Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 565: Verdantian Alchemy History II

CH565 Verdantian Alchemy History II

***

The walls of the alchemy hall suddenly turned transparent.

In the blink of an eye, Alex realised he had been transported into star-filled space.

Ahead of him floated a verdant green planet, suspended silently against the vast cosmic backdrop.

Yet that was not what seized his attention.

Coiled around the planet was a dark, indistinct figure— something vast and incomprehensible.

He could not discern its shape, nor its nature.

It simply... was.

However, before he could focus his gaze and study it more closely, the image blurred violently.

The stars vanished.

The planet disappeared.

And once more, he stood beneath the earthen ceiling of the alchemy hall.

’I can still feel the restrictions on Rune-Tech loosening...’ Alex muttered inwardly. ’That scene just now... could it be that I briefly stepped outside Verdantis’s planar jurisdiction?’

He could speculate endlessly. But without evidence, speculation was all it would remain.

So he forced himself to focus on something tangible— something actionable.

He sat at the main workstation, folding his arms as he sank into contemplation.

’From the voice just now, it seems the trial requires me to create an innovation in alchemy,’ he reasoned.

His gaze drifted towards the murals lining the walls.

’Each mural depicts a leap forward— a significant improvement in the discipline. That supports the idea.’

Alex turned back to the workstation, fingers tapping lightly against the surface as his thoughts churned.

’I don’t have a strong foundation in alchemy. I can barely produce stable alchemical products, let alone pioneer an entirely new method.’ 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

For a fleeting moment, a darker thought surfaced.

’Should I withdraw? What does becoming the Legatee of some external plane truly have to do with me?’

He paused.

Then shook his head with a wry smile.

’I can’t do that.’

’Walking away like this would leave a bitter taste in my mouth.’

’And besides... I can’t deny that I want to uncover the truth behind this plane’s past.’

He exhaled slowly.

’What kind of absurd genius are they expecting for this so-called "Legatee of Heaven and Earth"?’

’It’s ridiculous to assume there exists someone who has mastered every branch of sorcery before even arriving here.’

Then his eyes sharpened.

His idle musing had sparked a realisation.

’Wait... that’s exactly it.’

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

’It’s unreasonable to expect a single individual to master all major branches of sorcery. More often than not, those proficient in alchemy lack combat prowess— and those formidable in combat rarely excel in scholarly disciplines.’

’Everyone has limits. Unless they’re selecting some ancient old fogey who has lived for centuries, how could anyone possibly attain mastery across every branch? And even then... mastery in one field often comes at the expense of another.’

He nodded to himself.

’If there were a so-called blessed Son of Heaven who excelled in every branch except one... would they truly be rejected outright because of that single weakness?’

He shook his head.

’That would make no sense.’

His eyes flickered again.

’If that’s the case, then there must be something here designed to support such individuals— a mechanism to bridge deficiencies.’

’I’m not asking for much... even a hint would suffice.’

Alex rose and began scanning the hall more carefully.

His gaze eventually fell upon the resource vault— the massive, ostentatious door that had opened earlier.

But beside it...

There was a smaller, far less conspicuous door.

’I didn’t notice that before.’

It was hardly surprising.

The grandeur of the vault door drew attention naturally, overshadowing anything nearby.

Alex walked towards the smaller door without hesitation.

Upon opening it, he discovered a modest yet expansive library.

Dozens of shelves lined the room— certainly fewer than a hundred, but densely packed with books.

To read them all would require months... perhaps even years.

Yet a broad smile spread across Alex’s face as he began scanning the titles.

’Compendium of Ten Thousand Basic Herbs.’

’Introduction to Poisonous Flora.’

’Identifying and Selecting Cauldrons.’

’Fundamentals of Concoction Methods.’

He moved further along.

’Compendium of One Thousand Advanced Herbs.’

’Advanced Herbological Theory.’

’Compendium of Basic Ores.’

The arrangement was meticulous.

