I Became a Side Character in the World Of Skyrim

Alex then left, flying through the air with the help of his telekinesis. Thanks to that ability, he was able to reach the locations marked by Isran on the map with ease.

His goal was to find Gunmar, one of the Dawnguard soldiers.

However, Isran had marked several possible locations, and nearly all of them were caves, hunting grounds, or places where dangerous beasts were known to roam. Among them were Bonechill Passage, Blood Cavern, Cronvangr Cave, Honeystrand Cave, Clearspring Tarn, Fallowstone Cave, and many others.

Even with his ability to fly, it still took some time to search each place and travel from one location to the next.

“Phew… if I didn’t have my telekinesis ability to fly, this would have taken an incredibly long time,” Alex muttered as he landed near one of the marked areas.

He searched the locations Isran had marked one by one, but no matter where he went, there was still no sign of Gunmar.

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly as he thought back.

“Hmm… if I remember correctly, in the game, Gunmar went out to hunt a bear.”

He then let out a long sigh, his shoulders dropping a little.

“Haah… if only I had a quest marker like in the game, this wouldn’t take so much time…”

With a tired expression, Alex looked down at the map again, then lifted his gaze toward the next marked location in the distance.

“Alright… next place.”

And so, Alex continued his search.

After visiting several caves, Alex finally made his way toward Honeystrand Cave.

But just as he was about to arrive, his ears suddenly caught the sound of a bear roaring in the distance.

“GROOOAAR!”

A moment later, another sound followed it a man shouting, his voice rough and fierce, like someone in the middle of a desperate fight.

Alex’s face immediately brightened with a smile.

“Ah… maybe that’s him.”

Without wasting another second, Alex shot forward through the air, flying rapidly toward the source of the sound.

Not far from the cave, Gunmar was struggling against a massive bear. His boots dug into the ground as he stood his ground, his body tense and covered in sweat. Yet despite the danger before him, he refused to back down.

With a fearless roar, Gunmar shouted straight at the beast in front of him.

“GGRRAAAAH!”

The bear answered him with a thunderous roar of its own.

“GROOOAAR!”

Gunmar’s hands trembled slightly as he gripped his axe. The fear was there clear in the tension of his fingers and the strain in his arms. But a moment later, he tightened his hold again, as if swallowing that fear and turning it into courage.

“You think I’m afraid of you? Hahaha!”

His brows were drawn down in anger, his eyes wide and fierce. Yet his mouth stretched into a wild, fearless grin, almost like he was laughing in the face of death itself.

“COME ON, THEN! FIGHT ME!”

Before Gunmar stood not just an ordinary bear, but a massive beast it’s a grizzly bear. Its body was huge and powerful, with thick fur matted by blood and dirt. One of its legs was badly wounded, likely from one of the traps Gunmar had set, and several arrows were already buried deep in its body.

Even so, the bear had not fallen.

And Gunmar did not run.

Instead, he tightened his grip on his axe and planted his feet firmly against the ground. His breath was heavy, his arms trembling slightly, but his eyes burned with determination. It was as if, at that moment, he had already prepared himself for whatever came next.

Then, after steeling his resolve, Gunmar charged straight toward the bear.

“GRAAAAH! LET’S SEE WHO DIES FIRST ME OR YOU! GHAHAHA!”

The grizzly bear roared in response and rushed forward as well.

“GROOOAAR!”

The beast swung one of its massive paws toward Gunmar, its claws cutting through the air with terrifying force. Gunmar raised his axe just in time and blocked the attack with the handle.

Clang!

The impact was brutal.

Even though the grizzly bear was wounded, its strength was still no joke. Gunmar’s arms shook violently from the force, and his boots scraped against the ground as he struggled to hold his position.

“Tch… damn strong, aren’t you…?”

But before he could properly recover, the grizzly bear attacked again with its other paw.

This time, Gunmar could not fully defend himself.

Slash!

The beast’s claws struck his body, tearing through his armor and sending him crashing to the ground.

“GRAAAHKKH!”

Pain shot through him as his back hit the dirt. But even while falling, Gunmar gritted his teeth and swung his axe in a desperate counterattack.

The blade cut across the grizzly bear’s arm

Slash!

but the wound was shallow. It only sliced through a bit of flesh and fur, nowhere near enough to seriously injure the massive beast.

The grizzly bear barely flinched.

Gunmar clicked his tongue, his breathing rough as he forced himself to move despite the pain.

“Heh… so that’s all I managed to do, huh…?”

Gunmar lay on the ground, gritting his teeth as he endured the pain. His legs pushed weakly against the dirt, slowly dragging his body backward.

But the grizzly bear saw him.

The beast lowered its head, let out a deep, furious growl, and suddenly charged straight toward him.

“Oh, by the Eight!”

Gunmar’s eyes widened.

The massive grizzly rushed at him with terrifying speed, its claws ready to tear him apart. Gunmar clenched his jaw and instinctively shut his eyes, believing that this was the end.

But then-

The grizzly bear suddenly stopped.

Its entire body froze in place.

For a moment, there was only silence.

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Gunmar slowly opened his eyes. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the grizzly standing right in front of him, completely stunned and unable to move, as if an invisible force had locked its body in place.

