CH701 SunHeart Rune Tattoo I

***

Beads of sweat rolled down Alex’s temples, tracing along his jaw before threatening to drip directly onto the Rune Scroll upon which he was painstakingly working.

Fortunately, each time it happened, Alex reacted quickly enough to wipe the sweat away with the sleeve of his robe before it could ruin the inscription.

Not once did his concentration falter as he completed yet another gruelling thirty-minute session of Emotional Energy inscription.

Thirty minutes of work... followed by three entire hours of rest simply to recover from the resulting mental exhaustion.

Step by painstaking step, Alex slowly progressed towards completing an extraordinarily complex Rune Tattoo—one that had not been designed for a human, nor even an animal... but for a plant. A young shoot, no less.

Truthfully, he was not even entirely certain that what he was creating could still properly be called a ’tattoo’.

Still, this detail hardly mattered.

After more than a week of relentless effort, Alex stood upon the verge of finally completing his newest creation.

Only one final session remained.

After resting beneath Lord Bonsai’s canopy for roughly two hours, Alex eventually returned to the outside world, reappearing within his makeshift laboratory and secluded workroom inside the Fortuna Mansion.

As he stepped out of his room, Alex noticed that the mansion itself felt unusually quiet. However, he knew full well that this apparent calm was deceptive. In reality, the company as a whole was currently a complete beehive of activity.

Kavakan, Mogal, and Mordor had already reorganised the raiding party before joining forces with the BattleBane Guild to form the official task force responsible for clearing nearby monster nests under the subjugation contract issued by BloodIron’s administrative office.

They were accompanied by Senu, Fen, and Dread, all of whom were continuing to train and develop their ruler instincts and authority.

Speaking of the city administration office, Zora and Kron Belloc were currently focused on building a relationship with the city’s governing authorities.

Although Alex had already made it clear that Fortuna would eventually be leaving BloodIron, there was still value in maintaining ties with the city’s centre of power. Even after their departure, Fortuna would undoubtedly continue holding interests within the region. As such, establishing influence within the city remained a worthwhile investment.

That said, this was merely a secondary objective.

The true purpose behind the arrangement was actually to familiarise Zora with the bureaucratic systems and political norms of Verdantis.

While the precise customs and traditions of each empire or region might vary slightly, the broader structures and expectations would most likely remain largely similar—or at the very least possess significant overlap.

This would prove crucial once they eventually established their own territory. After all, Zora would be the one responsible for handling the day-to-day administration of their domain.

Because of that, it was best for her to familiarise herself with the local customs, expectations, and bureaucratic norms as early as possible.

Even if she unknowingly offended a few people and Fortuna ultimately lost whatever influence it had built within BloodIron by the time they departed, it would hardly matter. They still possessed shadow allies in the form of the BattleBanes, the Black Scar Syndicate, and—albeit more tenuously—Lady Wintermere and the Drumvale Merchant Company.

Meanwhile, Udara and the rest of the scouting unit were currently interning under the Black Scar Syndicate in order to study the underworld operations of Verdantis, including espionage, intelligence gathering, covert communication, and other shadow-network practices unique to the plane.

Sugud, on the other hand, remained occupied with assembling the crossbows using whatever assistance he could gather. Even though the work itself was repetitive and tedious, the Mechanic appeared perfectly content.

It also helped that he still found enough spare time to continue pursuing several of his own research projects on the side.

Ironically, the person with the most free time was arguably Eleanore, who had remained within the mansion for almost the entire duration.

It was not because she lacked work to do—or because she did not want to work—but rather because Alex had specifically instructed her not to leave the mansion for the time being.

After leaving his makeshift laboratory and secluded workshop, Alex made his way towards the study, where Eleanore was currently planning one of her own projects.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked as he approached.

"Obsessing over the treatment plan I designed for the Berserk Humans," Eleanore replied without even lifting her head from the documents spread across the desk.

Not wanting to disturb her concentration, Alex quietly walked over and seated himself upon one of the sofas positioned near the centre of the room.

Several minutes of intense and furious writing later, Eleanore finally lifted her head from the parchment.

"Are you finished?" she asked.

"Almost. One final session should be enough," Alex replied. "I came out to get some fresh air and clear my head a little.

"Once my Mental Energy fully recovers, we’ll enter the Pocket Dimension together," he added.

Eleanore nodded gently.

She rose from her desk and walked over towards him with a faint smile before settling herself comfortably upon his lap and suddenly kissing him.

Alex naturally responded in kind.

After several tender minutes together, the two of them simply chatted about ordinary, inconsequential things—small topics entirely unrelated to their current troubles or ambitions.

And strangely enough, Alex found that those quiet moments helped his exhausted mind recover faster than usual.

Seeing this, the couple returned to Alex’s makeshift laboratory before entering the Sanctuary Pocket Dimension together.

"I’ll finish the final touches first, then we can begin," Alex said.

Eleanore nodded quietly.

Alex walked over to the Rune Table and resumed working on the Rune Tattoo he had been painstakingly crafting.

Eleanore remained silently at the side, completely captivated by the focused expression on Alex’s face as he worked.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Alex finally released a long sigh of relief as he completed the final stroke of the rune upon the scroll.

Then, from the tip of his finger, a tiny splinter of AetherKindle shot forth and merged directly into the rune inscribed upon the scroll.

Instantly, the rune radiated a brilliant golden light, signalling its true completion. The glow was so vibrant that even the tiny Fortune-Suppressing Dragon stirred awake from its slumber.

The little dragon stared towards the scroll with intense desire flashing within its eyes while saliva dripped greedily from the corner of its maw.

Invisible to Eleanore, the dragon shot through the air towards the scroll before basking happily within its golden radiance, devouring whatever unseen essence it could consume.

Soon, it became visibly energetic, joyfully dancing through the air while tracing an endlessly flowing infinity-shaped loop.

Alex ignored the dragon entirely and instead joined Eleanore in admiring the completed rune, which had taken the form of a simple yet elegant stalk.

After quietly appreciating the rune for a while, Eleanore walked over towards the nearby tattoo bed and began removing her clothes.

She had just removed her underwear as well when Alex noticed her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Don’t you need me completely undressed to graft the rune?" Eleanore asked in confusion. "Zora said—"

She suddenly froze mid-sentence before her face rapidly flushed red.

’Zora!’ she screamed inwardly as realisation dawned upon her that she had been thoroughly tricked.

Alex also immediately understood what had happened and could not help showing a helpless smile.

’Thank you, my Empress,’ he thought inwardly.

Despite the helpless expression on his face, he was secretly rather grateful to Zora.

Her face now completely crimson, Eleanore hurriedly began putting her clothes back on.

"You’ve already taken them off, so there’s no need to—"

Distracted and utterly mesmerised by the soft sway of her chest, Alex unknowingly voiced his honest thoughts aloud, immediately earning himself a deadly glare from Eleanore.

Still, after a brief moment of hesitation, Eleanore merely stopped at putting her underwear back on before laying herself down upon the tattoo bed.

"You’re right," she said with a small nod, much to Alex’s surprise. "Let’s just get this over with."

***