Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 579: New Trials

CH579 New Trials

***

Havel opened his eyes and found himself standing once again before the Armament Stele.

"Damned sadist!"

Just then, a grumble sounded beside him.

Surprisingly, the voice belonged to Alex, who had also just completed his Armament trial.

Alex’s expression was extremely dark.

He was barely suppressing the overwhelming urge to curse the Sword Emperor’s nine generations.

His Armament trial had consisted of nothing more than a one-sided beating delivered by the Sword Emperor.

Under the pretext of hands-on teaching through sparring, the Sword Emperor had proceeded to beat Alex relentlessly with the flat side of his sword.

’And to think I actually compared him to Jared.’

’Compared to that damned Sword Emperor, Jared might as well be a caring nanny!’

Alex grit his teeth.

That said, despite his complaints, Alex could not deny that the Sword Emperor’s teaching had been somewhat more effective than Jared’s.

’Just a bit,’ Alex thought stubbornly, unwilling to acknowledge his ’abuser’ too much.

Contrary to Alex’s expectations, the Sword Emperor had not taught him any complicated sword techniques.

Instead, Alex recalled the man’s blunt explanation.

"I don’t have any sword arts. I don’t use them. Why would you need a sword art just to swing a sword?"

"Look, kid. A sword art is simply a method someone created to show others how to swing a sword."

"Are you so inept that you need someone else to teach you how to swing a sword?"

"Just swing your sword however you like. Keep repeating it until you find a way that feels comfortable and produces the best results."

"It’s that simple."

Alex had been completely aghast when he first heard those words.

The way the Sword Emperor spoke reminded him of the geniuses described in the literature of his previous life, as well as some he had encountered in this world.

These kinds of geniuses could deduce ten truths from a single clue. Yet somehow, they could not properly explain even one concept out of a hundred.

They possessed the knowledge. They even knew how to use it perfectly. But articulating that knowledge clearly and teaching it to others was an entirely different challenge.

Such geniuses simply operated on a different wavelength.

Put simply, they were a completely different breed from ordinary people.

Expecting them to teach anyone other than another genius was almost impossible.

However, the Sword Emperor had actually delivered.

Just as he had said, all he had Alex do during their sparring sessions was swing his sword.

Every mistake or flaw Alex revealed was immediately punished with a ruthless beating, forcing Alex to correct those flaws himself— often instinctively.

According to the Sword Emperor, Alex could now hold his own in a pure sword duel with a Sword Expert.

Since Alex vehemently refused to dedicate himself to the sword —or to any other weapon, for that matter— he had been unable to awaken Sword Intent.

Because of that, he could not officially be considered a Sword Expert, even though his swordsmanship now rivalled one.

Alex was perfectly fine with that.

He had never cared much about titles or labels anyway.

Alex turned toward the mysterious old man while rubbing his palm expectantly.

However, the old man simply shook his head.

"A lesson from the Sword Emperor is a reward in and of itself," the old man said calmly.

"You will receive nothing further from the stele."

Alex’s excitement deflated instantly.

The old man then turned toward Havel.

"I am certain you understand why you are not entitled to an additional reward either."

"Yes," Havel replied calmly.

"I have already received a precious gift. I cannot, in good conscience, ask for more."

Alex almost felt the urge to slap Havel across the face.

’What do you mean in good conscience? You have a conscience?’

Thinking back to the things Havel had done before, Alex nearly rolled his eyes.

And yet this Noble race scoundrel actually had the audacity to mention having a conscience.

Alex then turned his gaze toward the old man.

’You’re even stingier than a dragon.’

’Your plane is facing destruction, yet you still aren’t rushing to give your successors the resources and artefacts they need to grow stronger.’

He silently complained.

The old man suddenly turned his head toward Alex and, as if reading the youth’s thoughts,

"It is not that I am stingy and unwilling to give them to you," he said calmly.

"It is simply the rule established during the creation of this Heaven–Earth Concordance Talismanic Field."

"There is very little I can do about it now that I exist in this form."

Alex immediately looked away sheepishly.

"Argh!"

Just then, someone else completed their trial.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked as he quickly moved to Mogal’s side.

"I... am fine, Leader," the hulking barbarian reassured him.

