Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 279: Interspatial Ring: Coinage Moonstone

CH279 Interspatial Ring: Coinage Moonstone

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After placing the final stroke, Alex made no attempt to rush ahead. He allowed himself a proper rest, eating to restore his physical strength while meditation replenished his mana, mental energy, and Spiritual Force.

It took him a full hour before he felt ready to continue.

The completed formation glowed faintly, a soft transparent light as it began drawing in a few motes of free ambient Spatial Energy.

But this was nowhere near enough to power the array circle. Alex walked over to the Bonsai Tree and retrieved the Voidheart Core.

Carefully setting the crystalline heart upon the Rune Table, he connected to the SECS with his Spiritual Force, gaining access to the spatial energy within.

Recalling his earlier warning to himself—not to drain the space entirely in case of emergencies—Alex tapped into its looping flow and carefully split the contained spatial energy strand in half.

One half he preserved as the bare minimum reserve for both the SECS and the TESS. The other half he channeled into the Beast Scroll on the Rune Table.

The moment the energy entered the Interspatial Storage Formation, the scroll flared with a transparent silvery glow.

Alex immediately shifted the Voidheart Core aside, wary of spatial interference, and stepped back to watch his creation take form.

Thanks to Alex adding in the corrections and refinements introduced to the SECS by Providence—Daddy Golden Energy—the Interspatial Storage Formation activated in a nearly identical fashion.

A silver, illusionary flame sparked to life at the corner of the beast scroll. It spread slowly across the surface, reducing the scroll to ash.

Alex winced at the sight but remained standing in place, eyes fixed on the process.

Soon, nothing but the formation remained, levitating a few inches above the Rune Table. The drifting ashes seemed to fuel the silver flame, causing it to swell—from the size of a spark to that of a candle flame.

Then, the flame mysteriously sank into the centre of the formation. Shifting from fire to liquid, it spread across the runes in a flowing silver hue.

As it coursed through the structure, the glow intensified until the entire formation shone with a dazzling mystic silver light.

It flickered in and out of the physical plane, weaving between dimensional layers, as though searching for a safe anchor point to nestle the newborn storage space.

At least, that was what Alex believed.

It took about a minute for the flickering to cease. The formation still hovered before Alex’s eyes, yet he could sense it no longer resided in the same spatial dimension.

The next moment, the runes broke apart. Just like during the SECS’s creation, the array disassembled into countless runic units that swiftly reassembled into a three-dimensional structure.

Unlike the SECS’s hexagonal form, this one condensed into a simple dome.

A massive spatial vortex surged into being around the newborn dome, drawing in and flooding it with ambient mana. Bathed in the torrent, the Interspatial Storage Formation crystallised into a tangible gem-like object.

Alex’s lips curved in satisfaction. He immediately had OmniRune pull up his research log to document the results.

”A domed, pale, iridescent-grey gem about eight to ten millimetres in diameter and four to five millimetres in height,” he dictated, his Truth-Seeker eyes staring intently as Spirit Sight revealed its nature. ”Outer dome is smooth. Beneath the surface lies a shattered crystalline structure that refracts ambient light like a prism, scattering faint arcs of colour. The reflections also shifted depending on the nature of mana in the vicinity.”

In simpler terms, it resembled a smoky silver moonstone the size of a shirt button, its flawless dome concealing an array of prisms that shimmered faintly with light—and mana.

Alex picked it up carefully, half-expecting it to be fragile like glass. But to his delight, it felt far sturdier.

His experience with the SECS’s hexahedral gemstone had prepared him for this outcome. He had already set aside a few testing devices, the most important of which measured durability.

”Structural integrity of resultant gemstone: 98.91. Near the equivalence threshold of a Pang-Mohs Diamond. Lattice expected to remain stable under extreme compression and resistant to all mundane abrasions.”

The readings confirmed the gemstone was nearly as hard as diamond, resilient enough to withstand most accidental strikes below the Legendary realm.

It wasn’t designed for combat—no one would wield it as a weapon—but it wouldn’t shatter at the first careless bump either. Of course, a casual strike from a Legend would still be more than enough to break it.

Alex, however, was more than pleased.

Most naturally occurring storage mediums, such as Nullcore Crystals, barely reached a structural rating of ninety at best—and the majority were so brittle they might as well have been glass.

As for the gemstone’s fragility against Legendary attacks... well, hardly anything in existence could resist a true Legend. Even Legends themselves were forced to devise special methods to protect their treasures from both rivals—and their own destructive strength.

