[{"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-542":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},148255,246,"Chapter 541: A Golden Opportunity","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-542",542,"\u003Cp>CH541 A Golden Opportunity\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fortuna party waited for more than two hours while the members gradually acclimatised to the sight of the berserk humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well... that wasn’t the only reason they didn’t move rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mogal, Kavakan and Havel flanked Alex as he stood at the mountain ridge, gazing down at the grotesque gathering below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex tilted his head slightly, looking up at the sky—at the distorted flow of mana only he seemed capable of perceiving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’As I suspected... the source of the mana distortion is up ahead. And it must be what’s attracting the berserk humans in this direction.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes narrowed faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But if that’s the case... why are they just gathering here instead of pushing forward? Is the phenomenon only strong enough to draw them this far?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Are they waiting for something? Or... is something preventing them from going any further?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more he observed, the more questions surfaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had far more questions than answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boss... are we really going down there?\" Kavakan asked carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hulking weretiger’s tone was unusually restrained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One would have expected him to be the most eager to charge into battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet not only Kavakan—Mogal and Havel also wore hesitant expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex took note of it, but he didn’t rebuke them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’According to Raven Horn, berserk humans undergo a more holistic transformation once they reach Class 4.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’One of the simplest ways to identify them is to look for those with distinctly unique mutations—those that deviate from the basic strength, agility, or vitality templates.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex’s gaze swept across the foot of the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were roughly twenty such unique figures among the gathered horde.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant— at least twenty Class 4 berserk humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty Veteran Warrior or Great Mage–level abominations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, with coordination, the Fortuna party could perhaps handle three... maybe four, at a stretch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But twenty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was well beyond their operational limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that wasn’t even factoring in the contamination risk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These weren’t ordinary Veteran-rank opponents. They were berserk humans—walking vessels of concentrated berserk property.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a small mistake could mean infection, even a small wound could spiral into irreversible transformation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air between the four men grew heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex remained silent for a long moment. Then his crimson eyes sharpened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We will not be charging in blindly,\" he finally said. \"But yes... we’re going down there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when he said it— there was no hesitation in his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Given sufficient berserk property concentration within a berserk human—and depending on the disparity in strength between it and its target—just one landed attack could be enough to trigger a berserk transformation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In essence, when facing berserk humans—especially higher-Class variants—one had to be careful not only about being killed, one had to be careful to avoid being touched at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A scratch, a graze, a shallow wound... Any of it could be enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And from what Alex and his party could see below, becoming one of those things... was a fate worse than death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What? Are you guys afraid?\" Alex laughed lightly, deliberately goading them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kavakan, Mogal and Havel remained silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which, in itself, was an answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t overthink it,\" he said casually. \"Our commission is to discover what’s causing them to gather. Not to wipe them out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gestured faintly toward the horde below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m studying their movements. We move only after I figure something out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tone was calm, measured and sincere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And if you don’t, leader?\" Havel asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then we return to Dragonstone and report our failure.\" Alex shrugged. \"Valuable or not, a map isn’t worth our lives.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That last line eased some of the tension in their shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that, Alex dismissed the trio with a small wave of his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once they retreated, he turned his attention back—not to the berserk humans—but beyond them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the distorted storm of mana twisting in the air ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Although you said you’ll leave if you can’t find anything... your expression says you’re determined to get to the bottom of this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex heard the soft voice behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t need to turn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As expected,\" he replied lightly, \"my Ice Empress knows me best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zora stepped up beside him, folding her arms as she followed his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’ve said multiple times you don’t care about Dragonstone. Nor the Wildlands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes shifted from the berserk horde... to the distant mountain he had been fixated on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Does this have something to do with that mountain?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She tilted her head slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re barely looking at the twenty-plus Class 4 berserk humans below.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shining knight of mine... why are you so fixated on that mountain?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike before, there was no teasing in her tone now, only curiosity. And a faint hint of concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex turned to her with a wry smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You really do read me like a book, Milady,\" he said lightly. \"You know, if I were a lesser man, I’d be afraid of you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s a good thing you’re not a lesser man,\" Zora replied calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then her eyes sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex exhaled softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Would you believe me if I said I can see an opportunity on that horizon?\" he asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no jest in his voice this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would,\" Zora answered without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a brief moment, surprise flickered across Alex’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned back toward the distant mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Truthfully, like Havel, Kavakan and Mogal, Alex was hesitant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bringing his party down to the mountain’s base—where over two hundred berserk humans gathered—was not something to take lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A rough count already put their numbers at two hundred at the very least. And the number was still increasing with every passing hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse still, at least twenty of them were confirmed Class 4.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty Veteran-tier abominations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even for Fortuna, that was suicidal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, there were reasons he couldn’t simply turn away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first was his intuition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since entering the Hollowcrest Wildlands, he had felt... nudged, as though something—or someone—was guiding him somewhere or to something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And since reaching this mountain, that sensation had only intensified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was almost as if he had arrived exactly where he was meant to be... at exactly the time he was meant to arrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At a convergence point of Fate... and fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as if to validate that feeling, there was the second reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The familiar golden light in his vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Daddy Golden Energy...’ Alex muttered inwardly, lips curling into a helpless smile. ’You’re really not making this easy for me.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within his Truth-Seeker eyes, a thin strand of golden energy of Providence stretched across the land, leading straight toward the mountain peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his past experiences, Alex could roughly deduce a number of things about the opportunity presented to him by the golden energy of providence based on the thickness of the Providence thread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This one was thin... very thin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant this opportunity was wrapped in immense danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Well, that doesn’t take a genius to figure out,’ Alex mused inwardly. ’You’re literally pointing me through a horde of bloodthirsty berserk humans who hate everything—especially the untransformed like us.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He exhaled slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’How exactly am I supposed to get through hundreds of berserk humans... with at least twenty of them being Class 4?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even as he complained, a simple truth lingered at the back of his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortune and risk walked hand in hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the danger was this severe, then the reward at the end must be equally, if not more, extraordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex would have preferred to retreat now and return later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the thin golden thread in his vision also hinted that this was likely to be a time-limited opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he withdrew... if the strand snapped... then either he would lose this chance entirely. Or it would take an unreasonably long time before Providence aligned like this again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’To risk... or not to risk...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the question gnawing at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I’ve been feeding Lord Bonsai divine energy non-stop so it can extract Providence. I’ve done the work. The least I deserve is a little support, right?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lips twitched faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Come on. I’m not asking for a miracle. Just give me a sign. Point me somewhere that increases my odds—even a little.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost as if the world responded—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Footsteps hurried toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young Master Alex!\" Mordor’s voice carried urgency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alex turned to see the Orc Shaman-Swordsman approaching at an uncharacteristically quick pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What’s wrong, Mordor?\" Alex asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You need to see this. Sugud has something to show you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that exact moment, the thin golden thread in Alex’s vision grew slightly thicker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was subtle, barely noticeable. But Alex was sure he saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A slow smile spread across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Mordor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lead the way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>",1459,"2026-05-29T03:49:35.273Z","2026-06-01T04:29:07.188Z",1,"novelbin.me","481e98a2d9ef679e858295226dc9533d616870edde89d341e4e6444b997b454e","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-543","re-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-chapter-541",692,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fre-tales-of-the-rune-tech-sage-cover.jpg"]