Power Corrupts: Greetings and Goodbyes (ch. 58) (Patreon)

Saving the world had better be worth it. Oh, it had better fucking be worth it. This is the second time I've had to turn down sex with a super hot, super badass redhead. The first time -- that was me sticking with my promise, and wanting to let Skjor shoot his shot before I did anything. Even though I really wanted to do something. This time it was the same issue I had with Dibella -- the female form was not meant to accommodate such dimensions in this world.

I hadn't wanted to spend the perk point then because… well, Dibella was… well, she was sexually active enough that she was loose and wet enough to make up the difference. She was a god of love and beauty, after all. Aela had no such luck. I couldn't penetrate her more than just the tip -- she was just too tight. It wasn't an issue of her not being wet enough, but her body was just too small. I couldn't push myself any deeper without hurting her -- sure, I could get my rocks off, but I didn't want my partner to experience crippling pain during sex.

That was kinda the exact opposite of what I wanted. Sure, a vagina could take some punishment, but I preferred the girls that I was with to cum their brains out rather than experience crippling agony.

"I think we should hold off on sex for now," I told her with sincere reluctance as I moved away to prevent myself from being tempted by any argument Aela might make. She frowned, her mouth opening her mouth to argue, but I continued and cut her off. "You could seriously get hurt if we continue."

Her lips pressed together into a thin line as she eyed my dick like she was running calculations in her mind. Her answer must have been the same as mine because she sighed. "I had feared as much. Can Divine Hestia really…?" She trailed off, likely assuming that if I was too big for her, then that should go doubly so for Hestia.

"She can, but there are special circumstances there," I explained. Aela seemed to assume it was because she was a god and that assumption was too convenient to correct her.

Aela sighed, a hand wrapping around my dick as she looked down at it almost longingly, "I always knew I should have bothered learning some magic." That caught my attention. Mostly because it sounded like magic was a solution to this problem.

"Magic?" I echoed, and Aela shot me a look before she let out an amused huff.

"There are a few Lady spells that are worth learning. I think they either fall under Restoration or Alteration trees. A spell to prevent pregnancy, to suppress a woman's monthly bleed," Aela explained before her hands began to run over my length. "Spells to make a man cum with a touch, and a spell to help make a woman more comfortable with larger insertions."

Eromancy. She was pretty much-describing eromancy.

Shit, I knew I should have specced into magic earlier. That would have been really useful to know right now.

"Never bothered to learn that last one. I didn't think there would ever be a need," Aela admitted, and that was a real shame. Then she smirked a bit, "And I'm guessing you don't know it either based on that expression on your face."

My regret must have shown. As much as I wanted to, and I really, really, really wanted to, I couldn't justify spending the perk point. Not when there was a branch of magic that could do the same thing. It would be an actual waste of a perk point, something that I could use on a high-level perk that could actually make a difference in a fight with Alduin. High tier perks were powerful, and their biggest weakness was that I had to make a choice between two good perks.

Now that I knew that there was magic that could do the same…

"I don't, but I can tell you what -- I'm going to learn, even if it's the last thing I do," I told her with a small laugh. Aela chuckled before humming as my hand dipped between her legs to stroke her lower lips. "But just because we can't have sex doesn’t mean we can't do anything," I told her, my voice a low mummer. Aela seemed to shiver with delight, though that could have been the cold. But given how slick her pussy was, I'm guessing it was the former.

One of her hands continued to slowly jack me off while the other pressed against my chest, over my heart that beat powerfully. "That's a very good point," Aela admitted with a coy smirk as I leaned in to kiss her. She laughed through her nostrils at how much I had to dip down to do the action, but I turned that laugh into a moan as my middle finger stroked her slit.

I found her entrance easy enough, and I found that she felt tight around my finger. Virgin tight, almost. If I could barely fit a finger in her, then how was I supposed to fit my dick? Her hand jacking me off became a little more frantic and the motions less smooth as I began to finger her, my middle finger curling to scrape the top of her pussy as I used my thumb to press down on her clit.

Aela broke the kiss, her chest rising and falling as she panted for breath, "Your finger is bigger than Skjor," she told me and I was a little ashamed how my cock twitched at that. All evidence to the contrary, I wasn't trying to cuck the guy. I didn't have any real problem with him. He was probably a decent guy, but… I wasn't going to let his unreturned feelings keep me from making Aela cum her brains out.

I didn't think that made me a bad guy. Just not a good one.