Satisfied with the physical tests, Alex finally turned to the most crucial trial: determining the size of the gemstone’s Interspatial Dimension.

He channelled his mana and Spiritual Force into the gem, activating the formation.

At once, his mind’s eye was pulled into a vast, dark expanse. Awareness spread through him, allowing him to feel the boundaries of the space as if it were a natural extension of himself.

What he sensed made his eyes freeze. Confusion gave way to realisation—and then to shock.

Even though he had designed the formation himself, Alex almost couldn’t believe the results.

For context: the ultra-rare high-grade Nullcore Orb Merlin had gifted him before his expedition into Pangea’s Subspace was the size of a fist. Yet, it held an internal space comparable to a large trunk, boasting an impressive ratio of 1:500.

But Alex’s gemstone—barely the size of a two-carat diamond—contained an internal space equal to a medium-sized room. That was a staggering size-to-space ratio of 1:350,000!

The difference was astronomical. No wonder Alex’s jaw practically hit the floor.

A slow grin spread across his face, stretching from ear to ear before curling into something sly. If even he, the creator, reacted this way... he could already imagine the hunger of the great powers once news of such an artefact spread.

”But this isn’t finished yet,” Alex murmured. ”A gemstone alone won’t be enough. I need to make it into something they’ll kill to get their hands on.”

His gaze flicked to the gem, and his lips curved. ”Given its size, the most obvious choice would be a ring... an Interspatial Ring!”

Though his heart raced with excitement, Alex quickly tempered his enthusiasm. His design philosophy had always leaned towards the understated. In his previous life, he had taken plenty of criticism for it, though back then a whole art design department had covered for his lack of aesthetic flair.

For a brief moment, he considered outsourcing the ring’s design. Then his expression hardened.

”No... that risks exposure. This artefact must remain exclusive. If word gets out about the maker, those undying old monsters will descend in droves. I can’t let that happen.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ”Looks like I’ll have to do it myself. Since art isn’t my strong suit... I’d better rely on material value instead.”

Alex walked to his storage area, still deep in thought. He rummaged through the different ingots he had stored away.

He picked up a refined gold ingot—then, an idea struck.

Digging further, he pulled out ingots of mithril, orichalcum, and adamantium.

Each of these metals, from refined gold to adamantium, had physical and magical properties that made them extremely valuable in artefact crafting, especially for items below Grade IV.

But Alex hadn’t chosen them for their properties. He had chosen them for their colour.

A rare artistic spark stirred within him.

Mithril was also called Silver Glitter. Orichalcum was known as Mountain Copper. Adamantium was referred to as Metal Diamond. And refined gold was, of course, gold.

Copper, Silver, Gold, Diamond—the precious coinage metals of both this world and his past life. A perfect combination to highlight the value of his Interspatial Ring.

Ordinarily, these metals wouldn’t mix well without losing their unique traits. But Alex only needed small amounts of each to form the body of the ring. With the forging knowledge he had gained from the Forgesmith Grandmasters of DragonHold Enclave while developing the Rune-Net—and with the AetherKindle in his hand—he was confident he could combine them while preserving their properties.

The golden flame materialised in his palm. The chunks of metal quickly melted, churning into molten form as the AetherKindle refined them under the guidance of his Spiritual Force.

Carefully controlling the flame, Alex mixed the molten metals together, then guided the glowing alloy into a prefab mould.

Minutes later, the molten alloy had cooled and hardened slightly. Alex pried open the mould, revealing a rose-gold ring with a faint silvery hue.

The surface was solid, but the lingering heat radiating from it hinted at molten metal still within.

Exactly what Alex wanted.

He took up his rune-etching pen and began carving onto the ring despite the heat. Carefully, he inscribed a special rune formation.

This was the control formation that would link the user’s mind to the gemstone, allowing anyone to wield it regardless of the strength of their Spiritual Force.

The last thing Alex wanted was for the ring to fall into the hands of someone whose too weak to open the Interspatial Space, only for the artefact to gain a false reputation.

Not only that—the rune formation also allowed the user to choose whether to use their own mana or draw from ambient mana to activate it. This ensured the ring remained reliable whether in a mana-rich environment or in a barren one.

With these safeguards, Alex was confident he had closed off every chance for user error.

At last, he carefully slotted the gemstone into the cavity prepared within the ring.

And thus—Alex’s Interspatial Ring was complete.

The Coinage Moonstone Interspatial Ring.

***