Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 606: Finally... Elite Rank Mage

CH606 Finally... Elite Rank Mage

***

Alex exited the Sanctuary and returned to the outside world— the Heaven-Earth Concordance space.

He reappeared before the old man, One Heaven.

”Did it succeed?” One Heaven asked.

”It did,” Alex confirmed. ”I’m about to cast the spell now. It might consume a large amount of ambient mana. Will that be a problem?”

He was concerned that such a sudden drain might destabilise the space— especially since nearly everything within it relied heavily on dense ambient mana to sustain themselves, much less function.

One Heaven stroked his long beard thoughtfully.

”Let’s not take any chances. Come with me,” he said.

He led Alex down the mountain, stopping halfway at a cave embedded into its side.

The cave opened into a vast cavern, brimming with dense mana.

”What a dense mana cave!” Alex exclaimed instinctively.

This was, without question, the largest mana cave he had ever seen— far surpassing even the mana stone mine within the Pangea plane’s Sanctuary Subspace, where he had experienced his first fortuitous encounter.

Not only was the cavern enormous, the density of mana within it was also far greater.

”This is the central node of the mana vein supplying the formation,” One Heaven explained, a trace of pride evident in his tone. ”It was formed by combining ten high-grade mana veins into one. You would be hard-pressed to find another vein as vast —or as dense— as this.”

Alex couldn’t disagree.

’Combining ten high-grade mana veins— each capable of sustaining an empire for centuries even without replenishment...’

’That’s not just excessive, it’s downright prodigious.’

”Are you using a talismanic system to prevent the mana from condensing into mana stones?” Alex asked.

”Indeed,” One Heaven nodded. ”Solidified mana is inefficient for powering the formation. Ideally, gaseous mana would be best—but we settled for the liquid state.”

He gestured around the cavern.

”It offers the optimal balance between energy density, transport efficiency, and usability.”

Alex nodded in understanding.

Following One Heaven’s lead, he stepped into the pool of pure liquid mana— untainted by any berserk properties.

He swam toward a lone podium floating atop the surface and climbed onto it.

There, he began chanting.

The incantation was long, and entirely in the language of his past life, English.

As the chant continued, a whirlpool formed before him— slowly at first, then growing stronger as it drew in increasing amounts of mana with each passing moment.

Minute by minute, the pull intensified.

Until—

At the fifth minute, a massive spell formation finally took shape above him.

It expanded outward, stretching across the entire width of the Heaven-Earth Concordance Mountain— spanning several kilometres in scale.

[”Rune Sage.”]

Alex spoke the final words aloud, activating the spell.

In response—

A mystic beam of light descended from the heavens.

It struck his forehead, piercing through into his Mindspace, directly into OmniRune.

Instantly, torrents of knowledge surged into him.

Streams of information flowed both into his consciousness and OmniRune’s archives.

For perhaps the first time since arriving in this world, Alex experienced something akin to a true high-speed wireless download—

Information transmitted directly from the Heavens themselves.

Then—

After a minute—

It stopped.

Alex frowned.

’...That’s it?’

His brows knit tightly together.

’That can’t be all.’

He quickly sifted through the knowledge he had received.

His expression darkened.

’This only reaches the upper levels of Tier III... lower Tier IV at best,’ he concluded.

’What’s going on?’

’This spell is supposed to grant me access to all knowledge of sigils and their nature... so why is it capped at this level?’

Just as the thought formed—

He felt something.

A presence.

It was faint, but unmistakable.

It felt like something was... laughing at him.

And for reasons he couldn’t fully explain, he understood.

That laughter came from the Universe itself.

An illusion of silent, mocking response intuitively formed and echoed within his mind.

’Did you truly believe you could deceive the Universe?’

’An existence that governs beings of the Ninth Class... entities so ancient that their brief slumber exceeds your entire lifespan... so profound that their simplest errors surpass your greatest insights...’

’You—a child, still wet behind the ears, who has only glimpsed a drop of this world—thought you could outwit such an existence?’

