Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 236: Book 4: Chapter 1: Athrastas

Read chapter 236 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 4: Chapter 1: Athrastas Chapter 1: Athrastas One might expect that being in a magical alternate world, Alex would encounter new and exciting situations. Yet, it appeared that experiences inside military cafeterias were simply a boring multiversal. The mess hall still smelled like old stew. They still got glances and looks that were nowhere near the description of “friendly”. That was something that was a constant reminder they’d been living in someone else’s fortress for the last month. Inside the large room were rows of bolted-down tables which rattled faintly in sync with the cruiser’s engines. The food trays clattered whenever someone laughed or leaned too hard to one side. It wasn’t home, never would be, but after weeks of the same walls and same routines, it almost felt like being back on Earth in the military barracks. Especially so given the spartan-like military culture they now found themselves in. Something they were far too familiar with. Garret was halfway through a joke at the time. It was a joke which no one actually wanted to hear, yet everyone listened to anyway. His grin was stretched wide and his hands flew about as if he was conducting some grand orchestra of nonsense. Allie smirked behind her cup, feigning annoyance while her eyes gave her mirth away. Devon shook his head, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously to Alex like a correction to the punchline. This might have been the fifth time Garret was telling this particular joke. Across from them, Tom-Tom was busy with his latest obsession. A neat row of forks sat lined up like soldiers at inspection, each one shining with a thin streak of spit-polish. He licked another of the utensils then frowned. After a moment he tossed it aside with an offended grunt. The growing reject pile on the floor clattered in protest. “Don’t encourage him,” Kate muttered when Lance asked what the fork-inspection criteria even were. Her eyes carried that restrained fire of hers again, the same look that had burned in them ever since Sarson and Rynel fell to the chimera queens. She didn’t laugh, not that she ever really did, but the fake chuckles sounded extra performative lately. Alex sat quieter than most, letting the noise go on around him. Holly’s hand was warm in his under the table, her fingers lightly hooked through his own as though she were trying to reassure him. Or maybe it was the other way around? A few eyes still darted toward them from time to time, a flicker of curiosity or judgment shown on various faces, but no one said a word. Wither they be Worldstrider, soldier or mercenary, everyone had seen enough loss and death not to begrudge anyone a little happiness. Still, it felt like a precarious thing. His gaze drifted toward Henry, a near literal shadow clinging behind his calm silence as an emotional present they had received from the fight with the Shadow Chimera Queen. Alex knew the large man, just as Garret, felt guilty about what happened to Eric. The two of them were working through that in their own ways. One never shut up, and the other never talked. So mostly just their normal selves, just cranked up a few dozen extra notches. Holly shifted beside Alex, her own freshly grown leg still twitched every so often despite her easy posture. He knew every step she made wasn’t fully confident yet even after fighting on it not so long ago. And Alex himself… his body hadn’t healed right since the [Dual Descending Demon Fist]. Pain lurked in his bones and marrow, his nerves still sent jolting lances of pain sporadically through his muscles. His physical body still felt some kind of undue injury lurking beyond his simple flesh, like fiery spiritual scars that refused to cool or heal. He could move at 100%, and he could fight, but he knew the damage ran deeper than a surface inspection would tell. What price had he carved into himself this time? He didn’t know. And beyond the wounds were the mental ghosts that still sat with them. Eric’s emp