The water looked to completely undisturbed, unless there were undead fish floating below the surface. The thought made my entire body shake. I could never stand anything supposed to be dead, the only thing that could make me weak to the knees. I only ever had to deal with living enemies and was more than happy to keep it that way.
I was positioned, storing my equipment but not stripping down to nothing. No matter what happened, I wouldn't be that desperate. I pushed off from the wall behind me, sprinting to my leaping point. It took seconds, my vision planted on the approaching platform. My hand grasped a rim of the fountain and my feet pushed me up, so I was safely on the flat ground. I was getting back into my older, military style quickly.
The area was certainly not useless, the metal object being a neglected iron key. There was no surprise to see something so small was missed by inexperienced men. The object went safely into the void I called my own. I took time to appreciate the detail in a small area, curiosity getting the better of me. Despite being focused on learning to defend myself and new combat styles, I was secretly very curious on learning new things whenever I could. The posts arcing with energy continued to pull my attention to them. I gave in, carefully reaching out to see what contact would do. I figured the odds of them being fatal or dangerous to any large extent was low if they were able to decorate a stronghold near water.
The closer my hand got to the post, a tingling sensation grew over time. It wasn't like lightning from a mage, feeling more like a growing pulsing. Even as my hand made contact with the surprisingly cold metal underneath the effects, the feeling only grew to envelop my entire hand. I could not use magic myself, but it was always astonishing to see what kinds of marvels something so mundane could do so much.
Another straining leap back over the water and I was continuing again. The connecting room was empty except for a table and a quill. This could have been where the public portion of the stronghold ended, a locked and reinforced door that led deeper into the abandoned building supporting my thought. The iron key unlocked the door, possibly thrown to the platform earlier. My thoughts about the mercenaries could have possibly been wrong, unless they had found another way around.
With my sword and buckler out once again, I pushed the door open slowly. Unfortunately, the metal door made a loud sound, reverberating far into the structure. If anything was close, I would be meeting it very soon.
In fact, a few steps into the room and two large lizard men came in from the sides. Their size rivaled minotaur's, but they weren't nearly as aggressive. The dark green beasts walked on two legs and a glaring reptilian face, wielding both a weapon and a shield for protection. I have seen the beings before, but I have not encountered any personally. They were certainly more intimidating and yet, held their armaments as if they were barely trained in combat.
I backed away, keeping my buckler facing one and my weapon ready to guard against the other. Their movements were not in sync, almost fighting each other to get to me before the other. Their size would be nothing in the small ways connecting rooms, of which the brainless and bulky beasts were being led completely unaware. One at a time would be easier than multiples.
The one that pushed its way in first caught up with large strides, moving its shield to strike downwards at me. Although my buckler was smaller than the beasts, its reinforced frame giving it more strength than the beasts worn equipment. The sword struck my raised shield, sliding downwards and far away from being a danger to myself. My counterattack was a swift cleave below the beast's arm, cutting directly through the flesh and bone. The monster was literally disarmed, the detached limb uselessly falling to the ground as well as the only offensive weapon it possessed. The beast let out a loud and pained howl, wildly using its shield arm left to try to injure me. Unfortunately, even in its frenzied strength, it could not land a clean hit. It was dispatched with a clean strike through the vulnerable chest and heart. The flailing ended, but one other remained alive. It completely disregarded the fallen comrade, stepping over the corpse to get to me. It was dispatched in much the same way as the other, no harder than the other with and with losing the same amount of its body.
"I feel bad for the next ones coming through here, if there are any more." With the bodies moved out of the doorway, I continued forward deeper into the long halls of the stronghold. I was getting properly lost, not at all sure where I as going. A few minutes passed in silence, exploring through empty and previously looted rooms. It would have been surprising if this place, especially with its size and reputation, was not picked clean immediately after it was abandoned. The only things remaining worth a thing was being held by the monsters that have taken home in the stronghold.