From that illusory laughter, Alex imagined all sorts of colourful ridicule coming from the Universe.

He chuckled wryly at himself.

In the end, he accepted what he had been given.

In truth... it was enough.

It was exactly what he needed.

”Begin,” he instructed.

OmniRune immediately went to work.

Using the newly acquired knowledge, it filled in the gaps within its Rune–Sigil pairing library, refining existing entries and incorporating countless nuanced variations.

From this, OmniRune completed its Translator.

And with it, the Emulator-Translation function was perfected.

There was no grand spectacle.

No explosive display of power.

No visible phenomenon.

Yet, Alex felt it.

The invisible suppression that had weighed down his Rune-Tech path... Lifted.

His Emulator now deceived the laws of Verdantis itself, allowing Rune-Tech to be recognised as part of the world’s magical glyph system.

A faint spark flashed in Alex’s eyes as he opened them.

’Finally... the path is open.’

A small smile formed on his lips.

He glanced around the mana pool.

It had noticeably receded.

’Not only did I fail to obtain the full extent of the knowledge, but the spell itself also consumes an absurd amount of mana.’

His expression grew thoughtful.

’This isn’t something that can be sustained in an ordinary environment. Most places simply wouldn’t have enough ambient mana to support it.’

He shook his head lightly.

Just as he was about to stand—

A thought struck him.

’...I probably won’t find a better environment than this anytime soon.’

’Since I’m already here, I might as well cultivate—and finally break through.’

Alex steadied his breathing.

With practised ease, he slipped into meditation.

Following the Astral Training Manual, his consciousness descended into the familiar black void of his meditation space.

There, countless motes of light floated in the darkness.

Each colour represented a different elemental mana type.

Compared to before, the density of these motes was overwhelming— clear evidence of the mana-rich environment surrounding his physical body.

Yet, Alex ignored them.

They were not what he sought.

He descended deeper.

Further into the void. Until, at last, he found what he was looking for.

Bands of deep violet Astral Energy.

His Spiritual Force immediately formed a bridge— linking the meditation space to his physical body.

Through it, he began drawing in Astral Energy.

Band after band.

Stream after stream.

Compared to before, the Astral Energy felt noticeably more abundant— likely also influenced by the dense mana environment surrounding him.

Previously, whenever Alex cultivated, aside from replenishing his depleted Mana Heart, the absorbed Astral Energy had achieved nothing.

No matter how hard he pushed...

There had always been a wall.

At one point, the Astral Energy within the meditation space had even begun to ignore him entirely— refusing to flow through the spiritual bridge unless it was simply to refill his Mana Heart.

But now, everything was different.

Astral Energy surged into his Mana Heart like an unstoppable tide.

Yet, no matter how powerful that tide was, it still had to pass through a powerful gatekeeper,

AetherKindle.

Stationed at the entrance of his Mana Heart, it refined every ounce of energy before allowing it through.

Absorption.

Refinement.

Cycle.

Again... and again...

Alex lost all sense of time as the process continued.

Until—

Crack~

Break!

The barrier to the next rank shattered under the relentless torrent of Astral Energy.

Alex stepped forward...

Elite Mage rank!

He had finally broken through.

Yet, he did not stop.

He realised he could still go further.

All the accumulation he had built over time was finally being released.

His cultivation surged forward once more.

Early-stage...

Mid-stage...

And finally—

Late-stage.

Alex felt it clearly.

He could push further.

The peak-stage of the Elite rank was within reach.

But, he stopped.

Instead of forcing another breakthrough, he redirected the remaining energy, using it to stabilise and reinforce his current foundation.

Some time later, Alex emerged from the mana vein cavern.

A look of surprise —followed by genuine appreciation— appeared on One Heaven’s face.

Alex had entered the cavern at the peak of the Intermediate Mage (Class 2) rank...

...and returned at the late-stage of the Elite Mage (Class 3) rank.

But even that wasn’t the most impressive part.

The aura he radiated... was already comparable to that of a Great Mage (Class 4).

To simply say he had advanced by leaps and bounds...

Was an understatement.

***