"Is that so?" I muttered into her ear, the ancient room filled with the wet sounds of her pussy. Her arousal began to drip from her entrance, droplets of it hitting the stone basin that Aela was perched on. And that was a turn on. This place, this room, was thousands of years old. The Skyforge was here pretty much since the dawn of time, and for who knows how long, this room was used to create werewolves.

Now it was catching droplets of arousal, and judging from how her walls were trying to milk my finger, she was nearing a second orgasm already. All the while she was comparing me to Skjor and how he fell short. I couldn’t lie -- that felt good. Almost enough to make up for the lack of actual sex.

“It is,” Aela breathed, her walls starting to clamp down while her free hand went to mine as I toyed with her body. “He is not a small man, but you are just… very large,” she explained, her chest rising and falling, her head leaning forward against my chest while she continues to jack me off. “But, I-~~” She groaned as an orgasm washed over her, her body trembling against me as cum gushed from her.

It dripped from my knuckles, falling into the basin. Aela didn’t moan or shout my name as she came. She clamped up like she was bracing herself against the tides of pleasure. Because of that, she recovered not a moment later.

“He also would have cum by now,” Aela muttered breathlessly. I slowed my ministrations, knowing that she was sensitive. Her body was jerky, twitchy almost, flinching away from my touch like it was too stimulating for her. It seemed that Aela also noticed that I liked being compared to others. All things considered, it probably shouldn’t surprise me. The power aspect of sex had appealed to me before -- seducing and deflowering a goddess, having two of them worship my dick, making a level 5 cum her brains out…

Shit, I was totally a NTR protagonist, wasn’t I?

“I’m afraid it’s going to take more than this to make me cum,” I told her, and from the look in her eyes, I could tell she was willing to take that challenge. A finger lingered on my cockhead, lightly touching it while Aela seemed to consider her approach on how to best take on that challenge. One corner of her lips quick upwards into a smirk.

“I have some ideas,” she remarked, pushing herself off of the basin. She turned around while reaching up, hooking her hands around the back of my neck. I caught the hint and picked her up effortlessly. Once I did, she let go with one hand to guide my dick between her legs, her dripping lower lips touching the top of my dick. She braced one foot on the basin and started to thrust her hips, dragging her pussy over my dick while she jerked off what her pussy couldn’t touch.

I liked this idea, I thought to myself. Aela braced her upper body against me, letting her really drag herself over my length. A clear sheen could be seen as her hips rocked back and forth, but based on her panting, she was getting more out of this than me.

“You make me feel so good,” Aela breathed, hammering on that pride button. “So much better than him. You’ve already made me peak three times already,” she informed, and I guess I missed an orgasm somewhere. “Skjor was lucky if he could make me peak once.”

I felt bad for the guy. I really did. Just not enough to let that stop me.

“Yeah?” I questioned, sinking into my role. I let go of all inhibitions, not bothering to stave off my orgasm, and just let the pressure coil in my balls. A hand went to one of her breasts and Aela moaned when I plucked at her rock hard nipple. I wanted to cum. At least once.

“Yesss,” Aela hissed, arousal dripping from her to the floor. The stuffy room filled with the scent of sweat and arousal. In the low light, despite the cold, a sheen of sweat shone on her skin. The obvious pleasure she was in made my cock throb. The sensations she delivered were different than I was used to, but different didn’t mean bad.

The hand on her breast went up, fingers tracing up her chest, over her throat until I tilted her head back to look up at me. Her expression was a mask of pleasure, completely overwhelmed -- I’m guessing she wasn’t used to rapid orgasms. Between my spit, her natural sensitivity, and her back to back orgasms… she was really pushing herself. Overwhelming herself because she wanted me to cum while trash talking her ex-lover.

That did the trick. The coil of tension snapped and my cock throbbed in Aela’s hand. She pointed it away from her, inadvertently aiming it at the basin. I looked at her expression, her eyes widened, feeling the force of my orgasm. And how long it lasted. Dipping my head down, I pressed my lips against hers, letting my orgasm tapper off. It wasn’t my best or most intense, but I could feel the stress bleeding out from me.

Everyone had a coping mechanism. Sex was mine, it would seem.

Pulling back, I smirked down at her, “Damn,” I complimented her as I shifted her away from my dick. She stumbled when her feet touched down, and she looked at my dick with utter confusion. Like she couldn’t understand why it was still hard. Enough so that she glanced at the basin to check that I really had came.

I had, but… huh. Most of my cum hand landed in the basin, but I thought it would have filled it up or something. Instead, there was a pretty pathetic amount in there. I did cum hentai protagonist amounts -- I guess it just looked like more when it was spread out. It was still several times what I used to produce before becoming the Gamer. While I was unimpressed with the amount, I couldn’t say the same for Aela.

