Wayne guided them into the movie. However, Vereesa deliberately left a tiny gap at the bottom of her headset, allowing her to peek at what Wayne was doing from the sliver of light. To an elven ranger who had spent half her life in battle and excelled at "piercing a willow leaf from a hundred paces," being completely blindfolded was practically a death sentence.
Wayne didn't idle. He let the pitiful Arator sit down quietly, and the two began playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Vereesa split her attention: on one hand, she monitored the movie for any content inappropriate for minors; on the other, she watched exactly how Wayne was "luring" Arator. If she found even a shred of evidence of corrupting influence on either screen, she would strike without mercy.
But as she stared at Wayne, Wayne was staring at her. This old woman has a wicked mind; her killing intent is so heavy, she's ready to skin me at any moment...
There was a reason Wayne chose Skyrim at this particular time. No matter how tough a person is, they always have desires and weaknesses deep within.
In the game, Wayne walked to a bookshelf in Dragonsreach and opened a book titled The Aetherium Wars. After flipping through a few pages, he saw an introduction to a Dwemer ruin called "Arkngthamz," which triggered a quest to investigate the site. He handed the book to Arator, letting him take a good look before they set off together.
The two boarded a carriage outside Whiterun and headed straight for Markarth, the southwesternmost city in Skyrim. After getting off, they didn't enter the city but followed a winding mountain path for a long time until they reached a massive Dwemer ruin to the southeast.
Arator drew Dawnbreaker and charged ahead while Wayne stayed back, firing his crossbow. They fought from the exterior into the depths. Wherever they went—be it bandits lurking in the mountains or Falmer who had lived underground for so long their eyes had degenerated into hideous slits—none escaped the searing holy light of Dawnbreaker or a bolt through the chest.
Vereesa watched, her heart naturally full of disdain. In a ranger's standard, while crossbows and guns were ranged weapons, they were tools for the untalented and mediocre compared to senior archers who could fire rapid volleys or notch multiple arrows at once. Thus, Wayne's precision in hitting vital spots was, to her, merely the performance of a novice—not worth mentioning.
However, the longsword in her nephew's hand, glowing with holy light, piqued her curiosity. She immediately thought of the Ashbringer. But since the enemies they faced weren't undead, Dawnbreaker didn't trigger its holy explosion to turn them to ash. Vereesa remained silent, choosing to continue her surveillance.
Soon after entering the ruins, they encountered a translucent, blue-white ghost before a mechanical door. Wayne told Arator not to be afraid and to talk to the ghost. Vereesa immediately became alert. To put it bluntly, she felt that since Ronin was in his prime and she was a High Elf with a long lifespan, having more children would be easy if they wanted—but if anything happened to Arator, she would have committed an irreparable mistake.
She rested her hands on her legs, appearing casual, but she was ready to draw her dagger, knock Wayne aside, and "rescue" Arator at any second.
However, the ghost didn't attack. She introduced herself as Katria, a former adventurer and scholar who had studied Dwemer ruins and the history of the Aetherium Wars. The book they saw in Dragonsreach was actually her research. She had died here unexpectedly, and her soul had been trapped for twenty years without solving the ruin's secret; it was her former apprentice who had stolen her work to publish that book.
She was lucid enough to warn them not to go further, lest they meet the same fate. But Wayne wouldn't agree. After some negotiation, Katria tentatively trusted their strength and joined them in exploring the ruins once more.
The deeper they went, the stronger the monsters became. Compared to humans who rely on light and vision, the Falmer had lived underground so long their eyes had withered into dry slits, but their hearing and perception had become exceptionally sharp. They would periodically lunge silently from the shadows or the sides.
Wayne took a spell tome from his bag and gave it to Arator—the basic spell Detect Life. Despite being a Half-Elf, Arator's High Elf blood gave him an innate talent for magic. He mastered the spell quickly and kept it active, marking the positions of Falmer hidden in the darkness for Wayne, who followed stealthily.
Aim, fire, and—after the 3x stealth damage multiplier triggered—that was that.
