CH16: Mind and Soul of Runes
***
The Tribulation of Heavenly Secrets came and went without leaving a ripple.
All residents of DragonHold Enclave experienced some form of boon—though no one knew why.
None recalled anything unusual. They didn't even sense anything amiss. One moment, life was mundane; the next, blessings arrived for no rhyme or reason.
Since the Enclave's authorities said nothing, and no one suffered ill effects, everyone soon dismissed the strange occurrence and went about their business.
By fate's design, nearly everyone hostile to Alex was away from the tower, attending Duke Siegmund Wastelander's ascension celebration—so none benefited from the boon Alex had caused.
—
The person at the heart of the Tribulation remained oblivious to this fortunate coincidence.
In fact, he was unaware of the entire event.
After a day's rest, he returned to his Rune-Tech project. The discovery of Greater Runes and the OmniRune Core in his Mindspace was only a milestone—'nothing worth mentioning.'
Alex tried interacting with the Rune in his Mindspace, but nothing happened.
'Either my Mindspace isn't conducive to the Rune's operation, or it's still too incomplete to function properly,' he mused.
'Whatever the case, the solution is clear.'
At his Rune-Tech lab's worktable, Alex carefully brought forward the Tear of Zan Crystal.
The crystal was named so for its tear-like shape and first discovery within the borders of a Town Called Zan. A town which was destroy in the battle between three noble families to monopolise the resource
It had been purged of the data previously been transferred from the Moro Crystal. This amounted to less than 1% of the whole dataset, so Alex felt no loss clearing it out.
'Here goes nothing.'
He placed the crystal against his forehead and shaped his Spiritual Force to bridge the OmniRune Core and the Tear of Zan Crystal.
'Transfer!' Alex ordered mentally.
Suddenly, tiny particles, like hairs falling from an oxen, broke off the Rune's surface, dropping onto the Spiritual Force bridge and propelled at high speed into the crystal.
This continued rapidly until the Rune was stripped of mass, leaving only a transparent outline in Mindspace.
Inside the crystal, Alex found not the Greater Rune he expected, but the mass cluster of the Lesser basic runes and the Compressor array circle that had formed the Greater Rune.
'It worked!'
He had achieved high-speed transfer of his Runes.
But not without cost.
A wave of nausea and vertigo hit, and he nearly blacked out.
He wished he had—because a massive migraine pounded in his skull.
He forced himself into a meditative seat to recover his lost Spiritual Force.
Three hours later, Alex sighed in relief as his Spiritual Force overdraft stabilised.
'Yeah, not doing that again unless I have to,' he muttered.
What Alex had just done drained so much Spiritual Force, that if it wasn't for the fact that his Soul had the density of two Souls and a significant reserve of Spiritual Force, he would have damaged his Spiritual force. Thus, severely harming his future progress.
Still, the risk bore fruit.
A transfer that should have taken a week completed in an hour.
Well, add three hours of recovery, and it was a four-hour process—still far better than a week of waiting.
'Using your advantages and talents is how you get ahead in the world,' Alex said proudly to himself.
He turned his focus to the crystal now housing all his basic runes.
The same runes that filled the entire capacity of the Moro Crystal barely took up a tenth of the Tear of Zan's capacity.
'The next step is simple. The OmniRune wants to be complete. I just need to add the remaining Intermediate and Advanced runes.'
With his goal set and materials ready, Alex set to work inscribing Intermediate and Advanced runes into the Tear of Zan.
He wasn't sure if it was the Greater Rune in his Mindspace or the aftereffects of the bridge transfer, but his Spiritual Force affinity for rune inscription had improved greatly.
'At this rate, I'll finish much faster than expected!'
His motivation surged.
—
True to his usual routine, Alex compressed all his time into sleeping, eating, classes, meetings with Asta, Merlin, and Zora, and rune inscriptions.
The inscriptions took the bulk of his time.
