[Draugr]
[Level: 1]
「Health: 50/50 Stamina: 80/80 Magicka: 0/0」
Four draugr, their ancient bits of armor stuck to their eternally decayed bones, emerged from the darkened doorway at the top of the stairway. They were on the same level as him but far weaker in terms of stats.
Leading the four was another Draugr, it’s armor a measure more intact than the others.
[Restless Draugr]
[Level: 6]
「Health: 175/175 Stamina: 205/205 Magicka: 0/0」
Despite the draugr's higher level, it’s health and stamina were nothing worth panicking over.
These five draugr had no magicka to speak of and their levels not too far ahead of his own. The only advantage they had were numbers…and maybe night vision. Those beady eyes of theirs were too ominous to just be for show.
With Auri here, Athias was sure he could take them. He attached his lantern to his bag and gripped his sword with both hands.
One of the weaker draugr stopped near the top of the steps, nocking an arrow while it’s allies advanced. An arrow from Auri pierced its head and the blue glow in its sockets flickered away, it’s body collapsing like a puppet who just had its strings cut.
The others rushed him together, wielding a mix of large battle axes and swords. He wouldn’t be able to fight them all at once.
“Head back!” Athias yelled out, using his blade to block a slash from one of their ancient swords. His arms shook but held steady, a small portion of his stamina bar decreasing. Good, health didn’t decrease from blocking like in the game. He pushed back the sword and backpedaled in time to dodge the swings of others.
Together, he and Auri fled back the way they came. Auri slid through the doorway that separated the previous chamber from this draugr filled one, an arrow pulled back. As Athias stopped in the doorway, sword at the ready, her arrow flew past his thigh and lodged into the knee of the restless draugr. A gargled noise akin to annoyance rather than pain left it as it dropped to a kneel, it’s health still high.
Using the time Auri bought him, Athias found it surprisingly easy to cut down the other draugr.
They weren’t fast, the wind up to their attacks so slow that even a complete novice like him had little issue defending against them. Besides their numbers, they possessed a level of stamina regeneration that outclassed his, the green bars above their heads refilling between attacks.
Undead bodies getting tired didn’t make much sense he supposed.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a shield and certainly not enough experience to cast a ward spell, so he couldn’t hold the doorway fighting so defensively against relentless opponents.
Athias pulled his left hand away from his blade, a golden light wrapping around it. He held that light close to his chest.
When the next attacks came, he did his best to avoid them while also retaliating with quick stabs of his own. Grazes to his cheek and shoulder drew winces from him but their bleeding stopped almost immediately as the wounds sealed shut.
He'd done some testing on the journey here. He hadn’t been all that thrilled about hurting himself but he didn’t like the idea of going into battle unsure of his own abilities either.
His healing could vary in effectiveness depending on how he used it. Supply it with a surplus of a magicka and superficial wounds vanished faster than he could blink. Hold the spell close to a specific wound and his magicka would sense his intentions and prioritize that one over the others.
He hadn’t tested the spells overall effectiveness on, say, a stab or broken bones, but he was confident.
With Auri firing arrows, most aimed for the arms and legs of the draugr, a quick stab through the head or chest dropped them, whatever magical power preserved them severed.
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The restless draugr, back on its feet and hardly slowed by the arrow in its knee, stepped into the doorway, swinging its sword. Unable to free his blade of its last victim, Athias abandoned it and back stepped. At the same time an arrow flew over his shoulder and into the neck of that draugr.
It dropped, now void of that dark light
“You’re a really good shot.” Athias complimented, ignoring the windows that popped up in front of him for now.
“Thank you.” Auri said. Her smile was a bit bigger, hinting at the pride she had in her abilities. “I think we’ll make a good team.”
He nodded in agreement while she moved to examine and collect whatever arrows remained intact. The perfect chance for him to read the windows without coming off as odd.
