Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1683 Rulebook (2)

Sylas walked forward, his steps steady. He stopped before the large glass encasement, reaching out a palm and feeling the smooth surface. There didnʼt seem to be a seam or an easy way to get in. It was almost like it was here to block anyone from seeing or touching the rulebook in the first place.

How was one supposed to read a book you couldnʼt interact with?

No doorway, no passage, no teleportation...

Maybe if Sylas still had Runeweaver maxed out to the D-tier, he would be able to see through this little trick instantly. The problem was that he had yet to interact with his new Profession, and whatever it was, it was only at Level 1 currently.

He wasnʼt too eager just yet to try either.

Now that he had infinite slots for Professions, he wasnʼt tied to trying to maximize every one he had. If he felt like the Weaver Guild wasnʼt a smart bet to make, he wouldnʼt mind abandoning their Profession and ensuring his Karma wasnʼt too linked with Faneleiʼs.

However, that was one matter, and this was another.

Malikhi watched Sylas without saying a word, his eyes glinting with something peculiar. His son made a move to speak, but a glare from Malikhi was all he needed to shut whatever snide remark he had been prepping.

Sylasʼ hand suddenly slipped through the barrier as though it hadnʼt just been solid before.

The flicker in Malikhiʼs eyes grew bolder. He figured it out so quickly?

A Spark Master of the F-tier was the weakest Rune Master they would allow in here. Obviously, by extension, their rulebook should be able to be read by anyone who was part of their guild, even if it took them a little more effort than others.

That was to say, from the very start, Sylas knew that the bar to leap over was F-tier Spark Master. Whatever tricks, underhanded means, or hidden mechanisms this rulebook had, it had to be something an F-tier like him could deal with-otherwise, what would be the point of the rulebook?

The moment he understood this was also the exact moment he knew that this challenge was, indeed, the best to start with.

What was

Mastery?

The simplest definition was in the essence of the word spark. It was spontaneity. Runes wanted to manifest and breathe around you just because you existed.

For a guild where the lowest bar to reach was the highest for most Rune Masters, what would they expect out of you in order to read their rulebook?

If one looked at it that way, the answer was also obvious.

Reading a rulebook in this world wasnʼt as simple as doing it and getting it over with. It was ingrained with a culture, a mentality-this was the realization that had allowed Sylas to step into Perfect Spark Mastery.

The question was... what was the culture of the Weaver Guild? What could Sylas sense?

The answer he wanted to give was summarized in a single word:

Pathetic.

Their Ancestors had given up, their soul was broken, their goals for the future as stagnant as stale waters and shattered dreams.

But while that was the truth, it wasnʼt what the Weaver Guild needed to project out into the world.

Sylas had already seen that essence from the Runeweaver Profession. That sense of control and suffocation. To bind Runes together on a whim and shred them apart with a thought.

A Mastery of Runes that stood above the world and controlled it not with a palm, or a movement... But a simple gaze.

The Sight of the Weaver.

Sylas felt something click as his hand slipped through, his Spark Seed thrumming to a unique rhythm.

Was it truly a coincidence? The guild the Weavers hated most also happened to place such strong emphasis on the eyes... The Seeing Eye Guild.

No, it wasnʼt a coincidence at all.

The realizations and deductions seamlessly blended and fused into one another.

They said the eyes were the window to the soul. Maybe in this world, the saying would be that the eyes were the window to the Will.

It seemed that they were fighting for supremacy over such a thing.

And the Weaver Guild would come out on top.

Sylas took a step forward and slipped right through the encasement, a crown pulsing with life above his head.

Primus Luminaria.

Sylasʼ eyes glazed over, his palm landing on the book as the hall shook. The tome thrummed with life and responded with a fierceness to Sylasʼ Spark Seed.

A halo of gold shimmered around them, but Sylas didnʼt seem to notice. He had already begun to read.

Outside of the glass encasement, Malikhi watched with narrowed eyes.

Eleven times was, indeed, the average... or, more accurately, it was an average. It was the average time taken for geniuses who took less than four years to successfully reach Spark Mastery.

And none of these eleven times was simple. Often, they had to be carried away, unconscious and broken, their Will fed with countless elixirs to keep them alive and well.

In fact... of those eleven attempts, not a single one of them would be taken within the same year-often spread across two or even three by the weakest of them in an attempt to mitigate the harm caused by the excessive pushing.

The rulebook was far too dense, and filled with the Wills of far too many powerhouses.

Of course, if you were an E-tier existence, it would only take one or two reads at the most. But many would lag in their progress to the E-tier for the sake of excavating as much potential in the F-tier as they could. Some might even have false hopes of reaching Perfect Spark Mastery.

This was why F-tier elites tended to be little children, while E-tiers were often already in their late teens and twenties.

Even so, if one craved easy and quick merits, the rulebook was still the best place to start... that was because you didnʼt need to complete it to gain something.

[>5% completion on first read - 1 Merit]

[>10% completion on first read - 3 Merits]

[>20% completion on first read - 10 Merits]

[>30% completion on first read - 50 Merits]

[>40% completion on first read - 200 Merits]

[>50% completion on first read - 1000 Merits]

[>100% completion on first read - 10,000,000 Merits]