Intermediate and Advanced runes were supposed to be far harder to inscribe than Basic runes—at least, that's what he expected.
What he projected to take over three months, he completed in two.
Compared to his speed and skill when inscribing the basic runes, his current speed and skill were incomparable.
'Sigh...' Alex sighed after completing another hours-long session.
He stretched, then a sudden thought struck him.
'Come to think of it, now that I've inscribed all the common runes, that makes me an Elementary Runesmith and Array Master.'
He rubbed his chin, a gesture odd for his physical age, and mused, 'With my Compression Array Circle, I can be said to have practical experience with creating and drawing arrays. That would make me an unofficial Tier 1 Array Master. I just need the certification to make it official.'
'Nah, no thanks. Whether Array Formations or Runesmithing, they're just means to an end—not my chosen path. I'll pick and choose whatever I need from both, but programming and Rune-Tech remain my primary focus.'
Getting higher Tier certifications would require mastering the full technical knowledge of both fields.
He had no need for that—he could just learn what helped him create better programmed arrays and rune formations.
In fact, he suspected his current basics would suffice.
'Still, with Eidetic Memory, it'd be a waste not to soak up knowledge while I'm still here studying at the Mage Tower.'
Putting the thought aside, he refocused on his work.
After a quick meditation to restore energy, he smiled—ready to complete the OmniRune Core.
Like before, he formed a Spiritual Force bridge—this time between the transparent form of the Greater Rune floating in Mindspace and the Compression array in the Tear of Zan.
"Activate!"
He ordered the Compression program to run, bracing for any powerful reaction.
But compared to creating the OmniRune Core, this activation was much gentler.
All the runes—from basic to intermediate and finally advanced—were sucked into the singularity formed by the compression array program.
However, rather than forming in the singularity, the rune mass transferred directly to the OmniRune Core.
No fanfare.
Just as its mass had been stripped during the previous transfer, the reverse occurred—returning the mass to the Greater Rune.
Alex's mind blanked briefly from the intensity of the transfer and the increasing weight of the OmniRune Core on his Mindspace.
When the final rune mass transferred, the OmniRune Core signalled completeness.
An intense golden light burst from within, spreading throughout Alex's Mindspace.
Alex felt a moment of enlightenment.
His understanding of Runes deepened—especially his comprehension of the OmniRune Core.
"I see... it's not power you have, but potential and versatility," Alex muttered, his voice distant.
"Because I imagined creating a self-learning AI rather than a rune of sheer strength, what was born was a Rune that can become anything I make it. You can only form the Compression Array because that's all I've taught you."
Numerous realizations settled deeply in Alex's mind.
Slowly, his Mindspace began to shift.
The affinity between his Mindspace and the OmniRune Core grew exponentially.
That was, until it hit a bottleneck.
To break through, Alex had to make a choice.
What was happening mirrored the metamorphosis a Novice experiences when choosing a path, it was the same where they were an Acolyte (Mage) or Trainee (Warrior).
If he continued on this path, Alex would close off his potential to all other possibilities, leaving only affinity for the OmniRune Core.
"There's no turning back now. Do it!" he ordered himself mentally.
A mystical scene unfolded.
The OmniRune Core slowly sank into Alex's Mindspace, as if swallowed by quicksand.
His mind pulsed like a transparent ocean in the midst of a raging storm.
Once again, like previous breakthroughs during his Rune-Tech development, Alex blacked out.
This time, however, no grand phenomenon manifested in the physical world. The changes were confined to Alex's mind and soul.
His mind and soul underwent an unprecedented metamorphosis.
At the boundaries of his Mindspace—once formed by an elastic, fluid-like membrane of psychic energy—any observer looking closely would see something new: atom-sized runes.
Not just at the Mindspace's edges, but also at the boundaries of his Soul realm.
In the most literal sense possible, Alex now possessed a mind and soul made of Runes.
