Aetherborne Infinte Glitch

Chapter 3: The Infinite Forge

Axel stepped away from the green exit crystal of the Silverback Grove, the air still thick with the scent of ozone and burnt fur. He had a choice: leave now and return to the safety of his apartment, or push the boundaries of his newfound reality. The idea of leaving felt like a betrayal of the momentum surging through his veins. He didn’t want to cause a scene at the entrance by immediately re-entering the Grove—dungeon records were tracked, and a solo hunter clearing an F-rank dungeon in twenty minutes was a flashing red light to the Association.

Instead, he moved to the farthest corner of the boss chamber, hidden behind a cluster of massive, phosphorescent fungi. He needed to know the truth. Was his Aether pool just massive, or was it truly a bottomless well?

He raised his palm. "[Ignis Spark]."

A bolt of flame hissed into the darkness, splashing against the cavern wall.

"[Ignis Spark]. [Ignis Spark]. [Ignis Spark]..."

The rhythm began. One every second. Then two. He stood there for twenty minutes, his arm a blurred piston of magical output. The chamber grew stiflingly hot. The air became thin, the oxygen consumed by the relentless combustion. He should have been on the floor, gasping for breath, his veins screaming from Aetheric exhaustion. Instead, he felt... invigorated.

Forty minutes passed. The count surpassed two thousand. The fireballs were no longer the flickering, unstable globes he had started with. They had changed. The orange centers had turned a piercing, brilliant white. They were smaller now—dense pellets of plasma that didn't just explode; they detonated with a sharp, metallic crack.

Axel watched in awe as a single spark punched a hole clean through a stalagmite. His proficiency was evolving at a rate that defied every law of the System. In the span of an hour, he had performed more magical exercises than a high-ranking Mage would in a year of combat.

He summoned his status screen.

[Axel Jetters] [Occupation: Hunter]

[Constitution: 10]

[Might: 10]

[Aether: — ]

[Skill: Ignis Spark (Level 59)]

"Level fifty-nine," he whispered, his voice raspy from the heat. In the history of the Awakened, most hunters moved on to higher-tier skills long before their F-rank proficiencies hit Level 30. Why master a candle when you can buy a torch? But Axel’s "candle" was now burning with the intensity of a D-rank offensive spell.

He took a final breath of the scorched air and touched the green crystal.

The transition was instantaneous. He appeared outside the monolith, his clothing soot-stained and his backpack bulging with Shards. A few hunters lingering near the portal did a double-take.

"Look at that kid," one veteran grunted, leaning on a notched axe. "Lone survivor? Poor bastard looks like he crawled through hell."

"Forget it, Jax," his partner replied, eyeing Axel’s worn-out sneakers and flimsy pack. "Probably a rookie whose team got wiped. He’s lucky to be breathing."

Axel ignored them, his gaze fixed on the horizon. He couldn't go back to the Grove. He needed a place where the oversight was thin and the environment was hostile enough to keep people away. He signaled a transport—a rugged, armor-plated SUV operated by a civilian "Dungeon-Driver." These men and women made a living shuttling hunters across the dangerous outskirts of Rim City X.

"Where to, kid?" the driver asked, a cigarette dangling from his lip.

"The Frostbite Tundra," Axel said.

The driver paused, his hand hovering over the ignition. "The Tundra? That’s an E-rank zone. The government has to pay squads to clear that place because the cold kills more hunters than the monsters do. You sure about that?"

"I'm sure."

The twenty-five-minute drive was silent. Axel watched the landscape shift from urban decay to a desolate, snow-dusted wasteland. The Frostbite Tundra was a blue-tinged monolith rising from a valley of permafrost. It was largely ignored by the elite because the loot-to-risk ratio was skewed by the environmental hazards.

Axel stepped out of the car, flashing his gold license at the shivering guards. They didn't even speak; they just waved him through with pitying looks.

As he crossed the threshold of the portal, the temperature plummeted. It was a cold so sharp it felt like a physical weight, pressing against his lungs. Axel didn't panic. He raised his hands, and instead of firing his sparks, he willed them to orbit him. Two white-hot spheres of flame began a lazy rotation around his torso, acting as a personal furnace. The biting chill receded, replaced by a comfortable, artificial warmth.

