Another week had gone by for Adagio, one where she had spent days learning the novice spells for all of the various schools of magic that the instructors had to offer her, spent some time reading more of Urag's books and asking him questions, and even spent some time with her fellow apprentices. Of the three apprentices that she studied with, and talked with whenever they weren't busy in their own studies, Brelyna was the only one to have asked her for some help with one of the spells she had been working on. Adagio had been assured that the spell was harmless and decided that nothing bad could come of one apprentice asking another for help so they could both become better mages... she just didn't expect the spell to turn her vision green for an hour.
Once the effects had worn off, and Brelyna assured her that she had fixed whatever minor problem she had with the spell, the two of them tried again... only for Adagio to be turned into a cow, a dog, and a horse before returning to normal. If her pendant had been in one piece, and she happened to be wearing it, such an effect would never have occurred, but the two apprentices were glad that Onmund and J'zargo had been absent when they practiced the spell. They agreed never to speak of it again and, despite the fact that Adagio didn't want any payment for helping a fellow apprentice out, Brelyna insisted on giving her a magical necklace that would allow her to resist some level of all harmful magic that was used against her.
Neither Onmund or J'zargo actually asked for her help with anything, as they preferred to study as a group, though all three of them were more than happy to answer questions that Adagio had... though there were some that they had to recommend Urag to answer, who was always happy to see her.
Over her second week at the College she noticed that there was another new arrival at the College, an altmer mage, who looked older than everyone else, dressed up in what clearly weren't College robes. She had noticed the stranger lurking around the halls, listening in on Tolfdir's lessons, discussing things with other instructors, or simply glaring down at Urag at times, who always frowned in return. She questioned Urag about the elf at one point and learned that he was supposed to be a member of the Thalmor, sent to the College to act as an advisor to Savos Aren. Urag also warned Adagio not to trust Ancano, the elf she had asked about, though she knew he was the type of person that she should stay away from when she could help it.
She also noticed that Ancano hated standing beside the Arch-Mage, as he always walked away unhappy, though she made sure to keep an eyes on him... just in case he was up to something that would damage the College and its reputation.
One morning, following the end of her second week at the College, Adagio woke up to find that Brelyna and the others were excited about something, though once she was fully awake she decided to see what all the fuss was about.
"Tolfdir's going to be giving us another lesson today," Brelyna said, though her happy tone indicated that there was something better coming up, "and, from what I heard, we might actually have a chance to visit the ruins of Saarthal."
Adagio had heard of the nearby nordic ruins, mostly in name because no one had any real idea what happened to the place and the only book the College had on the subject was missing, much to Urag's annoyance and anger. She had to wonder when the five of them would be heading into the ruins, and what they would be searching for, but she decided to not ask questions until the time was right. Now that she knew what they could be doing in the near future, and her sense of adventure had awoken once more, she joined the other apprentices for the morning meal before they made their way to the Hall of the Elements.
As the four of them left the building that was reserved for students, which all of them were at this point, they noticed that Mirabelle was talking with Ancano this morning... though Adagio also noticed that the elf was not pleased about something.
"I believe I've made myself rather clear." Mirabelle said, clearly annoyed with the elf for some reason, though she had her arms crossed at the moment, which told anyone that the two of them were having some sort of disagreement.
"Yes of course." Ancano replied, though by his tone Adagio knew that he wasn't going too pleased with what Mirabelle had told him, "I'm simply trying to understand the reasoning behind the decision."
"You may be used to the Empire bowing to your every whim," Mirabelle stated, though her statement caused a look of annoyance to appear on the elf's face for a moment, "but I'm afraid you'll find the Thalmor receive no such treatment here. You are a guest of the College, here at the pleasure of the Arch-Mage. I hope you appreciate the opportunity."
"Yes, of course." Ancano said, though this time Adagio knew that the elf didn't think too highly of Savos Aren, who was one of the most powerful mages in the entire College at the moment, "The Arch-Mage has my thanks."
"Very good." Mirabelle replied, waving her hand as if she was dismissing him, which only made the elf growl at her before he did anything else, "Then we're done here."
Adagio watched as Ancano walked passed them, taking a moment to glare at all four of them for a few seconds, before he entered the building that the instructors slept in, or rested from their lessons.
"I don't like the way he looks at us." Brelyna commented, having waited until Ancano was inside the building before speaking, "I can't tell if he expects any of us to blow ourselves up, or if he expects me to try and murder him because of what I am. But I can tell that he clearly doesn't trust any of us."
"J'zargo is glad that he is not the only one that feels that way," J'zargo said, though he took a moment to spit on the ground, "J'zargo does not trust the Thalmor, regardless of who they send."
The look that Ancano shot the group made Adagio trust him even less, which was easy to do because he appeared to treat everyone like dirt and didn't care for anyone but himself. The elf just reminded her of how she acted when she was the leader of the Dazzlings, always looking down on everyone and treating them like garbage. For a moment Adagio was actually happy that her necklace, and her powers, had been broken, because it allowed her to understand where she had gone wrong with herself... though it annoyed her to find someone that reminded her of who she used to be.
The four of them entered the Hall of the Elements and made their way towards where Tolfdir was standing, who was happy to see them and immediately got into the lecture he had planned for them... which was only a review of the basics at the moment.
"Magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous." Tolfdir said, reminding Adagio of her first lesson two weeks ago, which brought a slight smile to her face, "Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you."
"I mean no disrespect sir, but I think we all understand that fairly well." Brelyna commented, though only J'zargo and Onmund bothered to nod their heads in agreement with her, as Adagio decided not to play any games at the moment, "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't control magic."
"Of course, my dear," Tolfdir replied, a slight smile appearing on his face as he looked at the four of them, "You all clearly possess some inherent magical ability, that much is not being questioned. What I am talking about is true control, mastery over magic. It takes years, if not decades, of practice and study."
