Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 96: Book 2: Chapter 13: Team Play

Read chapter 96 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 2: Chapter 13: Team Play Book 2: Chapter 13: Team Play The Dark Den Dungeon didn’t welcome them nicely. It tried to swallow them. Just like it had been for Alex, the cold hit first. Not typical surface cold, but a creeping kind that slid under armor, crawled along the spine, and whispered death straight into the soul. Lance muttered, “Okay. That’s a little worse than I imagined it when we were outside.” “You never actually learn or understand anything unless it makes you bleed,” Allie snapped, already checking her potion belt. The portal to the dungeon’s preparation room sealed behind them. The darkness wasn’t pitch black, not all encompassing, it shimmered with that oily, bluish tint only system dungeons seemed to have. Like mold on glass, you could just make out what lay behind, but not without effort. Like recalling old memories that had long since turned sour. They lit a few soft rune-lamps Devon had rigged up. Pale white light spilled out, washing over cracked bones and jagged pieces of broken armor, weapons and more. The air stank of rot and ancient dust. Then the skeletons came. It was only a few at first. Clattering bone-knots with rusted blades, their hollow sockets glowing with dim, hateful magic. Cole’s shield crashed forward, knocking a set of ribcages into the dirt a few paces away. “Formation!” he bellowed. “Formation?” Garret asked, already backpedaling. “This isn’t basic training, this is hell’s trash dump! ” “MOVE!” Eric shouted, drawing his sword. It crackled with lightning, his weapon augmentor spell already cast. “Lance, Garret, left. Kate, Zach, right! Henry, back row with Peter! You two guard our six.” They moved like muscle memory, the instincts of soldiers coming through. It was chaotic, ungraceful, but functional. Kate spun forward, her blade carving through three skeletons like they were paper. Sparks and splinters followed her wake. “Try to keep up,” she called, deadpan. Holly darted between gaps in their line, her sword flashing in tight arcs and thrusts. Every stab was surgical. She moved like a scalpel in motion, cutting joints, cutting magic, cutting any escape the skeletons might have had. Tom-Tom lobbed something over her shoulder. “Boom-time!” he shrieked. The vial exploded in midair and molten fire spread like oil, turning a cluster of skeletons into smoldering heaps. The kobold cackled, already prepping another. Devon barked a warning. “Incoming from the left, they have reinforcements!” Zach stepped in, his spear sweeping in a low, wide arc. The blade at its tip hummed with dark essence. Skeletons were cut, hit the ground, and didn’t rise again. Peter, trembling but focused, summoned a shimmer of light which rushed at Garret and infused his body with its power. Garret was able to quickly dash and move out of the way of two sword attack from the skeletons that had flanked him. “Thanks,” Garret breathed, planting his hammer and hurling a concussive blast of heat similar to Alex’s [Flare] spell. Bone fragments flew like shrapnel. It took nearly ten minutes to clear the way to the first grave-mound. And that was just the beginning. Alex wasn’t able to tell them any details about what awaited inside the dungeon itself, but he was able to tell them that endurance and efficiency was key to their survival. When the skeletal archers appeared, things began to heat up. Then came the warriors, the dread archers, the knights. They had the advantage of numbers that Alex just didn’t during his own run through the first floor, but that didn’t matter much when the floor spawned a never ending army of bone fodder to throw at them. The slog of near endless fighting began hitting the team hard after nearly twenty-four hours on non-stop action. Some chose to take naps during the grave-mound’s protective auras instead of gather energy. Those who still had their essence fragments to fall back on had it the best. By the time they reached the Grave-Tyrant and thus the portal to the second floor , they were bloo