The first thing I registered was the smell of damp earth and something metallic—like blood mixed with battery acid. The second thing was a crushing, absolute stillness.
"Well, this sucks," I thought. Except, thinking wasn't quite right. It was less of a thought and more of a complex data packet initiating in my non-existent brain. I was dead. I knew that. One moment, I was hunched over my laptop at 2 AM, debugging a legacy system and surviving on instant noodles, and the next, I felt… nothing. No pain, no light, no sound.
Now there was sound, sort of. It was a rhythmic drip-drip-drip echoing in a vast, cold space.
I tried to move my hand. I tried to scratch my nose. I tried to sigh dramatically. Nothing worked. I didn't even have a hand or a nose. All I had was the sensation of being a dense, perfect object, like a polished stone or a giant marble, vibrating with a low, humming energy.
Wait. What am I?
As if responding to my internal query, a holographic interface flickered into existence in my awareness, displaying text I could read perfectly, despite having no eyes.
— SYSTEM ALERT —
DESIGNATION: Aether Core (Juvenile State)
RACE: Sentient Mana Mineral
LOCATION: Aerthos – Subterranean Veil, Level 1 Deep Layer
STATUS: Stationary. Absorbing Ambient Aether.
AURA POWER: 0 (Non-existent)
AETHER POWER: 3 / 10,000 (Critical. Low energy reserve.)
UNIQUE SKILL: [Symbiotic Assimilation] (Tier 1: Scan)
COMMON SKILL: [Mineral Defense] (Passive. 99% Physical Resistance to crushing force.)
EVOLUTION PATHS AVAILABLE: 3 (Requires Assimilation and Aether Saturation)
I stared at the text. I didn't stare—I processed it. Aether Core? Sentient Mana Mineral? This wasn't just an afterlife; this was a whole fantasy novel setup. And my current body was a rock with 3 out of 10,000 magic points. Great. I traded a life of soul-crushing office work for a life of soul-crushing… mineralhood.
I focused on the Unique Skill: [Symbiotic Assimilation] (Tier 1: Scan).
Okay, if this was my cheat system, then "Scan" must be the foundation of my Great Sage equivalent. I needed data.
I initiated the skill, directing it toward my immediate surroundings.
— SCAN RESULT: AMBIENT ENVIRONMENT —
TARGET: Deep Layer Cave Floor (Obsidian and Volcanic Tuff)
STATUS: Highly saturated with Aether. Aether flow is active (1.5 units/minute). Note: Target environment is unstable. Frequent surface incursions detected.
TARGET: Air (Damp, high sulfur content)
AURA SIGNATURES: None detected within 50-meter radius. Threat Level: Zero.
TARGET: Political Entities (Inferred from data residue)
Entity 1: The Ironwall Empire (Human) – Dominant surface power. Driven by fear of magic. Designation: Threat Level: Extreme.
Entity 2: The Subterranean Veil – Fragmented collection of monster races. Designation: Opportunity/Threat.
Entity 3: The Verdant League (Elves) – Observed activity in the higher strata. Designation: Neutral/Cautious.
This world was called Aerthos. I had all the geopolitical information I needed, delivered straight to my mineral core. The world was divided, the Humans were the bad guys (or at least, my bad guys, given my status as a "Sentient Mana Mineral"), and I was currently in the chaotic monster territory, the Subterranean Veil.
The 1.5 units/minute absorption was slow, painfully slow. At this rate, it would take weeks just to get to 100 Aether Power, let alone 10,000 for a possible evolution. I needed to interact with something, to use the "Assimilation" aspect of my skill. But I was literally a rock, embedded in the ground.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound was faint, skittering. Something was approaching. My non-existent heart suddenly felt a sharp, crystalline anxiety.
I immediately initiated a full-spectrum Scan on the approaching life form.
— SCAN RESULT: UNIDENTIFIED LIFE FORM —
RACE: Cave Goblin (Male, Juvenile)
AURA POWER: 8 (Extremely weak. Severely malnourished.)
AETHER POWER: 2 (Negligible)
PRIMARY SKILLS: [Frightened Movement] (Common), [Poor Digestion] (Common), [Stone Picking] (Common)
THREAT LEVEL: Negligible.
THREAT PERCEPTION (TOWARDS MC): Moderate. (Target senses powerful magic signature but cannot comprehend source.)
