Genetic Ascension

Sylas realized that there wasn’t a perfect answer waiting for him. If he hadn’t figured it out by now, it was either that it didn’t exist, or he simply didn’t have enough information to come to an adequate conclusion yet.

What he did know was that it was unlikely to make a huge difference right this moment. Even if he did think of the absolute perfect use, anything great enough to help him now would require more than Genes. The Gene Crystal would almost certainly ask him to sacrifice a Title he didn’t have—or maybe didn’t even know how to get.

That said…

Sylas walked to another room.

Fusion Crystals.

There were an obnoxious number of them, as though Fanelei had put them here to flaunt her wealth.

It had to be remembered that Fusion Crystals were used for the purpose of adding Comprehensions to your repertoire. They were the only method of having more than one, and the more Comprehensions you had, the higher the level of Fusion Crystals you needed in order to fuse new ones into your body.

Sylas took the whole room of them without any intention of using them himself. He was slowly getting to the point where he could see a future where he could replace the function of a Fusion Crystal himself.

Plus, at this point, he felt he had too many Comprehensions. There were just three, but he could only use them one at a time in battle. Unfortunately, he hadn’t learned any method of mitigating this weakness.

The triggering of a Comprehension required too much from the body. Unless he had a perfect clone, it was impossible. And at that point, it would be a waste of time.

These Fusion Crystals were for other people.

Was this considered robbery? Sylas didn’t think so. Weren’t these things gifted to him?

He walked to another room and found something curious. It was lined with tablets.

After taking a look, he realized these things were called Title Template Stones. Apparently, successfully breaking one using the method outlined would bypass the regular method of Title gain. It was almost like getting an accelerated degree in university.

But when Sylas saw this, his eyes glowed more than they had in any other room.

He didn’t actually give a damn about the Titles. What he saw were these Title Template Stones, but the underlying meaning beneath them.

Each and every one of these hundreds of stones represented a system-breaking item.

Every one of them.

The realization was heavy, but Sylas couldn’t quite grasp exactly how to take advantage of it just yet. It was almost like striking oil before the world realized the amount of power stored within it… except the first people to discover crude oil were almost certainly far more confused than Sylas was.

He took them all.

Maybe the Titles themselves could be useful, maybe not. Sylas certainly knew that his stats themselves had a lot of room to grow. In fact, a large part of the reason Sylas’ stats weren’t as gaudy as they should be was because he had yet to maximize Titles like others had.

The problem was that Sylas was completely uninterested in empty stats these days. What he wanted were methods of fundamentally changing his power structure.

He had defeated those with stats ten times his own. His Mental Stats hadn’t even moved after he pumped himself full of Legendary Genes.

The stats the system could hand you just weren’t as valuable—not by a long shot.

The fact he could defeat those with stats in the millions painted the picture clearly enough, but the fact his Mental Stats hadn’t moved was the nail in the coffin.

He had Mental Stats at over two million. His Charisma would have also been, if not for it being tied to his Will. However, when he loaded his body with Legendary Mental Core Genes, they didn’t move. What instead happened was that his body adapted and he became capable of more effectively using the stats he already had.

His stats had become more meaningful without the number changing at all.

If Sylas was going to take on a Title, it wouldn’t be for the stats, but instead for the special effects. For example, Progenitor Saint allowed him infinite Professions, and Palms of Fate could save his life at a critical moment.

But Titles as rare as those wouldn’t be so easily broken. Even at a cursory glance, Sylas knew there was no such Title here.

All of those Titles could only be gained through blood, sweat, and tears.

These ones?

Empty.

However, their Templates, though… Sylas had a feeling that once he figured out a use for them, the results would be quite shocking.

The Scorned Wraps were already capable of pulling the wool over the system’s eyes, but that was only in incredibly acute situations directly impacting Sylas himself. This, however, might give him more flexibility.

Sylas walked down the hallways and stopped at a peculiar room.

‘Oh?’

He didn’t expect to find something like this here. However, before he entered the room, he paused. He looked to the side to find Fanelei standing no more than ten or so meters from him.

Even if the distance had been ten kilometers away, to say that it was little more than the blink of an eye to a Legend would still be an understatement-let alone so close.

“What’s this? Are you trying to loot me and escape?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Loot? I was under the impression that all of this was mine,” Sylas replied calmly.

Fanelei smiled, but it was one that didn’t seem to reach her eyes at all.

“Of course it’s all yours. But it’s peculiar that you would store them away instead of using them in rooms clearly designated for their usage. Each one has been meticulously designed for me. The Gene Crystal Room, for example, boosts the chances of successfully absorbing one you’ve created by 20%.”

Sylas nodded. “I noticed.”

“Did you? So you are planning on escaping?” Fanelei asked, still smiling. She seemed amused that Sylas even had the thought.

Sylas didn’t reply with words. He pulled the Gluttony Madness Key off of his neck and threw it at her feet.

The clanging of the metal against stone reverberated through the otherwise silent hallways.

“You would think after being by my side for so long you would know that if I’m moving this confidently, you’ve already lost.”

Fanelei’s pupils constricted into pinholes.