Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 584: Pyramid of Elements II

CH584 Pyramid of Elements II

***

Alex pondered the circumstances with care for an instant.

’I might just power through it anyway. The discomfort isn’t truly severe,’ he reflected.

Yet soon, a fresh idea struck him.

’Since Fire elemental mana proves inaccessible, perhaps I can draw upon another element instead?’

He stroked his chin in contemplation.

’Time to attempt Light now.’

Out of his primary four elements, Light appeared to be the next most plentiful after Fire in terms of elemental essence.

Thus, he extended his reach toward it.

’If I could employ Spirit Sight once again, there’d be no need for such trial and error,’ the notion flickered through his thoughts momentarily before he pushed it aside.

Once again, his Spiritual Force stretched out into the surroundings.

Similar to the earlier encounter with Fire elemental mana, the Light elemental mana swiftly answered his summons.

It converged near him, establishing an extra barrier that safeguarded his form against the pyramid’s oppressive weight.

’It worked,’ Alex mused.

He pressed on with his ascent of the pyramid, amplifying the density of Light elemental mana enveloping his body at each stride.

The journey went without hitch until the eighteenth step.

As he tried to mount the nineteenth, he noticed the Light elemental mana around him had fully drained.

Much like the prior Fire mana, pulling in more would demand extending his Spiritual Force deeper into the pyramid’s gravity—leaving it more vulnerable—if he wanted to collect additional Light mana.

’Fine, then... Darkness it is this round.’

Alex wasted no time.

He promptly shifted to summoning a contrasting elemental mana.

Now comprehending the trial’s rhythm, Alex inferred that the pyramid’s gravitational surge occurred every nine steps, necessitating a fresh element to endure the strain.

Darkness mana rapidly amassed beside him.

It bolstered his barrier from the nineteenth step through to the twenty-seventh.

Upon arriving at the twenty-eighth step, Alex swiftly transitioned to invoking Lightning elemental mana.

As expected, the Lightning mana fortified his defensive layer, enabling further progress up the pyramid.

But this time was different...

A grave seriousness etched across Alex’s face.

Gazing upward along the pyramid, Alex saw he hadn’t even crested the midpoint.

Nevertheless, he had already depleted all the elemental connections available to bolster the barrier shielding him from the pyramid’s relentlessly mounting gravity.

Before long, he arrived at the thirty-sixth step.

Even prior to raising his foot for the subsequent step, Alex sensed an immense force bearing down on the barrier encasing him.

’No chance of advancing... the barrier won’t hold if I linger here much longer,’ his forehead creased in worry.

’Retreat?’

He peered over his shoulder.

In the instant that followed, he rolled his eyes and redirected his focus to the pyramid’s peak.

Instead of dwelling on an option he had no plans to pursue, he could better use that moment to devise a way out of his dilemma.

’Is it possible...?’

Observing the barrier around him—crafted from the fundamental elemental essences he had assembled—Alex entertained a sudden fanciful idea.

’Worth a shot.’

His Spiritual Force projected outward yet again.

But on this occasion, it didn’t seek the nearby ambient mana.

Rather, it delved directly into the barrier.

Guided by his Spiritual Force, the Fire and Light elemental mana inside the barrier started to blend.

Abruptly, the barrier grew more robust.

Extra Fire and Light elemental mana surged into it from the ambient space, pulled from zones past the secure limits of his Spiritual Force’s reach.

’Evidently, Solar mana counts as a valid element in the eyes of Heaven and Earth,’ Alex affirmed inwardly.

Armed with that insight, he resumed his ascent.

Each time the gravity surged per step, he merely combined the recently acquired Fire and Light mana in the barrier to generate Solar mana.

That Solar mana then drew in more Fire and Light elemental mana, forming a self-sustaining cycle that progressively fortified his barrier.

This method advanced without issue...

Until the subsequent critical juncture.

The forty-sixth step.

There, the cycle abruptly failed.

It seemed the Fire and Light elemental mana in the vicinity had been entirely spent.

Just fusing the leftover Fire and Light mana into Solar mana proved insufficient now.

To press onward, another approach was essential.

’Very well...’

With little delay or deep pondering, Alex turned his focus to the Lightning and Darkness elemental mana in his barrier.

’Netherspark... you’re up.’

The Lightning and Darkness mana combined, yielding the uncommon—possibly singular—Netherspark element, an essence that emerged when Alex’s Velkar True Name initially appeared, linked to the Infernal roots of his Furor bloodline.

Echoing the previous success, the barrier instantly gained strength.

Bolstered by the Netherspark element’s support, Alex managed to keep ascending.

The climb went well until the fifty-fourth step.

Yet the instant he strove for the fifty-fifth step, another obstacle arose.

Experimentally, Alex tentatively stretched his Spiritual Force, testing the impending burden on it.

’Argh!’

Alex gripped his head.

A tingling agony raced through his mind as the pyramid’s crushing force assailed his vulnerable Spiritual Force.

He yanked it back at once.

’It’s somewhat tolerable... but awfully irritating,’ he considered.

’Worse, it’s no lasting fix. I doubt I can rely on it to summon more mana all the way to the pyramid’s apex.’

’A new tactic is required.’

Crack—!

Out of nowhere, Alex detected a crisp split in the barrier guarding him from the pyramid’s immense gravitational pull.

’Ahh!’

In a brief flash, a fragment of the force seeped past.

Alex experienced it like a collision with a hurtling vehicle.

Luckily, the barrier steadied promptly, mending the fissure before the gravity’s total might could overwhelm him.

’Under no circumstances can I let the barrier shatter,’ he resolved darkly.

’Focus! What else can I do to boost my mana connection and pull in more resonant ambient mana...?’

Alex raised his eyes to the pyramid’s summit.

Ninety-nine steps ascended to the pinnacle.

He had scaled only fifty-four.

Forty-five steps lingered ahead.

Five more intense gravity surges awaited.

Thus, he required five additional strategies to expand his barrier’s elemental capacity sufficiently for the summit.

Crack—!

Regrettably, the pyramid afforded scant opportunity for reflection.

Thus, Alex took a chance.

"Calm Madness."

***