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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
...
Jenassa nodded silently, drawing her dagger and sword, her eyes already fixed on the dark archways above. The winding, snow choked path leading up to the grand entrance of Bleak Falls Barrow was nothing short of a tactical nightmare.
It was a steep, jagged ascent of crumbling stone steps carved directly into the unforgiving face of the mountain. There was absolutely no cover, no secondary routes, and no element of surprise for anyone foolish enough to march up the center.
Jenassa crouched low behind a snow draped boulder at the base of the grand staircase, her crimson eyes narrowed against the biting wind as she scanned the high, ruined arches of the courtyard above.
"We have to be incredibly careful here, Patron," Jenassa murmured, her gravelly voice barely carrying over the howling mountain gale. She pointed a dark, leather clad finger toward the towering stone pillars.
"Any bandit chief worth their salt will have left a couple of lookouts on watch duty up there. These stone steps are massive, steep, and completely exposed. If we just walk up, we are nothing but target practice for their archers. We will be shot to pieces before we even clear the halfway point."
Aerion, crouching beside her with his fine robes pooling in the snow, analyzed the treacherous ascent and firmly agreed. In the game, a player could simply sprint up the stairs and dodge the sloppy AI arrows. In this living, breathing reality, a single well placed iron broadhead to the knee or the throat from an elevated position would be a fatal end to his journey.
"You are right," Aerion nodded, drawing his newly acquired steel sword with a soft rasp of metal. "Take the lead, Jenassa. Keep to the edges and use whatever ruined pillars you can for cover. I will follow closely behind you to provide magical artillery."
As Jenassa prepared to move, Aerion looked down. Lupin was sitting in the snow, his thick cinnamon fur keeping him perfectly insulated against the freezing temperatures, his bright amber eyes staring up at his master expectantly.
A sudden, wildly unorthodox plan conjured itself in Aerion's strategic mind.
"Hold a moment, Jenassa," Aerion whispered, holding up a hand. He crouched down further, bringing himself face to face with the fox. "Lupin. I need you to do something for me. I need you to run up those stairs, get into that courtyard, and cause an absolute menace of a distraction. Bite an ankle, steal a piece of meat, make them chase you. But whatever you do, keep yourself safe. Can you do it?"
Jenassa, watching this exchange, furrowed her brow in sheer, unadulterated confusion. She looked at the High Elf as if he had finally lost his mind to the mountain cold.
"Patron, are you serious?" the Dark Elf hissed, her tone laced with absolute skepticism. "There is no way a wild fox can understand a complex tactical order, even if he is your tamed pet. And even if by some miracle he does, there is no way a creature that small survives a courtyard full of armed, starving bandits. They will skewer him for a mid day snack!"
Aerion merely shook his head, a confident smirk playing on his lips. "You vastly underestimate him, Jenassa. Lupin can survive those bandits."
As if to prove his master's point, Lupin let out a series of sharp, rapid yips. To Jenassa, it just sounded like an animal making noise. But to Aerion, whose maximized Animal Affinity allowed him to perceive the emotional and intentional nuances of the beast, the message was crystal clear.
The fox was essentially saying, 'I understand the assignment. I can handle the danger. Watch me.'
Before Jenassa could utter another word of protest, Lupin moved.
The fox didn't just run, he launched himself forward with a sudden, explosive burst of kinetic energy that defied biological logic. He became an absolute blur of orange and white against the snow, his tiny paws barely seeming to touch the stone steps as he darted in a dizzying, erratic zigzag pattern up the grand staircase.
Jenassa gasped, her red eyes widening in sheer shock as she watched the creature scale the treacherous steps in a matter of seconds. "By the Reclamations... a normal fox is absolutely not that fast!"
Aerion chuckled softly, waving a dismissive hand. "Oh, he had a bit of an accident a few days ago. He licked a spilled Potion of Minor Magicka right off a shelf. It seems to have had a rather stimulating effect on his metabolism."
Jenassa shot her eyebrow so high it nearly disappeared into her dark hairline. She opened her mouth to aggressively question that incredibly flimsy, scientifically dubious excuse, but she never got the chance.
From the high courtyard above, a sudden, chaotic commotion erupted.
"Hey! Get back here, you little rat!" a gruff, heavily accented Nord voice roared.
