Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 53: Under Hot Water

“What?” Alex nearly shouted in response to Akus’ statement.

From what Alex knew, any ability or item that could fix the backlash from his new [Technique] was incredibly rare or exorbitantly expensive. A natural treasure that could perform the kind of healing that he was claiming would be beyond the price range of even the Xhiu family.

“It is not something that my master or I advertise, or even mention to outside factions. And I hope you don’t say anything to anyone outside this room, even Lady Xhiu herself.” Akus looked to Alex, Kate and Holly sternly.

Asking for confidence in the situation was understandable. Alex even momentarily wondered why he had even brought up the topic in front of the two women. Though, given that Holly and Kate would be a part of their team in the Inheritance, hiding such a thing would have been, difficult, to say the least.

Yet, there was also a remaining factor. Did Alex even believe him?

“It is possible. Unlikely, but possible, for someone to have the right collection of skills, traits, and constitution to help you,” Obby pointed out. “This might be a real offer.”

So he could be legit?

“Yes. But be cautious, and temper your expectations. Your mage core issue is still beyond anyone of this level, no matter the circumstances. And he might not grasp the extent of the damage your [Technique] has caused.” Obby’s illusion body wiggled his arms like a teacher scolding a child from within his soul space.

Alex stayed quiet a moment, even as everyone’s eyes were trained squarely on him.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Let’s give it a shot. If you can help me, you’ll have more than proved your value for being added to the team.”

“And the topic of releasing the information just shared with you?” Akus reiterated.

“We won’t tell anyone, of course,” Alex confirmed.

Akus nodded, giving even a bare smile. “Very well, then I will show you what I am capable of.”

The five of them all left to convene in Alex’s bedroom, giving them a bit more privacy. Mr. Kim even stood by the door, taking the role of guard.

Within moments, Alex was lying on his bed, Akus standing over him. Holly and Kate both stood at the foot of the bed, looking nervous. He got the distinct feeling he was on his deathbed, and that something was surely about to go wrong. But he pushed that worry aside.

“What do you need?” he asked.

Akus rolled back their sleeves, showing pale olive-toned skin and a collection of wave-patterned tattoos along their arms. Before Alex could ask questions, Akus produced a clay bowl and filled it with water. “I have already brought the items I need. They are quite simple, as most of the process is done through my constitution alone,” he said.

They filled the bowl with water from a glass bottle before sprinkling some powder into the water. In his [Aether Sight] Alex could see a faint concentration of aether in the powder, which dissolved and spread throughout the water.

From what he saw, it merely contained a mixture of water and light aether, but nothing more.

“You sure about this, Alex?” Holly asked.

He could see the worry and anxiety pooling behind her eyes as she asked the question. Messing with soulspaces, gates, and damage of this kind was dangerous in more ways than he could count. So he understood her reservations.

But, he also knew that having himself in the condition he was now while entering the Inheritance would be a huge disadvantage. Whatever they would face inside, he assumed it would be next level compared to any dungeon they had challenged before. That included the Chimera dungeon.

And Erich’s plans required that Alex and the team actually succeed inside the Inheritance. If he sent Akus for this reason, then the mage had confidence it would work.

Alex sucked in a slow breath, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He looked to Akus, who had their hand poised over the bowl beside him. “Let’s do this.”

“Don’t resist anything that you feel. It might be counterintuitive, but if you feel danger, or like you're being attacked for any reason, just accept it. I won’t be damaging anything,” Akus said.

He only grunted a reply and gritted his teeth. “Let’s do this.”

Akus dipped his hands into the water, somehow absorbing its contents into his skin, then placed his hands onto Alex. One on his forehead, and the other on his abdomen.

“Should I have removed my clothe—“ Alex began, but he was cut off as he felt the rush of cool water flood over his body.

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Within moments, it felt as if he had been submerged in a bath, his skin being covered in a sheen of moisture from head to toe. It happened so quickly he didn’t even notice as some of the water entered his mouth and ears, traveling into his body.

Then the warmth came.

It started at his body gate, the small area at the nape of his neck. Like rainwater following the gutter of a house, the warm sensation entered his body gate and began flowing further, traveling inside his body and under his skin.

It was almost a pleasant feeling, if it wasn’t so foreign.

“Your body gate has no issues that I can see. I’ll move on to your body itself,” Akus said.

Just as his words suggested, the warm feeling sank deeper into his form, finding his veins and muscles. Then his tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues before concentrating on his organs.

“There is minor damage and strain in practically every bit of your physical body. And… hmmm.” The mage looked at Alex quizzically for a moment. “Your blood seems to not like this as much as I’d hoped.”

Alex looked inward at himself, finding his veins, arteries and heart. As Akus had said, he noticed his blood reacting as if a virus had snuck into his system, a microscopic battle was starting to rage in him. He knew it to be the effect of his blood from his constitution. Even Akus’ gentle aether didn’t completely fool his blood.

He mentally suppressed the effect, letting Akus’ aether run freely and unopposed.

