I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1304: Inside

Arven remained still for a moment after the spirit messenger faded. His eyes resting on the empty air where the spectral bird had hovered.

The silence that followed felt heavier than before as if the weight of the message had settled into the room around him.

He sighed slowly, his fingers tightening slightly behind his back as his thoughts began to move.

He had spent most of his life within the circles of the Arcane Authority, studying Magic alongside other Mage scholars who dedicated themselves to understanding the deeper structures of the world.

Like them, he had read countless records about anomalies, distortions, and the rare cases of individuals appearing from beyond their world.

These were not myths to him. They were documented phenomena that were discussed in controlled chambers and sealed archives.

But reading about something and facing it were entirely different matters.

Arven had never seen such a being with his own eyes. That alone stirred the curiosity inside him.

His curiosity rose sharp and undeniable. As a scholar, the idea of encountering a being from another world was something that could redefine everything he knew about Magic, existence, and the boundaries between realms.

But that curiosity did not come alone.

Fear and worry followed closely behind it.

That was because he understood very well what such beings could represent. Power beyond conventional limits. Knowledge that did not belong to this world. And most dangerously, intentions that could not be predicted.

His gaze shifted slightly toward the ground beneath him again in a thoughtful manner.

Three of them. That was what the Archmage had said.

Three individuals moving between the sites of the Sky Anchor fragments. That meant their purpose was not random. They were searching. One of those fragments was here, so one of them could already be on their way.

Or closer than he thought.

Arven’s eyes narrowed slightly as his awareness extended outward through the network of detection spells he had layered across the ruins. The formations were precise, overlapping fields of perception designed to detect movement, Magic fluctuations, and foreign presence.

But he found nothing. Everything remained quiet. No intrusion or any disturbance in the air. No sign of anything approaching from the surface.

He held that silence for a moment longer before a faint crease formed between his brows.

Unless they came from the underground.

There were no detection arrays beneath the sand. The terrain was too unstable, vast, and too resource-intensive to maintain constant surveillance below. No one had ever considered it necessary.

Because no one could move through it while unnoticed.

Arven let out a quiet breath and shook his head slightly.

"That’s impossible..." he muttered under his breath. "Right?"

Still, the unease did not fully fade from his heart.

He had lived long enough to understand one simple truth. Assumptions that everything was alright were where mistakes began.

Arven turned sharply and began walking toward the entrance of the command structure, his robe shifting lightly with his steps.

The moment he stepped outside, the heat of the desert pressed against him again, but he barely seemed to notice it after so long a time.

Several guards nearby straightened immediately upon seeing him.

"Call the captains," Arven said without hesitation. His voice was calm, but firm enough that no one questioned it. "All squad leaders are to report now."

The guards moved quickly, spreading the order across the outpost.

Within minutes, several figures approached from different sections of the ruins. They carried themselves with the discipline of command, their robes and armor marked slightly different from the others to indicate their rank.

They gathered before Arven in a loose formation.

One of them stepped forward. "You called for us, Overseer?"

Arven’s gaze moved across them, measuring each of them carefully before he spoke.

"There is a possibility of intrusion," he said.

That alone was enough to change the atmosphere. The casual calm that had defined the outpost for years tightened into alert focus.

"We have received information from the Archmage," Arven continued. "Individuals from another world have entered this one. The Archmage suggests that they are targeting locations connected to the Sky Anchor."

The captains expression showed shock.

Arven did not give them time to speak before he finished.

"Effective immediately, all patrols will double their vigilance," he ordered. "Rotate positions more frequently and do not leave any blind spots. I want full visual coverage of every accessible entry point to this ruin."

One of the captains frowned slightly and asked, "Do we expect an attack?"

"We expect nothing. Because we don’t know anything," Arven replied. "And that is precisely why we prepare for everything."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Any unusual movement, unknown presence, or anything that does not belong here must be reported immediately. Do not engage recklessly. If these beings are truly what the Archmage believes them to be... then underestimating them will cost your lives."

The captains nodded, their expressions now fully serious.

Orders began spreading almost immediately as they turned and moved back toward their respective squads.

Arven remained where he stood for a moment longer, watching the ruins as the patrols subtly shifted into a tighter formation.

Above the surface, everything still looked the same.

—

Aesa slowed slightly as the tunnel stretched forward, her steps clinked softly against the smooth ice beneath her boots.

The faint glow along the frozen walls flickered softly with each movement of her Magic, casting pale blue reflections across her face. Her brows furrowed as the sensation ahead grew stronger.

It wasn’t vague anymore.

The energy she had been tracking now pressed clearly against her senses, becoming more dense and unmistakable. It felt heavy and a little bit suffocating even for Aesa in its presence, like something vast was resting just beyond her reach.

Her step forward sharpened that feeling, pulling her in with a silent but undeniable force.

"It’s close..."

She didn’t slow down.

Her hand rose again, frost spreading across the sand ahead in a familiar rhythm. The grains froze, solidified, then fractured open as she pushed forward, extending the tunnel with steady precision.

Then she stopped.

The ice in front of her didn’t meet loose sand this time.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she stepped closer. The surface ahead was too smooth. It was a solid wall that stood in her path, its texture clean, new, and deliberate, completely different from the ancient stone she had seen above or the unstable sand she had been cutting through.

This wasn’t part of the original ruins.

Aesa reached out and pressed her palm against it. Ice spread instantly.

Frost crawled across the surface with a sharp crackling sound. Thin lines of ice branching outward like veins.

The temperature dropped rapidly as her Magic seeped deeper, freezing the structure down to its very core.

Then she shifted her control.

The frozen section trembled slightly before beginning to soften. The solid stone that was locked at a molecular level moments ago, started to break apart under her will. It didn’t shatter, but melted.

Slowly, unnaturally, the wall turned into a viscous liquefied mass that slid downward in silence, leaving behind a clean opening just large enough for her to pass through.

Aesa lowered her hand and studied the space beyond for a moment.

There was no movement there. No presence. Only stillness.

Without hesitation, she stepped through.

The temperature shifted immediately. The open, cold tunnel gave way to a constructed interior. A narrow corridor stretched out around her. The walls were reinforced with refined stone and faintly etched with artificial lines. It was unmistakably man-made.

Aesa glanced to her left. Then to her right.

Both directions extended into darkness.

But she didn’t need to think too much because the pull of that energy guided her.

Her eyes fixed to the right. Her expression sharpened as she followed the invisible thread leading deeper inside.

Her steps soft against the floor as the corridor stretched deeper into silence. The cold still lingered around her. Her eyes fixed ahead.

"I need to find it first then report to Erend."

Whether the fragment needed to be destroyed or preserved wasn’t her decision to make. That would depend on Erend... and whatever guidance that strange ’system’ of his gave him. Aesa trusted that, after all that had happened.

But before any of that, she needed to confirm it.

The energy ahead grew heavier with each step. It pressed against her senses now, getting denser and unmistakable. There was no doubt anymore. She was close.

Then—

She stopped. Her eyes narrowed. Something changed.

The energy she had been tracking was still there, but now another presence appeared layered over it, a sudden human presence.

It hadn’t been there a second ago.

"I thought something like this was impossible. But it turns out my instinct was right."

A voice echoed from the shadowed corridor ahead. Followed by footsteps.

They came from the darkness ahead.

From the shadow, a figure emerged.

An old man stepped into view.

His hair was pale, his face marked with age, but his posture remained straight and composed. His steps were firm, controlled, carrying none of the weakness his appearance suggested.

His eyes met her eyes immediately.

"You are the travelers from another world?"

Aesa sighed. This would be annoying.

—