CH391 Verdantis SitRep I

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'Translation!'

The word struck Alex like a divine revelation.

'That's it. I just need to translate runes into the magic glyph system this world uses. As simple as that.' Alex thought to himself.

Of course, it would be anything but simple.

Still—it gave him a direction. A path to walk towards.

Lost in thought, he wandered back into camp without even realising it, his mind turning over half-formed theories like cogs desperately grinding for traction.

By the time he came back to himself, he was already seated in the middle of the camp… with everyone quietly watching him.

Zora caught his eye, brows raised in silent question.

Alex nodded faintly.

Relief softened her face.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Alex looked around the circle—meeting the eyes of each companion in turn. The camp settled into silence, waiting for him to speak.

Seated before the fire, he finally addressed them.

"I'm sure most of you have guessed it already, so let me confirm it. We are not on our intended target plane. Our interplanar portal was sabotaged. The goal—to derail the transport and kill me. And all of you would have been collateral."

Alex swept his gaze across the group.

There was very little surprise on anyone's face.

Only grim acceptance.

"Fortunately, Providence favoured us, and we made it through. Most of us, anyway."

He paused.

The fire crackled quietly, casting long shadows across the simple graves they had dug earlier.

Three Fury Knights—gone before even stepping foot properly into this new world.

Comrades, even if newly assigned ones, that could not be buried in the soils of their home world, Pangea.

It stung.

'They are dead. They care not where they are buried.'

A cold rationale -borne of Fury doctrine and thought- whispered through him.

'What matters is that their deaths are not in vain.'

He exhaled softly, pushing that thought aside.

There would be a time for settling scores.

But not now.

Alex set down the cracked Interplanar Orb.

"Here is what we know so far. According to our new… companion," he gestured toward the previously bound man nearby. "we have arrived on a plane called Verdantis. This world appears to have only one major continent, but its racial diversity, ecology, topography—and general geography—are all remarkably similar to Pangea."

"Different from Pangea, however, this plane has Navi. For those unfamiliar, Navi are deities worshipped by the natives.

"False deities they may be, but they wield immense influence and power here. And for now, we must avoid them. For a clearer reference, think of them as beings equivalent to Epic rank."

A few murmurs rippled through the group.

"As you've likely pieced together," Alex continued, "Verdantis can be classified as a Class 6 plane at minimum. The Navi themselves are technically Class 7—conditionally—but only when their faith-harvesting is at its peak.

"The actual professionals we'll encounter will cap out around the Legendary rank. The Navi will not tolerate any being reaching a strength that threatens them, which also means these true Legends will be rare here—at least, far rarer than in Pangea. For that reason, we place our classification of the plane at Class 6."

"This is the current SitRep. Any questions?"

Silence.

Alex nodded and moved on.

"Next—the challenges we face."

He raised the cracked Interplanar Orb.

"Due to the portal mishap, our coordinate orb fractured. It's pretty much useless now."

A wave of low murmurs washed through the camp.

"Yes… it means what you all think. We cannot use this orb to rebuild a return portal home."

The tension thickened.

For many, only iron military discipline kept their expressions neutral.

For others, their trust in Alex kept them steady.

"Does that mean we're trapped here?" Sugud asked.

"Yes… and no," Alex said. "Yes, we are trapped, because the orb can no longer construct a portal. The coordinates and entry rune code inside it are essential for locating and returning to Pangea.

"But no… because with my Rune Master Class, I might be able to extract those coordinates and rune codes manually and inscribe them into another medium—in theory."

"In theory?" one of the Fury Knights echoed before catching himself.

"In theory," Alex repeated, unbothered. "I've never attempted something like this, so I can't guarantee success. Still… if it fails, I may have another method."

His mind returned to the memory—to the shimmering depths of the rune sight he had glimpsed into when the Interplanar Portal's Grand Formation activated back in Pangea.

He remembered every detail.

Part of him suspected the formation he'd witnessed was the true core of the Teleportation Grand Array itself.

If so, then embedded within its runic code would be coordinates and transit parameters they used.

Parameters Alex believed he could use to reverse-calculate Pangea's coordinates—if it came down to it.

'Fortunately, planar coordinate calculus was one of the courses Master shoved into my Enclave curriculum,' Alex mused.

He had hated that class. He remembered swearing he would never need it.

Alas…

"Your tone makes it sound like there's a but coming," Havel Landomas suddenly remarked.

Alex turned to the noble-race swordsman—his demeanour lazy as always, yet those sharp eyes gave away the truth.

'As Zora said… he's sharper than he lets on,' Alex thought.

"You're right," Alex admitted. "There is a much bigger problem—at least for me. This world is rejecting my Rune Master Class and my Rune-Tech magic."

A hush fell over the camp.

"For me, that means I'm severely handicapped on this plane," Alex continued. "For all of you, it means that unless I resolve this rejection, our chances of returning home stands at zero."

"The plane is rejecting your Class? Do you know why?" Sugud asked, eyes widening.

Realising he might have overstepped, he quickly bowed his head. "Forgive me, young master. I didn't mean to pry. I only thought… if you can solve your Class problem, we'll be one step closer to returning home."

"Don't worry," Alex assured him with a faint smile. "Identifying the problem is the first step to a solution, isn't it?"

"Yes—yes, exactly, young master Alex." Sugud nodded quickly.

Alex took a breath and explained, still keeping the atmosphere steady and controlled.

"Well, I've come to believe this world has its own magic-glyph system. As you can guess from my Class name, my entire path revolves around Runes—the magic glyphs of Pangea. This plane likely doesn't recognise or accept Runes at all. Its natural laws reading them as incompatible."

"That makes sense," Sugud murmured. "My parents once explained to me that high-class worlds like Pangea have their own systems—systems that can be imposed on weaker worlds, but are rejected outright by worlds equal or close to it in rank.

"In that case, your deduction about the world's glyph system being the cause of the rejection seems sound."

Zora leaned forward slightly.

"Since you understand the problem… does that mean you have a solution?"

**41**

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