"You are going to the college?" he asked with a skeptical look.
"Now that's just rude. I didn't judge you based on your appearance." I said slightly offended.
"Fair enough. You can see why I would be a bit confused though right?" he said and I nodded.
"Believe it or not this is actually intentional." I said waving my hand over my body.
"Some sort of alteration based enchantment? No this feels natural... you didn't!?" he exclaimed in shock after closely examining me.
"What is it you think I did? You might even be right." I pressed with a grin.
"You used alteration to maximize your growth spurts! It's either the most genius thing I've heard of or the most foolish, I can't decide which." he said with a strange look at me.
"You are on the right track but thinking too small. I used a mix of alteration, restoration and mysticism to maximize my growth. My skin is harder, my muscles denser and my organs more efficient and sturdy. My bones are almost as strong as iron even. All carefully pushed as far as I can without deforming or instead weakening myself." I said proudly.
His eyes lit up "Mysticism to determine the optimal level of improvement, alteration to create the mold and restoration to fill it. No wonder. It's risky but if done right the final result would make most look like children next to an adult." he said excitedly.
"Exactly! By my divination when I reach full bodily maturity in about four years I'll stand nearly seven feet tall and will have a body almost as powerful as a giants." I said with a wide grin.
"But you are a mage, what's the point in having a body almost perfectly tailored for warriors?" he asked confused.
"Who said I can't do both? I am already a master swordsman, anyone in Riften can vouch for that. Once I bring my magics up as well I'll have no holes. I can take any role I wish." I said ambitiously.
"Hmm, it's not an unheard of path but can you pull it off? Only time will tell. Alright I'll take your commission, come back in three days." he said before dismissing me with a deeply thoughtful expression.
I didn't push it and left without a fuss, if anything I had a little extra pep in my step. I had shown off the fruit of my literal blood, sweat and tears to a clearly well accomplished mage and impressed them.-
I knew how insane my self modification was, I was a healer after all. What I did could have VERY easily gone horribly wrong. That was the dividing line between whether this was genius or madness. If I failed it would have been madness but success? that was the sweetest fruit of genius. Of course I wasn't foolish enough to think about publishing this matter in any way. The requirements were strenuous to say the least after all.-
I needed not only a solid understanding of four different skills with three being magical but I also needed a bit of scientific knowledge from Earth as well. Frankly I was almost willing to say definitively that without even one of these things it likely wouldn't work. Maybe a higher skilled mage in the magical aspects could brute force it but even that was questionable. In the end I suppose it didn't matter since I wasn't planning to pass on the details, too much room for bad outcomes that way.-
I was unfortunately left twiddling my thumbs for the next three days though. I honestly assumed the guy would throw a pelt over me and sew it up on spot but I wasn't going to complain about a quality product instead. That did leave me pondering what I could do during this time. For the rest of the day I just hunted across the city for Orcish weapons. Orichalcum weapons were for pretty obvious reasons typically in the hands of Orcs. Considering the knowledge how to forge the mineral into weapons was typically not taught outside the Orcish holds the mineral was mostly used for reinforcement instead.-
Thankfully it was pretty common for Orcs to turn bandit due to the rules of their society so their weapons got hoarded by those that killed them or sold to smiths. After some serious back and forth I managed to get two swords and four war axes of Orcish make. I fed them to my blade in the privacy of my room at the inn and completed the blades transformation from the metal. It was now a light green color not unlike the needles of a pine tree. It was also now harder and more sturdy than any Orcish, steel or iron weapon.-
The downside is that I acutely felt that the amount of weapons needed to upgrade my own was growing. The next one was going to be even more difficult. That was fine though as I had time. I chose to meditate on words of power for the rest of the time. That was the plan anyways but while I was meditating in the open air outside the inn a guard approached me.
"You Alexan of Riften?" the man asked gruffly.
"I am he." I said as I opened my eyes and looked at the guard curiously.
"Jarl Ulfric requests your presence in the palace of kings." the man said firmly.
"Alright, not like i'm terribly busy or anything so I guess I can see what this is about." I said before standing up and rolling my joints eliciting several cracks and pops pleasantly as I did so. "Lead the way." I said to the now rather nervous guard.
The guard walked quickly, no doubt trying to be free of the massive man he had been sent to fetch. Though he was more likely than not, not seeing it as me being fetched and more me humoring Ulfric. At my size any idea that I could be commanded to do anything I was unwilling to do was ridiculous. -
The palace of kings was a fascinating place, supposedly built by and lived in by Ysgramor himself the place was massive in size. The throne hall alone was nearly half the length of a football field and just as wide. The ceiling was well over ten meters high and had dragon bone chandeliers of all things. Bones without a soul I noticed immediately. In the middle of the chamber was a long wooden table for feasting and at the head of it against the wall sat the cold throne, the literal seat of power of the hold.-
The throne was a worn but intricate stone throne raised up on stone steps so whoever was sitting on it would be looking down on those before it, an inbuilt powerplay. I couldn't help but smirk at the fact I was still eye level with Ulfric sitting on the throne. The man himself had the scars from his part in the war and wore fine furs over his armor. Grey and blue, the colors of his house. He had strong Nordic features from a pure lineage and shoulder length honey blond hair braided behind his ears not unlike my own in that regard.