2.17

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With the fight that took place in front of the tomb, every bandit had already been drawn out, making the first part of the tomb nothing more than a looting spree.

However, it was also somewhat frustrating, as right when I was in the middle of hoarding the contents of a chest, I realized something critical.

My bag was full.

And only as I looked through it did I realize I had forgotten something.

The enchanted clothes of the mage under Helgen. I had forgotten to give them to Sarah.

It didn't really matter to her, she wasn't going to really need it for the day, although I guess it could have helped for credibility with the College, but more than anything, it took place in my bag for nothing.

As for the rest of my bag… well, I had five precious gems, and the rest was just potions.

Curses to whomever decided to shape potions as phials. Couldn't they just use cans? It would take much less place and be less of a pain to store.

Although, I still had some place to store the Septims and the gems I found, because they basically took no space in my bag, but it was the potions I could not store.

So instead of just leaving them around, I decided to drink all the surplus.

I was missing Health, Stamina and Magicka, or its equivalent, anyway, so they weren't wasted. The yellow potions though… I knew they were fortifying something, but I didn't know what, and instead of taking the risk of wasting space on something useless, I also drank them.

Anyway, with no bandit to bar my way, I soon reached what had been blocking their way. It wasn't some mighty monster or an invincible Draugr. It was… a puzzle.

A deadly one, sure, seeing the poisonous darts-riddled bandit on the ground, but a puzzle nonetheless. I had solved it so many times I could do it without even looking at the indications.

I also found yet another health potion in that room, which I promptly drank, healing me to what felt like full health, if I wasn't already.

A gate had been opened, when I solved the puzzle, behind which was a chest and a table. There was a skill book on the table, 'Thief' by Reven, which I knew was for leveling Stealth, but since I had no more place on me, I didn't pick it up.

I did take the Septims lying around though, along with the Spiritual Gems.

Those were different from precious gems, as they were used to trap souls within them, and transform these souls into fuel for enchanted business.

A perfectly legal business in this world.

Then, down the stairs I went, and with big fucking rats was I met.

Hehe, it rhymes.

Anyway, after kicking the giant rat dogs to death, I stopped for a moment in front of a large table. I knew that ahead, I would find Arvel the Swift, the bandit I was tasked to hunt by both Lucian and the Bandit Leader, stuck in a giant web.

But protecting that web would also be a giant Frostbite Spider. In the game, it was wounded, but I knew better than to trust the game now.

As for the table I stopped in front of, it had two things on it. A small white vial, and a scroll.

Poisons were distinctively different from Potions, in terms of vials at least, and if I remember right, then this was a paralyzing poison. As for the scroll, it had a Fireball within, an Adept Rank Destruction Spell.

It does quite the damage, and forms an explosion, so it will impact all the targets near the impact.

And now, my dilemma was whether to use these two things or not.

Giant spiders were not a pleasant sight, and their poison was nasty. But even without it, they can be quite the fearsome opponents. Not to mention, I might be about to face a stronger version, for all I know.

After pondering on the question for a few more moments, I decided to pocket the Fireball Scroll, and spread the poison on my blade.

My reasoning for this was that I didn't have enough space for it in my bag, meaning I would have to discard another of my potions to take it, something I was reluctant to do.

So I decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and applied it to my blade.

My heart bleeding a little, I walked past the table, following the path that quickly became filled with cobwebs, until I reached a door blocked by them.

Afraid the poison on my blade would get wiped off, I tore the webs with my bare hands, which turned out to be harder than it looked, before I finally arrived in the room.

Just like in the game, Arvel was stuck in webs, yet the moment I saw him, I realized something was wrong. He was looking above me.

As if remnants of the heightened instincts from the Genetic Constraint had remained, I jumped away from the spot, rolling away as I saw what had been above me.

A spider taller than myself had been right above me, and right now, one of its legs was right where I was a moment ago, the tip slightly penetrating the ground.

"Help me! We can kill it together!"

From the other side of the room, Arvel was crying at me. But knowing him, even if I managed to get him down in time, he would push me right into the spider's mandibles to escape by himself, so I replied, "Shut the fuck up!"

At the same time, I used a Force Choke on the spider.

I did not expect to choke it to death, but I did manage to stop it in place for a moment as I neared it, and chopped down the one leg it had on the ground.

As its leg was severed, the spider started screeching, but before its strident voice could become uncomfortable, its body started growing rigid, and it suddenly fell from the wall, its back smacking on the ground.

Surprised at the potency of the poison, I jumped on top of the spider while it was paralyzed, and drove my sword through its guts, coming out right between its eyes.

The spider's corpse remained rigid for a second, before it suddenly softened. It was already dead.

Standing on top of it, my sword still going through it, I was… heartbroken.

As it turned out, the spider was a fucking weakling! I had wasted the poison!

"Yeah! You killed it! Good jo…"

Not in the mood to listen to him, I Force Choked him from a distance, to which he could do absolutely nothing as his body was stuck in the web.

When I normally use Force Choke, a part of the power is used to keep the victim in place. But since he could not move, I could place all my frustrations on the choking part, and before he could even die of asphyxiation, his neck broke.

I was still feeling frustrated, but killing Arvel was strangely cathartic.

I then proceeded to take him down, and just as expected, found the Golden Claw on him. The slimy bastard didn't know that had he somehow managed to pass the spider, he would have been met with scores of undead.

Idiot.

Well, at least he had something good on him, other than the claw. The bag in which he had put it.

Now with two bags, I could hoard twice as much!

And this came in clutch as the next room was a funerary one, filled with funeral urns in which gold, spiritual gems and precious jewelry had been placed for the dead.

All mine now.

A part of me knew it wasn't very good to loot these, but if I can loot those I just killed, then I see no reason not to loot the undead.

No discrimination!