Genetic Ascension

Sylas streaked through the air, his eyes cold. He could hear the sounds of battle erupting behind him, but he didn’t look back. Though he was slightly worried about Gogo, this had to be done.

If he was stopped here, it would make things more difficult. Given how much was protecting the young prince right now, the odds of killing him were low, and what Sylas needed from this man was time-sensitive.

Sylas’ figure flashed forward and he vanished into the distance, his body dancing across the skies in streaks of green lightning, leaping across space every time.

…

BANG!

Landing heavily in a mountain range, Sylas didn’t hesitate to trigger the formation he had drawn earlier.

This formation wasn’t new. It was the very same formation he had stolen knowledge of from the Africor Monarchs, just modified slightly. Its only goal here was to strip an outsider of control over Aether.

It was crude, and it didn’t even function well for defenses, but this was the best he could do. He didn’t have systematic training in anything else, so right now he could only fly by the seat of his talent and call it a day.

He dropped the corpse to the ground. As for Lorien, he had left her with Gogo. Ultimately, given what he was about to do, it was more dangerous for her to be by his side. This was the only choice he could make.

Since he gained Progenitor Grandmaster, he had yet to use it. Now it was about time he found out the difference.

Even though he expected that there would be one, the results surprised him nonetheless. Part of it was almost certainly the fact that his understanding of Serpentes had deepened thanks to Gogo, not to mention the fact his Will was much stronger, but even so…

The last time he used Progenitor Professional to raise Taboo Bond to Level 50, he ended up half dead.

This time, though it was impossible for him to say it was easy, especially since he no longer had the support of Earth, it was more of a workout that pushed him to the brink rather than something that outright killed him.

By the time he was finished, he had fallen to a knee, gasping for breath. He felt like he had been drained of everything he had, but in the palm of his hand, the Free Chaos he needed was right here. And this time, unlike the last time where he could only have it do as it pleased…

He could direct it.

Sylas struggled to stand, pulling himself forward until he rolled out of his own formation. Collapsed on a pile of rocks, he pressed the Free Chaos into his body, taking deep breaths as he struggled to try and recover.

But unfortunately, right now he was also at a deficit. His Genes had too much free space and unused potential, so he had lost his State of Wealth. In the end, his recovery now was a lot slower than it ever had been in the past.

He would use Hibernation Halo, but to trigger it, he needed to fuse with one of his contracts, and there was no way the system would allow him to in this state. While he wasn’t injured, he might as well functionally have been.

‘It should… work…’ Sylas thought, his mind fatigued to an extreme.

And then it happened.

—

[Overlord Quest Triggered]

[Overlord Quest Cleared]

[Congratulations, you have become a member of the Overlords of Skai 11331 Galaxy]

—

Sylas gasped for breath, lying on his back and looking at the notification screen. It almost felt a bit hollow, like it was missing something.

Were there levels to Overlords or something? Or maybe he wasn’t able to pull out the full Potential he was pulling on?

The answer didn’t matter, not right now.

Sylas’ chest continued to heave, focusing on circulating Aether to replenish himself as quickly as possible. Like a fish that had finally taken a dive back into the water, his body greedily soaked up everything that it could until he could finally move again.

Groggy and still half a mess, he pushed himself up from the ground.

His Will was the first to recover, already prepared to go another round. His Aether was next. But his body itself… it was like every time he pulled on his Title, he was pulling on his very own Potential and sucking it dry.

This ability… it was very dangerous.

No, what made it dangerous was that he kept forcing the issue. The Progenitor Professional and Progenitor Grandmaster Titles were meant to be used with his own knowledge as a foundation. But instead, he was using them to forcefully elevate his Professions beyond a level his body was ready for.

He was taking, but not giving anything in return. Of course, there would be a price for that.

He was quite lucky that he could take back the Potential he lost from others, otherwise it would be akin to pulling water out of a reservoir without a sieve to put it back in.

But now…

Sylas stood to his feet finally.

… He had exactly what he needed.

First, he would start with this Level 30 bazaar just to get a feel for what was going on. But he had heard that the Thryskai wanted to claim the Level 50 ones too.

Well… he couldn’t allow that, now could he?

It was fine enough if they wanted the Level 100 and Level 150 ones, but their pipeline to forming new geniuses would be in control of his own hands.

This would give Earth the backbone it needed.

Their Titan Leaderboard was so important precisely because the F-Grade was the foundation of everything else. It could be said that the Level 50 Bazaar was the most important of them all.

How could he miss out? Why shouldn’t he take a chance to kick them while they were down?

Sylas stomped a foot and launched himself into the air, his plan taking a slight pivot.