Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 787: Prototype Testing

CH787 Prototype Testing

***

When Alex reflected on the great technological advancements of his previous life, he narrowed the primary drivers of those developments down to three inventions: the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, and the electric motor.

The steam engine came first, ushering mankind into the First Industrial Revolution. Over a century later, the internal combustion engine joined it, helping drive the Second Industrial Revolution.

By the modern era of Alex’s previous life—before his transmigration into his current one—human civilisation was powered largely by the coexistence of internal combustion engines and electric motors, with steam engines relegated to more specialised and niche roles.

It was widely theorised that the future of his former world would eventually move away from internal combustion engines and instead be driven by electric motors, or perhaps by whatever revolutionary technology succeeded them.

Whatever the case, studying the history of his previous world had led Alex to recognise one crucial truth.

For the growth of any civilisation, mastering work—particularly mechanical work—was essential.

The ability to move objects from one place to another, to apply force in order to achieve a desired result... the simplest and most efficient way to accomplish these tasks was by mastering mechanical work.

In his previous life, humanity had achieved that through steam engines, internal combustion engines, and electric motors.

In theory, Alex possessed the knowledge necessary to recreate all three technologies in this world.

Admittedly, the temptation to do exactly that was strong.

However, the engineer within him refused.

From the later stages of his previous civilisation’s development, he understood those technologies’ shortcomings all too well.

Both steam engines and internal combustion engines carried significant environmental consequences, with the internal combustion engine in particular becoming the poster child for harmful emissions—among many other issues.

As for electric motors, they still suffered from shortcomings of their own, especially regarding electrical infrastructure, where high deployment costs and efficiency limitations remained major disadvantages—at least before his transmigration.

Whether intentionally or not, Alex considered himself a student of history.

To him, history’s greatest value was not merely knowing what had happened in the past, but learning to adopt what had proven beneficial while avoiding repeating its mistakes.

After all, repeating the same actions while expecting different results was the very definition of idiocy... or perhaps even insanity.

Since Alex already understood the flaws and limitations of these technologies, he had no intention of simply transplanting them wholesale into this world.

So, he did what he usually did in situations like these—he turned to his Rune-Tech platform to remedy the shortcomings of these technologies while, hopefully, enhancing their strengths as well.

The result of his arduous contemplation was a single manuscript... a single product that he believed could usher not only his domain, but perhaps the worlds of his current life—whether Pangea or Verdantis—into its first technological revolution.

Just as the steam engine, internal combustion engine, and electric motor had each done for his previous world.

--

During the week in which Udara and the BattleBanes jointly executed his Space Gate—or rather, Space Jump—plan, Alex worked tirelessly alongside Sugud to bring the product to life.

While Alex possessed the theoretical foundation for the device and handled the overwhelming majority of its runic design, he could not deny Sugud’s contribution.

Sugud’s seemingly instinctive understanding of mechanics not only compensated for the inevitable flaws in Alex’s design but also refined and improved it, making the finished device more efficient and better rounded than Alex had originally envisioned.

Inside a workshop behind the Magistrate—now Domain Lord’s—manor in the Fonterra Bastide, Alex and Sugud stood before a sturdy workbench, silently admiring the product of their collaboration.

Resting upon it was a cylindrical machine roughly the length of a man’s forearm.

Its bronze-coloured metallic casing was broken by bands of finely engraved runes that encircled its body like glowing veins.

One end terminated in a thick alloy shaft, while the opposite end remained open, revealing a circular intake lined with intricate runic channels designed to accept a variety of power sources.

Though still untested and completely motionless, the device radiated a quiet, restrained presence, as though it were merely waiting for an energy source to awaken it.

Alex and Sugud exchanged a glance, both instinctively realising they stood on the verge of a monumental moment.

Sugud gestured towards the machine before quietly stepping back, leaving the honour of the moment to Alex.

Alex nodded and stepped closer.

He rotated a selector knob at the open circular intake end, choosing one of four available settings.

"Moment of truth..." He muttered.

Behind him, Sugud unconsciously swallowed.

Then Alex flipped the switch.

For a brief moment...

Nothing happened.

Sugud looked at Alex in confusion.

Alex frowned as well, unable to understand what had gone wrong.

Then, in the next instant, the runes engraved across the machine’s casing—particularly those surrounding the intake port—awakened one after another, emitting a soft mana-blue glow.

Hummm~

A low hum filled the workshop as the shaft at one end of the device began to rotate—slowly at first, but soon accelerating until it spun too fast for the eye to follow.

Sugud’s gaze followed the spinning shaft as it engaged the connected pulley.

The leather drive belt snapped taut, setting a second pulley into motion.

Then another...

And another...

Within moments, the long driveshaft suspended beneath the workshop’s ceiling was spinning smoothly from one end of the building to the other.

The workshop came alive.

Grinding wheels spun into motion. The workshop’s small lathe began turning with a steady, rhythmic precision, while the drill press rotated effortlessly.

Even the polishing wheel in the far corner started spinning, its surface blurring into a grey disc.

The workshop was soon filled with the gentle hum of machinery at work.

Sugud stood frozen by the sight.

’It’s... it’s really powering the entire workshop...’

Alex simply smiled.

This was merely a crude prototype.

In its true form, the device held the potential to accomplish so much more.

He walked to the far end of the workshop, where a crude forging hammer press stood connected to the overhead driveshaft by a broad leather belt.

With a firm pull of the lever, the final clutch engaged.

THOOM!

The hammer press crashed down onto the anvil.

THOOM! THOOM!! THOOM!!!

Again and again, the hammer descended.

Every strike landed with a similar—perhaps even identical—force and flawless timing, each impact sending faint tremors through the stone floor beneath the anvil.

Sugud hurried over excitedly.

Grabbing a glowing billet from the forge with a pair of tongs, he slid it beneath the hammer.

The contraption immediately began forging the heated metal with effortless, perfectly timed strikes.

Neither man spoke.

They simply watched the machine do its work.

Before long, they witnessed hours of backbreaking labour being accomplished by the power generated from a single, softly humming cylindrical device resting quietly and unassumingly upon the workbench.

Finally, Sugud released the long breath he had unknowingly been holding and turned towards Alex, unable to suppress the grin spreading across his face.

"So, Young Master Alex... what do we call this device?" He asked.

Alex slowly swept his gaze across the workshop.

The spinning shafts...

The humming machines...

The hammer press rising and falling with unwavering precision...

Finally, his eyes settled upon the unassuming cylinder that made all of it possible.

"Mana Motor..." He murmured.

Then he looked at Sugud and repeated the words, this time with sharp certainty.

"Let’s call it the Mana Motor."

***