Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 146

“What’s ether?”

“Hmm… You really don’t know?”

“Stop pretending to be smart on your own and just tell me.”

I glared at Crow, crossing my arms in a defiant pose.

There was a scruffy man with a bushy beard looking down at me, and it really bothered me.

“Ether is the basic energy possessed by living beings.”

Crow started explaining about ether.

Ether is an energy that all living beings exist in the second dimension are said to possess, and it has the power to turn what the owner imagines into reality.

I tilted my head at that explanation. In terms of its setting, it didn’t differ much from the mana existing in Deron.

Could it be that this world doesn’t have an energy called mana?

“How does one use this ether?”

“That’s a rather odd question. You two already possess ether.”

Crow looked at us both, switching between serious expressions as he regarded Arthur and me.

I didn’t like the look in his eyes. It felt like an adult looking at children.

At that moment, Crow drove his sword into the ground.

The blade, deep enough to kneel on one leg, began to release a strange wind, scattering a mix of blue and white light.

“You two should feel it.”

Wooooo—

The aura emanating from Crow was like a sharp wind.

Suddenly, I noticed the old cloak draped over his shoulders.

In that moment, a hazy intro video flashed before my eyes.

The fleeting imagery contained Crow’s figure.

The sight of a knight training his sword while wandering the world was as fleeting as the wind.

That’s when it happened. A transparent message appeared before my eyes.

[The strange power sleeping within you begins to stir.]

[A new power ‘Ether’ awakens.]

With the message announcing the awakening of ether, a new item called ether appeared next to the stats for health and mana.

[Ether]

An energy used by life forms from another dimension.

Similar to mana but one dimension higher, it possesses enormous potential.

※ Ether values are consumed each time a skill is used.

Ether Value: 100

Additional Stats

All stats increase by 5%

Damage taken decreases by 5%

Nullifies the enemy’s ether shield.

It seemed this ether system was the new level system.

Deron had always lifted the level limit whenever a new expansion pack was updated.

But this time, it felt like they had chosen a slightly different approach.

Instead of lifting the character’s level limit, it seemed there was now a system to enhance characters in another way.

Ether and the newly added master level would likely be similar.

Regardless of the middle process, it was evident that it ultimately aimed to enhance characters.

“I stimulated the ether within you. Can you feel it?”

I turned to Arthur at Crow’s words.

She seemed to be examining the newly unlocked system of ether as well.

“Yeah… I feel it.”

“Who in the world did you train under to achieve that? Your physique is excellent, but you didn’t teach the most crucial part, ether. I can’t understand it.”

Crow’s misunderstanding deepened, but it didn’t seem necessary to correct it.

I nodded at Crow’s words and raised my sword.

The dark blade in my hands began to surge with dark energy, forming a very thin veil over it.

The description of ether had stated that the ether value decreased each time a skill was used.

The skill I used was [Sword of Azathoth].

It greatly increased the attack range and boosted the damage dealt.

In that moment, the ether value that was positioned under my health and mana drastically decreased.

My ether value was 100.

The value consumed by using Sword of Azathoth was 50.

A low-rank skill consumes half the value. Of course, I could not use high-rank skills.

Sure, if I could increase this ether value, I could use high-ranked skills, but it seemed they only wanted me to use low-ranked skills for now.

“Oh no…”

Arthur also seemed to grasp this system perfectly.

She frowned and stared into the air.

From the very start again. It wasn’t about reminiscing; it was literally starting from scratch.

This expansion pack had a meaning like that.

*

Not every expansion pack can please everyone. But this was truly disappointing. Everyone had expectations. It was a newly launched expansion coinciding with the integration of the global and Korean servers. The amount of patch time required was colossal, to say the least.

But what was the result?

Examining community reactions, most of them were negative.

Particularly for the wizard users, it was even worse.

The wizard class boasts powerful damage and a vast range, but the costs required are substantial.

Naturally, that cost also applied to the ether value.

I watched other users with my arms crossed.

Everyone was hunting to progress the main quest.

My gaze was particularly fixed on the wizard users.

Where have the great wizards gone, who used to summon meteors from the sky and even stop time?

Those mighty mages were now reduced to squatting down.

Casting a fireball only to sit on the ground, waiting for their ether to recover.

