Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1757: Call of the Titan (1)

[Call of the Titan (???) (???)]

[Titan. A moniker known in every world, across every culture. They are the beginning, the origin, the primordials of their worlds and the foundations of their existence. Today, the word is used loosely, its original weight forgotten by most, but not all.] —

Sylasʼ eyes narrowed.

What sort of treasure was this supposed to be? This was the first time he had seen not just the grade of a treasure being obscured, but also the treasure type.

Usually, even if his scouting skill or the treasure itself was unwilling to allow him to see its grade, he would still be able to see whether it was a Skill, a Temple, an Aether Treasure, or anything of the sort.

But this time, he could see neither, and all he got in return was a vague description about Titans.

Were Titans really such a great thing?

As far as Sylas knew, the word Titan back on Earth only referred to a very specific pantheon of gods from the Greeks and Romans. And those gods were losers that lost their great perch to their own children.

In fact, the Titans of Earthʼs mythology werenʼt even the origin of the pantheon at all. They had been born from the real primordials, Uranus and Gaia. So, even if Sylas wanted to pretend as though Greek and Roman mythology was the end-all, be-all, even they didnʼt take Titans as seriously as they should.

Maybe if this description had been about the Primordials, or even the Olympians, Sylas could give it a little bit more credence, but this just felt... off.

So, Sylas chose to ask his Madness Key. The result left him in silence.

He knew that he would probably have some faint regrets about losing his Gluttony Madness Key. He knew that he would probably retrieve it one day when he inevitably clashed with the Glutton again. But he didnʼt expect regret to come so fast.

[Cost: Silver Merit]

This was the first time the Virtue of Pride Madness Key had ever asked him for payment in return for an answer. It had been far more flexible than the Gluttony Madness Key, obviously because he was at the highest level of clearance for this Key immediately rather than still being a low-level Madness Disciple.

But now, the chickens had finally come home to roost.

The Pride Key didnʼt want Genes. It wanted Merits.

Usually, the Pride Key would need him to fulfill one great feat a day, and Sylas hadnʼt really mused much about what that meant. Because he was always in constant danger all the time, fulfilling this requirement was incredibly easy and obviously also incredibly flexible.

If he had the Sin Pride Key, then it would surely be more difficult. But Sylas could often succeed just based on his intent alone.

That sounded a bit complicated, but it was quite straightforward. Essentially, so long as Sylas felt like he had accomplished something that day, the Key would be satisfied.

That might sound ridiculous. But it had to be understood that the Virtue Pride Key didnʼt appear for just anyone. By virtue of being the owner of the Key in the first place, you werenʼt a complacent individual.

That meant that if you were satisfied with what you had already accomplished that day, then the Key would also be satisfied.

This aside, if it had been the Gluttony Madness Key, Sylas could just spam-create whatever it needed. But now he didnʼt have that option. Did he really have to use the Silver Merit he literally just got to learn what this was?

There didnʼt seem to be another option remaining to him.

Sylas had already made his decision. If his Key needed him to slide in Demerits, then he might have to think about it for a little longer. But if it was just asking him to give up Merits alone and return to neutral, heʼd be just fine.

He had made it this far at neutral, and he would be just fine continuing.

Accumulating Merits was much more difficult off of a Summoned World, and even harder when you were away from your own world on top of that.

Merits were rewarded more by worlds than by the system. Sylas had received great Merits for saving Earth, and then saving the Milky Way after. But since then, he had spent so long away from his home that he hadnʼt had a chance to make his world happy and gain more Merits.

But that would probably be changing very soon. So...

What was a Silver Merit?

Sylas spent his newly acquired Merits and slowly read. As he read, his expression became more grave.

[Call of the Titan (Origin Template) (Sacred)]

[Titan. A moniker known in every world, across every culture. They are the beginning, the origin, the primordials of their worlds and the foundations of their existence. Today, the word is used loosely, its original weight forgotten by most, but not all.

[Apply the Call of the Titan to anything to sense its true origin, understanding implicitly and without limit] -

-

It was just the addition of a single line, one sentence, and yet Sylas read it again, and then again, and then again.

ʼWithout limit?ʼ

That was the translation in English, but in Ancient Ithkuil, Sylas detected a chill reading it. It underlined a limit.

If he were to translate it properly, the word limit referred to the target item and the Call of the Titan treasure itself. But what it did not refer to was himself.

Meaning... if he tried to comprehend something too far beyond himself, his mind might fracture and he could turn himself into a vegetable.

But that left Sylas with a huge dilemma before him.

He had been wrong. The most valuable treasure he would receive wasnʼt A-Grade Medley at all. But the problem was that unlike A-Grade Medley, he couldnʼt truly use this one as he pleased.

The question was...

Should he wait until he was much more powerful to use this?

Or should he use it right this moment...?