Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 241: Book 4: Chapter 6: Heated Opportunity

Read chapter 241 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 4: Chapter 6: Heated Opportunity Chapter 6 That night, the guest compound was too quiet for a group that had spent the last few weeks covered in blood and volcano ash. Even with the sun having hidden itself behind that huge abyss that Alex was still certain was a black hole, the air outside was still hot from the day. Volcanic glow spilled a faint orange light through the courtyard, giving a soft ambiance. Alex sat cross-legged beneath the awning, sweat slicking his neck as he concentrated. Behind him, nine threads of woven aether pulled in the ambient energy and drew it together. Each breath drew in Aether-rich air to both his lungs and his aether-gate. The stream of energy fed his body as it traveled throughout his aether channels, condensing it down for his tissues to assimilate. It was a patient rhythm of absorption and refinement that he’d finally begun to control almost without any conscious thought. He exhaled slowly, and steam rose from his skin in response. The [Wyrm-Heart] in his soul-space pulsed faintly in his chest, syncing with his breathing, with his gathering technique. The memory of the Fire-Drake still lingered in his mind. He still recalled that flash of power when his soul had brushed against the beast’s will, forcing it to follow him and submit. On reflection, he wasn’t sure whether that had been sheer willpower and aether-aura or something deeper. Perhaps an instinct buried deep down, connected to the [Wyrm-Heart] and its strange energy. He guessed it had something to do with the Draconic connection of his constitution. He wanted to test it again, but part of him was afraid of what he’d find if he pushed too far. “Still can’t sit still even when we’re not on fire, huh?” Devon’s words came from behind him. Alex cracked one eye open. I could see that Devon leaned in the doorway, his arcane-rifle slung across his shoulder. Its metal bits, and even the wooden stock of the weapon both, shone under the light. The man had been cleaning the same weapon for an hour or so, another kind of meditation all its own. “Trying to burn off the mind fog and the noise,” Alex said. He cut his mental connection to the nine glittering aether threads that swam behind his back, letting the flow fade. Devon snorted. “If you figure out how to do that permanently, write me a guide.” Across the courtyard, the others had settled into their own rhythms. Kate and Holly sparred in the open space, both dripping sweat and swearing between bursts of fire and wind magic. At the same time, Ghrukk and Henry were at one of the side tables, dismantling the remains of a halberd head that had cracked during the last mission. It needed to be repaired. Lance stood opposite them, arguing over reforging techniques and materials. Allie was inside her room. She hadn’t come out for a day or so, but Alex knew she was still in there as the faint shimmer of light and shadow aether leaked through the windows. She’d been working on her dual attunement balance all that time. The effect made her silhouette in his [Aether-Sight] seem to flicker between two planes at once. Tom-Tom was off in his own corner, looking over an ever growing pile of seeming junk that he had been collecting. Some of the items he had stock-up were enchanted, Alex could see that, but not all of them. The little kobold was growing a penchant for hoarding things. Alex assumed it was related to his race. Kobolds were known to be long descended from Dragons. And no one doubted a Dragon’s urge to gather a hoard. His small, scaled figure was still wearing the cooking pot as a helmet, though Devon had taken the liberty to add glyphs to it and make it stronger. He also wore mostly basic rags underneath his child-sized leather armor. A small white bandage taped to the side of his face completed his outfit. That last item was added by Allie, after the kobold had burned himself when he ended up trying to lick the volcanic vent in the courtyard. Because of course he had. Again, things were relat