Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 605: Fortune-Suppressing Dragon

***

The void space crumbled apart.

Instantly after, Alex realized he was no longer in the Heaven-Earth Concordance space. He now stood within the Sanctuary—right in front of Lord Bonsai.

A branch resembling a whip swayed lazily before him.

For some reason... Alex comprehended its message.

"What do you mean it was a stupid decision?" Alex shot back right away. "It was a well-thought-out decision."

He crossed his arms, on the defensive.

"I just gave up stuff I either don’t use or can easily replace," he went on. "I’m not only a mage—I’m a Rune Master. Chanting isn’t required for me to cast spells. All I need is to activate OmniRune to produce the right spell circle, and the spell fires off."

He let out a light scoff.

"Not being able to cast spells with my own power..." Alex sneered, "...isn’t a handicap at all."

"As for my bloodline talents—please. Since when did they truly matter?" he dismissed. "The talents that actually count are linked to my True Name now, not my bloodline."

He shrugged casually.

"So in reality, I’m not losing anything big. The only real loss would’ve been Calm Madness."

He paused for a second.

"Let’s be honest... is Calm Madness really that big of a loss?"

Thwack!

The branch smacked him dead center.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Alex groaned, holding his head.

The branch swayed once more—this time with sharper, almost fierce motions.

"Of course I know it’s my family’s iconic and distinctive talent," Alex fired back. "But if I don’t mention it, who’s going to know I lost it?"

He flashed a faint smirk.

"And besides... is there anyone who would deny I’m a Fury just because I don’t use it?"

His eyes shifted to a deeper crimson hue.

"Let them try."

Calm Madness.

The branch tapped his head once again—gentler now.

Alex erupted into laughter.

The irony in his own choices hadn’t fully escaped him.

"So... are we good?" he inquired.

Rustle...

The whole tree shook, its leaves quivering lightly.

Alex sensed the vibe of a frustrated adult eyeing a ’hopeless’ kid—one they weren’t sure how to handle but had to grudgingly accept.

"Now’s not the time to be exasperated," Alex remarked calmly. "Plenty of insane stuff awaits us ahead."

He grinned and pressed a fist softly to the tree’s trunk.

"We’re in this together, partner."

For an instant, Alex was sure the tree would roll its eyes if it could.

Instead—

Smack!

The branch swatted his hand aside.

Alex burst out laughing.

He noticed Lord Bonsai acting far more lively than before—probably from its slow recovery.

Even so, his trust in the tree kept his typical caution at bay.

’...Or should I call it pessimism?’ he amended in his thoughts.

Putting aside his exchange with Lord Bonsai, Alex at last observed the alterations in the Sanctuary.

New features had appeared.

A tiny sapling stood close to the Heartwood Tree.

Alex instantly figured Eleanore had moved it here.

’It’s like Lord Bonsai... it thrives on Providence,’ he pondered. ’Putting it here is logical. She couldn’t use it until it flowers anyway.’

Then his gaze intensified.

A thin root stretched from the Heartwood Tree... linking straight to the sapling.

Meanwhile, his Spirit Sense picked up a constant energy stream flowing through that link.

’...It’s nourishing the sapling.’

Alex’s face grew a bit softer.

"Thank you," he expressed.

Rustle...

The leaves rustled mildly—responding and also guiding his focus elsewhere.

The vine-like branch stretched up into the tree’s canopy, retrieving something.

The Legacy Egg.

It was handed over to Alex.

The instant his fingers touched it, he froze.

It felt... warmer than earlier.

Evidently, Lord Bonsai had tampered with it too.

Alex didn’t question how the egg entered his Sanctuary.

Something capable of slipping into his Bloodline Space and Soul Space freely... showing up in his more open Sanctuary dimension was no surprise.

While inspecting the egg further—no changes visible except the heat—it abruptly unleashed a mighty pull.

Mana rushed from Alex’s body without his control.

Shocked, he tried to release it on reflex—

Yet the egg stuck to his hand like adhesive.

In seconds, it siphoned almost half his mana.

Crack~!

A crack raced over its shell.

’Huh?!’

Alex’s eyes bulged in astonishment.

Out from the egg slithered a small, hand-sized serpentine (eastern fantasy) dragon, gliding elegantly through the air in front of him.

It looked like the Infernal Dragon from the Fury family’s ancestral grounds in Ashen Castle that Alex had witnessed.

But a clear contrast existed.

That one had dark, foreboding scales, while this gleamed in brilliant gold—its shade almost matching Providence exactly.

In truth...

Calling this dragon forged from pure Providence wouldn’t overstate it.

A subtle purple-gold glow emanated from it, mirroring Alex’s fused bloodline signature.

Crucially, unlike the Infernal Dragon it resembled in shape, this wingless serpent didn’t radiate sheer malice.

It felt... even-keeled.

Or more precisely—

It balanced benevolence and malevolence equally.

Its eyes locked with Alex’s.

Surface-level gentle, but hiding a predator’s essence underneath.

The dragon floated steadily in front of him.

Its presence screamed draconic—yet overlaid with another layer...

A majestic, sovereign aura.

And under that, a domineering tyrannical vibe.

On its brow shone a known symbol.

The National Fortune Greater Rune—the exact one that marked the egg after taking Alex’s energies.

’A Fortune-Suppressing Dragon, huh...’ Alex murmured inwardly.

He wasn’t sure if it was chance or design, but the Empire Providence legacy from One Heaven echoed the Dynasty Fortune techniques in Eastern fantasy tales from his past life.

Thus, Alex believed he grasped the system better than One Heaven did.

’Actually... I doubt One Heaven invented the method,’ he considered.

One Heaven’s prior account felt fragmented—like reciting borrowed lore rather than unveiling his creation.

’Probably the Heavenly Venerable devised it... with One Heaven just executing it via Heaven and Earth power,’ Alex reflected.

He shook his head faintly.

’Doesn’t matter. The key is, it’s mine now.’

Alex reached out to the Fortune-Suppressing Dragon.

The tiny beast nuzzled its head against his palm softly.

Content, it drifted back—settling into Lord Bonsai’s canopy amid the leaves, coiling up for sleep.

As he observed, a quiet insight dawned in Alex’s mind.

Via instinct or their bond—

He understood.

The dragon was gathering his party’s Providence into itself, stockpiling it for him to tap into as needed.

No active oversight required from him.

It operated on its own.

Beyond that, the dragon acted as a live gauge for his group’s progress.

The Fortune-Suppressing Dragon embodied the organization’s Providence physically.

Its expansion mirrored his own strength’s rise.

Alex nodded thoughtfully, pleased.

Next, he turned his attention from the Sanctuary and its residents.

Something crucial awaited him outside.

’Time to go,’ he decided.

’I’ve got a spell to unleash.’

***