Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1924: Higher State [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to BobTheEngineer <3]

The Hydra burst into laughter. It was grating, and terrible to deal with given his current headache, but Sylas still weathered the storm, standing firm.

“You speak of the S-tier like it is something you can just reach because you feel like it.”

For once, the Hydra seemed to sound intelligent. Sylas wondered if it was really that the creature was so stupid, or if it had had no choice but to give up a lot of its wisdom in order to survive to this point.

Of course, this wasn’t related to the stat itself—all of that was certainly gone. Instead, it was more related to its memories, its understanding, aspects of itself that were tied to pieces of its soul that were now forever gone.

The fact it had to fuse with a kernel of Greed in order to survive had probably corrupted even more of it.

The Hydra had already seemed a bit goofy at first, and now it was amplified several times over.

“Even if you were born a God it is not guaranteed, let alone you as a little Mortal. Not only do you want to do that, but you want to reach the True Rune Creation of the S-tier and reform my original body? The Beast Heaven has a few True Rune Creators of even the D-tier, and just one of the C-tier, but the S-tier?

“Who do you think you are?”

“Better than they are.” Sylas replied.

For a long while, the Hydra didn’t say a single word. It seemed to really be sitting with the words Sylas spoke.

Sylas was correct. It had to give up a lot of itself in order to make it to this point. Its memories were fragmented, but compared to its actual raw intelligence, that was considered relatively whole.

Part of why it was being so aggressive and guarded was because it felt that it was too vulnerable to being tricked right now. The one part of its mind that it had managed to keep fully intact was its instinct and survivability.

It could rebuild everything else, but that was who it was as an existence down to its core. It would never give that up.

Now, it couldn’t help but wonder if it was being swayed too easily.

But it could feel Sylas’ Will almost as clearly as Sylas himself could, and it could also see the state of Sylas’ brain.

Sylas wasn’t joking.

Even with its memories so fragmented, the Hydra could still remember how it had felt when it saw Sylas initially. Back then, it had also been in quite a fragmented state, but it had still had enough to realize that a Mortal becoming a True Rune Creator was asinine.

In fact, if it had had all of its memories, it would have known that Sylas was the only such Mortal across the entirety of the universe.

There wasn’t one other Mortal at this level.

Not one.

“Prove it. If you can reach E-tier True Rune Creation, I will allow it.”

“And in the meantime?” Sylas said.

The Hydra chuckled. “Don’t expect me to raise a single finger. Maybe you’re clever enough to know that I’m not in my right mind right now, but I’m in my right mind enough to know that making it to True Rune Creation in the F-tier doesn’t make it any easier to do the same at the E-tier.”

Sylas didn’t take it seriously. He had managed to reach this level before even knowing it actually existed. Now that he did know it existed, nothing would stop him.

Right now, what he needed most was to recover.

“Alright.” Sylas said. Whether the Hydra knew it or not, Sylas could use it.

Sylas squinted his eyes open a bit, but the light felt stinging this time.

It was ridiculous. How was his brain affecting his eyesight this much?

‘Everything’s been rewired. My eyes are also heavily injured and can’t withstand the information my brain wants to take in. But that doesn’t make any sense. It should be my eyes sending signals to my brain, not my brain deciding how much my eyes can take in. What is happening to me?’

Sylas slowly carried himself forward with his telekinesis, expanding his Visualization range.

His Visualization was still based on his Luck. It was how he saw things from a bird’s eye view. However, Sylas didn’t often rely on it. His Will was better at sensing things.

The stronger his Will was, the more of an indent it made in the Mesh of Reality, almost like a planet pressing down on Spacetime and curving it.

When things, especially things with Wills, entered his “gravitational” orbit, he could feel them. But he couldn’t exactly see them.

His Visualization Domain could, though. Unfortunately, his Luck was only in the thousands.

It was extremely effective when he was in a world he was the Progenitor of… not so much when he was elsewhere.

But right now, if he used his eyes, he would quite literally fry his brain. In fact, he knew the same thing would happen with his other senses, so he pre-emptively coated his ears and skin with his telekinesis, not wanting to hear or touch anything.

He could only ask the Madness Key what was going on.

[What is happening to my brain and senses?]

[Host’s brain is currently being reforged into a state of higher being, allowing host’s Willborne Charisma to display a greater proportionality of its might. The brains of others receive information, distill it, and then digest it. Host has broken and reversed this mechanism, reaching an elevated Grade of Charisma whereupon the host can force the environment to signal more information than it might otherwise give.

[Host will experience this acutely as heightened senses. However, should host’s nerves be incapable of withstanding this change, it can lead to permanent blindness, deafness, a loss in touch, and in the worst of cases, a complete loss in Proprioception] —

‘Higher state of being…? What?’

[What sort of higher state of being? Be specific]

[Host’s brain is evolving to that of a Demi-God]