Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 5: Rune Difficulty

***

Alex departed from the Tower Master's office in a calmer state than upon arrival—though a closer inspection would reveal a noticeable bounce in his stride as he departed.

Inside the office, Merlin faced Zora with a feigned look of offense. "I'm shocked you took the side of an outsider. It stings."

Zora let out a laugh. "Good attempt. We both realize you planned to approve the grant for him regardless of my input."

"True, but I wouldn't have extended such a generous amount. The very last thing I desire is Baldrick poking into my affairs. You'll handle him, incidentally. This trouble is on you."

"Very well," Zora grumbled between clenched teeth.

Merlin chuckled at her discomfort, obviously relishing the moment.

Abruptly changing his demeanor, he inquired, "Do you truly have faith in him?"

Zora hesitated, giving a slow nod before shaking her head. "I'm uncertain. There's an element to him—perhaps his enthusiasm—that compels me to trust him somewhat. I wish to believe."

"Do you suppose he could assist with that issue?"

"No. I've abandoned hope there," she murmured softly. "At present, I simply aim to aid a talented, headstrong young lad—and perhaps benefit the tower in the process. He claimed his scheme would address both his weakness and his requirement for armed forces."

Merlin's eyes widened slightly. "Hold on. Now that you mention it, we only caught the portion about his own power..."

Zora affirmed with a nod. "Precisely. Yet if that represents merely half the strategy, and the remaining half is equally bold—sufficient to forge military might for a disgraced noble successor—then consider the implications for the Enclave. Backing him could allow us to establish our very own autonomous fighting unit."

"My Enclave requires no such unit. I remain here," Merlin countered.

Zora fixed him with a prolonged gaze. "However, you can't be present for every crisis. Currently, the tower depends on you and the twenty Grand Mages for protection. Should a handful of you be away, the Enclave turns exposed.

"Moreover, beyond mere defense, a skilled force enables us to aggressively seek out planar locations and gather resources on a grander scale."

Merlin offered no reply, yet his quiet spoke volumes.

"For your information—I haven't abandoned your concern. We'll discover a resolution, somehow. So hold onto hope." Merlin stated.

"Yes, Father," she replied, offering a sweet smile.

---

Three Months Later...

A gnome standing three feet high strode purposefully along the hallway en route to the Tower Master's chamber.

Each mage he encountered hastily invented an excuse to vanish. Some slipped behind doors, while others spun around and fled from sight.

The gnome's piercing copper-colored eyes swept the area, examining features and grumbling about money.

Whoever met his stare experienced a shiver running along their back—as though their fortune was being ruthlessly evaluated.

This intimidating figure wasn't a Legendary Mage. Nor an Elite Mage.

He was far worse.

He served as the Enclave's Chief Financial Officer—Baldrick Pinchcoin.

In DragonHold Enclave, where supplies equaled authority, the individual controlling the funds wielded greater influence than certain Grand Mages. This held especially true for a stingy gnome possessing an ironclad recall and a deep-seated aversion to wasteful spending.

Those in debt dreaded him. Yet one thing irked him more than outstanding loans:

Grants!

Unlike loans, grants demanded no repayment. To Baldrick Pinchcoin, they resembled bottomless pits—voids into which gold disappeared eternally.

Today, his quarry was the Tower's most recent grant beneficiary.

Baldrick reached the Tower Master's office, adjusted the heavy glasses slipping along his curved nose, brushed back his sparse reddish hair, and entered boldly.

Much to his irritation, Merlin wasn't seated at the desk—Zora was.

"Baldrick," Zora remarked, looking up from her pile of papers. "This visit is unforeseen."

"The matter's pressing nature wouldn't allow delay," he responded sharply. "Lady Zora, we face a crisis. One million gold coins! That's the sum he's expended in merely three months!"

He brought his metal-reinforced ledger down with the force of a battle cry.

"I propose we revoke the grant given to Master Alex Fury!"

His gaze burned with outrage.

In Baldrick's view, those receiving grants acted as leeches. Debtors at least could be compelled to settle up in time. Recipients of grants merely devoured assets—no yield, no responsibility.

For a frugal gnome bookkeeper who scrutinized his team for employing excess 'valuable' ink in tasks, grants felt akin to someone stripping his flesh!

And this particular one was the most egregious.

Zora held back a sigh. Nobody in the Tower—not even herself or Merlin—relished a confrontation with Baldrick Pinchcoin.

Yet he proved an indispensable nuisance. His fanatical traits rendered him the tower's top accountant. His expertise in finances, levies, and cross-planar commerce stood unmatched—absolutely crucial to the Enclave's functioning.

"Earl Drake has already forwarded the initial year's payment," Zora stated evenly. "And the Tower Master accessed his private reserves to cover expenses. I fail to see the problem."

