Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 856: Potential of Rune-Tech Mana-Type Weapon System

CH856 Potential of Rune-Tech Mana-Type Weapon System

***

“I guess that seems like as good a plan as any.” Alex shrugged. “I just hope that I can make it work.”

“I believe you will.” Eleanore smiled.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Alex smiled back.

“You deserve it. You have pulled off, or have the potential to pull off, so many things with your platform that many of us now fully believe you can do anything and everything with your Rune-Tech platform.

“So much so, in fact, that we find it strange when you don’t use this platform of yours to try to solve something. Case in point, the firearms project you’ve had Sugud working on,” Eleanore said.

“You know about that?” Alex scratched his cheek. Then he recalled, “Oh yeah, Sugud mentioned that you healed his test assistant.”

Eleanore nodded. “The prototype he worked on for you almost took the assistant’s head off.

“I was surprised when he told me he made the prototype based on an idea you came up with. Although the idea worked, both of us found ourselves wondering why you are basing the project on traditional physics and not on your Rune-Tech platform.”

“Huh? Why would I base firearms on runes?” Alex asked, confused.

“Huh? Aren’t firearms supposed to be the next improvement upon crossbows?” Eleanore asked back, equally confused.

“I thought crossbows reached their limit because the application of Rune-Tech to them was limited, so everyone assumed the next improvement would be wholly based upon Rune-Tech from the start,” she said.

“Why would guns be based upon—?” Alex’s words froze mid-speech.

‘Wait!’

A proverbial explosion went off in his brain as a realisation hit him.

‘Yes, that’s true! Why was I so fixated on replicating firearms as they were in my past life?’ he thought.

‘Previously, when I implemented projects inspired by things from my previous life, I’ve always placed them under Rune-Tech. Is it because I didn’t know much about guns in my previous life that I subconsciously disregarded the thought of making a Rune-Tech equivalent of firearms?’ he wondered.

Alex shook his head.

‘That’s not the point. Now that I’ve realised my mistake, I should focus instead on rectifying it,’ Alex thought to himself.

He soon fell into thought.

Eleanore saw this and didn’t disturb him. Instead, she smiled as she found his thoughtful expression to be his most charming state.

She simply watched him intently—almost with an amorous glint deep in her eyes.

‘The biggest problems mentioned by Sugud that are inhibiting the mass production and proliferation of firearms in the domain extend far beyond just firearms. Material research and selection, industrialisation at scale, and standardisation are problems that would persist for any type of industrial-scale mass production.’

‘Of the many problems, the one that immediately jumps out as a major problem that I can solve is… gunpowder.’ Alex narrowed in on an objective.

‘Yes, indeed, gunpowder.’ Alex nodded to himself. ‘From a layman’s point of view, what differentiates the operating system of a gun from a crossbow is the gunpowder used as the impulse system to fire a gun’s projectile.’

‘It just so happens that gunpowder and primers are the most complicated parts of the firearm weapon system. They are complex enough that they make other factors of the gun, like material selection for the body, barrel, and chamber, more complicated as well.’

‘Perhaps, if I do away with gunpowder and replace it with a Rune-Tech-based solution, I may also reduce the complexity involved in material selection.’

Alex intuitively felt like he was on the right path.

He quietly thought over how he could replace gunpowder—or rather, what kind of firearm he could create based on Rune-Tech.

‘At its core, the foundation of Rune-Tech comes down to Runes and Mana. What kind of firearm system can I make based upon these two…?’

‘Mana, huh…’ Alex’s eyes flashed. ‘Mana is essentially energy. Energy…’

His eyes widened in realisation.

“Of course, energy weapons.” He shot to his feet, catching Eleanore off guard.

However, Alex seemed to have forgotten her presence as he paced about, lost in thought.

‘An equivalent of laser or pulse weapons?’ He narrowed in on an idea. ‘Hmm… let’s not do that yet. It seems a bit complicated. I would likely have to personally get involved to realise those. I already have enough on my plate right now.’

He shook his head.

‘Maybe I don’t need to make a full energy weapon yet. I just need to replace the impulse method with a mana-based method,’ he pondered.

‘What about a Gauss-type weapon?’ His thoughts narrowed further.

‘Yes, a Gauss-type weapon could work. But rather than an electromagnetic field like in a Gauss rifle or cannon, I will design a runic circuit that uses mana to accelerate a projectile,’ Alex mused.

