Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 583: Pyramid of Elements I

CH583 Pyramid of Elements I

***

A flash of light enveloped Silver, and the next moment she found herself standing once more before the Armament Stele.

Subconsciously, she scanned her surroundings.

Just as she had expected, she realised she had been the last to complete the Armament trial.

Alex’s other followers had already finished before her.

For a brief moment, a surge of Fighting Will stirred within her.

The surge instinctively released her newly born Bow Intent.

Unfortunately, her gaze had unknowingly been directed toward Sugud’s general direction at that moment.

As a result, the poor craftsman bore the full brunt of her Intent.

”You should look into the stele for the reward of your trial,” the mysterious old man reminded her.

Silver simply nodded.

She extended her Spiritual Force into the stele and examined the catalogue of rewards contained within.

As expected, most of the rewards consisted of ancient sorcerer weapons.

Among them were several bows of various designs, along with numerous sorcerer weapon mystic arts.

Naturally, Silver found herself drawn toward the bows.

As an archer, how could she not be?

However, after studying them for a moment, she slowly shook her head and withdrew her Spiritual Force from the stele.

”You are not choosing anything?” the old man asked with mild curiosity.

”Nothing there suits me,” Silver replied calmly.

The old man froze for a moment and stared at her.

Eventually, he simply nodded without another word.

Silver glanced once more toward the stele.

She had briefly entertained the idea of selecting one of the rewards and selling it after leaving the trial.

However, she ultimately decided that doing so would be disrespectful to the opportunity she had been given.

If she had no intention of using the rewards herself, then she would rather leave them untouched.

Instead of the weapons offered by the stele —which were clearly of high quality in their own right— Silver would much rather obtain one of the crossbows she had heard Alex discussing with Sugud during their breaks.

Speaking of Alex, the young noble was currently hard at work within his Elemental Trial.

-

When Alex opened his eyes within the trial space created by the Elemental Stele, a smile unknowingly formed on his face.

After all, the sight before him was a very familiar one.

The scene resembled a mystical realm floating high above the clouds.

The ground beneath Alex’s feet looked like an island made of fluffy, mythical cloud.

But more importantly, ahead of him stood a pyramid of stairs, with radiant golden light from the Heavens cascading down upon the flat podium-like summit.

Almost immediately, Alex gathered his bearings.

Just then, the familiar voice of the trial space echoed within both his ears and mind.

”From the dawn of Creation came the Heaven and the Earth. And between the Heaven and the Earth came the elements.

”Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Wood, Nature, Poison, Darkness, Light... all elemental natures are bound within the Heaven and the Earth.”

”To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth means to master the elements between the Heavens and the Earth.”

”To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth means to comprehend the Will of the Heaven and the laws of the Earth; both of which begin with the comprehension of the elements between the Heaven and the Earth.”

”O ye who seeks the legacy of the Heaven and the Earth, stand forth upon the Pyramid of Elements, and proclaim your mastery of the elements.”

—

Even without this surprisingly clear instruction from the voice of the trial space, Alex already knew what to do.

After all, the Stairway to the Heavens was a very common trial trope in the Eastern cultivation stories of his previous life.

’Usually, the Stairway to the Heavens is a trial of cultivation and physique,’ Alex mused to himself. ’You’d normally expect something like this in the Physique trials.’

Then he shrugged.

”Well, since it’s in the elemental trial instead, there’s nothing I can do but take it as it comes.”

Alex — perhaps a little more excited than necessary — quickly rushed to the pyramid’s staircase and began climbing.

”Umph! As expected...”

The moment he placed his foot upon the first step, a powerful gravitational pressure pressed down on him, as though attempting to swat him flat against the stairs.

However, thanks to the experience he had gained from the stories of his previous life, Alex was already prepared for this.

His body easily withstood the pressure.

He stepped onto the second step.

Then the third.

However, when he reached the fourth step, the gravity suddenly intensified to a level that his body alone could no longer endure.

It wasn’t that his body was weak.

Rather, the stairs themselves would not allow it, as such a method violated the rules governing the trial.

’Alright then,’ Alex thought to himself. ’Let’s play by the rules.’

’Since this is an elemental trial, the guiding principle of the trial should revolve around elemental mana,’ he reasoned.

Unfortunately, with his Truth-Seeker Eyes dormant, Alex could no longer rely on Spirit Sight to observe the distribution of ambient mana around him.

’No matter...’

Alex fell back on his post-natal Elemental Affinity Enhancement talent to commune with the elemental mana surrounding him.

Immediately, he sensed a strong concentration of various elemental natures within the ambient mana around him.

Without giving it much thought, Alex used his enhanced affinity to cajole the Fire elemental mana within the surrounding mana toward his body.

Even without his urging —perhaps due to the rules of the trial— the Fire elemental mana quickly gathered and formed a protective shield around him.

The shield buffered him from the crushing gravity exuded by the stairs.

Fourth step...

Fifth step...

With every step he took, the gravity intensified once more.

By the sixth step, the pressure had reached the point where he was almost forced down onto the ground again.

Alex called upon his affinity enhancement talent once more, drawing even more ambient Fire elemental mana toward himself.

The shield thickened, reinforcing itself and protecting his body from the oppressive gravity.

From that point onward, with each step he took, he increased the concentration of Fire elemental mana surrounding the shield.

Each step gradually became easier.

This continued until he reached the ninth step.

However, as he attempted to step onto the tenth step of the pyramid—

The gravity suddenly increased exponentially.

’Argh!’

Alex attempted to increase the concentration of Fire elemental mana surrounding the shield protecting his body from the pyramid’s gravity.

But this time, the moment he tried to draw in more Fire elemental mana, he felt a sudden pressure bearing down on his Spiritual Force itself.

A dull pain throbbed through his skull.

He quickly withdrew his Spiritual Force and retreated back down to the ninth step.

Once the pain subsided, Alex cautiously extended his Spiritual Force again, probing the ambient mana around him.

’Oh... so that’s what happened.’

Realisation dawned upon him almost immediately.

He had already drawn in all the Fire elemental mana closest to him.

If he wished to gather more, he would have to extend his Spiritual Force farther outward.

But doing so would also increase the exposure of his Spiritual Force to the pyramid’s crushing gravity.

***