I Received System to Become Dragonborn

Chapter 1458: Talking With Veyrun

The Black Rage had haunted Erend for a long time. But before this battle he had never truly considered it dangerous. The previous episode had remained within the limits of his control. The rage had always been violent but he could still suppress it before it completely consumed him.

It had never erupted with such overwhelming intensity or driven him with an uncontrollable desire to annihilate everything in front of him.

This time had been different. It had completely taken him over. Just the memory sent a chill through his body.

For the first time since becoming a Dragonborn, Erend felt genuine fear toward his own power. What frightened him most was not Nyssara or the countless cosmic beings waiting beyond the stars. It was himself.

He no longer knew whether he would be able to regain control if the Black Rage returned.

This time he had been fortunate. Eccar and the others had managed to reach him before it was too late. But what about the next time? Would someone always be there to stop him? Or would he eventually become nothing more than a monster wearing Erend’s face?

The uncertainty filled his heart with heaviness. He hoped it would never happen again. But hope alone was no guarantee.

As Erend continued lying quietly on the infirmary bed, his thoughts gradually became clearer. He replayed the battle over and over inside his mind, examining every moment that had led to the Black Rage consuming him.

Eventually, he noticed something. The trigger had never been hatred. It had been his desire to protect.

The stronger his determination became to protect the people important to him, the stronger the Black Rage responded. Somehow, that noble instinct had been twisted into something horrifying. Protection became destruction.

The desire to save became the desire to eliminate every possible threat before it could harm anyone. The irony almost made him laugh.

"The more I want to protect the stronger my desire to destroy becomes." He slowly closed his eyes. "I have to master this power if I truly want to remain a protector. Otherwise who knows what I might do to the people and world I’m trying to protect?"

That thought made his chest tighten.

Silence returned to the room.

After several minutes, Erend slowly turned his head toward the other side of the infirmary.

Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven occupied separate beds nearby. All three were still unconscious. Bandages covered many of their injuries, and healing formations glowed beneath their bed.

Erend watched them for a long moment. They had exhausted themselves far more than he had.

Not only had they fought Nyssara, but they had also struggled desperately to restrain him while he had been consumed by the Black Rage.

He had almost killed them. The guilt still lingered, but waking them now would accomplish nothing.

"Rest a little longer. You all deserve it."

Erend quietly looked away. There was someone else he needed to speak with.

Someone who understood the Dragonborn better than anyone else. Veyrun.

Erend slowly closed his eyes once again.

Instead of sleeping, he concentrated on the strange white world where he had previously met the System Administrator. He carefully reconstructed every detail inside his mind, from the endless white space to the countless black grid lines stretching across the surface.

At first, nothing happened. Minutes passed. Then his consciousness gradually detached from the physical world.

—

When Erend opened his eyes again, he found himself standing inside the familiar white space. The endless walls stretched infinitely in every direction, covered with perfectly aligned black grids that extended beyond the horizon.

He was alone right now.

"Veyrun!" His voice echoed across the empty space. "I need to talk."

He wasn’t even sure whether shouting made any difference here. Perhaps simply thinking Veyrun’s name would have achieved the same result. Fortunately, he did not need to wait long.

Particles of white light gathered several meters before him. The light condensed into a familiar humanoid silhouette before gradually becoming Veyrun.

"I am rather busy at the moment," Veyrun said calmly. "However, I can spare a portion of my consciousness to speak with you."

With a casual wave of his hand, two couches formed from solid white light materialized between them. They looked surprisingly ordinary despite being made entirely of energy.

Veyrun gestured politely."Please."

Erend sat down. The couch yielded beneath his weight exactly like a real couch and it felt comfortable. He frowned slightly.

He could not tell whether it truly existed or whether his mind simply interpreted this place that way.

"I’m sorry for bothering you," Erend said. "But... I really needed to talk to someone who understands all of this better than I do."

Veyrun nodded. "I understand."

Erend remained silent for a moment before asking the question that had been weighing on him ever since the battle ended. "You saw what happened to me."

"Yes."

"The Black Rage completely took over."

"Yes."

Erend lowered his gaze. "What exactly is it? Why is it so powerful? And why did it completely erase my control over myself?"

"According to the System’s accumulated records, the Black Rage is an innate phenomenon unique to Dragonborn. It is simultaneously their greatest strength... and their greatest weakness. It exists within every Dragonborn. However, it rarely manifests. Historically, only approximately one Dragonborn out of every hundred naturally awakens the Black Rage."

Erend’s expression became grim.

"One in a hundred..." He slowly shook his head. "But that statistic only applies to natural Dragonborn. I’m not one. My power came from the System."

"Correct." Veyrun’s expression remained unchanged. "And that difference is precisely why your situation is unique. The System reconstructed your body and soul by integrating Dragonborn power directly into your existence rather than allowing it to develop naturally over time. As a consequence, your Black Rage is significantly more potent than any ordinary manifestation recorded in the System’s history."

Erend let out a tired sigh. "...Yeah. I already suspected that. Tell me everything else you know."

Veyrun nodded. "The Black Rage is not merely an emotional outburst. It is a survival instinct inherited from the First Dragonborn. When it is triggered, it strips away hesitation, fear, pain, and doubt. It focuses every aspect of the Dragonborn’s existence toward a single objective.

"In exchange, it suppresses higher reasoning and gradually replaces judgment with instinct. The longer the state persists, the more difficult it becomes for the Dragonborn to distinguish allies from enemies. Eventually, everything standing between the Dragonborn and the perceived threat becomes a target.

"The danger is that every use strengthens the pathway leading to that state. If left unchecked, entering the Black Rage becomes easier, remaining inside the state becomes longer, and escaping it becomes increasingly difficult."

"So..." Erend asked after a long silence, "is there a way to master it?"

Veyrun looked at him for several moments before answering. "There are records suggesting that it is possible. But the System possesses very little information regarding those individuals. The ones who mastered the Black Rage either disappeared from history... or became legends whose true stories were lost long ago. Beyond that... I’m afraid even my data is incomplete."

—