Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 273: Interplanar Conquest

CH273 Interplanar Conquest

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[A.N: Phew... I almost forgot to post.]

The raid on the Infernal Realm, led by Emperor Commodus Ludevicus, marked Pangea’s first true publicly-known Interplanar travel. That single expedition ushered in an era of conquest and exploration across countless planes.

In the millennia that followed, plane after plane fell to Pangean might. Interplanar travel became so ingrained into the realm’s identity that one might assume it had become commonplace—something any Pangean could access.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

On the surface, interplanar travel was not inherently difficult. Any noble house worth its salt—even minor barons—or wealthy institutions such as Mage Towers could eventually scrape together the resources to build a spatial gate. With enough coin, they could even hire a spatial mage, if one wasn’t already on retainer.

The true challenge lay not in the construction of gates but in acquiring the coordinates to another plane. In the Virellian Empire, such knowledge was bound within an Interplanar Coordinate Orb.

In a world where planar conquest equated to power, those who controlled access to coordinates effectively held the keys to supremacy.

Those entities were none other than the great continental superpowers: the Dwarven IronHammer Empire; the Elven Elarion Empire; the Nearmarch Confederacy, the Eternal Valkyrie Empire, and of course, the Virellian Empire of the Human race.

Each of these five controlled one of the legendary Interplanar Eyes—massive, ridiculously expensive artefacts capable of peering into the void and locating new realms ripe for plundering.

The cost of forging even a single Interspatial Eye was so astronomical that constructing a second would could potentially bankrupt even these empires. Each was engraved with countless Tier V Grandmaster-level Grand and even Epic Array Formations.

Though they bore the same title as Alex’s own Grand Array, in comparison his work was no more than a child’s—no, a baby’s—toy.

The body of the artefact itself demanded the combined labour of Tier V Grandmasters across multiple crafts—Forgesmiths, Alchemists, and Runesmiths—all working in concert to shape and bind the vast trove of rare resources required.

Even after completion, the Eye could not simply be turned on. It demanded the joint effort of no fewer than five Legends working in tandem just to activate it.

Naturally, within these empires, only the highest authorities—the Royal Families, the Confederate Council in the Nearmarch Confederacy, and in the Elven Elarion Empire, the Elder Council alongside the High Monarch—held dominion over these artefacts.

In theory, only Royal Families and Councils could mobilise the vast resources needed to finance such monumental constructions, and continue pouring in the manpower to keep them running.

The sheer demand for Legends alone ensured that no organisation outside the Royal Family’s direct authority could hope to meet the requirement. Only the united manpower of an empire could sustain it.

In reality, however, Interplanar travel itself had enriched many noble houses. Some Duchies and Margraviates could, potentially, scrape together enough resources to attempt such a feat, if they put their minds to it and were willing the scour their owned planes.

And if they couldn’t, alliances between families, bolstered with enough gold and favours, could make it possible.

With sufficient financial and in-kind incentives, the master craftsmen required could certainly be gathered.

But the ’possibility’ meant little in the face of dominance.

The Royal Families had grown so overwhelmingly powerful through their control of Interplanar travel that no single house—not even a Grand Duchy—dared to oppose them.

To keep the nobility in check, the Royals and Councils of Arun’s Empires carefully regulated access to new planes. Interplanar coordinates were sometimes granted as rewards based on noble rank, and at other times released through auctions.

The first system spurred endless competition among the nobility, as each house strove to climb the hierarchy. A higher rank meant a greater chance of receiving coordinates directly from the throne.

The second allowed wealthy families to purchase access outright, provided they could pay the staggering sums demanded.

Either way, the Royal Families maintained dominance. They passively ensured that no noble house grew powerful enough to rival them, while at the same time fuelling the collective growth of their empires through competition.

Alex sighed as the information settled (dumped) into his mind.

[A.N: 😏]

From the descriptions in the books he had studied, the Interplanar Eye was, at its core, not so different from a gigantic telescope—one capable of gazing into the void, peering across galaxies, and obtaining the coordinates of distant planes.

It was, without a doubt, far more powerful than any telescope from his previous life.

But in his opinion, what his old world’s telescopes lacked in raw power compared to the Interplanar Eye, they made up for in accuracy and precision.

Once located, a planet could be tracked and revisited with consistent accuracy by those humble devices. The Interplanar Eye, on the other hand... was far more complicated.

Since Alex knew little to nothing about astronomy or astrophysics, he couldn’t be sure whether the Interplanar Eye followed the same principles as the telescopes of his past life. Still, according to the literature he had studied, there seemed to be a measure of randomness—or outright luck—in its ability to detect planes.

Worse still, the Eye was notoriously unreliable at revisiting its findings. More often than not, once it tuned away from a plane, it could never be re-found.

Alex couldn’t help but suspect this was no accident. ’A deliberate design flaw, perhaps? After all, the noble families would hardly accept the Royal Family being able to monitor the planes they had lawfully acquired.’

”That’s beside the point.” Alex shook his head, forcing himself back to the present. ”Father said the plane contained in the Orb’s coordinates is a Class 3 Plane, meaning its peak energy level registers at Class 3. That sets the strength ceiling at the Elite stage. There might be a few Veteran-level beings scattered across it, but their numbers should be limited.” He paused, frowning as unease gnawed at him.

”My only worry... Father also said the reading was unconfirmed.” His brows furrowed deeper. ”If they can already measure the energy level of the plane, why still mark it unconfirmed unless...”

His eyes narrowed.

”Unless they suspect something is wrong with it.”

Alex groaned and raked his fingers through his hair, scratching furiously.

”I don’t have the mental energy to deal with this right now! Why can’t things just go smoothly for once?” He let out a long, weary sigh.

Turning to the scattered pages across the rune table, his gaze fell on the mess of notes detailing his current breakthroughs, the incremental progress of his projects, and the outlines of his future plans.

”Most of these plans will have to change now,” he muttered bitterly. Another sigh escaped him, this one edged with wry resignation. ”How should I even begin to approach this?”

He rifled through the stack until his eyes caught on a particular sheet. At the top, a rough title had been scribbled hastily in afterthought.

-Effects of the Limitless Concept on the Rune-Tech Platform-

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