Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1195: Paths

Chi.

The blade ricocheted against Sylas’ chest, a flash of violet taking shape. It deflected, and Alex’s dagger almost shattered on impact, his wrist suffering an even worse fate as spikes of pain ran up his body.

Sylas caught Alex’s wrist out of the air, and the sound of the latter’s heavy breathing filled the air as Sylas looked at him silently.

This was the second time Alex had caught him off guard. If not for their gap in strength, it would have certainly caused problems.

First, he had been forced to use [Chaotic Menace], and this time, he used his Scorpion Warlord Armor even though he hadn’t initially intended to.

If not for the gap between their Wills, Sylas would have certainly been stun-locked for long enough for Alex’s strike to hit. But between his Enlightened Will and his True Pride Seed, an attack on his Will simply had too little chance of succeeding.

But it was the fact he had still felt it that was so shocking.

To be fair, Sylas didn’t have any mind-protecting Skills or Treasures. The fact that he could withstand a Will attack with brute force—especially one so sophisticated—went to show just how strong his Will was in the first place.

But that didn’t change just how impressive Alex’s Will attack was in the first place. Two things could certainly be true, and there was no need to be obsessed with one or the other.

”That’s twenty,” Sylas said calmly.

Alex didn’t stop his heavy breathing, nor did he pull his hand away from Sylas’ control. Instead, he just waited until Sylas released him before putting his hands on his knees.

”Damn, I thought I had you. You’re one crazy dude, Psycho Syl.”

All at once, Alex’s chilling demeanor vanished into the wind.

Sylas looked at him. From his words, he didn’t seem to acknowledge that he had been very close to dying either.

”A weapon manipulation Skill. A devouring Skill that can be used to strengthen your weapons, your Skills, your body, or your Will. A Will attack to mitigate the downsides of said devouring Skill. An Aether that had a crumbling and devouring effect on the world around you. Is that everything in their lineage?” Sylas asked.

Alex’s lip twitched.

It shouldn’t have been obvious that he was using individual Skills at all. His combat style so seamlessly blended into one that it would look as though he was just manipulating Aether to an expert degree.

But he should have probably known better than to try and hide things from Sylas by now.

”[Void Armament], [Umbravore Eclipse], [Abyssal Wrought]. They call the Aether Nullvein.”

”Mm,” Sylas nodded. ”Let me see this Nullvein Aether without all the stealth technique.”

”Goddammit, Psycho Syl. Fine, fine, whatever. The stealth technique is known as [Nightbane Fog]. It’s probably the most important core of all of this, otherwise there’d be bastards on my tail every moment. It’s a Gene Talent, and it uses my Will to mask the root of what I do. It should be difficult to see through it.”

”Your Will is too weak for this to be your greatest reliance.”

”I know this, dammit. But I can’t break through that barrier.”

As Alex spoke, his Aether flashed into existence. This time, Sylas could see it. Truly see it.

It really did feel a lot like Hollow Aether, but different. Hollow Aether was more like a cancer, seeping into things and taking control of them from the inside out. But Nullvein was far more forceful—it devoured and destroyed, things that were far more abrasive.

They almost felt like two sides of the same coin, but also so different that they couldn’t be aligned in the same way at all.

After all, Nullvein had a method of taking energies it wanted into itself, converting them into its own strength. But Hollow Aether couldn’t do this.

Which was better?

It was actually quite hard to tell. But that was what made Nullvein Aether so special. It too... just might be a Sacred Aether as well.

Sylas didn’t have 100% certainty because his affinity in the Aether was too lacking, which made seeing through the Runes a bit of a difficult mess. Coupling that with the fact that this Aether seemed to have quite a natural ability to hide itself, and it was even more difficult.

’Curious. I didn’t know that there was such a limit to Rune Mastery as well... but I guess there is a difference between controlling attributeless Runes and ones used to build up very specific sorts of Runes...’

But there was another reason Sylas was so enamored with this Race all of a sudden.

The Gluttony Seed.

He wanted to know if this Race had really built its foundations based on this. If they had, then while he was crafting his Human Armor, could he build a new Race for himself as well—something built on the Pride Seed?

If they could succeed, he didn’t see why he couldn’t.

But Sylas knew that it would be far more complicated than just that. After all, this Race had, in all likelihood, been monstrous before they even began the Summoning. That’s why they were a target.

What did this mean? It meant they likely had Race Traits that made them highly compatible with this Path from the very beginning. At most, what they learned from the Gluttony Seed was more like dressing on a recipe they already had most of the pieces for.

As for Sylas? He had no such thing.

His Human Simioid Race seemed far more in line with Wrath than Pride, given how many of the Skills from his Primal Lord Gene Class could feed off of ”Fury” or branched from [Berserk].

His Glassvolt Duke Gene Class, though... that was a lot more in line with Pride, but it was separate from his Race, which might make things more tricky.

But right now, Sylas was no less interested in this Path than Jala and Alex were. Even if he was wrong, he could use them to learn more about the Gluttony Seed. And if he was right, well...

He had opened up an entirely new door.

It seemed it was time to return to the Golden Grove. But first, he would have to see to Cassarae.

What Sylas didn’t expect was that this wife of his would have her own path forward already.