Their coordinated teamwork actually interested Vereesa, giving her a slight sense of pride. She knew Arator's childhood wish was to one day travel to Outland to find his parents when the Dark Portal reopened. But that meant facing an unknown world full of demons and monsters, relying on the Holy Light and his sword for protection.
As an elder, she wanted the younger generation to grow quickly, yet she always felt they were far from being ready to stand on their own. During his years studying the path of the Light at the Cathedral of Light, the Stormwind Keep and the Church gave him "diplomatic-level" special protection. Arator never had the chance to join an army or even participate in the smallest skirmish, not even to help the wounded. Stormwind feared an accident; if the orphan of Alliance heroes and the nephew of the leader of Dalaran were to get hurt, who could answer for it?
Therefore, what she saw on the screen was the first time she had ever seen Arator fight. Although she knew from her own deaths against the Black Dragon that injuries in the game didn't affect the physical body, she still nearly shouted warnings several times when Falmer lunged from ambushes. But her suspicion of Wayne and the fear of being caught "peeking" kept her impulsive urge in check.
Reaching a cliffside, they found a female corpse on the ground. Katria told them this was her body. Despite twenty years passing, her resentment and the surrounding magic had kept the body from decaying. Katria asked them to find her diary on the corpse for clues. Encouraged by Wayne, Arator gingerly reached into the pocket of the cold, twenty-year-old body and pulled out a diary that felt just as frozen. He flipped through it and found the location of the mechanisms and the trick to unlocking them.
But Wayne told him this wasn't the only reason they came here.
The two men and the ghost began to climb. After passing several traps and killing more Falmer, they reached a high ledge. Katria spoke again, telling them this was where she had fallen to her death. She had lost her weapon here and hoped they could find it; though she could no longer use it, seeing it again would be a great comfort.
Wayne had been here countless times. Before Katria even finished, he led Arator down a slope. On a fallen tree trunk protruding over a vast abyss, Wayne stepped carefully across and bent down to pick up a long object.
"Oh heavens! You found it!" Katria looked at the longbow in Wayne's hand, named Zephyr, and said emotionally, "Take good care of it for me."
Arator asked, "Old Mi, did you come here just to find this?"
Wayne laughed, deliberately raising his voice. "Correct! I am a master archer; I only used the crossbow because I hadn't found a bow that suited me."
Arator: "What's so special about this bow?"
Wayne acted mysterious. "You'll see its power in a moment."
He folded his crossbow and put it in his bag. No longer sneaking, he led the way. Their footsteps drew four Falmer. Wayne notched an arrow and entered rapid-fire mode. Zephyr's damage wasn't outstanding, but it had a unique enchantment: it fired 30% faster than a normal bow. Combined with Wayne's own archery perks, the arrows flew from his hand in a continuous stream—shoo, shoo, shoo—hitting the enemies like a machine gun.
By the time Arator killed one with Dawnbreaker, Wayne had already shot the other three. Wayne told Arator that once his archery skill increased, he could learn "Quick Shot."
At this, Vereesa couldn't hold back. When Wayne fired just now, the bow seemed wrapped in a breeze; the wind pushed the bowstring to expand and retract rapidly. Suppressing her curiosity, she asked indifferently, "What bow is that?"
Wayne pretended not to notice she was peeking. "Ah? Lady, aren't you watching the movie?"
Vereesa frowned and asked again, "I just happened to see it. What is the name of that bow?"
Wayne took off his glasses with a look of realization. "Oh, you mean this bow? It's very old and beat up, so it's called 'Hubby'."
Vereesa: "Hubby?!"
"Yes dear?"
Vereesa suddenly realized what happened. Her face turned slightly red with anger, but she couldn't erupt—doing so would be admitting that Wayne had just teased her.
The two children didn't hear this, fully immersed in their lesson on magical broomsticks. In the distance, Tess grumbled to herself about her boss being shameless, but she also felt it was satisfying to see that mean woman get toyed with.
Meanwhile, the young prince—though his headset was still firmly on—had a faint smile curving at the corner of his mouth.