Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 25: Chapter 21: Aether Gathering

Read chapter 25 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Chapter 21: Aether Gathering Chapter 21: Aether Gathering Garret and he set up camp just before nightfall on their trek through the forest. They could have kept traveling and made it to their squad before dawn, but neither of them wanted to go through the forest at night. It was too dangerous, and they were both itching to start reading the mana gathering technique to begin their dive into learning magic. They both couldn't read it at the same time though, and someone needed to maintain watch in case other beasts were prowling the night. In the end, it came down to a game of rock, paper, scissors. A game that Alex won with, admittedly, a bit of cheating. It's not even really cheating. He thought. Alex's squad had spent a lot of downtime together over the months of their missions. A lot of down time. After talking about your lives, families (perfect twin brothers included), children and hobbies you kind of run out of things to fill the time. You eventually start playing games. Cards was a go-to but eventually you just start doing kids games, like rock, paper, scissors. He always goes rock. Alex learned Garret's go-to strategy after playing him and watching him play so many times. It was hardly cheating if you simply knew what the other person was going to do. He had a choice, not my fault he always makes the same one. Garret muttered grumpily as he sat down to take first watch. Meanwhile, Alex sat on the grass and pulled out the manual to the gathering technique they got from Celeste. The [Condensing Spiral] technique as it said on the cover. The manual looked to be a couple hundred pages long, with a collection of diagrams and arcane sigils peppered throughout the entire text. To have someone read through and study the entire book should have taken a couple days. He finished reading it in a matter of four hours. He didn't have the mental wherewithal to wonder how he had managed such a feat, as his head was swimming with the thoughts and knowledge of the book's contents. Alex simply chalked the phenomenon up to some kind of system shenanigans. That carried further implications which Alex would think about and talk to Celeste about, but later. Alex set down the book on his backpack and folded his hands into his lap. He was sitting cross-legged once again, a pose that was seemingly a multiversal pose of meditation. It was how the manual said to perform the technique anyway, and Alex would gladly take some familiarity where he could get it. Breathe in slowly over a few seconds, then breathe out quickly. Focus on the body gate and feel the connection between your physical self and the ethereal of the world around you. Alex repeated what he had read in his mind before performing that action. For a few minutes nothing happened. After a while though he eventually started to notice a warmth at the base of his head at his nape. This was not of the same intensity of feeling he got when spending his experience points, but it was noticeable. Grab on to the energy and pull, drawing the energy into a spiral focused on the body gate. Concentrate the energy that feels familiar and disperse the energy of other elements that feels foreign. Again Alex repeated the manual in his mind. It was a summarized version to be sure, the manual was wordy and lengthy. That didn't inhibit Alex’s comprehension during his reading. As the aether at his nape gathered Alex imagined stretching and drawing out a section in his mind. The mental image was of a thread that Alex began twirling into a spiral. He started large at first but drew in tighter and tighter with every rotation until he imagined it moving down to a single point meeting at the gate on his neck. Alex grunted once he felt the energy touch his gate at his neck. Like a jet of hot water hitting his skin, the aether stream was relentless. At first it took all of his concentration to simply maintain the breathing pattern of the technique. In slowly, out quickly. In and out. In and out. As he focused on h