I'm Really Not the Dragonborn.

Harin who was originally lying on the bed with the intention of teasing him abruptly gets up. All she saw is just him standing there, with a blank face and suddenly there are tears running down his face. But, it's enough for her to know he is having his inner conflict and starting to break down. Afterall, she knew the feeling so well. To be suddenly shoved into danger with no one to confide in. The kindness she was given made her who she is today, and thus she may be the only person that understands him right now.

"Damn it. At first I wanted to tease him a bit to distract him from thinking about it, but it seems it hits sooner than I thought." she thought.

She went to him and slowly embraced him. He responds and hugs her tightly, as his body starts to shake.

"There, there. It's alright. Everything is going to be alright. You can do this." She whispered to him, patting his back.

It took him a while for him to calm down. They stayed in each other's arms, until he could let go. Harin cups his cheek and looks into his eyes.

"I know it's hard. But you are strong. You can do this. We, can do this. I got your back. Run if you want to run, walk if you want to walk. Don't worry about falling down, I'll always be by your side to pick you up. If you can't trust yourself, trust me. I'm strong, I'll keep you safe. Alright?"

He noticed the sincerity and seriousness in her eyes. He nodded, took a long breath in before slowly exhaling it all out, as if releasing the burden in his chest. For some strange reason, he felt comforted by her. It's not much, but enough for him to keep his head cool. Either it is looking for validation or simply a helping hand in a time of desperate need, he doesn't know. All he knows is, so far she had never projected any malice towards him. Whether she had ill intention or any intention at all, he doesn't care for now. That is a bridge he will cross later. For now, he knew he had to keep his head straight and try his best to live on.

"We'll deal with whatever may come, tomorrow. For now, sleep. Both of us need it," she said.

Not long after he lay on the bed, exhaustion took over him and he went into a deep sleep soon after. 

Waking up the next morning, he saw Harin was already up and currently sitting on the bed beside him, staring into the nothingness with a frown on her head. 

"Is she looking at the system? I wonder if it's the original Skyrim, or something different, like mine." he thought. 

"You're up" she said.

"Yeah, good morning. Something wrong?" he asked, pointing to his forehead, mimicking the frown she had.

"Whatever happened yesterday changed something inside of me…" she said, not even sure of the answer.

"What do you mean?"

"Suddenly I found out that I have something that made me better, stronger..? For example, all these while, I was only trained in the way of combat, physical combat. But, since yesterday, suddenly I found that I can easily learn magic."

"It is a good thing then, no?"

"In a way, it's true. By the way, I got something for you," she handed him a bundle of cloth. 

Inside, he found a set of armor. A leather vest, a pair of gauntlets that cover the forearm, back of the hand and knuckles, leaving the palm exposed, metal plated leather boots, black pants and hooded cloak similar to hers. The gauntlet has straps indicating they can be used over any glove and clothing.

When he puts them on, the outfit is similar to the Prince of Persia armor, with sleeveless upper parts, pants, boots and gauntlets. 

"Is it good? I tried to recreate it the best I can."

"This… This is, oddly… fitting. It's even something along my preferences." 

"Doesn't hinder your mobility, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It was something along the lines of "why get hit when you can dodge it". You told me."

"I did? How? When?"

"What do you think?" she gave a smirk.

"Was I sleep talking last night?" he wondered, but ultimately let it go. 

"I think this will be more useful to you than I am." He handed the spell tome found in Helgen Keep earlier, called Spark. 

"Are you sure? Why don't you use it yourself?" she asked. 

"I'm sure if I try to learn it the conventional way, it would take time and numerous practice. Besides, I can simply collect all the colored balls. Who knows if a spell or two might drop. If I'm lucky, maybe even Shouts can be dropped." he thought to himself.

"It's alright. You said you can easily learn magic right? Take it as a token of gratitude for the armor." He said.

Harin didn't waste time on fake pleasantries and read the spell tome. As soon as she finished reading it, the spell tome disintegrated into glowing particles before disappearing completely. Ibnor stares at the phenomenon blankly as his mind is still admiring the authenticity of the magic. He comes to his senses a moment later only to find Harin is currently looking at him.

"Come, let's get moving. Gerdur, one of the villagers, asked me to warn the Jarl of Whiterun about the dragon and ask for reinforcement."

The two went out of town, beginning their journey to Whiteerun. As they were walking, Harin kept staring at Ibnor, scanning his body. However, it doesn't seem like she is going to say anything about it. Unable to stand it any longer, Ibnor decided to break the silence.

