Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 94: Book 2: Chapters 11: Entry

Read chapter 94 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 2: Chapters 11: Entry Book 2: Chapters 11: Entry There was no warning right before. They were just about to call it a night and start settling in to get some rest when it finally happened. A sudden flash, and then a change in the light around Holly’s form where she sat cultivating. The wind picked up, not like weather, intentional like the lungs of a giant were filling with air and sweeping along the world with it. Wind spiraled, tight and focused, around Holly’s body where she sat meditating. Aether shimmered in the air, the translucent streaks of soft teal and silver coiling upward in a spiral and then meeting at the gate at the back of her neck. Alex stood up slowly. The others had noticed too and were all standing as well. Even Devon stopped mid-stroke on an aether crystal in his hand. “What the hell...” Garret breathed. Strangely, the wind didn’t buffet them. Instead, it avoided them. Every gust, every pulse of Wind Aether spiraled only around Holly, drawing toward her and wrapping around her form. Then something stranger happened. Golden light f lared to life in the air above her head. It crackled and pulsated erratically like divine static, the glow was bright enough to leave afterimages burned into their vision. The light acted unlike any illumination Alex had seen before, it wasn’t warm, and it wasn’t cold. It was almost... alive. Alex felt a chill in his spine just looking at the energy. During this whole scene, Holly’s feet lifted off the ground by an inch. Her body now hovered, still cross-legged, suspended by aether currents alone. She looked as a beautifully detailed and yet scarily posed human-sized marionette, her form suspended skyward by strings that were hidden away from their mere mortal eyes. Her hair floated and danced weightlessly around her as though she were underwater, her face remained perfectly calm, her breath slow and rhythmic. It didn’t take any guesswork for Alex to know what was going on. She was crossing the threshold. The point between Mortal and the Adept Tier. The energy crescendoed. And then— Obby screamed. Well, not exactly screamed. Not audibly at least. But inside Alex’s mind, the little rock's voice surged with such intensity it felt like his skull would split open. "THE GOLD ENERGY. NOW. TAKE IT. TAKE IT. YOU HAVE TO!" Alex staggered from the sudden mental attack, clutching the side of his head. “Shut up. Obby, what the hell are you doing?” "CAPTURE IT! STORE IT! BEFORE IT DISPERSES! WE NEED IT." Alex looked at the arcs of golden energy spiraling from the sky and around Holly. It wasn’t stable energy. It came and went, flickering like the remnants of some kind of broken, dying star. His hand hovered over his left bracer, where the two aether gems sat waiting. It had held plenty of energy before, in each of the gems. He drew on that energy in fight when he needed, for his spells, or fueling his body. But, he had no idea if it could handle this. The energy that flashed over Holly seemed far beyond just Adept Tier aether, he didn’t even know if it was aether at all, or something else entirely. But the tone in Obby’s words...it wasn’t just desperate. It almost felt afraid . Alex hesitated. “What’s wrong?” Allie asked quietly beside him. But by then the moment had passed. The golden light flickered one final time and vanished. The wind ceased. Holly lowered back to the ground, her eyes fluttered open slowly. A ripple of energy burst out from her core, subtle but sharp like the whole kobold camp flinched at once. Her Mage Core had changed. She had changed. The clearing remained quiet for a breath. Is this what my change felt like? No, I don’t remember any golden energy. Any pulse. The others would have felt something like that. This is what the process is like for people with Mage Cores, mine is definitely different. Then Garret clapped. “HOLLY! Hell yes! Did you feel that? You were floating! That was some anime-level shit right there!” Thanks to Garret’s antics, the tension broke. All