[{"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-527":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},148240,246,"Chapter 526: Kobold Mountain I","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-527",527,"\u003Cp>CH526 Kobold Mountain I\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Seriously... Raven Horn wasn’t wrong when he said leaving Dragonstone right now would be dangerous,’ Alex thought to himself as the party wiped out yet another pack of monsters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, it was Lizardmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, it had been a group of underground desert gremlins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And before that, a scattered horde of berserk beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wouldn’t be wrong to say they had killed their way out of the fifteen-kilometre radius surrounding Dragonstone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, with the numerous kills came numerous rewards in the form of beast cores.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Verdantis, it seemed all beasts and even monsters possessed beast or monster cores. The only question was whether they were corrupted by berserk property or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant little to the team, as Alex—and now Eleanore as well—could purify the precious energy cores, which also served as legal tender across the plane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex allowed the weary group a moment to catch their breath after the latest battle. Even the orcs, who usually seemed to have boundless stamina, showed signs of fatigue from the relentless slaughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grrr!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the party could resume their march toward the last known berserk human gathering point, Fen suddenly became alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skree!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>High in the sky, Senu echoed the warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After killing so many berserk beasts and monsters since entering the Wildlands, both of Alex’s companions had grown far more sensitive to incoming threats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex tapped into Senu’s vision and quickly located the source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There are kobolds patrolling the mountain ahead,\" he reported. \"There’s no mention of kobolds on the map or in the information Raven Horn gave us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then they must be new,\" Zora said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What should we do, Boss?\" Kavakan asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex fell into thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We need to be careful,\" he said. \"Kobolds reproduce almost as fast as goblins. There could be hundreds... even thousands of them inside that mountain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What if we smoke them out?\" Silver suggested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex’s eyes lit up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. That could work,\" he agreed. \"If we block the exits to the cave network they’ve dug, a sustained fire spell should be able to smoke, or even choke them out eventually.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swung down from Dread’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Udara, Silver, Havel—on me. We’ll scout the mountain and identify every entrance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned to the rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The rest of you spread out and encircle the mountain. Stay on standby... just in case.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait, Alex. Can’t we just bypass them?\" Eleanore dismounted, grabbed his arm and asked, worry evident in her voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kobolds have a strong sense of smell. There’s no way we’ll slip past without them noticing. And we can’t guarantee they won’t chase us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s too dangerous to gamble our safety on whether monsters—whose numbers we don’t even know—decide to attack us or not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\" Eleanore relented.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was another reason Alex had chosen to take the initiative against the kobolds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he kept that to himself for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Abyssal Conqueror’s Step: Second Step – Phantom’s Veil]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Shadow Dash]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Flash Step]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Huntress’s Stride]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex, Udara, Havel and Silver activated their movement techniques and shot forward, gliding stealthily toward the mountain a kilometre ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except perhaps for Alex, the other three were experts of stealth in their own, so there was little concern about them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The real concern... was him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, despite not needing to, Alex had still chosen to spearhead the operation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, while he might not be a student of stealth, it wasn’t as if he was completely ignorant either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through Senu’s shared senses, Alex constantly adjusted his path according to the wind direction as he advanced toward the kobold mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness mana wrapped around him following the method of the Abyssal Conqueror’s Step, bending light around his body while muffling his footsteps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant scent remained his greatest weakness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the kobolds were not actively searching for intruders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Alex closed the distance while monitoring the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Senu’s aerial vantage point, Alex soon located a tunnel exit halfway up the mountainside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Abyssal Conqueror’s Step: Wraith’s Crossing]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Switching instantly to a burst of speed, lightning mana surged around him as he shot upward, arriving at the tunnel mouth, or rather... a vent in a blink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s try this out,\" he murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex placed his palm against the rocky arch of the narrow cave entrance —barely large enough for a human—and triggered a spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Lightning Lance]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because his hand was pressed directly against the stone, the lightning spell formed within the rock itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cracks raced outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Electric currents ripped through the structure, weakening it from the inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ceiling gave way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The collapse sounded natural, like an ordinary cave-in, rather than an external attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubble sealed the passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Worked like a charm,’ Alex smiled to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Wraith’s Crossing]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without wasting another second, Alex burst back down toward the mountain’s main entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t be sure the others would be able to collapse their assigned exits as quietly as he had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he wanted to be ready in case something went wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Havel’s interpretation of stealth, on the other hand, was what people in Alex’s previous life would have called... a gamer’s approach to stealth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he realised he was upwind, Havel abandoned the idea of sneaking entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he chose murder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the wind wouldn’t carry the scent of blood toward the rest of the kobolds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why waste time tiptoeing around them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Quick Draw Technique: Flash Slash]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bodies dropped silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kobolds dying before they ever saw the hem of their killer’s clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Havel continued forward and soon reached another vent midway up the mountain. It was also too small for a human to pass through comfortably, but more than adequate for kobolds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his sword into a traditional overhead katana stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he struck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Falling Sickle]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade slammed down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet instead of a violent crash, there was almost no sound at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if the strike had landed on water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mana rippled outward, flowing across the stone and surging into the cave mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, the rock trembled. Then it collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The passage sealed, trapping the kobolds inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silver, meanwhile, was far more faithful to the spirit of stealth than Havel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when she reached her assigned vent near the mountain’s upper ridge, she found, to her annoyance, several kobolds stationed there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She clicked her tongue softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’No helping it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arrows slipped between her fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each shot found a throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kobolds dropped without even managing a cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After confirming the kills, Silver glanced toward the cave entrance above. Climbing the rest of the way would take time. So she decided not to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, she pulled a heavy steel arrow from her waist quiver and nocked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mana flooded into the shaft, igniting Runes along it to the arrowhead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Power Shot]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The projectile blasted forward like cannon fire, vanishing from sight—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And a heartbeat later—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRASH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The archway imploded, rock cascading down in a thunderous collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her strike was not the only one that sounded at that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>",1169,"2026-05-29T03:49:35.273Z","2026-06-01T04:29:07.188Z",1,"novelbin.me","0d4b9f7bcc750f38f0dabd6aa644075df6cd90f08258481814068580202555d4","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-528","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-526",692,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fre-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-cover.jpg"]