A Cave Goblin. A juvenile one, and a very weak one at that. In any RPG, Goblins were level one cannon fodder. But for a Level Zero Aether Core, this was my first potential customer, or my first monster meal.
A small, green, pitifully skinny figure stumbled into the cavern, its eyes wide and its skin covered in grime. It carried a rusty, chipped dagger that looked heavier than its arm and immediately began scrabbling at the ground, searching for something. It let out a tiny, high-pitched whimper that echoed slightly off my crystalline surface.
It stopped right next to me.
The goblin reached out a three-fingered hand, not toward me, but toward a cluster of dull, normal quartz crystals a few inches away.
This is it. My first interaction. I need to influence it.
The goblin's hand brushed the very edge of my glowing, obsidian surface. Immediately, the System interface exploded with new data.
— [SYMBIOTIC ASSIMILATION] PROTOCOL INITIATED —
TARGET: Cave Goblin (Juvenile)
ATTEMPTING TRAIT ACQUISITION...
SUCCESS! The following traits have been assimilated into the Core data banks:
[Fearful Cognition] (New data model for emotional processing.)
[Stone Picking] (New knowledge for resource gathering.)
AETHER CORE STATUS UPDATE:
AETHER POWER: 10 / 10,000 (Gained 7 units of residual Aether from the brief connection.)
EVOLUTION PATHS: Unchanged.
It was pathetic, but it worked! I could absorb data just by touching something. But I didn't want the pathetic skills; I wanted to form a connection.
I focused all my 10 Aether power on establishing a telepathic link, a purely mental suggestion, using the Goblin's assimilated [Fearful Cognition] to communicate something it would understand.
Fear not, little one. I offer power.
The goblin froze. Its eyes, already huge, bulged further. It looked around wildly, then stared directly at me—the seemingly ordinary, glowing crystal embedded in the rock.
The goblin slowly put its hand back on my surface, trembling. It seemed to recognize me as the source of the voice.
Yes. Hold tight. I will grant you strength, Cave Goblin.
I directed my most valuable asset—my [Mineral Defense] skill data—into the Goblin's mind. It wasn't the skill itself, but the knowledge of the skill, the blueprint for defense.
— TRAIT TRANSFER INITIATED —
SOURCE SKILL DATA: [Mineral Defense]
TARGET: Cave Goblin (Juvenile)
TRANSFER SUCCESSFUL!
CAVE GOBLIN STATUS UPDATE:
NEW UNIQUE SKILL ACQUIRED: [Aura Reinforced Hide] (Common Skill, Upgraded to Unique due to Aether Core data source.)
NEW GOAL REGISTERED: Serve the Crystal Core.
The little goblin gasped, not in pain, but in sheer awe. A dull, green light enveloped it, and its skinny limbs visibly thickened. Its Aura power shot up from 8 to 45. It was still weak, but no longer pathetically weak. It looked at me with an intense, unshakeable devotion.
My first follower. The foundation of the Subterranean Veil's new nation.
But before I could even formulate my next majestic command, the ground above us groaned—a deep, heavy sound that shook my core. The air immediately cooled, and the subtle 1.5 units/minute Aether flow dropped to zero.
The goblin, now strong enough to be truly afraid, pointed a trembling, newly muscled finger towards the main cavern entrance.
"B-boss… Ironwall…"
Before the sound of the tremor fully faded, a massive, blocky shadow—a terrifyingly efficient Human scouting drone, clearly powered by technological means—rolled into the light, its single red eye staring directly at my glowing form.
— SYSTEM ALERT: MAJOR THREAT DETECTED —
TARGET: Ironwall Empire Reconnaissance Unit (Tier 2/Aura-dampening)
GOAL: Resource Extraction.
THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME.
The drone's single eye locked onto me, and a mechanical voice echoed in the cave: "Aether Signature confirmed. Extraction required. Neutralize ambient life forms."
I was immobile, exposed, and my only follower was a terrified, newly leveled-up Goblin. This was the end of the line, just as quickly as it started. My total Aether Power was still a miserable 10.
If I can just make contact with that drone, can I assimilate its technology data? I desperately thought, focusing my last bit of energy.
The drone's weapon systems whirred to life. The first Human threat had arrived