Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

After breakfast, Rigel led his father and Ilandur around the town. Lucia was left in Eddie's shop. The little girl was a little scared of this bald uncle at first, but she gradually found that he was harmless except for his bad mouth, so she let down her guard.

I went to the shooting range. I had not trained for more than half a month, so my shooting skills were no longer as good as others. Angie half-jokingly said that old Floki had a necklace in his hand. If I could get it, she would no longer care about being cheated. Floki's bounty was actually public. He called it "Jine's Holy Trial". The rules were simple. Whoever could complete the seven hunting tasks he assigned alone could get the necklace. Because the target of the hunt was the guardian spirit of the animal, it could satisfy multiple people to try separately. Floki had a unique spell mark that allowed participants to see the spirit. There were three tasks in the first round, namely the wolf spirit in Falkreath, the mud crab spirit in Whiterun, and the snow mouse spirit in Cangyuan. Three or four people had already completed two of the tasks, but the snow mouse spirit was far away, so no one had succeeded in hunting it.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have done it on the way to pick up the Baron. The Yingfeng Ruins are just a little south of Morningstar City. It takes more than half a month to go back and forth. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find a chance."

"Are you so confident that you can kill the Snow Rat Spirit alone?"

Yes! This task requires you to complete it alone, which is much more difficult. The three guardian spirits in the first round are relatively easy, but there are also saber-tooth tiger spirits and bear spirits in the back. How can I be their opponent?

After practicing archery with Angie for a while, I was called back to the fortress by Rigel. After visiting the current training, Dad made many suggestions for improvement. After all, Rigel had not received training from the Legion. Angie and Floki were only hunters with outstanding archery skills. Real team combat was different from the fighting of scattered soldiers. Dad was an expert in this aspect. I introduced the situation of this mission to Whiterun and our initial response. While I was talking, Lucia ran in to find me.

"Uncle Locke, there's someone looking for you. He's waiting at the inn now. He says his name is Eric the Murderer."

A farmer who had just put down his hoe for half a month nicknamed himself "Murderer", which was a bit immature. I quickly followed the little girl to lead the people. When we arrived at the inn, Eric was tasting Eddie's wine. The two guys were chatting furtively in low voices, but they burst into laughter from time to time. Obviously, it was not a serious topic.

I took him towards the fortress. Eric was no longer the inexperienced guy he was when he just left his hometown. He seemed much more confident and he took the initiative to tell me about his experiences.

It turned out that the bearded man was Torva, a member of the comrades group. Eric went to him to ask for information, and they hit it off right away. They were talking about how the innkeeper was well-informed, but somehow the topic was led to the drinking contest. Torva was a heavy drinker, so he naturally wanted to join in the fun. Eric originally thought that more people meant more information, but after a few drinks, he forgot about the business.

"Torva is a good drinker, but I won in the end. He can only be the best man, hahahaha!"

"And then? Where did you go?"

"Uh... Markarth. I don't know how I got so far. And Ennis said I sold his goat to the giant. I don't even remember it. Later we returned to Whiterun. The woman who sold the ring said you were looking for me, so I came here first."

"You defeated the giant?"

"Tolva and I. That guy is quite skilled. He recommended me to join the Companions."

"Are you a member of the Companions now?"

"I haven't officially joined yet. Farkas said I have a mission to complete. The garrison commander of Whiterun asked us to investigate Waltham Tower and eliminate any bandits if they are found. Locke! Wait a minute!"

As we were walking across the range, Eric suddenly grabbed my arm and asked me in a low voice, "Do you know that girl shooting arrows over there?"

"More than knowing her, she was the one who taught me archery."

"She... um... she lives here?"

The topic from then on revolved around Angie. It was not surprising that Eric was attracted to such an outstanding girl, but I didn't know whether he was just acting on a whim or was serious.

"So you're going to live in Whiterun in the future?"

"That's not necessary. When we are on a mission, we often live outside. If we have our own place to live, we don't have to live in Yuevaska. Didn't we agree to take care of each other? You can arrange a place for me to live in Helgen."

