Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 565: Verdantian Alchemy History II
CH565 Verdantian Alchemy History II
***
Abruptly, the alchemy hall's walls became see-through.
In an instant, Alex found himself whisked away to a cosmos dotted with stars.
Before him hovered a lush green world, hanging quietly amid the immense starry void.
But that wasn't what captured his focus.
Wrapping around the world was a shadowy, vague form— something enormous and beyond understanding.
Its form escaped him, as did its essence.
It merely... existed.
Yet, before Alex could fix his stare and examine it further, the vision distorted sharply.
The stars faded away.
The world vanished.
And again, he found himself under the dirt-covered roof of the alchemy hall.
’The limits on Rune-Tech are still easing...’ Alex thought to himself. ’That vision earlier... might it mean I momentarily left Verdantis’s planar boundaries?’
He could guess forever. But lacking proof, it would stay mere guesswork.
Thus, he compelled himself to concentrate on something concrete— something he could act upon.
Settling at the primary workstation, he crossed his arms and delved into reflection.
’From that voice, it appears the test demands an alchemical breakthrough from me,’ he pondered.
His eyes shifted to the wall murals.
’Every mural shows a major advance— a key progress in the field. That backs up the notion.’
Alex returned to the workstation, his fingers drumming softly on it as ideas swirled.
’Alchemy isn't my forte. I struggle to make reliable alchemical items, much less invent a whole new technique.’
Briefly, a gloomier idea emerged.
’Maybe I should quit? What connection does inheriting some outer plane really have with me?’
He halted.
Then gave a wry grin and shook his head.
’No, I can't.’
’Bailing out now would leave me regretting it.’
’Plus... I can't ignore my desire to reveal this plane’s hidden history.’
He breathed out gradually.
’What sort of impossible prodigy do they want for this "Legatee of Heaven and Earth"?’
’It’s absurd to think someone has conquered every sorcery field before getting here.’
Suddenly, his gaze intensified.
His casual thinking had ignited an insight.
’Hold on... that’s the key.’
He stroked his chin in thought.
’Expecting one person to dominate all sorcery branches is illogical. Usually, alchemy experts falter in battle— and battle masters seldom shine in academic pursuits.’
’All have boundaries. Unless picking some ancient veteran who’s endured centuries, how could anyone master everything? And even so... excelling in one area often sacrifices another.’
He affirmed with a nod.
’If a so-called heaven-blessed prodigy shone in all but one branch... would they get dismissed just for that flaw?’
He shook his head.
’That wouldn’t add up.’
His eyes flashed once more.
’So, there has to be a feature here to aid such people— a way to fill gaps.’
’I’m not demanding a lot... just a clue would do.’
Alex stood and inspected the hall more thoroughly.
Eventually, his attention landed on the resource vault— the huge, showy entrance that had unlocked before.
But next to it...
A smaller, much subtler door existed.
’I overlooked that earlier.’
No wonder.
The vault’s splendor pulled eyes naturally, eclipsing nearby things.
Alex approached the modest door without delay.
Pushing it open revealed a simple but spacious collection of books.
Rows of shelves filled the space— fewer than a hundred for sure, yet crammed with volumes.
Devouring them all would take months... or years.
Still, a wide grin lit Alex’s features as he eyed the titles.
’Compendium of Ten Thousand Basic Herbs.’
’Introduction to Poisonous Flora.’
’Identifying and Selecting Cauldrons.’
’Fundamentals of Concoction Methods.’
He progressed deeper.
’Compendium of One Thousand Advanced Herbs.’
’Advanced Herbological Theory.’
’Compendium of Basic Ores.’
The setup was orderly.
Shelves advanced methodically from basics to more complex topics.
With enough time for study and exploration here, anyone could forge a solid alchemy base from scratch.
A thorough, organized groundwork.
One shelf even offered in-depth accounts of alchemy’s great strides— echoing the timeline shown in the outer murals.
Initially, Alex felt elated.
But his joy faded upon noticing the missing tome on Energy Alchemy.
In its spot sat just a slim beginner’s guide— a basic summary.
’My hunch was spot on,’ Alex reflected silently. ’Prospective Legatees aren’t supposed to arrive as experts in every area. The key is understanding— the skill to learn swiftly with proper basics provided.’
’The sole true limit... is the clock.’
A gradual smile formed on his face.
’Luckily, I possess the perfect solution for that.’
He activated OmniRune, trying to form a gateway to the Sanctuary.
Bang!
The gateway shuddered wildly before imploding with a deep boom.
It couldn’t hold steady enough for passage.
Alex’s brow furrowed.
After quick mental figuring for minutes, he switched tactics.
Rather than full body transfer, he cracked the gateway slightly— enough to extend into the Sanctuary’s secure zone.
Luckily, his rune ink supplies were grouped together.
He only had to match the gateway precisely to the Sanctuary’s storage spots.
Success came.
Next, he briefly checked if he could shift alchemy hall items into the Sanctuary.
The try flopped right away.
’Of course... it can’t be so easy,’ he laughed softly.
After grabbing the needed supplies, he shut the gateway with a gesture.
Then, he started carving runic arrays across the hall.
In the library area, he inscribed a known scanning array on the ground.
It matched the setup he’d used at DragonHold Enclave— for scanning and converting archive texts into the Virtual Library.
It was likewise the core array in the Arcane Crystal Runic Servers from the Golden Palace.
No need to build the array anew. He just enlarged it... and bolstered its firmness.
With the enhanced array ready, Alex scanned and loaded dozens of books’ contents into OmniRune in seconds.
Over the following hours —mostly handling pulling out and replacing books on shelves— he finished digitizing the whole library.
"Analyze the collected data and pull out all key details on Verdantian Alchemy," Alex commanded.
OmniRune obeyed.
This round, rather than displaying outward, the AI sorcery aide fed it straight to Alex’s mind, using their bolstered neural and spirit connection— a side effect of OmniRune’s ongoing spell mending for him.
Basic.
Intermediate.
Advanced.
A flood of alchemy wisdom surged into his awareness.
Alex assumed a cross-legged pose and meditated, striving to organize, classify, and absorb the data rush.
Time flowed— though its length escaped him.
At last, he lifted his eyelids.
An issue had arisen.
’This method drags too much,’ he decided internally.
’Even mastering it via organized study, I’d at most recreate known things.’
’That’s no breakthrough.’
He reclined a bit against a shelf.
’I require a fresh perspective.’
Another hour slipped by as he considered and rejected concept after concept.
Then—
He froze.
’I’ve approached this incorrectly.’
A quiet change swept his mindset.
’This isn’t my first time bringing a "novel" element to a realm.’
A soft smile played on his lips.
’No need to craft something utterly original in pure terms.’
’Just something original to this realm suffices.’
A spark gleamed in his eyes.
’Verdantian and Pangean alchemy aren’t wholly foreign. They stem from the same source. Just blending them wouldn’t count as a real advance.’
’So... I must pull from a completely distinct place.’
And then—
The inner otaku in Alex awakened.
A broad grin stretched over his features.
A notion —one he’d idly dreamed up in his old life— now emerged with vivid sharpness.
***