Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 75: Chapter 70: Puzzles

Read chapter 75 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Chapter 70: Puzzles Chapter 70: Puzzles Alex sat cross-legged on the stone floor, spine straight, hands resting on his knees. The enchanted tools were tucked away, the Glyphcrafting ritual etched and complete, his Aether Gate humming softly behind his neck like a well-oiled valve waiting to turn. He reached into his bracelet and pulled out the Vital Essence Fragment . It throbbed faintly in his palm like a blackened heart, dark violet veins of energy twisting and swirling within its crystal surface. It wasn’t warm, but it gave off a presence, something ancient and heavy, like a deep note humming just below human hearing. “ Alright, ” he whispered. “ Let’s see what you’ve got. ” He brought the fragment to his chest and pressed it against his sternum. Not hard at all, just enough for contact. Then, he closed his eyes and activated his aether gathering technique , letting his newly inscribed [Lattice Spiral] enchantment hum to life at the base of his neck. Immediately, he felt it. A needlepoint spark in his soul. A trickle of dense, heavy energy slipping into his body. Not a flood, not yet, but like a finger tapping water from a pressurized tank. It was cold and sharp. The dark-aligned aether wasn’t malicious, but it wasn’t kind either. It didn’t feel like it wanted to be controlled. It had to be commanded . His breath hitched and a shiver ran up his spine. Keep your rhythm. Keep your pull steady, he reminded himself. Don’t choke on it. He breathed in through his nose. Out through his mouth. He felt the item against his chest react and he let it. He let the fragment pulse and match the flow of his aether gathering technique. Each time his lungs filled with breath, more of the energy slipped into his body. Like a slow infusion—drop by drop—into his tissues , where it began to churn and settle. In the back of his mind, he felt a change stir somewhere inside himself. After about an hour, Alex slowly opened his eyes. A sheen of sweat had collected on his back once again, and his limbs felt… not tired , exactly, but pressurized . Like his body was still adjusting to what it had taken in. He glanced at the fragment. It was still whole, still pulsing. One down. About a hundred more to go. “ Not bad for your first taste of dungeon-grade essence, ” Obby said, his voice echoing faintly from the bracelet. “ You didn’t explode or pass out. That’s good. ” Alex wiped his face with his sleeve. “Wasn’t expecting it to be so... concentrated. It’s like snorting freezing cold stamina potion.” Obby pulsed a soft blue. “ That sounds about right for dark attuned essence. Be careful, mages can get addicted to these fragments. Like magical ADHD pills, only they make you moodier. ” “Sounds like a fun time.” He stood, joints popping slightly, and stretched. The lab chamber around them remained dimly lit, silent, thick with the sterile scent of stone and ancient alchemy but now mixed with sweat. The tables were cleared, his tools returned to his bracelet storage. There was no more prepping, no more ritual steps. The groundwork was laid. Now came the next question. He turned toward the three tunnels at the far end of the room. All of them opened like yawning mouths carved into the rock. Each one was subtly different. The leftmost tunnel sloped downward in a narrow spiral, lit with green bioluminescent moss clinging to the walls. Alex could only see about ten feet in before the tunnel curved out of his sight. The middle one was wide, almost too perfectly round. The air near its mouth shimmered slightly, like heat haze or a mirage. He could barely see a chamber at the end a few dozen feet away, something stood in its center, a pedestal of some sort. The rightmost was formed of smooth walls, uneven, and dark. The surfaces seemed to be slightly reflective, just a tiny bit of the moss from the left tunnel dancing along the jagged angles. There was no light to be seen deeper inside. Only dark silence. “Three options,” he said, hands on his hips. “What do you thin