"It will take forever to find that scroll the Queen wants…wait, scroll!" It hit me instantly. The fact I haven't thought about it earlier showed how comfortable I was with it being almost completely subconsciously used. With both hands free, I eagerly found a table that was not completely rotted, unrolling the mysterious scroll I have yet to find an explanation for. It instantly went to what I wanted, a map of the stronghold. I seen the map forming like it had in the city I had been in before, although it seemed to have stopped before it finished. I waited still for more to come but it did not. My excitement faded when it was easy to assume nothing more was showing up. It only showed a small portion of the stronghold, the areas looking very familiar in shape and size.
"That looks like where I killed that minotaur…and that has to be the room that had the key in the middle." It was clear what I was seeing. I was only seeing where I walked so far, meaning my plan of trying to get a layout of the stronghold was not going to happen by such a simple means.
"I guess there's no way to cheat this, even with this unbelievable magic item. This is why I am not a fan of magic when a strong hand and body can do much more in the end." I wasn't entirely against the magical arts, but I wouldn't go using it myself. I learned ways to either dodge or handle the abilities, not sling them around from the back lines. The advantage was clear in large battles, the short term not being as strong in my experience.
"I can at least watch to see WHERE I come from." I could see I didn't miss much of the area so far, other than the remainder of the ornate hall I came in from and one that was apparently outside the other door. With the new knowledge of a hall outside the second door, I re-armed myself and pushed the door open to hear a familiar sound. It was inhuman, but a reverberating growling could be clearly heard. It was no surprise to see the large lizard men in a pair catching sight of me. The tactless warriors were dispatched with a couple simple countering maneuvers. Nothing important was left, although nothing was around them, either. The mercenaries either didn't make it this far or avoided this way entirely. I could see them ignoring it, especially since it didn't look to have anything of value anywhere near it.
"Let's see where I go the other way…" Turning to explore the opposite direction of the hall, it was painfully quiet and empty in the next couple of rooms I opened up. They were bedrooms, no doubt, with one being a dining room. A simple wooden table and a couple finely crafted chairs remained. My assumptions were confirmed with the connected room, having the decorations and furniture of a kitchen.
"I guess the ones that came this far camped for a bit in here…" A boiling pot of something on an open fire remained from the group that was left by the mercenaries. The fact it was still lit could mean they left in a hurry or got surprise attacked. Neither option was something I was looking forward to, neither of which mattered to me right now. My assumption was supported a little by opened containers containing dry food that looked to be salvaged from. It is possible that they had brought supplies themselves or some survived over the years. It isn't impossible that some food could be preserved well enough.
The way for what seemed like days took me through door after door, turning one way and getting turned around to another unknown room. Stonekeep held dozens of rooms for the large amount of help needed to keep the fortress working without failing. If it wasn't for the mysterious map I had, I would be as lost as the mercenaries were and probably dead along with them. It was a miracle and seemed very coincidental that I was blessed with this item and task. Unfortunately, the almost constant flow of enemies, more than usual goblins with a very bad sense of tactics or rats that wanted to be major annoyances, I was being constantly assaulted with that problem.
I seen the toll time took on the structure itself, not helped by the new residents. Walls were busted in, leading to more ways around the seemingly organized layout. Whether the passages were intentional or made after the original residents were gone, it made traversing the similar textured walls impossible to maneuver without a dedicated map. Even a large group, no doubt the size the mercenaries were when they came in to try and swipe the treasure, would cause chaos.
There was one room that caught my attention while wandering the winding halls of the forgotten fortress, most of all with the amount of detail that has remained. The most opulent object that was largely undamaged were the heavy bird-like statues. Even with this room having a large amount of holes in the walls, despite there being a doorway directly into the room, there were a good amount of preserved objects remaining. A couple of the statues got moved into the large area, but it was apparent that this room wasn't reached by looters. The bleached bodies picked clean of flesh and naturally disintegrating clothes only gave hints of wild beasts taking what they needed to survive. A couple of opulent wood chests hid themselves in a couple corners possibly for eyes away that weren't perceptive, but I wasn't here to take whatever they housed. I was unfortunately getting the hints of unwanted traits of mercenaries, but I was easily ready to pass up the allure of unguarded treasure.
