I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1297: Underground

The moment Eccar stepped through the doorway, the noise of the canyon battle became distant and muffled behind thick stone walls.

The interior of the structure looked exactly like what he had expected.

The building was clearly man-made built around the site. Large bricks and carefully shaped stone blocks formed the walls and floors, each piece fitted together with deliberate precision.

The architecture was simple and practical. There were no decorations, no banners, or statues. Nothing meant for beauty or comfort. Every corridor, every doorway, and every supporting pillar served a purpose.

It looked less like a normal building and more like a fortress designed to contain or protect something important.

Eccar moved quietly down the first corridor, keeping his steps light as he listened to the sounds around him.

Footsteps suddenly echoed from a nearby hallway.

He immediately slipped into the shadows beside a stone pillar.

Two guards hurried past the intersection ahead of him. Their armor was half-fastened and their helmets were hanging loosely in their hands. One of them yawned as they moved.

"Beasts attacking us?" one of them muttered.

"Probably," the other replied irritably. "Just our luck to be woken up for it."

They continued down the corridor without even glancing in Eccar’s direction.

Once their footsteps faded, Eccar stepped out again and continued deeper into the building.

As he moved, he slowly spread his senses outward.

His Dragon instincts searched for any unusual presence, any disturbance in the flow of Magic.

At first, he felt almost nothing.

Then he noticed a faint pulse from it.

It was extremely subtle, like a distant heartbeat hidden beneath layers of stone and enchanted barriers.

"Huh. So there it is."

Even standing this close to the source, the presence remained incredibly difficult to detect. The concealment and protection spells surrounding the site were powerful. Under normal circumstances, even skilled Mages would have walked right past this place without sensing anything unusual.

But Eccar was not a normal mage. His Dragon senses could still feel the faint pulse through the layers of Magic.

He followed the sensation through several turns of the corridor until he finally reached a heavy stone door at the end of the hallway.

At this point, the entire section of the building was empty of guards.

The faint Magical pulse came from the other side.

Eccar placed his hand on the handle and slowly pushed.

The door did not move. It was locked tight.

He sighed quietly and tightened his grip.

With a controlled push, he applied just enough force to break the lock mechanism inside the door without shattering the stone frame.

A soft crack sounded within the metal. Then Eccar slowly pushed the door open.

He stepped through the doorway and quietly closed it behind him.

The space beyond was not another corridor.

Instead, a long staircase descended into the depths beneath the building. The narrow passage sloped downward at a steady angle, carved directly into the stone. Torches lined the walls at regular intervals, their flames flickering weakly and casting dim light along the descending path.

The air grew cooler the farther down it went.

Eccar paused for a moment at the top of the stairs and listened.

The muffled sounds of battle from the canyon above had already faded completely. Down here, the silence felt heavy and undisturbed.

He began walking down the steps slowly, keeping his movements light. His boots barely made a sound against the stone as he descended.

At the same time, he sharpened his hearing and spread his awareness, listening carefully for any movement below for voices or footsteps.

But nothing came.

Only the faint crackle of torch flames accompanied his descent.

The staircase stretched deeper than he expected.

The stone walls pressed close on both sides as the torches continued downward in a long glowing line. Whoever had built this place clearly wanted to hide whatever lay below from the surface world.

Eccar continued downward step after step. Finally, after several minutes, the staircase ended.

He arrived at the bottom.

The space below opened into a wide underground chamber.

Eccar stepped off the final stair and paused just inside the entrance.

The room was large. Much larger than the building above would have suggested. The ceiling rose high into darkness while stone pillars supported the underground structure. Only a handful of torches burned along the walls, leaving most of the chamber drowned in dim shadows.

The light was far too weak to illuminate the entire room.

Most of the chamber remained hidden in darkness.

Eccar slowly moved forward.

His eyes adjusted quickly as he scanned the surroundings.

Somewhere in this chamber should be the object Dave had mentioned, the shards of the Sky Anchor.

At the same time, the faint Magical pulse he had sensed earlier still lingered in the air. It was weak. But present.

He followed it carefully.

Step by step, he walked deeper into the chamber while letting his senses stretch outward. The Magical presence became slightly clearer the farther he moved inside.

Just as he took another step forward, his foot suddenly stopped.

Not because he had chosen to stop but his legs simply refused to move.

Eccar frowned.

A tremendous force locked both of his feet firmly to the ground. The pressure spread up through his legs like invisible chains binding him in place.

His muscles tensed instinctively as he tried to shift his weight. But the force holding him was incredibly strong.

Eccar’s eyes narrowed as he slowly looked around the dark chamber.

Then he saw someone step out of the shadows ahead of him.

The figure had been standing there the entire time. Completely silent and hidden.

Even with his Dragon senses spread across the room, Eccar had not detected the person’s presence at all.

"...Interesting."

The figure moved forward with a slow, gliding motion.

A long cloak covered most of his body as he stepped into the weak torchlight. The hood shifted slightly, revealing the face beneath.

He was an old man. His beard was long and silver, flowing down to his chest. His face carried deep lines carved by age, yet his posture remained perfectly straight. His eyes glowed faintly in the dim light. It was cold blue and sharp with awareness.

Power radiated from him.

Eccar studied him quietly. "I think this is the real guard."

The old man stopped several steps away. His blue eyes locked onto Eccar without blinking.

"Who are you?" the old man asked.

His voice was deep and calm, yet it carried a quiet weight that filled the chamber.

The question was simple. But the power behind it was not.

Eccar let out a small breath. Then he smiled.

"Calm down," he said casually. "I don’t mean any harm."

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