Chapter 18 - Rune-Tech's Rune Mastery
CH18: Rune-Tech's Rune Mastery
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Spell Fusion Spell: Inferno!
Under the Spirit Sight ability of his Truth-Seeker Eyes, Alex watched intently as the Runic Spell Circles beneath both spells twisted and pulled together, fusing into one unified formation.
The resulting spell orb had a deeper, more menacing red than a regular Fireball, and a visible swirl of wind surrounded it like a miniature cyclone.
Without hesitation, Alex fired the spell.
The projectile tore through the air with a speed that rivalled a Windball.
Then—
BOOM!!!
Merlin and Zora's eyes widened in absolute shock as the spell exploded in the distance.
The blast carried both the fiery detonation of a Fireball and the powerful knockback of a Windball. The result was a much wider radius of destruction and a significantly stronger force behind the blast wave.
The damage caused by the spell far exceeded what any ordinary Grade 2 spell could produce.
"Did a Novice just fire a spell with the destructive power of a Grade 4 spell?" Zora muttered, barely believing what she had witnessed.
She knew Alex would pull something shocking and insane—but this... this was too much.
Almost on cue, both she and Merlin turned to look at the boy. Alex was panting, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. It was clear the spell hadn't come easily.
'Of course. How could it be easy to cast a peak Intermediate-rank spell without consequences?' Zora comforted herself.
She conveniently ignored the fact that the only consequence Alex seemed to suffer was rapid Mana depletion.
Which, considering the result, was practically nothing.
Merlin remained silent, replaying the spell sequence in his mind. His eyes sparkled as he slowly pieced together the secret behind Alex's technique.
Before he could speak, however, Zora blurted out, "How did you pull off multi-casting? And how were you even able to cast Grade 2 spells to begin with?"
Alex took five slow, deliberate breaths—deep in, deep out. With each cycle, the fatigue visibly eased from his body.
Once again, he had his durable Spiritual Force to thank for his rapid recovery.
"Technically, I didn't multi-cast," he replied. "I cast the Fireball spell, and the OmniRune Core cast the Windball."
"As for how I was able to cast a Grade 2 spell... it just came naturally. I think one of my bloodlines has a high Fire affinity. Casting the Fireball felt instinctive and cost me far less Mana than it should have."
"With that experience, I taught the OmniRune Core to cast the Windball spell. It was just a matter of replicating the Spell Formation—something that's second nature to the Greater Rune."
"Actually," Alex continued, "those spells weren't what I really wanted to show."
"It was your control over Runes and Spell Formations," Merlin said.
'As expected of a Legendary Mage, he noticed immediately.' Alex smiled inwardly.
"Combination Spells exist," Merlin continued. "Multiple Mages can pool their Mana to create powerful effects. But that's not what you did."
"Instead of combining the resulting spell phenomena—the effects—you fused the Spell Formations themselves. That's a completely different concept."
He fixed his eyes on the boy. "That's why you called it a Special Fusion Spell, not a Combination Spell."
"You didn't just merge the effects of two spells. You fused them at their intrinsic level—the spell structure, the Runic framework."
"What you've shown is just a fusion of basic elemental spells. But if you can do this with higher-grade spells... with abstract concepts, domains, or laws..."
"I see. That's the proof of concept you wanted to present."
Alex's smile deepened.
'As expected of a Legendary Mage—I didn't need to explain. He understood right away.'
As the saying went, it was easy to speak with the intelligent.
"How many times can you cast such a Fusion Spell?" Merlin asked.
"I can force it and overdraft my Mana—twice. Thrice, if I'm willing to push myself to the edge."
"Hmm..." Merlin nodded, thoughtful. 'And that limit will only improve as he ranks up.'
"This isn't bad... but I expected more," Merlin said, a teasing glint in his eye.
Alex smirked. "I never said that was all."
He turned to Zora.
"Could you please cast any Grade 2 spell—or lower?"
Zora nodded, but a flicker of pride lit her eyes. She didn't want to simply cast a spell and be looked down upon by her 'little brother'. So...
With a graceful wave of her hand, a metre-long shard of ice formed in the air.
Grade 2 Spell: Ice Bolt (Silent Instant Cast)!
Alex's face twitched.
'Why do father and daughter have to show off?'
He quickly reacted.
