Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 826: Ava’s Drone II – Rune-Tech’s Solution

CH826 Ava’s Drone II – Rune-Tech’s Solution

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Even if additional drones had already completed gestation, they would remain dormant. Unless space was first freed within the Hive Network—that is, within the capacity of Ava’s shared consciousness—they would be unable to establish a connection to the network and come online.

‘I don’t know whether I should be grateful that there isn’t a hard limit or not,’ Alex mused.

The number of drones Ava could control ultimately depended on the types of drones that were already active within the Hive Network.

More complex drones, such as the humanoid drones, occupied a significant portion of the Hive Network’s capacity, whereas the relatively simple ant drones—despite their overwhelming numbers—consumed only an insignificant amount.

As a result, Ava could probably support millions of ant drones at her current level, but conversely only around a thousand human drones.

‘Spirit, huh…’ Alex recalled an idea that had occurred to him earlier that day.

Orion immediately went to work within Alex’s mind, creating a new instruction packet before forwarding it to Ava, who in turn transmitted it to the human drone.

Once Alex sensed that the drone had finished processing the instructions and was ready to execute them, he retrieved a runic scroll and an ordinary rune pen from his Sanctuary Pocket Dimension.

Originally, he had intended to give the drone his own Enigma Rune Pen—the special rune pen Zora had given him as a wedding trinket.

However, the Enigma Rune Pen demanded a considerable amount of Spiritual Force to use.

Since spirit—and, by extension, Spiritual Force—was an important resource for the Hive, Alex decided against it and instead handed the drone an ordinary rune pen.

“What are you doing?” Zora asked curiously.

“Earlier, in the carriage, you asked whether I had a way to avoid having to draw Runes myself. Well, this is the test for the idea I came up with,” Alex replied.

He turned towards the humanoid drone.

“Draw,” he ordered.

The drone nodded before picking up the rune pen and beginning to inscribe upon the scroll.

Greater Runes were incredibly complex, though their complexity was far more metaphysical than physical.

For reasons no one fully understood, people simply could not comprehend how to draw—or rather, inscribe—the true nature of a Greater Rune.

Even with his tireless guidance, Zora could only reproduce a rune that possessed the outward appearance of a Greater Rune. It was not a true Greater Rune. Rather than a functional rune, it was effectively nothing more than a picture of one—beautiful to look at, but otherwise useless.

However, beneath Alex’s calm gaze and Zora’s stunned one, the drone’s hands moved with remarkable dexterity as it inscribed the rune.

More importantly, judging from the aura it emitted, the rune being drawn was not merely an imitation.

It was a genuine, fully functional Greater Rune.

Crash~!

The moment the drone finished inscribing the rune, it collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted after depleting its entire energy reserve.

A worker ant drone quickly approached with a sphere of drone carrion honey and promptly force-fed it into the human drone’s mouth.

Sadly for the human drone, Alex, Zora, and even Ava could not have cared less about its condition.

Their attention was completely fixed on the scroll it had just completed.

[Detection]!

Alex pressed a hand against the scroll, channelling mana into it.

The scroll activated successfully, releasing a scanning wave throughout the throne room before transmitting the results directly into Alex’s mind as its designated user.

“It worked…?” Zora asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

“It did.” Alex nodded.

“How?! What did you do?!” Zora exclaimed, gripping his arm as she questioned him.

This had always been the greatest limitation of Alex’s Rune-Tech platform. If it could truly be overcome, the potential applications of Rune-Tech would increase dramatically.

Considering everything Alex had already achieved despite that limitation, it required little imagination to envision what would become possible once that restriction no longer existed.

“The answer lies in Ava’s nature,” Alex replied.

“Her nature?” Zora looked towards the Hive Queen in question before turning back to Alex.

“The Heavenly Tribulation she faced until my interference—according to the Heavenly Venerable’s knowledge—is Tool Tribulation.

“Do you understand now?”

At first, Zora’s eyes reflected only confusion.

Then, after several moments, realisation suddenly dawned upon her.

“Wait! Are you saying the natural order recognises her not as a living being, but as a crafted tool or construct?” she asked.

Alex confirmed it with a nod.

“A unique Rune-Tech tool now bound to me through our unique circumstances and the tribulation itself,” Alex explained.

“I see… I understand now.” Zora nodded as the answer clicked into place.

“Rune-Tech is bound to you, making you the only person currently capable of inscribing Greater Runes. Ava and all her drones are also bound to you and are recognised as your tools in the eyes of the natural order.

“Since they are your ‘tools’, and you are the one directing them, the natural order’s restriction on your Greater Runes no longer applies to them.”

She looked at Alex and said, “In the eyes of the natural order, Ava and her drones are extensions of yourself.”

“Exactly.” Alex nodded. “That’s my assumption as well.”

Well, with the evidence now before them, it was no longer merely an assumption.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a fact.

“However, as always, solving one problem simply introduces another. Apparently, inscribing Greater Runes requires an enormous amount of Spiritual Force and Mana. I possess plenty of both, so on the scale of individual inscriptions, it isn’t much of an issue for me.

“But for this loophole to become truly useful, I’ll need a large number of drones capable of performing the inscriptions on my behalf. Mana—or rather, energy—can be replenished through the drones’ energy meals, but Spiritual Force is another matter altogether,” Alex said thoughtfully.

“Ava possesses an immense amount of Spirit—and, by extension, Spiritual Force—but much of it is already devoted to operating the Hive and controlling its drones. Having her channel even more Spirit through the Hive to facilitate runic inscription could interfere with its normal operations.

“Unless I can somehow reduce the Spiritual Force requirement…”

“From what you’ve told me about her drones, she and the Hive are essentially a factory capable of producing any drone you design,” Zora said. “In that case, why not create a drone dedicated solely to Runic Inscription?

“If a humanoid drone is too expensive in terms of Spirit consumption, then design something else. You could even strip away every unnecessary function and specialise it entirely for runic inscription.”

She stated, “A specialised drone doesn’t need to perform any other task besides this. It doesn’t even need to walk if removing its mobility further reduces the Spirit cost.

“You could simply have other drones—such as those vulture bee drones—carry and deploy it wherever it’s needed, making self-mobility completely unnecessary.”

“That’s…” Alex’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“That’s a genius idea!”

Overcome with excitement, he wrapped his arms around Zora, lifted her off the ground, and spun her around in a circle.

“Thank you!” he exclaimed.

“Alex Fury, put me down!” the Ice Queen exclaimed as she was spun around.

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