Alex tried the new features of the farm for a while before exiting.
Kain, who thought Alex had already escaped, didn't bother to wait for Alex. He had already moved on to another region.
The ancient rune formation was manipulated by the Kain to ensnare the warriors who entered his hideout.
He carefully manipulated the tunnels, creating and destroying new pathways to confuse his enemy.
While at it, he was draining the mana of his enemies.
However, the presence of Chitra, Karthi and his protector proved to be a difficult combination for him to distract.
After realizing that he was changing the underground pathways constantly. They have employed a method he couldn't predict.
Now, Chitra along with Karthi was destroying the walls of the tunnels. They were drilling through the blocked pathways to come towards him.
This directed Kain's full attention to that group.
Although Kain gave out an appearance of strength and confidence, he was bad at combat.
If he had to face a tier 5 warrior head-on, he would lose. Kain knew that.
And that was the reason Alex went unnoticed after exiting the farm.
_
The ancient runic formation that surrounded Alex was something he had never seen before. Only some rare books depicted images related to it.
Although he couldn't explain it in words, Alex could see the difference and feel it.
The runic symbols were made out of a more round and squiggly line. Contrary to the more angled and sharp look of the current generation of runes.
Each symbol was tiny, laid in a connecting pattern to the closest one, a giant tree root.
Multiple small roots branched off from a single large root that existed right along the underground pathways.
Alex as a mage could see the importance of the thicker root.
They were channels carrying information and mana. The primary root was used to control the smaller root to exhibit different properties.
Alex's curiosity peaked once he realized this.
Although not a complete mage, his interest in magic was not insignificant. The familiarity he found while interacting with runes, just like how he interacted with programming languages was driving Alex's curiosity.
'Can I somehow manipulate it?' He thought while looking at the giant ancient runic formation that surrounded him.
'The outer branches of the root seemed to be the part that is actively sucking mana from its environment. It is the reason why free mana couldn't survive in the atmosphere. That's why I can't send mana throughout the tunnel.'
'But, it doesn't prevent the activation of spells. So, why is my teleport skill blocked?'
Alex thought while trying to activate the teleport skill.
However, even this time, he failed to activate it.
'I can travel into the interdimensional farm. It is similar to a teleport skill. The fact that it can work should also mean that I can teleport.' Alex analyzed.
'Teleport skill is also derived from the farm. It allows me to travel 1 km in any direction if I could sense the exact position I will appear beforehand.'
'If the farm has no problem teleporting me inside, it would not have any problem teleporting me to another place.'
'Shit!'
'My senses are the problem. It seems like I am unable to pinpoint the exact location I should appear. Due to the properties of the runic formation to hamper sense and to absorb mana in its surroundings. It is preventing me from activating teleport.'
Quickly, Alex concluded.
On one hand, he was thrilled to know why he failed to use teleport. But on the other hand, he still felt it didn't matter.
Nonetheless, he tried to find a way around the ancient runic formation. If the crazy person called Kain can control it, there might be some way.
By completely concentrating, Alex drew out a sliver of mana. The moment it was released from his control, it would be quickly gobbled up by the runes that surrounded him.
So, Alex carefully manipulated the thin thread of mana with utmost concentration.
He was trying to use the mana to connect himself with a single ancient rune, trying to find its property. If he could, he can find a way to break through the current limitation it employed.
The thin greyish mana thread left his palm and slowly collided with an ancient rune.
A rune was something which could store information, mana and some action in the form of intent.
It activates by using the mana it has to create an effect on its surroundings.
So, the moment the mana thread from Alex collided with the ancient rune, he was hoping to see some effect.
And the effect he saw.
The mana thread was immediately gobbled up by the rune. Preventing him from analyzing the information present inside or the intent.
It was much more complex than Alex imagined. The ancient runic formation seems to have copyright protection, like encryption.
Alex couldn't fathom why it was that complex.
After all, the current civilization, the predecessor to the ancient runes, should have been better.
But once he interacted with ancient runes, he realized that it was not the case.
Even though his current effort turned futile. He could see the mana pathways lighting up to transport the mana.
And it was enough to trump the disappointment Alex felt in failure to analyze the rune.
The mana that was being sucked in by the smaller root-like runes was being transported to the main root.
The mana pathways that lighted up clearly showed Alex this.
He could now see the mana flowing to the main root. But after reaching this part, it disappeared.
However, a smile bloomed on Alex's face seeing this.
'I need to create a bigger surge in mana.' He thought while smiling.
With his mana vision, Alex could see the runes and the flow of mana. He was going to abuse it right now.
Quickly exhausting ten cores of mana, he let it flow towards the smaller rune roots.
Swiftly, they started to swallow the mana eagerly.
A surge of mana brighter than before was created flowing to the main root.
But this time, it didn't stop there. Alex could see the surging mana being directed through the main root towards a particular direction.
"Ha ha ha."
'Finally, I got you.'
Alex let out a hearty laugh.
He was thrilled to see the direction in which the mana was flowing.
If his assumption is correct, the excess mana it absorbed was being directed towards the centre of the formation.
By tracking it, he can find the core of the ancient runic formation.
It was a boon for Alex, who was finding it difficult to escape from the maze formation that hampered his senses.
And with that knowledge, Alex began to walk following the mana.
Whenever he came across a split in pathways, he used the method to find the correct direction.
Unlike Karthi and Chitra who were using their strength to move forward, Alex found a different but better way to find his enemy.
__
It took a while for Kain to finally notice Alex's presence. Initially, he wanted to promptly attack Alex.
However, seeing Alex coming towards him of his own volition. He decided against it.
It was better to direct his attention to distracting the real threat, Chitra and the others.
__
Due to the relative ease in finding direction, Alex was closing in on Kain the fastest.
Within just minutes, he was already near Kain.
Although he had to cover a long distance on foot, Alex never felt fatigued by it.
Finally, he found the last main root that was transporting the mana. It disappeared ahead of him into a wall.
The wall was smooth with no indentation. It was made out of some kind of rock that was polished.
However, Alex knew that something was on the other side just by looking at the dense runes on it.
Hundreds of main root-like runes, just like the one he followed were merging into the wall transporting mana.
Alex could hundreds of small bursts of mana being sucked into it.
Occasionally, large bursts of mana could also be seen absorbed into the wall.
'Should I just break through it?' Alex pondered.
He wanted to quickly find what was behind. If it was something useful to get out of this dark underground tunnel system, he was going to use it to escape.
'Anyway, it's better to break it than let it siphon mana.' He didn't care if the wall was important or not. Alex decided to destroy it.
Channelling twenty cores of energy, he created an earth spell. Like a drill, the pointed spear-like rock spun before crashing into the wall.
At first, the wall resisted, but the rock Alex created was denser and more robust. The spinning action enhanced the spell's penetrating effect.
"BOOM!" "Crash" The rock spell drilled into the wall creating a wide hole big enough for Alex to walk through.
Kain, who knew of Alex's effort to enter, was waiting just inside. He wanted to greet Alex and welcome him to a trap.
However, before he could speak in his overly confident manner. The rock spell drilled through the wall, showering him in dust and broken stones.
Visible steam rose from Kain's head as he laid eyes on Alex.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om