“Better,” Akus said. “I admit, I’m surprised by the concentration of aether in your body. It’s as though your cells themselves are holding aether for you, strengthening every aspect of yourself.”

Alex nodded, knowing this was his [Aether Attuned Body] ability at work. He had seen and felt how much aether his tissues absorbed when he made breakthroughs in the ability. Even Allie had commented on it before, saying it made healing him far more difficult given the aether requirement his body had.

“Will it be a problem?” he asked.

Akus shook his head. “No, it will only mean I have to go slower.”

The minutes crawled by as Alex lay still. The warmth of Akus’ aether moved throughout his lungs, heart, stomach, and the rest of his organs almost one by one, as the mage continued his work.

As the feeling left each part of him, Alex could feel the difference. The weariness and pain he felt in his body gradually faded. Akus’ work didn’t remove it entirely, far from it, but it was substantial enough that he could feel the change even just laying there on the bed.

“Now, your soulgate.” Akus’ attention shifted, and Alex felt the warm sensation of his aether travel to the small point inside his head. From there, it was like a dam had opened up and released a lake of pressure onto him.

Alex grunted, stiffening under Akus’ touch.

Holly leaned forward, almost placing her hand on him as well. “Alex?”

“I’m… okay…” he said between breaths.

But that wasn’t true. Akus’ aether had found his soulgate, which wasn’t like anyone else that he knew of. Alex had repurposed this part of himself, basically turning it inside out to form his aether channels months ago.

Now, Akus was discovering that himself.

“What is—“ the water mage’s brow scrunched up as he explored the system in Alex’s gate. The warmth from before had now turned to a fiery heat that burned through his channels, even gathering at his meridian points, the clusters of aether roadways that had been modified by the System’s upgrades. “This is new to me.”

“You need… to stop?” Alex forced out.

Akus focused on him for a few seconds before shaking his head. “No, we can continue.”

That fire once more traveled across Alex’s body, following the labyrinth of aether channels he had strung through his body. They had been skipped before, as they weren’t part of his physical form, but after finding access with his soulgate, Akus now focused on them.

His soul gate was far more damaged than his body. Alex knew this already, and the increasing heat of Akus’ aether only confirmed this many times over. Within a minute, the soothing warmth had changed to a scalding heat, as if Akus had used boiling hot water for the process.

It didn’t stop there. The heat rose until Alex was certain the water was actually lava running through him instead.

Sweat began to run down his forehead, chest, and over his limbs. Akus wasn’t spared either, his own hairless brow becoming slick with drops of sweat.

“I don’t know how much more you can take,” Akus said as his aether finally withdrew from his soulgates, seemingly having done everything he could.

Alex felt… well better. But not at his peak. He cycled a bit of his aether, finding the same pain as before, albeit not to the point of crippling him anymore. Still, he knew he wouldn’t be able to cast spells, or use his martial style. It just wasn’t enough.

“Keep going.” Alex looked at the water mage with determined eyes.

“Are you certain?”

Holly moved to the opposite side of the bed now, standing over him just as Akus was. “You can stop Alex. If it's too much, it's too much. I’m sure he’s already done a lot, and sped up your recovery by days.”

Days… was that enough? Was it enough for Alex?

No. It wasn’t. He couldn’t lie to himself.

Alex raised his hand, bringing it just a hairsbreadth from her face. “I’ll be okay.” Then he turned to Akus. “Keep going.”

“Very well.”

The molten lava returned to his soulgate, and Alex pulled air between his teeth.

“I have to go further, enter your soulspace. Again, don’t fight anything that you feel.”

He nodded.

The heat vanished from his body, and Alex’s mind went inward. He was back staring at the swirling fragments of his core once again, his Wyrm-heart beating slowly as it hovered over the shattered mess. He turned, looking around, and found Akus standing behind him.

He was still wearing his robes and had the same appearance as in the real world outside; black hair, brown eyes, no eyebrows. But his body didn’t look completely solid, and it undulated as if made of liquid held in suspension.

“Your core really is shattered.” The mage’s voice also wavered, as if he spoke underwater.

Alex looked back to his core, and shrugged. “Yes, it's true. To be honest, it's how I’ve almost always seen it. It shattered back in the mortal tier.”

“I’m sorry. You have overcome so much more than I had thought.”

“Nah, I got lucky. I’m alive, right?”

Akus’ image smiled. “An admirable perspective.” He then looked around just as Alex had, finding the dark space that continued on for eternity. “Sparse, you don’t decorate?”

“Never saw a need.” He shrugged again.

“Well, I shall begin then. Are you ready?”

“Let’s do it.”

Akus closed his eyes, and his body burst apart into a torrent of water. The amount that was released couldn’t have possibly fit inside his projected form, but yet it flooded out nonetheless. Nearly instantly, a wall of water slammed into Alex and washed over him, submerging his broken core and his Wyrm-heart, spreading out further and further to the nonexistent edges of his soul.

And the heat came.

It consumed him almost immediately. An inferno. Hellfire. Alex didn’t know how to describe it. He didn’t know how water could burn more than fire itself, but still it did.

His soul burned.

Alex screamed.