“By the gods,” she remarked, sparing me a glance and my still hard cock. “And… you could do that again?” She questioned, sounding like she didn’t believe it. To that, I just offered a smirk.

“Several times,” I answered, pulling up my pants. Once it was tucked back into my pants, it got the memo that it was over and softened up a bit. “And as much as I would like to do this several times, I, unfortunately, have to go to talk to a bunch of old dusty men about shouting reality into submission.”

Aela let out a small laugh at that, “That was nice. And you’re right, you are a simple man. A few compliments about your penis, and that’s all it took.” She actually sounded pretty proud about that. Not to mention that she had enough of a point that I couldn’t argue. She turned her attention to the basin before she let out another small laugh. “And this… this is where blood would have filled had you agreed to become a werewolf. You seem to have filled it with another fluid.”

I didn’t know how to answer that as she looked down at it. Saying sorry seemed appropriate. I did cum in an ancient bowl with some serious historic meaning to the Companions. “My bad?”

She shook her head in response, “Think nothing of it. When the time comes, all of us shall rid ourselves of our lycanthropy to join your familia. So, this will simply be another bowl,” Aela remarked. She glanced up at me before she cupped her hands, making me go stiff as she dipped her hands into the bowl. My jaw dropped a fraction when she scooped it up, a smirk on her face before she brought her hands to her lips.

Oh, damn. Words failed me. All I knew was that I really regretted putting my pants back on when Aela swallowed thickly.

“The others do not often come here without reason, but better to get rid of the evidence-” She started, only to cut herself off when I started tugging at my pants again.

Aela ended up having to clean up plenty of evidence before we were done.

…

I stood at the base of the Throat of the World feeling as light as a feather, but cold as all hell. In the end, it was probably a mistake to go that extra round with Aela. The second shot was more difficult to achieve than the first, so it took longer. So, by the time I arrived at the base of the mountain, it was already nightfall and snow was steadily piling up, while harsh winds cut right through my clothing. The cold didn't really bother me, but it was clear that I was a bit under dressed.

Paying that fact no mind, I started jogging up the steps. I was a lot faster without a wagon to worry about. Though, the uneasy footing did slow me down a fair bit. I had left Whiterun a handful of hours ago, after saying my goodbyes to Farkas. And Aela. Both intended to spend the winter in their home, which unfortunately wasn't in Helgen.

I would see them again when spring came. For now though, it was goodbye. And I had to go deal with the Graybeards. Not exactly what I wanted to be doing, but it was necessary to deal with Alduin. Already, I switched out my Title to Astute Student, which would grant me an exp boost when being taught. Soon, I would be learning the Thu'um. It was kinda exciting.

This was one of the main reasons I came to Skyrim. From a lore standpoint, the Thu'um… well, it allowed a man to forge an empire. It was incredibly powerful, difficult to counter, and I wanted it. How different would things have been in the War Game if I had been able to say three words and destroy that castle that they had hidden behind. And, after nearly getting killed by it a couple of times, I could respect the Thu'um's power that much more.

I was a level 2 in Danmachi terms, and I was a powerful one. I knew that much. Given how high my stats had been when I leveled up, I was probably a mid-tier level 2 right out of the gate. That's not taking into account my perks. As I was now, I could probably take on any level 2 back in Danmachi. Maybe even some level 3s. I wouldn't know until I returned there.

The Thu'um was something that if I mastered, I could hit way out of my weight class. Stuff like controlling time? Summoning a storm? Shattering castles with words? I wanted that. And I would get it, one way or the other. The only thing in my way was a shit ton of steps and some slippery ice.

The higher I climbed, the colder it got. The temperature just seemed to plummet and it hadn't slowed its roll. Gooseflesh rose in my skin, ice crystals formed in my hair as it was assaulted by the chilling wind. My resistance was protecting me from the worst of it, it just wasn't enough to protect me from all of it. As I climbed higher, slowing down a bit, I was forced to take out a cold resistance potion and knock it back. It took the edge off, but I still didn't feel warm. I took out my bear pelt cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders to help with that.

I will say this much -- they picked a good place to avoid people. But I was more stubborn than most, so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, following the path. There were trolls on the mountain, but it seemed too cold for them to bother coming out. Even without distractions, it took a long time for me to walk up the mountainside. Long enough that the sky began to brighten ever so slightly, telling me I had traveled through the night. Though, it was impossible to tell how far up I was since everything was covered in fog.

So, I just kept putting one foot in front of another, ignoring the chill, and wondering when I would reach the peak.

