The hero then entered the quest. Five women were trapped in a cage by a small group of bandits. If the bandits were not defeated quickly, some of the women would be executed before you could free them. Carter then demonstrated the game's awesome fighting engine. The character's swordplay was quite advanced, as he had high strength points, which can be obtained by doing any act requiring strength, such as using a sword. Basically, using a skill will help improve that skill, although use of weapons is not necessarily required to raise your strength.

Since skills can be raised over time, Molyneux also covered the converse idea of skills decaying over time. At this point in development, skills that are not used do not decay over time, though the developer is still debating this issue. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each decision. Only time will tell which way they end up going.

The fighting itself is reminiscent of the latest Legend of Zelda games, with both free-roaming action and trigger-based lock-on for focusing on a single enemy. Unlike Zelda, Fable emphasizes fighting with multiple enemies more than with single opponents. The combat is fast-paced, so locking onto a single enemy is not necessarily the best idea.

After knocking an enemy down, the hero stood over the fallen foe and stabbed him through the chest. Molyneux explained that this is considered a merciful, noble killing that is more in line with a character aligned with good. An evil character will get more devilish ways to kill his prey, including decapitations and even ripping out an opponent's heart.

The game contains more than just physical combat, though, and Lionhead showed off the game's magic for us, too. The hero cast a level two push spell, which knocked two enemies back and off of their feet. The push spell, Molyneux explained, can work on not only enemies but any object in the game. He also stated that the highest level push spell would be able to push a skeleton out of a target character's body.