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"What a joke!"
Link shivered and quickly opened a new page of letter paper, stuffing the prayer beads and documents into his inventory.
He had no intention of provoking the Ferros family anytime soon. Provoking Ferros meant provoking Camille, and Camille was arguably the pinnacle of individual combat power in Piltover and Zaun. She could crush any opposition with sheer force.
Only a fool would go digging up their ancestral graves!
He, Link Star, would rather take a direct hit from a Mega Death Rocket or jump off the Council building than do something so reckless!
"Who sent this letter anyway?" Link pondered for a while but found no clues. He decided to set the matter aside for now, saving it for later investigation.
"For now, I should focus on the Wild Rune." Link rubbed his face.
If Mel hadn't sent him the Hextech knowledge and materials, he would have taken a break, solving some math, physics, or chemistry problems to relax.
But now that he had the Hextech materials, he could rest later. For now, he needed to fully grasp Hextech and understand how the Hextech Gates worked.
Link pulled out the Hextech books and began an intense study session.
A day later,
Link stared at the blueprint for the Hextech Gate, his eyes filled with contemplation.
"The principle of the Hextech Gate is essentially using energy pulses to tear a temporary pathway in the material realm, allowing for long-distance transportation and teleportation."
"Pathway... transmission..."
Ideas and inspirations flooded Link's mind.
"If I can artificially create smaller pathways, perhaps I can transmit energy... no!" Link's eyes lit up. "Not just energy, but also sound, images, and even text!"
"If this theory is feasible, then based on it, I could develop a Hextech communication device, one with real-time video capabilities."
"Hmm, that's a great idea. I should write it down."
Link opened a new page of letter paper and recorded his inspiration and thoughts.
"Following this line of thinking, I could also create Hextech-armed drones using the transmission properties of energy pathways."
"No, not just drones. If I can fully understand energy pathways, I could even create orbital particle cannons or, dare I say, flying swords like those in web novels."
"Hextech Rune Flying Swords... interesting!"
Link's eyes sparkled with an indescribable light. Hextech was truly fascinating, no wonder it was the cornerstone of Piltover and Zaun's advanced technology in the original lore.
"But now's not the time to think about this. I'll jot it down for later." Link listed all his ideas on the letter paper, adding his thoughts and research directions.
"Right now, I need to focus on the Wild Rune!"
"In the original story, Viktor speculated that the Wild Rune was born from the adjacency of the material world and the arcane world he was researching. But according to the original lore of Runeterra, this so-called arcane world isn't accurate—it should be the spiritual realm."
Link recalled the original universe's setting. Runeterra, as the material realm, coexisted with the spiritual realm hidden in another dimension.
The best example was Ionia, where the balance between the material and spiritual realms was emphasized, leading to a unique culture that coexisted with magic.
"So, the Hextech energy pulses must have affected the spiritual realm, giving birth to the Wild Rune. In other words, to contain the Wild Rune, I need to venture into the spiritual realm."
"In the original story, the Wild Rune actively pulled Jayce, Ekko, and Viktor into the spiritual realm during their argument, allowing them to travel through time and space to other parallel universes."
"That means I need to actively enter the spiritual realm or have the Wild Rune pull me in to get close to it and eventually store it in my inventory."
By this point, Link had a plan in mind.
"But before heading to the Hextech Gate's base, I need to make a key." Link found the structural diagram of the Hextech Gate's base lock in the materials Mel had sent him.
The only key to open the base's door was Jayce's hammer.
If Link wanted to get inside, he'd need to make his own key.
"Hmm, interesting."
Link examined the lock's structure. It was simple—a misaligned lock.
All he needed to do was realign the lock's core to open it.
However, the lock's advantage was that it didn't have a traditional key. It required energy to trigger.
"Maybe I can try using electromagnetic energy!"
Link stared at the Hextech Gate's design and turned to make the key.
...
Late that night,
Fully armed, Link arrived at the Hextech Gate's base with Janna.
"Link, can you finally tell me why you brought me here?"
Janna was still in her bluebird form, though her body had become more solid and substantial compared to before, thanks to the boost in faith power she had received.
"Have you heard of the World Runes?" Link walked across the long bridge and stopped in front of the base's door. He pulled out the clockwork electromagnetic key he had made, yanked the chain on the power valve, and watched as silver-white electricity surged through the engine and spread along the key's probes.
"The World Runes?" Janna's eyes widened. "How do you know about those?"
"I have my sources, but I can't tell you." Link watched as the lock began to operate under the influence of the electromagnetic energy and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fine, you don't have to tell me."
As Janna spoke, Link stepped into the brightly lit interior of the Hextech base.
The hemispherical Hextech gem matrix sat quietly in the center of the base's hall. Link glanced down and could see the deep wells beneath his feet, used for laying pipes.
"Piltover really treats Zaun like a garbage dump," Link muttered.
Janna also looked down at the wells. "No wonder the tree that child relied on turned out like that. The root of the problem is here."
"There's more to it than that." Link walked toward the Hextech gem matrix. Janna frowned. "World Runes are extremely dangerous, Link."
"Runeterra once experienced a massive war because of the World Runes. Even now, I can't forget the disasters I witnessed."
"I understand your concern, Janna. But there's no way a World Rune could appear in Piltover and Zaun."
Janna nodded. "That's for sure."
"However, there is an uncontrolled primal rune here. I prefer to call it the Wild Rune!"
As soon as Link finished speaking, Janna's eyes widened.
"How is that possible?"
"Nothing's impossible. Piltover's misuse of Hextech briefly tore open the barrier between the material and spiritual realms, giving birth to a Wild Rune. And that rune... ugh!"
Link couldn't continue.
His mouth was filled with the taste of sour milk.
The sour flavor spread across his tongue, soaking every taste bud and making his stomach churn. He felt the urge to vomit.
"Ugh—" Link dry-heaved again as his vision blurred. The bright, spacious hall was replaced by a hazy, warm-colored space. In the center of this space was a massive, cell-like sphere writhing chaotically.
"So, you've come out!"
Link forced himself to stand despite the nausea. Facing the Wild Rune, he opened the filter box on his helmet and began inhaling Shimmer.
At the same time, he summoned the Dimensional Mailbox, opened a new page of letter paper, and activated his inventory, ready to contain the Wild Rune.
As the Shimmer entered his system, Link used its power to suppress the effects of his magical sensitivity.
"How about coming with me to a better place?"
The moment Link stepped forward, his figure flickered, and he appeared in front of the Wild Rune, reaching out to touch it.
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 90 on my patreon go take a look and remember if you reach 60 stones of power I will publish the next chapter.