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*****
"What are you standing there dazed for? Go take a look and see which things are valuable. Pack up everything that's worth money, and we'll take it all with us."
George picked up the Dragonstone from the table situated beneath the Word Wall. He glanced over and saw Arvel still kneeling on the ground, his face completely covered in an expression of shock, prompting George to remind him of the task.
When it came to the skill of appraising the value of items, he was certainly no match for Arvel, who was a native-born adventurer.
Therefore, this kind of 'clean-up' work was, naturally, much better left to Arvel.
Over on his side, Arvel snapped back to his senses. He scrambled to his feet and, not daring to show the slightest hint of laziness, immediately began searching the main chamber, gathering up every valuable item he could find.
Eight Divines above! He shattered the Draugr Overlord with a single shout. This man was simply more terrifying than that Ulfric Stormcloak.
"Here lies our fallen king. He shall be awakened by the power of Alduin."
George gazed at the Dragon language etched on the Dragonstone, silently translating its contents in his mind.
He, naturally, did not actually understand the Dragon language. However, in his previous life, he had heard his roommate mention the translated meaning of the text on the Dragonstone.
He flipped the Dragonstone over. The back of it was carved with a map, which clearly marked the burial locations of the deceased dragons.
After committing the map on the Dragonstone to memory, George placed the artifact right back where he had found it.
He had no intention of taking the Dragonstone to Whiterun to claim a reward. The loot harvested from the barrow, once sold for gold, would be more than enough to cover his expenses for some time.
If he were to take the Dragonstone, it might interfere with the Dragonborn's destiny, potentially preventing them from successfully traveling to High Hrothgar to learn the Dragon Shouts.
This action would inevitably attract the attention of the Dragon God, Akatosh.
Ilúvatar had told him that as long as he did not drastically alter the development of the main story, he generally wouldn't attract too much attention from the world's Creator.
From the Creator's perspective, as long as the final outcome of the story remained largely unchanged, it was perfectly normal for a few unexpected incidents to occur along the way.
However, if the changes were too significant, it would become very difficult to remain concealed.
In the story of The Elder Scrolls V, the Dragonborn's primary mission is to defeat Alduin.
Therefore, George could go to Winterhold, he could visit Solitude, he could even go and complete all the side quests and DLC content, but it was best that he avoided interfering with the critical Dragonstone.
Besides, Akatosh wasn't exactly the true Creator, but rather a manifestation of less than half of the Creator's splintered power.
Furthermore, it was likely he couldn't even project his full power onto the continent of Tamriel.
But there was absolutely no reason to go out of his way to offend Akatosh, especially since there was no significant benefit for him in doing so.
"Sir, all the valuable items are in here."
Roughly half an hour later, Arvel returned, dragging a massive sack easily as tall as a man. He approached George, trembling with trepidation.
His task was complete, which also meant he no longer had any immediate value. He could be killed at any moment.
"I am giving you two choices:
First, I hand you over to the proprietor down in Riverwood.
Second, you become my follower. I will return your freedom to you after one year."
George reached out and took the large sack, his tone of voice completely neutral as he stated the options.
Arvel's body stiffened upon hearing this, and a look of profound hesitation appeared on his face.
Logic dictated that he should choose the first option.
With the first option, the worst outcome would be the Riverwood proprietor handing him over to be imprisoned. If he was willing to spend some gold and call in a few favors, he could probably get out within a few months.
He hadn't killed anyone, and he didn't have a serious criminal record. He was just a thief, and theft wasn't considered a major crime.
However, Arvel had never been a particularly rational person.
If he were truly rational, he never would have run all the way from Morrowind to Skyrim, stolen the Golden Claw, and attempted to enter Bleak Falls Barrow in the first place.
He loved adventure, he loved exploring, and he loved discovering new things. He aspired to become the number one adventurer on the continent.
