I Received System to Become Dragonborn

Black smoke emerged from a statue that had already crumbled. They couldn't tell what the statue originally looked like—and right now, that wasn't important. What mattered was the black smoke itself. It felt ominous and unfamiliar, sending chills down their spines.

At that moment, while the others were still frozen in a dazed state, Jan's instincts kicked in.

"RUN!" he shouted.

That voice snapped Hund, Annette, and Esther out of their trance immediately. They had heard that shout before—it only came when true danger was near.

So they didn't waste a second. They turned and bolted back into the corridor they had entered from, running at full speed.

Esther and Annette led the way, while Jan and Hund took the rear. The two women didn't bother to glance back—they trusted the men to cover their six.

Being the last one, Jan risked a look behind. His sharp eyes scanned the black smoke, which still seemed to be in the process of forming. Maybe—just maybe—whatever was inside it hadn't noticed them yet.

"Damn it… Were we just unlucky, or did our entry into that chamber trigger the appearance of that thing?"

The thought flashed through Jan's mind, but he quickly pushed it aside. There was no point in thinking about it now—not when their lives could be at stake.

Right now, escape was the only priority.

Jan had always chosen to run when his instincts sensed even the faintest sign of danger—if they had the chance. If not, he'd immediately command his party to prepare for battle. He never waited for the danger to fully reveal itself before acting—because by then, it was usually too late.

That instinct—and his ability to act on it fast—was the reason they'd survived so many deadly encounters with their bodies intact and their Magic still uncorrupted by curses or worse.

They burst out of the corridor and returned to the main hall, where many other doorways lined the walls. The tension in their chests eased just slightly.

But the danger wasn't over yet.

GRU GRU GRU!

The ancient structure rumbled like it was being shaken by an earthquake. Loose stones, long dislodged by time, began to fall all around them.

"We need to get out of here," Jan said, his face pale.

The others nodded at once and sprinted back the way they had come earlier.

A few stones crashed down from above. Esther, quick to react, raised her hands and conjured a half-dome barrier above their heads, shaped like a translucent umbrella. The stones slammed into the magical shield, but it held, protecting them from being crushed.

They kept running down the corridor until finally, they reached the first grand hall—the one they had entered when they first stepped into the temple.

Suddenly, the trembling stopped.

They paused, breathing heavily, and glanced around. Then toward the exit.

"Was that earthquake only happening inside this structure?" Hund asked, eyes scanning the crumbling stone.

"Maybe," Jan replied, still catching his breath.

"What was that?" Esther said, her brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and frustration. "Did we trigger something?

"It must be, right?" Annette said. "If not, then why did that black smoke suddenly appear?"

"That doesn't matter for now. What's important is that we leave this place immediately and report this to the Major, or maybe even the king. I felt a great danger from that black smoke," Jan said.

Hund, Annette, and Esther looked at each other. Their faces showed fear. If Jan said this was a great danger, then they had better believe it.

Another reason why they had such a high success and survival rate in quests was because they never took on anything Jan deemed too dangerous—or they ran immediately when Jan told them to.

Without hesitation, they left the old temple and returned to the silent forest.

They glanced back briefly, expecting to see the black smoke now expanding and covering the old structure, but they saw nothing.

So they let out a relieved sigh.

But their relief didn't last long. The black smoke hadn't come out of the temple but now, the ground in front of them suddenly began to move.

The ground split with a grinding groan. The ancient soil in front of them cracking and shifting as something massive forced its way upward.

Dust billowed into the air and from within the broken earth, three stone golems emerged. Each one was tall and big, their forms shaped like a soldiers of an ancient era.

Their bodies of stones were worn, weathered by time, as if they had slept beneath the earth for centuries.

Moss clung to their limbs and deep fractures ran across their stone frames.

But inside those cracks, they all can see an eerie green light pulsed steadily. It shone from within their chests like a heart made of something filled with ancient Magic but also unnatural to their understanding.

One of the golem held a massive greatsword chipped with age but still terrifying in size. The second gripped a heavy battle-axe that crackled faintly with green sparks. The third bore a long and jagged spear with sharp point and the point is glowing faintly at the tip.

The adventurers stared at the golem and just frozen for a moment by the suddenness of it all. The tension that had just begun to fade returned like a wave crashing over them.

"They're coming alive suddenly," Hund muttered, eyes wide.

"Not just alive. I think they have connection to the black smoke inside," Jan said quickly, already assessing. "That green light is animating them. Something woke them up."

Esther took a half-step back as the golems began to move. Slow, thunderous steps shook the ground beneath their feet.

"Jan, what should we do?"

Jan gritted his teeth. His hand hovered over his arrow. He didn't want this fight because this must be troublesome but there was no avoiding it now.

"I think we can't do anything else except fight them," he said, voice low and steady. "Get ready."

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