"It took my sweetroll! Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!" a woman screamed in frustration.
The sound of clattering armor, overlapping shouts, and the frantic barking of confused bandit hounds echoed down the stone steps. The lookouts were entirely compromised, their attention completely derailed by a blindingly fast, orange menace tearing through their camp.
Aerion's eyes flashed with lethal intent. "We can discuss canine alchemy later, Jenassa. Now is the time for action. Go!"
They surged up the stairs. With the bandits entirely distracted by Lupin's chaotic rampage, Aerion and Jenassa cleared the exposed steps in record time, slipping past the massive, crumbling stone archways and breaching the main exterior courtyard of Bleak Falls Barrow.
The courtyard was a sprawling, snow-covered ruin littered with bedrolls, a roaring central campfire, and makeshift wooden barricades. And it was crawling with enemies. There were roughly twelve bandits in total, a hardened, desperate mix of Nords, two massive Orcs, a Breton spellcaster, and a scarred Imperial woman.
Jenassa struck first. Moving like a shadow detached from the wall, she lunged toward a Nord archer who was currently trying to aim his bow at a blurry orange shape near the pillars. Jenassa's steel sword severed the man's hamstring, and as he fell, her iron dagger found the gap in his leather armor, plunging directly into his heart.
"We're under attack!" an Orc dual wielder roared, abandoning his chase of the fox and turning his bloodshot eyes toward the two intruders. "Kill them!"
Aerion stepped fully into the courtyard, raising his hands. He was a force of nature. He didn't bother with the subtle manipulations of Illusion here, he wanted raw, destructive power, and he wanted the martial experience.
He parried a heavy, two handed greatsword swing from a charging Nord woman with his own steel sword. The sheer force of the blow rattled his teeth, but his newly upgraded Stamina and Health pools absorbed the shock effortlessly.
He twisted his wrist, deflecting the blade into the snow, and thrust his left hand forward, unleashing a point blank blast of pure, superheated fire directly into her face.
[OneHanded Leveled Up to 65!]
[Destruction (Fire) Leveled Up to 46!]
[OneHanded Leveled Up to 66!]
The battle dissolved into a chaotic, brutal melee. Aerion danced through the snow, his elven reflexes operating at their absolute peak.
He used his steel sword to constantly block, parry, and deliver shallow, bleeding cuts to his attackers, relying heavily on his martial skills to build his muscle memory. Whenever a bandit created distance or raised a shield, Aerion punished them with devastating bursts of magic.
He caught the Breton spellcaster trying to cast a frost spike. Aerion instantly countered, hurling a jagged bolt of violet lightning that chained across the campfire, striking the Breton in the chest and instantly draining his magicka pool before frying his heart.
[Destruction (Lightning) Leveled Up to 43!]
[Destruction (Lightning) Leveled Up to 44!]
[One Handed Leveled Up to 67!]
Jenassa was a whirlwind of death on the opposite side of the camp. She ducked beneath a wild swing from the second Orc, her dagger slicing a deep, debilitating gash across his thigh.
The Orc backhanded her in desperation, his heavy iron gauntlet clipping her cheek and leaving a bleeding, shallow cut, but Jenassa merely laughed, a dark, rasping sound, before driving her steel sword through the back of his knee.
Aerion spun, driving his sword through the gut of an Imperial bandit who had tried to flank him. As he ripped the blade free, blood spraying across the white snow, he allowed a momentary, fatal lapse in his situational awareness. He thought the perimeter was clear.
THWACK!
It felt as though someone had swung a red-hot iron hammer directly into his left shoulder.
Aerion's vision flared white with blinding, excruciating pain. The breath was violently forcefully driven from his lungs in a sharp gasp. He stumbled backward, his boots slipping in the bloody snow, his steel sword nearly dropping from his numb fingers.
He looked down. A heavy iron broadhead arrow had punched straight through the thick, enchanted fabric of his fine robes, biting deep through muscle and scraping agonizingly against his collarbone. The wooden shaft protruded from his shoulder, vibrating sickeningly.
It was his second real, penetrating injury since waking up in this world. In a video game, an arrow was just a chunk of a red health bar disappearing. In reality, it was a profound, suffocating agony that sent his body into immediate, physiological shock.
