Chapter 215 - 210 — The Second Fragment
John stared at the message floating in front of him.
**[Requirement incomplete.]**
**[The Bearer must first understand the first Legacy.]**
He frowned.
"Understand it?"
The golden crystal hovered silently in front of him.
John had expected something else.
A reward.
A new ability.
Maybe an increase in synchronization.
Instead, the Legacy had given him a condition he didn’t even know existed.
He folded his arms.
"So you’re telling me I can’t synchronize with you until I understand the first fragment."
The crystal pulsed once.
John sighed.
"Of course."
He had learned a long time ago that the System rarely gave him a straightforward answer.
The first fragment had already changed him in ways he didn’t fully understand. It had given him Nature’s Resonance and allowed his connection to the Great Dragon’s Legacy to grow.
But what exactly was the first fragment trying to teach him?
John looked at the crystal.
"Then show me."
The chamber went completely silent.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the golden light surrounding the room began to fade.
John’s expression changed.
The chamber disappeared.
He was standing somewhere else.
A vast plain stretched beneath a dark sky.
There were no mountains.
No cities.
No people.
Only countless dragons.
Some were flying overhead.
Others stood across the plains.
Dragons of different sizes and colors filled the horizon.
John recognized the scene immediately.
It wasn’t a memory of his own.
It belonged to the Great Dragon.
He watched silently.
At the center of the gathering stood an enormous dragon.
Its scales were darker than John’s.
Its presence alone seemed to distort the sky around it.
John couldn’t see its entire body clearly.
Something prevented him from doing so.
But he knew.
This was the being whose legacy he had been following.
The Great Dragon.
The ancient dragon lifted its head.
The countless dragons became silent.
Then it spoke.
John couldn’t hear the words.
Not clearly.
The sound was too distant, like a voice traveling across thousands of years.
But he understood the meaning.
**Power is not what you possess.**
The scene changed.
The dragons were fighting.
Entire armies clashed beneath a burning sky.
Mountains collapsed.
Rivers changed direction.
John watched as one dragon destroyed everything around it.
It was incredibly powerful.
But eventually, it stood alone.
No allies.
No followers.
Nothing left to protect.
The scene changed again.
A smaller dragon protected a group of creatures from a monster far stronger than itself.
It was injured.
Its wings were broken.
Yet it refused to move.
John watched the dragon fall.
Then the creatures it protected gathered around its body.
The vision faded.
John remained silent.
"So that’s what you mean."
The Great Dragon’s Legacy wasn’t simply about becoming stronger.
John already knew that.
But knowing something and understanding it were different.
He had spent most of his life thinking about survival.
Get stronger.
Defeat stronger enemies.
Protect the people around him.
Find the next clue.
Keep moving.
It had always been simple.
But perhaps that wasn’t enough.
The vision changed again.
This time, John saw himself.
Not as he was now.
A younger version of himself.
Standing in Greenwood.
Then another image.
John in dragon form.
Fighting the near-Tier 11 monster.
Then another.
John standing beside Lythriel, Sylvara, Aerion and Darius.
Then the vision showed something John had never seen before.
His own future.
He couldn’t make out the details.
Only fragments.
A battlefield.
A broken sky.
Countless lights disappearing one after another.
And John standing alone.
His body covered in blood.
His eyes empty.
The vision ended.
John stood motionless.
"Is that supposed to happen?"
No answer came.
The golden crystal appeared again.
John stared at it.
"I don’t like visions that don’t explain themselves."
The crystal pulsed.
Then a final message appeared.
**[Understanding does not mean knowing the future.]**
John read it twice.
He slowly nodded.
"Fair enough."
Another message appeared.
**[The First Legacy teaches why power must exist.]**
John looked at the words.
"And the second?"
The crystal remained silent.
John smiled slightly.
"Fine. I’ll figure it out myself."
The chamber returned.
The golden crystal was still floating in front of him.
John reached toward it.
This time, when his fingers touched its surface, the crystal didn’t reject him.
Instead, warmth spread through his hand and into his Dragon Core.
A faint connection formed.
