Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 566: Alex’s Alchemy Innovation I

CH566 Alex’s Alchemy Innovation I

***

Though excitement surged within him, Alex did not allow it to cloud his judgement.

He sat down and meditated, steadily guiding himself back into a calm, controlled mental state.

Only once his thoughts were orderly did he begin refining his idea.

Working in tandem with OmniRune —and drawing upon the vast body of knowledge now stored within it— Alex began constructing a revolutionary alchemical methodology unlike anything Verdantis or Pangea had ever seen.

Every step was meticulously reviewed between himself and the AI assistant.

Assumptions were stress-tested.

Parameters were recalculated.

Feasibility was cross-checked against his current capabilities.

Eventually...

"Probability of success?" Alex asked calmly.

OmniRune initiated rapid simulations, modelling the process against known variables and environmental constraints.

[95%]

Alex’s brows lifted slightly.

’Ninety-five per cent... That’s higher than I anticipated.’

After all, the foundation of this method originated from another world entirely— reinterpreted and reconstructed using only the tools and principles available within this one.

At this stage, it was the original method in name alone.

He found it almost absurd that something so conceptually hybrid and forcibly adapted would yield such a high projected success rate.

’Well... perhaps that just highlights my genius— and the effort invested in properly adapting it,’ he thought with mild self-satisfaction.

He gave himself a small mental pat on the back.

"In that case... let’s begin."

Alex entered the resource vault and carefully selected herbs required for a basic healing potion— one effective up to the mid-stage Beginner rank.

Anything more advanced would introduce unnecessary layers of complexity.

He was not attempting to create a new formula.

He was attempting to pioneer an entirely new method of alchemical crafting.

To prove the validity of the method, a high-rank product was unnecessary.

If anything, reducing the complexity would eliminate avoidable variables.

After verifying that all required herbs were present within the vault, he returned to the main workstation.

However, he did not immediately begin brewing.

Instead—

He began remodelling the workstation itself.

One by one, the apparatus and equipment across the workstation received upgrades— at least, by Alex’s standards.

Some were inscribed with basic runes.

Others were fitted with interconnected runic circuits.

A few required minor array formations.

And select components were branded with simple Greater Runes.

The cauldron, however —the core crafting instrument— underwent the most extensive transformation.

Alex integrated into it his premier Semi-Greater Rune-based Grand Array formation.

It was an undertaking so intricate and demanding that, in certain respects, it rivalled the work he had invested into the Voidheart Core.

That was how seriously he treated this endeavour.

He lost all sense of time.

Fully immersed, he poured himself into the process.

He had missed this feeling.

The exhilaration of pioneering a new Rune-Tech construct.

The quiet thrill of solving complex interlocking systems.

A familiar rush of euphoria coursed through him, urging him to push forward without pause until perfection was achieved.

He truly had missed this.

’Sigh...’

After inscribing the final glyph —unaware of how much time had passed— Alex exhaled deeply.

The cauldron shimmered faintly.

For a brief moment, it seemed almost sentient, as though acknowledging its rebirth— no longer merely a sorcery artefact, but a fully integrated Rune-Tech construct.

Following his habitual discipline, Alex sat down to meditate.

He replenished his mana.

He stabilised his Spiritual Force.

He restored his mental clarity.

Only when he felt balanced once more did he rise.

"Now then... let the new revolutionary alchemical method commence."

A grin spread across his face.

He raised his hand.

A lifelike dragon of flame coiled into existence upon his palm.

"Whether this succeeds or fails... will depend on you, little fellow," Alex said softly to AetherKindle.

In response, the Primal Origin Flame manifested a playful flicker— then snapped off a fragment of one of its claws and offered it to him.

Instead of placing the flame beneath the cauldron to ignite conventional fuel— Alex cast the splinter of Primal Origin Flame directly into the cauldron.

The instant the splinter of flame entered the cauldron, a pre-inscribed runic formation ignited in response.

It had been designed precisely for this purpose.