Pinchcoin flipped open his ledger, levitated it to her desk, and indicated various intricate diagrams.

"I conducted forecasts. Drawing from expenditure patterns of prior apprentices, there's a 30% compounded rise each quarter. Should this persist, Master Fury's grant will drain three million gold from the Enclave by the year's close."

Zora's eyes grew large.

"That would devastate this year's funds," Pinchcoin pressed on. "Without the Tower Master dipping into his reserves once more, we'd need to overhaul our monetary distributions. This affects grants for hundreds of mages—including several Great and Grand Mages."

Zora reclined and released a breath. She hadn't anticipated the widespread impact to be this intense.

"This remains merely a forecast, correct? How much leeway do we possess?"

"At this pace? One quarter," Pinchcoin declared. "That's our margin. Beyond that, the strain begins. And if I might be direct, his purchasing behavior is erratic. It adheres to no standard. He behaves as if his funds are boundless."

"I'll discuss it with him," Zora assured.

Pinchcoin inclined his head. That represented the optimal resolution he could expect.

He pivoted to exit—then halted abruptly. His nose quivered.

Pinchcoin's eyes flickered. That quiver signaled just one possibility: he detected potential gain!

"If you'll permit, Lady Zora—what precisely is Master Alex engaged in? Should I grasp the project's essence, I could assess its economic potential. I might even streamline acquisitions or cut expenses."

Zora stiffened.

Was this truly unfolding?

Baldrick Pinchcoin, the tower's most stringent penny-pincher, volunteering aid to a grant holder?

She nearly suspected an illusion.

Still dazed, she responded, "Truthfully, I don't comprehend it myself. The Tower Master sanctioned the grant immediately upon hearing the concept."

Baldrick's eyes sparkled. His nose quivered further.

"Aha," he murmured.

He proposed, "This could prove significant. In such a scenario, I shall directly supervise Master Alex's acquisitions. I'll guarantee he obtains top materials at optimal rates. This arrangement benefits him—and my division."

Zora furrowed her brow. She wavered between doubt and appreciation.

"...Alright," she agreed finally.

The gnome departed, nearly whistling.

Zora remained seated quietly for an extended period, still absorbing the occurrence.

In time, she ceased attempting to decipher it and resumed her duties.

"I must visit Alex. Three months have passed without a single update report from him."

She rose, adjusted her robe, and exited the office.

-

Progress hadn't unfolded as effortlessly as Alex had anticipated.

Three months of relentless effort—aiming to craft a self-sustaining Runic Circle framework inspired by coding principles—had brought only aggravation.

His efforts to mimic a self-adapting system via intricate runic markings had encountered an unforeseen barrier.

Alex had forsaken sleep, limiting his downtime to merely four hours daily, while dedicating six more to Merlin's selected seminars.

The remainder of his hours were consumed in his dedicated workshop, etching, experimenting, readjusting—over and over.

The lab's walls, ceiling, and floor bore multitudes of layered runes.

Collectively, they constituted a vast three-dimensional configuration—so intricately filled that solely Alex could decipher it.

Presently, sprawled on the chilly stone ground, he gazed upward at his handiwork, utterly drained. His frame yearned for slumber, yet his thoughts wouldn't cease.

'Yet another setback... Despite the 3D array, I remain unable to manage all variables for starting automated operations. Why?!

'Arrays prove frustratingly rigid. They demand flawless tuning—no space for experimentation. Were this code, I could troubleshoot instantly!'

He rubbed his face in exasperation.

'No, that's mere justification. I'm surely erring somewhere.'

Alex stood and examined the array once more, scrutinizing each segment and arc, every rune mark.

'All appears correct. Then why does it fail? Does this indicate programming concepts can't translate to rune design? Or... have I overlooked an evident detail?'

Ten minutes elapsed. No breakthrough.

Overcome, Alex departed the lab with a deep sigh.

Ding~

He looked toward the entrance.

'It's not Asta's mealtime delivery... a guest?'

Intrigued, Alex unlatched the door—and stared in astonishment.

"Lady Zora?"

"Might I enter?" she inquired.

"Certainly."

Following brief courtesies, Zora cut to the chase.

"How progresses the endeavor?"

"Not well," Alex confessed, guiding her to the lab.

Zora entered—and halted instantly, her eyes expanding.

Every area in the lab displayed tightly packed runes. Not one bit of room remained unused.

What astonished her wasn't merely the compactness, but how the array endured without crumbling from its intensity.

Ordinarily, mana-charged runes swelled a bit upon activation. This frequently led to intersections, causing system breakdowns.

Veteran Array Masters employed sophisticated methods to prevent this. But Alex... Alex had bypassed them all.