It felt like watching a low-level wizard hunting.

“Yeo. Aren’t you going to hunt?”

“I’ll do it… but…”

I nodded in response to Arthur’s words. Watching the struggles of the wizard users reminded me of Helena in front of me.

At that moment, a flashy-robed wizard hurled a sparkling gem staff at a drowsy dire wolf and cast a fireball.

Boom-!

The fireball, which flew spectacularly, hit the dire wolf, but it didn’t die.

Instead, it began to charge at the wizard user who had disturbed its sleep.

Grrrr!

“Hyah, hyahhhk!”

The wizard user used Blink to create distance, but it seemed their ether value was too low as they could not use their next skill.

In the end, that user became the dire wolf’s meal.

I shook my head at that scene. I absolutely couldn’t let Helena go through such suffering.

Helena was my most precious friend. Isn’t a true friend the one who helps you in tough times?

“I’m waiting for someone. You can go ahead, Arthur.”

So I would wait.

I said to Arthur, looking up at her.

After pondering for a moment, Arthur shook her head.

“I’ll wait too. I want to see who Yeo is waiting for.”

It had been about 20 minutes since Helena logged in. It was later than usual for her.

Yeo – [Hey. You’re a bit late today?]

Helena – [Yeah. I had some work with Dad.]

Yeo – [Is that all done? Can you play now?]

Helena – [Yeah, I’ve finished what I had to do.]

Yeo – [That’s a relief. Then let’s progress through the main quest and team up when you awaken your ether.]

Helena – [You… waited for me…?]

It seemed Helena was pretty surprised.

And understandably so. Whenever a new expansion pack came out, I always dashed forward without looking back.

Waiting for someone was never on my agenda.

I had always maintained that playstyle, so I had never worked on a quest with Helena.

Yet here I was, waiting for her. Not progressing on a quest, but solely waiting for her.

Helena – [I’ll head there right away!]

Just from that chatting, I could tell how happy she was.

“She’ll be here soon!”

“Oh-”

After ending the chat with Helena, I spoke to Arthur.

I wanted to introduce my precious friend to a friend I had made after the server integration.

How much time passed. A wizard clad in a red robe slowly walked toward the place where Arthur and I were standing.

“Helena!”

The special effects glowed beyond her red robe. Weak flames and the hazy appearance of a giant clock behind her scattered like dust.

Upon spotting me, Helena, who had been radiating a bright smile, froze as she turned her gaze toward me.

The smile spread across her face vanished like a lie.

“Yeo-”

The voice that came out without trembling was excessively cold.

I, for some reason, felt a bad vibe.

Could it be that something was wrong?

As I worriedly glanced over Helena, I shook my head and pointed to Arthur beside me.

“Helena! This is my friend, Arthur!”

“Hi!”

Arthur, as if waiting solely for my introduction, stepped forward and waved her hand.

Both were tall characters.

I had to look up at them both.

“I’m Arthur.”

The blonde woman, Arthur, smiled brightly and extended her hand.

Helena, gazing at the hand with a curious look, checked my expression before cautiously reaching out to shake her hand.

“Helena.”

Watching the two pretty girls greet each other, a natural smile formed on my face.

It was a sight I wanted to capture as a screenshot.

I secretly operated the camera system to save their image.

After Helena finished greeting Arthur, she turned to me and asked.

“Yeo. Is Arthur also joining us?”

“Yeah. Arthur has been waiting too. We just became friends.”

I nodded and replied.

“Just a friend… simply a friend?”

“Yep.”

Helena let out a small sigh at my response and nodded.

The cold stiffness on her face relaxed a little. However, the smile didn’t return.

With a blank expression, Helena began questioning Arthur.

“Where do you live, Arthur?”

“In the UK!”

“Is Arthur the master of your guild?”

“Yup!”

“How old are you?”

“It’s a secret!”

“Do you like anyone?”

“Umm…”

Arthur seemed to close her eyes as she thought for a moment about that question, then opened her eyes to subtly gesture toward me with a nuanced smile.

“Well, not yet!”

I looked up at Helena.

Suddenly, she was bombarding Arthur with questions; could it be that she wanted to get closer?

In that moment, upon hearing Arthur’s answer, Helena spread her robe wide and pulled me into it.