Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1347: Scaffolding

[Title Unlocked]

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[Title Unlocked]

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[Title Unlocked]

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[Title Unlocked]

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[Title Unlocked]

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[Title Unlocked]

...

Sylas just sat there as though he were incapable of feeling fatigue. Sometimes his finger would tap at the air, and at other times he would just let his gaze lead his thoughts, one Rune after another forming.

Some Titles required just ridiculous repetition. Others required completing an odd combination of things.

There were some rare ones that actually required doing something difficult—or something that Sylas would consider difficult, that is.

For example, there was actually an ungraded, upgradeable Title that required drawing all of the mirror and transposed versions of a Rune.

This sounded far more complicated than it was, especially to Sylas, who understood just how far the depths of geometry went in the world of Rune Mastery.

Back when he was completing Secret Realms, he had faced off against the Matrix, a series of squares with various unnamed Runes within them. He had to fix the configuration of those Runes so that they would randomly combine into a complete Rune.

In truth, this was a very, very rudimentary version of Spark Mastery. It laid the foundation of understanding a Rune Master needed in order to trigger the changes and control one would have at Spark Mastery.

But in this case, rather than trying to find just one of the mirrors that worked, you had to find all of them.

From Sylas’ understanding, most people would have to accidentally stumble into completing this one.

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[Elder Transmutation (Title)]

Any Rune Master is capable of copying the work of another, understanding the world not through their own lens and views, but instead the lens crafted, curved, and polished by others. You, however, are capable of seeing the world through all distorted lenses. Not the world, its Laws, the shifts and changes, nor the clever tweaks and illusions to your mind are capable of pulling the wool over your eyes.

[+150% Wisdom][+150% Intelligence]

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Whenever Sylas saw these things, it reminded him of the organic chemistry classes he had taken. The importance of geometry, of recognizing chemical bonds regardless of the shifts and changes they underwent...

Because in real life, chemical bonds weren’t a simple few circles and lines drawn on a page. They were far more complicated than that.

And Runes were a level—or several levels—beyond even that.

The ability to recognize a Rune regardless of its configurations was high priority for any Rune Master. But being capable of drawing the same Rune in all its configurations, accounting for adjustments in the laws of the world around you, or even illusions cast over your sight and senses...

That was a difficulty on a whole other level.

And it was this that the ungraded Title was asking for...

It took Sylas five minutes.

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Sylas tapped at the air, watching the ticker go up. The tedious nature of it all was annoying, but he was finally at the point where there were only a few Titles left.

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[Title Unlocked]

[Drain of the Essence (FFF+) (Title)]

You’ve grasped the core of a Rune, understand it like the back of your hand, and can pluck it from anywhere with a single thought. You’ve forgotten the meaning of a jack of all, becoming the master of one.

[+50% success in drawing Chosen Rune][+10% Rune Mastery in drawing Chosen Rune][Convert any Rune to your Chosen Rune]

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The Rune that Sylas chose was, of course, his only self-created Rune—his Glassvolt Rune. Though, he honestly thought sometimes that he should give it a more unique name, he just didn’t care enough.

Others might find this to be a great feat worth celebrating, but it didn’t feel all that special to him.

All he cared about was the fact he was finally finished.

By the end of it, the summary changes to his stats were...

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[+970%, +87 Wisdom]

[+520%, +44 Intelligence]

[+330%, +12 Charisma]

[+25% Rune Mastery in drawing Chosen Rune]

[Convert any Rune to your Chosen Rune]

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When the conversions were made and his Dominus Paragon Title was added on top of that, the changes were as follows:

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[+1800 Wisdom]

[+713 Intelligence]

[+172 Charisma]

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And now he had to apply the new percentage boosts to his original stats...

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[Name: Sylas Grimblade]

[Species: Human Simioid (D)]

[Affiliation: Legacy 7777; Progenitor of Earth; Golden Grove Elder; Beast Warlord Sanctum 073]

[Class: Glassborn Cryst Emperor (Legendary (F))]

[Class: Chaotic Sovereign (Legendary (F))]

[Profession: Vipermancer (Bronze (E))]

[Profession: Runeweaver (EEE+)]

[Level: 50]

[Coins: 837 111 132 382 (F); 8 212 261 (E); 1 232 (D)]

[Titles: A Marked Will; Milky Way Progeny; Progenitor Grandmaster; Palms of Fate; King Slayer; System Rebel; Sacred Tamer; Skill Progenitor....]

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[Physical: 799]

>[Strength: 799]

>[Constitution: 799]

>[Dexterity: 799]

>[Speed: 799]

[Mental: 11 244]

>[Intelligence: 16 909]

>[Wisdom: 15 822]

>[Charisma: 1000]

[Will: 1000]

[Luck: 11]

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When Sylas converted the +10 Wisdom from a Title like [Sight Master’s Touch (F-)], then he really ended up with just +0.01 to his Wisdom.

As such, when you were on a stage like this one, the Titles that provided raw stat boosts were actually not that good at all. Even a +1000 would just be a +1 in this iteration of the system—or rather, this system territory.

As such, the best boosts that Sylas received were from raw percentage increases; those were undoubtedly the best Titles to have.

However, this didn’t mean that the weaker Titles were useless.

Every one was an important cog in the wheel. Even if they didn’t add to his stats a lot, what they did do was build his Foundation well.

And all of the related Titles almost felt like... scaffolding, helping build the structure toward something greater.

Sylas believed that because these Titles were all related to Rune Mastery, they had a different sort of synergy when they fused into his Foundation together, resulting in an exponential change rather than something that was purely additive.

This was most certainly done on purpose.

But there was something else... Sylas felt like he had brushed up against something shocking—another Title. A Contested Title, one that wasn’t listed by Gralith.

However, he still somehow felt a ways from it. He also felt that it was entirely unrelated to Rune Mastery too.

And that left him curious...

Just what Title was that?