"This place either never ends or new rooms were made for no reason. I don't remember hearing about this place myself, must have been abandoned long before I was in my…well, old position." If anything were to verify my claim, the hole that was made in the wall in the current room was a clear giveaway of the age. A huge wall from the largely unexplored room opened to a labyrinth of rubble. There was no way this was made intentionally in the construction. Unfortunately, it wasn't empty, either. The network of broken walls and built-up rubble hid rats but also more dangerous lizardmen. The mindless beasts were more than an annoyance at this point, especially since the most harmful enemy so far was the Minotaur. The damage it could have done, especially if it wasn't alone, was possibly enormous if that situation happened. It was a possible advantage that the place was so large, giving a much smaller chance of being surrounded by threats.
It took a longer time than normal to maneuver through the unnaturally made maze, only giving me more reason to have my scroll closer to find out where I have and haven't been. Unfortunately, looking at the map only made my thoughts grow a little more desperate as the way that was revealing itself only showed more attached and a large amount of doors yet left unexplored.
"This is going to take too long if I truly venture to pick this place clean. I have to take my search down to the more likely places and not continue to act like a hired thug. I am doing this for no reason other than for the sake of Tamriel and the Empire." It was not impossible to convince myself of that fact, except that it felt like the opposite in some ways in the back of my mind. I have missed exploring and fighting since I left that aspect of life for being more of an advisor. It was possible I misjudged the pull this one mission would really have on my life…
"No, think and decide where I am going to look!" With the first room that had a table intact, I used the platform to pull the map out completely again and lay it flat for a much more full examination. My wandering had revealed a large area, but my heart sank as I looked at what it meant. At this point, I have figured out what the colors meant and it was not looking good. In fact, it was one of the biggest things I had purposely been avoiding to this point. I had seen the water paths that came in and out of passages, especially the deeper I wandered into the ruined stronghold.
"I can't jump over that unless I want to possibly strain something or miss…" It was not easy to admit, but I would have to at some point. A good amount of the paths converged leading into one area, so that was where I was heading to figure out what was so special about that area.
"Almost there." The scroll was in one hand and my other was empty. It was quiet, unnaturally so. Up to now, it was impossible to go down a hall and find a thing or noise ready to go for the kill. Getting to this area, on a path that I don't remember covering that thoroughly yet, was not meant to be this easy.
The situation escalated back to common sense when I seen what was probably a hostile enemy. I stopped and waited for it to charge, but it did no such thing and made no move to. I had a glimpse of the water-logged area from where I was standing in a corridor, with the shambling thing meandering with no sense of direction. It almost looked to be dragging itself along, a consistent scraping coming from its almost fallen weapon. Whether it was not trying hard to carry the armament or was genuinely not able to lift it, I could not tell. It had its side to me, and what I saw was a lot different than everything I had seen so far. It was a sickly green color, its whole figure being that single color and its texture looked very bland. I wasn't about to go towards it, but I couldn't help but be curious. It didn't seem to even register I was examining it, despite my lack of subtlety of being within eyesight of the thing.
I was ready to write the thing off as a harmless obstacle when it turned to stare at me. I couldn't see it's facial features before, and I almost was not surprised now. It was rather featureless, two eyes that looked more like enlarged bug eyes to fit the scale of the figure and glowing a constant red. Its mouth was similar, opening and closing in rhythm that no doubt signified breathing. It simply stood staring, as I had in defense. When I moved to get my weapon out just in case, my scroll had been willed away and I was already subconsciously equipped. This was a lot easier than having to arm myself when I was serving in the Imperial military.
"Grawwwwwwww!" The thing made a loud screech, possibly a siren song to any others that wanted to join in. It could have attracted anything in the stronghold with the volume it reached, without seeming to have any strain, either. The thing moved to come at me, the body clumsily moving to be forward towards me. The body from head to toe now was a complete figure, and it was far from human or even beast-race shape. It had no defined shape, looking more like an amalgamation of a lazy designer or a very badly beaten corpse with an attempt at using any of the races as a base. The thing limped at me, gaining speed and getting at me at a much faster rate. The weapon, a club that didn't look to be fashioned but simply picked up to have, was also effortlessly lifted above its head to be used.
