Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 584: Pyramid of Elements II

CH584 Pyramid of Elements II

***

Alex considered the situation cautiously for a moment.

’I could still brute-force it. The pain isn’t actually that bad,’ he mused.

But then another thought occurred to him.

’Well, if Fire elemental mana is out of reach, what if I simply pull in a different element?’

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

’Let’s try Light this time.’

Among his four major elements, after Fire, Light seemed like the elemental nature that would likely be the most abundant.

So he reached out for it.

’If only I could still use Spirit Sight, I wouldn’t have to guess like this,’ the thought passed briefly through his mind before he dismissed it.

His Spiritual Force extended outward once more.

Just as with the Fire elemental mana earlier, the Light elemental mana quickly responded to his pull.

It gathered around him and formed an additional layer of shielding, protecting his body from the pyramid’s crushing gravity.

’Success,’ Alex thought.

He continued climbing the pyramid, increasing the concentration of Light elemental mana surrounding his body with every step.

Everything progressed smoothly until he reached the eighteenth step.

When he attempted the nineteenth step, he realised that the Light elemental mana surrounding him had already been depleted.

Just like the Fire mana before it, he would now need to extend his Spiritual Force farther outward —exposing it more to the pyramid’s gravity— if he wished to gather more Light mana.

’Alright then... let’s try Darkness this time.’

Alex did not hesitate.

He immediately switched to attracting a different elemental mana.

Having begun to grasp the pattern of the trial, Alex deduced that the pyramid’s gravity spiked every nine steps, requiring a new element to withstand the pressure.

Darkness mana quickly gathered around him.

It reinforced his shield from the nineteenth step all the way to the twenty-seventh step.

When he reached the twenty-eighth step, Alex immediately switched to drawing in Lightning elemental mana.

Just like before, the Lightning mana strengthened his protective shield and allowed him to continue climbing the pyramid.

However, unlike before...

Alex’s expression had become extremely solemn.

Alex looked up the pyramid and realised he had not even reached halfway.

And yet he had already exhausted the elemental affinities he could use to strengthen the shield protecting him from the pyramid’s ever-increasing gravity.

Soon, he reached the thirty-sixth step.

Even before lifting his leg to attempt the next step, Alex immediately felt an overwhelming pressure pressing down upon the shield surrounding him.

’Forget taking the next step... the shield won’t even last long if I stay here for too long,’ his brows furrowed.

’Should I step back?’

He glanced behind him.

But the very next moment, he rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back toward the summit of the pyramid.

Rather than waste time contemplating something he had no intention of doing, he might as well spend that time searching for a solution to his current predicament.

’Can I...?’

Looking at the shield surrounding him —formed from the basic elemental affinities he had drawn together— Alex suddenly had a whimsical thought.

’Let’s try this.’

His Spiritual Force extended outward once more.

However, this time it did not reach toward the surrounding ambient mana.

Instead, it reached into the shield itself.

Under the influence of his Spiritual Force, the Fire and Light elemental mana within the shield began to merge.

The shield suddenly strengthened.

More Fire and Light elemental mana rushed toward it from the surrounding space, drawn in from areas beyond the safe range of his Spiritual Force’s affinity.

’So Solar mana is also recognised as an element under the Heaven and the Earth,’ Alex nodded to himself.

With that realisation, he continued his climb.

Whenever the gravity intensified with each step, he simply merged the newly gathered Fire and Light mana within the shield to create Solar mana.

The Solar mana would then attract additional Fire and Light elemental mana, creating a self-reinforcing loop that steadily strengthened his shield.

This continued smoothly...

Until he reached the next major checkpoint.

The forty-sixth step.

At that point, the loop suddenly collapsed.

It appeared that the Fire and Light elemental mana within the surrounding region had already been exhausted.

Simply merging the remaining Fire and Light mana into Solar mana was no longer enough.

If he wished to continue forward, he would have to find another solution.

’In that case...’

Without much hesitation or complex deliberation, Alex shifted his attention toward the Lightning and Darkness elemental mana within his shield.

’Netherspark... it’s your turn.’

Lightning and Darkness mana fused together, forming the rare —perhaps even unique— Netherspark element, an energy born when Alex’s Velkar True Name first manifested, tied to the Infernal origin of his Furor bloodline.

Just like before, the shield immediately strengthened.

With the reinforcement provided by the Netherspark element, Alex was able to continue climbing once again.

Things proceeded smoothly until he reached the fifty-fourth step.

However, the moment he attempted to move toward the fifty-fifth step, he encountered yet another roadblock.

As a test, Alex cautiously extended his Spiritual Force, probing the pressure that would descend upon it.

’Argh!’

Alex clutched his head.

A numbing pain surged through his brain as the pyramid’s crushing pressure descended upon his exposed Spiritual Force.

He immediately withdrew it.

’It’s still a bit bearable... but incredibly annoying,’ he thought.

’More importantly, it isn’t a permanent solution. I don’t think I can keep using it as a method to draw in more mana all the way to the top of the pyramid.’

’I need a different solution.’

Crack—!

Suddenly, Alex heard a sharp fracture within the shield protecting him from the pyramid’s overwhelming gravitational force.

’Ahh!’

For a split second, a small portion of the pressure leaked through.

Alex felt as though he had been struck by a speeding truck.

Fortunately, the shield quickly stabilised itself, sealing the crack before the full force of the gravity could crush him.

’I definitely cannot allow the shield to collapse,’ he thought grimly.

’Think! What other method can I use to increase my mana affinity and attract more sympathetic ambient mana...?’

Alex lifted his gaze toward the summit of the pyramid.

There were ninety-nine steps leading to the top.

He had only climbed fifty-four.

That meant there were still forty-five steps remaining.

Five major gravity spikes still lay ahead.

Which meant he needed five more solutions if he wanted to increase the elemental capacity of his shield enough to reach the summit.

Crack—!

Unfortunately, the pyramid was not giving him much time to think.

So Alex made a gamble.

”Calm Madness.”

***