‘No, that will still leave me with work until I create the Rune-inscribing drones, making such a weapon difficult to mass-produce at scale.

‘Is there another way I can get mana to provide the impulse—’

His thought froze midway as another idea hit him.

‘The Mana Motor! Yes, the Mana Motor!’ His mood picked up again. ‘The Mana Motor is already a product Sugud is familiar with that I can adapt for this purpose. With a few minor changes to the design, I can come up with a kinetic or impulse system that can accelerate and project a projectile, replacing the need for gunpowder.’

‘I don’t think what I need to do will be that difficult. In practice, I just need to remove the rotor component, which it powers using mana to generate mechanical energy.

‘Essentially, I will be reducing the Mana Motor to a… Mana Converter? A device that would be ready to convert mana into the form of energy I need.

‘In this case, I will need to design a runic formation or have Sugud research a device that would use mana to generate impulse or kinetic energy that would accelerate a projectile, thus creating a Mana Impulse weapon similar to a Gauss rifle.’

Alex nodded to himself after arriving at a satisfactory idea.

‘The biggest benefit of this reduced Mana Motor cum Mana Converter is that, depending on the device or runic formation linked to it, we will not only be able to fashion a Mana Impulse weapon; even a Mana Pulse and/or a Mana Beam weapon are possibilities.’

The sci-fi fiction fan in him felt giddy as he thought about the possibilities for the future.

“Looks like you’ve come up with a solution.” Eleanore said with a smile, seeing his expression.

“I have.” Alex nodded.

He excitedly explained his idea to her.

Eleanore sighed in amazement.

“Your mind and this platform of yours are really amazing,” she said in admiration. “At this point, I don’t think anyone would doubt that there is a problem you can’t solve with this Rune-Tech platform of yours.”

As she said this, a thought suddenly came to her.

“As long as you can solve the major problem of you being the only one who can use it directly, you can turn Rune-Tech products into a unique culture of our domain.

“If you can do that, our domain will be unique from all others across all planes—a Rune-Tech domain,” she said with a smile.

“A Rune-Tech domain? I like the sound of that.” Alex smiled back.

He looked at the woman before him, then his smile suddenly turned strange.

“Alex? Hey, what are you doing?”

Before Eleanore could react, Alex suddenly swept her up into a princess carry.

“I think we need to continue our conversation at another venue. It just so happens that there are a couple of free bedrooms upstairs,” Alex said with a smirk.

“But I’m still working…” Eleanore protested.

Alex, of course, ignored her weak protests.

Why would he take them seriously when he could see the amorous glint in her eyes?

As the good husband he was, he needed to satisfy his wife’s… needs—whether she mentioned them or not.

[Abyssal Conqueror’s Steps: Third Step – Wraith’s Crossing]!

He launched his movement technique, rushing up the stairs only as fast as was possible while safely carrying Eleanore with him.

Before Eleanore knew it, they were in one of the aboveground bungalow’s bedrooms.

As the heat between her and Alex rose, so too did the heat (resonance) of their individual Solar Bloodlines.

Similar to their previous ‘battles’ together, the Furor half of Alex’s Bloodline took a back seat, playing a supporting or enhancement role, while the Auramir half of his Bloodline confronted Eleanore’s Fey Monarch Bloodline.

A wolfish grin formed on Alex’s face as his spear was flooded with blood—including Draconic Essence—which strengthened it.

The wolfish Draconic spear pressed against Eleanore’s cave entrance amidst the resonance battle for Bloodline supremacy.

Unfortunately, her Fey Monarch Bloodline put up a strong resonance fight. However, Alex’s wolfish rogue Auramir Bloodline hadn’t fought alone. With support from the Bloodline power of the Furor half of his Bloodline and his spear empowered by Dragon Essence, Eleanore and her Fey Monarch Bloodline didn’t stand a chance.

Alex’s shaft breached all of Eleanore’s defences, piercing deep into her peach flower and causing an amorous moan to escape her lips.

Emboldened by the moan, Alex’s shaft began rocking and knocking repeatedly until the heart of her flower gushed with a large amount of rich nectar, prompting him to release his own thick essence into the flower’s heart as well.

A wolfish howl—or rather, a deep groan—escaped Alex’s lips as the thick essence of his Bloodline conquered the flower of the Fey Monarch.

***