The time passed, and Marcus walked around the city for some time.

  "He is relentless." Marcus thought as he noticed Khajit from time to time.

  "I need to take care of him, but I prefer to not attack without knowing his capabilities and while in the city."

  "It would be best if I had the Oakshield spell to have some defense."

  Marcus thought, and then he went back to the inn.

  He went to his room that he already paid for and then closed the door.

  He locked it from behind; normally doors would not have locks, but due to his retionship and some familiarity with Vinius, he was able to get one.

  "I am not going to just trust the lock," he said to himself.

  There is a whole idea and lore about lockpicking in this world.

  Considering that he was being tailed by Khajit, it would be racist to think that he would know how to pick locks or would know somebody who can pick locks.

  He does not want to be robbed.

  He looked around for a moment and noticed the candles that lit up on the top of an iron rod.

  He was not sure of the name of it, but he nodded. He extinguished the candles and took the iron rod from it.

  "Let's use this iron rod for a blockage."

  After setting it up, Marcus nodded.

  "Now, even if they can lockpick the door, they cannot barge in due to the iron rod."

  Marcus then sat down on his chair, opened his backpack, and took out the Oakflesh and then started reading it.

  Time passed after about one hour ter.

  Marcus nodded and then closed his eyes for a moment.

  "It is not like in the game; just by opening the spellbook I can gain access to the spell."

  "But, due to my alteration increase, I have decided I am capable of learning quickly."

  "I think, when the book ends, which is around three hundred pages shockingly for such a novice spell, I would be able to cast it."

  "According to this, learning a novice alteration spell that I have pointed out takes me one or two days."

  "I wonder what would be the rate for Adept, Expert, and Master-Level Spells," Marcus thought.

  After some thoughts on the matter, he kept on reading. From the sounds in the inn, he knew that it was already nighttime.

  Two hours ter, he yawned and then put the book back in his bag and then checked his door again and then slept.

  After sleeping for about six hours, he woke up and nodded.

  "I am still alive, and everything seems to be in order."

  "It seems like that Khajiit is waiting for me to leave the city."

  "They do not want to risk taking any action against me in the city." He theorized for a moment and then washed his face and then took his bag and left the room, putting the iron and other things back.

  He sat down at his usual spot. There were not many people at the morning time, just the sound of fire cracking and small murmurs and people eating and drinking slowly.

  Vinius came with the breakfast and nodded while Marcus opened the Oakflesh and started reading and working on the theories of it.

  Now that he was reading a book of magic for real, he understood how the spellbooks worked.

  In a sense, the spellbook Oakflesh taught about imagination, control of magicka with the will of the caster, and then what to think and how to achieve a result through the mastery of magicka.

  Nothing complex for people who are used to the methodology of science back on Earth.

  "The mages of this world must be akin to scientists of Earth; for me a novice-level spell is not that complex, but I can understand why most Nords and other people who only do farmwork and other simple things that would not involve complex theories, calcutions, mathematics, and meditational work find the magic boring and hard."

  While Marcus read and worked.

  He asked for a piece of paper from Vinus, and he brought up some ink and a quill.

  It was hard to write with a quill, but he still was able to do so.

  "Marcus..."

  "Alteration – 1"

  "Magicka – 160"

  "Health – 100"

  "Stamina – 100"

  Marcus knew that health and stamina were not that numbered within his soul and mind, but he still wrote it to make it easier for himself to keep on following what he does; it brought him a sense of understanding where he was at.

  About four hours ter, he yawned from the work and then closed his eyes for a moment and smiled.

  "Oakflesh is there; I can feel it in my soul."

  "As long as I will, the spell will be cast, and my skin will be as strong as sturdy barks and the power of an oak tree."

  "Now, I need to test its power against something sharp and heavy for blunt force to understand what kind of a defense it provides me."