Not only did the formation stabilise the splinter, it rapidly channelled its primal fire throughout the inner walls of the cauldron, evenly heating the entire construct.

Alex immediately felt a deepened connection to the cauldron through AetherKindle.

Through that link, he could regulate the internal temperature with exquisite precision— raising, lowering, or concentrating the heat at will.

’Stage one... complete.’

He turned his attention to the healing potion’s ingredients.

The potion required two primary herbs, one supplementary catalyst ingredient, and liquid mana— making it, by conventional standards, a relatively simple formulation.

Ordinarily, liquid mana would be introduced first to serve as the solvent. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

However—

Alex deliberately set it aside.

Instead, he picked up the solid ingredients and cast them directly into the cauldron.

Instantly, they were engulfed by AetherKindle’s flames and reduced to ash.

This was intentional.

The potion did not require the physical husks of the herbs.

It required their essence.

Under normal circumstances, that essence would be extracted gradually through dissolution within heated liquid mana.

But Alex had devised an alternative.

AetherKindle.

The Primal Origin Flame was not merely physical fire— it was also a metaphysical existence.

And so too was the essence he sought to extract.

Under AetherKindle’s influence —much as they would have reacted within heated liquid mana— the supplementary ingredient released a catalytic substance under intense heat.

That catalyst triggered a reaction between the two primary herbs.

Moments later, a fused essence was liberated.

As soon as the essence manifested, multiple runic formations activated.

One formation siphoned away the residual ash from the destroyed herb husks.

Another isolated the extracted essence within a controlled subspace inside the cauldron, where it remained suspended— still enveloped by AetherKindle’s flame.

True to its nature as a flame of purification and refinement, AetherKindle worked slowly and methodically upon the extracted essence.

Layer by layer, it stripped away impurities... every trace of instability and each remnant of incompatible elemental residue.

Within the cauldron, the supporting runic formations operated in perfect synchrony —siphoning away the impurities separated by the Primal Origin Flame and expelling them into containment channels prepared beforehand.

Gradually...

Only the purest essence remained.

Yet Alex did not allow himself even a fraction of relief.

Now came the most delicate stage.

His Spiritual Force surged deeper into the construct, assuming even finer control over the internal systems— heat fluctuations, energy ripples, pressure micro-adjustments.

Carefully controlling the overall temperature —sometimes lowering it by a hair’s breadth, sometimes raising it by a calculated increment— Alex thickened the refined essence.

With AetherKindle’s controlled burn and the stabilising influence of the Semi-Greater Rune Grand Array, the once-fluid metaphysical essence gradually condensed.

It thickened, compressed, solidified...

Until—

It hardened into a perfect sphere.

Yes.

Alex’s grand innovation to Verdantis’ Alchemy was the introduction of the Alchemical Pill from his past life’s eastern fantasy cultivation literature.

Beads of sweat formed along his brow and rolled down his temples as the gruelling refinement continued.

Seconds stretched into minutes.

Minutes blurred into what might have been hours.

He no longer knew.

His entire consciousness was devoted to maintaining structural integrity while preventing energetic collapse during final compression.

One miscalculation, and the entire pill would destabilise.

Or worse — explode.

Finally —after an indeterminate span of time— a golden pill floated serenely within the cauldron’s core.

Alex slowly extended his hand and retrieved it.

He raised it to his nose.

There was no fragrance.

No leakage of medicinal aura.

The essence and efficacy were completely sealed within— contained, stabilised and perfectly preserved.

’A resounding success.’

The thought had barely formed when the world trembled.

The scene shifted.

The grand alchemy hall remained— but all the workstations had vanished.

In their place stood a single elevated podium.

Alex found himself standing upon it.

Before him— a congregation of phantoms.

The very same figures he had observed within the murals.

The innovators... the pioneers... the architects of Verdantian Alchemy across the ages.

What was required became immediately apparent.

’So... I must present my creation before the peers of Verdantian Alchemical history.’

***