Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 60: Rules and Expectations

“Ooh shit,” Alex hissed under his breath.

It was the most classic of dungeon traps, and one he should have seen coming. The old “slowly lowered ceiling” routine. Simple, and yet effective. At least in most cases.

Alex responded by first trying to overpower the issue at hand, as was the way of battle-crazed flesh-sacks such as himself.

Aether ran through his channels, forming into a tight pattern before erupting from his hand in the shape of a pointed spear. The spell flew fifty feet overhead and crashed into the tiles of the ceiling with a small explosion of potent energy.

When the smoke and light cleared, Alex saw the results of his [Energy Spear] spell. Nothing. Not a scratch was left behind.

“Double shit!”

“Probably take a look at the room with your [Aether Sight] there, flesh-sack.” Obby mentally nudged him.

He did as Obby asked, and noticed the issue right away. Every bit of stone around the two of them, from the wall, floor, ceiling, even the pedestals themselves, was incredibly aether dense. At a glance, he could see they were all Magus Tier materials. Alex couldn’t destroy this ceiling, not without resorting to drastic measures.

“I think we must stick to the rules of the Dungeon,” Akus said as he picked up a golden coin. He seemed to think for a second, contemplating something. A moment later he picked up another one as well.

Alex frowned at that. “Hold on there, what did we just say? Remember Gunber and its greed?”

“Grunbear,” Akus corrected him before casting his eyes at the many coins set upon the rows and rows of pedestals before them. “And yes, but there are more than plenty, no?”

“Well, looks like there’s a hundred coins, and there are a hundred people in this inheritance right? Fifty finalists each with a plus one. I think the expectation is obvious. One coin for each person in the Inheritance.”

Akus frowned as he looked about the room, but eventually nodded. “I see what you mean. But please remember where we are. There is no way of knowing that every attendee will make it to this node, in fact quite the opposite. And, I remind you that every one of these rewards are at least Peak Adept Tier, the majority of them Early Magus Tier, or even higher. To leave so many behind…”

He trailed off, letting Alex finish his meaning.

“I know, but I absolutely doubt that the System won’t punish us for taking more than our designated share. And we did tell everyone to play it safe at least early on.” Alex’s eyes continued to watch the ceiling as they talked, trying to gauge the speed of its approach. It was easy to see they had very limited time.

The ceiling was already now only thirty feet away.

“One coin, we pick one, and that’s it.” Alex placed the coin he had already picked up back. Magus Tier or no, he didn’t really need a new sword.

Instead, his eye focused on a coin that showed a small crystal shape. He picked it up without hesitation.

“Ready?” He asked.

Akus set a coin down with a sigh.

The ceiling was fifteen feet away now.

“Very well, Mr. Pierce,” he held up a single coin, showing a book of some kind. “I am ready.”

Alex quickly accessed the System screens, the Dungeon prompt for the node flashing up right away.