"Then what are we waiting for?" J'zargo spoke up, though by his tone Adagio knew that he was referring to adding more lessons and not rushing ahead of a safe pace, "Let's get started right away!"
"I can see that all of you are eager to get started with our next lesson," Tolfdir commented, to which he turned to Adagio for a second, "Today I wish for us to practice ward spells for a while before we move onto something else... and I'm sure you'll all be pleased with what I have planned."
Adagio had read a book or two on ward spells, though she had actually never had the opportunity to use one before, so she was actually looking forward to trying it out. Tolfdir had each of them stand on a symbol across from where he chose to stand, where he would have them summon up the war before he would throw a fireball or two at them, though the spells were toned down to prevent anyone from being hurt. He started with Brelyna, because she had been the first one to speak up, before moving onto J'zargo and Onmund, though when it came time for Adagio to try the spell it took her a few additional tries to get it right.
Eventually, with some help from Brelyna, Adagio was able to cast the spell and hold it up to block the trio of small fireballs that were sent her way, to which Tolfdir praised her for learning the spell and praised Brelyna for being so willing to help another apprentice out. Once Tolfdir was pleased with their progress he had them follow him outside the building they were in, where he explained that they would be going on a trip to the ruins of Saarthal. He had them gather whatever they needed from their small rooms, though all Adagio brought was herself, which was understandable considering she didn't have a weapon, and a bag that could store whatever she found inside the ruins... though she intended on bringing back items for everyone to use for their studies.
Once everyone was ready, and had gathered everything they needed, the group of five left the College of Winterhold, crossed over the bridge that brought them to the ruined settlement, and entered the wilderness that was to the left of the settlement's entrance. As they walked through the wilderness they were assaulted by a pack of wolves, of which there happened to be four of them, but Adagio and the others proved to be too much for the wolves. They left behind the corpses of the wolves, passed by a random merchant that happened to be on his way to Whiterun, which told Adagio that he was nowhere near his destination, before they reached the ruins that they would soon be looking through.
Adagio was surprised that they had been able to find the ruins to begin with, and had found a usable door so they could delve deeper into the depths, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the experience.
"As some of you may know, Saarthal was one of the earliest Nord settlements in Skyrim." Tolfdir said, leading the group down a makeshift walkway, as the stone walkway that had originally been in place had been broken into pieces, "It was also the largest. Sacked by the elves in the infamous 'Night of Tears', not much is known about what happened to Saarthal. This is an exciting opportunity for us. To be able to study such an early civilization, and the magics they used..."
Adagio could see that her fellow apprentices were excited about the opportunity to study whatever they found inside the tomb, especially considering that J'zargo liked to hoard magical artifacts that he found, though she eagerly awaited to hear what their instructor wanted them to do while they were here.
"Brelyna, my dear," Tolfdir commented, choosing her first once more, "why don't you search for warding magics. Anything designed to keep people out. Don't interact with them, just identify them. Onmund, please search that area over there. See if you notice any... residual energies. Alive or undead. J'zargo... what shall we have you do... Ah! Why don't you verify that we're the first ones here? Look for any amount of tampering with the tombs."
As the other apprentices spread out around the area they were in, and Adagio noticed that Onmund's earlier happiness had faded, Tolfdir turned her way to give her whatever task he had in mind.
"Adagio, why don't you see if you can assist Arniel Gane?" Tolfdir said, beckoning to the passage that none of the other apprentices had gone down yet, indicating that he suspected that the other mage was down that passage, "As you know he's one of our scholars, and he's been hard at work cataloging all of our finds. I expect he'd appreciate some help in locating any additional magical artifacts here in the ruins. Any enchanted items will do; the usefulness of the enchantment is irrelevant. If you find anything, the class can look it over."
Adagio smiled and walked down the passage that Tolfdir had pointed out, finding it amusing that she had thought of doing exact what Tolfdir had asked of her before he even said so. As she walked she marveled at the sheer size of the ruins, wondering how the ancient nords could have built such a large tomb underground, though she made sure to be careful so she didn't hurt herself again. She had to cross over some more wooden walkways that had been installed, which would allow them to get around easily, before she rounded a corner and spotted the man she was looking for... though his back was turned to her as he looked at something on the table in front of him.
"Arniel Gane?" Adagio said, to which the man looked up from whatever he had been staring at, which had been a book, and turned to look at her, "Tolfdir asked me to come help you out."
"Ah, yes. You. I remember you. You're going to help?" Arniel asked, as if he was being sure that she wasn't lying to him, though she nodded and was relieved when he let out a sigh, "That's fine. Just... Just don't make a mess of my work. I've only looked through a portion of this section. You, uh, you can look around in the chambers just north of here. Try and be careful, all right? We don't want to damage anything."
Adagio nodded and looked in the area that she had been told to look in, though she immediately found what appeared to be two enchanted rings of some kind, to which she smiled as she gently placed them in her bag. She looked around for a few more seconds, and changed where she was looking, before she found a third ring on the floor... before she came to a wall carving that had an unusual amulet hanging from it. She gently removed it from where it was hanging and looked at it more closely, though she was interrupted when she noticed a trap had activated and sealed her in the area she was standing in. She looked down at the necklace for a moment, wondering why it was important to trap such a small thing, before she slipped it on and noticed an area appear around the carving she had pulled it from.
Adagio looked at the carving for a moment, wondering how mad this was going to make Arniel, before she loosed a small gout of flames at the carving... causing it to explode backwards and reveal a secret passage that had to go deeper into the ruins. Adagio smiled as she wondered what secrets she and the others would find as they delved deeper into Saarthal, while at the same thing hoping that she hadn't accidentally unleashed some magical entity that was better left alone.