CH17 OmniRune Core AI
***
Alex's ambition for the OmniRune Core was simple in its phrasing, yet grand in its execution—he wanted to create a platform capable of interacting with the very laws of any dinsion he might find himself in.
A system that could learn, adapt, and eventually influence—perhaps even enforce—his will upon the laws that governed a world.
A platform that would support him in becoming the strongest, no matter the dinsion, world, realm, or plane he ventured into in the future.
And what better candidate for such a foundation than Artificial Intelligence?
But building a true AI from scratch was anything but easy.
In his previous life, even tech giants—like the multinational corporation he once worked for—had to poured years, countless millions of dollars, and teams of elite engineers into developing a functioning AI from the ground up.
AI had only beco sowhat ubiquitous in his old world before his reincarnation because companies eventually released open-source models. These could be modified to suit a client's needs without having to reinvent the wheel from the ground.
Technological infrastructure such as cloud services and GPU-renting computation farms had made it all affordable. Anyone with an internet connection and a bit of coding skill could now train a decent model.
There were also extensive open libraries—curated by global AI-enthusiast communities—designed specifically to accelerate AI learning.
In short, Alex had none of that here.
He wasn't deluded. He knew very well that building a complete AI in this world—where even the concept of computation was nascent—would be a titanic task.
But he wasn't just anyone.
He had been one of the lead engineers on his company's AI division before his death. He knew what he was doing—and, more importantly, he knew the tiline.
He wasn't expecting to build a fully functioning AI in a single seclusion session, or even within a few months. It was a long-term endeavour.
So why start now?
Simple. Magic was a long-term process too.
The OmniRune Core AI would serve as the very foundation of his magic. And just like AI developnt, magical advancent in this world was a slow, layered path that spanned a lifeti.
Compared to investing decades mastering soone else's system, Alex would rather dedicate his life to sothing familiar—sothing that was his.
Call it stubbornness, if you will. But it was his path. He would walk it on his own terms.
—
In the earlier phases of his project, Alex had collected and curated a personal library of Runes. Each Rune had been tested, analysed, and categorised like lines of executable code.
Once he succeeded in storing and replicating the effects of those Runes reliably, he reached an exhilarating conclusion:
The Rune System of this world was a programming language—one he didn't need to invent from scratch.
To validate this theory, he had already created and executed a rudintary 'program'—his Compression Tool array—and it had functioned exactly as planned.
Even better, the fact that this virtual tool existed solely within magical crystals such as the Moro Crystal and the Tear of Zan proved sothing critical: these materials were analogous to computation hardware.
That ant he now had a working, Rune-compatible system—complete with both 'hardware' and 'software'.
The next step? Introducing machine learning.
The OmniRune Core was a blank slate. For it to function as a learning, adaptive AI, Alex needed to instil it with instinctual behaviours—primitive subroutines that would shape its developnt.
Using foundational Machine Learning principles, he planned to create Runic Array Formations that encoded baseline behaviours.
These 'instincts' would form the base of the OmniRune Core's intelligence. They wouldn't just allow it to learn and self-modify—they'd guide how it learned and evolved.
Pattern recognition.
Error correction.
Ti-based mory encoding.
Anomaly detection.
Confidence rating.
Reward-based reinforcent.
Contextual adaptation.
Ethical governance...
Each of these core behaviours would be introduced into the system as individual—but interconnected and looping—Runic Arrays.
It was a massive project. Insane, even.
But Alex had both the theoretical grounding and real-world experience to see it through.
He wasn't groping in the dark.
Not this ti.
-
Tower Master's Office, DragonHold Mage Tower, DragonHold Enclave.
Zora was enjoying a rare mont of tranquillity.
With her schedule unusually light, she took the opportunity to refine her tea ceremony—an art she had quietly adopted from her father, rlin.
A soothing cup of tea while gazing out at the picturesque Enclave below... it was a rare kind of serenity she had co to treasure deeply.
She was not one who craved excitent. Peace and stillness were more than enough for her.
In fact, her primary motivation for shouldering much of rlin's workload had always been to protect this very calm—to safeguard the peaceful haven that had allowed her to bloom.
Yet, in recent tis, that haven had been stirred by an unexpected elent... an overachieving ten-year-old boy.
Zora had always been praised as a genius. But her accomplishnts, however brilliant, still fell within the bounds of reason.
Alex Fury, however, had broken those bounds entirely.
A child discarded by his own family—deed worthless—had gone on to inscribe his theories and inventions directly into the very fabric of the natural order.
At heart, the boy was surprisingly similar to her. He too cherished quiet monts and aningful solitude. But the creations that erged from his hands were anything but peaceful.
Zora let out a quiet chuckle.