The Throat of the World was a big fucking mountain. I would give it that because it was another sixteen hours of walking before I rounded a corner and saw High Hrothgar. A solidly built palace located at the highest point of the world -- huge doors marked the entrance, while curved stairs led up to them. A massive chest sat in the middle. A place for offerings to be placed.

"Fucking finally," I muttered to myself as I started walking up the steps. I looked at the impressive doors -- it was large enough that a particularly tall giant could step through without worrying about bumping their head. And if the doors opened together, a mammoth could walk through with no trouble. Clearing my throat, I raised a fist and hesitated for a second, before I gathered my nerve and knocked on the door.

Then I waited. And waited. Then waited some more. Minutes passed, nearly a quarter of an hour before I tried knocking again. Harder this time. And then I waited. And continued to wait. And kept waiting.

Right.

"I need to talk to the dragon that lives here about killing Alduin and saving the fucking world!" I shouted, banging on the doors with a fist. And when it didn't buckle under the force, that just encouraged me to knock harder. "So open up!"

Still nothing.

"Fine. Fuck you then. I'll just go around, assholes," I said, knowing that they could hear me. They were just ignoring me. Dicks. Wasn't like I just climbed a literal fucking mountain in the middle of the winter at night to speak with them. And they wouldn't even open the doors. Pushing my annoyance to the side, I looked up to find that I still had plenty of mountain left.

So, I started climbing. I jumped up and pushed through snow and ice, getting a handhold before using that as leverage to climb up. The ice gave way, falling to the ground, but I was making my way up. I used my strength to help me over, jumping over distances until I started to near the top. I half expected there to be some kind of response, but there wasn't.

Like an hour later, I was standing at the peak of the world.

My feet trudged through the snow -- it was fairly deep, but the peak seemed calm. There was a trickle of snow falling to the ground, and I could see a Word Wall. Since it seemed to be the only thing here, I walked towards it. Much like before, there wasn't any slow dramatization as I approached. My vision didn't dim, there was no swell of music. Just a wall with words etched into it that didn't mean a single thing to me.

And something else.

There was a Mark at the base of the wall. Just like the one placed on my ceiling back home. That hadn't been here in the game. Was it new? Old? I couldn't tell. I was so distracted by the Mark that I nearly missed the sound of flapping wings. I honed in on the source just in time to see the dragon that I wanted to see.

Paarthurnax landed on a stone outcropping behind me, his long neck twisting a bit to bring his oversized head down to my level. He was huge. Bigger than the infant dragon that I had killed before. He was covered with gray scales of various shades -- some on his head almost looking like a beard that jutted out from the bottom of his chin while two horns swooped back from the crown of his head. His wings were attached to his arms, which clutched weather-beaten stone.

Intelligent blue eyes looked at me. "To receive so many unexpected guests after centuries of silence," Paarthurnax rumbled, his mouth moving ever so slightly to speak the words. There was a slight accent, but I'm guessing that was because of a difference in the shapes of our mouths. Keerava had the same kind of accent. "An unexpected surprise."

The big difference was the power in his voice. It… was like a storm in the distance, a distant rumble of a force of nature. Like Talos, only so much stronger.

"Not an unwelcome one, I hope?" I asked, now that I was actually here, I was feeling a lot less certain of myself. Paarthurnax was thousands of years old and a real dragon. One that could shout at reality to make it do what he wanted. Despite everything I had accomplished, I suddenly felt very small as I stood in the shadow of a true dragon.

Paarthurnax tilted his head, "That would depend on your reason for being here. You know of me. You expected me to be here, but so very few know of my existence. Those that do are not the kind that would share that knowledge lightly."

That caught my attention as I looked down at the Mark. "I'm guessing that your previous guest was Sheogorath?" I questioned, thinking that she was the only person that I knew used the Mark and Recall spell. It had been unusable for centuries, so few would be throwing them around nowadays. Mostly because only she would know that they worked again.

"To speak of a god so lightly… you must be the usurper that she had spoken of," Paarthumax remarked, his tone making it impossible to tell what he thought of that.

I offered a hesitant nod, "I am." It felt like I was confessing to murder but I met the oversized dragon's gaze evenly.

"I was told to expect you, but I did not anticipate your arrival so swiftly. She said you were inexperienced in the ways of magic, so I did not anticipate your arrival, thus I did not prepare for it. My apologies, Usurper," Paarthumax stated with a small rumbling chuckle. Given my talk with Sheo, it was pretty obvious why he was calling me that.

"Was there something stopping me from reaching this point?" I questioned, wondering what he was talking about.

