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"It looks like they all died right here!"
After twisting and turning through the passages, George entered a burial chamber and saw three bandits who had been shot until they looked like bristling hedgehogs. He now knew that all the bandits who had chased the Dark Elf inside were likely completely dead.
Including their bandit leader.
"This certainly saves me some trouble."
After taking the gold coins, gems, and other valuable burial goods that the bandit leader had looted from the tomb, George continued to walk deeper into the ancient crypt.
In front of him was a heavy, iron-barred gate. To the right were three rotating stone pillars. One needed to turn all the pillars to the correct, specified symbols before they could pull the lever that operated the gate's mechanism.
If the combination was wrong, what greeted you would be a dense barrage of poison arrows.
The bandit leader and his two men had clearly turned the wrong symbols, and thus died beneath the poison arrows.
George, however, couldn't be bothered to fiddle with the pillars one by one, nor did he even touch the lever. He walked directly up to the iron-barred gate, grabbed it with both hands, and with a forceful pull, simply tore an opening in the bars large enough for one person to pass through. He then strode right past it.
After passing the iron gate, he soon encountered a swarm of bloodthirsty plague rats.
Facing the dense swarm of plague rats, he simply clapped his hands together forcefully. A powerful blast of air erupted from the impact, sending all the rats flying into the walls, where they burst into bloody chunks.
He couldn't use magic, but if he really wanted to, by relying on his terrifying physical body, it wasn't impossible for him to create effects that were very similar to magic.
"What a pity. They have all completely decayed. Otherwise, I could have taken a look at them."
After passing the iron-barred gate, he had clearly entered the core section of the ancient tomb. Many books, left as burial offerings, began to appear.
It was just that because the era was too far gone, and the books had not been specially treated for preservation, they had all completely rotted and were impossible to read.
They turned to dust at the slightest touch.
If he were able to use magic at this moment, he could possibly reverse time on them and restore them.
But in truth, it didn't really matter. Once he got to Winterhold, he would find the largest library in all of Skyrim. He could basically find any book there.
"Help! Help! Somebody, save me!"
After descending a flight of stairs to the lower level of the tomb, George very quickly heard the desperate cries for help from that Dark Elf.
"Very good. Three thousand Septims are about to be in my grasp."
The corner of his mouth ticked up. Following the sound, George soon arrived in another burial chamber.
This burial chamber was quite special. It was covered everywhere in thick spider webs, and there were dried corpses entangled in the webs, eaten until nothing but empty husks remained.
If a normal person were to walk in, they would probably faint from fright at the very first glance.
And at the far end of the chamber, suspended in the air, was the Dark Elf, struggling desperately and shouting for help.
He was precisely that same Dark Elf who had stolen the Golden Dragon Claw, intending to hoard all the treasure for himself.
"It seems these Frostbite Spiders have some intelligence."
Frostbite Spiders are a type of magical creature in the Elder Scrolls world. Their appearance is somewhat similar to the Acromantulas from the Harry Potter world.
They can not only spray a potent toxin from a distance and spit silk to entangle their prey, but their close-combat strength is also extremely terrifying.
The crucial point is that they are almost always found in groups. The ones that live for many years can grow to be seven or eight meters large, just like a massive tank.
The Frostbite Spider here was clearly one of those types that had lived for a very long time and had already developed intelligence.
It hadn't killed the Dark Elf after catching him, but had instead just entangled him, leaving him there to shout for help. This was clearly a lure to attract more prey.
Sure enough, just as George walked into the chamber, a movement immediately came from the large, pitch-black hole in the ceiling above.
George raised his head to look, and saw a giant spi... Spider Girl?
He blinked his eyes. George looked carefully at the giant Frostbite Spider that had just landed in front of him, along with a group of smaller spiders, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
The smaller spiders were fine; they looked exactly the same as the Frostbite Spiders from the game in his previous life.
But that giant Frostbite Spider was completely different. Its lower body was indeed that of a spider, but its upper body had the appearance of a human female.
It was just that, due to its enormous frame, even though the upper body had a human female's appearance, it was also magnified by four or five times.
Therefore, certain parts... were huge. Extremely large. Her features were also quite beautiful, and her expression was alluring. It was just the bloodstains lingering at the corners of her mouth that made her overall appearance seem very unnatural and dangerous.
"So monster girls actually exist in this world..."
Seeing the Spider Girl, her face filled with bloodlust, leading her offspring to pounce toward him, George just shook his head. He leaped into the air and, with a single flying kick, caused the Spider Girl's head to explode.
Afterward, he dealt with the group of small spiders in the same way he had dealt with those rats, killing them all.
He certainly didn't have any... unique hobbies that would make him interested in a half-human, half-spider monster.
He swiped his empty hand forward. A blade formed purely from compressed air shot out and severed the spider web binding the Dark Elf. George stepped forward and commanded:
"Hand over the Golden Dragon Claw!"
"Oh, of course! That claw... I, I know how to use it! I know how to use the symbols to match and open that big door in the Hall of Stories..."
The Dark Elf tore the remaining webs off his body, stalling George with empty words while his dark eyes darted around, already preparing to escape.
He had only just lifted his foot to take a step when he heard George's ice-cold voice, which was filled with killing intent:
"I would advise you to think very clearly about your next move."
His body couldn't help but tremble. The Dark Elf, Arvel, subconsciously froze, his feet rooted to the spot.
His intuition screamed at him that if he dared to turn and run with the Golden Dragon Claw right now, he would absolutely end up just like that giant Frostbite Spider—with his head kicked into an exploding pulp.
"N-No! Don't kill me! This is the Golden Dragon Claw! Keep me alive, I can help you open the great door!"
Wiping the cold sweat that had beaded on his forehead, Arvel swallowed hard. With extreme reluctance, he unhooked the Golden Dragon Claw from his belt and handed it to George.
George took the claw and said flatly:
"Follow behind me."
Passing through the spider's nesting chamber, George arrived in a large hall that looked like some kind of sacrificial altar. He stared with great interest at the magical runes that covered its surface.
Arvel, standing beside him, was quick to speak up, eager to demonstrate his own value. He hurriedly began to explain:
"The ancient Nords believed that death wasn't the end! They believed they could be resurrected through sacrificial rituals, so basically every major ancient Nord tomb has an altar just like this one.
Every time there's a full moon, the draugr in the tomb will gather here and worship the altar, attempting to resurrect the tomb's true master.
But in reality, not a single one has ever been truly resurrected. Their souls were annihilated long ago, leaving behind nothing but base instincts."
"It seems you know quite a lot, don't you?"
George looked at Arvel, a little surprised.
He didn't have much of an impression of this fellow from the game, only remembering that after being rescued, he would anxiously try to run away, and would then promptly die at the hands of the draugr further in.
"Sir, please! Don't look down on me just because my combat strength is poor! I am a veteran thief and an experienced adventurer! I have researched the history of the ancient Nords, the Dwarves, and the Snow Elves. I'm an expert at disarming all kinds of traps and mechanisms!"
Arvel said this with an utterly fawning expression on his face.
"I just so happen to be in need of a guide. This Arvel fellow isn't a bad choice."
George nodded to himself.
He hadn't planned on killing Arvel from the beginning. At most, Arvel was just a petty thief. He hadn't killed anyone, so his crimes weren't worthy of death.
He hadn't expected that this Arvel would actually be well-versed in history. In that case, he was indeed somewhat useful to him.
This realistic Elder Scrolls world had many differences from the game world. With Arvel around, many things would likely become much simpler and more convenient.
(End of this chapter)