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*****
"The Mage Stone, the Thief Stone, and the Warrior Stone."
George touched each of the three standing stones in turn, sensing the effect each one had on his body, and then he shook his head:
"The effect is truly minuscule!"
Normally speaking, these three standing stones, by borrowing the power of the constellations, could indeed allow the one who touched them to speed up their learning of related professional knowledge by twenty percent.
But that only applied to the normal people of this world.
Even though he had hidden his energy, restrained his spirit, and was only using his physical strength, in reality, his true power was still there, unchanged.
A power comparable to that of a Daedric Prince was already not something these standing stones could influence or enhance.
However, at his current level, even without the enhancement from the stones, his learning speed was already quite terrifying.
Passing by the standing stones, George continued to press forward in the direction of Riverwood.
During this time, he encountered quite a few wild beasts, especially the most common wolf packs.
It was just that because his speed was too fast, those wolf packs, which were dangerous to ordinary people, would only ever feel a gust of wind rush past. Before they even had a chance to react, George's shadow was already nowhere to be seen.
George also didn't intentionally stop his steps to kill those wolf packs.
He couldn't even be bothered to strip the armor and weapons from the dead bandits, let alone kill wolves to skin them for money.
As the last afterglow of the sun was about to disappear, and night was about to fall, George finally saw a medieval-style small town with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys.
"It's quite a bit larger than in the game!"
With a single glance, he discovered that the Riverwood of the real world was much, much larger than the Riverwood in the game.
In the game, Riverwood only had a blacksmith, a general goods store, an inn, and a lumber mill, along with just a few scattered houses. But in reality, that was completely impossible.
Even the most remote small town couldn't possibly have only a few households. Otherwise, the blacksmith shop, the general goods store, and the inn would have no reason to exist at all.
They would go broke from losses; there would be no customers.
"Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!"
Resuming his normal speed, he walked to the southern entrance of Riverwood. The very first thing George saw was a chicken, ambling about at the entrance.
"This is the Chicken God. Can't afford to mess with it, can't afford to mess with it."
After making this joking complaint, George stepped into the small town.
The "Chicken God" didn't actually exist, of course, but this chicken was indeed the nemesis of most new players. Even he had fallen victim to it before.
When you've just experienced a grand scene like Alduin's attack, and then you finally manage to leave Helgen and arrive in Riverwood, and you see that chicken always wandering around in front of you... how could your hands not itch to test your skills on it?
You might slash it with a sword a couple of times, shoot it with an arrow, or cast a spell.
However, the result would be that you would immediately be hunted down by every single NPC in the entire town, leading to a very frustrating end to your life right there.
Entering the town, George found that it was very peaceful inside. A few children were chasing each other and playing on the street, and the adults were all busy with their own affairs.
When they saw him, a stranger, appear in the town, they showed some curiosity, but they were not particularly surprised.
Although Riverwood was remote, it was located right on the border between Whiterun Hold and Falkreath Hold.
In addition, Whiterun Hold was the largest trading city in the province of Skyrim and remained neutral in the war between the Empire and the Stormcloaks. As a result, many merchants and adventurers traveled back and forth every year.
Therefore, it was common for strangers to pass through Riverwood, stopping here to rest and replenish their food and weapons.
"First, I'll rest for a night, then I'll figure out the rest."
Following the main street, he was just preparing to go to the town's only inn, the Sleeping Giant Inn, to get some rest, when his path was blocked by three large, bald-headed men.
"My lost friend, if you want to enter Riverwood, you'll have to pay some money."
The burly, bald-headed man in the lead sized George up with ill intentions.
The three of them were well-known local ruffians in Riverwood. On normal days, they had nothing better to do than stir up trouble, and they didn't have proper jobs. Aside from mooching off their parents for spending money, their favorite thing to do was to team up and bully travelers who passed through Riverwood.
Those adventurers clad in armor, they didn't dare to provoke. Those merchants traveling with bodyguards, they also didn't dare to provoke.
The kind they liked most was this fellow right in front of him: someone who didn't look particularly strong, was wearing commoner's clothes, and didn't even have a weapon in his hand.
This was the type of person who, at a glance, had no backing and was easy to bully.
Of course, they wouldn't dare to kill anyone. They just wanted to extort a few dozen Septims to buy some ale.
If he dared to disobey, he would inevitably be served a good beating with their old fists.
"Huh? How can this be?"
Encountering this situation, George was immediately stunned.
It wasn't that he was frightened by the three ruffians in front of him. Rather, it was because he remembered that in the game, Riverwood didn't have any local ruffians at all.
Before the dragons appeared, Riverwood didn't have any guards, but it was also a very peaceful town.
But this was reality. If there were some ruffians, it wasn't exactly unreasonable.
If it were really just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. It was just that he now thought of another possibility.
That is, perhaps this wasn't just the world of the original, vanilla game. It was highly possible that this was a world that had been altered by MODs.
Because he vaguely remembered that among the MODs his roommate had installed, there was one that included a scenario similar to being blocked by ruffians.
If that was really the case, then he would need to be a little more careful.
Although he hadn't played the vanilla game to its absolute fullest, he at least knew the majority of the main questline and the DLC storylines.
However, if MODs had been installed, then things were completely different.
To what extent did MODs for this game exist? Well, if your computer was good enough, they could completely transform it into an entirely different game.
In the original game, the Daedric Princes didn't appear often, and their danger level wasn't that high. But in many mod packs, they were strengthened again and again, even allowing for direct confrontations with the Daedric Princes.
And then there were things like "Lovers' adventures," "the Lab," and "monster-girls."
Alright, to be honest, those latter ones wouldn't really have any significant impact.
"This isn't necessarily a bad thing."
He would definitely have to make contact with the Daedric Princes later on. If this was really a modded world, it would instead make it easier to get in touch with the Daedric Princes, and he might even be able to naturally find a way into their realms of Oblivion.
"Hey kid, did you not hear me speaking?
"Looks to me like you want a taste of my fist!"
The ruffian leader lifted his fist, which was the size of a sandbag, and waved it in front of George's eyes.
The surrounding people who saw this just shook their heads. No one spoke up to stop it, nor did anyone step forward to intervene.
Although they weren't afraid of these few ruffians, being entangled with them would also be a troublesome matter.
In this regard, George didn't feel any surprise.
"If it doesn't concern me, I won't get involved." This was fundamentally human nature, and it was the same in every world.
To see injustice on the road and roar, to take action when it's time to act—this kind of heroic figure was naturally worthy of praise.
But the majority of people were just ordinary, with their own families and burdens, and they didn't have much strength themselves.
If they tried to help and ended up losing their own life, who would be left to take care of their family?
Not helping was, in fact, also a way of being responsible for their own families. There was nothing much to say about it, and there was no need for moral posturing.
He himself was just like this. When he encountered similar situations, he would help if he felt like helping. The purpose of helping wasn't for any reward; it was purely because he couldn't stand the sight of it.
If he didn't want to help, then he wouldn't help. And if someone tried to morally pressure him, and he became unhappy, he would just take care of that person first.
(End of this chapter)