Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 152: Book 3: Chapter  8: Inevitable

Read chapter 152 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 8: Inevitable Book 3: Chapter 8: Inevitable The forest, which was normally full of the many sounds of animal whispers, bird chirps, and woodly creaks, had gone reverently quiet, as if it too sensed something delicate and sensitive was about to happen and had decided to hold its breath. Alex stood at the water’s edge, his hands tucked into his trouser pockets, staring down at his reflection like it had been dodging him for days, and it had, as he hadn’t gotten a look at himself since they left Terraxum’s capital some time ago. The pond shimmered in the moonlight, its surface like that of a mirror-still-glass. Well, save of course, for the occasional ripple when a cheeky breeze dared to disturb the peace. Unbeknownst to Alex, he had started growing a bit of a beard. “Beard” was an operative term here, as its true form landed somewhere between 5 o’clock shadow and a short fuzz. Perhaps enough to feel if scratched across one’s skin, but not quite enough to run your fingertips through. His hair was also getting just as long, now swept back and tucked behind his ears. Hazel-tinted green eyes looked back at him from the pond. The same eyes that his brother, Adam, had. Set on the same face that his brother had, as well. That’s how identical twins worked anyway. But, Alex’s eyes had a different light to them, not sad, just anxious, uncertain. Beside him, Holly slowly stepped forward. She was a silhouette of dark grace, arms crossed, eyes fixed ahead, but thoughtful. “You and Myrae… you two– you talked... for a while, earlier,” she said, her voice an attempt at casual, but with the unmistakable edge of curiosity sharpened beneath it. Alex smirked. “Ah yeah… she told me about her family.” Holly nodded, biting at the corner of her lip, “Her family, learning about her parents then? Planning to… meet them… or something?” He couldn’t help but grin at her, “Are you asking if I’m secretly in love with her? Because that’s a very offhand way to say it.” She tilted her head, her hair catching just a glint of silver starlight before sighing dramatically. “I don’t know… Should I— Should I be jealous?” He turned slightly, arching an eyebrow. “Of Myrae? No. I like her the same way I like Allie—” Holly raised a brow in return. “Allie’s pretty.” “Sure,” he said with a shrug. “So’s Myrae. Half-elf, wind in her hair, mysterious past. The whole package. But that’s not… Hell, even Kate occasionally looks at me like she’s mentally weighing a marriage proposal against a war crime.” Holly snorted at that. “Don’t flatter yourself. She probably just wants to weaponize you.” “Exactly my point,” he said. She looked at him sidelong, amusement written on her face. “So, you’re just... oblivious to all of it?” “I guess, my attention’s been elsewhere, on something else, lately.” “Something?” she asked. Her voice softened slightly as she stepped closer, shoulder brushing his subtly, and the tips of her fingers running along the back of his hand, sending jolts of warmth up his arm in slow, circling waves. Alex looked sideways at her, a glimmer of humor still lingering in his expression. “Someone… definitely someone.” She now turned fully to him, her expression unreadable in the moonlight, though her posture, the way she leaned ever so slightly into his space, spoke volumes all the same. Alex could smell the hint of lavender and citrus on her person, that oh so pleasant aroma he had come to recognize as her. “Someone like... who?” she asked. “Do you think… we could… see if Cole is into me?” He said slowly. “Cole!?” Holly scoffed, “You’re into him then, that’s what you’re saying?” Alex gasped, hand on his chest in mock horror. “I’m being vulnerable here. My forbidden love for handsome, warhammer wielding, short kings knows no bounds.” “I think Rynel will have something to say about that.” Holly burst out laughing, a full-bodied, rich sound that echoed gently in the trees and cracked the last layer of tension between them. Alex grinned and took her hand whi