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The Dragon Cult's temple was massive and dug deep into the mountain. And even from a distance, despite thousands of years passing, it still looked majestic.

But while I was enjoying the spectacle, I was interrupted by a small object flying my way quickly. It took me a moment to realize it was an arrow.

However, it was shot from quite the distance, and even as I continued walking, it missed.

It wasn't the only arrow fired, however, as three more quickly arrived, one of which would hit me if I did nothing.

A Force Push was all I needed to blast them away.

Reaching the crypt itself, I saw the bandits, and there were a bit more than what I remembered.

Instead of the three or four bandits, there were around twenty to thirty of them.

And they were smarter than in the game.

The crypt was a few meters taller above the ground, with a set of stairs leading up. Currently, there were ten archers standing above me, while bandits with shields stood on top of the steps, forming a shield wall.

I could also see another group of bandits behind them, armed with different kinds of weapons, and ready to attack me.

So that's why Lucian was hesitant.

"Give up! We have the high ground!"

Rolling my eyes at the bandit, I leapt forward, going faster than the archers could follow as I jumped on the stairs, directly facing the shield wall.

Before they could push me back, I thrust my hand forward, destroying their formation with the Force as I now found myself right in the middle of them.

Unlike the Imperials, however, these men were not training to fight together, nor did they have enough armor.

Using the weight of my greatsword for additional momentum, I spun around myself, holding my sword with the tip of the handle as the blade crashed into the bandits, cutting deep into them as they cried miserably.

Slowing down before I would get dizzy, I felt a pain in my thigh, and looking down, I noticed an arrow planted in there.

Damn it.

Not bothering to take it out this time, I positioned myself in a way that the bandits would block the line of sight from the archers, and continued swinging my sword.

But as the battle progressed, I realized some of my shortcomings.

Despite the blade not feeling that heavy, it still had quite the momentum, and because of my lack of skills with the blade, I often broke my own defense while attacking, resulting in several cuts.

Because I wasn't wearing any armor but only clothes, despite the Stat difference, those attacks actually hurt.

Five minutes into the fight, and the bandits seemed to still be ever so many, and I cursed Faendal in my mind. They were clearly more than 50!

But as I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, and the archers started stacking up, I was puzzled to find the bandits retreating.

It was only for a moment though, as I realized they had formed a circle around me, surrounding me with shields while a couple dozen of archers were aiming their bows at me, from all directions. I wouldn't be deflecting those with the Force.

They did not fire though. Instead, one of the bandits stepped forward, and I immediately noticed he was different.

Instead of the fur or hide armor, he had an actual leather armor. And on his balding head, instead of the regular leather helmet, was a bejeweled crown, which was no doubt enchanted.

"It was brave of you to come attack us on your own… or foolish. Why are you even here?"

Frowning, I replied, "Why should I tell you? You are about to die anyway."

The bandit looked stunned, before he burst into laughter, followed by the rest of the band.

"How come? You have a hundred men in hiding, maybe?"

He crossed his arms, snorting, "Listen, killing you here would be a waste of time. You are quite clumsy with the blade, but you are quite fucking strong. So how about it? One of my men crossed me, and stole something precious from me, before fleeing into the crypt. It is something precious, and I would like to get it back, but this is a dangerous place, and I would rather not waste men on this."

He pointed at the ruin, and continued, "My proposition, is that I let you get in. You try to clear the crypt, and if you manage to catch the cunt Arvel, and return to me with what he stole, then I'll let you join us. How's that? Better than dying, right?"

To anyone without game knowledge, I would be a moron to accept. It was obvious that even if I managed to clear the dungeon and get what was stolen back, which was probably the Golden Claw, this guy would never really let me leave, and instead kill me on the spot.

However, having played the game, I knew that at the end of the crypt was a hidden path, leading out on the other side of the mountain.

Meaning, accepting would actually be the wisest choice. I would get in the tomb without having to kill any more bandits, and I would be able to leave freely with what I came for in the beginning.

"Piss off, cunt. You're all dying here."

That's not the choice I made.

The bandit leader sneered at me, taking out a pair of daggers, "Fool."

This seemed to be the signal for the archers as they all fired at me at once, and so I found myself surrounded by arrows.

As for me… I did not want to activate it, because of the pain that would follow, but as I was surrounded by them and felt death's soft breath on my nape, my Genetic Constraint seemed to open by itself.

The world slowed down as I felt everything become clearer.

Freeing one of my hands from my blade, I crouched down, twisting my body as I used the Force to stop the last few arrows that would have hit me.

Under the incredulous eyes of the bandits, the rest of the arrows all missed me, narrowly for most, but still missed me.

And before they could fire another volley, I jumped at the bandit leader, swinging my sword upward with one hand, with speed I did not even know I could reach.

The bandit leader looked shocked himself as he tried to step back, but found himself bumping into two of his subordinates, and now unable to dodge.

He brought his daggers forward, and met my blade with them.

Despite swinging with a single hand, the sword still carried an immense power with it. The daggers were Elven, however, and sturdy enough to resist the shock as the bandit slid a meter back, his arms shaking.

He wasn't in a very good condition, but with the rest of the bandits around him, I could not reach him in time.

Shifting my attention to the other bandits, I slipped right into their midst, stopping the archers from shooting me by using their comrades' bodies to hide as I danced among them.

I hadn't magically learned swordsmanship with the Genetic Constraint. However, my instincts were heightened to such a degree that I used my body, and any weapon it could find, to my maximum.

And that's why I was surprised to quickly find the Greatsword uncomfortable. Following what my body told me, I threw it at one of the archers, before rolling on the ground, grabbing a one handed iron sword on the way.

This choice didn't make sense to the logical me. Not only was Steel much better than Iron, but since the weight of the Greatsword was not a problem to me, then the Steel Greatsword was superior to the Iron Sword in every way.

Yet, I listened to my instincts, and as I cut through the bandits' ranks, I started understanding.

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