“What the…”

Then, a voice suddenly startled him.

“Hey. Are you Gunmar?”

Gunmar’s eyes shifted toward the source of the voice. It came from behind him a human voice.

He turned his head and saw a man standing there with one hand stretched forward, as if he were holding the grizzly bear back with nothing but the air itself.

Gunmar stared at him in disbelief.

“Aye… I’m Gunmar. Who are you?”

The man gave him a calm look and answered,

“Ah, I’m Alex. Hey, Isran needs you.”

As he spoke, Alex raised his other hand and cast a healing spell.

A soft light wrapped around Gunmar’s injured body. Slowly, the wounds across his flesh began to close, and the pain faded little by little.

Gunmar let out a rough breath, then pushed himself back to his feet, still staring at Alex with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

Alex looked at Gunmar and saw that he had mostly recovered. While still holding the grizzly bear in place with his telekinesis, Alex asked,

“Tell me… what is it doing here?”

He pointed toward the frozen grizzly bear.

Gunmar scratched the back of his head awkwardly before answering.

“Well… I was trying to hunt a bear. But it turns out the bear I found wasn’t exactly the kind I expected.”

He glanced at the massive grizzly, then continued with a rough sigh.

“At first, I was tracking an ordinary bear. Then I heard one of my traps go off, so I went to check it. But when I got there, this giant beast was standing in front of me instead.”

Gunmar narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the wounds on the grizzly’s body.

“My trap barely did anything to it. After that, I shot it with arrows, but its body was too tough. And, well… then it decided to come after my life. You saw the rest yourself.”

Alex nodded slowly as he listened to Gunmar’s explanation.

“I see…”

Then Alex looked at the grizzly bear again before turning back to Gunmar.

“So, what do you want to do with it? Right now, with my power, it’s completely helpless.”

Gunmar fell silent.

His eyes moved over the grizzly bear’s wounded body the injured leg, the arrows buried in its flesh, the blood staining its thick fur. For a moment, the wild grin and bravado from earlier disappeared from his face.

Then he turned toward Alex and spoke in a quieter voice.

“Can you heal it… and let it go?”

“What?! Why would you want to let it go let alone heal it?”

Gunmar did not answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the wounded grizzly bear for a moment before he finally spoke.

“Because I was the one who hunted it first.”

He let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders lowering slightly.

“I came into its territory. I followed its tracks. I raised my axe to bring it down. And when I failed…” Gunmar’s gaze hardened, but there was no hatred in his eyes. “It did what every wild creature is supposed to do in order to survive.”

Alex stared at Gunmar in confusion.

“But it almost tried to eat you.”

Gunmar looked back at the bear.

“Aye. It did.” His voice was calm and firm. “And that is not evil.”

Alex fell silent for a moment.

He could understand the words, but something still felt strange to him. If Gunmar could show mercy to this bear, then what made it different from the vampires he hunted without hesitation?

So Alex asked,

“But you hunt vampires without any doubt. You even want to slaughter them. So why is this bear different?”

Gunmar then took a long, deep breath.

“Because that bear does not understand sin.”

He looked at the grizzly bear for a moment, then continued in a low voice.

“It does not attack villages because it wants to torture people. It does not kidnap children from their homes. It does not turn innocent people into monsters like itself. It does not laugh while its victims scream.”

Gunmar’s gaze slowly hardened.

“It is simply hungry. Or afraid. Or defending its territory. That is how beasts live.”

Alex stared at Gunmar more seriously now.

Then Gunmar turned his head toward him.

“Vampires are different.”

His voice became heavier when he spoke that word.

“They have minds. They have choices. They know pain. They know the meaning of fear. They know that humans beg to live… and yet they still drain their blood, toy with them, enslave them, or turn them into cursed creatures.”

Gunmar slowly clenched his fist.

“A bear kills to live. Vampires kill because they see humans as food, toys, or livestock.”

His jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened with anger.

“And even when some of them know there is a way to become human again, they refuse it. They choose to remain beasts while still carrying the mind of a man.”

Gunmar looked back at the wounded grizzly bear.

“That is the difference between them.”

Gunmar then spoke in a calmer tone.

“Heal it. Let it go. If I meet it again one day, then I’ll finish the hunt with my own hands… or maybe I’ll lose again. But that will be my business as a hunter.”

He paused for a moment, then added something more meaningful.

“A true hunter does not hate his prey. He respects it… even when that prey nearly takes his life.”

Alex drew in a slow breath.

“Alright,” he finally said.

Gunmar turned his head toward him.

Alex raised his hand toward the grizzly bear. A soft light began to glow from his palm, wrapping around the beast’s massive body. The open wounds slowly closed. The blood running down its fur began to stop. Its breathing, which had been heavy and uneven before, gradually became steadier.

The bear let out a low growl not out of anger, but from pain and confusion. Its sharp eyes stared at Alex, as if it could not understand why a human who had the power to kill it was choosing to save it instead.

Once Alex was certain the bear’s wounds had recovered enough, he lowered his hand.

“It’s done,” he said quietly. “It can move again.”

