Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 254: Book 4: Chapter 18: New Mentor

Read chapter 254 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Chapter 18 The air inside the training chamber was thick with circulating aether. Alex had learned long ago that air conditioning in this world wasn’t like back on Earth. There wasn’t electricity and technology in the way he knew it, but magic gave the people an entirely different way to solve problems. Problems like sweating through your clothes while living in a city built over a volcano. The use of water aether enchantments to cool buildings was rather standard in Athrastas. He had even come across small cupboards that functioned like refrigerators. The main problem was the need for proficient enchanters, and aether crystals to power them. Both were in short supply in a society built around the inherently self-focused world of cultivation, and the production of combat capable mages. The second problem, was the thick aether exhaust such enchantments created. While it wasn’t dangerous, it was something that people with strong aether senses had to deal with. For the most part, Alex just ignored it as extra ambient aether that normally permeated the air. Alex stood near the center of the vast stone hall alone, surrounded by walls that shone with layered enchantments, a couple cooling vents built in near the rather high ceiling. The space was enormous, easily the size of a football field, but not an inch of it was wasted. Each polished slab of stone was etched with complex patterns of reinforcement spells and glyphs. A needed measure, as the area had to withstand the wear and tear of mages training inside it. Mages that could smash stone with their hands and blow up buildings made of far less sturdy material. He exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing toward the closed archway that served as the entrance at the far end of the room. Whoever his “mentor” was, they were late. He was trying not to think too much about it, but the tension in his body was obvious. Lady Xhiu’s words still echoed through his mind, her smug tone, the casual way she’d called him average . The fact that she’d handpicked this teacher meant she expected a lesson to be beaten into him, one way or another. He smirked faintly. “Maybe she sent me a drill sergeant.” Obby swirled in the air around him, projected into his vision. “ Or a torturer, someone to really test your limits. Don’t worry, Ill be your cheer squad.” His illusion body waved its tentacle arms, two aetheric pom-poms forming at the end and jiggling about. “Thank you, you’re always so comforting, Obby,” Alex muttered. Before the sentient stone could respond, the door opened. Alex turned, expecting some towering, broad-shouldered figure cloaked in immense power. Instead, a short woman, who was maybe barely five feet tall, walked through the archway. She looked utterly unimpressed with the room, or with him. Her long gray hair was tied into a loose braid, and she wore robes of silver and green, trimmed in subtle light-thread embroidery that twinkled as she moved. Her ears were slightly pointed, not enough for full elven heritage, perhaps a half-elf just as Myrae was. But the aether pressure that rolled off her was unmistakable. Despite her apparent size, she was strong . She wasn’t a Peak Adept. Not even recently ascended. No, Alex could feel it without even needing his [Aether Sight]. This woman was a true Magus Tier mage. “Alexander Pierce,” she said without introduction. Her tone was sharp, and like a stern college professor addressing an unruly class. “You may address me as Master Sionna, or Lady Sionnadel. Nothing else.” Alex frowned, suppressing a dry laugh. Of course... o f course he’d get the take-no-shit mentor. For a brief, fleeting moment, he wondered how Garret was doing with his own teacher. If the big guy had gotten someone like this woman—unyielding, humorless—it was going to be a massacre. Garret would get killed before the day ended. “Alright,” Alex said, deciding compliance was safer than silence. “Master Sionna it is. Shorter name, easier on the lungs.” The woman’s