"Okay, I was wrong about this thing." With my weapon poised and shield up to defend, I let it start and get the first hit in. I was tensed to shrug off its assault, but I had apparently misjudged its strength as it caused me to fall to a knee with the smash. The shield lived through the bash fine, but the strength the hunk of a beast held was rather incredible.
"This must be that Ghoul I read about." I pushed the weapon off me and I countered with a slice at its body. The attack clearly landed, but the flesh that was wounded only made the thing falter just a step away. It was not a shallow wound, but other enemies would be backing away feverishly. This thing was different, more resilient or much less vulnerable to pain. It recovered from the step, swinging sideways to sweep at me with the makeshift club. I was too focused on the fight to quickly take into account what the damage to me might be if I take the entire brunt again, especially with no solid object to lean on for support.
Luck seemed to be on my side still, and the attack wasn't as deadly as I was expecting. I did feel quite a strain, even with the path of the weapon generally glancing me, by the levels that it did successfully complete the assault. The beast was deflected partially off my shield, running along it a little bit to diminish a portion of the possible pain. I was still dragged some to the side, but did not fall to my knees. My counter tactic was simple: If I couldn't kill the Ghoul easily with cutting its body, then I would go for the next obvious weakest spot to an unarmored enemy.
I had indeed went through with my plan, and rather than the monster being in one piece by the end of the grueling fight, it was in two. The Ghoul's body was lifeless, the head being not too far away, and the decapitation bleeding a discolored blood from both ends of the wound. I had willed my armaments away and only got on my hands and knees to recover when I was sure the stubborn monster was not going to make some miraculous recovery.
"I am NOT going to be able to finish this if I cannot handle something like this." It was a self-proclaimed opinion, although it didn't drop my mood. I just knew that to finish this quest, I would have to get back to my old self, before I got comfortable in a protected building with adequate protection surrounding me.
When I caught my breath completely, the fight had me almost forget a little detail I mentioned before it started. The sound the Ghoul made, it would have brought dozens running to meet the call. It was quiet again, not a shuffle or splash being heard. This was not a good sign, that much I knew.
"I'll have to take this slow." I quietly stepped to the corner, peeking around to my left to see if I was indeed alone. It took nothing more than a quick scan to see I was far from it. The room I was looking into was huge, a wonder if it were natural or made by the ones who built this place. This part of the stronghold had an abstract shaped concrete island in the center of a pool of water. I was standing on the concrete border, with only a few steps between myself and the waters edge. The fact that cemented that I wasn't alone were more Ghouls standing at the edge of their island, staring at me. It gave me an initial shock and I only stared back at them for a few moments as well. They weren't moving to begin a traverse of the unknown depths, either because they did not enjoy water or there were things that didn't like visitors. Either way, they made no move to meet me in their group. I would be running for my life if they had. When it was confirmed, for the most part, that they were marooned on their spit of land, I finished my evaluation of the room.
"Hm, intelligence must be low with these things." I spied a bridge of sorts that made a clear path from an outside border to the solidary island. The Ghouls were making no movements to cross it, no doubt the danger of these things coming from their persistence and well-used strength.
Even after I had completely examined the important areas, the Ghouls were still staring. I had foolishly attempted to see how diligent they were, walking to the edge of the pool and move a ways from where I had started, obviously not towards my only entrance to their 'home'. They had followed me with their eyes every step of the way, keeping their bodies still. Unnerving indeed, but a good amount of information provided.
"I wonder if there is a bestiary on things. If not, it would be nice to be able to profit from having these experiences." I was legitimately not sure if a record like so existed. It could have and I have never read it, or no one could have tried to make such a thing because of the danger. With all the scouting done, I had formulate a plan, which was very hard to do with only me and many things that wanted me not to be around. I had to stay out of their sight, as well as keep their attention away from me.
