Dimension Weaver: My Wife Is The Dragon Empress!

Chapter 267: Chapter 267- Aetherial Lakes

After stretching for a while, Talon finally started moving. Since the time was still very early, the number of people moving throughout the city was way less than normal. The ones that were awake at the time were mainly guards going through their shifts and other workers, grumpily heading to their early jobs.

The atmosphere was weirdly serene and calm. The beautiful night sky illuminated the corners of the stone-paved streets and reflected on the walls of the buildings in every corner. Aridopolis certainly had a certain charm during the night that differentiated it from the day.

It felt like this massive city was now simply frozen in time, devoid of people and their colorful lives. It was now more like a painting, drawn with the careful brush of a dedicated artist.

After walking for a while, Talon finally decided to jump on top of one of the buildings to have a clearer look at his whereabouts. Looking around him, his eyes fell on the blue tower. Even during this late hour, the blue Elixir kept pumping out endlessly of its giant crown.

"It doesn't even stop for a second, does it? It has been going the entire time." He murmured. "Well, if it stopped we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it."

Talon didn't even need to see it himself to understand the sheer scale of the disaster that might hit this city if that blue tower stopped working for even a minute. This entire city might very much get rendered to rubble by the endless flux of monsters that might attack it.

It was indeed the most important part of this entire place with no comparison.

"Millions of Sand Eaters roam these deserts and even more monsters live far away from here. But, the moment they try to approach this city, the blue blood pushes them away. It's pretty fascinating how it works." Acrypha explained as she looked into the distance with her piercing eyes.

'They found a way to survive such a place with minimal work.' She thought to herself.

"Millions, huh? Well, I'm quite surprised I was only attacked by a handful of them."

"Most of them noticed your presence and were terrified of attacking you. The ones who did were strong enough to be a threat." She replied.

"So you're telling me I pushed them away with my aura alone?" Talon turned to Acrypha with a surprised look on his face.

"Pretty much. You're already at that level where even those who can't feel your aura, can easily know that you aren't someone they should mess with. The stronger you grow, the weaker opponents will start getting out of your way. Consider it a perk of sorts."

"Wow… This is actually pretty nice." Talon smiled.

The idea of his presence alone making monsters fear him was quite good. It made him feel that the progress he had so far, as small as it was, wasn't for nothing. The path lying ahead was long and arduous, but the results were starting to show.

With that in mind, Talon finally started moving again. Jumping from one building to another, he explored the northern district as much as he could. One of the few interesting details he found along the way was numerous small bodies of water scattered around the area.

These lakes had fresh, clear water in them and were supplied with countless large, underground pipes that spread across the entire city.

"So this is the water distribution system in this place? Lakes?" Talon thought to himself. "How does it not run out?"

The way the system was established felt very counter-intuitive at first glance. Lakes weren't endless supplies of water, at least that's what he knew. With a city of this scale, it is safe to say that millions of gallons of water are being used on a daily basis. Even if there were thousands of these lakes, they shouldn't even last a few years at most.

"You might need to go down there and check. You're going to find something really interesting." Acrypha said with a knowing smile.

"Hm? Really?"

"Yeah, you will discover the answer yourself."

Seeing that look on Acrypha, he curiously turned around and finally decided to move.

Jumping down from the roof of the building he was standing on, Talon approached the lake with a curious look on his face. Weirdly enough, there weren't any safety measures put around this place even though it should've been really important. If this water gets polluted, it would be a huge problem.

But, that curious question turned into a surprise the moment he got close enough to the lake. At first, from afar, he thought that the water was simply clear and glistening under the moonlight like a shiny blue pearl. But, he realized that this shiny nature of it wasn't natural.

Just a small feeling got him stunned. "This water… Wait, am I imagining things or does it have Aetheris within it?" Talon asked.

Acrypha nodded her head. "It does, you aren't imagining things."

Hearing that response, Talon could only frown. "Wait, did they infuse it with Aetheris themselves, or is this natural?" Approaching the small lake, he crouched down and looked at the beautiful, blue water from up close.