"What are you staring at? Is there a tail growing out of my ass?"

"No sword?"

"I am not trained in the way of the sword, and bluntly saying, it's more dangerous for me to be using it willy-nilly. At this point, carrying one is more bothersome than helpful."

"What if there's an attack?"

"One, I have you and two, I also have this dagger with me," he said, showing the dagger positioned at the back of his hip, covered by the cloak.

Harin simply nodded to the answer. Whether the nod means she understands the reasoning or it means that agrees with it, only she knows.

"So… who are you?" He asked.

"I can't tell you even if I want to." She sighed.

"Why not?"

"Same reason why you can't."

"Bullshit."

"Language." she admonished him.

"I haven't told you my origin but that doesn't mean I can't. It's only because I have yet to decide whether to tell you or not." He retorted.

"Try it then." she gave an impassive answer.

"Fine, listen, what I'm going to tell you is going to blow your mind. I'm actually from a place called *****."

"What did you say?" She put her hand on her ear.

"I'm from *****. I from *****, dammit! The fuck is going on?"

"Language." She admonished him again.

"Oh, piss off! Fly a kite and get struck by lightning."

"I told you, we can't. Something out there is preventing us from disclosing it."

"You know what it is?"

"I don't. I'm just as clueless as you now. But I agree with the statement." 

"Then, how did you come out with that line of thought?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me."

"You mean..."

"Yep."

"What happened last night?"

"You were bawling your eyes out?"

"Come on, that's cheap. That didn't happen." He protested. She just laughed it away.

"So… This morning.You said something about having something that made you better. Is it a new ability or something?" He asked.

"Yeah.. it's weird. I don't know how to explain… It's like the world is telling me things."

"Like who's who, what's what, map in your mind and what should you do?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"Maybe it's because you are the Dragonborn. In a sense, yeah, the world is aiding you. You know about the Dragonborn, yeah?"

"Somewhat. I've been around long enough to know about it but not much into details."

"It is said that Dragonborn, or Dovahkiin in the dragon's tongue, are individuals with the body of a mortal but the blood and a soul of a dragon. Some believe that they were chosen by Akatosh and appear in the world in times of great need."

"So, I'm somewhat special then? How about you? The fact you can't say your origin makes you similar to me."

"No. I don't think so. I have neither of what you have nor your destiny. I know not of my purpose but that's how life is, even in where I'm from. Life in and on itself is a journey. Journey of self, purpose or even knowledge discovery. Some got the best of it, while others didn't. Few are fortunate enough to get a second chance."

"What are you talking about?" Harin nudged him, snapping him out of his ramblings. 

"Sorry about that. Anyway, what I mean is, no, I'm not like the Dragonborn. But I have something similar to you."

"Is that the reason you've been groping corpses?" 

"What!? No! I did not grope any corpses."

"But we saw…"

"I know what I did, alright? I'm telling you. I did not. Moving on. In your case, when you do something, certain actions will… how do I put this, fill in a block of little something…"

"A progress bar. I know that much. I am at most barbaric, not stupid," she slaps him on the shoulder.

"Right, sorry," he grinned. "That was unexpected, but yeah, progress bar. So, in a way you fill up those and you move to the next stage, as in, you improved, right?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"I'm getting to it. So, unlike you who improved by repetition, I do it by looting, in a manner of speaking." 

"As in..?"

"When people are engaged in something, fighting, training or working, at times they will drop these little colored balls. Various colors, depending on what type they are. Red for strength, yellow for mental, green for physique and blue for agility. On rare occasions, black for skills. I collect them, thus you see me going for every corpse back then."

"So that's why you told me to use the spell tome. Interesting… I never knew this."

"Why would you? Anyway, your… Let's call them… Ability, for conveniences…"

"Why not blessings?" she interrupted.

"Well… it's unknown whether it is a blessing or a curse…" He smiled wryly. "Anyway, your ability is more suitable and convenient to use the spell tome, whereas it doesn't give me any benefit with mine."

"So, your ability. When you're looting... What happened? Did you level up or something? Is there any mystical phenomenon or is there some sort of user interface?"

"Whoa.. did I hear that right? Did you just say lev… eerk!"

*Thud*

Harin pulled Ibnor aside, cutting him off just in time before a man fell to where he was standing earlier. 

"That's it? That's all you got?" 

The man simply brushes it off before getting up, rushing and yelling towards a giant not far from them. The giant is facing off with a team of three. A redhead archer, a black haired dual wielding woman and the muscular man from earlier.

