Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 183: Book 3: Chapter 36: Big Crikey! (Pt 1)

Read chapter 183 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 36: Big Crikey! (Pt 1) Chapter 36: Big Crikey! The underground air was both thick and sour, it clung to their clothes and skin with a damp, uncomfortable feeling. Every one of their footsteps echoed unevenly across the stone, bouncing back like a warning signal for anything waiting in the dark for them. Alex led the small procession, his ears straining for the faintest hint of movement, his eyes radiating the subtle azure glow from his active [Aether Sight]. Allie moved along his left flank, her hands glowed with pale yellow aether, the light from her spell painting rippling shadows against the rough hewn walls. Peter mirrored her farther back on the right, his own elemental glow cutting through the blackness. Together, they carved a fragile path of illumination through the gloom, a corridor of clarity in a sea of darkness. As Alex watched, shapes twisted in the shadows, subtle distortions in the natural flow of the cave’s ambient aether. He focused on every small wisp, every twitch of unseen motion, scanning for threats, hoping to spot them before they even had a chance to strike. Behind him, the others moved in tense synchronization, ready to spring into action. Obby’s presence in his soulspace was still a silent anxiety. Alex could feel the bond signifying their soulink shift every so often, teasing the edges of awareness like an unborn child kicking in the womb. He could only assume it was the sentient rock still digesting the golden energy from earlier, whatever it might have been. But those thoughts were just more distractions, he needed to focus. He forced his mind elsewhere, the golden glow could wait; survival couldn’t. Up ahead, the tunnels twisted unpredictably, narrowing suddenly before opening into random small alcoves filled with stagnant water and moss-covered stone. Every corner they turned down felt like a trap, every shadow a potential predator in wait. The team’s nerves were taut strings of a bow, and for good reason. A single misstep, a flicker of movement in the wrong direction, and the cave could become their tomb. Alex whispered a quick adjustment to Garret’s position behind him, and the squad shifted, sliding into a tighter formation. Each of them carried weapons or spells at the ready as they moved, but all of them shared the same unspoken thought: whatever the System Dungeon had hidden here, it wouldn’t give up its secrets quietly. He refocused, pulling on the wisps of energy from the ambient aether, tracing the faint disturbances that might betray a lurking creature. Then, the tunnel widened suddenly, ending in a mouth of jagged stone. They approached slowly, the glow from Allie and Peter’s spells stretched across the cavern before them, revealing the space in fragments. A half-drowned floor, shallow water in a pool that looked far too still to be natural, its surface reflecting the pale aether light in bending, trembling patterns. The cavern was larger than the tunnel, but still… smaller than Alex had hoped. Its too small in here, just like I thought ti would be. Fuck. At the far end, beyond the pool, he saw a stone platform which rose from the water like an altar to some ancient, forgotten deity. On the pedestal sat a carved statuette, tooled with strange precision, its features worn but identifiable, depicting a poised serpent. The light glinted faintly off its surface, making its shape almost seem to move in a way that sent a tight knot of tension through Alex’s chest. He muttered a curse under his breath, more to himself than anyone else. B oss room, for sure. “You ready?” Obby flashed through his mind for the first time in hours. No, but that doesn’t really matter does it? “Not at all, you’re fucked either way.” He took his first step into the chamber and the cavern’s size, modest, and cramped, suddenly felt suffocating. Even with Allie and Peter illuminating the edges, the pool took up nearly half the floor, and the platform at the back left little room for maneuvering. His sto