Chapter 790 - 790: The Legend of the Dragonborn

As the sky-shading black dragon descended upon the watchtower.

Imperial soldiers and mages inside Helgen attacked the dragon in the sky with arrows and spells.

"This dragon is amazing. Do I have to fight dragons later? I wonder if I can ride dragons in the game and be a dragon rider."

With the dragon's appearance, Ben was now free to move.

Ralof next to him yelled for him to run quickly.

But Ben didn't rush to follow Ralof. He stayed put, imagining his future gaming experiences.

After all, the scene before him was incredibly spectacular.

In terms of visual presentation, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, an open-world game, couldn't match the visual power of a linear game.

But this scene of a dragon falling from the sky, with all sorts of magic clashing, was captivating.

While World of Warcraft was also impressive before, it was an MMORPG, and its camera perspective was adapted accordingly. The same scene viewed from different angles would naturally have a different impact.

At the very least, Ben's feet felt a bit stuck. Even though the brightly lit quest marker had appeared directly overhead, Ben still wanted to linger and watch.

But as he watched, something big happened. The black dragon Zack, circling in the sky, opened its mouth and unleashed an endless torrent of flames, engulfing him instantly.

A pained cry came from the protagonist in the game, and the health bar in the lower left corner dropped drastically.

The next moment, Ben's game screen turned black and white, and the game loading interface appeared.

"So, this dragon isn't here to save me, I was just overthinking it?"

An indiscriminate attack made Ben realize immediately that the dragon had nothing to do with him and wasn't here to save him at all.

Was I just the clown?

Reloading the game to revive, he was back at the scene where the dragon descended and Helgen was in chaos.

This time, Ben had learned his lesson. As soon as he could control his character's actions.

He immediately ran into the nearby watchtower and then proceeded with the game according to the quest instructions.

He jumped from the rooftop of the watchtower, dodging the dragon's fire breath mid-air.

The entire Helgen had already been destroyed into a ruined mess by the dragon.

Everywhere he looked, there were burning flames and scorched Imperial soldiers.

Likewise, Imperial soldiers, under the command of General Tullius, were fighting the dragon in the sky and protecting the ordinary citizens of Helgen.

Seeing this, Ben's impression of the Empire improved slightly.

Following an NPC, he sneaked along until they reached a square.

Ben soon faced the game's first choice: whether to escape with the Imperial soldiers or escape with the Stormcloaks.

"A faction choice, so here I'm choosing between the Stormcloaks or the Imperial side?"

Looking at the choice before him, Ben instantly understood.

Clearly, there were two different main storylines in the game, and he could choose either the Stormcloaks or the Imperials.

It was similar to the Alliance and Horde in World of Warcraft, he thought.

After thinking for two or three seconds, Ben decisively followed Ralof.

"Although the Imperial general seems quite good and treats the citizens well."

"But that female captain old woman before wanted to chop my head off, so don't blame me for siding with the Stormcloak brothers!"

Ben decisively followed Ralof towards the watchtower on the right.

Although he hadn't officially entered the plot and didn't know more about the Imperials and Stormcloaks.

But who asked the Imperial army to try and chop my head off right at the start?

Shouldn't I take you down?

In the hall, Ben controlled his character in a conversation with Ralof.

Then, as prompted, he stripped the armor and weapons from a nearby dead guard.

"Can all these things be interacted with?"

Looking at the corpse, which was only left in its underwear, Ben couldn't help but be surprised.

The fact that the corpse reacted accordingly after being stripped of its equipment wasn't the amazing part.

What surprised Ben was the interaction in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

For example, keys, gold coins, and other items on NPCs could actually be taken.

And in the dungeons, there were alleyways, cups, and even watermelons that could be interacted with.

The content in Helgen Keep was purely a beginner's tutorial.

After getting the equipment, the Imperial female captain who had wanted to chop off his head earlier entered with her subordinates.

Without a word, Ben and Ralof started fighting.

The combat in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is simple.

There's light attack, heavy attack, and blocking.

Besides that, there are basically no other flashy moves.

Unlike the cool combos in God of War or the sword dances in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Ben couldn't find any trace of these in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

If he had to say where it was similar, Ben felt that the combat style in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim was a bit like Dark Souls.

It was like a duel between medieval knights.

Of course, the difficulty of the game was much simpler than Dark Souls.

And he could also feel that this was a pure RPG, where stats still played a significant role in the game.

Compared to him, Ralof on the side was clearly more powerful.

He quickly defeated the two Imperial soldiers.

"Good heavens, are you the Dragonborn, or am I the Dragonborn!"

Looking at Ralof, who had lost barely any health and was looting the bodies, Ben couldn't help but exclaim.

Killing Imperial soldiers, taking down the disgusting-looking Frost Spiders that fell from the sky, and bypassing a napping big brown bear.

This part of the game content had virtually no difficulty.

Ralof alone could have cleared the entire area.

It was mainly to guide players on some basic gameplay operations.

For example, using potions, killing enemies by blocking attacks, or looting items from enemies.

There were also some mini-game elements, such as lockpicking, which required some skill.

When facing seemingly unbeatable monsters, crouching for stealth.

However, there was one thing that Ben found satisfying: the game allowed control over the attack direction.

If you attacked an enemy's weak spot, there was a chance to trigger a finishing move.

Regardless of how much health the enemy had left, he could pierce their chest with his blade, or perform other execution effects.

Slow-motion bullet time, combined with violent and beautiful action, was very cool.

Following Ralof all the way, after about five minutes.

Ben passed through the underground keep of Helgen.

At the entrance of the dark cave, many vines covered the opening.

A faint light shone through the gaps in the vines.

Upon reaching the entrance, Ben controlled his character to push aside the vines, and the sunlight outside was a bit blinding.

Then, the scenery of the province of Skyrim unfolded before Ben.

Dense green forests, deer faintly visible in the distance, squirrels darting through the treetops.

Further away, snow-covered mountains were faintly visible.

Misty white clouds in the sky, and a winding mountain path looking down, through the white mist, one could see a rushing river.

This beautiful scenery truly astonished Ben.

This is a tried-and-true method in games. Like emerging from a cave in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or passing through narrow ruins to see a legendary pirate paradise in Uncharted, or Ezio and his brother climbing a cathedral bell tower at night in Assassin's Creed...

'It seems like that dragon won't be back, we're safe for now.'

As the black dragon roared and left Helgen Keep, Ralof, standing beside him, breathed a sigh of relief.

There were several dialogue options available, including discussions about the dragon, the Stormcloaks, and the Imperial soldiers.

These were clearly intended to help players understand the game's background and lore.

Besides that, Ben had also received two quests.

One was to go to Riverwood, a town not far from Helgen Keep, to find Ralof's sister, Gerdur, and the other was whether to join the Stormcloaks.

"Are these two main quests? It should be like in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, right? One is an individual main quest, and the other is a faction main quest."

Ben guessed, then glanced at the map markers. The quest objective to join the Stormcloaks was too far away, and the rest of the map was covered in fog, clearly requiring personal exploration to reveal.

So Ben's first target was Riverwood.

Although the game's plot hadn't yet mentioned the Dragonborn identity, Ben, having seen the promotional videos, naturally knew that the protagonist was most likely the Dragonborn.

"Riverwood, this should be the starting village."

"Alright, the great adventure of the Dragonborn is about to officially begin."

"Let's start building the legendary life of the Dragonborn from this first stop, Riverwood!"

Wielding the Imperial soldier's longsword in his hand, Ben was full of confidence.

(End of Chapter)