"I do not want to do this. You know, Ria, you could have gotten at least one more person to be able to come with me. That would make things so much easier." I stood at the edge of the pool, the beasts still staring at me and only breaking their sight when I was completely out of theirs. They had resumed their contact when I returned, though. I couldn't tell why, but I had a feeling in my gut that what I was looking for was sitting in the middle of the monsters. If I was wrong, I would be constantly cursing myself until I was actually done. I had the lifeless body of the first Ghoul on the edge of the water, heaving it into the cloudy liquid. It was not unexpected that a still water source would be quite dirtier than a normal pool. The body made a big splash and didn't come up when it was submerged. The water went back to being still once again, but I wasn't about to assume it was absent of predators nonetheless. I gave movement to make ripples for a few minutes before concluding it was empty, besides a body now.
"You know, you all are making this way harder than it already is." I was speaking directly to the Ghouls, still with an unbroken stare but definitely not expecting an answer back. I wasn't going to do my next task with a crowd, so I retreated out of sight behind a wall. A couple deep breaths and the remaining clothing on my body was gone. In a flash, I was completely naked with nothing but the scroll remaining in my possession. I was extremely uncomfortable, eyes darting to see if anything was around. Getting my things back on was not the hard part, as I could simply will it back, it was the fact I had to either stay naked until I dried or try to stand having increasingly wetter clothing on.
"Those things are going to come back and see me, I know it. Oh, I forgot to test this thing in water." The scroll was shown to be able to take quite a bit, making it unbreakable at this point, but it would not be a surprise to know that water could be the one thing that it is weak against. I had no choice but to continue on, preferably quickly, to see how it would react.
"Okay, 3…2…1!" I sprinted from the safety of my wall, diving into the stale water. To my surprise, the temperature wasn't freezing but only a little cold. What came to no surprise was how cloudy my vision below the surface was. If anything was waiting for a live meal to enter its domain, I would be no challenge against it. My head and shoulders resurfaced, sight coming back slowly. I was greeted with the remaining Ghouls staring at me, making me suddenly self-conscious. Despite nothing besides a small fraction of my chest showing, I couldn't handle their emotionless and unmoving eyes laying on me again.
"Freaky things have to stop staring at me." I grimaced at the monsters, diving again under the water. I wasn't eaten from my chest down, yet, so this stuff seemed surprisingly empty. My plan was simple: If these beings depended on sight, then all I had to do was keep out of it. I never tested their vision when it came to seeing underneath the cloudy water, so it was possible this would come up with nothing and I wasted my time getting wet.
It was hard for me to keep my eyes open, so I had to push myself to get around the one end of the concrete before I was aimlessly swimming forward. I pushed my tiring body forward, gasping and needing to resurface. I couldn't make much noise, preferably completely silent, when I come back up or else the beasts would come shambling again.
Keeping my body largely against the disgusting walls, I came back up to silence. Gasping for air and feeling like I just swam in century old bath water, the only positive was that I was alone. The monsters didn't come to meet me again, giving me a chance to get through the merciless beasts without losing my own life.
The concrete platform had handholds along the borders, giving me a way to pull myself out of the water. I kept myself close to any kind of cover, not wanting to give up the only advantage I had right now. I could hear the Ghouls dragging their weapons and meandering aimlessly, not quite coming towards me.
'Alright, I am not going to get by these things without dying first.' I had to continue to think of more steps of the plan one at a time. There was no way I could predict what these monsters would do. I would have to dispatch the beings one by one or else I would be overtaken by the ones that were left.
'Alright, I will have to take one out quickly. I can't be throwing my normal weapon around with its length.' I pulled my scroll up, expecting it to be soaked through or, at worst, partially ripped.
'There is no way this can be explained.' I was unbelievably surprised to see the scroll undamaged as well as bone dry. This scroll was not made by any mortal magic. When the moment of amazement passed, I unrolled it quietly to see what I had to choose from.
'Hm, enchanted ring is too obvious…blunt weapons are completely useless…I think this can work." After some considerations, I decided to bring out a tanto into my hand. It was no more than a foot, sharing a texture to the basic broadsword I have been using, but much more worn. It was definitely not going to be useful after now, but it would cut through flesh deep enough.
