Spectral.

—

After that brief episode with the skeleton lady, who had a miserable fate of being tied down to the material plane for so long, William resumes his journey with more silence this time. Not wanting to alert any enemy that might accidentally hear him and decide to investigate, like the lady last time who managed to trace his steps into the mushroom cave. Arriving at the chamber where he had fallen and the snow, some of which has already melted into water, William then has no choice but to spend his entire day enchanting the room with Hydrosophist ice magic.

Sealing the door with frosted dirt between the gaps where outside heat can enter, William finally finishes securing his water storage for his survival to be trapped in this dungeon. Resuming his journey once more to find an exit or running water, his inner thoughts couldn't help but fall into a "what if" loop of circumstances. Like if he had not killed the Elder Dragon Priest and pushed that guy to the edges, he could well be on his way to Rorikstead right now. Or like if he just listened to his instinctive déjà vu at that time, he might be the one who is wielding the Staff right now.

Not until he found many sarcophagi where the skeleton lady was supposed to be guarded did he stop his brooding. Frowning because unlike in the franchise where the coffins can be counted by the handful, this sight in front of him cannot be compared. Thousands upon thousands of sarcophagi lined up according to the strata of the level of Draugr, William can see one or two hundred of them rising to their feet.

His current location is elevated above; he then snipes all of them, even the ones who are still sleeping, for six hours straight without even a break, leaving only a handful of them to do some research on. After all of that is done, William then goes back to the Glowing Mushroom caves to eat and sleep inside the enchanted frozen rooms before continuing his activities.

Just like that, his first day in this ruins passed in a silent abyss without anyone to accompany him. Not even a cricket or bugs, or the sound of night, can be heard from this ancient buried city. Now that he thought about it, William wonders what specifically happened to this Labyrinthian city that the majority of the structure is buried under the earth like this.

Since, from what he has derived so far by observing the enchantments inside the stones of this ruins, the ancient Nordic people are pretty much at the same level of arcane knowledge as the Dwemer people. The only difference is that they are more focused on the souls side of things, while the Dwemer are more inclined toward puppetry with artificial souls. Even though both are using Tonal sorcery with their common choice of school of magic.

But one thing is for sure though, no matter how great they were in their peak era, all of them are still buried beneath history, forgotten and abandoned. Maybe that's why his brother Elder Scrolls, never bothered to become great and just enjoyed the current moment by only watching intently on the events, like a spectator viewing a movie. So, coming out of his contemplation, William rises to his feet after sleeping for 6 hours straight, wanting to resume his journey to map the surrounding area and also tries to find water or an exit.

—

Studying the diagram on how Draugr are made, which essentially operates like skeleton necromancy, with the only difference being that the souls are literally the soldiers of the dragon cult army, William wonders why there are so many of them. Because, from what he knows so far, this zombie 2.0 is basically here to guard the tomb from intruders, not to store stockable soldiers.

And the most important question is: what and why are they guarding it in the first place? He means that these people clearly worship the Dragon as the highest being in their society, not the Priest or some nobles in that Merethic Era. Surely, the place they need to guard is the tomb of those Dragons placed in the open field in Skyrim, not here, in this ancient city that is already buried deep underground within kilometers of earth.

Seemingly on the precipice of uncovering some conspiracy that would make the world go numb upon hearing it, William is once again distracted by the sound of a deep, growling voice. Turning his head to the west side, where he can see a new type of enemy that he has not encountered so far, he shoots it and returns to his research, once again focusing on the dead Draugr Death Overlord in front of him.

However, not a second later, realizing that his Mystic Bullets have passed through the enemy, he immediately bolts out of this place, wanting to escape from a group of Spectral Warhounds and their Spectral Draugr master. Thinking fast on how he can combat them since he doesn't have a combat-ready spell to harm incorporeal entities, he then remembers the chipped away Dimeritium in his pocket that was still there when he studied the metal to create a special shot for Morokei.

Turning around to the nearest Spectral Warhound, he then shoots the very small chunk of metal with the initial push of the Mystic Bullet. The Dimeritium passes through the hound like a knife through butter, and the incorporeal enemy dies just like that. But knowing that he only has five small chunks left and not enough for the eleven of them, William lets himself be bitten by the hounds. Placing his palm over the belly of the spectral beast that has the metal, he then lines up the shot to hit another enemy in the distance.

Two birds with one stone, he manages to make a piercing shot. Just like that, he repeats the same routine again and again until only one single Spectral Draugr is left. Raising his bloody, quivering hand in the direction of the Dimeritium metal lying on the floor, William tries something he has never done before. The third and second spectrums work simultaneously, straining his mind with the overload of information, William then calculates in real-time the bouncing trajectory angle of the metal if he just shoots at the tip of that Dimeritium.

Shoots and fails, he lets out a sigh of resignation. Picking up the Ancient Nord Sword from the normal Draugr that he killed yesterday, it seems that he needs to do the battle in the old-fashioned way. Fencing stance ready, he then slashes upward to block the incoming Drainblood Battleaxe. Slightly stepping to the side, he raises his left, quivering palm to the Draugr's face. With a Force Push spell from the Aerotheurge element like that of the mini version of Aard, the enemy loses his balance. In one swift movement, he then stabs his sword into the Spectral Draugr's neck.

But it seems this type of Draugr manages to have a Health Point system that needs to be stabbed multiple times before finally being dead for good. So, once again dancing with the Nordling warrior of old, he finally manages to kill it for good after receiving a diagonal cut through his shoulders. First aid needed to be done; he then had no choice but to sit in this former battlefield to heal his wounds first. Even though he knows that the loud fight earlier surely drew attention once again.

—