Genetic Ascension

“I don’t know… the answer changes every time the tower opens. All I know is that the Tower of Champions is far more dangerous than even the competition to enter it.

“For the starting phase, there’s at least some… seeding, of sorts. The Horizons we’ll face can be much stronger than our own, but the difference won’t be unfathomable. But in the Tower of Champions, all bets are off. I’ve heard… true horror stories. Stories of B+ Races are shockingly common. There are even some rare instances of S Class Races appearing…”

Sylas frowned. This wasn’t about the strength he was hearing about, but the use of two terms he was unfamiliar with once again. B+ and S Class.

“B+? S Class?”

Sylas could ask the Madness Key, but he wouldn’t waste the Genes if he didn’t need to no matter how rich he was. Plus… anything regarding Races so powerful was sure to cost a pretty penny.

Neyara was still gasping for breath, hacking and wheezing from time to time. But whenever Sylas asked a question, she forced her nausea down to reply.

She didn’t even question why it was Sylas didn’t know about these things. The only thing that was important was how powerful he was, and no matter what, she wanted to avoid pissing someone like this off.

This was no longer a matter of just survival alone. Sylas’ questions had made her recall just how important the team you entered with mattered.

Even if seven of the eleven of them couldn’t make it through, the odds someone as powerful as Sylas would make it through the Champion round was at least 20%. Those were good odds as far as she was concerned.

A one in five chance to enter the Tower of Champions was something she would gladly kill for, let alone just suffering a few ailments like vomiting up her own blood.

“The plus is what we assign to Races within a Grade that sit at a superior level. They have many aspects of Grades a level beyond them, but are still firmly within the Grade in question.

“The S Class is practically a Domain of its own. Usually, they wouldn’t even be interested in an Empyrean Dungeon. But from time to time, some are curious, or happen to be passing by when an opening is prepared.

“The rewards of the Empyrean Dungeon are usually stored within the Tower of Champions, and on some rare occasions, there are things that even S Class Races won’t turn up.

“But the S Class… it’s named as such because it’s practically its own category of being. They call themselves Gods and it’s said that each S Class Race is known for having crafted its own manifestation of the system, perfectly curating it to construct and raise their own people. They go from S, to SS, and finally SSS Races. Collectively, they’re known as the S Class.”

“And there aren’t such divisions amongst lower class Races?”

“No. Even the plus markings are colloguial. Though, it could be said that S Class is also a colloquial term formed by us.”

Sylas nodded once. “In that case, I only have to face a series of one-on-one battles to the end?”

“In changing landscapes.” Neyara was quick to add before the space rumbled and her face suddenly paled.

Sylas’ own gaze flashed, but it had nothing to do with the shaking or Neyara’s reaction. Instead, it was because of her words.

“Changing landscapes, huh? It seems that this will be easier than I thought it would be.” Slowly, Sylas calmed, looking up into the endless darkness.

“Why are you reacting like this?” Sylas asked.

“We… our luck is a bit bad. We haven’t had the chance to recover from the long- distance teleportation, but it seems like things are starting now.”

Sylas nodded slowly and he reached out a hand. A few Runes flickered on his fingers for a moment as he tested something. Then, he nodded.

His eyes flashed and a tesseract appeared with a flip of his palm. With a clap of his hands, it multiplied and then spread out.

In an instant, a tesseract covered the head of every one of Sylas’ team members.

At first they shook in fear before they suddenly realized that their sense of disorientation was quickly vanishing. Then, in the blink of an eye, they felt like they were back at 100%.

Sylas turned his head toward Jala and Alex.

“You two give up directly when it begins.”

After Sylas said this, his head lit up with a pulsing crown of gold. It radiated out and formed an illusory golden armor on him. Then this armor flashed and collapsed in on itself, forming a great sword to his back that constantly swapped into one weapon after another.

It didn’t seem like any of this was real, but instead a mysterious show of force.

Sylas’ senses, though, watched in fascination, feeling that this display… it was very interesting. He felt like it was hiding a secret he didn’t quite understand right now.

Then, the Aether all vanished. Two doors appeared, one smaller and a blackened iron- silver, and the other larger, radiating a dense crimson gold.

The Knight Gate and the Champion Gate.

Without much care, Sylas took a step and vanished, not giving any other words of encouragement.

He didn’t care how they did. He would make it to the end and bring them into the Tower of Champions.

When Sylas’ vision cleared, he found himself in a world of floating silver cubes. Some were as small as a thumbnail, and some were so large they dwarfed moons.

Ahead of him, there was a flash and a figure appeared. He looked beaten and bloodied already, his arm hanging broken to one side. Worst yet, he looked completely disoriented, vomiting for what definitely didn’t seem like the first time the moment he appeared.

It seemed that this Dungeon simply didn’t care about how people adapted to long- distance teleportation at all.

However, Sylas didn’t immediately take advantage of this. There was something more he wanted out of these interactions. But also, the stats of the man made his eyes narrow. [Name: Sanzi Cott]

[Level: 50]

[Physical: 97 333]

[Mental: 79 114]

[Will: 92 289]

With stats like that, who left him in this state? It seemed that for many, becoming the Champion of their Horizon hadn’t exactly come easily.