Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 36: First Life-Threatening Battle

CH36 First Life-Threatening Battle

***

True_Sage opened his eyes.

He found himself back at his computer workstation, inside his small apartment in the city’s high-rise district. Morning sunlight poured in through the wide window, casting golden hues across the room and revealing a stunning view of the urban skyline.

He stretched lazily, muscles creaking like he’d just awoken from a long nap.

’Was I asleep?’

He froze. Something felt off. A vague sense of urgency tugged at the back of his mind.

’I feel like I was dreaming... about something important.’

The ultra-wide monitor before him detected his movement and flickered back to life. A message board appeared—but it was completely blank.

He stared at it, confused.

He didn’t know why it was empty—or even who he’d been chatting with—but the blankness gnawed at his gut, stirring something just out of reach in his memory.

Shrugging off the unease, he clicked on the notification icon showing unread messages.

Dozens of unread chats flooded the screen—all from System_Lord.

Every single message was practically the same: a relentless push for him to finish a novel draft and submit it to the e-novel platform’s content editors.

’This kid just doesn’t give up,’ True_Sage chuckled. ’Fine, I’ve got a free day. Let’s humour him and get it over with.’

He cracked his knuckles and muttered, ’Now... what should I write about...?’

Suddenly, his vision blurred.

Flickering images appeared in his mind—a youth staring into a mirror. It was him, but not quite. Then an elegant, silver-haired middle-aged man. A cliché but powerful old archmage. A brown-haired teenage girl, innocent and pure. And finally...

A blue-haired woman, mature, beautiful, with a charming smile.

Her image was especially vivid.

His heart ached just seeing her.

”I’ll be back.”

He heard himself speak. A promise. One that felt sacred.

His head pounded.

The world shimmered, like a mirage on the verge of collapsing.

Then—ding—another notification popped up.

A message from a colleague:

[Boss, the AI model is complete. The Core is ready to move on to the next stage.]

’AI? Core?’

The pounding intensified.

Vision distorted. Colours inverted. Shapes bent.

Words began flooding his thoughts.

Core... AI... Rune... Omni...

Then, finally—understanding.

”OmniRune Core AI!”

BOOM!

The entire world cracked.

From above, a massive arcane symbol—mystical and terrifying—descended from the ceiling. Reality shattered like glass, fragments scattering in all directions.

Seeing that sigil, clarity surged back into his eyes.

A torrent of Spiritual Force gathered around him.

”Break!”

Everything collapsed.

The illusion vanished.

True_Sage—Alex Fury—returned to his body.

The forest was back. The verdant subspace, its grass soaked with energy, birds silent in the tension. A raging Crystal Stag, weighing half a tonne, was mid-charge, its luminous crystal horns aimed straight for his chest.

There was no time to think.

Featherflight!

Instinct kicked in.

Alex lightened his body and bolted up the nearest tree in a blur.

Halfway up, he turned his head.

The Crystal Horns glowed with white light.

’An illusion...?’

He barely had time to complete the thought before—

BOOM!

The stag rammed into the tree’s trunk.

The entire structure shook violently, almost dislodging Alex from his perch.

Body Strengthening Magic!

He hugged the trunk tightly, reinforcing his grip with mana, just in time to avoid falling.

He looked down.

The beast reversed course, lowering its head again. Its hooves shimmered, crystal tips glowing.

Charge!

Mana surged. Its speed shot up a notch. The beast slammed into the tree once more.

But this time, Alex was ready.

With a calm breath and a burst of movement unbecoming of a scholar mage, he leapt to the neighbouring tree just as—

CRACK!

The tree exploded into splinters, torn in half by the stag’s charge.

Even the tree Alex had landed on shuddered from the aftershock.

Alex eyed the tree he had just landed on.

It was much thinner than the last.

There was no way it could withstand the full force of the Stag’s charge like the previous one hadn’t.

Still, to his relief, the beast didn’t follow up immediately—it needed a moment to catch its breath.

That brief pause gave Alex the opening he needed.

Earth Spike!

A sharp spike of jagged earth formed above his hand.

The Crystal Stag’s cold gaze locked onto him, its hooves scraping the ground, producing an ominous grinding sound.

Grunt!

A deep, resonant bellow burst from the beast’s throat.

It dashed toward the slender tree where Alex took cover.

But Alex didn’t panic. He slowed his breathing, his perception of time stretching as his Truth-Seeker eyes dilated and zoomed in on the charging stag.

He observed every movement in perfect detail.

The Stag tilted its head downward, preparing its glowing horns for the crash.

’Now!’

Alex balanced carefully on the thin branch and fired the Earth Spike directly at the stag’s exposed weak spot on its neck.

Pucchi!

The spike pierced the stag’s neck just as it rammed into the tree.

Alex rolled gracefully on landing, narrowly avoiding the collapsing tree crashing beside him.

He sprang up and faced the beast.

To his shock, the stag remained standing, the Earth Spike lodged but ineffective.

’Damn it,’ Alex muttered. ’It’s bigger than the last one—its neck muscles and elemental resistance are stronger.’

The Earth Spike dematerialised as if eaten by the stag’s thick muscles and resilient hide.

Through Spirit Sight, Alex could see the elemental resistance actively blocking the attack—and the passive healing as its light-element Mana flowed through the stag’s body.

The stag roared, a deep, guttural sound.

Its rage-filled eyes, once speckled red, now glowed entirely crimson.

’Shit! It’s gone berserk!’ Alex shouted to himself, turning and running.

Before he could put distance between them, the beast’s hot breath grazed his neck.

Being pushed to the edge of death had driven the stag mad.

It poured every ounce of its mana into one final surge—evolving into a Class 2 Beast right before Alex’s eyes.

Without hesitation, Alex dove sideways.

The stag charged so fast its momentum slammed Alex against a tree.

Thanks to Merlin’s Body Strengthening Magic, Alex barely felt the impact.

But the berserk stag wasn’t done.

It charged again, aiming to crush both Alex and the tree in one savage blow.

There was no time to cast spells.

Alex rolled awkwardly out of the way.

Scrambling to his feet, he fled.

At the same time, calm and composed, he instant-cast Magic Arrows.

He rolled away again and fired the spell straight at the stag’s eyes as it passed him.

The arrow struck true, piercing one eye.

Blinded, the stag barreled into a tree, driving the Magic Arrow deeper before it dematerialised.

The stag’s roar was pained and enraged.

Before it could recover, Alex appeared at its side like a phantom.

Wrist blade!

He plunged the overhand blade into the stag’s neck weak spot.

The creature froze, trembling, then collapsed heavily to the ground.

The Crystal Stag died with a fierce grievance burning in its remaining eye.

Alex dropped onto the stag’s body, weakness and pain washing over him as he confirmed the kill.

***