Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 45: Striking Riches... Or Not

CH45 Striking Riches... Or Not

***

After getting dressed, Alex realised the source of the golden energy signature picked up by his Spirit Sight wasn’t coming from the stalactite milk pool, but from something deeper within the cave.

He followed the trail of energy—only to quite literally come up against a wall.

The golden light in his vision was now incredibly dense, leading him to conclude that the source of the Mana signature had to be behind it.

However, there was such a strong spectrum of Mana behind the wall that it became difficult for Alex to discern exactly what lay beyond.

He tapped on the rock face before him. As he suspected, it was hollow. And fortunately, not very thick.

With a flick, the blade of his left wristblade extended out. Alex used it to carve a small hole in the wall.

Just to be prudent, he made sure to pull out the cut piece of stone rather than push it inward and risk alerting any creature that might be on the other side.

The moment he removed the thin slab and tried to peek through the hole, a strong surge of Mana hit his face like a storm.

Then he understood why the wall had been emanating such a chaotic spectrum of energy.

His breathing hitched. His heart thumped faster. It took a conscious effort to keep himself from trembling with excitement.

He quickly pressed the rock piece back into place.

Then, moving lower, he made a larger, semi-circular hole near the base of the wall—just wide enough for him to crouch through.

Body Strengthening Magic!

He buffed himself up, then, in a rapid sequence, pulled out the cut portion, crouched through the gap, and slid the stone slab back into place behind him.

And just like that, he finally came face-to-face with the source of the golden Mana.

A... Mana Stone Mine.

The other side of the wall opened into a massive cavern—at least fifty metres tall and thrice that wide. Alex suspected the entire mountain might be hollow to house something of this scale.

The cavern walls were composed of a special Mana-holding rock. Brittle, yes—but with excellent Mana-restraining properties. Mana could enter the inner chamber through this rock, but it could never escape.

Over the years, as more and more Mana seeped in and became trapped, it had condensed into solid forms—Mana Stones and Elemental Crystals—which now encrusted most of the cavern.

The reason Alex had sealed the hole behind him was simple: to prevent the dense ambient Mana from leaking out and attracting nearby beasts to this hidden treasure trove.

But now that he was inside... he found himself at a loss.

This Mana Mine would take years to fully excavate.

Even if he somehow managed to mine it all, he lacked the storage space to carry the stones out.

The amount he could mine within the limited time he had wouldn’t even be worth the effort.

At least, not for someone of his current status.

Any ordinary person in his position would have thought they had struck it rich—already fantasising about how to gather as many high-grade Mana Stones and Elemental Crystals as possible.

But for Alex, a True Disciple of an Ancient Dragon, such material wealth was more of a burden than a blessing.

’Wait... the golden Mana signature is still coming from deeper inside the mine. Let’s check that out first before deciding what to do next,’ Alex muttered to himself.

He ventured down a narrow corridor created by towering rows and columns of embedded Mana Stones and Elemental Crystals.

What struck him as odd was how the path ahead was so neatly cleared—as if someone, or something, had laid it out deliberately. It felt less like a natural formation and more like... a lavish welcome prepared for a distant guest.

Unfortunately, the mine itself turned out to be the natural enemy of his Spirit Sight. The chaotic mixture of energies from the countless stones and crystals overwhelmed his senses, rendering him unable to pinpoint individual Mana sources.

He could not tell whether a creature lurked ahead. All he could do was stay vigilant.

Following the golden signature, Alex noticed that the mine sloped downward. The deeper he went, the more it dawned on him—this mine was far larger than he had first imagined.

More astonishing still was the quality of the stones. At the start, he had seen the occasional high-grade Mana Stone or Elemental Crystal scattered across the columns. But now? Entire columns were made entirely of high-grade materials.

It was getting to the point where Alex began preparing himself mentally to encounter a Peak-grade Mana Stone or Elemental Crystal.

If such a treasure appeared, he would not hesitate to spend the rest of his time mining it. Items of that calibre were just too rare, too impossibly valuable to pass up.

After twenty minutes of navigating the path, he finally arrived at what seemed to be the very end of the Mana Mine.

Unfortunately, no Peak-grade materials greeted him.

But what he did find left him more baffled than disappointed.

At the end of the cave was the entrance to a hall—clearly separate from the mine itself.

The moment he stepped inside, he noticed something immediately.

There wasn’t a single Mana Stone, nor a single Elemental Crystal embedded within the walls or floor of the hall.

And yet... the ambient Mana concentration within was no less than what he had experienced outside.

Ordinarily, such dense Mana should have long crystallised into a Mana Stone. But here? Nothing.

There was only one conclusion to be drawn—something was actively preventing the Mana from condensing.

Stranger still, Alex felt a powerful sense of familiarity from the moment he laid eyes on the hall.

It tugged at something deep within his core. So much so that—uncharacteristically—he let his guard down and stepped forward.

The moment he did...

He was struck by yet another monumental shock in what had already been a day of extraordinary revelations.

***