"I am merely getting used to some... changes. I will be fine soon."

"Leave him be," the old man said calmly.

"He will require some time to complete the metamorphosis triggered by that fellow’s training."

He waved his hand.

Mogal vanished from where he stood and reappeared upon a bed inside a nearby hut.

"Go. Continue your trials. Your companion will be fine," the old man said.

There was nothing obviously wrong with Mogal, and the Dravo barbarian himself had insisted he was fine.

So Alex decided to drop the matter.

He glanced around and noticed that Kavakan and Udara had already begun another trial.

"What are you going to do now?" Alex asked Havel. "Start another trial?"

The Noble race kinsman shook his head.

"I have undergone too great a change during the trial. I need time to consolidate my gains," Havel replied.

The old man, still stroking his long beard, nodded appreciatively.

He silently approved of Havel’s clear understanding of his own condition.

Hearing his follower’s response, Alex simply nodded and moved on to his own next trial.

Before doing so, he cast a brief, worried glance toward Zora, who seemed to be struggling with her trial.

Considering she possessed the greatest magical talent Alex had ever encountered, seeing her struggle with the Elemental Trial surprised him.

Even so, he still believed she would eventually succeed.

Alex sat down and extended his Spiritual Force into the stele, beginning his own Elemental Stele Trial.

Meanwhile, Havel walked toward the hut where Mogal now rested and sat down cross-legged outside the entrance.

He placed his sword across his lap and entered meditation.

Hum—

Over time, his sword began to release intermittent humming sounds as he worked to familiarise himself with his newly awakened Sword Intent.

Sword Intents manifested in many forms.

At their core, however, they allowed a swordsman to empower certain aspects of their sword or swordsmanship with their Will and Intent.

In Havel’s case, his Sword Intent clearly empowered one aspect above all others.

Speed.

It was precisely this enhancement that had allowed him to unleash the fourth simultaneous slash of the [Ultimate Quickdraw Art: Death Phantom Razor].

-

"Let my Will be unhindered like the Heavens. Let my body be boundless like the Earth."

Meanwhile, inside the hut, Mogal muttered those words as the muscles beneath his skin twisted and squirmed grotesquely.

The hulking barbarian endured the pain as his body pushed itself toward its most perfect state, reshaping itself to better express the Dravo Clan combat method he cultivated.

It was an alignment of Will and Body —Heaven and Earth— as taught by the mysterious wild man within the trial space.

Even after teaching him and passing on the method to actively weaponise his Will to empower his every action, the wild man had not once revealed his name.

He had not even given Mogal the name of the technique.

"You don’t need a name," the man had said.

"All you need is the method... and now you have it."

Those were the final words the man spoke before ejecting Mogal from the trial space after he completed the trial.

Unlike the wild man, who had blasted and shattered the behemoth’s entire body, Mogal had only managed to shatter one of the monster’s monolith-like legs.

However, since he had successfully replicated the Will technique, the wild man accepted the trial as complete.

—

Not long after Alex began his Elemental Stele Trial, Udara’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

She had completed her Grey Stele Trial.

The mysterious old man smiled knowingly as Udara —a faint blush appearing across her face— quickly pulled back and concealed the noticeably enhanced aura of charm and allure surrounding her.

She returned to her usual calm and carefully controlled demeanour.

Udara paused for a moment, seemingly pondering something.

Then she shook her head.

Rising from the Grey Stele, she walked toward another stele.

Surprisingly, it was the Elemental Stele— the same one Alex and Zora were currently undergoing.

Her action caught Eleanore’s attention.

The healer finally lifted her gaze from the alchemical scroll she had been deeply absorbed in and cast the Amazonian–Drow woman a curious sideways glance.

From a Pangean perspective, the Elemental Stele Trial was almost certainly a spellcasting trial.

In other words, it was meant for mages.

Seeing a warrior attempt such a trial was rather unusual.

Udara simply offered a faint smile without offering any explanation. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

After all, she was attempting it on nothing more than a whim.

She sat down before the stele and extended her Spiritual Force into it.

Contrary to Eleanore’s expectations —and even Udara’s own— the moment her Spiritual Force entered the stele, her consciousness was pulled inside.

Thus, her Elemental Stele Trial had begun.

***