Jonas flew around in the sky.
He was becoming more and more proficient in the art of flight.
Traditional flight magic involves creating a force field to lift the caster. Jonas's improved strategy was to use psychokinesis to control the caster's weight, while the force field strength remained constant.
Psychokinesis is the materialization of mental power. It's a bit awkward that its effect is greatly reduced once it acts on entities with souls, including living beings, Necromancers, or some advanced mechanical constructs.
If psychokinesis is used on oneself, a phenomenon called'spirit shell dissolution' occurs, meaning that psychokinesis returns to mental power within the body. Although this still leads to a weakening of the psychokinetic effect, the consumption is also lower, and the duration can be very long. Some mages with powerful souls and deep magical energy can even continuously apply psychokinesis to themselves all day long.
Using psychokinesis to lift one's body is like using the soul to lift the flesh. It sounds as strange as a wushu technique where one steps on their own right foot with their left, very unscientific and against common sense, though in practice, it does have feasibility.
The combination of soul and body is not so tight. Simon also noticed the transitional layer between the two. Although he still doesn't know how it forms, for a dedicated and capable Necromancer, research into this phenomenon must keep up.
Knowledge collected from Apocrypha also mentions the intermediate area between body and soul. Some scholars call it the 'mind-body gap,' while others refer to it as the'soul rift' or 'magical energy precipice,' with each naming having its own rationale.
It is precisely because of this mind-body gap that the soul and the physical body can be regarded as two different things. This also makes it possible to lift the body with psychokinesis.
It is worth noting that the mind-body gap is not fixed. Throughout a living creature's life, the mind-body gap reaches its maximum in childhood and old age, and is at its minimum during other age groups. These conclusions were reached by previous Necromancers. The souls of adult animals require a soul trap to extract, while the souls of infants and the elderly can be pulled out through certain rituals, or even just by startling them. Many mages with a twisted sense of humor enjoy this.
Necromantic possession results in a very large mind-body gap, but strangely, if it's a reanimated corpse, like the Nord draugr in the ruins, their mind-body gap is not large; the Necromancer and the corpse are tightly bound.
Simon has his own research direction, and Jonas's research thinking is also constantly growing. He split a flight spell into two parts: one part, a force field, is responsible for suspension, and the other part, psychokinesis, adjusts body weight and is responsible for flight speed and altitude. This, however, led to the difficulty being somewhat too great.
It was safe, but too slow. It was fine for traveling, but if used in combat, he would probably be shot full of holes by archers.
The Troll called the Breton Boy down for dinner.
They had now arrived in southern Skyrim, in the west-central part of Eastmarch Hold.
Skyrim in Rain's Hand always has abundant precipitation. For three consecutive days, it had been raining, and Simon and Jonas huddled in an abandoned wooden hut by the Blackwater River, unwilling to travel.
The original owner of this house was killed by a brown bear. Simon and his companion arrived a step too late; the poor man had already been eaten clean.
There were some books in the house, and some salmon hung on the doorframe. The owner's clothes were quite exquisite. It was hard to understand why such a person would live alone in the wilderness. Indeed, he was beaten to death by nature's merciless heavy blows.
With the clear weather today, Simon decided to have a good meal and set off immediately.
It was the familiar mud crabs. These dirty big fellows have too much mud and sand in their internal organs and need to be kept in clear water for a day or two before they are good for eating. Usually, people only eat the crab claws, discarding the rest.
But how delicious are crab roe and crab paste? Thick in the mouth, with a fresh aroma that assaults the nose. Moreover, there is a lot of crab meat in the shell; it cannot be wasted. The Nords still do not understand good food.
Besides the crabs, there were also salt-baked lamb chops.
The salt from the salt pans is coarse salt, not to be eaten in large quantities, but it is excellent as a heat-conducting medium. The lamb chops are placed directly into a pile of semi-moist coarse salt, forming an outer shell, then covered with a fire and roasted. Once the flames die down, the salt crust is broken, revealing excellent lamb.
This method does not allow too much salt to penetrate the meat. Although the salt-baked lamb does not have abundant juices, its texture is firm and not dry, suitable for a hearty feast.
They had been on this road for over a month, dawdling along the way, not staying long in the wilderness, but whenever they encountered inhabited areas, Simon and Jonas would visit.
The people of Skyrim are very hospitable, especially friendly to travelers like Simon who have excellent skills and a generous spirit. They never hesitate to share any good wine or meat they have. Of course, bandit and brigand dens were always unavoidable, and Simon did not waste the bodies and souls of these bad boys.
After this meal, the two continued along the river. The soil of the post-rain grassland was damp, and one could easily slip and fall. Jonas used his flight magic to float in mid-air, while Simon's steps were steady, allowing him to walk freely, his gaze sweeping over the beautiful scenery around him.
This was a narrow, broken plain between two mountain ranges. The Blackwater River was clear and clean, with several river terraces on its banks, and plant roots growing in the shadows beneath the steps. Tall trees were arranged in clumps, while the rest of the area was mainly lush green grass and fresh shrubs.
Such beautiful spring scenery is not seen in Winterhold. The air was crisp and moist, slightly cold, but every breath was refreshing. The faint scent of flowers and the earthy smell of the post-rain soil spread around. Pink butterflies and bees were already busy, though it was uncertain how much pollen would remain in the flowerbeds after the rain.
In the afternoon, they passed a sawmill, driven by a waterwheel, capable of cutting logs, which was quite convenient. The owner, seeing Simon, a tall and strong man, smiled and asked if he wanted to stay for two days to help lift logs, but Simon politely declined.
The sawmill was also in its busy season, so it was not good to stay and disturb their business. They continued on their way.
They were traveling upstream and soon encountered a sloping cliff. Fortunately, the owner had given them directions, so they left the Blackwater River bank and proceeded along the main road.
After another day of walking, they finally reached their destination on the evening of the second day.
Ivarstead "town" was larger than Winterhold "city" and much more prosperous. The tavern in the town was called the Drunken Huntsman, a very interesting name.
The inn was quite spacious, and there were many guests inside, including some Elves besides the Nords. They said that everyone was a pilgrim heading to High Hrothgar Monastery. The owner said that there were always pilgrims, but more often than not, they returned disappointed. The Greybeards in the monastery rarely left, being a group of reclusive hermits.
Simon arrived at a good time; tomorrow was the day the main group would set off to climb the mountain. To reach the monastery, one had to climb seven thousand steps. Wild wolves and other vicious beasts roamed the mountain, so everyone agreed to travel together, with a local townsperson acting as a guide.
Simon had originally planned to stay in the town for a few more days to inquire about his mother's past, but since he had caught up with the climbing party, he might as well go to the monastery first.
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