warriors they make. He is making the Reach a safer place."

"Are you seriously thinking that way?"

"Well, after the trouble those nasty Forsworn started three months ago, all the traders are fearful to come to Markarth and the prices went up. At least he is teaching the Forsworn their place."

The uproar of the people of Markarth was clearly about the man known as the 'Witch Hunter. A large man carrying a Hammer who goes out every morning to hunt down the Forsworn camps around Markarth.

This was obviously Jon.

It has been a week since his head concussion was fully healed and he became able to speak and Shout again. He still doesn't overdo it that much. Anyway, since that day, Jon quit from the Smelter and took Wulfur's hammer, the [Champion's Cudgel], which he retook from the corpse of Grosh, and started hunting down the small Forsworn camps around the Reach. There is an Ear Bounty for every Forsworn killed and many Head Bounties for known Forsworn leaders and Hagravens.

[A/n: Ear Bounty is when a Bounty Hunter kills a nameless bandit and returns with their ears as proof. Head Bounty is when a Bounty Hunter brings back the head of a known Wanted.]

Jon was infamous for his daily Bounty Hunting that seemed to be scaring even the Nords. He always returns covered in blood and carrying a head or two with him while appearing to be really injured by many arrows sticking on him and a lot of burn marks covering his arms.

The truth wasn't completely far from that. Jon's aim was to gather as many materials as he can get to use magic once again. He had a few ideas on how to remove the vine around his torso but the damn thing proved to be a true leech. It fed on Jon's blood and evolved into something absurd and became bound by soul with Jon, still, Jon didn't have the power to command it around only because he was already sealed by the vine.

It was very annoying. Jon almost tried everything the past weak to exert enough power to control the vine from the Thu'um to the Hedge Magic put all proved futile because Jon's core power is locked down and it was the key out of this problem.

In the end, these annoying vines are just a part of Jon exactly like [Greed] yet they don't follow Jon's will because he still hasn't established authority over it. It is was a nasty thing to deal with.

Jon advanced through the town and mixed among the crowd until he reached Understone Keep, Markarth's center of power. He showed the bounty paper to the Guards and someone came for him.

"Krilon! Good job today." Faleen, the Jarl's housecarl, came personally to greet the Court's favorite mercenary.

"Here are the things." Jon handed over the ears and the head he has.

"Let's see. Man! That sure is a lot. Good job! Here is the bounty, don't spend it all in one place."

"Thanks."

Jon said and turned away. He was keeping his face and identity hidden to not attract enemies. Krilon is his Dragon Priest mask name and he kept his face under a hood. Faleen surely has seen him in the Blue Palace as she was accompanying Jarl Igmund of Markarth.

Anyway, after he got the payment, he headed straight to the Silver-Blood Inn. Inside his room, there were many things that can make Nords go insane.

Jon may have lost the ability to cast Magic or release Energy but that is not what is magic all about. Magic has other forms like Enchanting, Alchemy, Shouting, Meditating, Sword Singing, Chanting and many other forms. Jon may be an expert when it comes to Casting, Shouting and Enchanting but he is also knowledgeable when it comes to finding absurd ways to make magic. Right now, Jon was practicing the [Hedge Magic].

He was focusing on the [Sacrificial Magic] as of late and tried to accumulate power to himself by killing enemies. He made a soul trapping weapon and started practicing on the Forsworn he was hunting. The results were rather disappointing.

Sacrificing requires a connection with a Higher Being that the Ritual of Sacrifice is dedicated to by exchanging the sacrificed souls that the Daedra desire with Power and Energy. Jon had no pact with any Higher Being that accepts sacrifices. He knows some Daedra on a personal level but still, Azura made it very clear that she doesn't accept mortal sacrifices, Sheogorath is not the one to do such a boring thing, Vaermina seeks suffering so mortal are preferred alive in her book and Hircine is the God Patron of the Forsworn. Not too many options here for sacrifice.

Other than Sacrifice, Jon discovered a new aptitude growing in him once he broke through the 'Ebon Blood Stage'. This aptitude was none other than the [Blood Magic].

What is [Blood Magic]?