"A giant! Let's help them!" Harin exclaimed and rushed towards the giant.

"Hey..!" He tried to stop her but it's too late. Harin is now launching fireballs towards the giant. The fireballs did little damage, but enough to hinder the giant from attacking recklessly.

"Dammit, Harin." Ibnor muttered through his gritted teeth. 

He sprints across the field in full speed, before lowering his body into a sliding tackle, kicking the giant behind its knee. Losing its balance, the giant dropped on one knee as the muscular man took the advantage of that and punched the giant on its temple, which was now on his eye level. 

The giant shakes its head and jumps back up. Roaring, it tries to stomp the humans but they evade it by rolling and dodging. Ibnor ran and covered enough distance before body tackling the giant's leg from behind. It lost its balance for a while but unfortunately gained its balance again. Shaking one of its legs, it tried to get rid of Ibnor who was now dangling on its leg. 

The black haired woman took the opportunity and moved towards the giant's other leg, and slashed its ankle. It roared, but was forced to cover its face due to the arrows fired by the redhead archer to its eyes. The muscular man cleave the giant's ankle, attacking the same wound made by the black haired woman. Losing the strength on its leg, the giant fell down with a loud crash.

Harin fires the Sparks spell and streams of lightning zaps the giant, numbing it as it falls to the ground. It tried to reach its mace for retaliation but its hand is now being pinned to the ground by multiple arrows, courtesy of the redhead archer who did not miss the opportunity. 

The black haired dual wielding woman then pierced the giant heart through its back, while the muscular man swung his greatsword, decapitating the giant.

"You handled yourselves well. Both of you could make a decent Shield Brother and Sister," the redhead Archer greeted both Ibnor and Harin.

"What's a Shield Brother and a Shield Sister?" Harin asked.

"An outsider, eh? Never heard of the Companions? An order of warriors. We are brothers and sisters in honor. And we show up to solve the problems if the coin is good enough." The redhead archer answered.

"Can we join you?" Harin asks, out of curiosity.

"Not for me to say. You'll have to talk to Kodlak Whitemane up in Jorrvaskr. The old man's got a good sense for people. He can look in your eyes and tell your worth. If you go to him, good luck."

The redhead archer left the area with her companions in tow, having no further interest for the two adventurers. Harin then used a spell to heal both of them. 

"Wow… Healing spells and potions? How convenient. I can definitely abuse this to train. Fuck.. I sound like a maso…" Ibnor thoughts.

"What?" Harin asks, noticing Ibnor is staring at her.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking about it."

"You are overthinking. Let's go and meet the Jarl. I can already see the Dragonsreach from here." Ibnor sighed.

"The what, now?"

"Whiterun is just ahead."

They continued on towards Whiterun's gate. Only a few people were on the outskirts of the gate with most of them being the hold's guards.

"Halt! City's closed with the dragon's about. Official business only." One of the guards manning the gate stopped them.

"Riverwood calls for the Jarl's aid." Harin answered quickly.

"Riverwood's in danger too? You'd better go in. You'll find the Jarl in Dragonsreach, at the top of the hill." the guard replied as he opened the gate. 

As they walk through, a heated conversation can be heard from the smithy near the gate.

"We'll pay whatever it takes. But we must have more swords for the Imperial soldiers."

"I just can't fill an order that size on my own. Why don't you swallow that stubborn pride of yours and ask Eorlund Gray-Mane for help?"

"Ha! I'd sooner bend my knees to Ulfric Stormcloak. Besides, Gray-Mane would never make steel for the Legion."

"Have it your way. I'll take the job, but don't expect a miracle."

The conversation between the Imperial soldier and a female blacksmith ends with the blacksmith giving in, and both of them go their separate ways. 

"Harin..." Ibnor called out. Harin looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"What?" he asked, being uncomfortable by the piercing gaze.

"You're not coming with me and thinking of going somewhere on your own, aren't you?"

"How did she know me that well? That, or women's intuition is really scary." he thought.

"I… I'm not comfortable dealing with authorities, especially after what happened back then. I'm still here in Whiterun though, just doing other stuff." He said while thinking of a different thing.

"Why would I waste my time when I know what's going to happen?"

"Alright, see you at the Bannered Mare." she replied. Ibnor went to look for the female black smith. Currently she is busy hammering hot iron, expelling the impurities. Watching the female blacksmith working the forge, he stealthily collects all the scattered colored balls. His gain is quite considerable, including after the fight with the giant earlier.

