Our special training began the day after the female Choi Ha-neul received the third word of the Shout.
We spent our busy days practicing individually in the mornings and clearing out bandit dens in the afternoons.
—Thwack! Thwack!
"Your arm is too high. Lower your stance and look for an opening."
It was morning, and I was currently receiving swordsmanship training from Lydia. Not with real blades, of course, but with wooden ones.
Besides swordplay, she coached me through various routines, including endurance and strength exercises. Curiously, my stats increased through exercise alone, even without a level-up.
They only went up by a tiny margin, but it was progress nonetheless. I checked my stats.
Magicka: 130 / Health: 155 / Stamina: 178
The reason my Stamina and Health weren't rounded to the nearest ten was that I had raised them through sheer physical grind.
"Phew..."
Once the session ended, I took a short break. I sat on a felled tree stump and caught my breath.
"Good work!"
Choi Ha-neul handed dry towels to both me and Lydia so we could wipe away the sweat.
"Thanks. By the way, how is your training going?"
The female Ha-neul was focusing more on magic than melee combat. She claimed she'd realized the importance of long-range attacks after our last dragon fight.
Since dragons generally stay airborne and rain down breath attacks until they tire, focusing on magic seemed like the right call.
"No problem at all! I can use Adept-level spells now!"
As expected of the Dragonborn, her growth rate was absurdly fast.
The dragon we were about to face, Sahloknir, was a frost dragon that breathed ice. As Nords, both Lydia and I had an excellent natural advantage against that.
"It's almost lunchtime. Let's eat and then head out to clear some more bandits."
"Great! But... are there even any bandits left?"
In the five days since she'd learned the third word, we had been hunting down every bandit around Whiterun with such frantic energy that they were practically extinct.
Thanks to us, the security of Whiterun Hold had improved so drastically that Jarl Balgruuf even granted us an additional bonus.
At this point, I couldn't even think of a bandit hideout worth visiting anymore.
So, today, I decided we'd do something different.
"Upgrade our gear?"
"Yeah. We've saved up plenty of gold, and we'll be heading into a decisive battle with a dragon soon."
There were only three days left until our promised meeting with Delphine.
We would finalize our equipment today, and since we didn't know what might happen on the road to Kynesgrove, we planned to set out at dawn tomorrow.
First, we sorted out the gear for Choi Ha-neul, our party's main powerhouse.
"Hmm... how about this one?"
"That has an Alteration enchantment. It won't help you."
"But this one is the prettiest..."
"Prioritize performance over looks."
We were currently visiting Farengar in Dragonsreach.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't a merchant, but we could purchase magical items from him just like in the game.
"This looks like the best option."
"You have a good eye. It's a bit pricey, but it reduces the Magicka cost of Destruction spells by 30% and increases Magicka regeneration by 50%."
Farengar told me it was a wise choice, but Choi Ha-neul looked dissatisfied.
"But I wanted a white one..."
"Just wear it. You can buy a better white robe later."
And so, Choi Ha-neul bought the Black Robes of Destruction and a circlet that increased Magicka by 50.
Next was Eloise. As a mage, she also needed magical equipment.
"Eloise, do you need anything?"
"My current robes are already high quality, so I'm fine there. I think a necklace or a ring would be good..."
Eloise bought a silver necklace that boosted Magicka regeneration and a spellbook for Steadfast Ward, an Apprentice-level spell, as a defense against dragon breath.
That left me and Lydia. Lydia said her armor was custom-made and just needed tempering, so she only decided to buy a new sword and shield.
Stopping by the forge near the Whiterun main gate, Lydia and I mulled over the displayed wares.
After I told her not to worry about the price, Lydia eventually chose an Elven Sword and an Orcish Shield.
Since I used Bound Weapons, I didn't need to buy a separate weapon.
Instead, I bought a black hood with an enchantment that increased Archery damage by 15%, and leather boots that increased Stamina by 20.
We ended up spending nearly half the money we'd earned from clearing bandit dens and selling loot. Earning it was hard work, but spending it took no time at all.
In any case, with our gear updated, we left Whiterun at dawn the following day.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yes!"
"Let's head out, boss."
After leaving a soul gem with Farengar for our return trip, we galloped toward Kynesgrove, braving the cold dawn wind.
