Power of Runes

This whole place is surrounded by a vast amount of space particles...

Ash looked around calmly, his eyes wandering over the surroundings as if the presence of the Dragon Elders meant nothing to him. He didn't even spare them a glance.

The Elders, watching his complete disregard, felt their anger building. It wasn't just arrogance—it was blatant disrespect.

"This human brat," Taylor muttered through gritted teeth, unable to hold back his rising irritation. He turned his head slightly and sent a telepathic message to the White Dragon beside him.

[Do you really expect us to hold back any longer? I can barely control myself anymore. No matter what plans you had involving him, he's far too dangerous. We need to subdue him now.]

Alarion, the White Dragon, heard Taylor's message and simply let out a soft sigh. His expression remained calm as he responded aloud, his voice low but clear.

"Do as you wish. As long as he is breathing."

Hearing that, Taylor's lips curled into a smile. The other dragons also seemed to relax a little.

But just as Taylor opened his mouth and began to mutter under his breath,

"Domain Ex—"

Ash vanished.

***

His third eye symbol glowed even more strongly, and in that light, Ash saw it clearly—the Dragon mana, thick and ancient, swirling deep within each of the Elders around him.

Ash's gaze turned cold as he looked at the overwhelming amount of mana inside their bodies.

It was enough to crush a city, to drown the skies in fire and wind, then slowly turned his focus back to the surroundings space mana.

Omni Thought...

With those words echoing silently in his mind, the world around him slowed. And then within the slowed world, he finally looked at the description of Eclipse for the first time.

**

Weapon Name: Eclipse

Rank: Growth Type (Current Rank: Apprentice)

Description:

Eclipse is a Chinese Jian forged by a legendary blacksmith. Even before awakening, its potential was extraordinary. However, after resonating with the Ancient Runes, the sword underwent a mysterious transformation, unlocking latent abilities far beyond what its current rank would suggest.

Abilities:

- Unbreakable:

The sword is completely indestructible. No force can break it.

- Life Drain:

It absorbs the enemy's life force. If the enemy is weak, it can drain them completely. If the enemy is strong, only a small amount is taken—enough to sustain the wielder in prolonged combat.

- Space Cleave:

After syncing with runes, it can cut through space and other hard materials. But how well it works depends on the user's control over space element.

- ҂✦☌⟁⚚⟁✦҂

**

He calmly looked at the abilities of the evolved Eclipse. He was satisfied with what he saw, but deep inside, he knew this was not everything.

He could feel the sword—no, he could sense it—as if it was alive, as if it had a heartbeat of its own, waiting for his call like a loyal beast finally released from its chains.

Looks like those sword auras released earlier from Eclipse must be connected to the ability called Space Cleave…and that symbols at the last...it must be something strong...

But it seems that the actual power depends on my mastery over the space element... and that's something I have no real experience with...

Space, even in his past life, was a mysterious concept.

It was something even the most brilliant scientists of Earth struggled to understand.

Compared to that, lightning was more familiar to him. He had studied it. He had learned its properties as a science student. He understood how currents flowed, how charges moved, and how voltage arced across matter.

But even with that knowledge, his control over lightning wasn't due to natural talent.

In truth, most of it came from the Omni Thought. That skill forced his brain to work harder than it ever should, allowing him to control every tiny particle of mana with insane precision.

It drained his mind, but granted him near-perfect command. Without it, his elemental control was average at best.

Just like his behavior sometimes… all bark, no bite.

Even with his science background, he had no idea how this world's mana interacted with the concept of dimensional reality.

I really don't know if those theories about space are even correct. I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to studying space...

If space is a fabric, then a blade sharp enough and infused with spatial mana might be able to act like a needle—piercing through the weave, forcing a tear.

By now, one of his mana cores had nearly recovered fully. Seeing this, he didn't waste a single second. He vanished from his position without a sound.

His destination—was the edge of the chamber, where the boundary of this isolated space lay hidden.

Ash recalled everything he had ever learned about the concept of space from his previous world, compressing years of knowledge into a few heartbeats, and focused with all his mind.

He forcefully gathered space mana around his sword, and slowly, a deep violet hue started to cover Eclipse. It shimmered faintly, like the edge of a black hole laced with purple starlight.

This is my first time trying this... I really hope it works...

Arriving at the far end of the hidden chamber, Ash narrowed his eyes and slashed downward with his full strength, pouring his mana and intent into that single strike.

