Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 187: Book 3; Chapter 39: Ice Wraiths

Read chapter 187 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3; Chapter 39: Ice Wraiths Chapter 39: Ice Wraiths Peter had been right. The hike was brutal, it felt like an endless mile of trudging through powder that swallowed boots up to their calves. The wind clawed at every seam in their armor and every sliver of exposed skin. But sure enough, another shape eventually broke the horizon, a rounded bulk hunched under a crust of snow. Another face in the storm, mustache and all. They didn’t hesitate this time. Alex pressed his hand to its blind eye, fed a surge of aether, and the stone pulsed with light. The storm peeled back in a sudden ring of calm, a hundred feet of blessed reprieve carved out of the blizzard. Not enough to connect with the first statue. Not even close. But it was at least something—air they could actually breathe, snow that didn’t freeze their eyes to their sockets. Alex exhaled. “Two down.” “Eight to go,” Allie said flatly. The statue’s gaze was angled slightly left of the path of its predecessor, just off from the mountain wall, but still pointing out into the storm. The squad gathered, exchanged glances, then turned their backs to the fleeting peace and stepped out once more into the teeth of the tundra. The blizzard swallowed them instantly. A few dozen yards. That’s all they managed before it happened. The presence Alex had been feeling since the waterfall finally made itself known. The smooth ambient air and water aether the thing hid itself inside of suddenly snapped taut, like a tripwire being pulled. Aether flared around him like a warning siren, the wisps convulsing out of rhythm. Then the snow storm at the edge of his vision moved. The snow exploded upward in a geyser just behind Garret, a shape surging from the whiteout. It was massive, sinuous, its outline bending in and out of sight like a mirage made of fog or haze. The stalker had decided it was time. Alex spun to face the movement. “Contact!” At first it was only an impression, a mere shadow sliding across the white. Then Alex’s [Aether Sight] locked onto the beast's aether flow, and the creature came into focus; four legs, a long tail, with eyes that burned cold blue, flickering between every gust. It slipped from view, then reappeared a dozen feet to the left, then was gone again just as quickly. Alex scowled, blinking through the sting of ice. For half a heartbeat the storm stuttered, and he got a clear look at the thing. The beast was Leopard-like, all sinew and speed. Its fur was snow-pale, mottled with bluish spots like frostbite blooming across one's skin. The whip of its tail ended in a wicked ice blade that caught what little light the tundra gave off and threw it back as a wicked shimmer. Its paws—small and delicate looking—pressed down with barely a sound. But, even with their proportionally small size, Alex didn’t like the mental picture of those claws raking across his stomach. The beast's head was sleek, narrow, a predator’s mask in appearance; caught between tiger and fox, with glowing eyes. It was bigger than a wolf, but smaller than a lion, and fast. Too fast. “Eyes on it!” Thompson yelled. He pivoted, lightning crackling along his hand and arm. “I would if it’d sit still!” Garret growled. His head swung about, trying to track the creature as it rapidly slipped in and out of view, changing angle and location around him with each step. His shield whipped up as he shuffled to cover Allie. The chimera flickered, reappeared in the corner of Alex’s sightline, then lunged as a rush of snow detonated in its wake. Alex dropped to one knee as razor sharp claws surged towards his head, his aether shifted through his channels as he fired off three condensed [Wind Lance]s in rapid succession. One of the air bolts glanced off the blade of the beast’s tail, while the other two missed their mark entirely. Lance darted forward, his sword gleaming as he slashed. But the chimera vanished again, leaving only a phantom trail of snow. Then it was behind them. Henry turned first, his massive frame in