Metalborn in Skyrim

Kael stood in the practice hall, channeling magicka into his hands as arcs of lightning crackled between his fingertips. The energy pulsed, erratic and unstable. He had begun to notice a pattern—when he burned tin, the arcs became unnaturally precise, threading through the air like controlled strikes rather than wild, chaotic bursts. Every spark hit exactly where he willed it, but it also took more concentration than expected, as though the precision itself made the spell harder to control.

Burning pewter, however, had the opposite effect. The lightning expanded chaotically, the bolts surging outward with overwhelming intensity. He had nearly electrocuted himself twice before realizing the power was simply too much to wield effectively without more control. Then there was iron—perhaps the most baffling of all. When he cast frost magic while burning iron, the ice seemed to creep unnaturally toward metal surfaces, clinging to anything metallic like frost seeking out the coldest part of a room.

As he worked through these revelations, he caught sight of Faralda observing him from the far side of the training hall. She wore her usual expression of cool confidence, but there was something else there too—curiosity.

She had been the one to test him at the bridge when he first arrived at the College. Kael had used his strange ability to shroud himself in darkness, pulling in shadows and bending perception. She had sensed power in him then, a raw force unlike anything she had seen before. And yet, here he was, struggling with the fundamentals of spellcasting. It didn't add up. How could someone who displayed such a unique gift back then falter with something as simple as controlling lightning or frost? Her instincts told her there was something more to Kael's magic than either of them fully understood.

———-----

A few days later, during a conjuration class, Kael sat cross-legged on the floor, palms resting open as he prepared to summon a familiar. The room was filled with other students, all of whom had already managed to conjure spectral wolves, glowing atronachs, and even shadowy birds that flickered in and out of existence.

He inhaled deeply, letting his mind reach into the realm of spirits as he burned tin, hoping it would help stabilize his magic. He felt the energy begin to form—the creature taking shape from his will and power. But as the summoning circle glowed and the creature materialized, something went wrong.

Instead of a coherent entity, his summoned beast came out warped—its body flickering, shifting between forms as though it couldn't decide what it was supposed to be. For a brief moment, it had the body of a hound, then of a twisted, half-formed atronach, before collapsing into an unnatural pile of glowing mist.

Laughter rippled through the class.

"Is that supposed to be a new kind of familiar?" one student mocked, their voice laced with amusement.

Another chimed in. "Maybe it's just scared of him."

Kael gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe steadily. He wasn't unfamiliar with failure, but this was something else. It wasn't just that he had failed the spell—it was that the magic itself seemed to resist him.

Phinis Gestor, watching from the front of the class, narrowed her eyes. He had seen many failed summons before, but none like this. His spell hadn't been weak; in fact, the power he had poured into it had been immense. The problem wasn't a lack of energy—it was instability. Something about Kael's very essence conflicted with conventional magicka.

"Enough," he said sharply, silencing the snickers from the others. "Summoning magic requires balance. If you force your will too aggressively, the creature may struggle to take form."

Kael barely heard him. His mind was already working through the implications.

He clenched his fists and exhaled slowly. He wasn't going to let this failure define him. Ignoring the murmurs of the class, he focused on the conjuration circle once more. This time, he would try something different. No metal-burning, no enhancements—just raw magicka and focus.

Closing his eyes, he let himself settle into the rhythm of magic. He reached out, feeling the flow of magicka in the air, not forcing it but guiding it. Instead of overpowering the spell with sheer will, he surrendered to the natural current of summoning magic, allowing it to shape itself rather than bending it to his desires.

The air in the classroom changed. The temperature seemed to drop slightly as the circle glowed again, but this time, it was stable. The mist that had formed in his previous attempt condensed, taking the shape of a spectral wolf, its glowing blue eyes scanning the room. The class fell silent.

Kael opened his eyes, his breath catching as he saw the creature standing before him, fully formed and without distortion. A moment later, it padded toward him, pressing its nose against his palm in recognition. He had done it. Without burning metals, without resistance—he had successfully summoned a stable familiar.

—————————

That night, after the halls had quieted, Kael retreated to his quarters. He needed answers, and no one was going to give them to him. If magic resisted him, then perhaps he needed to find a different way to use it.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he reflected on what he had learned so far. Some spells benefited greatly from burning metals, while others turned disastrous. Tin had been useful in refining his lightning and frost spells, giving him an incredible degree of accuracy, but at the cost of making the magic harder to maintain. Pewter, while empowering, pushed his magic beyond what he could control, turning simple spells into dangerously unstable forces. Iron, on the other hand, seemed to link his magic to metal, creating interactions he still didn't fully understand.

His struggles in class had been humiliating, but they had taught him something important—he wasn't like the other students. His magic wasn't failing; it was different. Where others cast spells in a predictable manner, his spells were shaped and warped by the metals he burned. If he could master these interactions instead of fighting against them, he might find a way forward.

He set a simple iron dagger on his desk and took a deep breath. Then, slowly, he burned pewter and pressed his hand against the blade. Instead of shaping a spell in the air, he tried something different—channeling his magicka into the dagger itself.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a faint hum filled the air. The blade trembled slightly under his fingers, glowing with a faint, almost imperceptible aura. Kael pulled back, watching in awe as the effect lingered for a few seconds before fading away.

Heart pounding, he grabbed the dagger and gripped the handle. A strange heat surged through his arm, not burning but empowering. His grip felt stronger, his muscles just a fraction more responsive. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the energy vanished.

His breath came out in a rush. He had done it—he had enchanted the blade. But unlike normal enchantments, this one hadn't come from traditional spellcasting. It had come from his own magicka, merged with the attribute of the metal he burned.

Excitement coursed through him, but he forced himself to think logically. The effect had been brief, far shorter than a standard enchanted weapon. What if he tried it again? He placed the dagger back on the desk, this time burning tin instead of pewter. As he focused his magicka into the blade, the glow returned, but it shimmered with a faint silvery hue this time.

After extinguishing his metals, he picked up the dagger, his vision sharpened, every detail in the dimly lit room suddenly crisp and clear. He could hear the faintest creak of wood in the hall outside, the distant howl of the wind beyond the College walls. The effect, though different from before, was just as temporary. Within moments, the heightened senses faded, and the dagger returned to being just an ordinary weapon.

Kael sat back, mind racing. His magic wasn't just influencing spells—it was changing how objects absorbed and retained energy. This was different from standard enchanting, where a pre-set spell was bound permanently into an object using a soul gem. What he had just done was raw, untethered, but incredibly powerful in its flexibility. What would happen if he tried to combine regular enchanting with his own way of enchanting? Would the effects compound like how he can compound his metals?