It is unstudied magic that gets classified under the Hedge Magic. The only reason why it is not studied is that it requires talent, in Jon's case, he developed his Blood by breaking through the 'Ebon Blood stage' and awakening that talent. Jenna Firemane, Jon's Grandmother, is a known user of the Blood Magic as well as some vampires. With a wide variety of uses, the Archetypes of the Blood Magic can be summarized as 'Human Body Manipulation', 'Vitality Manipulation', 'Mind Manipulation', 'Marking', 'Curses' and sometimes 'Enchanting'.

Jon could only think of how stupid he was to leave his limbs behind in the Briarheart Grove where he cut them, using the blood magic on them can lead the Forsworn to him or worse, put a curse on him. Luckily, he killed all the Hagravens in Alaric's camp.

There was one more type of Hedge Magic that Jon used rather well. He didn't know a proper name to it but he called it [Fate Magic].

Such as the name, it was an extremely Dangerous and a very obscure Magic. Jon used it to escape the Forsworn when he burned the Heads of the Hagravens and three 'Wraiths of Crows' appeared. This was not something he fully intended to, he didn't know such a creature would appear from the start but he used the Heads of the Hagravens a medium of power to call forth a guardian entity from Oblivion. Due to the similarities between Hagravens and the Wraiths of Crows combined with the 'Will' of Jon all offered to a Fire powered by a Soul Gem he found at the Hagravens' nest, the [Fate Magic] worked out. Jon can say that [Fate Magic] is rather an ironic and a naughty one that can never be fully harnessed or completely understood. It depends on the way of performing a certain ritual combined with the Will of the Caster and a power source. Its downside is the complete randomity of the results and the chance of backfiring splendidly.

The last type of Hedge Magic Jon researched was the [Chanting Magic] or the [Singing Rituals]. Although not as dangerous as the [Fate Magic], the [Changing Magic] needs years upon years of understanding. How so? Well, to use the Magic is to sing and to sing one needs a listener. The listener, in that case, is not the Higher Beings like the Original Spirits but on the contrary, it is the Normal and the Lesser Spirits.

Known as Faeries or Fey, Spirits are beings that reached a certain maturity regarding the Magical aptitude enough to cause mutation in their Souls evolving them to a different being. For example, a lesser soul being like a tree or an animal went through some fortuitous encounter and gained more power than it should, there is a chance that this power causes an evolution by affecting the Soul and upgrading it causing the creature to gain consciousness and a higher awareness of its own. That awareness is translated in more complicated thoughts that need to be addressed by a language and it is known as the Faerie Language which can be different from a Faerie to another in many cases.

The [Chanting Magic] is used to contact the Faeries by speaking words they understand and ask them to aid the chanter. Jon saw that Chanting Magic twice. Once by Alina when they were healing Jullanar's eye and Alina contacted the Spirits of the Eldergleam Sanctuary to give them enough power that can heal Jullanar, the second time was with the Hagravens who kept singing to the Evil Fey in order to do divination of some sort. Jon clearly observed the way the sang or rather screeched with their nasty voices to call forth some sort of energy.

In that late night, Jon summarized all the sorts of the Hedge Magic he discovered and put theories to. As an Arcane Theorist, his work was rather scientific and put the Hedge Magic in a form that the world hasn't seen before. In such a predicament, Jon discovered a new Magic for himself to toy with.

The [Hedge Magic] contains [Sacrificial Magic], [Blood Magic], [Fate Magic] and [Chanting Magic].

The [Sacrificial Magic] needs a connection with a Higher Power that desires sacrifices and willing to exchange it with power.

The [Blood Magic] needs the ability to Cast or Enchant, not useful in battle.

The [Fate Magic] is too risky and to perform one spell, one needs a ton of preparations beforehand.

The [Chanting Magic] needs a bond with a spirit as well as understanding its language.

Jon closed the note in front of him with a grim face.

He may have put an advanced theory than tops anything in the world regarding the Hedge Magic based on nothing but observation but he lacked every requirement to use that Magic effectively.

"Dammit!"

He was clearly not pleased of his lacking of power… or so he thought.