Aetherborne Infinte Glitch

Chapter 4: The Weight Of Ghosts

The suite at the Pristine Residency was a fortress of marbled stone and enchanted glass, designed to offer the one thing every Hunter craved: a moment of true vulnerability without the risk of death. Axel sat on the edge of the sprawling king-sized bed, the silence of the room pressing against his ears.

With a weary grunt, he upended his backpack. A shimmering cascade of [Aether Shards] tumbled onto the white duvet—amber for Constitution, crimson for Might, and sapphire for Aether. He counted them with a practiced, clinical eye. 38 Aether, 54 Might, and 48 Constitution. In the skewed economy of the post-Cataclysm world, this pile represented a fortune for a rookie. To sell them all would net him approximately $180,000—not enough for a C-Rank skill, which usually started at half a million, but more than enough to bridge the gap between a survivor and a warrior.

His eyes drifted to the [Cipher Tome: Minor Mend] sitting on the nightstand. He had considered selling it for a quick $30,000, but the memory of the Frost-Giant’s jaws snapping inches from his face changed his mind. Resilience was a currency of its own.

Axel leaned back, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. For the first time in a year, the adrenaline had faded enough to let the ghosts in. “You guys have fun,” he had told his parents. It was their anniversary. They had worked three jobs between them to keep him in school, to keep the house running, to give him a future in a world that was already fraying at the edges. They had left with smiles on their faces.

They never came back.

Axel remembered the two days he spent in the basement, clutching a dead cell phone, listening to the world scream. He remembered the shame—the hollow, rotting feeling of being the one who hid while the people he loved were torn apart. The Rage came later, cold and slow-burning, directed at the rifts and the monsters that emerged from them.

He wiped a stray tear from his cheek, his jaw tightening. "I couldn't do anything then," he whispered to the empty room. "But I'm not hiding anymore."

He picked up the [Minor Mend] tome and pressed it to his chest. A soft, emerald light washed over him, knitting together the microscopic tears in his muscles and soothing the phantom burn in his lungs. Next, he activated [Glacial Aegis]. The icy armor formed over his skin, a translucent blue shell that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light. He decided he would never turn it off again. If his Aether was infinite, his defenses should be too.

Axel spent the next hour "consuming" a portion of the F-rank Shards he had kept. As he crushed the crimson and amber crystals, he felt his physical frame densifying. His muscles didn't grow larger, but they felt more like coiled steel cables. By the time he was done, his status had shifted.

[Axel Jetters] [Occupation: Hunter]

[Constitution: 30]

[Might: 30]

[Aether: — ]

[Skill: Ignis Spark (Level 81)]

[Skill: Minor Mend (Level 1)]

[Skill: Glacial Aegis (Level 5)]

He ordered a massive steak from room service, ate while watching the state-sponsored propaganda on the television—a celebrity Hunter bragging about "liberating" foreign dungeons—and then fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The [Glacial Aegis] remained active, a silent sentry of frost guarding him through the night.

When he woke at 6:00 AM, the bed was rimmed with frost. He checked his status. The [Glacial Aegis] proficiency had climbed to Level 61 just from being active during his sleep. The ice was thicker now, more intricate, resembling a suit of plate armor rather than a mere shell.

After a quiet breakfast, Axel headed to the Great Spires—the city’s largest Awakened Center. He moved through the crowds like a ghost, his face obscured by a low-hanging hood. He sold his excess Shards and the items he didn't need, his bank account ballooning to a staggering $155,000.

He walked into the High-Tier Skill Pavilion, a place where the air felt heavy with latent power. He spent an hour scanning the rows of glowing tomes before two caught his eye.

The first was a D-Rank offensive skill: [Infernal Pillar]. It allowed the user to erupt a vertical geyser of flame that could incinerate anything within ten meters. Most hunters avoided it because the Aether drain was astronomical—it was a "one-and-done" spell for most D-rank mages. For Axel, it was a portable sun.

The second was [Stasis Shell], another D-Rank skill. It boosted defensive stats by 300% and rendered the user immune to most lower-tier crowd control. The catch? You couldn't move while it was active. It was a "tank-killer" skill, often leading to the death of party members when the tank got rooted and the boss ignored them.

Axel bought both. [Infernal Pillar] for $90,000 and [Stasis Shell] for a discounted $60,000.

He walked out of the pavilion with empty pockets but a soul that felt like a loaded weapon. It was time to return to the Tundra.

The Frostbite Tundra felt different this time. The wind still howled, and the cold still bit, but Axel walked through the entrance portal with the stride of a man who owned the horizon.

He didn't wait for the Frost-Wolves to lunge. He immediately activated [Glacial Aegis] and [Stasis Shell]. He felt his boots fuse with the icy floor, his body becoming an immovable mountain of crystalline energy. When the pack of wolves struck, they didn't just fail to bite him—they bounced off his armor as if they had hit a wall of diamond.

"My turn," Axel said.

He pointed a finger at the center of the pack. [Infernal Pillar].

A blinding shaft of white-hot fire erupted from the permafrost. The wolves didn't even have time to howl; they were simply erased, their bodies vaporized into ash and steam in a heartbeat. The pillar of fire roared for a full ten seconds, the heat so intense it began to melt the ceiling of the cavern floor.

Axel deactivated his skills and moved forward. The efficiency was terrifying.

He tore through the twenty floors of the Tundra like a hot knife through wax. The Arctic Stalkers were melted in mid-stride. The Musk Oxen, which had previously forced him to retreat, were now incinerated before they could even finish their charge. He reached the Boss Chamber—the home of the Frost-Giant Ursa—in under fifteen minutes.

The great bear rose, but this time, Axel didn't look for cover. He planted his feet, activated [Stasis Shell], and let the [Infernal Pillar] roar. The geyser of flame caught the Ursa square in the chest. The beast’s fur ignited instantly, and the sheer force of the Aetheric output bored a hole clean through its ribcage. It fell in seconds, a smoking ruin of a titan.

Beside the corpse, a new item glittered: [Vanguard’s Greaves]. Axel slipped them on, feeling a surge of magical haste in his legs.

He didn't stop there. He used the exit crystal, immediately re-entered, and cleared the dungeon again. And again. And again.

By the fifth run, his backpack was overflowing. He had found another skill tome—[Echo of the Golem]—and a jagged blade called [Kenshin’s Edge]. Neither fit his style, but both would be worth a fortune on the market.

As he stood before the exit crystal of his final run, Axel checked his status. His physical stats had hit the ceiling for an F-Rank hunter, and his skills were maturing at an impossible rate.

[Axel Jetters] [Occupation: Hunter]

[Constitution: 50]

[Might: 50]

[Aether: — ]

[Skill: Ignis Spark (Level 96)]

[Skill: Minor Mend (Level 10)]

[Skill: Glacial Aegis (Level 79)]

[Skill: Infernal Pillar (Level 31)]

[Skill: Stasis Shell (Level 8)]

[Equipment: Vanguard’s Greaves (Rank E)]