Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 86: Book 2: Chapter 3: Pep-talk

Read chapter 86 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 2: Chapter 3: Pep-talk Book 2: Chapter 3: Pep-talk The morning came to Alex with the smell of roasting meat mixed with the earthy scent of moss and kobold urine. Well, at least it was sort-of morning. Sleeping inside the darkened cave tunnels made it hard to track time precisely, but Alex had developed an internal clock by now. He guessed it was probably around 0900 as he waited topside of the kobold tunnels. Alex was a bit surprised to learn the scale of the kobold settlement that was above ground, outside the tunnels. Just from his scouting underground, Alex assumed there were roughly a hundred kobolds. Looking at the scale of the village above ground, the many buildings and tents, Alex had to adjust his estimate to upwards of even maybe three hundred kobolds instead. Alex and his team never really had a chance in an actual fight. He sat cross-legged on flat rock near the center of the kobold camp, in the lizard species’ training field. He worked on soaking up warmth, and copious amounts of patience, as he spent the hours watching the others gather up one by one. Some with groggy steps and puffy eyes. Others, mainly Devon, with full-blown bedhead. And then there was, Garret still with only one boot on. “Okay, everyone here?” Alex asked, glancing around. Tom-Tom was the last to arrive. He looked surprisingly chipper despite the state Alex had left him the night before. The little Kobold was dragging a half-eaten mushroom skewer in the dirt behind him and showed a smug expression like he’d just conquered breakfast itself. “Am here,” he said. “And in good graces of breakfast gods.” Alex exhaled through his nose, not quite a laugh. But close. “All right,” he said, pulling a small leather pouch from his belt. “Time to talk business.” He untied the pouch’s drawstrings and upturned it, pouring out several jagged, faintly glowing shards into his palm. The essence fragments shimmered in the low morning sun like chunks of broken glass cut from shafts of many-colored moon-stuff. Every head tilted forward as one, each jostling and trying to press in an attempt to get a look at what Alex had. “What are those?” Holly asked. “Essence fragments,” Alex said. “From the Dark Den. They can be dropped by elite enemies, or bought. They’re… potent. Raw, compressed aether energy and elemental power. Feeding one into your core will speed up your cultivation like jet fuel on a campfire.” Lance let out a low whistle. “And you’re just handing those out?” “Well, I bought them,” Alex said. “From the Dungeon Shop.” “Wait, the what now?” Garret asked. “There’s a shop? Inside the dungeon?” “Yeah,” he muttered. “Its the worlds weirdest pharmacy-mart honestly. You spend points from kills for loot. It’s like a built-in cultivation vending machine.” Tom-Tom’s eyes went wide. “The dungeon sells loot ? Gods above, Tom-Tom been fighting slimes for mushrooms” Alex chuckled, a bit surprised that the kobold didn’t know how the dungeon worked. Then again, if everyone who went into it never came out… well how would they have known? He shook his head and started passing out the fragments one by one. “I have enough for all of you. Think of it as an investment. If we’re going to survive what’s coming, we need to get stronger. All of us.” Each person took their shard with reverence. Even Kate, who was usually the first to roll her eyes, turned it over in her fingers like it was a sacred relic. “It’s warm,” Henry said, speaking for the first time that morning. “Like it’s… alive.” “It kind of is. Beasts absorb ambient essence until it solidifies, creating Arcane Beast Cores. What you’re holding is like that, but its System made. They’re remnants of essence, emotion, and memory made into a physical thing. They are solidified will, in a way. Feed it to your core slowly, let it sink in. It’ll be a rough experience, but it will be worth it.” Garret stared down at his fragment like it was a tiny glass heart. “Thanks, man,” he said. “For real. This is huge.” “Don’t thank me y