The shelves progressed logically from foundational knowledge to increasingly advanced material.

Given sufficient time to study and research here, one could build a robust understanding of alchemy from the ground up.

A complete, structured foundation.

One particular shelf even contained detailed explanations of each major advancement in alchemy— mirroring the historical developments depicted in the murals outside.

At first, Alex was thrilled.

However, his excitement dimmed when he realised that the volume on Energy Alchemy was absent.

In its place stood only a thin introductory text— a mere overview.

’So my suspicion was correct,’ Alex mused inwardly. ’A potential Legatee is not expected to possess prior mastery across all branches. What matters is comprehension— the ability to self-learn efficiently when provided with the right foundation.’

’The only real constraint... is time.’

A slow smile crept across his lips.

’Fortunately, I have precisely the right tool to deal with that.’

He prompted OmniRune, attempting to open a portal to the Sanctuary.

Bang!

The portal flickered violently before collapsing with a resonant thud.

It failed to stabilise sufficiently for him to pass through.

Alex frowned.

After several minutes of rapid mental calculations, he altered his approach.

Instead of attempting full traversal with his body, he opened the portal by only a fraction— just enough to reach into the Sanctuary’s sealed space.

Fortunately, most of his rune ink materials were stored together.

All he needed was to align the portal opening precisely within the Sanctuary’s storage coordinates.

He succeeded.

Then, for a brief moment, he tested whether he could transfer materials from the alchemy hall into the Sanctuary.

The attempt failed immediately.

’Naturally... it wouldn’t be that simple,’ he chuckled.

Once he retrieved the necessary materials, he closed the portal with a wave of hand.

Then he began inscribing runic formations throughout the hall.

Within the library chamber, he etched a familiar scanning circle upon the floor.

It was identical in principle to the formation he had deployed at DragonHold Enclave— the one used to scan and digitise the contents of the archives into the Virtual Library.

It was also the same foundational formation circle integrated into the Arcane Crystal Runic Servers distributed by the Golden Palace.

There was no need to code the formation from scratch. He merely expanded its scale... and reinforced its stability.

With the upgraded formation in place, Alex was able to scan and transfer the contents of dozens of books into OmniRune within mere moments.

Over the next few hours —most of the time spent retrieving and returning volumes to their shelves— he completed the digitisation of the entire library.

"Process the acquired data and extract all relevant information on Verdantian Alchemy," Alex instructed.

OmniRune complied.

This time, instead of projecting the information externally, the AI mage assistant transmitted it directly into Alex’s mind, leveraging their recently strengthened neural and spiritual linkage— a by-product of the ongoing spell recovery process OmniRune had been performing for him.

Basic.

Intermediate.

Advanced.

A torrent of alchemical knowledge poured into his consciousness.

Alex sat cross-legged and entered meditation, attempting to sort, categorise, and digest the influx of information.

Time passed— though how much, he could not tell.

Eventually, he opened his eyes.

A problem had surfaced.

’This approach is too slow,’ he concluded inwardly.

’Even if I master the material through structured learning, at best I will only reproduce what already exists.’

’That doesn’t constitute innovation.’

He leaned back slightly against a shelf.

’I need a different angle.’

Another hour passed as he entertained and discarded idea after idea.

Then—

He stopped.

’I’ve been thinking about this the wrong way.’

A subtle shift occurred in his thoughts.

’This isn’t the first time I’ve introduced something considered "new" into a world.’

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

’I don’t need to invent something entirely unprecedented in absolute terms.’

’I simply need to introduce something unprecedented to this world.’

Light flickered in his eyes.

’Verdantian and Pangean alchemy are not fundamentally alien to each other. They share a common root. Merely merging the two systems would not qualify as a true leap.’

’In that case... I need to draw from somewhere entirely different.’

And then—

The otaku within Alex stirred.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

An idea —one he had once casually fantasised about in his previous life — now resurfaced with startling clarity.

***