"Just stay in the guest room tonight. We will return to Falkreath tomorrow morning."

"Your property in Helgen needs someone to look after it, right?"

"I have no property."

"Eddie said you own half of the hotel. I'll help you look after it."

"What are you looking at? Honey wine? Eric, you've seen Angie. She's definitely not an ordinary, vulgar girl. What else do you have to show for yourself except for a scary nickname? If you approach her like this, she will only be disgusted. You should develop well in the comrades' group and take care of some of my affairs. When you have a reputation and status, are you still afraid that your sweetheart will be snatched away by others? And didn't you win a wife at that drinking contest? Deal with this matter first before you provoke others!"

Eric was scolded by me, but he kept silent and followed me into the fortress to meet the baron. In the afternoon, he was taken away to help settle the refugees, and I went to Yilanduer's room alone. This guy had already placed two bottles of mead on the table, obviously waiting for me to come.

"The faith that everyone usually talks about is just belief. For example, we all believe that the Eight Holy Spirits created the world and that Talos canonized the gods. But the faith I'm talking about is to completely dedicate your whole body and soul to the Holy Spirit, follow His path, and even sacrifice for it."

This... Although my current identity is the Nord Rocker, deep down in my heart, I am still a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. In traditional Chinese culture, there is a saying that "respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance", and I have always tried to avoid things related to gods and demons, even if that can bring powerful magic artifact rewards.

Seeing that I was embarrassed, Yilandur stopped beating around the bush.

"Faith is not as complicated as you think. Let's take Stendar, the Holy Spirit of Justice and Mercy that the Noel brothers believe in, as an example. From your adoption of Lucia, we can see that you sympathize with the weak and are willing to protect them, which is exactly what Stendar requires of his followers. So following Stendar is following your own compassion. Most people will only lend a helping hand when they can, but Stendar's believers will resolutely fight against the terrifying werewolves and vampires, which means they are willing to sacrifice themselves for their faith."

"So what you mean is that believing in the Holy Spirit is actually believing in a certain belief in your own heart?"

"It's not just the Holy Spirit!" Yilandul walked to the door, looked outside, and then went back into the house. "The same is true for the Demon God. You can understand the Holy Spirit and the Demon God as the embodiment of the human spirit. So you can also get rid of Valmina by believing in another Demon God."

"Is there any difference between believing in the Holy Spirit and the devil?"

"You've probably heard of the legend that after the Holy Spirit created the world, it fell into a deep sleep and turned into the bones of the earth, right? According to my personal understanding, this is a metaphor that the spirit and belief of the Holy Spirit are the instincts of human beings. So I think that believing in the Holy Spirit is more in line with human nature, while the devil represents change. People who believe in the devil are more inclined to... uh... change."

Of course I understand the "reform" that Yilandur mentioned. In an era where bloodline determines status, reform means to rebel against superiors, break order, and overthrow tradition. It is a term with obvious derogatory meanings. His switch from the devil to the Holy Spirit is equivalent to a switch from subverting the rules to maintaining the rules. Promotion within the rules often requires seniority and years of hard work, which is slow but stable; while breaking the rules can quickly improve, but in an environment where the last one is eliminated, everyone can only compete for the first place, otherwise they will be ruined and end up in a miserable state, with no sense of security at all.

"Can I understand that the benefits of believing in the Holy Spirit are gradual and cumulative, while the Demon God often grants groundbreaking favors, but this improvement will bring side effects over time?"

"No one really knows the matter of gods and demons. Even though the legends of creation of various races are similar, we can't assume that they are true, right? And there is also a saying that is accepted by many people: gods gain power through people's faith and worship. But this statement will lead to a blasphemous conclusion - we created gods, not gods created us. After all, gods are powerless before being worshipped by mortals."

"I've heard something even more outrageous, which is that our entire world is a dream of a god, and once he wakes up..."

Yilandul smiled slightly and pointed to the bottle of wine on the table, "Then I have to drink more while he is still sleeping soundly."