Simon had long heard of the renowned Shadow Magic. Unlike the widely circulated Aetherius magic, Shadow Magic originated from Oblivion, and thus carries its characteristics.
It is recorded that the first mage to use this power was Azra Nightwielder. In the Second Era, this magic was widely used by a group of people known as "Nightblades."
The shadows of Oblivion are not the darkness of no light, but rather represent the possibility of things disappearing, burying countless timelines. Shadow Magic is a highly advanced technique of projecting things that have vanished into the present world. Knowledgeable shadow mages can even summon themselves from different timelines, granting themselves extraordinary wisdom and power, allowing them to easily use skills they have never practiced, simply by summoning the corresponding self from the shadows.
To understand the difference between Aetherius magic and Oblivion magic, one must first know the different origins of the two.
The Aurbis plane where the elder scrolls story takes place is composed of three parts: Aetherius, Mundus, and Oblivion. Before the creation of Mundus, there were only Aetherius and Oblivion. And in the primordial stage of the universe, even Aetherius and Oblivion were nowhere to be found.
At that time, the world was chaotic and indistinct, all things were one, or rather, a calm sea of superior affinity. In this mysterious realm, there were two conceptual higher existences: one named Anu (also known as Anuu), a force representing stillness and eternity, which is the Yuan Stream; the other named Padomay, a force representing chaos and change, which is Yuan Zhu.
The encounter between Anu and Padomay caused the superior affinity to begin its cycle, a process known as The Divine Interplay, from which the Aurbis plane was formed. From then on, the cycle of formation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness was officially opened, and the world gained infinite possibilities.
However, the universe at this time was still very primitive, so Anu and Padomay began to evolve further.
As conceptual existences, they each gave birth to their own souls to observe and confirm their own existence. Anu's soul was named Anu-El, and Padomay's soul was named Sithis.
Anu-El is the soul of all things, and also a conceptual higher entity. With him, matter became possible. This is equivalent to the chaotic state like a chicken egg in the Pangu era, or to use another metaphor—the Big Bang. Anu-El is precisely that chicken egg before creation, the singularity before the explosion.
Sithis is a force representing nothingness and destruction, change and separation. With him, all things were divided and became independent of each other. This is the state of separating heaven and earth, distinguishing clear from turbid. The divided void is Oblivion, possessing the characteristics of Sithis.
The appearance of Anu-El and Sithis also directly led to the appearance of Aetherius, the eternal plane. Of course, it can also be understood as the primordial wilderness. Aetherius is full of magic and creative matter, a vibrant cosmic bubble full of possibilities.
Different from the usual materialistic worldview, the so-called "matter" in the Aurbis plane at this time is actually spirit and energy. This is an idealistic world, where will came first, then matter.
After Aetherius was born, Anu-El and Sithis also learned from their superiors and began to evolve further, giving birth to their respective souls and personalities. Anu-El gave birth to the primal spirit that governs time, Aka, while Sithis gave birth to the primal spirit that governs space, Lorkhan.
From then on, the framework of space-time appeared.
The countless subsequent primal spirits were successively derived from Anu-El and Sithis. Their existence is like the indras net in Lu Yuan Bodhisattva's hand, existing to stabilize the world's cycle, and even more, needing to evolve the material world through their will.
Aetherius contains all possibilities, Oblivion swallows all possibilities. However, the so-called possibilities must have a place to occur. More and more primal spirits realized this, and then Lorkhan and Aka signed a covenant, which is the beginning of Mundus.
After reading the myths of many races, Simon became increasingly curious about the origin of the world. With his experience of Bodhisattva's creation, he always felt that there was a higher order of primordial gods above Anu and Padomay. Just as the opening and closing of the Bodhisattva's palm signify the birth and death of the universe, Anu and Padomay represent these two processes. So, who is the original cause above them?
However, thinking about such metaphysical things has no guiding effect on his current magic research, so Simon does not dwell on it.
As an outsider, his ideal is still to pursue the ultimate answer of this universe, for no other reason than that the question is interesting enough.
After witnessing the disappearance of the Khajiit thief, Simon genuinely lamented his youth, realizing he knew too little. How wonderful it would be if he could have been born in the First Era, or even in the super ancient eras like the Merethic or Dawn Eras.
Sometimes he would let his mind wander and think about what would happen if he were reincarnated as a primal spirit, perhaps turning into a fantasy version of the Primordial Era story.
Serana tilted her head, eyes open, quietly staring at the daydreaming Simon. Sensing the gaze, Simon looked up at the Vampire in the covers. She seemed startled, abruptly closed her eyes, and then secretly opened them again. Her golden eyes sparkled, and her blood-red sclera also gleamed, like a cat's eyes reflecting moonlight, showing a cunning intelligence.
Simon laughed aloud, walked to the bedside, leaned his head close, and rubbed his nose against Serana's nose. His nose was flat with flared nostrils, while her nose bridge was delicate and upturned, fair like a reed pipe.
"You're disturbing my sleep."
"I saw you were awake. Did I disturb you?"
"No, the soundproofing is very good. I wasn't asleep."
"Then sleep a little longer."
"I've slept for over three thousand two hundred years. I've had enough sleep."
Serana's words hid another story, and Simon understood, and hesitated.
"You just bullied a little girl."
Simon frowned, "That's my bloodline."
"So you can abuse her like that?"
"She was very close to that step. I just helped her along."
"Heh," Serana extended her left hand from under the covers and lightly scraped Simon's cheek with her fingernail, "Your method is far too unfriendly."
"I just encountered a strong challenger, and my mood was a bit too excited. Of course, I was happy to see a descendant of my bloodline, but she was too careless with her bloodline. The troll roared in vain in the cage, like a prisoner."
Serana closed her eyes, gently caressing her lover's cheek with her cool hand. Her soft hand was like a cloud, like dried but not withered petals, lightly touching his desert-like skin. The Vampire spoke as if in a dream: "Outsider, being an outsider is truly tiring. Even you, I'm afraid, have been affected by that madness. Don't say you haven't, you can't hide it from me... It's time to end it."
"End what?"
"Yes, whenever you're ready, just tell me." Serana withdrew her hand. This time, she really fell asleep.
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