Skyrim: A New Crisis!

"Why in the world would I punch you?!" Zack blurts out.

"Just do it," I say, smacking my stomach twice. "You can't hurt me anyway—you're too weak for that."

Zack shrugs his shoulder. "Alright, you asked for it!"

Clenching his fist, he draws back his hand and punches me right in the gut—resulting in a soft thud.

"Ouch!" Zack yelps.

"Don't clench your thumb first when making a fist!" I say, facepalming.

His punch didn't hurt. The gap between our levels had not helped him at all.

Nothing is coincidental—that's what I believe.

Our levels should indicate that Zack is stronger than me, but clearly, he isn't. But our aura's are different, his is blue, and mine's red.

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that my power is physical, and his is probably magical.

That would make sense. The mage had a blue aura, the bear had red, and the battlemage, Maximus, who was carrying a sword, had red mixed in with his blue aura.

The only problem is—Zack doesn't have magic powers... right?

"Hey, Zack... do you feel any different from before we came here?" I ask, wanting to know if my conclusion was right.

He's silent for a moment before pointing to his chest. "I do feel something—like some kind of energy within my chest. How did you know?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I have a theory, and it seems that I'm right... Zack, I think that your level is purely based on your magical powers."

His eyes widen. "Magic?... Me?! Why would you think that?!"

I tell him about my conclusion—my theory about the red and blue auras, and the differences in our levels.

A cocky smirk grows on his face. "Leo! Looks like you're gonna be my sidekick!"

"Prrf," I break into laughter. "As if! I'm obviously the stronger one between us!"

Maybe Zack has this aura because he was possessed... Remaining traces of magic, perhaps?

It's crazy that I'm even thinking about auras and magic like this—as if it could be broken down scientifically!

But then again, maybe it could?

"Hey Leo, did you notice the moons yet?" Zack asks.

I turn my gaze to the skies, and no, Zack hadn't misspoken. There really were two moons! No wonder night here was so bright!

"This isn't Earth... is it?" I ask.

"Probably not," Zack answers, before taking his cellphone out from his pocket. "There's no coverage here."

"Let's go. This way," I say, pointing down the cobblestone road in the opposite direction from where we came.

We walk for a while. The sunrise comes upon us—at least it seems to be normal. There's only one sun.

The mountaintops surrounding us were lit up with golden light. They were all crowned with a layer of snow.

"This is weird!" Zack blurts out. "This almost seems like we're in—"

"Hush!" I interrupt Zack, pulling him down into a crouch on the road.

"Is that a wolf?!" I whisper, pointing further down the road. It was hard to see it clearly from this distance, but its aura was both red and blue—and powerful!

Zack chuckles. "That's a dog, not a wolf!" He stands back up and whistles at it. "Come here, boy!"

It turns around and starts pacing toward us.

"Zack, you idiot! It could be dangerous!" I snap.

As the dog comes closer, I'm able to focus on it to get a read on its aura.

'Level 30. Class: Daedric Shapeshifter.'

My face pales. "What the hell is that thing?!"

As it's about to reach us, I get ready for battle.

"Hey, guys! Can you please help me?!" the dog says.

My jaw drops. "Did you just talk?..."

"Yeah, I just talked. And am continuing to do so," the dog answers. "You see, my name is Barbas. And I have a problem I think you can help sort out."

Zack stoops down and studies it for a moment.

"You're Clavicus Vile's dog, aren't you?" he asks the dog, named Barbas.

Now, the dog is the one with the surprised look. "Well, yes. He's my master," it answers.

Zack stands up again, looking down the road. "Then I take it that Falkreath is just ahead?"

Barbas nods. "Yes, but about helping me—"

"Come, Leo, let's go!" Zack interrupts the dog, before starting to walk away.

The dog and I raise our eyebrows and meet each other's gaze, both of us just as surprised by his attitude.

I jog up to him. "What's going on, Zack? How did you know that?! And do you know where we are?!"

"We're inside the computer, Leo. And we should start by seeking out the nearest town," Zack says, striding onward.

I stop. "Wait! What do you mean we're inside the computer? That doesn't make any sense!"

Zack stops and turns toward me. "This all happened when I started up that computer, right? And everything so far points to this fact: this is Skyrim."

"Skyrim? The video game?!" I blurt out.

I had played it before, but not too much. Of the two of us, Zack was the one who was big on games.

"Exactly!" he says with a grin. He's obviously excited about being here. "So we need to check out the nearest town!"

"We're not here to have fun, Zack. And this can't be inside the computer! You said it yourself—it was filled with porn, not videogames!" I answer him, not being nearly as entertained to be here as he is.

He shrugs, but is still smirking. "True. So maybe we'll run into some of that as well!"

"Hoping to finally live out that furry dream of yours, huh?" I ask teasingly.

"Leo, please!" he says loudly. "You know I'm all about the MILFs, baby!"

I laugh hard.

"But seriously, we need to figure out what's happened to us, Zack!"

He nods. "Yeah, but in the meanwhile, we need to survive! This is Skyrim—there will definitely be some fighting ahead."

"Therefore, we need to head to Falkreath. We need gold, gear, and something to defend ourselves with!"

"Well, yeah..." I answer. "But we don't have any money for this world. Doubt my credit card would work!"

Zack grins. "That's okay. I've got a plan! Come on, Falkreath should be just a little further ahead."

He was right. After a few more minutes of walking, we found the town.

But I did wonder what kind of plan he had... Should I be worried?