I Received System to Become Dragonborn

Aesa was confused. What she saw in front of her was so strange. She could not immediately understand what the Trial wanted from her.

She was seeing Erend, Eccar, and Sylven appear several times across the frozen landscape. They would just stand there in the distance without saying anything. They just smiled at her as though they knew something she did not know.

Their expressions carried a strange amusement that made the entire scene feel more unsettling and annoying than threatening.

Every time Aesa approached them, however, they disappeared.

Their bodies dissolved like snow carried away by the wind until nothing remained of them.

Then, after some time, they would appear somewhere else across the frozen landscape and repeat the same thing. They never spoke, never attacked her.

They simply stood there and smiled before disappearing again whenever she drew close.

It happened so many times that Aesa began to wonder what she was actually supposed to do.

Was she supposed to fight the three of them? Or was she supposed to save them?

Defeating them would certainly not be easy. Aesa had traveled with Erend, Eccar, and Sylven long enough to understand exactly how strong they were.

She had fought alongside them against many powerful enemies and had seen each of them push their abilities to the limit.

The three figures standing before her might only be illusions, but they possessed the appearance of people who were every bit as powerful as the Dragonborn she knew.

If she was supposed to save them instead, however, the answer was even less obvious. There was no enemy, nothing attacking them. There was nothing for her to kill.

Aesa remained silent for a while as she studied the frozen landscape.

She suspected that the Trial would not be this simple. Whatever awaited her would probably appear only when she reached the point where she could no longer rely on what she already understood.

So she waited. For now, there was nothing else she could do.

Aesa stood in the cold wasteland and watched the illusions of Erend, Eccar, and Sylven appear again.

The three of them stood several dozen meters away from her with the same strange smiles on their faces. They looked almost amused by her confusion.

Aesa crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

No answer came. The three figures continued smiling. Aesa narrowed her eyes and waited.

She had no idea how much time had passed since she entered the Trial. She was certain that time flowed differently within this strange dimension than it did outside but she had no way of knowing whether she had been here for minutes or hours.

Then she heard a sound beneath her. A crack.

Aesa’s eyes immediately dropped toward the ice.

Another crack spread across the frozen surface.

The ice beneath Erend, Eccar, and Sylven began to fracture.

Aesa’s expression changed. Something moved beneath them.

The ice surface suddenly exploded when several enormous tentacles erupted from beneath the ice. They were dark blue and covered in a layer of glistening frost. Their surfaces looked slick and unnatural despite the freezing temperature.

The tentacles moved with frightening speed before shooting toward the three figures.

Aesa’s eyes widened.

The first tentacle pierced through Eccar’s chest. Another tore through Erend’s abdomen. A third drove straight through Sylven’s torso.

The three Dragonborn jerked violently when the tentacles impaled them and lifted their bodies from the ice.

Their expressions changed instantly. The amusement disappeared from their faces and was replaced by pain.

Erend’s mouth opened like he was trying to speak, but no words came out. Eccar’s face twisted in agony, blood spread across his clothes and dripped onto the frozen ground. Sylven looked down at the dark blue appendage piercing his body before raising his eyes toward Aesa.

Their eyes met.

Aesa saw fear in his expression.

"Help..." The word barely escaped his mouth.

Aesa was stunned. She had seen the three of them wounded before.

But this was different. They looked as though they were dying.

The tentacles tightened around their bodies and lifted them higher into the air. Their blood dripped onto the ice beneath them while their bodies hung helplessly from the dark blue appendages.

Erend struggled against the tentacle piercing him. Eccar reached toward Aesa with a trembling hand. Sylven could barely keep his eyes open.

"Aesa..." Erend’s voice was weak. "Help us."

Something inside Aesa tightened.

She had never thought deeply about what the other Dragonborn meant to her. They just been there for so long that their presence had become something she took for granted.

They were her friends. They were Dragonborn like her. They had fought together and survived impossible battles.

Somewhere along the way, they had become more than that.

They had become family.

Maybe it was because they shared the same bloodline. Maybe it was because they were like her, who could truly understand what it meant to be a Dragonborn. Or maybe it was because they had stood beside one another through many battles and many moments where their lives had depended on each other.

Whatever the reason was, Aesa realized something she had never bothered to acknowledge before.

Seeing them suffer... It hurts.

She moved.

Her Dragon Wings burst open behind her as she launched herself into the air. She flew directly toward the three figures while the tentacles dragged them higher.

Aesa chose Eccar first.

There was no particular reason for her choice. She simply decided that once she freed him, she could immediately return for Erend and Sylven.

She accelerated.

The cold wind tore past her face as she reached Eccar. One of the tentacles swung toward her, but Aesa caught it with both hands and forced it away. The creature beneath the ice resisted with tremendous strength, yet Aesa refused to let go.

She tore the tentacle away from Eccar’s body.

Eccar dropped. Aesa caught him before he could fall into the ice.

For a moment, she believed she had succeeded.

Then she heard the sound of something being dragged across the frozen surface.

Aesa turned and saw Erend and Sylven were already being pulled downward.

"NO!"

Aesa reached toward them.

The tentacles dragged the two Dragonborn toward the cracked ice with impossible speed. Their bodies disappeared beneath the frozen surface before Aesa could reach them.

"No!" Her scream echoed across the frozen landscape.

Aesa dove after them, but the ice had already sealed over the place where they disappeared.

She struck the surface with her hand and tried to see through it, but there was nothing beneath the translucent layer except darkness.

Erend and Sylven were gone.

Aesa clenched her teeth. She had fallen for it.

The Trial had never intended to give her a simple choice between fighting or saving them. It had forced her to choose.

Aesa slowly turned around and saw Eccar behind her.

His body had begun to break apart. Thin particles of ice peeled away from his skin and scattered into the air.

His body dissolved into countless fragments that glittered beneath the pale light before the wind carried them away.

Aesa’s eyes widened. "No..."

Eccar disappeared completely. Only empty snow remained where he had been standing.

Aesa stood motionless for several seconds. Anger replaced the shock on her face.

She clenched her fist and slammed it into the ice.

The frozen surface cracked beneath the impact.

"Dammit!"

She realized that the Trial had not been testing her strength. It had been playing with her emotions.

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