I Received System to Become Dragonborn

Erend hadn't really thought about it before this deeply.

Anout the weight he'd been carrying all this time as the wielder of the Dragonborn power.

He never asked for this and never chased it at the beginning. But once the system chose him, he just… went along. It gave him missions and directions. Always toward saving someone, protecting something.

First it was his own kind, then the Elves, then the Great Calamity, then Laston and his army, and even the threats beyond his own world. The Chaos God, the corrupted Dragonborn that had become the Great Calamity. Each battle, each crisis, always came to him.

And every time that happened, he answered that and go.

He had not once questioned it even once. It was always just the next task, the next enemy, and the next world to save.

Then somewhere along the way, he'd stopped noticing the toll on his body and psychic. The pain in his body, the exhaustion, and the numbness of it all.

It all became normal. He didn't have time for his family. He rarely had time for Aurdis. He hadn't done anything just because he wanted to in a long while.

Erend sighed with a long breath, the weight in his chest surfacing for the first time. The heaviness he'd ignored and suppressed now, finally, it was too loud to ignore.

"Is this really my fate? Is this all there is?"

Aurdis heard his sigh and lifted her head, worry in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Aurdis asked.

Erend hesitated and said, "Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not your 'nothing' voice."

He gave a faint laugh, then lowered his gaze.

"It's what you said earlier. About world saviors. It made me think… do I have to do this forever?" Erend finally said.

Aurdis looked pained. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No. Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

She studied his face, then said gently, "You don't have to do this alone, Erend. The people you've helped and the beings you've saved will help you too, if you just reach out. You're not as alone as you think."

Erend looked at her, surprised by the quiet conviction in her voice.

He gave her a small and honest smile. "Thank you, Aurdis."

He still wasn't sure. He wasn't used to asking for help. The big fights always landed on him. But maybe… maybe she was right. Maybe he could try and ask for help with the others for the matters he couldn't handle alone.

Their eyes met, and for a long breathless moment, nothing else mattered.

Then, slowly, without a word, they leaned in and kissed.

Their lips met, and the world around them was gone.

What started as a soft quiet kiss soon deepened gently, then more urgently as if all the longing, the distance and the unspoken fears had finally broken loose.

They clung to each other not just as lovers, but as two souls who had walked through a lot of world ending trouble and had borne burdens far heavier than most cpuld handle.

Aurdis' fingers slid along his jaw. Erend's hands curled around her waist. The moonlight fell over them ,and the breeze whispered through the silver trees.

No words passed between them anymore.

There in the quiet garden, beneath the canopy of stars and glowing leaves, they let themselves feel eaxlch other. They let the problem of the world wait for just one night.

They lay together under the moon's watchful gaze, wrapped in each other warmth. The night carried them and for a while, nothing else existed but them.

---

The next morning, sunlight spilled through the curtains of Erend's room back in his world.

He moved slowly then blinking at the golden light, a faint smile already forming at the edge of his lips. The weight in his chest that had once sat like stone now felt lighter. His body still ached but it was a different kind of ache. Its not pain from a battle this time.

He sat up and stretched, letting out a breath.

It wasn't that everything was fixed. But something had changed inside him.

After showering and getting dressed, he joined his family at the table. The smell of toast and coffee greeted him.

When it was time, he grabbed his keys and took Arty to school, letting her weird music that Erend didn't understand play from the passenger seat without complaint.

Then, once she'd hopped out with a wave, Erend turned the car toward the base.

When Erend arrived at the base, there were already a lot of cars here.

Security scanned his ID, saluted him with familiarity, and let him through.

Inside, the energy of the base felt more focused than usual. People moved with purpose. The coming restart of the Magic experiment had stirred anticipation, and maybe a little dread.

Adrien was already waiting near the operations hallway, leaning casually against the wall with a cup of coffee in hand. Billy stood beside him, arms crossed, tapping one foot idly.

Adrien nodded at Erend.

"Yo," Billy said. "So it's true then? The experiment's coming back?"

Erend gave a nod. "Yeah. It's official now. General Lennard already started pulling the pieces together."

Billy exhaled. "Damn. I hoped I misheard. You're gonna be there, right?"

"I will," Erend said firmly. "And I'm not letting it become.something else. I'll stop it myself if it gets out of hand."

Billy raised an eyebrow. "Even if that means going against orders?"

Erend's gaze didn't waver. "Even if it means standing against the whole chain of command."

Billy let out a low chuckle. "Man, I'd pay to see you argue with a room full of generals. That'd be epic."

Adrien shot Billy a sharp look. "This isn't funny stuff, Brook."

"Right. Sorry, Captain," Billy said, clearing his throat and looking away.

The three of them moved on, returning to their work.

By early afternoon, just after lunch, a dusty black car pulled up outside the gate.

Security scanned the occupants and quickly radioed in.

Moments later, the gate rolled open with a mechanical hum.

From the car stepped Conrad, dressed in his usual half-wrinkled clothes, and beside him was Thomas.

---