Not synchronization.
Not yet.
But recognition.
**[Second Fragment acknowledged.]**
**[Synchronization remains locked.]**
**[Legacy Synchronization: 9%]**
John pulled his hand away.
"So that’s all I get?"
The crystal floated peacefully.
John shook his head.
"Figures."
He turned toward the sealed door.
"I suppose I should go see what everyone else has been doing."
Outside the chamber, however, things had become more complicated.
Lythriel still held her spear.
The stranger stood several meters away.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a dark traveling cloak. His face was mostly hidden beneath a hood.
Aerion hadn’t lowered his weapon.
"You said you’ve been waiting for the Legacy," Aerion said.
The stranger nodded.
"For many years."
Darius narrowed his eyes.
"How many?"
The stranger didn’t answer.
Lythriel stepped forward.
"What do you know about John?"
The stranger looked toward the sealed chamber.
"Not much."
"Then why did you follow us?"
"Because the Legacy reacted to him."
Sylvara’s expression became serious.
"You knew about the fragments before we arrived."
"Yes."
"How?"
The stranger hesitated.
"My family has been searching for them for generations."
Darius frowned.
"And you expect us to believe that?"
"No."
The answer surprised everyone.
The stranger lowered his hood.
He looked tired rather than threatening.
"I don’t expect you to trust me."
Lythriel kept her spear pointed at him.
"Then why tell us anything?"
"Because you need to understand something before he comes back."
"What?"
The stranger looked directly at Lythriel.
"The people searching for the Legacy aren’t all interested in its power."
Aerion frowned.
"Then what do they want?"
The stranger’s expression darkened.
"To prevent anyone from collecting the fragments."
Silence.
Darius looked toward the sealed door.
"Why?"
The stranger took a slow breath.
"Because the last time someone tried to gather them..."
He stopped.
"What happened?" Sylvara asked.
The stranger looked toward the ceiling.
"An entire kingdom disappeared."
Nobody spoke.
The mine suddenly felt much colder.
Lythriel lowered her spear slightly.
"You’re saying the Legacy destroyed a kingdom?"
"No."
The stranger shook his head.
"That’s the problem."
He looked at them.
"The Legacy didn’t destroy it."
"It was what happened after someone tried to use it."
Before anyone could ask another question, the sealed stone door began glowing.
The stranger stepped back.
"He’s coming."
The door opened.
John walked out.
He looked at the group.
Then at the stranger.
His expression immediately became cautious.
"You."
The stranger nodded.
"John."
John looked at Lythriel.
"How long has he been here?"
"Long enough."
John’s eyes returned to the stranger.
"You followed us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
The stranger looked at him for several seconds.
"Because you’re the first person in centuries who has made the Legacy respond."
John said nothing.
The stranger continued.
"And because there is someone else searching for the fragments."
John’s expression hardened.
"Who?"
The stranger shook his head.
"I don’t know."
John raised an eyebrow.
"Then what do you know?"
The stranger looked toward the golden chamber.
"I know that you’re not the only one who felt its awakening."
John’s Dragon Core suddenly pulsed.
Once.
Hard.
He turned toward the tunnel.
A distant vibration traveled through the mountain.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Darius looked up.
"Was that an earthquake?"
John shook his head.
"No."
His senses expanded.
𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Something was approaching.
Not from the chamber.
Not from below.
From the direction they had entered.
John’s expression became serious.
"We’re not alone."
The stranger immediately turned pale.
"They found us."
Lythriel tightened her grip on her spear.
"Who?"
The stranger looked toward the tunnel.
"The people I was trying to stay ahead of."
A deep sound echoed through the mine.
Not a roar.
Not a voice.
Something mechanical.
Something ancient.
John took a step forward.
His eyes narrowed.
"Everyone stay behind me."
The mountain shook again.
And this time, something answered from the darkness.
A red light appeared at the far end of the tunnel.
Then another.
Then another.
John stared into the darkness.
Whatever was coming wasn’t a monster.
It was something built.
And it was heading straight toward the second fragment.
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100 ps = 1 extra Chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter