Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 214: Book 3: Chapter 65: The Brig

Read chapter 214 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 65: The Brig Chapter 65: The Brig Alex woke with the taste of blood in his mouth. His head throbbed, his chest felt like it had been caved in, and the cold weight of aether-disrupting manacles gnawed against his skin. It wasn’t just him, either. Groans and mutters echoed faintly around the brig. As his vision cleared, he made out the huddled forms of people, and not just his squad, but others too. Holly cradled her head, her face pale between her hands. Henry was propped against the wall with his thigh bound in a makeshift wrap, his breathing shallow. Doran and Sarson whispered between themselves int eh their own cell nearby. While Peter, Cole, Ghrukk, Zach, even Rynel; all were trapped and shackled, staring bleakly at the bars. The sight of it nearly hollowed him out then and there. “I…sorry,” Alex muttered, his mouth dry. The words tore out from his throat before he could stop them. “I should’ve… I should’ve done more. Should’ve—” “Don’t,” Holly said. She met his eyes, shaking her head. “Stop doing that. You kept them off us. You gave us a chance to get out. This isn’t your fault, Alex.” Others murmured in agreement, though exhaustion colored every word. Even with their assurances, the guilt didn’t ease. If anything, it twisted deeper. Deja vu pricked at the edge of his mind, visions of bars, cages, dark stone walls, kobolds leering through the gaps while he sat helpless. Back then, he’d barely clawed his way out of being sacrificed to Doudra’s death ritual. And now… here they were again. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the memory down. Its not the same. Not the same. When he opened them again, the brig wasn’t anything like the dank dungeon he expected. The air smelled faintly of polished oil and cedarwood. The floor’s planks gleamed with care, each fitted perfectly. The guard station outside their cells wasn’t rough benches and rusted nails. It was solid oak chairs with polished brass fittings, arcane lamp-light casting a soft glow from overhead. The place felt more like an officer’s lounge than a prison. This wasn’t some pirate hovel on an ancient seaboat. This was something Alex remembered as military discipline, a room with walls mopped, and ceiling swept. Detailed sorta stuff, Alex knew this, it was familiar to some degree from back home. He raised his head, calling out to one of the guards posted nearby. “Hey! You gonna keep us locked up without so much as a word? Don’t even get to hear the charges?” The guard didn’t respond or acknowledge him. He just stood there, his eyes glassy with his gaze fixed straight ahead. A chill worked its way down Alex’s spine. He narrowed his eyes, letting [Aether Sight] unfurl, though he felt a twinge along his wrists. He looked down to find his hands chained. The manacles bit into him, dampening his senses and fighting his aether energy circulation. The disruption was strong, but his Meridian Imprints burned faintly against it, letting him push through the effect to a moderate degree. The guard’s aura glowed with a steady, controlled flow. [Aether Sight] was showing Alex that the man was Adept Tier, early gaseous stage. Early, but with a good foundation. The kind of foundation that took time and resources to cultivate. On the battlefield, this man would’ve been dangerous with good items, strong spells, and a pool of energy large enough to tip smaller battles on his own. Alex let out a low exhale. So, the Urhara Empire didn’t just fill its ships with fodder. They invested in true fighters. “Guess they treat their soldiers well,” Alex muttered under his breath, his tone bitter. “At least there’s that.” He shifted against the manacles, holding back a hiss as metal scraped painfully along his skin. His gaze drifted past his own squad, past Ghrukk’s grim silence, and out across the brig. The under-level of the ship was broad, making it hard to tell if they were in the belly of the ship or somewhere higher up near the deck. But he could feel the mass of it above them, press