Just standing there made him feel rejuvenated as if he had just felt a cold breeze on a hot summer's day.

"Put your hand in it," Acrypha said.

Slowly, Talon extended his arm with a nod as he submerged it in the water. Apart from the cold feeling he felt at first, he also could sense the Aetheris imbued in the water slowly moving and entering his hand. Then, he felt his Aetheris being recharged in a very slow manner.

It was very subtle and minimal change, but he could feel it.

"Wow, my body is absorbing the Aetheris. How is that possible?" He asked Acrypha.

"It's because of the nature of this Aethteris. Normally, Aetheris is found in the air all around us and the body of a lower dimension existence can't absorb it even if they feel it. But, when Aetheris exists in another form, like water, your body can absorb it through touch or consumption." She explained.

"So, drinking this can actually recharge my Aetheris just like how a potion would?" He asked.

"Pretty much. But, it might take hundreds of gallons of water to do that in your case. This Aetherial Lake is pretty weak." Acrypha said.

"Aetherial Lake, huh? So these aren't man-made?"

"No, these lakes form once a particular world evolves beyond a certain threshold. Since the more a world evolves, the more Aetheris forms in its atmosphere, that Aetheris would eventually reach the maximum capacity that the world can handle. But, since the Aetheris will continue to form in it, it automatically turns into other forms like water, dirt, fire, rocks, trees, or anything else."

"So, the higher that world is, the more Aetherial elements could be found in it?"

"Exactly. For example, the world I came from which is a Higher dimension. Most things there are made out of Aetheris or have Aetheris incorporated into them across thousands of years. It's rare to find something untouched by it."

"What about the Core Dimension?" Talon asked curiously.

If a middle higher dimension had most of its elements made out of Aetheris, then what was the Core Dimension, the source of Aetheris, like? It was a question worth asking.

"The Core Dimension is solely made out of Aetheris. Every single thing in it is Aetheris, even the monsters. That's why people who go there get extremely strong, extremely quickly. Even killing something as small as a rabbit in there, at your current level, can easily double or triple your strength." Acrypha explained with a serious look on her face.

"What?!! Triple my strength? From killing a harmless rabbit?" She asked.

"More or less. Stronger monsters are a different matter, though. There is a saying that a being's true beginning on the path of greatness is when they kill their first enemy in the Core Dimension. That is the true beginning."

Seeing that look on Acrypha's face, Talon could only try to imagine how much killing a monster could do to someone of his level. It only painted the Core Dimension in a more fascinating way in his head. That place is a paradise, as twisted as that word can be, of course.

A hellish paradise for those who seek strength, and a hell on earth for those who couldn't acquire said strength. Just living there was a gamble with life in and out of itself.

Either you can survive and thrive, or die and get devoured by a stronger being. It was a terrifying concept to think about. But, for one reason or another, Talon felt quite intrigued to see that world with his own eyes.

Whenever that day came, he was sure of one thing. 'I will never be a prey.'

With that in mind, he turned to Acrypha. "Anyway, still, this doesn't explain how this amount of water is enough to sustain an entire city of this size. What is the other thing that makes it special?" He asked.

"You didn't notice already?" Acrypha asked with a smile.

"Notice what?"

"Take a closer look at the lake."

Without understanding what she meant, he turned to the lake again and stared down with a closer look. At first, he didn't understand what Acrypha meant, but he slowly started realizing something.

"Wait…" Blinking, he bent even more as he tried to look even closer.

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"Have you noticed it?" She asked.

"I can't see the bottom of it." He replied.

At first, because of the nature of this water being such a shiny sky blue, he didn't notice that in fact, it wasn't as shallow as he expected.

In fact, even with his vision which can extend to dozens of meters below, he couldn't even see a glimpse of the bottom.

"Exactly, it is deep." She said. "Way deeper than you might expect."

"How much?" Talon asked.

"For this one? I would say a few million kilometers deep." She replied with a grin.

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