Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 216: Book 3: Chapter 67: New Offering

Read chapter 216 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 67: New Offering Chapter 67: New Offering He stood, his legs slightly shaky and sore from having sat far too long, as Malric Vaunt faced him through the bars. The Mystic Arcanuum didn’t pace about in front of him or glower menacingly. He just stood there with his arms behind his back, and his posture rigid as an old pillar bracing against a storm. His expression wasn’t cruel, or amused, or even apathetic the way it had been back in Terraxum. He looked… tired? Disappointed? “You misunderstand why we are here,” Malric said quietly, as if he didn’t want to waste the effort of volume. “If killing you was the objective, Pierce, it would have been done already. My orders were to… recruit you. I am to persuade you. Even convince you to our side, if possible. That would have been preferable. The option I wanted, if I am to be Blechard.” "Blechard?" Alex asked. "Yes, to be honest. Forthright in conversation," Malric stated, his tone that of a man explaining the color of the sky. "Oh, you mean Frank." "Who is Frank?" "Who is Blechard?" "I don't... I am here to recruit you, Pierce." Alex sighed and shook his heard. Back in Terraxum, he’d pegged the Mystic Arcanuum as the Empire’s black-ops wolves: the deadly-edged blade, the hunters you didn’t see until it was already over for you. The way they’d moved, the way the soldiers obeyed order in utter silence, that had been the impression to Alex. But standing here, watching Malric’s face, he felt a crack split apart that carefully painted mental picture. Maybe he’d gotten it wrong. Maybe the Arcanuum weren’t assassins or shock troops. Maybe they were something more insidious. Recruiters . He knew the type from back on Earth. He'd been drawn in by one himself. Enforcers with pens as sharp as daggers, with authority that blurred between soldier, spy, and police. The Empire’s hand-picked shepherds, sent out to watch, assess, and then collect the useful harvest. And Alex couldn’t help but wonder if there was even a difference between “recruitment” and exploitation? His hand twitched toward where Obby should have been tucked into his bracelet. His pockets were empty, though, every item stripped away except for the translator ring. Even so, when he stretched his awareness inward, there was still a faint tug, a string of attention buried deep in his soulspace, pulling toward some distant direction in the ship. Obby was out there. Alive, if the little river pebble could be considered as such. Probably locked up like the rest of them. That information wasn't helpful right now. But he noted it in his mind. Alex exhaled through his nose, meeting Malric’s unflinching gaze. “Recruit us for what? Exactly?” The words came out sharper than he meant, but his voice didn’t shake. He wasn’t sure if it was defiance or exhaustion keeping him standing upright. Maybe both. Malric didn’t give him an answer right away. He studied Alex, like he was an experiment and Malric was the one jotting down results. When he finally spoke, his tone carried only sheer certainty. “For the future.” Alex let out a dry laugh, “That’s the most vague shit I’ve ever heard.” Malric didn’t bristle at the disrespect. He only lifted one shoulder in a faint shrug, as though Alex’s skepticism were nothing more than the sound of wind passing on the leaves. “The Empire has resources, Alex. But not an unlimited amount of them. Every investment must pay off. Mages are… fickle prospects. One can be brilliant, even prodigious, and yet die in their first true trial. Potential is wasted more often than it bears fruit. That is the nature of cultivation.” Alex’s eyes narrowed, his brow furrowing as unbidden memories rose to the forefront of his mind. He thought to Terraxum, the military tattoos, the Heavenly System that parceled out power like candy to those who proved their worth and but not before, never before. Terraxum had means and resources that could have saved men in the trenches but weren’t handed out until command deemed them “