"First floor," Axel murmured, looking out at the white expanse. "Let's see what an E-rank feels like."

The Frostbite Tundra was a twenty-floor nightmare of ice and jagged stone. Within minutes of his arrival, the first pack of Frost-Wolves emerged from the mist. Their fur was like spun glass, and their eyes were chips of frozen cobalt.

Axel met them with a hail of fire.

Because his proficiency with [Ignis Spark] was so high, the casting was nearly instantaneous. He didn't just shoot; he barraged. The wolves, used to hunters who had to carefully manage their mana, were caught in a storm of white-hot detonations. They didn't even get within ten meters.

He cleared the first five floors in a blur of steam and scorched ice. On the sixth floor, the wolves were replaced by Arctic Stalkers—fox-like monsters the size of motorcycles that moved with a terrifying, fluid grace. They were faster, but Axel was becoming more adept at "multitasking." He kept four sparks orbiting him for warmth and defense while firing volleys from both hands.

By the fifteenth floor, the difficulty spiked. Huge, shaggy Musk Oxen began to charge through the snow. Their hides were thick enough to absorb a direct hit from a standard F-rank spell. Axel had to focus his fire, hitting their eyes and joints to bring the massive beasts down. He found himself forced to retreat several times, kiting the beasts as he pelted them with fire.

"I'm getting cocky," he muttered, wiping frost from his eyebrows. "Infinite Aether doesn't mean I'm invincible. My body is still human."

He reached the twentieth floor, the heart of the Tundra. The stairs leading down were carved from solid, translucent ice. At the bottom was a cavernous dome where a shadow the size of a small house loomed.

The Frost-Giant Ursa.

The beast was a monstrosity of muscle and white fur, standing four meters tall. As Axel entered, the bear opened its eyes—two glowing pits of predatory hunger. It didn't roar; it exhaled, a cloud of freezing vapor that turned the very air into ice crystals.

Axel didn't wait. He launched ten white-hot sparks in a synchronized strike.

BOOM!

The explosions rocked the cavern, but through the smoke, Axel saw the Ursa lunging. It had crossed its massive, armored forearms over its face, absorbing the brunt of the blast. It was faster than anything he had ever seen.

"Crap!"

Axel dived to the side as a massive paw shattered the ice where he had been standing. The shockwave sent him tumbling. He scrambled to his feet, but the Ursa was already turning, its maw open, a gathering of blue energy forming in its throat—a Frost-Breath attack.

Axel didn't think. He didn't aim. He simply threw every ounce of his will into a continuous, desperate stream of [Ignis Spark].

Twenty sparks hit the bear's open mouth in a single second. The resulting explosion was deafening. The Ursa’s head snapped back, the internal detonation liquefying its brain instantly. The massive body slid across the ice, stopping inches from Axel’s feet.

He collapsed against the cavern wall, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He was alive, but his hands were shaking. If he had been a second slower, he would have been a frozen statue.

"Too close," he gasped. "Way too close."

He looked at the loot. Amidst the E-rank Shards sat a pale blue tome.

[Cipher Tome: Glacial Aegis]

Axel’s eyes lit up. He immediately pressed the book to his chest. The knowledge flooded his mind—a defensive skill that created a suit of crystalline armor. For most hunters, this was a high-drain skill, used only in emergencies. For Axel, it was a permanent upgrade.

He activated the skill. A shimmering layer of translucent ice encased his body, following the contours of his clothes like a second skin. It felt light, yet he could sense the immense durability of the Aetheric structure. He checked his status. The skill was active, and as expected, the "Aether: —" line remained steady. He could wear this armor forever.

With a newfound sense of security, Axel touched the exit crystal.

He emerged into the night air of Rim City X. He was exhausted, not from mana depletion, but from the raw mental strain of the hunt. He didn't want to go back to his cramped apartment. He needed a place where he could think, a place where he could plan his next move.

He hailed another car and gave the address of the "Aurelian Sanctum"—the city's premier Hunter Lodge.

The lobby of the Sanctum was the height of luxury, filled with the scent of expensive cigars and high-end Aether-infused tea. The receptionist, a woman in a perfectly tailored suit, gave him a polite but guarded smile as he presented his blood-stained license.

"A room for the night, Mr. Jetters?"

"The best you have," Axel said, placing a handful of E-rank Shards on the counter.