'Go for the head, give it no time to react.' A scroll in one hand and the tanto in the other, I was equipped for the couple I needed to cut down before bringing on the horde remaining. The scraping of weapons were growing, meaning they were getting a little closer each second. They were certainly mindless, but they most likely had their scouting pattern memorized. I was not about to get caught now, even though I did have an escape in front of me, scuttling up the wall I was leaning against using the chunks that have been removed over time. With my chest against the cold material, not helping that I wasn't small in that area, I did my best to stay hidden. Peeking out the best I could, I noticed they didn't like looking up and kept me from being largely seen. The height of the wall I was perched on was also rather high, meaning their first thought, if it ever occurred to them at all, was not to look at the tops of their maze of concrete.
A burst of confidence also came up when I scanned around the area, not paying attention to the enemies around. In a pile in a corner of walls was a rather large treasure trove of items. Best of all was that laying on top was an ornate scroll, smaller than my own and not having any frayed edges, and bound with a gold and red lined silk length of ribbon. There was no mistake, that was what I had been looking for the whole time. The morale that drove me got a huge boost, clearing my head and getting me to focus a lot closer.
'So I have one beside me, one in front of me, one shambling randomly, and another probably looking around where I was before.' I was going entirely off of a gut feeling with the last Ghoul. If I was wrong, then he could cause me to have a future problem. Either way, I already had an idea about what would come next. I would have to lure the group around to pick them off before taking of whichever ones remained, if any.
'Alright, let's see what I can afford to drop.' I tried my best to unroll the scroll, laying it flat and checking my inventory. I had a few tanto's, picked up from enemies or dead mercenaries from before. Those unprepared idiots would have not gotten even remotely close this area. I willed another tanto out from its void and scuttled backwards until I was facing where I had originally come from. The roaming beast had not emerged from the corner, meaning I had to bring it there to get my spot without attracting more.
The tanto made a audible sound as the blade scratched the ground, followed by the hilt impacting afterwards. The sound worked, getting the beast to ungraciously come to the fallen item. It wasn't in its fighting stance, club still scraping the ground as it approached. If it had been more prepared, it would cause problems with me getting behind it from above.
I knew where to strike, dropping onto the beast's back and swiping my tanto at its neck. Thankfully, the monster had a slower reaction time, my blade getting through the flesh. With it getting largely beheaded, the beast fell forward and deceased without being able to fight back. It was a surprising outcome and a nice change to being ambushed or being in constant danger. The sound that came from the body dropping to the ground was not silent, but I couldn't hear any of its allies coming at any rate. Whether it was the group not being any kind of solid force or the low common sense, it was clear they had no allegiance to each other in any capacity. None of the groups so far had shown any capacity to be an organized force.
Sneaking around and keeping close to the wall still, I scouted the locations the best I could away from the uncomfortable chill of the walls top. The Ghoul from before was still standing in the same place, although its eyes were firmly locked on my position. A chill ran up my spine, and I know it was looking at me. A breath got caught and I was prepared for the worst, with the current events being nothing more than a staring contest. It was making me uncomfortable, as I was still nude, and a loud grunt behind me turned my entire body around to get a view at what was moving. I was greeted with one of the Ghouls coming at me, weapon raised and ready to kill.
"Alright, bad timing!" The Ghoul hadn't reached his dead friend, yet. I had a chance to run but there was still an unknown number of similar enemies remaining. I was dry enough now that I comfortably had my clothing put back on me as well as switching equipment. The tanto still on me was replaced with my well-used broadsword and beaten buckler. I was prepared and focused for the foe coming at me, lowering my body as it came at me and meeting it half way. Expectedly, it possessed no tactics other than swing wildly. Using the same tactic of keeping myself low and harder to hit, the Ghoul was dispatched in record time.
