I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1284: Three Sites

Erend, Eccar, and Aesa stepped out of the potion shop without another glance back. The bell above the door rang softly behind them, swallowed almost immediately by the low murmur of the slum district.

They walked at a steady pace through the narrow streets, neither hurried nor slow. Their expressions remained calm, but their minds were far from quiet.

"Three major sites and five minor ones," Eccar’s voice echoed within their shared telepathic link, edged with irritation. "I expected one corrupted core. Not a scattered infestation like this."

"Right. It complicates everything," Aesa replied, her mental tone as cold and precise as frost forming over steel. "If the Creation fractured or anchored itself in multiple points, we cannot assume destroying one will end it, instead it will be alarming to the others."

Erend’s thoughts flowed between them, steady and controlled. "It’s worse than that. If secret orders have been containing it for centuries, then we are walking into a system that already built defenses around it. We won’t be the only ones watching those ruins."

A group of men leaning against a cracked stone wall followed them with wary eyes. A cloaked woman paused in the middle of her conversation as they passed. Suspicion lingered in the air like smoke.

They ignored it all.

"This is really annoying," Eccar muttered mentally. "We came searching for a missing Creation. Instead, we found a network of rot threaded through the entire world."

"At least we found confirmation quickly," Aesa said. "That is fortunate."

"Fortunate would have been one location!" Eccar replied dryly.

They continued walking until the cracked stones beneath their boots gradually gave way to cleaner cobblestone.

The air felt lighter as they exited the slum district. Buildings straightened and the sunlight reached the road without obstruction.

A patrol of five armored knights marched toward them in formation, steel boots striking the stone in disciplined rhythm. Their armor bore the insignia of the city guard, polished and well maintained.

The two groups passed each other without incident.

The knights did not react.

The three Dragonborn blended seamlessly into the flow of citizens.

After several meters, however, the knight at the rear slowed slightly. A faint frown formed beneath his helmet.

He turned his head.

Something brushed against his senses. Subtle and distant, like a ripple in still water.

But when he looked back, he saw nothing unusual. Only merchants, a mother guiding her child, and laborers carrying tools.

The three strangers were already gone from his sight.

"What is it?" one of his subordinates asked quietly.

"I sensed something strange," the knight replied in a low voice.

The subordinate glanced around casually. "It must be nothing. No one with ill intent would dare enter this part of the city openly."

The knight hesitated.

"Perhaps," he said. Yet unease lingered in his chest. Whatever he had sensed had not felt malicious.

It had felt... big.

He said nothing more, but deep inside, he wanted to understand what exactly had brushed against his awareness.

Meanwhile, Erend, Eccar, and Aesa reached a quieter section near a small open square. They sat on a stone bench beneath the shade of a young tree, blending among ordinary citizens resting from their work.

They were calm on the outside but inwardly they were calculating.

"So," Erend began within their shared mind, "where do we go first?"

Silence stretched between them for several long moments at that bench. The other people passed without paying them too much attention. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

They watched the city move around them. Vendors keep shouting, children running, and a lot of carts with different crests and shapes rattling past.

To anyone observing, they were nothing more than three travelers resting under a tree.

Inside their shared link, however, tension coiled tightly again.

"We split up," Eccar finally said.

Erend’s gaze remained forward, but his mind sharpened instantly. "I don’t think that it’s a good idea."

Aesa did not speak yet. She listened.

"Why not?" Eccar countered. "Three major sites. Five minor ones. If we move together, we will just waste time. If this thing truly is draining the world, every delay matters."

"Or we walk into an unknown trap alone," Erend replied evenly. "We don’t understand the nature of these things yet. If it reacts to us—"

"It will react whether we stand together or not," Eccar interrupted. "And if those secret orders are watching, three Dragonborn moving as one will draw more attention than three travelers arriving separately."

That gave Erend pause.

Eccar continued with a calmer tone now. "We are not weak, Erend. Each of us can handle horrible monsters before. We’ve faced gods, time distortions, etc. You think a restrained fragment or secret orders will overwhelm one of us?"

Erend fell silent. The argument was logical.

He weighed it carefully.

They were no longer inexperienced warriors. They were Dragonborn. Each of them carried overwhelming power and battle experience across multiple worlds and fought a lot of things.

Acting separately would not diminish them but would multiply their reach.

Slowly, he sigh.

"You’re right," Erend admitted at last. "We’re strong enough."

Aesa finally spoke, her mental tone steady but carrying a subtle urgency. "The faster we finish this, the faster we return home."

There was no hesitation in her words.

That settled it.

"Then we divide the major sites first," Erend said. "Minor ones can wait unless we sense instability."

"I’ll take the canyon in the northern highlands," Eccar said immediately. "Open terrain. Ancient seals. Sounds interesting."

"I will investigate this Vaelorin city," Aesa said. "A collapsed city surrounded by unstable sigils suggests structural imbalance. If corruption is leaking, it will be there."

That left one.

Erend’s eyes lifted slightly toward the distant horizon.

"Then I’ll take the Drowned Crown."

The sea, with shifting islands and whispers beneath stone.

He felt it was the most unpredictable of the three.

"We maintain constant telepathic connection," Erend continued. "If one of us encounters full activation or resistance beyond expectation, we regroup immediately."

"Agreed," Eccar said.

"Agreed," Aesa echoed.

They fell quiet again, but this time the silence felt resolved.

Three directions now would be handled by the three Dragonborn.

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