"FUCK!" Aerion roared, a massive, entirely human curse ripping from his throat, completely breaking his composed, aristocratic Altmer persona.
High up on a ruined stone ledge above the massive black doors of the crypt, a hidden Nord archer was rapidly nocking a second arrow, a triumphant sneer on his face.
Jenassa, hearing the curse and seeing her patron stumble with a shaft of wood protruding from his shoulder, felt a spike of genuine panic. She immediately broke off her engagement with the final surviving bandit, a terrified looking Imperial, and sprinted toward Aerion.
"Patron!" Jenassa yelled, her crimson eyes wide with alarm.
"Do not look at me!" Aerion screamed through gritted teeth, his golden eyes flashing with a terrifying, enraged intensity. He pointed his steel sword at the cowering Imperial. "Focus on clearing out the remaining enemies! Kill the archer!"
Jenassa didn't hesitate. Recognizing the absolute authority in his pain laced command, she pivoted flawlessly. In one fluid motion, she hurled her iron dagger through the air.
It spun end over end and buried itself to the hilt in the Imperial's throat. Without slowing down, she drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired upward. The iron shaft took the hidden Nord archer directly in the eye, sending his body tumbling off the high ledge to crash heavily into the courtyard below.
The camp fell dead silent, save for the crackle of the campfire and Aerion's heavy, ragged breathing.
Aerion dropped his steel sword into the snow. He reached up with his trembling right hand and gripped the bloody wooden shaft of the arrow protruding from his left shoulder.
His mind raced. He knew from basic survival knowledge that pulling an arrow out could cause massive hemorrhaging, but he couldn't fight or cast effectively with a piece of wood wedged against his collarbone, and he possessed magic that defied modern medicine.
He took a deep breath, braced his core, and violently yanked the arrow free.
A fresh, hot spurt of crimson blood soaked his robes, and a sickening groan escaped his lips as he dropped the bloody arrow to the stone floor. He immediately clamped his right hand over the gaping puncture wound.
Focusing every ounce of his willpower through the blinding haze of pain, Aerion channeled his Healing.
A brilliant, intense golden light erupted from his palm. The restorative magic flooded into the wound. Unlike the minor scratches he had healed on Sinmir's men, this was a deep, traumatic tissue injury. It took time.
He gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead as he felt the agonizing sensation of torn muscle fibers aggressively knitting themselves back together, pushing out the foreign dirt and sealing the punctured veins.
Because of the sheer severity of the wound and the sustained, intense channeling of the magic, his system interface practically exploded with notifications.
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 15!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 16!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 17!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 18!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 19!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 20!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 21!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 22!]
[Restoration (Healing) Leveled Up to 23!]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 59!]
As the final, soothing warmth of the magic settled into his shoulder, Aerion slowly pulled his hand away. The pain was entirely gone, replaced by a dull, phantom ache.
Still to his astonishment, the powerful, system integrated restoration magic hadn't just healed his flesh, the golden light had spread outward, seamlessly mending the torn, blood soaked fabric of his enchanted robes until the garment looked completely pristine once more.
Aerion let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. He checked his internal status. He had leveled up again, bringing his total unspent Attribute Points to 2. He mentally banked them for a later, more desperate moment.
"Patron," Jenassa said softly, approaching him with her weapons sheathed. She had a streak of blood drying on her cheek from the shallow cut, but her eyes were filled with profound respect. "Are you alright?"
"I am perfectly fine, Jenassa," Aerion replied, rolling his left shoulder to test the newly healed muscle. "A momentary lapse in judgment. It will not happen again."
Before Jenassa could respond, a soft, familiar yip broke the silence.
Aerion turned to see Lupin trotting out from behind a massive, snow-covered stone pillar. The cinnamon fox was completely unharmed, looking incredibly pleased with himself. He was casually licking a smear of bandit blood off his front paw, having successfully executed the most chaotic, lethal distraction in the history of Skyrim.
A genuine, warm smile broke through Aerion's severe expression. "Good boy, Lupin," he praised, crouching down to let the fox bump his head affectionately against his hand. "You did perfectly."
"I will never doubt the fox again," Jenassa muttered, shaking her head in sheer disbelief.
