[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage":3,"chapter-re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-111":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},148024,246,"Chapter 110: Learned Helplessness","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-111",111,"\u003Cp>CH110 Learned Helplessness\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex leaned back in his chair, tapping the edge of the parchment with his pen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to decide just how much coverage each surveillance device would have.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, he chose the cheaper, more flexible option—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Multiple low-grade cameras, each covering a small area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was far easier and cheaper to acquire numerous low-grade mana glass lenses with narrow fields of view than to purchase even one high-grade lens with a wide coverage area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, it added extra work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But not by much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All he had to do was write a simple post-processing program for the OmniRune Core—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something that would automatically stitch together all the small-angle footage into a seamless wide-area feed for the Sub-AI module’s training databank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then considered the device’s power source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ambient mana. It was the obvious choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that came with a trade-off—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d have to limit the camera’s functions. No fancy active detection or continuous recording.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he made a note:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Passive mode: only record when motion or sound is detected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That way, power consumption stayed low, and the device wouldn’t need any obvious maintenance or recharging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plus, he wouldn’t need to explain to anyone why he kept fiddling with artefacts near the training ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t like he planned to tell anyone what the devices were for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a new idea occurred to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Wait... If no one knows what the cameras actually are...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A glimmer flickered in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Doesn’t that mean I can plant them all over the castle? With the right program, I’d know everything that happens in Ashen Castle!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The idea was incredible. Terrifyingly useful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Alex reined himself in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Focus. If I’m going to do this, I need to be extremely careful.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d have to cloak the mana emissions perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’No one—not even Father—can be allowed to detect them.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But... can I really achieve that?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t sure. Not yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind ran through possible solutions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’If I apply on-site data compression, the transmission size reduces, which means less mana emissions. And if I stabilise the rate of data transfer... then the mana flow becomes uniform with the surrounding ambient mana.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Father’s a warrior, not a mage. He can only sense disturbances in the mana flow. So, if I eliminate fluctuations... he shouldn’t realise what’s going on.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes lit up again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This could work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came another consideration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Security.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What if... on the off chance someone detects the data stream, and even worse—intercepts it? I’ll need to make sure they can’t read the footage.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A smile crept across his face—almost childish in its delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Runic Encryption!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the little trick he’d picked up during that absurd, accidental experiment that gave birth to the Nest Queen Project.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now? Now it would be his video camera project.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What better key than my True Name?’ Alex grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no intention of ever revealing that to anyone, which made it the perfect encryption key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scribbled on the parchment:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Encrypt with True Name as primary seed. Irreplicable without knowing the full True Name string.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if someone detected the Runes, they’d need an extensive understanding of Runes just to interpret the structure. And that narrowed the potential list of suspects to high-tier RuneSmiths or Array Masters—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two of the most scholarly, niche professions in the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And even then,’ he mused, ’with my encryption formula, I doubt 99.99% of them would be able to crack it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, then added with a cautious frown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t discount the possibility of their being a prodigious genius who could crack the code. After all, the world had someone like himself. Who was to say there wasn’t another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’If the world can produce someone like me... it can produce others, too.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of the creature that had inadvertently helped Alex discover the concept of Runic Encryption—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex heard the humming of insect wings nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Nest Queen was still undergoing her ongoing control and conditioning regimen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Pavlovian training was going perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex didn’t even need to personally oversee the process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything was handled by the OmniRune AI, following the protocols he’d designed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex’s system was built around coded reinforcement protocols.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the surface, they were nothing but gibberish code—utterly meaningless. But thanks to a bit of Rune-induced neural manipulation, the Nest Queen’s biology had been conditioned to interpret them differently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d rigged it so the transmission of a positive reinforcement protocol would trigger the release of a dopamine-like reaction, flooding her with a pleasant high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the negative reinforcement protocol was wired to stimulate her pain receptors—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inflicting sharp, body-wide agony through her neural pathways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So now, the Nest Queen believed those otherwise useless code packets were literal commands of life and death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she obeyed, she got bliss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she disobeyed, she got suffering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through Pavlovian conditioning—and let’s be honest, a fair dose of learned helplessness—Alex was well on his way to creating a loyal, obedient, and utterly submissive Brood Queen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the last of his camera design notes scrawled down, Alex finally had a full project outline to follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he could move ahead with execution—no distractions, no design delays.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the projector screen built into his OmniBracer, he summoned the OmniRune Core’s Simulation Mode outside of Mindspace. The holographic interface flared to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t help but smirk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a brief moment, he felt like a sci-fi scientist working on cutting-edge tech—The kind that would’ve made his co-workers in his previous life turn green with envy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the novelty wore off quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, Alex shoved aside the excitement and locked in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just because he knew what he wanted to build didn’t mean it was going to be fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rune design, or Runic programming, was a time-consuming, detail-heavy nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He worked on it for a full week.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might’ve completed it sooner if he were still at the Enclave, where he could bury himself in his work without interruption.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, at Ashen Castle, his days were consumed with endless training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the third day, Alex had fully grasped the foundation of each of the four Abyssal Conqueror’s Steps. At that point, there was nothing left for Earl Drake to teach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest of the path was Alex’s to walk alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, being the pragmatic warlord he was, the Earl immediately called in Jared to immediately begin Alex’s multi-weapon combat training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex had expected the training to begin with swordsmanship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, the stoic Dark Knight handed him a plain training rod and said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All weapons can be traced back to a humble wooden stick. Swords, spears, clubs, axes... Learn to wield a stick, and you’ll learn the basics of them all.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was something in Jared’s voice—some quiet, iron-bound authority—that made it hard to argue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex simply nodded, accepting the rod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, Jared was a drill sergeant from hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like the man had a sixth sense for Alex’s physical and mental limits—And made it his mission to smash through them, again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how much Alex complained, protested, or tried to excuse himself by claiming,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m a mage, not a warrior!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dark Knight never listened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can hate me all you want, Young Master Alex. But the sweat and tears you shed today will spare you blood and death tomorrow. That’s all I care about.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was such a Dark Knight thing to say that Alex couldn’t even muster a comeback.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just gritted his teeth... and kept going.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were days when Fen had to literally carry him home on his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even then, Alex—the workaholic that he was—still dragged himself into the Sanctuary at night, just to chip away at the Video Camera RuneTech project.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the only reason he managed to finish it within a week—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite the hellish, Spartan schedule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>**\u003C\u002Fp>",1316,"2026-05-29T03:49:10.136Z","2026-06-01T04:29:07.188Z",1,"novelbin.me","0b13fecf658142b330dd83f577a3a9c2784281ac37510e78f820b65d7790e5f4","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-112","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-110",692,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fre-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-cover.jpg"]