Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 500: Juror’s Scripture I

CH500 Juror’s Scripture I

***

Alex shook his head and smiled at Zora as he recalled the events of that night.

"The first step?" Zora asked, eyes bright. "How did you do it?"

It meant Alex’s path could be salvaged intact.

Alex explained everything to his wives, who listened with undivided attention while the rest of the party cleared the battlefield, picking out anything valuable and leaving the worthless scraps behind to the Hollowcrest Wildland’s scavengers.

"So the modified [Magic Arrow] that collapsed..." Zora narrowed her eyes. "That was because you lost control of your mental state?"

"Yes." Alex nodded. "Controlling the extra variable while casting takes time to get used to. I had to rely on OmniRune to handle it in my stead."

"Sounds tedious," Eleanore commented.

"Only because I’m still lacking a proper guide," Alex replied. "What I’ve come up with is a salvage method, not a perfect solution. I’ll still need a comprehensive library on Sigils and talisman-making to refine it properly. But for now... this will have to do."

With the battlefield cleared, the party continued their journey.

"Leader," one of the orcs said to Kavakan, "is it always this boring?"

"At times." Kavakan nodded. "You can’t always have excitement."

Then his lips curled into a predatory grin.

"Don’t worry. When we do have to fight, it’s always interesting enough to make up for the boring parts."

At the front, Alex shook his head.

He couldn’t help wondering if he’d made the right choice putting Kavakan in charge of the unruly bunch of orcs and barbarians.

An unruly leader... leading an unruly crowd.

Still, it seemed to work well enough for now.

Fortunately, due to the nature of both groups, the orcs didn’t look down on the barbarians for their slave status, and the barbarians didn’t feel inferior in the presence of the orcs—or even the rest of the expedition party.

Whether orcs or barbarians, they respected only one thing.

The strongest fist.

And after Kavakan beat down every challenger and loudmouth with his fists on the first day, both groups quickly fell in line.

’I should tell Kavakan to start instilling proper military discipline into them,’ Alex thought. ’If he can’t do it himself, he can ask Lopota and the Fury soldiers for guidance.’

He shook his head once more and looked ahead.

His gaze rose to the sun. Then it dropped to the shadows cast by the party. He used both to estimate the time.

’We’re still on schedule,’ he mused.

"Let’s find a place to rest," Alex called out.

Cheerful grunts rose from the party.

His words sounded like much-needed amnesty.

At the start of the journey, Zora had been cooling the group, taking advantage of her Yin energy.

But Alex quickly stopped her.

It was a waste and misuse of the dangerous yet precious energy.

Besides, they were likely going to be travelling through the Wildlands desert for a long time. If they didn’t acclimatise now, they’d suffer for it later.

Alex shook his head at the party’s overly relieved reaction to resting.

Not long after, Senu found a suitable spot and guided them there.

Like most times on their journey through the Hollowcrest Wildlands, the expedition party made camp beneath the shade of a towering rock formation.

While the group set up camp and Fen prepared food, Alex moved a short distance away. He leaned back against Dread’s resting body and opened a book.

Senu dropped from the sky soon after and perched on Dread’s back, settling herself comfortably.

If one didn’t know better, it looked like master and beast companions were reading together.

’He really is a sorcerer...’ the orcs and barbarians thought, watching the scene.

The original members of the expedition party were used to Alex’s scholarly side by now.

The newer members weren’t.

Alex’s ferocity in battle—and the infamy surrounding him—made it difficult to reconcile him with the calm, bookish figure they saw now.

If anything, they’d rather believe he was a young scribe than a powerful, talented sorcerer.

Alex’s wives, who were also helping set up camp, glanced at him with surprise.

Not because he was reading... but because of what he was reading.

"Master," Udara asked, "you’re reading Juror’s scripture?"

"Yes." Alex laughed. "Surprised?"

Then realisation dawned on her.

Something Alex had once said flashed through her mind.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you shall never lose a thousand battles..." she muttered.

Her voice was low, but she was close enough for Alex to hear.

"Exactly." Alex smiled.

Zora also walked over, leaving Eleanore behind to go through the loot the party had gathered from the goblin battle.

"Then what have you learnt from reading a Navi book?" she asked.

Her tone made it clear she didn’t approve.

Navi scriptures were mediums of false deities. If one wasn’t careful, one could accidentally open their mind to faith contamination.

Alex, however, wasn’t worried.

The copy he was reading hadn’t come from the temple, but from Baron Helton’s private study.

It had little to no chance of being a sanctified medium of Juror—unlike the copies inside a temple. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been collecting dust in some obscure corner of Helton’s shelves.

Not to mention his Truth-Seeker Eyes couldn’t see nor sense a splinter of faith nor divine energy.

"The first thing that jumps out to me," Alex said, "is that Juror is smart. And he has a good grasp of the vulnerabilities of Navi faith."

Zora frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Unlike most recorded Navi on Pangea—and the other planes visited by Pangeans—Juror..." Alex paused, then added, "and I suspect the other Verdantian Navi as well, don’t claim to be the creators of humanity or the world."

"Instead," he continued, "Juror claims to be the creator and sustainer of light... and the concept of justice."

"Why does that matter?" Zora asked, still confused.

Udara looked equally lost.

That was when it clicked for Alex.

Both women had been raised in backgrounds with little to no exposure to religion. It made sense they couldn’t immediately pick up the subtle differences hidden between the lines.

’Or rather... it’s because I lived through different forms of religion in my past life that I can see it.’ Alex mused.

***