"An endless illusion should have stopped you as it has stopped so many other unexpected guests," Paarthurnax answered, shifting from his spot to lay down. His tail snaked out to coil around the base of the rock.

Ah. I'm guessing Mind Defense helped me out there. So illusions were useless on me. Good to know.

"I see…" I muttered before I squared my shoulders. "I'm here to learn the Thu'um. Alduin will be arriving in a few short months. I want to learn how to beat him in the time that we have." It wasn't much of a request but I also wasn't the Dragonborn. I needed to learn if it was possible. Here and now. If it wasn't, then I needed to go with one of my back up options.

To that, Paarthumax shifted. He snaked forward, climbing over the stone outcropping(,) and snow crunched underfoot as he approached. "The return of my brother… after so very long, the day is upon us… the Voice is not something to be mastered in such little time. You are not Kin."

"I'm not. I'm something else," I agreed and to my surprise, Paarthurnax's head bobbed in agreement.

"You are an Outsider. Someone not of this world. For this reason, I must ask -- for what reason have you usurped a role not meant for you?" Paarthurnax questioned, making me go still. So he knew I came from another world? At this point, I just had to assume all of the gods knew as much. So that secret wasn't going to stay secret forever. "Should this world fall, reduced to nothing, you should have no cause for worry. Strings are attached to you. Strings that can bring you home."

And by that, I'm guessing that Hestia would be able to bring us back to Danmachi if worse came to worst. And I had no idea what would happen if I failed to save the world. Would I die? Or would I find myself back into that white void? Would Skyrim be off the table or could I get a second shot at it? I had no clue. And I hoped I wouldn't find out.

"Just because I won't die doesn't mean I'm willing to let others die. I didn't intend to take the role from the Dragonborn. I just don't trust prophecy," I answered honestly, feeling like lying to a dragon wasn't the best of ideas.

"Should the world be consumed, that is a decision made by the gods. By my father, Akatosh," Paarthurnax pointed out.

To that, I could only shrug. "I don't really care if he decides the world should end. I'll fight that ending with everything that I've got."

"Yet, you still request my help," Paarthumax returned, his tone even. "Since my brother was banished here, thousands of years ago, I have awaited for his return. For the Dragonborn to stand before me, so this ages-old fight can finally be settled. Instead, I find the god of madness defacing my Word Wall. And an Outsider, who Usurped a role that was not his and demands I ignore the wishes of my Father to let this world come to an end."

I guess he was a bit put out by that. I probably would be too. "I was more requesting," I responded after a small beat of silence. "I can't make you help me if you don't want to. And I can't make the Greybeards help me either," I said, figuring that they could either Shout me off the mountain or into pieces. "So, I'm asking for your help to defeat Alduin. That's why you're here, isn't it? This is where he was thrown into the time stream, so this is where he will appear, right?"

There was silence at that as Paarthurnax considered me. Then I felt a puff of breath hit me in the face, "You are as she described you -- too small for the role you have taken, but the will to fill the role anyway." The 'her' being Sheogorath, echoing how I 'wasn't tall enough' to do whatever she had wanted me to do. "I shall answer her request for prophecy is not something so easily dismissed. Even should you fail, the Last Dovakin shall resume the role you have taken."

That sounded a little ominous, but I was focusing on the important part. "You'll help me?" I echoed, zeroing in on the fact that it sounded a lot like he was agreeing to teach me the Thu'um.

"I shall. Sheogorath's request was to allow you to grow taller during your stay. To that end, she prepared that Mark," Paarthurnax informed, making me look down at the Mark in a new light. “According to her, it will take you to the College of Winterhold. Considering who made the Mark, I would advise caution, Usurper.”

I shook my head, “That’s not Sheogorath’s style of madness. I mean, she had a Mark on the ceiling in my kitchen. If she said it’ll take me to the College, then I’ll believe her,” I responded. This was good. Great. I would end up dividing my time between the Thu’um and magic, but that just meant I had to focus on what I really wanted to learn. Winter was going to last months.

Back in Danmachi, a handful of months had been enough time to turn me from a zero to a hero. From a fratboy to a man capable of killing hundreds and tearing a man that was well out of his league apart with his bare hands. I couldn’t become an Archmage or a master of the Thu’um, but…

I could become a specialist in a few areas. Dragonrend and Enchanting were the priority, but secondary, I could look into something else. Maybe an extra word of power or school of magic. Between my Gamer ability, my title Astute Student, and my teachers… I had a good feeling about this training montage. Like I was finally going to take that next big step forward.

I offered a smile, “When can we start?”