Ibnor

Status

Normal

Stats 

Strength

11.6

Agility

12.9

Mental

11.2

Physique

13.3

Skills

Passive

[Close Quarter Combat - Beginner], 

Active

[Archery (12.3)], [Blacksmithing (20.7)], [One Handed 8.3], [Sneak 11.2], 

"Maybe because of this system-esque thingy that I'm still holding on to my sanity," he wondered.

"Got some good pieces out here, if you're looking to buy. More inside." a voice sounded as he was looking over his stats. 

It was unknown when the female blacksmith stopped working and she is now leaning against a pillar, looking at him. She seems wary of the stranger spacing out in her smithy. 

"Ah, yes… I'm currently in need of a large amount of leather strips. Do you have any in your stocks?" he said, trying to ease her.

"Indeed, we do."

"I'm Ibnor," he said, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Adrianne." she said, unknowingly accepting the handshake. 

"An Imperial I see. Married to the local I assume?"

"Ulfberth War-Bear. He manned the store. My father is the steward, up at Dragonsreach."

"Do you work the forge all day?" 

"Aye, that I do. I got to, if I hope to be as good as Eorlund Gray-Mane someday." Adrianne said with determination shining through her eyes.

"I heard earlier, about the large order. I'm wondering if you could still accept a side commission? Nothing too fancy, just a few pieces of tools I wanted to get made. I'd help if necessary."

"Are you a blacksmith yourself?"

"I wouldn't consider myself as a blacksmith, but I know a thing or two."

"I suppose I need some distraction from the redundant tasks. What do you have in mind?"

"I need two hooks to be made. They consist of several parts, a central shaft with the eye at the base, and foldable hooks to prevent unwanted attachment." he said, as he drew the schematic for the hook.

"I can craft the individual parts easily but.."

"No worries, as long as it can be done. I'll handle the assembly myself."

"Sure, that won't take long. What else?"

"That will be it. Mind if I borrow your table while you're working the pieces?" 

"Go ahead."

While Adrianne begins to craft the parts, Ibnor fashion a leather rope out of the leather strips that he bought. After everything is crafted and ready, Ibnor puts the pieces in order before assembling the hook.

"I can't help but to wonder about your intentions in creating this."

"Worry not, I assure you, I won't be breaking any laws. Not anywhere near Whiterun, at least." he chuckled. This little project of his cost him all the money he had. 

"If it weren't for me scouring every nook and cranny of Helgen Keep on my way out, flipping every barrel and chests, I wouldn't even have those few hundreds of septims. Now all of it is gone," he thought to himself while smiling wryly. 

He walked to the general good store to pawn off some jewels he managed to find.

"Welcome to Belethor's General Goods. Everything's for sales, my friend. Everything. If I had a sister, I'd sell her in a second. What can I do for you?" a Breton shopkeeper greets him.

"How much will you take for this?" he said, producing a few garnets and rubies.

"Garnets and rubies huh? It's war time now so most would prefer shiny swords than shiny jewelries. Since the demand for these is now quite low, the most I can give you is 110 septims."

"This fucking scammer… They should at least net me more than 200 septims. Damn, beggars can't be chooser, as I need some money in hand." Ibnor cursed in his mind.

"I'll take it." he said. The shopkeeper passed him the money with a big grin on his face.

"Do come back." The shopkeeper said as he walked out the door. Cursing the greedy Breton up until his 18th generation, he made his way to the Bannered Mare Inn.

"Come on in. Just stoked the fire. Take a seat and get the cold out." A female innkeeper with auburn-titian colored hair and hazel eyes greets him warmly as he enters the inn. He made himself comfortable and sat by the table near the corner. 

"Saadia, wake up, dear." the innkeeper said.

"Yes, mum." A voice answered her from the back. 

"You want a drink?" the same voice asked him. He turned and found a Redguard woman standing on his right.

"What's on the menu?"

"Depends. Are you thirsty, hungry or both?"

"I'll take some Honningbrew Mead, with some venison stew. Thanks."

"I'll be right over."

Soon, Saadia delivered his orders and for the first time since arriving in Skyrim, he was able to thoroughly enjoy his meal. The juiciness of the venison meat in his stew made him forget about all his trouble. As he finished his meal, a commotion can be heard on the far end of the inn. 

"You think you can take me on?"

"Is that Harin?" he thought, seeing a redhead in a confrontation with a tough looking Nord woman. 

"A hundred gold says I knock your hide to the ground," said the Nord woman.

"You're on." the redhead said.

"Just fist. No weapon, no magic… no crying. Let's go!"