Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Clown World

Read chapter 3 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Chapter 2: Clown World Chapter 2: Clown World ANOMALY REVIEW REPORT: //ACCESS LEVEL: Administrator (Obfuscated) ‎ // REQUEST SOURCE: Internal Anomaly Monitor – Tier 3 ‎ // LOG CONTEXT: Behavior Deviation in User Record #0117-A ("Alex") ‎ // STATUS: Flagged. Pending Review. START OF RECORD: :://New entity discovered, initializing compatibility sequence… ://Integration Failed_Retry… Failed; <Designate Additional Options> // P rogram<Worldstrider>System Options Query: Access Granted // Loading… New O ptions Found // Initiating Optimal Outcome // Trial System <Worldstrider> C ompatibility_1:0.912// ://Building Profile Designation; New Entity,WS_Class0A// //Created;. ENTITY: 0117-A ‎ DESIGNATION: Worldstrider ‎ INITIALIZATION: Sub-Optimal ‎ CORE STATUS: New [Unknown] ‎ BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE: 9% (Phase I) :// Start_Location; Entity Proximity<yes>, Allow Proximal Status<yes>, Starting… //Location_UC_TK_08012.3347;Granted// //Placing… /3.. /2.. /1.. :://LOG END// *** Alex was startled awake with a pained grunt. His head pounded something fierce, and he was certain the afterimage that currently danced along in his vision was going to be there for the rest of his life. Right now he had a fungus shaped overlay on his entire field of view. When he finally managed to blink through some of the stars, he found himself looking up at the branches that loomed over him. The trees, and their leaves obscured the entirety of the sky, creating an emerald ceiling above Alex. The soft light that filtered down in the forest below left everything in a musky emerald haze. Like the inside of a van belonging to a highschool drop-out. Alex was on his back, grass cool against his neck. Real grass, not the fake plastic shit from the soccer field. I must’ve been blown clear… He sat up slowly and then flexed his limbs. Feeling no pain, he then rolled his joints, and took a few deep breaths. Aside from a pounding headache, as far as he could tell, nothing felt broken. No sharp aches, and no searing burns. It was like he was simply picked up by a pair of soft and caring hands, moved off the soccer field and gently lowered to the grass. And then punched repeatedly and viciously in the god damn head. He sat up, blinking through the haze. Where’s the team? A quick glance behind him showed the captain, Devon, and Allie sprawled a few paces away. Alex crawled to Thompson first. He had no visible injuries, just unconscious. Devon and Allie looked the same, out cold, but breathing steady. What the hell…? He knew that blast. Everyone on the mission had been briefed to hell and back about the possibility. Command practically wanted them paranoid. It was why they wore Radiant Gear. Why Alex hadn’t trusted the captain’s earlier reassurance. Nuclear Bomb. These weren't the weapons of the early twentieth century either. Humans had really honed their skills at death and destruction by the time Alex was even born. Now, a nuclear bomb was no bigger than a standard suitcase and still just as strong as the moving-van-sized ones of a half-century earlier. Alex had seen it: the unmistakable glow, the mushroom shape of the blast. Somewhere between suitcase and moving van, easily enough to kill them all. And yet... they were still here. Alive. He slowly stood up, finding his legs wobbly beneath him as realization hit him. He shouldn't be here, none of them should be here. The suits protected them from the radiation, but that was it, not the shock wave and not the heat of the blast. Alex stumbled a few steps toward one of the trees. He used it to stay upright as he looked around more clearly. He could see two more shapes on the grass a few paces away. He assumed those to be Henry and Garret. He shifted his body, getting an angle to look past the trees beyond his prone teammates. The trees beyond were now more densely packed than he remembered. He was having trouble seeing much further than where Garret now lay. He was able to see enough though. More forms lay on the ground beyond the t