That was the plan, at least. Getting in my position, I was more than ready to clear this platform easily. Behind me from the other end of the wall almost completely spanning the area came another monster, most likely the one that was standing guard in the center as well. It was ready to fight and I was at a huge disadvantage. My adrenaline pumped and I made a snap decision. I focused all my efforts to laying the current monster into the ground by crippling it. Instead of trying to get a killing strike, an advantage would still be made if I evened the odds. After a strike by the initial Ghoul, I swiped horizontally and used enough force to cut clean through both the Ghouls legs. The monster fell with the loss, not making a noise, although the thing was immobilized most likely of shock.
The Ghoul behind me was still coming, closing the distance and ready to fight like its previously whole ally. I went after the Ghoul in return, to get close quickly as well as leaving the immensely hindered opponent. This was taken out much like any other, the body being dumped into the still water when in two. When I returned to the previous Ghoul, it was unmoving. For my safety and to be sure I was done fighting, I impaled it a couple more times.
"Right, I am still expecting more. I wonder why they didn't come as well." Whatever the reason, it was both comforting and alarming. I did remember I killed two and there were at least two others walking around that could possibly be close or not. Without a need to sneak anymore and partially out of my own personal fear of injury, my armor got re-equipped.
I wasn't sure where the Ghouls went, but I was able to walk up to the treasures with no occurrences. Most importantly, the pile had the decorated scroll sitting largely untouched on the top. Along with that, it had a few more ornate objects that included both a sharp elven longsword and a torc alongside it. I had no idea what properties the torc held, just knowing that the material had an enchantment that increased the durability of the rest of my armor. If I was a mage, it would be very useful without armor on but as I was already content with wearing full sets of metal, it was just making me more of a walking tank. The longsword was much more useful to me right now, giving me a much needed upgrade to my worn down current weapon.
"I hate decrepit places, I won't be getting used to this." The Elven blade felt light and glided through the air with ease. I never had a taste for the lighter style of weapons, being much more comfortable with the weight of heavier metals giving my attacks more momentum.
"Grawwwwww!" A loud wail came from my only clear exit, and it didn't take me looking to know what was approaching. The question I had was whether it was both of the remaining Ghouls or just one. My turn back revealed it was indeed both of the remaining Ghouls, weapons raised and more than prepared to fight. I returned the feeling, Elven weapon crossed in front of me. Like most enemies, they did not work well together and fought to get to me first. This was only an advantage and I knew how to exploit it quickly. The tight space and the beasts general size meant they were rather close together.
"Two kills quickly." I charged forward and met my enemies to only have them fumble with each others weapons, giving me a chance to block the slowed blows without consequences and they were dispatched in two diagonal strikes. I gave too much strength to my blow, the blade sparking the concrete as they made contact with each other.
"Too much strength, I will not get used to this light metal." With the scroll in my possession, I made my way off the solid island using the bridge that I seen before. I could definitely not remember the path back on my own, so my own much less opulent scroll directed me back to the entrance of the stronghold, faster as I found a pathway through broken or eroded walls.
The sunset greeted me, not quite a welcoming sight as I had to get moving quickly or else more time would cause my quest to fail. Getting my basic direction, I started to move forward. I had gotten quite well at reading the map, fumbles coming at the start by the dozen. The map only showed symbols unless I wanted more information, and I had a representation on the surface. My direction was pointed like an arrow depending on where my body was facing.
Instead of walking, I did not want to take more time than necessary if I could help it. I decided to jog as fast as I could, cutting my trip from the ten days before to a little more than half that. Along the way, I had a lot to think about, especially what my next step would be. The location of Fang Lair would be mine soon and I would have to move again elsewhere. I would also have to be prepared and this place was not simple and even more occupied by strong beings than the last one. From this stronghold forward, I would have to continue to grow back into my younger, military self until this was over. The thought brought up a question I remember only asking once, when I was first out of the Imperial City: How long would this take? I didn't expect this to take a short time, but this was not just a run around Hammerfell. I would be visiting the close neighbor of High Rock to the unwelcoming area of Black Marsh. Just getting to the disconnected landmass Summerset Isle was going to be extremely difficult. The only lifelines I had right now that could be of some help were the father and son duo of Lej and Beej. Whether they were going to be with me the entire time or simply gave me a hand once was to be determined.