"Cancel!"
The Ice Bolt vanished in an instant.
"Huh?" Zora raised an eyebrow.
"I can manipulate not only the Runes of my own Spell Circles, but also those of others—so long as they're within the range of my Spiritual Force and I have at least half the Mana they used to cast the spell," Alex explained calmly.
He felt the sudden urge to show off a bit himself.
"I can not only cancel the spell—I can alter it, reshaping the output to make it weaker or stronger. That means I can hijack a spell and use it as my own... without casting it."
"I see... Your OmniRune Core is pushing for absolute control over Runes," Merlin remarked, stroking his chin.
"Somewhat," Alex replied with a small nod.
"That concludes the demonstration of what Rune-Tech can do for me. Next, I'll show you what I can do for others through Rune-Tech."
Both Zora and Merlin visibly perked up.
They remembered Alex mentioning his goal: to create a platform that not only enhanced his power but also empowered his future forces.
So far, the results from Rune-Tech in boosting his own strength were remarkable—more than enough to elevate him above his peers.
The father-daughter duo were eager to see whether his methods for empowering others would be just as groundbreaking.
Alex reached into his waistbag and pulled out a small, palm-sized metallic brick, handing it to Zora.
"Please hold on to this for now. I'll need it for the next demonstration."
Zora nodded, accepting the device.
Then Alex pulled out a larger brick—three times the size of the one he gave her—and placed it on the ground between Zora and Merlin. After setting it down, he jogged across the vast training hall—easily the size of two football stadiums.
Panting lightly when he reached the other side, Alex pulled out a small orb from his bag and spoke into it.
"Lady Zora, Master—can you hear me? If you can, please fire an Ice Bolt into the air."
Moments later, he spotted a familiar shard of ice arc into the sky.
"Good. I know you have questions, but first: channel your Mana and Spiritual Force into the trinket I gave you. You should see two options. Use your Spiritual Force to select the one with my name."
Shortly after, Alex felt a vibration from his waistbag. He reached in and retrieved a brick identical to the one he'd handed to Zora.
"What do you think of the trinket I made? Oh—this one can transmit voice, so feel free to reply," he said, speaking into the device.
"Alex, is that you?" came Zora's voice from the device.
"Yes! This is a small communication device I created. We can talk in real time with minimal Mana consumption, thanks to Rune-Tech. I call it a Phone."
"You... I don't even know what to say anymore," Zora sighed from the other end.
"I'm opening a portal. Come back," Merlin's voice followed shortly after.
A portal shimmered into existence before Alex, perfectly stable and accurate. He stepped through, and in a blink, was back before Zora and Merlin.
Alex stood proudly before them, grinning from ear to ear.
"I realised something early on—distant communication is extremely inconvenient. Most methods aren't instant and take time to deliver. And when they are instantaneous, they consume a lot of Mana and are outrageously expensive."
He raised a finger for each point as he continued.
"Thanks to my Rune-Tech programming, I managed to design a series of Rune circuits that made both devices possible. One: a Microphone Circuit to capture sound and convert it into a mana-based signal. Two: a Transmitter Circuit to send that signal to a corresponding device. Three: a Receiver Circuit to pick up the signal. Four: a Speaker Circuit to convert the signal back into sound. Five: a Power Circuit that draws energy from the user's Mana or a mana stone. And six: a Tuning Circuit—to make sure only the correct caller and receiver are connected."
He beamed with pride.
"I combined all of these into a single Greater Rune: the Phone Rune."
Merlin and Zora were silent, absorbing the implications.
"Unlike the OmniRune Core, which is exclusive to me, this Phone Rune can be taught to others. That means this communication tool can be mass-produced."
Alex smiled with quiet satisfaction.
To him, a modern man, the idea of relying on slow messengers or inefficient magical communication was unbearable. It felt like a duty—no, a mission—to fix this flaw in the world. And he had done just that.
"Oh, and by the way," he added offhandedly, "I plan to reach a sales agreement with the Tower regarding the Phone Rune and its general-address variant."
"You're selling it to the Tower?" Zora blinked, clearly surprised.
"Yes, but that's a matter for another time—after this presentation. I still have one last creation to show you. This one..." His eyes gleamed. "...is the prototype of a device I believe will revolutionise my future forces."
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