Genetic Ascension

[Bonus chapter thanks to Eeshoo97 <3]

Sylas didn’t need to be a genius to know what he had to do. If he wanted this reward, he had to be the first to get to the third floor, and then, to get the last piece of it, he had to come out on top.

Maybe if he failed at any one of these steps, this opportunity would slip right through his fingers.

“Do you know anything about this Profession?” Sylas slowly asked.

“I can tell you about Sealwrights if you want. But if you want to know about a Reaper Sealwright, you’re going to have to give up one of those Legendary Genes you come across eventually.”

Sylas’ gaze flickered.

Give up one? He could just create one.

It was just that he didn’t have enough time right now.

Or did he?

His casting had taken on a completely new level of manifestation.

Sylas raised a palm into the air, and his Will pulsed. All of a sudden, a Rune of complex origins began to form from all directions, all at once.

Before, Sylas felt that it would take him half a day to a day to complete just a single Legendary Wisdom Gene. But now? At least in this tower, without the Will of a much stronger world imposing itself onto him?

A single instant of time.

Chi.

A blinding radiance shone through the world.

The little girl appeared outside of the Madness Key for the first time in a long while. But Sylas felt that she probably only existed in his perception, just the same way no one seemed to be capable of sensing the existence of the Madness Key or the Scorned Wraps.

Though, there was that one time a group of Demons came quite close to sensing the Scorned Wraps. Or, rather, unearthing the origin of their flames—even bowing to them in worship… “Do you understand what this means?” the little girl said, looking at the Legendary Gene without breaking the slightest bit of eye contact.

Sylas didn’t immediately reply. The little girl seemed to be implying something, but she should have been watching all this time. Why was it that she didn’t just tell him to create a Legendary Gene before and instead mentioned giving up one he came across eventually?

It was like… she was trying to emphasize that there was something special about Sylas being capable of doing this. But wasn’t that obvious enough?

Sylas had been through quite a lot before he got to the point that he could produce a Legendary Gene with a single thought. Though, if others heard these thoughts, they might try and wring his neck dry of blood.

Even being a Spark Master wasn’t enough to guarantee the ability to draw a Gene of any kind, let alone a Legendary Gene. Sylas was in a unique position.

Not only was he a Perfect Spark Master, he was also a Primus Luminaria with access to Taboo Bond—a Legendary Path Profession with a Path Talent that allowed him to bypass the need for the system and directly fuse with Genes and extricate them on his own.

it’s precisely because of the enhanced sensory overload he gained by accessing Genes like this that he was able to so perfectly understand Wisdom so quickly.

Suddenly it clicked.

“How much benefit do you gain from being… overfed?” Sylas suddenly asked.

He hadn’t needed to worry about the Madness Key’s needs for a while. Every time he leveled as a Madness Disciple, it reset as well.

But the most important key to it all was that so long as he was in the F-tier, it only needed F-Grade Genes. It had never once, no matter how high the Gene count it asked for became, asked him for an E-Grade Gene.

However… this seemed like an artificial cap of sorts. It was obvious that the little girl could absorb far more than that.

In fact, if Sylas was correct, even absorbing E-Grade, D-Grade, maybe even S-Grade Genes wouldn’t be even a remote issue for her.

That was to say that it was Sylas limiting her right now.

“You finally asked.” She smiled. “I’m not allowed to tell you unless you ask specifically, but we Madness Key Spirits all have different requirements. I come from the Gluttony Altar, so I ask to be fed. Others ask for other things.

“If you meet the bare minimum requirements, everything can proceed naturally. But there is a path to go above and beyond.”

Sylas frowned. She wasn’t allowed to tell him unless he asked explicitly. Meaning…

“This helps you more than it helps me.”

“Hey, hey, hey, that’s not true. It definitely helps you!” she hurried to say.

“You’re also not in the Madness Key of your own volition. An enemy of the Madness Disciples? A failed Madness Disciple, maybe? The latter makes more sense since Gluttony seems to come naturally to you. Trying to fit someone without compatible Will wouldn’t make much sense.”

“Stop deducing, dammit!” The little girl put her hands on her hips, glaring at Sylas practically nose to nose. “It doeshelp you. You’ve probably already guessed it, but the requirements for upkeep drop every time you level up as a Madness Disciple because you move up the priority list. It takes a lot of energy to sustain the Scorned Wraps and the Madness Key, so only those worthy get to continue, while those who aren’t are devoured.

“That’s what you’re in danger of every time you miss a feeding period. So you should be thanking me! I saved you from that fate once already, you cocky bastard.”

Sylas nodded. She had done that. After he accidentally touched on a Taboo, the Madness Key had to expend more energy to shroud him from the system, so it required a greater payment.

The little girl rolled her eyes. The only good thing about Sylas was that he didn’t deny stuff like this.

“If you give me excess Legendary Genes, it really will only help you. I can lower the requirements for you to reach Tier Five and Tier Six Madness Disciple, and you’ll be able to reach it in a very short time.

“Those upgrades… you don’t want to miss out on them.”