Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1189: Sacred (2)

Feeling it out, honestly... Sylas felt cheated.

He had been told that all Aether Paths were made equal. In fact, the one that had told him that they were made equal was none other than this little girl right here and her Madness Key.

Back then, Sylas wasn’t sure what Mancy Path he should be going for, so he had asked the Madness Key. But it had said that it didn’t matter because all Paths could be taken to the end.

Maybe that was still true, but the Madness Key’s habit of only answering exactly what you asked was rearing its ugly head again, and he was suffering for it.

A Sacred Mount wasn’t a rank, not technically. Legendary still stood on its own. The problem was that a Sacred Mount, or a Sacred Beast, carried with it a Path of Mancy that did stand above all others. It represented an Aether that was graded as Sacred.

The Madness Key hadn’t lied to Sylas. All Aethers were created equal in that they could all reach the very pinnacle. However... it was only when they were actually at that pinnacle that they were truly equal.

At almost every other point before then? They were very much not equal. In fact, the further from the peak they were at the start, the more unlikely it was that they would reach the pinnacle in the first place.

By comparison, Sacred Aether stood on a stage all its own. It was at a level where the number of Foundations that made it up almost didn’t matter. Even mediocre Sacred Aether suppressed all others, taking precedent as though it was of an elevated tier.

Facing off against a Sacred Aether felt a lot like facing off against an E-Grade as an F-Grade... and not everyone had the necessary Title to ignore that suppression.

It seemed that Hollow Aether was considered to be a Sacred Aether.

As for exactly what it was?

The best way Sylas could describe it was an Echo of Death. It was like the Hollow Wing had taken the poison of the Bone-Tailed Lizard and the Glasirith and turned it into something that Sylas couldn’t even quite wrap his head around.

He had no idea how many Foundations this Aether had... no, maybe he did know.

Is that the secret of Sacred Aether? Are they all perfect? No, not perfect, but close to it. At the very least, 80 Foundations if not more. And unlike me, the Hollow Wing can use this Aether without any sort of backlash to it.

Sylas remained silent for a while and then he nodded.

Good.

The Talents of the Sacred Mount were still locked, but not into perpetuity. It was an Overlord, so all Sylas had to do was lead it to kill and everything would work out eventually.

Sylas waved a hand, and the Hollow Wing unleashed another roar before shooting into the Hibernation Realm.

The moment its pressure was gone, Sylas felt a bit of fatigue hit him. His body felt shaky beneath him and he almost collapsed.

After a while, his eyelids just felt heavy. Maybe... he should just...

He didn’t get to finish the thought before he had already fallen back and into a deep sleep.

He had been through a lot, and somehow his rewards had put him through even more than just that alone.

All things considered, his rewards were only so extensive because of how much he had accomplished. But even after getting them... Sylas wasn’t satisfied.

It was because he knew that the road ahead was far from completed. In fact, the difficulty had just gotten a lot worse.

**

”Furon, you understand that if we push things, we can find out, correct?”** The Patriarch of the Leava looked at the young man across from him, his expression calm, but belying the raging storm in his chest.

It had been a mess of a last week. The entire Leava Clan was in chaos, one root after another being pulled from the soil as they tried to find the new holder of the Title.

Furon, a calm young man whose glass-like eyes reflected the colors of a complex array, only shook his head.

”I, too, would like to know who it was. But it was not me. I have also been focused on preparing for my breakthrough into the E-Grade. I did not plan on vying for the Title until I was on the verge of entering the D-Grade. It was not yet my time to strike.”

The Patriarch’s eyes narrowed.

Furon was related to him. Not his son, or even his grandson, but instead his great-great-grandson. Separated by so many generations, it was hard for them to have a close relationship, but it didn’t change the fact this Patriarch was actually quite proud.

The Leava were amongst the best Rune Masters of the Sector, but they didn’t always monopolize first place on the Matrix Index Rankings, or even the Rune Master Rankings either.

Of course, with the Title having been in their Clan for so long, even if they weren’t first, they were never too far off. But Furon was the first to be number one at the F-Grade in a while, as the Venom Clan had had a huge upsurge in recent generations.

But now, their Aira was number two and could only become number one when Furon decided it was time to step into E-Grade.

But the trouble was... the Patriarch knew that Furon’s words were true, which was why he had gone to their D and E-Grade geniuses first. If they didn’t have it, and Furon didn’t have it...

Then who could possibly have it? He didn’t believe that Furon would lie in this situation.

Just what were they going to do now?

”If you want to find out, Clan Patriarch, it isn’t impossible.”

”Oh?”

”From what I can see, if Patriarch has made it all the way down to ask me, the odds that the Title is still with our Clan are... near zero.”