-
When Alex woke, he realised the OmniRune was no longer a separate entity lodged in his Mindspace—it had become one with his Mindspace, as though it had existed with his mind from the very beginning.
Now, under his will, the sun-like Greater Rune could decompress into a star cluster of Lesser Runes in his Mindspace and re-form at a thought, giving his Mindspace a stellar flair.
For the moment, that was its only trick. A blank slate—one Alex must inscribe himself. Its strength would depend entirely on how he nurtured it; in return, its potential felt limitless.
'Exactly what I need,' he mused. 'Once I teach the OmniRune Core to self-learn and self-modify, it'll become the platform I envisioned.'
Eager as he was to begin, one task came first.
He threw on his acolyte over-coat robes and left the dorm, heading—out of long habit—for the Tower Master's office.
One might expect that, after duelling Marcus Hertarian, Alex would be famous throughout the Enclave. The reality was starkly different. He could still roam the Tower's halls without drawing attention like a celebrity- just like he wanted.
It also helped that he avoided wearing the gold brooch that marked him as the Tower Master's official disciple.
Of course, only acolytes and ordinary mages failed to recognise him now; the truly powerful knew exactly who he was—but such people wouldn't fawn over a mere acolyte, even if he was the Tower Master's official disciple.
Alex walked the corridors with the same respectful air as any acolyte, the sole difference being that he was allowed to use the magic lifts and portals that granted him access to the upper floors where the Tower Master's office was located.
As usual, Merlin was absent. Zora handled the paperwork alone.
"Lady Zora—busy as always, I see," Alex said, settling into a chair. Six months in the tower had made him at ease in her presence.
"What brings you, Alex?" she asked, smiling.
"Don't say it like that. You make it sound as if I only visit when something happens."
"That's because you do only visit when something happens," she replied, teasing. "You never leave your pet project unless it's important."
Alex chuckled. 'That's a fair point; I have been so fixated on my Rune-Tech project that I might as well be a hermit.'
"Actually, I've completed another phase," he said.
Her eyes widened. "Already? Wasn't your plan to compress Intermediate and Advanced runes into the OmniRune Core?"
"Yes, it was. And I've done it," Alex confirmed, grin spreading.
"Is that so…?" Zora murmured, eyes briefly distant.
'No disruptive signs at all. Is it because his Greater Runes have already been accepted into the Natural Order, so creating more or improving on it doesn't warrant any fanfare? Then there's no need to worry about an uproar to manage,' she mused—half-relieved, half-disappointed.
Alex sensed the mix of emotions but couldn't fathom why finishing the OmniRune Core would prompt such a mix. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Zora shook her head. "Nothing serious—just thinking."
"So, what's next?"
"The critical step," Alex said. "Whether the project lives or dies depends on this step. For that reason, I've decided to going into seclusion to focus on the project until the deadline."
"I'll treat that as formal notice you'll miss your scheduled classes?"
"Exactly." He hesitated. "About the special meals you arranged—would it still be possible for them to keep coming?"
"Don't worry. You'll receive them anywhere you choose to seclude within the Enclave. Just focus on your goals," Merlin's voice echoed—though the Legendary Mage was nowhere to be found.
"Thank you, Master." Alex bowed toward the disembodied voice.
"I'll seclude in my dorm," he added to Zora. "You're welcome to visit."
"Appreciated, but no," she replied, smiling. "Finish your work first. We'll celebrate after you succeed."
"You'd like to start immediately, right? Don't fret about your friend—Asta, yes? I'll have someone inform her of your seclusion."
Though phrased as a suggestion, Alex felt a gentle compulsion behind the words. He nodded. "Understood, Lady Zora."
As the Tower Master's assistant, she did hold that authority, though she rarely used it.
Zora helped him file the seclusion notice, and Alex withdrew behind closed doors with no loose ends left.
Now came the decisive phase: writing the code that would awaken the OmniRune Core—turning it into a self-learning, self-modifying entity capable of realising the limitless platform he envisioned.
***