Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 69: Metamorphosis

CH69 Metamorphosis

***

’If the mutated cells are still linked to the original Detection Rune, then maybe... just maybe...

’The backdoor controls and the embedded failsafe triggers I built into the Rune might have transferred too.’

On that hope, Alex sent a mental command to the OmniRune Core.

The Rune AI processed the query instantly—and sent back confirmation.

The mutated cells still maintained a runic interface. The Core could, at the very least, push through a single instruction packet.

That reassurance helped ease the tension in Alex’s chest.

If push came to shove, he had a kill-switch.

And so, he let the process continue.

--

For the next three days, Alex rarely left the Pocket Dimension.

He camped out beside the cocoon, keeping near-constant watch through his Spirit Sight.

On the first day, he only turned his attention away briefly—to write a letter to Zora.

Using a folded parchment from his storage and a floating quill, he described the current situation in detail, including why he might go missing for a few days. He placed the letter inside a parcel with some of the supplies he had transferred into the Pocket Dimension, then sent it out via a reverse portal gate, dropping it back into his Rune Lab.

That way, Zora wouldn’t worry—or worse, come looking.

--

By the second day, his vigilance lessened slightly.

He had confirmed the OmniRune Core’s link to the growing lifeform inside the cocoon was becoming stronger by the hour.

Confident that the backdoor access remained, he allowed himself short trips outside the Pocket Dimension—just enough to grab food, clean up, and stretch his legs.

The rest of his time was spent in quiet study.

He utilised the OmniRune Core’s Simulation Module to mentally prototype a new Rune.

This new design was built on the framework of the Vitality Rune and the Endurance Rune, combining their core strengths while stripping away redundant substructures.

The result was a custom augmentation Rune—one designed to significantly boost both physical and magical energy regeneration, improve stamina recovery, and enhance combat endurance.

The goal was simple: Improve his combat-staying potent and also ensure that, even if he was taken out of commission, it would never be for long.

He would build himself to recover fast, fight longer, and stay in the game.

Alex didn’t spend all his time obsessing over the cocoon.

He used the spare moments to sketch out follow-up Rune designs for Zora—concepts that could better utilise the energy siphoned from her Nirvana Markings through her existing Siphon Runes. Efficiency, after all, was key. It would be a waste to let that much energy escape untapped.

He also worked on something similar for the wolf cub, referencing the notes passed on to him by one of the Enclave’s Beast Researchers and a veteran Tamer Mage.

Oh, and yes—he’d named the cub.

Fen.

He was rather proud of it.

The name was inspired by the legendary Norse wolf Fenrir—and by extension, Skoll and Hati, the sun- and moon-chasing wolves of myth.

Given that the cub had inherited both Fire and Ice elemental bloodlines—abstractly tied to the sun and moon—and even resembled a Moon Wolf in appearance, it felt like a perfect fit.

Leave it to Alex to assign an entire mythological rationale to something as seemingly simple as a name.

--

Still, that was just Alex being Alex.

He remained within the Pocket Dimension for the most part, periodically checking in on the cocoon while keeping himself busy with his Rune-Tech projects.

But on the third day, everything changed.

Alex’s Spirit Sight flared to life as he observed a major shift.

The energy spread within the cocoon had now reached complete saturation. Every inch of the interior was bathed in hijacked internal energy—now altered, transformed.

Then, without warning, the cocoon began to expand.

Its surface stretched, thickened, and grew, doubling in size before stopping.

And then—

Crack!

A jagged fissure split the cocoon’s side.

Just like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, a new creature tore free of the shell.

--

It was no longer a Mite.

What crawled out was something entirely new—a complete biological metamorphosis.

Gone was the fused, crab-like carapace.

In its place was a clearly segmented exoskeleton: a distinct head, thorax, and a large abdomen—like that of a bee or wasp, but sleeker and more refined.

It was twice the size of the original Mite. Its eyes had changed too—replacing beady organic spheres with layered multilens sensory plates that resembled, but subtly differed from, the compound eyes of insects.

But it wasn’t the physical form that caught Alex’s attention the most.

It was the markings.

Not Ancestral Markings. No, these were something far more familiar.

Runes!

The creature’s exoskeleton was laced with glowing vein-like Runes, pulsing with faint, arcane light.

Alex’s heart skipped a beat.

While analysing the Rune patterns, he noticed something else—something profound.

The energy within the creature no longer resembled the vital force of a normal lifeform.

Instead, it felt like Runic energy—like that of an animated Runic construct.

’I’m not looking at a mutated insect,’ Alex realised.

’I’m looking at living Runes...’

The creature seemed to be in a semi-final state.

It wasn’t hostile. Not yet.

But it acted purely on instinct—moving erratically, its behaviour unpredictable.

The first thing it did was devour the remnants of its cocoon, breaking down the last of the chrysalis that had birthed it.

Then it darted towards the small pile of bone meal Alex had given it three days prior.

Alex braced himself, expecting it to burrow into the bone like the Mite once had.

But instead—it tried to eat it.

Crunch!

The attempt failed.

Its newly grown teeth weren’t strong enough. The bone resisted, and the creature’s jaws cracked, its fangs snapping from the strain.

Then, something happened that made Alex freeze.

The Runes on its body glowed. The energy within the creature shifted—and before his eyes, its broken teeth began to morph and reshape themselves, growing back larger, denser, and sharper.

The creature then calmly resumed chewing—and this time, it succeeded...

***