I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1308: The Same Fragment

Arven walked ahead in silence. His steps were steady but measured and doubtful as he guided Aesa deeper through the corridor. The echoes of battle behind them gradually faded, replaced by a heavier stillness that seemed to press in from all sides.

The deeper they went, the quieter it became, as if this part of the dungeon had been deliberately isolated from everything else.

From time to time, Arven glanced over his shoulder.

Each time, he saw the same thing.

Aesa followed him without hesitation or fear even if she were going to an unknown place. Her pace was even and unhurried. Her expression remained cold and unreadable, her pale blue eyes half-lidded as if nothing around her truly mattered. The faint mist still curled around her body, and the chill she carried had not faded at all.

If anything, it felt even denser and colder now.

Arven couldn't tell whether the chill in his chest came from the unnatural cold or something else entirely. Like fear, probably.

He had faced powerful beings before. He had stood in the presence of Archmages and entities beyond ordinary comprehension. But this… this felt different.

Aesa was a being from another world. A variable he could not measure. A presence that didn't follow the structure of power he had spent his entire life studying. That unsettled him more than anything.

"What exactly is your purpose?" Arven finally asked, breaking the silence.

Aesa didn't look at him.

"I already told you," she replied flatly. "I just want to see it."

Her tone carried no interest in continuing the conversation. It was short, closed, and final.

But Arven was not someone who let curiosity die so easily. Questions pressed against his mind, demanding answers.

Where did she come from? What kind of world produced someone like her? And most importantly… what were the other two doing right now?

If she alone could overwhelm this place so effortlessly, then if the three of them moved across the world…

The implications tightened his chest.

He opened his mouth again. "Your world—"

Aesa stopped walking. Just slightly.

Then she turned her head. Her eyes met his eyes. It was cold and sharp.

For a single moment, it felt like something pierced straight through his soul. Not Magic or usual pressure. Something far more primal. His body reacted before his mind could process it.

Arven winced. The reaction was small, barely visible—but to him, it felt jarring.

No one had made him react like that in years at his level and position.

Yet this woman, who looked far younger than him, had done it with nothing more than a glance.

"That's enough," Aesa said quietly.

There was no threat in her voice. But it carried absolute finality.

Arven closed his mouth. He didn't ask again.

A faint discomfort lingered in his chest, but he quickly buried it. At least no one else was here to witness that moment. His composure remained intact.

For now.

They continued walking. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The corridor gradually narrowed before opening into a reinforced chamber ahead. A massive door stood at the end, carved from dark stone and etched with complex patterns that faintly glowed.

Arven stopped in front of it.

He raised his hand and made several precise gestures. Magic responded instantly, flowing into the engravings as the patterns lit up one by one. A low rumble followed as mechanisms hidden within the structure activated.

The door slowly opened.

A cold, quiet space revealed itself beyond.

Arven stepped inside first.

Aesa followed.

At the center of the chamber, something hovered.

It floated slightly above the ground, suspended in place. Its shape was irregular like a broken piece of something far bigger. Faint light pulsed from within it, soft but heavy, as if it carried immense weight despite its size.

Chains of light extended from the surrounding walls, binding it in place.

They wrapped around the fragment tightly, glowing with controlled energy, sealing it from all sides.

Arven gestured toward it.

"This is the fragment of the Sky Anchor," he said.

Aesa's eyes settled on it. For the first time since arriving her attention sharpened.

Arven remained where he stood, his eyes fixed on Aesa instead of the fragment.

He had spent years observing the Sky Anchor fragment, studying every fluctuation and every pulse of energy it emitted.

At first, the mystery, the potential, and the unknown structure behind its existence had consumed him. But over time, that pursuit had slowed. He had reached a wall, a limit where no matter how much he analyzed, nothing new revealed itself.

So he stopped.

Not out of lack of interest, but because there was nothing more he could extract from it alone.

But now, Aesa stood before it.

A being from another world. Someone who might see what he couldn't.

That alone made her more valuable than the fragment at this moment.

His gaze sharpened slightly as he observed her reaction closely, watching for even the smallest change.

Aesa didn't move at first.

Her eyes remained locked onto the fragment, unblinking.

The faint glow from it reflected softly against her pale blue irises, but beneath that stillness, something shifted.

She felt the energy. It wasn't unfamiliar.

Aesa's brows lowered slightly as she focused, letting her senses deepen into the presence before her. The fragment pulsed again and with it came a resonance she recognized.

It was not exactly identical. But close. Very close.

Her mind immediately pulled back to that battle against Zerathul.

The overwhelming presence, the pressure that didn't belong to any natural system. That same underlying nature lingered here, but far more contained.

"It's similar," she thought.

But not the same. This felt cleaner and more stable.

As if whatever this was, it existed in a purer state. Untouched, or at least less corrupted than what she had faced before. And yet, despite that purity, it lacked the overwhelming dominance she remembered.

Which made sense. Because it was incomplete. Just a fragment of it.

That conclusion settled naturally in her mind.

At this point, she no longer had any doubt.

This was it. The missing Creation of the Void Architect.

Aesa gave a small, almost imperceptible nod to herself.

Beside her, Arven noticed it. His eyes twitched slightly.

She had confirmed something.

That single reaction sent a ripple of tension through him. Whatever she understood about this fragment was something far beyond his reach.

Before he could ask his questions Aesa's expression changed.

It was subtle. A faint crease formed between her brows.

Then suddenly a sharp sensation struck her mind.

Her vision flickered for a split second as something pierced inward, not physically, but directly into her mind. It wasn't pain in the normal sense, but it was intrusive.

Aesa's body tensed slightly.

"What is this…?" she muttered under her breath.

The sensation lingered, pressing deeper into her skull like something trying to connect or force its way through.

Her instincts immediately reacted.

This was harmful.

But she didn't step back.

Her eyes remained locked onto the fragment, her focus sharpening instead of retreating. The cold around her subtly intensified, responding to her alertness.

Whatever this was she was already too close to stop now. Might as well try to understand it.

—