Even more astonishing, each rune was fundamental.

He'd constructed this elaborate setup using no abbreviations or boosts.

"You accomplished this using only basic rune methods?" she questioned, nearly incredulous.

"I powered through it," Alex explained. "I managed the width of every rune stroke to accommodate mana swelling. However, that introduced a new challenge. The narrower the stroke, the reduced mana capacity per rune, which curtailed their potency."

"Thus, I formulated specialized inks varying in mana density to offset the shortage."

Although his account was straightforward, Zora grasped the laborious effort required to fine-tune each rune accordingly. Countless thousands existed.

It explained his hollowed appearance—he had probably depleted his mental energy repeatedly.

"Is that the reason for requiring such vast supplies?" she probed.

"Indeed. But with the inks now developed, I won't require such expenditures going forward."

Zora couldn't muster reproach. Rather, she inquired softly, "So... what do you believe the issue to be?"

"I'm unsure," Alex answered, rubbing his scalp. "I've reviewed each rune individually. No error stands out—at least none I detect. Yet... it simply doesn't function."

Zora grinned. "In such a situation, accompany me."

"Eh? To where?"

"You'll discover. Relax—it won't consume much time."

She pulled him via the portal network and, leveraging her privileges, transported them to the pinnacle of the Enclave's main spire—the loftiest spot in all of DragonHold.

The heavens stretched unclouded. From this height, the panorama proved mesmerizing.

Alex beheld the Enclave's complete layout beneath—its immense urban sprawl draped over the dragon-form mountains, reaching to the shoreline. Lacking Earth's contemporary allure, it exuded a deep aura of timeless majesty.

"By nightfall, this spot grows even lovelier," Zora whispered. "The glow from the city lights below, the celestial bodies overhead... It lingers in memory.

"I visit here to refresh my thoughts. Often, superior concepts don't arise through force. They must emerge naturally. A fresh perspective aids."

Alex agreed with a nod. He comprehended.

On Earth, when ensnared in a task, he'd immerse in web novels to reboot his mind. Upon completion, ideas typically followed.

Regrettably, such literature held little popularity here. Choices were... scarce.

'Perhaps I should seek a novel pursuit', he mused.

He inhaled deeply, breathed out gradually. Repeatedly.

Then, as clarity returned—he perceived it.

Not the urban expanse.

The mana...

Atop here, the surrounding mana differed—more dense, more turbulent. It fluctuated persistently across elemental states, swirling in invisible rhythms.

'A shift in perspective... Perhaps I've approached this incorrectly all along.

'Mana proves volatile. Attempting to govern it via a fixed framework... small wonder the mechanism collapses. As soon as mana alters, the whole array disintegrates.

'It resembles scripting software on parchment and anticipating execution.'

His eyes expanded.

'There lies the defect. I sought to build a fluid application using immobile runes! Lacking flexibility, it fails to adapt or reconstruct routines during operation. Naturally, it crumbled.'

A wave of ease—and fresh vigor—surged through him.

He faced Zora. "Exists a device permitting runes to alter during operation? An element enabling real-time adjustments?"

"Not for arrays," she noted, "but for Spell Circles, affirmative."

"Spell Circles consist of moving runes. That should suffice."

"In that case, seek a Grimoire," Zora suggested. "Affluent mages employ them to hold extensive spell collections for swift invocation. Certain ones use them to innovate spells. You can modify incantations instantly without forfeiting command."

"I understand... As incantations shape spell circles, altering them implies the circles adjust dynamically as well."

"What substance crafts a Grimoire?"

"For lesser to moderate grades, Moro Diamond suffices. Superior quality provides greater capacity and steadiness."

"I require one."

"I'll procure it," Zora vowed. "However, henceforth, consult me prior to seeking additional supplies."

Alex arched an eyebrow.

Zora sighed. "Suffice to say... your expenditures have alarmed folks. You've attracted notice. I've resolved matters temporarily, but maintain discretion."

Alex nodded. "With the Moro Diamond in hand, I shouldn't demand anything excessive."

They lingered atop the spire for thirty more minutes until Zora deemed his psyche restored.

Returning to his quarters, buoyed by revived determination, Alex encountered his way obstructed by a group of five youths, aged roughly fifteen to seventeen.

From their attire and emblems, they were fellow Novice-level acolytes in the Mage Tower.

The foremost youth advanced.

"Are you Alex Fury?"

Alex halted. He sensed the antagonism in the query.

"Who inquires?"

"The one set to thrash you."

Ere Alex could respond, they assaulted.

Slow! Bind! Restrict!

A barrage of Grade-1 weakening spells struck him simultaneously. He stood immobilized.

The chief acolyte flexed his fingers and approached with a smirk.

***