7.1: Kynesgrove
Darius strolled through the town with Lydia by his side, while Uthgerd and Delphine had decided to remain at the inn. His steps led them toward Temba's Mill. Upon arriving, he stopped a few feet away from the mill, his expression tense as though expecting something to come flying at his face. Lydia noticed his hesitation and frowned in confusion.
"What are we doing here?" she finally asked.
Darius turned to her. "We're going to use her transport carriage to get out of town," he explained.
Lydia nodded but looked skeptical. "But will there be enough space for the four of us?"
"That's what I was wondering too," Darius muttered, his tone uncertain. The thought of being turned away gnawed at him, and he stared blankly at the road, lost in thought. Lydia's voice pulled him back from his reverie.
"By the way, didn't Delphine introduce herself as Elise?" she asked suddenly.
Darius hesitated. "She was just being cautious," he replied, fumbling for a plausible answer.
Before Lydia could question further, a sharp, angry voice interrupted them. "What are you doing here?"
Both of them turned toward the mill, where a brown-haired woman was glaring at Darius.
"Wilhelm said you have a carriage heading out of town today," Darius called out, stepping forward cautiously and keeping an eye out for any flying objects.
"It isn't," Temba snapped.
"Huh? What happened?" Darius asked, climbing up onto the platform to stand beside her.
"The troll is dead," Temba replied with a deep frown. "Now the bears have moved in to take its place."
"But Wilhelm said the carriage would still be here to pick up the wood," Darius insisted.
"Oh, it'll be here, alright," Temba said, her frown deepening. "But I don't have the wood to send it off with."
Darius blinked, relief washing over him. "Thank god," he muttered under his breath. At least the carriage would be empty.
"What?" Temba's voice rose sharply. Her glare could've cut through steel. "Fuck you! You think this is a good thing?" she shouted. "Get out of my sight!" She spun on her heel and stomped back to her saw.
Darius opened his mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. Instead, he turned away, his shoulders sagging in defeat.
He thought for a moment, "Alright, How about I deal with the bears too?" Darius offered, Temba turned, the shock on her lasted a second replaced with her hardened look, "Why?" She asked suspicious of him.
"I need the carriage," he answered, "it isn't m-" Temba stopped herself from speaking, "Well, get to work then," She said enthusiastically.
Darius looked back and saw Lydia gripping her weapon with anticipation, He gave her a small smile.
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Lydia and Darius were in the forest, which stretched to Riften, with their weapons drawn, "We could have just given the carriage guy a few Septims," Lydia suggested.
"I know," Darius said now telling her the reason, 'I need to level up my skills,' He thought, The last time he fought a Dragon was with a group that took a heavy toll, and this time Alduin will be there, if the world is too different. Alduin might kill him himself.
"Then why?" Lydia asked, then her mind came with an abhorrent reason but if it was him it was possible, He was trying to sleep with her, Lydia frowned, 'He doesn't think of anything else.
Darius oblivious of her fantasy was scrolling his system, he had 1 Dragon soul and 2 shouts, one was Kyne's Peace, its effect was to calm animals, and the other was, Become Ethereal, its effect was essentially to make him a ghost, not able to take damage nor deal damage, 'I need to level up my Skills, so I need the bears to fight me, not just stand there,' He wondered and decided to spend the Dragon soul on Become Etheral.
System Prompt: First word of 'Become Etheral' Learned, "FEIM"
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Meanwhile in Vilemyr Inn:
"So why did you lie about your name?" Uthgerd and Delphine were having a conversation on a table at the corner of the Inn, which led to Uthgerd remembering Darius calling her by her name, which wasn't what she told them inside the ruin.
Delphine was unable to answer her, she started making weird noises, her mind was overwhelmed with the things that happened yesterday..
Thud!!
Uthgerd's investigation was interrupted by a loud thud, as they turned to look where the noise came from and found the man that Darius had healed last night was awake, and was causing commotion inside the Inn.
A few of the men inside the Inn tried to control him but he wasn't listening and kept pushing and hiting anyone that came near him.
Uthgerd and Delphine stood up from their place and looked at the fuss, "Watch this, I'm gonna help these Snowbacks," before Delphine could stop her Uthgerd was already there, itching for a fight.
Getting over, she landed a fist, putting the man to sleep, "Shit!" Her excitement just almost killed the man.
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Lydia and Darius were still searching for bears, after roaming the forest they found a total of 0 bears, but they did find rotting carcasses, a huge amount, so they were probably close to them, so they didn't turn away.
A few steps ahead they saw a huge cave, a home to the bears perhaps, "Lydia stand there," Darius said to her pointing to the top of the cave there was enough space for one person to stand on, Lydia nodded and climbed to the top.
Darius nodded at her, "Now stand there, if anything comes out, jump on it and kill it," He said confusing Lydia, "Are you going inside? Alone? Don't you think I should help too?" she asked.
Darius shook his head, "I killed a Dragon remember?" He excused himself inside, The first step he took inside he was hit with a horrendous stench, Darius quickly turned away.
Outside:
Lydia keeping watch heard something coming toward the entrance of the cave, she withdrew her sword ready to jump on the bear and kill it.
The moment she saw something she jumped her sword came crashing down, Darius who just rushed outside turned to look up to tell her about the stench but what he saw was a point of a well-polished sword coming for his head.
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