Yet, this expedition into Bleak Falls Barrow had forced him to realize that with his meager level of strength, if he continued adventuring, he would sooner or later end up dead in some forgotten ruin.
But to just give up his dream of being an adventurer, return to Morrowind, and live the rest of his life as a farmer... he was completely unwilling to accept that.
Therefore, George's second option deeply moved him.
It was exceedingly obvious that George was an adventurer of immense, terrifying power.
Following a man like this, even if only as a mere follower, he would definitely be exposed to many things he could never have accessed before.
Take Bleak Falls Barrow, for example. A tomb of this caliber... with his own strength, he would have been fundamentally incapable of ever reaching the core area, let alone witnessing such a magnificent main chamber.
But following George, it was laughably easy, and there was absolutely no danger whatsoever.
"Sir! I am willing to become your follower! I await your commands!"
"Very good."
Hearing Arvel's answer, George nodded his head in satisfaction.
"Look and see if there is a mechanism in this chamber that leads directly to the outside."
He remembered from the game that at the end of basically every dungeon, there was a mechanism or a hidden door that led to an exit, saving the player from having to backtrack the entire way.
Arvel immediately replied upon hearing the order:
"Sir, there are no mechanisms at all in this chamber. I already looked thoroughly while I was collecting the items just now."
"None?"
George was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly understood the situation.
That made sense. Realistically, who would build a special back door for their own tomb?
If that back door were discovered from the outside, tomb raiders could completely bypass all the defense mechanisms at the entrance and simply pick the lock to gain direct access.
The inclusion of a back door in the game was purely a convenience, designed to save the player time when leaving. It didn't conform to any normal logic.
"Forget it. In that case, I'll just make one myself."
Having thought it through, he wasn't too concerned. Instead, he walked over to the wall at the far end of the main chamber. He twitched his ears slightly, roughly judging the position of the exterior, and then smashed his fist straight into it.
"Boom!"
With a tremendous explosion, the thick, solid rock wall was instantly blasted open, leaving a gaping hole large enough for a person to pass through.
Through the massive hole, the sky was perfectly clear. Far below, one could faintly make out the miniaturized form of Riverwood.
"Sir... it's so high up. We have no way of getting down from here, do we?"
Arvel was no longer particularly surprised that George had punched a new exit clean through the mountain; he had seen George do similar things several times now and had grown numb to it.
It was just that this exit opened out onto the sheer face of the mountainside. The surroundings were incredibly steep, and the altitude was nearly three thousand meters. There was absolutely no way to climb down normally.
"We don't need to do something so troublesome."
George casually lifted Arvel with one hand and the massive, full bag of loot with the other. Then, he simply stepped forward and leaped off the ledge.
"Aaaah! Aaaah! AAAAAH!"
Feeling the terrifyingly rapid acceleration as they plummeted, Arvel immediately let out a blood-curdling scream of terror.
Jumping from such a height, even the strongest warrior in the world would be splattered into meat paste upon impact. It was certain death.
He had been willing to become George's follower because he hoped for new adventures, but he had never expected the first adventure to come so quickly, or to be this... stimulating.
No, this couldn't even be called an adventure. This was simply suicide.
As he watched their speed of descent increase, the rocks at the base of the mountain becoming terrifyingly clear, Arvel shut his eyes tightly in despair.
However, just at that moment, he suddenly felt their velocity begin to decelerate. A tremendous rushing sound filled his ears.
He opened his eyes and looked to his right. His expression immediately froze in utter disbelief.
It turned out that George, just moments before they hit the ground, had taken a massive breath, and then exhaled it vertically downward. Relying on the powerful counter-force generated by this exhale, he gradually slowed their descent, allowing them to land safely.
In reality, given George's physical constitution, this maneuver was completely unnecessary. He could jump from a height of three thousand meters and suffer no injuries at all.
But, considering that Arvel's body would not be able to withstand the impact, he had opted to use this clever little trick instead.
(End of this chapter)