Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 95: Know Your Place

CH95 Know Your Place

***

Seraphina and Sophia. Fraternal twins, around the same age as Ulfman. And just like him, they appeared older than they were. Fully blossomed, both in physique and presence.

Despite their shared bloodline, the twins couldn’t have been more different in aura.

Seraphina exuded overt sensuality. Her clothes were cut in ways that dared men to look—and paid off when they did. A whip hung lazily at her waist, an accessory that suited her image as a dangerous enchantress.

Sophia, in contrast, projected the elegance of a noble daughter—prim, proper, untouchable.

But Alex wasn’t fooled.

Her controlled aura, her steady breath, the tension in her frame... It told him everything he needed to know.

Beneath the facade was a trained fighter, alert and ready.

A combatant who wore etiquette like armour.

Finally, Alex’s eyes settled on the last of the four—a small boy standing behind Seraphina and Sophia.

Alex crouched down to meet him at eye level.

”And you must be Wilbert, am I right?” he asked with a soft smile.

The ten-year-old gave a quick nod, eyes wide with childlike innocence.

Unlike Alex at that age, Wilbert radiated the carefree energy of a normal ten-year-old. A proper child. That simple truth made Alex pause in curiosity.

’So he’s the twin’s full brother,’ Alex realised.

After giving birth to the twins, their mother must have found her way back into Earl Drake’s bed. And here was the result.

Keeping his attention solely to Wilbert, Alex asked, ”I believe this is our first time meeting. Do you know who I am?”

The boy shook his head. ”No.”

Alex raised a brow and turned to his sisters. He expected that, at the very least, they would have badmouthed him by now. That the boy would’ve heard stories—unflattering ones, most likely.

But before he could ask, Sophia gently said to the boy, ”He’s our oldest brother. You should call him First Brother.”

Alex blinked.

Her tone was sincere. Respectful even.

Spirit Sights, Level 2: Malice Detection.

Activating the Ocular prowess’s newly awakened function, Alex scanned all four siblings.

Another surprise.

There was no malice. Not even a flicker.

He chuckled to himself and looked back at Wilbert. ”Just call me Brother Alex.”

”Okay,” the boy nodded brightly.

Alex rose to his feet. ”Did you come to see me?”

Ulfman stepped forward and nodded. ”Yes. We haven’t seen you since—”

He abruptly cut himself off, realising too late the potential implications of his words.

”—since the awakening ceremony,” Alex finished for him with a light chuckle. ”It’s fine. No need to walk on eggshells around me.”

Ulfman exhaled, visibly relieved.

”In that case,” he continued, ”we came to tell you... we don’t intend to fight over the heir position. We just don’t know what our mothers might do.”

Alex raised a brow, genuinely surprised once again.

Seraphina folded her arms and looked away with a huff. ”We’re pure-blood Furies. Whatever we want, we’ll get on our own. We don’t need to rely on an inheritance.”

”What my sister means to say,” Sophia cut in smoothly, ”is that we don’t intend to get in your way. The only real competition for the heirship is Brother Kurt.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh wryly.

Their cautious tone, their careful declarations... one might think he was some ruthless warlord instead of a reclusive mage returning home.

’What the hell have they been told about me?’ He wondered.

Then, a new voice tore through the corridor—brash, loud, and full of scorn.

”Well, well, well. Talking behind my back again, Sophia?”

The air shifted.

A figure strode into view.

Tall, broad-shouldered, and brimming with arrogance. His hair was the same silver-grey, his eyes the signature red of a Fury. But his expression carried a brutal haughtiness.

He sneered.

”Oh, look what we have here. If it isn’t the weakling who ran off to some mage tower after realising just how much of a trash he was...” His smile twisted. ”Sorry, is.”

**

The air froze.

Everyone—Alex, his siblings, and the knight—turned to face the voice’s source.

A tall, burly youth loomed in the corridor, his presence overwhelming. He looked to be in his late teens to early twenties, standing at a towering seven feet (210cm), with a broad chest and the physique of a seasoned warrior—bare back and tiger waist, as the old martial saying went.

Alex wasn’t small by any standard, standing at 190cm, but beside this youth, he seemed almost diminutive.

This wasn’t some veteran warrior in his twenties, though. This was Kurt—Alex’s younger half-brother.

Younger by only a couple of months, but hailed as the favoured heir by most of Earl Drake’s vassals.

Kurt was a prodigy—having fully awakened his Furor Bloodline and manifested its talents by the age of ten. What’s more, he had inherited traces of the Titan bloodline from his mother’s side, further enhancing his physical prowess and durability. The result was a fearsome young warrior well on his way to greatness.

Couple that with Alex’s failed awakening ceremony five years ago and his subsequent disappearance, and Kurt had effortlessly claimed the role of presumptive heir. His mother—an influential noblewoman with a deep grasp of courtly politics—ensured that position remained undisputed.

At least, until now.

Alex silently studied him. Unlike his other siblings, Kurt radiated strong malice—palpable and venomous.

’There’s even killing intent mixed in...’ Alex mused.

’Interesting.’

Still facing Sophia, he spoke calmly. ”I understand what you all are trying to do... but you’re making one very crucial mistake.”

He offered them a faint smile.

”There is no competition for the position of heir. There’s only a fool who doesn’t know his place.”

He motioned to the knight at his side. ”Don’t worry yourselves. The fool will be put down soon enough. No need to let it affect our sibling relationship.”

With that, Alex turned on his heel and strode forward—completely ignoring Kurt, not sparing him even a glance.

”Stop right there, you waste!” Kurt’s voice thundered.

Veins bulged across his neck and forehead. His face flushed with rage.

Humiliation. Pure, boiling humiliation.

But Alex didn’t halt.

Furious, Kurt lunged forward, his peak Intermediate Warrior aura erupting from his body in a violent blaze. His footsteps thundered on the stone floor as he closed the distance in an instant, fist cocked back to strike.

Alex slowly turned.

In that instant—he unleashed everything.

Beast Intimidation.

Solmir’s Regality and Dominion.

Velkar’s Subjugation and Dominance.

Killing Intent.

His ruby-red eyes darkened into a deeper crimson as they locked onto Kurt. (1)

The aura that radiated from him surged out like a crashing tide—one built not just of magic or bloodline, but of something far more primal.

Authority.

Kurt’s charge came to an abrupt halt.

His punch froze mid-air, just inches from Alex’s face.

Alex didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. He stared directly into Kurt’s eyes, gaze sharp as blades.

”I just returned home,” he said coolly. ”I don’t want to get my hands dirty yet. So, I’ll overlook this transgression.”

His Spiritual Force surged outward. The Beast Intimidation washed over Kurt’s mind like a crushing weight.

”You are beneath me. And there is nothing you can do to change that.”

He turned his back and began walking away.

”Just... know your place.”

Those disdainful parting words echoed endlessly in Kurt’s mind as Alex left.

***

Author’s Ramblings:

1: Sharigan! Ching~

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I just have this feeling that every novel, comic and anime fan would want to pull off a Sharigan moment.

What do you think, True or False?