Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 49: The Project that went Astray

CH49 The Project that went Astray

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Crack~

Space shattered—both within Alex’s Mindspace and the physical realm of the Dragon Lair.

The rupture rippled outward like a spiderweb of fractures, threatening to spiral beyond control. It sought to tear apart not just Alex’s inner world, but the very fabric of the Subspace Sanctorum.

But then—

The safeguards woven by the Tribulation of Heavenly Secrets activated.

The runaway cracks halted, their chaotic expansion reversed. Instead, they converged—condensing into two singular points.

One formed at the heart of the rune circle within Alex’s Mindspace.

The other took shape in the air above Alex within the Dragon lair.

Two singularities, bound together across dimensions.

Only then did time lurch forward, and the world resume its flow.

Alex blinked, stunned by what he was seeing... and what he felt.

He’d fucked up.

’F*ck me,*’ he cursed inwardly.

Both singularities began drawing in energy. Not just mana—Spatial energy.

The singularity above the Dragon Lair greedily siphoned spatial essence from the void surrounding the Subspace. In doing so, it weakened the Subspace’s fragile dimensional walls, making the Subspace more vulnerable to external interference—particularly from the invasive influences of the Void.

Still, it was survivable. Far better than complete annihilation.

But the singularity within his Mindspace faced a different problem.

It had no void to pull from.

Crack~

New stress lines appeared inside his Mindspace, warning of imminent collapse.

Alex paled.

If his Mindspace shattered, his soul would be shattered with it. At best, he’d be a vegetable. At worst... dead.

His heart pounded as he scanned for a solution.

Then it hit him.

Through his link to the OmniRune Core—now fully integrated into the formation—Alex realised what the singularity needed: Spatial energy.

An idea flashed.

The Nullcore Orb.

Alex didn’t hesitate. He pulled the shimmering orb from his inventory and pressed it against his forehead.

’Please let this work,’ he thought, his hands trembling.

The response was immediate.

The singularity’s pull ignored all spatial barriers, directly siphoning the orb’s internal power.

Thin streams of Spatial energy flowed out like liquid light, drawn steadily into the hungry vortex within his Mindspace.

The Nullcore dimmed... then dulled... and finally shattered into dust.

Alex winced.

That orb held his greatest loot since entering this Subspace. All the beast cores, herbs and other resources he had acquired—now they were all gone. The orb itself also held immense value.

Still, better to lose a treasure than his mind.

He clenched his fists. He had no one but himself to blame.

Dum~

The moment both singularities were fully charged with Spatial energy, they pulsed in unison.

But instead of stabilising—

—they surged.

The gravitational pull of both anomalies spiked, drawing in the surrounding ambient mana like whirlpools.

Alex, stuck in the convergence zone of both singularities, bore the full brunt of the rising pressure.

The external one pressed in on his body.

The internal one tore through his mind.

Worse, the inner singularity didn’t absorb mana directly from space like it did with spatial energy. No—

The ambient mana first had to pass through Alex’s body before it could enter his Mindspace.

Agony.

Alex’s veins burned. His mana vessels creaked under the force. Desperately, he channelled his Spiritual Force into his body, forming makeshift shields along his inner pathways.

But it wasn’t enough.

Fortunately, help arrived.

The Dragon Flame guarding his Mana Heart surged to life, reinforcing the centre of his core.

At the same time, the Bloodline Phantom of the Sky Wolf dissolved into pure bloodline essence, flowing into his vessels to reinforce them from within.

Then another force stirred—

Darker. Wilder. More violent.

The Furor Bloodline.

It erupted like a wildfire, threading through his flesh and bones—not to burn, but to shield.

To protect its vessel.

Thus, the three-pronged support system formed, helping Alex resist the invasion of pressurised mana as the Singularity in his Mindspace did its thing—utterly unconcerned about its host’s wellbeing.

Soon, all the ambient mana within the Dragon Lair was sucked into the Singularities.

Alex heaved a sigh of relief as the pressure lessened.

However, that relief turned out to be premature.

Dum~

Another throb pulsed from the Singularities—particularly the one hovering in the outside world.

Its gravitational pull increased significantly, extending beyond the lair’s cave hall and into the mine area of the cavern.

Crack! Shatter!!

One after another, rows and columns of Mana Stones and Elemental Crystals began to crack, then explode. Their solidified mana reverted into a gaseous form, like a spectral mist set free.

A thick torrent of this mana streamed into the lair, a flowing river of power rushing from the mine—most of it devoured by the Singularity floating above Alex’s head.

Only a small tributary—thankfully—flowed through his body toward the Singularity in his Mindspace.

The Singularities sucked in mana like starving, rampaging whales, heedless of their host’s capacity. All Alex could do was grit his teeth and endure.

In that moment, he looked back on his most recent life choices... and deeply regretted being tempted by the idea of mastering the Interspatial Storage formation.

He should have been content with the Nullcore Orb. But no.

He had to poke the bear.

And not only did he copy the formation—he made it worse by stripping out the safeguards and redundancies. All for the sake of ’optimisation’.

Clearly, those safeguards were part of the natural order for a reason.

Did he really think he, a mere human, was smarter than the natural order?

’Fixing the formation, my ass. I was just caught up in my greed!’

He wanted to cry, but no tears came. His body was too busy surviving the self-inflicted storm. It had no resources left to spare for emotional release.

Time dragged by, slow and cruel.

Though he couldn’t tell how long it had been, it felt like an eternity.

Then—slowly, mercifully—the Singularities’ pull began to die down.

The one above his head ceased absorbing ambient mana, while the one in his Mindspace cleaned up the remaining dregs inside him. Even his personal mana pool was mostly spared.

He was left with just enough mana to avoid slipping into a deficient state.

’Oh, how generous of you,’ Alex thought sarcastically.

Finally, he opened his eyes to assess the damage—and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

The Mana Stone and Elemental Crystal mine... was gone.

Every piece of mana stone. Every shard of elemental crystal. Gone.

It was like a woman walking into a salon with a full head of luxurious hair—only to come out bald, scalp glittering under the lights.

It was a harrowing sight.

The Singularities had scrubbed the mine so thoroughly that no one would believe this place once held rows upon rows, columns upon columns of magical resources.

Alex turned to the Singularity above him with pure grievance in his eyes.

The Singularity paid him no mind. Instead, it floated away... toward the Bonsai Tree that had triggered the entire event.

Alarms blared in his mind.

”Wait—NO!”

Before he could act...

...the Singularity swallowed the tree whole.

Then collapsed inward and vanished.

Alex dropped to his knees, utterly distraught.

All his ’hard-earned’ gains—gone, swallowed by the damned Singularity.

A phenomenon he’d unleashed with his own hands.

[A.N: I admit, that was a bit too dramatic 😅]

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