Genetic Ascension

Sylas’ eyes flashed with a blinding light. Standing high in the skies, he spread his arms wide, the blood of his victims running cold as he pulled on them with Extricate.

The number of people that had protected Genes in the outside world were too many to count. So long as it was a Unique Gene, it had some sort of protection on it without the slightest hint of doubt. However… when it came to common Genes, ones that translated to the core stats directly, there was some more leeway.

Sylas had always known that there were two things he had to do in order to become a Tier Three Madness Disciple. The first was to clear the Taboo requirement. But the second… it was far more difficult.

Give the Madness Key a Gold Gene to absorb.

The obvious solution to this was to fuse ten Silver Genes together just like he had once done with Fragmented Genes to form his first Common Genes.

However… there was a huge problem with this.

First, he had relied on the system to do that. Everything happened within his body. This meant that if his body couldn’t withstand the creation of a Gold Gene, he likewise couldn’t make one in his body.

Before, he also faced another problem, that being that he couldn’t even take in ten Silver Genes to begin with because his limit had been two. Luckily, that had been fixed thanks to the death of the genius of Earth’s Legacy, but the first problem still remained.

Then there was the second issue. Was it even ten Silver Genes? How could he know that for sure? He had no real way of knowing if the requirement for forming a Gold Gene from Silver Genes was the exact same as the requirements of forming a Common Gene from a Fragmented Gene.

The gap between Genes only seemed to grow with every step you took forward, so there was no telling if it was a linear progression.

The third problem was that fusing Genes required the exact same Gene multiplied several times over. He couldn’t just randomly gather Genes and hope it would all work out.

It was just one roadblock after another. But Sylas’ mind had been swirling with possible solutions all the while. And when he saw that eye in the sky… he finally came to one.

Thoughts of Gogo swirled in his mind, and he understood what he had to do. But in order to succeed, he had to push his Vipermancy to a level it had never touched before.

There was one Gold Gene that Sylas did have easy access to, and he had had it since the Progenitor Quest’s midway point.

Gogo’s Gold Gene.

After becoming a Gold King Beast, how could Gogo not have one? If Sylas wanted to Extricate it, he could have done it long ago.

But he would never do that.

At this point, Gogo was on his protect list. It wasn’t even just a matter of the logical choice either. While it was true that keeping Gogo by his side was the best for his future, this wasn’t the only thing he weighed.

Sylas tried to Fuse again.

Flashes of black scales appeared on his skin, the gaping hole in his chest wiggling about before it collapsed. Blood spurted and he failed once more.

Sylas coughed, but his hands were still spread out from himself, his focus only increasing as he poured his Will into every fiber of his being, stabilizing his body before he collapsed.

Genes swirled through the skies, complex Runes the likes of which most could only perceive as blinding silver lights manifesting one after another.

Peeling streaks of lightning descended from above, but as though Sylas was protected by some sort of dome, they shattered into shards, and then Runes, and then the Foundations and Strokes that made them up.

Sylas’ irises rotated, veins of red pulsing in their depths as his eyes strained more and more to keep up with the descent of the lightning.

If the Ancestors of the Runeweaver Profession had been here, they would have stumbled over themselves chasing after Sylas to take on their mantles.

To use Runeweaver to Unravel formations was simple and basic enough. To use Runeweaver to disrupt the action of a Treasure was a level beyond and something only a fraction of those already talented enough to use the Profession in the first place could mimic…

To use Runeweaver to shatter and deconstruct Nature itself…

That was on a completely different level.

BANG!

A streak of blue lightning shattered just three meters before Sylas’ forehead, its sparks snaking through and lashing against his skin. The pain sizzled against Sylas’ body, but his focus didn’t waver in the slightest.

—

[Class Upgraded]

[Glassvolt Viscount (Common) > Glassvolt Earl (Bronze)]

—

The lightning danced across Sylas’ skin as though shattered flames gliding across Glass. A reflective might jumped out, his veins pulsing and pumping with vitality. But that vitality only made the blood flow out from his chest even faster.

“FUSE!”

BANG!

“FUSE!”

BANG!

Black scales shattered and fell from the skies above, pelting against the ground below like a heavy rain and leaving craters and charred ash in its wake.

Ice and poison spread, gliding across the ground and suffocating the charred pieces of earth into fused sculptures of blue frost.

“FUSE!”

Sylas roared, black scales crawling up his mutilated body once more.

—

[Class Upgraded]

[Mad Junior Primate (Common) > Mad Primate (Bronze)]

—

Sylas’ claws grew larger, an upswell of power rolling through him in waves.

The Will of a Great Ape and that of a Serpentes clashed against one another, butting heads and wildly flailing. It felt like Sylas was about to be ripped apart from the inside out.

In order to succeed, he had to understand more about his body. But every time he did, he increased the Will of a Great Ape, making it more difficult for him to successfully Fuse.

But this time…

He had no intention of failing.

A roar left his lips, and the Silver Genes slammed into one another before his chest as the final pulse of black scales danced across his bloodied skin.

BOOM!

A radiant golden light spread out in all directions.

There was only one Gold Gene that Sylas understood enough to even have a remote chance of reforming.

The Basilisk King’s Gold Gene.