Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 218: Book 3: Chapter 69: Triple Break Out

Read chapter 218 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 69: Triple Break Out Chapter 69: Triple Break Out Alex sat slouched against the wall with his arms folded, putting on the perfect image of a man with no fight left in him. Across the way, Symon caught his eye, flashing a dazzling grin and another exaggerated wink. Alex suppressed a groan in response. Whatever Symon thought he knew, Alex wasn’t about to encourage it. The guards yawned at their posts, spears resting against the wall. Then, like clockwork, the hinges creaked and two fresh soldiers marched in, relief written plain on the former two's faces. Shift change. It happened on the same hour every day. Same routine as always. Which meant the whole ship above was turning over too, patrols being relieved, gunners rotating, and engineers swapping duties. It was the Andreia at its most distracted. Perfectly on time. Alex stretched, rubbing at his wrists in a bored gesture, then let his gaze flick briefly to his cellmates. Henry leaned against the wall like a statue, as typical of him, his face was unreadable. Holly was crouched with her arms draped over her knees, eyes half-lidded. Across the corridor, Peter and Doran looked equally idle, as though nothing at all mattered. And then, there was the smallest of movements shared between them all. Their heads dipping, just barely. Agreements given without a word. Alex didn’t return the nods. Instead, he shifted his hand down, scratching the back of his left hand against the manacles clamped around his ankles. The metal bit deep enough to break the skin. A thin rivulet of blood welled and dripped from the wound. The moment it touched the etched glyphs, the iron hissed. Tiny bubbles fizzed across the surface, the sound masked easily by a Henry's well-timed cough. Alex’s blood, his Wyrm-toxin, didn’t need aether to work. It devoured aether instead, gladly and greedily. The wards etched into the bindings unraveled under its touch, collapsing like brittle parchment left in the rain. One by one, the chains corroded into flaky husks. The metal blackened, then cracked, and sloughed away. He exhaled slowly through his nose. The same bleeding hand he shifted awkwardly in the manacles still holding his wrist. More blood dripped, and more quiet sizzles met his ears. The manacles’ light guttered, the last of the wards withering under the toxin’s bite. In minutes, what had once been unbreakable steel was nothing more than a damaged, rusted shell. A push, and it would all crumble. With just a single wound and some patience, Alex felt the cage around his aether loosen. The dam broke, and his aether surged. It rose in him like fire catching dry wood, roaring happily, eager to be alive. He started the spell pattern for [Aether Burst]. His skin prickled with heat, and sparks of light shimmered faintly against the walls. The Urhara soldier guards began to yell, but it was too late. *** The war room aboard the Andriea was little more than a cramped officer’s chamber. With bare walls containing lanterns that hissed faintly in their sconces, and a heavy oak table that bore the weight of Urhara’s pride as much as it bore the map stretched across its surface. Inked lines sprawled over the parchment, detailing the mountain range, the dungeon gate, nearby village, and the routes of soldier patrols. Malric’s gloved hand hovered over the map, tracing the paths with calm precision, though his voice carried the hints of agitation. “Request reinforcement,” he said. “We can cordon the range and collapse their exits, it will squeeze them down to a smaller area and give us time for help to arrive.” Karsali Erenaeth’s fists clenched against the edge of the table. “Reinforcements? That would be as good as an admission of failure.” Her jaw tightened and her teeth ground audibly. “I am a Knight of Urhara. I was given this command because I am capable of carrying it out. I will not send word to Athrastas that I cannot handle one pack of stray outsiders.” Malric’s eyes narrowed, the flickering lamplight sh