「Alert: Numerous skills advanced」
「One-handed: 20 -> 21 light-armor: 20 ->21 Block: 20 ->22 Restoration: 21 ->22 Speech: 20 -> 21 」
「Alert: Experience threshold met 」
「Advice: Rest as soon as possible to advance your level」
Apparently he couldn’t level up on the spot. Good to learn he couldn’t rely on a timely level up to refill his health and bail him out of a tough spot now rather than later. These windows, video gamey as they were, seemed to veer more and more on the side of realism, convenience tossed to the wayside.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
And why did his speech skill go up?
Auri was still moving between the fallen draugr so he took the chance to navigate to his proficiency tree. The first perk in the speech tree -represented not by gold but a soldier hoisting up a flag- took him off guard.
[Perk: Natural Born Leader]
[Description: There’s an aura about you that separates you from the pack. Allies who chose to put their trust in you often find their confidence boosted while more perceptive enemies can recognize the threat you present.]
[Effects: While fighting alongside you, allies are bestowed a bonus to their stamina and magicka equal to or less than 25% of their respective maximum value. The stronger their bond with you, the stronger the effect. Enemies, equal to or greater than your level, are 50% more likely to target you.]
Interesting. It looked like he had even more assumptions to throw out the window.
Yes, this world looked like the game he played in his previous life. Yes, he saw game like windows clearly meant to facilitate and aid his growth. Yes, said windows were styled similarly to the game he remembered from his previous life.
None of that meant he could be 100% sure of anything. He’d need to take a thorough look through every single proficiency tree before he made any hasty decisions. Gather updated information on more dangerous areas before going into them blindly. And finally, understand how much these windows he saw influenced the things around. Would Auri notice the effects of the perk if he got it? Those sorts of questions needed to be answered as soon as possible.
“Ready to keep going?” Athias asked as he dismissed the window.
“Yep. Lead the way.” Auri said, arrows recovered.
----------------------------------------
Su.
Athias did not know the word. And yet, some part of him -a small but impossible to ignore portion of all that made him him- knew it. He knew that the word held meaning. That it held power.
That meaning and subsequent power were lost on him.
“What language is that?” Auri asked, stepping up beside him.
Athias shook his head. How long had he been staring at the symbols?
“The language of ancient dragons. There’s no widely agreed upon name for it, but I’ve taken to calling it Dovahzul.” He explained stepping back from the word wall.
They’d cut their way through more draugr, jewels and old coins picked up along the way until they reached the final room. It wasn’t anything special; just a big room with a chair at its center. There’d been a close call or two with a ceiling of spikes and walls that shot streams of scorching flames, but they remained relatively untouched.
The wall, filled with the fading and eroded runic language of the dragons, was the most important discovery.
He was Dragonborn. Athias was sure of it. It’s the only way to explain the odd feeling in his gut and how he was able to instinctively translate those runes into a word. He was willing to bet that’s what his unnamed trait hid.
But was he the Last Dragonborn? There was no guarantee he’d live to see Alduin make his appearance. These draugr might’ve gotten the better of him if it weren’t for Auri and who knows what they’d encounter in the future. Plus, he had no idea if Alduin would appear in the first place. Was there a prophecy to be fulfilled in this world at all?
Uncertainties aside, he didn’t have years to sit here meditating on the meaning of a word he didn’t know to find out if he could learn a shout through pure dedication.
“I wonder if these dragon creatures were even real and if they ever visited Valenwood.” Auri mused. “My people don’t speak of them.”
Athias snorted. “Your people would’ve hated them if they ever went to Valenwood. Dragons are suppose to be massive creatures; one wouldn’t be able to fly without destroying some of those trees.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Auri nodded along. She was taking the musing far more seriously than him. “….What do you think they tasted like?”
Athias shot Auri a blank stare. She stared back up at him, big green eyes twinkling with genuine curiosity.
“They’re basically overgrown lizards with wings, so not that good I imagine.” He relented, giving a half-assed answered.
“Hmmm, I don’t know. Argonians may have tough skin but their flesh is surprisingly tender.”
Of course she would say something like that. He had been thinking about actual lizards not a race of people.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Athias said, turning to leave the dark ruins.
“But you’re the one who brought up lizards.” Auri called out as she followed after him.