Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 583: Pyramid of Elements I

***

A burst of light surrounded Silver, and in the instant that followed, she stood again in front of the Armament Stele.

Instinctively, her eyes swept over the area nearby.

As anticipated, she discovered that she was the final one to finish the Armament challenge.

The rest of Alex's companions had completed it ahead of her.

In that short instant, a wave of Battle Spirit rose inside her.

This wave automatically unleashed her fresh Archery Will.

Regrettably, at that precise time, her eyes had accidentally turned toward where Sugud was positioned.

Consequently, the unfortunate artisan suffered the complete force of her Will.

"You should look into the stele for the reward of your trial," the enigmatic elder prompted her.

Silver merely nodded.

Her Mental Energy reached into the stele, inspecting the list of prizes inside it.

True to her guesses, the majority of prizes were old magician armaments.

Included were multiple bows featuring different styles, plus many magician armament secret techniques.

Of course, Silver's attention was pulled to the bows.

As a bow user, why wouldn't it be?

Yet, upon examining them briefly, she gradually shook her head and pulled back her Mental Energy from the stele.

"You are not choosing anything?" the elder inquired with slight interest.

"Nothing there suits me," Silver answered steadily.

The elder paused briefly and gazed at her.

In the end, he just nodded silently.

Silver looked at the stele one more time.

She had momentarily considered picking a prize and trading it once out of the challenge.

But in the final analysis, she felt that would dishonor the chance bestowed upon her.

Without plans to use any prizes for herself, she preferred to leave them as they were.

Rather than taking the armaments from the stele—which were undoubtedly superior on their own—Silver preferred acquiring one of the crossbows she'd overheard Alex mention to Sugud in their rests.

Mentioning Alex, the youthful aristocrat was presently diligently tackling his Elemental Challenge.

-

As Alex awoke his eyes in the test area formed by the Elemental Stele, an unconscious grin appeared on his lips.

Indeed, what lay before him was a scene he recognized well.

The vista evoked an enchanted domain hovering far above the skies.

Under Alex's boots, the terrain appeared as a fluffy isle crafted from legendary mist.

Yet most crucially, in front rose a stepped pyramid, where brilliant golden rays from above poured onto the level platform at the top.

Without delay, Alex oriented himself fully.

Right then, the well-known tone of the test area resounded in his ears and thoughts alike.

"From the dawn of Creation came the Heaven and the Earth. And between the Heaven and the Earth came the elements.

"Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Wood, Nature, Poison, Darkness, Light... all elemental natures are bound within the Heaven and the Earth."

"To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth means to master the elements between the Heavens and the Earth."

"To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth means to comprehend the Will of the Heaven and the laws of the Earth; both of which begin with the comprehension of the elements between the Heaven and the Earth."

"O ye who seeks the legacy of the Heaven and the Earth, stand forth upon the Pyramid of Elements, and proclaim your mastery of the elements."

—

Not relying on this unusually straightforward guidance from the test area's voice, Alex was already aware of the required actions.

For the Stairway to the Heavens represented a typical test pattern in the Eastern cultivation tales from his former existence.

'Typically, the Stairway to the Heavens tests cultivation and physical form,' Alex pondered inwardly. 'You'd usually see this in the Body trials.'

Afterward, he gave a shrug.

"Well, since it’s in the elemental trial instead, there’s nothing I can do but take it as it comes."

Alex—maybe overly enthusiastic—hurried swiftly to the pyramid's steps and started ascending.

"Umph! As expected..."

Upon setting foot on the initial stair, an intense pull of gravity bore down on him, like it aimed to flatten him onto the steps.

Still, drawing from the knowledge in tales of his past life, Alex had anticipated exactly this.

His frame readily resisted the force.

He advanced to the second stair.

Followed by the third.

But upon arriving at the fourth stair, the gravitational force abruptly grew to a degree his mere physique couldn't handle anymore.

Not because his frame lacked strength.

Instead, the steps forbade it, since that approach broke the challenge's regulations.

'Alright then,' Alex reflected silently. 'Let’s play by the rules.'

'Since this is an elemental trial, the core idea of the trial ought to center on elemental mana,' he contemplated.

Regrettably, his Truth-Seeker Eyes inactive, Alex couldn't use Spirit Sight to detect the flow of nearby mana anymore.

'No matter...'

Alex resorted to his acquired Elemental Affinity Boost ability to connect with the elemental mana encircling him.

At once, he detected a dense presence of diverse elemental types in the surrounding mana.

Without much deliberation, Alex employed his boosted connection to entice the Fire elemental mana from the nearby mana to his form.

Even absent his persuasion—likely because of the challenge's guidelines—the Fire elemental mana rapidly assembled and created a guarding barrier over him.

This barrier shielded him against the overwhelming gravity from the steps.

Fourth step...

Fifth step...

Each advance heightened the gravity further.

At the sixth step, the force built to where he nearly crumpled to the surface once more.

Alex invoked his affinity boost ability again, pulling additional surrounding Fire elemental mana to him.

The barrier grew denser, strengthening and safeguarding his form from the dominating gravity.

Beyond that, for every advance, he boosted the density of Fire elemental mana around the barrier.

Progress on steps grew smoother bit by bit.

This went on till the ninth step.

Yet, trying to mount the tenth step of the pyramid—

The gravity abruptly surged by leaps.

'Argh!'

Alex tried boosting the Fire elemental mana's density in the barrier guarding his form from the pyramid's gravity.

However, right when he sought more Fire elemental mana, a abrupt force crushed onto his Mental Energy directly.

A throbbing ache pulsed in his head.

He hastily pulled back his Mental Energy and stepped down to the ninth again.

After the ache faded, Alex carefully sent out his Mental Energy once more, scanning the nearby mana.

'Oh... so that’s what happened.'

Understanding struck him right away.

He had gathered every bit of nearby Fire elemental mana already.

To collect extra, he'd need to stretch his Mental Energy further away.

Yet that would heighten his Mental Energy's vulnerability to the pyramid's smothering gravity.

***