It had been four months since Alex entered seclusion for the next stage of his project. Since then, life at the Mage Tower had returned to its calm, serene rhythm.
And yet... the more peaceful things beca, the more certain she was that this calm was rely the prelude to a storm.
She had no doubt that Alex—this curious boy she'd co to view like a younger brother—would soon erge with sothing groundbreaking.
The only question was how absurd it would be this ti.
'He should be out soon. It's already been over eleven months since he began training under Father. Only two weeks left till the deadline,' she mused.
Then the realisation hit her.
"Two weeks? Doesn't that an his birthday is this week?" she muttered aloud.
She ntally counted the days.
"Wait—his birthday is today?"
She blinked in mild shock, then sighed.
"Too bad he's still in seclusion."
From what she'd learned, Alex had rarely celebrated his birthday back in the Fury household. In fact, birthdays didn't seem to matter in that family at all.
She had hoped to mark his first birthday in the Mage Tower—sothing small, a gesture to reward his hard work. But clearly, that would have to wait.
Knock~
"Co in," she said.
The door opened, revealing a familiar presence—but with an unfamiliar visage.
"How have you been, Lady Zora?" the person said with a calm smile.
Zora stared. "Alex?"
"What? It's only been a few months and you don't recognise anymore? I'm hurt," Alex joked as he strolled in and took a seat.
Zora looked him over, blinking in disbelief.
The Alex before her was vastly different from the boy who had entered seclusion.
Now standing nearly as tall as her—around 160cm to her 177cm—he carried a broader fra and a more grounded presence. His hair had grown out, sweeping into bangs that lightly obscured his eyes, while the back reached his shoulders in soft waves.
If one didn't know better, they'd never guess he was only ten—no, eleven—years old.
"How can I not be surprised? Look at you—you've practically caught up to in height!"
Alex gave her a thin smile.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't pleased with how quickly his body was maturing. The sooner he could shed his awkward, adolescent form, the better. He was an adult in spirit—and he was eager for his body to reflect that.
He suspected the als rlin had been preparing were behind the rapid growth. Sothing about the food felt... transformative. He couldn't explain it, not precisely—but the results spoke for themselves.
Of course, part of him worried about the side effects of such accelerated developnt. But if there was one person he trusted with such decisions, it was his master—the Legendary Mage himself.
"So?" Zora asked, leaning forward.
"So...?" Alex replied, feigning ignorance.
"You're out of seclusion. Were you successful or not?"
Alex grinned.
"I've achieved my goal," he said confidently. "I've laid the foundation for Rune-Tech."
Zora couldn't help but smile.
"I want to show Master the results of my work. Can you help reach him?"
"Okay," Zora nodded.
She was about to reach for a device on her table when rlin's voice cut through the room.
"Don't worry. I am here." rlin stepped out of a shimring portal, as usual.
"I was alerted when you ca out of seclusion. I thought you'd take so ti to catch up on what you missed, but you didn't—you ca straight here. I don't know whether to praise your determination and work ethic, or worry about your developnt."
Alex shrugged. "Submitting the proof of concept for my Rune-Tech project has a deadline. Admiring changes during seclusion doesn't."
rlin shook his head, clearly feeling his point had flown over the boy's head.
So, instead, he said, "Are you sure your Rune-Tech has reached a level where it can provide a suitable proof of concept? You'll only get one chance."
"I am sure," Alex said confidently.
"Alright." rlin waved his hand and opened a portal to another location.
It looked like a practice room—but it was huge, even larger than the Arena used for Dragon Duels.
"This is my private practice room. The construction materials and Arrays here can withstand Grade 12 spells just fine. You're free to let loose."
Alex's eyes widened.
Grade 10 spells were considered the pinnacle, cast only by Legends—those who commanded the very laws of the world.
But now rlin was saying this room could withstand Grade 12 spells?
'Does that an you can cast Grade 12 spells?' Alex wondered, looking at his master in awe. 'How strong is this Legendary Mage teacher of mine?'
rlin caught the boy's thoughts and stroked his long grey beard with a small amused smile.
Zora rolled her eyes at her adoptive father's humble bragging antics.
'You're so old, yet so childish,' she admonished inwardly.
"So, what do you have to show?" rlin gestured to Alex.
The boy shook off his surprise, and his confident smile returned.
He stepped forward into the practice area.
"Grade 2 Spell: Fireball!"
"Grade 2 Spell: Windball!"
To rlin and Zora's surprise, Alex instant-cast two Beginner Mage-level spells—simultaneously.
What rlin especially noted was that Alex didn't force the spells; he had complete control as the two balls floated a few tres overhead.
But Alex wasn't finished.
"Special Fusion Spell: Inferno!"
***
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