"How much further to Kynesgrove?"
Choi Ha-neul asked from behind, her arms wrapped around my waist.
"It's south of a city called Windhelm. Also, there's a cloak in the bag. Put it on."
"What is this?"
It was a cloak enchanted with 25% Frost Resistance. Choi Ha-neul was particularly weak to the cold, and since Sahloknir was a frost dragon, it was exactly what she needed.
"Oh! I'm so moved!"
Choi Ha-neul suddenly threw her arms around my neck from behind.
"Hey, hey! You're messing up my balance!"
I nearly took a tumble because of her aggressive display of gratitude.
By noon, we made a small camp by a stream to take a break and eat lunch.
The horses, exhausted from the non-stop run, drank from the stream to recover their strength.
We didn't have a designated cook, so everyone pitched in to prepare the meal.
As we were prepping ingredients and boiling a warm soup, someone approached our camp.
"Excuse me... would you mind helping us...?"
A female Nord wearing a Stormcloak uniform approached. She looked just as filthy and haggard as that scammer I'd met before.
I momentarily suspected they were more posers pretending to be soldiers, but she had already sheathed her weapon and was being remarkably polite. Behind her stood three other soldiers, all Nords.
They all looked in rough shape; one of them was being supported by the others, his leg clearly badly injured.
"What should we do?"
Lydia asked, and honestly, I was torn.
When I first played Skyrim, I joined the Stormcloaks out of spite because the Empire tried to execute me.
But after multiple playthroughs, learning about the Stormcloaks' racism and the complicated situation the Empire was facing, I'd changed my mind.
"They're rebels... Let's just refuse—"
"Of course we should help!"
Choi Ha-neul shouted, cutting Eloise off.
"Don't tell me... you support the rebels?"
"Is that bad? The Imperial Legion almost killed me!"
Predictably, the impact of that female captain trying to execute her despite her name not being on the list was just too strong.
However, Lydia pointed out that common soldiers were hardly at fault, so we eventually agreed to help them.
They looked starved, so we decided to share our meal with them as well.
I added more ingredients to the pot to increase the amount of soup. As I stirred the pot, I asked one of the soldiers.
"How did you all end up so wounded?"
She seemed to look back on the past for a moment, her voice heavy with struggle as she spoke.
"We were originally part of the Windhelm guard. We were recently deployed as reinforcements for Fort Greenwall. But..."
Recalling the hardship was too much for her, and she couldn't continue. Another soldier spoke up in her place.
"Our squad originally consisted of eleven men. But while marching to the fort, we were ambushed by an Imperial unit..."
They had resisted desperately, but most of the squad was killed. Judging that there was no hope for victory, they had fled.
Though he didn't say it, it wasn't hard to guess what had happened to the other seven members of the squad.
"And among the fallen was her younger brother..."
"Sniff..."
She fought back her tears.
I ladled out a generous portion of soup and gave it to her, telling her to stay strong.
We ate in a heavy, lingering silence.
For some reason, the soup tasted bitter that day.
As I listened to more of their story later, I learned she was a squad leader and a veteran soldier of over five years.
Her brother had volunteered for the same squad as his sister the moment he reached adulthood, only to die in his very first mission.
I wasn't a fan of the Stormcloaks, but I wasn't so heartless as to ignore the pain of losing family.
I asked Eloise to heal the soldiers' injuries and provided them with some emergency supplies.
They decided to return to Windhelm to report their losses.
"Thank you!"
"Blessings of Talos upon you!"
"Hehe. Safe travels!"
"Farewell."
We waved goodbye to the Stormcloak soldiers as they left, shouting their thanks.
Before they departed, they even added that if we ever wanted to join the army, we should definitely join the Stormcloaks.
I knew Skyrim was at war, but coming face-to-face with the stragglers made the brutality of it all feel much more real.
Once the camp was packed, we prepared to head to our destination again. Before mounting my horse, I made an announcement.
"I've decided."
"On what?"
"Let's enlist in the army."
Choi Ha-neul agreed happily. Like me, she wanted to see the war end quickly.
"Great! Let's join the Stormcloaks and give those Imperials what for!"
I looked at the determined Dragonborn and corrected her.
"No. I'm joining the Imperial Legion."