With the exterior courtyard completely secured, Aerion and Jenassa set about the grim, necessary task of looting the fallen. It was a gritty, unglamorous process, stripping the dead of their worldly possessions in the freezing cold, but it was the lifeblood of an adventurer's economy.
They methodically searched the twelve bodies. Aerion collected loose coin purses, accumulating a solid haul of 226 septims. He also stripped a couple of low, valued jewelry pieces from the bandits, a tarnished silver ring and a simple copper necklace holding a chipped garnet.
More importantly, they scavenged the weaponry. Aerion was highly selective, leaving the rusted, notched iron blades to rot in the snow.
He only collected the weapons that were still in exceptionally good condition, three polished steel swords, a heavy iron mace, a wicked one handed steel axe, and a couple of heavy, unwieldy two handed greatswords made of solid iron and steel.
As Aerion touched each weapon, they vanished instantly into his spatial inventory. He mentally checked his system interface, noting that the massive influx of heavy metal had increased his total carry weight by exactly 18 KG. He was still well within his limits.
With the loot secured, Aerion and Jenassa turned their attention toward the true objective.
Looming before them, set deep into the imposing, dark rock of the mountain, was the entrance to the crypt. It was a pair of massive, towering double doors made of ancient, petrified black wood bound in thick, rusted iron.
The wear and tear of thousands of years of harsh blizzards could be seen in the deep grooves and pockmarks of the surrounding stone archways, but the doors themselves looked remarkably sturdy, a testament to the master craftsmanship of the ancient Nords.
"Allow me, Patron," Jenassa offered, stepping forward.
She placed her dark, leather clad hands against the frozen black wood and pushed with all her might. The ancient hinges shrieked in protest, a long, grinding, agonizing groan of metal scraping against stone that echoed ominously off the canyon walls. Slowly, the heavy doors yielded, swinging inward to reveal the pitch-black maw of the barrow.
Aerion stepped through the threshold, Lupin sticking close to his heels, and Jenassa followed, pulling the heavy doors mostly shut behind them to block out the howling mountain wind.
They were immediately welcomed by the massive, oppressive interior of the ancient crypt. The air inside was completely stagnant, smelling strongly of dry dust, ozone, and the unmistakable, sweet rot of decay.
Colossal stone pillars, intricately carved with the faded visages of dragons and forgotten kings, held up a ceiling that was lost in the shadows far above. Thick, rope like cobwebs hung in heavy curtains across the hallways, swaying slightly in the draft.
Scattered across the cracked stone floor near the entrance were several dead, bloated bodies of massive skeevers, likely killed by the bandits who had claimed the upper levels. Aerion drew his steel sword once more, his golden eyes adjusting to the gloom. The real dungeon had just begun.
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[Main Panel] Name: Aerion Race: High Elf (Altmer) Health: 290/290 Stamina: 290/290 Magicka: 420/420 Level: 58 ➝ 59
Skills: Animal Affinity (MAX LEVEL), Fast Skill Levelling (MAX LEVEL), Fast Magic Mastery (MAX LEVEL), Destruction (Fire/Lightning) (Level 46/44), Persuasion (Level 71), Smithing (Level 22), Sneak (Level 16), One Handed (Level 67), Restoration (Healing) (Level 23), Two Handed (Level 65), Lockpicking (Level 9), Archery (Level 72), Alteration (Level 4), Enchanting (Level 19), Light Armor (Level 40), Block (Level 60), & Illusion (Level 6)
[Inventory Panel]
1x Steel Dagger, Long Bow, Potions of Minor Stamina, Small Sack, Poacher's Axe, Copper and Onyx Circlet, Mammoth Tusk, Iron Shield, Steel Mace, Steel Warhammer, the Golden Claw, Calm Spellbook, Lesser Soul Gem, Provision Bag, Silver Ring, & Copper Garnet Necklace
2x Gold Garnet Rings, Gold Ring, Scroll Of Fireball, Iron Mace, Steel Axe, & Steel Greatsword
3x Silver Garnet Rings, Silver Rings, Sapphire, Iron Greatsword, & Steel Sword
4x Lockpicks & Potions of Minor Magicka
6x Ruby & Amethyst
7x Potions Of Minor Healing
8x Iron Arrows
Weight: 111.5 KG / 445 KG
Septims = 51,010