Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

CH703 Secondary Function of the SunHeart Twin Runes I

***

”Emotional Energy? You mean the Divine Energy gathered from the statues? You can actually use it now?” Eleanore asked as she slowly processed his explanation.

”Yes and no,” Alex replied with a grin. ”What I used here isn’t truly Divine Energy itself, but rather the Emotional Energy left behind after Lord Bonsai over there strips away the components it requires from the original Divine Energy.”

As he spoke, Alex gestured towards the Heartwood Tree rooted just outside the work area.

Eleanore turned her gaze towards Lord Bonsai before slowly nodding in understanding.

A moment later, her attention returned to the Rune Tattoo on the back of her arm before finally shifting back towards Alex, who still wore an annoyingly smug grin.

’I want to say I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but...’

A trace of disbelief lingered within her gaze.

Eventually, she released a soft sigh.

Then, almost immediately afterwards, the disbelief gradually faded away and was replaced with quiet acceptance instead.

At this point, accepting Alex’s madness was simply healthier for her sanity.

Ordinarily, in order to inherit the abilities of a SunHeart Bloom, one needed to absorb the plant into their body. Only then could a healer assimilate the flower’s energy and essence, greatly enhancing their healing capabilities.

However, this process came with one enormous drawback.

The level of power inherited from a SunHeart Bloom depended heavily on the plant’s stage of growth at the time of absorption.

Technically speaking, the flower could continue developing even after being absorbed into a healer’s body... but in practice, this outcome was exceptionally rare.

The SunHeart Bloom grew by absorbing the Providence of Kindness—a highly specific and extraordinarily strict condition.

For such a flower to naturally grow in a particular location meant that the area itself was perfectly suited for its development. In other words, it was a place where the Providence of Kindness either existed almost exclusively or was overwhelmingly dominant compared to all other forms of Providence.

Humans, however, were complicated creatures.

While they certainly possessed and generated the Providence of Kindness, it was rarely present in the overwhelming purity or abundance that the SunHeart Bloom truly required.

Worse still, humans naturally produced countless other forms of Providence as well—some of which could directly oppose the Providence of Kindness and therefore negatively affect the growth of the SunHeart Bloom.

As such, the ideal period for a SunHeart Bloom’s growth was before absorption. More often than not, the flower’s level of development at the moment of absorption ultimately determined the upper limit of the enhancement it could provide.

However, Alex’s system completely circumvented this limitation.

By connecting Eleanore and the SunHeart Bloom in the manner he had just done, he ensured that the SunHeart Bloom could continue growing peacefully while Eleanore simultaneously gained uninterrupted access to its energy and abilities throughout the growth process.

The SunHeart Bloom itself would remain safely within the Sanctuary Pocket Dimension beside Lord Bonsai, who could continuously ’feed’ the plant the exact type of Providence it required, thereby ensuring its uninterrupted growth and development.

And the more the SunHeart Bloom matured, the greater the energy and healing prowess it would eventually be capable of lending to Eleanore.

”Simply granting you access to its energy wasn’t the only thing I incorporated into the connection,” Alex continued with a grin.

”Try imagining a flame forming in your hand,” he instructed.

Eleanore followed his instructions. Almost immediately afterwards, a familiar golden-red flame flickered to life above her palm.

”AetherKindle?” Eleanore stared at the flame in stunned disbelief.

”Indeed,” Alex confirmed proudly.

”How?” Eleanore looked genuinely shaken once more.

”I cannot directly give AetherKindle itself to another person,” Alex explained. ”However, some time ago, I discovered that I could incubate tiny splinters of it within formations and semi-sentient Providence-based entities such as...”

He deliberately paused for dramatic effect before giving Eleanore a knowing smile.

”The SunHeart Bloom shoot,” Eleanore answered immediately.

”Exactly,” Alex affirmed with a grin. ”I incorporated a specialised incubation space into the formation attached to the shoot, allowing the AetherKindle splinter to remain there without violating the fundamental rule that a Primal Origin Flame can only belong to a single individual.

”Within that incubation space, the SunHeart Bloom’s Wood and Solar affinities continuously nourish the splinter, preventing it from extinguishing itself while instead allowing the flame to gradually spread throughout the incubation chamber. That, in turn, allows you to—”

”Access the flame filling the incubation space through my connection to the shoot...?” Eleanore finished uncertainly.

Not because she believed herself incorrect, but because even she found the conclusion difficult to believe.

”Exactly,” Alex confirmed once more with a satisfied smile.

***

As much as Eleanore wanted to deny it, the truth was right before her eyes.

There was simply no refuting it.

Seeing the obvious amusement Alex took in her disbelief and awe, Eleanore could not help feeling slightly annoyed.

”You were so unwilling to craft the potions I requested that you went and created something which is probably far more difficult than what I originally asked for,” she commented dryly.

Alex chuckled helplessly.

”In my defence, this solves far more than just your current potion-crafting problem. You can now refine your own Alchemy Pills whenever you want. More importantly, you can also use AetherKindle’s flames for any other form of crafting or activity you desire,” Alex argued.

As the saying went, it is better to teach someone how to fish than to simply hand them fish forever.

Although Eleanore understood perfectly well that Alex had his own underlying motivations, she ultimately benefited tremendously from the arrangement, so she chose not to argue further.

Instead, her attention turned elsewhere.

”That cannot possibly be all, can it?” she asked suspiciously.

”Why would you think that?” Alex asked in return.

”You added an additional function to the shoot’s Rune Tattoo. Which means you probably added something extra to mine as well,” she replied while looking down at the Rune Tattoo adorning the back of her hand.

”Come on, then. What other absurd functions did you secretly add this time?” Eleanore asked.

”You really do know me well,” Alex said with a grin. ”I added two additional functions to your Rune Tattoo. Besides the connection to the SunHeart Bloom, it also grants Spell Boost and Spell Penetration enhancements to your spells.”

Eleanore frowned slightly.

”That sounds... oddly plain,” she muttered before asking, ”And exactly how strong are those enhancements?”

”Spell Boost increases the effectiveness of your spells by at least one grade—sometimes more depending on the original grade of the spell itself. As for Spell Penetration, it should allow all of your spells henceforth completely ignore the spell defences of anyone below Class 3 and bypass at least half the spell resistance of anyone beneath the Saint Realm... or at least that’s my current estimate.

”Both functions should still remain effective to some extent even against Legendary-level opponents—though I expect the effects are negligible unless you yourself are close to Legendary yourself,” Alex explained casually.

Eleanore merely sighed before shaking her head slowly.

At this point, there was little point remaining shocked anymore.

So she simply nodded in acceptance.

***