Gunmar gave a small nod.

“Good. Now let it go.”

Alex slowly stepped back several paces.

Gunmar did the same, giving the bear enough space. Then Alex released the telekinetic force that had been restraining the grizzly.

For a moment, the air fell silent.

Only the sound of the wind passing through the trees and the bear’s heavy breathing could be heard.

Then, the grizzly bear began to rise.

Its massive body moved carefully. Its legs still trembled slightly, but its strength was slowly returning. It looked at Alex and Gunmar one more time, releasing a low growl as if warning them not to come any closer.

But this time, Alex did not sense any killing intent from the animal.

What he felt instead was fear.

The bear then turned around and ran into the forest. Its heavy steps crushed small branches beneath its paws as Alex and Gunmar silently watched its massive figure disappear between the trees.

However, a few seconds later, Alex narrowed his eyes.

“Wait…”

Gunmar noticed the same thing and looked in the same direction.

From behind the bushes, not far from where the bear had vanished, a small sound could be heard.

Soft and Weak.

Almost like a whimper.

Alex and Gunmar exchanged a glance.

Then they saw them.

Two small bear cubs emerged from behind the roots of a large tree. Their bodies were tiny, their fur thick and messy, and their movements clumsy. The moment they saw their mother return, the two cubs hurried toward her with small, unsteady steps.

The grizzly bear stopped.

The enormous creature that had nearly killed Gunmar moments ago suddenly lowered its head. It gently sniffed its cubs, then stepped in front of them, placing its massive body between her children and the two humans standing in the distance.

Alex froze.

His eyes widened slightly.

“She…”

Gunmar let out a long breath.

“So that’s how it is.”

Alex stared at the scene with complicated emotions. Surprise, relief, and a faint sense of guilt rose together in his chest.

The bear had not attacked simply because it was hungry.

It had not been merely savage.

It had not been just a wild beast rampaging without reason.

She had been protecting her children.

Alex slowly lowered his gaze.

“If I had killed her earlier…”

He did not finish the sentence.

But Gunmar understood what he meant.

“Those cubs probably wouldn’t have survived for long,” Gunmar said in a heavy voice. “Too small. Too weak. This forest doesn’t forgive creatures that aren’t ready to live on their own.”

Alex slowly clenched his hand into a fist.

A heavy feeling pressed against his chest.

Until now, he had been so used to seeing the world from the human side. Who attacked first. Who was dangerous. Who needed to be stopped. But this time, the reality before him made everything feel far less simple than before.

Gunmar watched as the mother bear began leading her cubs deeper into the forest.

“Look carefully, Alex.”

Alex turned toward him.

Gunmar was not looking at him. His eyes remained fixed on the bear and her cubs.

“That is why a hunter must never kill only out of anger. Sometimes, what looks like a monster… is simply a creature trying to return to its family.”

Alex fell silent.

Those words pierced him deeper than before.

Family.

That one word immediately sent his thoughts to Astrid. To Lucia. To the unborn child inside his wife’s womb.

If someone threatened them, would he not act just like that bear?

He would attack.

He would rage.

He would destroy anything that came near them.

Not because he was evil.

But because he wanted to protect his family.

Alex let out a long breath, then looked at Gunmar with a softer expression.

“Now I understand why you asked me to heal her.”

Gunmar let out a quiet snort.

“Hmph. Truth be told, I didn’t know she had cubs.” Then he turned toward Alex, his gaze sharp and firm. “But I did know one thing.”

He looked back toward the forest.

“Wild animals don’t live with hatred the way humans do. They live by need. They kill to eat, to protect their territory, or to defend their young.”

Gunmar then picked up his axe from the ground and rested it on his shoulder.

“Vampires are different.”

The atmosphere between them changed immediately.

That single word made the air feel colder.

Alex looked at Gunmar seriously.

Gunmar continued in a low voice.

“Vampires know what pain is. They know what fear is. They know what it feels like to beg for your life. And yet, they still kidnap humans, drain their blood, enslave them, or turn them into cursed creatures.”

He looked toward the forest, where the mother bear and her cubs had already disappeared.

“That bear attacked to protect her family. Vampires attack to steal families away from others.”

Alex did not answer.

Those words were painfully clear.

Gunmar then turned back toward him.

“So don’t compare the two. A bear is part of nature. A vampire is a curse walking upon the earth.”

For a few moments, both of them remained silent, watching the direction where the bear had vanished.

Then Gunmar let out a long sigh.

“Alright. Let’s go to Isran.”

Alex smiled faintly.

Without warning, he used his telekinesis to lift Gunmar into the air.

“Woah wah!” Gunmar shouted in surprise, gripping his axe tightly. “So you’re an expert mage too, huh?”

Alex glanced at him with a small grin.

“Something like that. Now, prepare yourself. We’re heading to Fort Dawnguard.”

Gunmar looked down at the ground slowly growing farther beneath his boots, then swallowed hard.

“Hmph… flying through the sky wasn’t exactly what I expected when Isran sent someone to find me.”

Alex chuckled softly.

“Get used to it.”

Then, with Gunmar held securely by his telekinetic power, Alex flew toward Fort Dawnguard.