Everything happened so quickly that by the time the others noticed, Ash had already moved. His sword was already descending toward the hidden boundary, and they didn't even have enough time to react.

-Slash!!

""Shit!!""

That thought screamed through all of their minds in unison. They were completely caught off guard.

Ash had spoken confidently earlier, claiming that he wouldn't run, and they had believed him. But the moment his speech ended, he disappeared in front of their eyes.

"There he is..."

The Space Dragon was the first to locate him, sensing the space mana gathering wildly around Eclipse like a brewing storm.

What is that sword...? Could it really be a Divine Relic...?

He didn't know, but what he did feel was something ancient, something that shouldn't exist in this era. The aura coming from that sword didn't just feel powerful—it felt primordial.

But then, in the very next moment, his eyes widened in horror, and so did the eyes of the others.

"Stop that lunatic, he is trying to destr—"

He couldn't even finish his words.

A long, crude-looking sword aura—raw and wild like a lightning bolt made of will—launched itself from Eclipse. It struck the upper boundary of the space, which had been hidden cleverly behind the illusion of the chamber's ceiling.

And right there, a thin but perfectly clean cut appeared in the fabric of reality. It was just enough for a person to pass through, but the implications were massive.

Ash had cut through space itself.

***

I knew it... this is outer space... fucking crazy dragons...

When Ash has observed the surrounding previously, he was already suspicious about the location of the chamber.

Because the space mana around the isolated space pocket boundary was tightly packed, thick to the point it felt like an unbroken wall.

There wasn't even a single gap where one could attack or make a cut in the space.

That's when he decided to cleave the space using Eclipse's newly awakened ability.

It wasn't something he had planned after thinking it through. There was no long pause, no deep calculations.

It was simply his instinct pushing him forward. A gut feeling whispered that this was the right path, and more than that,

This is the way that will cause the most chaos…

Trusting that surge of wild intuition, Ash focused his will on the particles lining the path of his sword.

With fine-tuned precision granted by Omni Thought, he manipulated just enough of them to shift—disturbing their cohesion ever so slightly.

In doing so, he created a line, a seam, a surgical incision within the compressed structure of space itself.

It was almost effortless. The sword moved, and space listened.

What he didn't know—what he couldn't have known—was that the action he had just performed wasn't something a person of his level should even be able to conceptualize, let alone achieve.

His power, his attributes, and his very existence were beginning to break away from the rules of the world.

He was becoming an anomaly—a disruption in the flow of reality where common sense no longer applied.

Now, as he watched raw space mana pour inward like a rushing tide, rapidly enlarging the tear he had created, Ash narrowed his eyes.

My guess was correct...

He had noticed earlier how evenly the space mana was distributed across the boundary of the room. The concentration had no natural flow, and only one thing matched that strange stillness in his mind.

Outer space...

Ash's gaze flickered toward the dragon elders. They were shouting, rushing toward him with enough force to tear the sky apart, but even with Omni Thought active, their speed blurred his vision. He could only see distorted streaks of color barreling toward him.

So he didn't wait.

He threw his body into the newly opened void, crossing through the spatial incision in an instant. And just before his presence fully vanished, he whispered under his breath...

{Explosion}

The moment the word fell from his lips, mysterious symbols appeared along with a glowing sphere of lightning bloomed where he was standing, spinning with multiple cores, and it detonated in a violent blast that filled the chamber's edge.

Everything happened within the blink of an eye.

The explosion blossomed with violent brilliance, shaking the foundation of the entire chamber and forcing the rushing elders to halt mid-charge.

"DAMN IT!!!" Alarion shouted, slamming his fist into the floor hard enough to crack the reinforced stone beneath him.

"Close the space!! Otherwise, everything will be destroyed!!" he barked, his voice laced with panic.

While dragons could survive in the vacuum of space, using mana to sustain themselves instead of oxygen, even they had limitations.

In that vast void, movement was nearly impossible. If they tried to use mana recklessly, it would simply vanish into the endless vacuum.

But the biggest problem wasn't survival.

It was destruction.

"Close it, now! Or this entire realm will collapse!" the Space Dragon shouted in panic.

"But what about that bastard?" the Dark Dragon growled, still watching the tear widening.

"You want to chase him into outer space? Fine, go ahead. But first, close this damn thing."

With no more time left, the dragons abandoned all hesitation. As one, they raised their voices and cast the most powerful technique in their arsenal.

All of them shouted in unison.

"DOMAIN EXPANSION!!"

***