《Genetic Ascension》


 Chapter 1 Worst-Case Scenario

    <h4>Chapter 1 Worst-Case Scenario </h4>


    Ss shrugged off hisb coat, smoothing his ck button-up shirt with a hand and hanging up the long white coat with another.


    Even after a long day in theb, working with various toxins, he didn''t seem affected in the slightest. His steely green eyes carried the same emotionless stare behind his ck-framed sses, and his toned, though slight, build still stood ramrod straight.


    As he left the university, he was greeted by passing students and professors. He gave them each a polite but curt nod, his strides long and almost vigorous.


    The fall air was a bit brisk, but refreshing to his nose. The university had quite an open-concept design, and after walking down from the top-floorbs, the first floor was nothing butrge, arching pirs that held up the higher floors and let the rush of wind and nature in.


    ''It''s getting dark. A bit early for that,'' he thought.


    Winter wasing, and daylight-saving time had already passed, but it was still around only four o''clock. The sun probably shouldn''t have begun to set until five.


    Ss found it a bit curious.


    "¡ªIt''s all the global warming, I tell ya. It''s already the first week of December, but have you seen a lick of snow? I''m telling you, those Browns, they''re sc¡ª"


    Ss'' long strides didn''t slow as he passed by a hotdog cart. He caught some of the conversation, but he wasn''t going to slow down to intrude.


    Plus, what could global warming have to do with when night and day came?


    ''¡­ It''s possible,'' Ss thought. ''If there''s enough of a change at the north and south poles, the tilt of Earth could shift enough that daylight would¡­''


    A string of thoughts came to Ss'' mind, followed by an even longer string of equations and calctions. He didn''t bother to stop these thoughts; it was a nice way to pass the time as he moved.


    The world was an interesting ce. He doubted the hotdog merchant knew of all of this, and most might scoff at his ims, but there had been the possibility of a kernel of truth to it.


    Ss still didn''t believe that it would happen.


    Half the world thought that global warming would be the end of all things. The other half thought it was an overblown mess conjured up by fear mongers.


    To Ss, as were most things, he felt the truth was in the middle somewhere, though potentially leaning more to one side than the other.


    He ended up spending quite some time on this problem, and before he knew it, his home was before him.


    To have a house so close to the university, Ss, or rather his family, was quite well off. The suburban home came with a three-car garage, a well-trimmedwn, and the ample spacing between homes one would expect from a gatedmunity full of those of upper-ss society.


    Ss opened the unlocked door and bent down to pull his dress shoes off. However, he was unexpectedly barraged with noise much more substantial than he would expect from his home.


    Themotion was muffled, so he couldn''t quite make out the exact words being said, but there was definitely an argument going on.


    His indifference gave way to a frown.


    He lived with his mother, father, grandfather, and little sister. It could be considered to be a harmonious household, and he had been quite lucky all his life. The most his parents would argue about is what to have for dinner.


    The sound of footsteps caught Ss'' attention and an elegant, middle-aged woman came into view from the living room. A little girl of about 13 years old clung to her, tears brimming in herrge green eyes.


    The middle-aged woman wore quite a helpless expression.


    "Ss, you''re home, that''s good. You know I''ve told you to just take one of the cars. Why do you insist on walking every day?"


    These were words Ss had heard many times before, but he could tell that his mother just wanted to take her mind off of the argument happening in the basement. Ss had deduced that, for it to be so muffled, it could only be taking ce down there.


    The basement could be considered the man cave of the house. It was there the gym and various games were located. This wasn''t to say that these things were important now, but rather that it was a ce Ss'' father and grandfather tended to go to rx. It was odd that an argument would break out between them down there.


    Unless someone else was involved?


    Ss doubted it.


    His parents were business professionals, but they had a strict "no work from home" policy. So, it couldn''t be a colleague. But he couldn''t think of any friends his parents would have that could trigger such a big argument, either.


    "It''s not far, mother."


    He walked forward, rubbing his sister''s little head in an attempt tofort her.


    "It''s at least five kilometers. Just look, the skies are already dark, but yourst lessons ended at four. You know it''s not safe out these days."


    Ss listened to his mother''s nagging withoutint. If he cared so much about escaping his family, as a 26-year-old who had already secured tenure at his university, he could have moved out long ago.


    Life on the outside didn''t have much attraction to him.


    He had quite a few friends, though no best friends.


    He had had girlfriends in the past, but most were infatuated by an ideal of who he was, instead of the person he actually was.


    He wasn''t a fan of drinking, partying, or smoking.


    All the reasons he might be eager to escape his mother''s hawk-like eyes simply didn''t exist.


    "I''ll go see what''s going on," Ss finally managed to fit in a word.


    His mother hesitated, but ultimately nodded. She didn''t want to get in between her husband and her father-inw. It really was best if Ss went.


    Ss nodded and headed down the hall, opening the door to the basement and making his way down.


    The fury he was expecting didn''t hit him. Instead, there were waves of exasperation. The less you heard of it, the worse it sounded. But it seemed that his father and grandfather didn''t really need any mediation.


    "¡ªCedric, I''m your father. When have I ever led you astray? Returning is the best option we have right now."


    "Dad, none of this makes any sense. You want us to pack up and suddenly go across the world. It''s too ridiculous. Ss just started his tenure, and ra is just finishing up herst year of middle school. How can we do that to them?"


    "The matters of the secr world aren''t going to matter anymore in just a few months, Cedric. Don''t you get it?"


    "No! No, I don''t get it! You''ve been telling me this nonsense ever since I was a kid and I never believed it."


    Ss walked in to find the two facing off against one another, each one standing on either side of the pool table. His father''s face was practically red, and his grandfather was pinching his brows.


    "You''ve never wanted to listen to me. If your mother¡ª"


    The two noticed Ss at that point. Ss felt that he had quite good timing, because he had a feeling his grandfather was about to say something that took the exasperation past the point toward rage.


    His grandmother had died long ago, before Ss had even been born. But ording to what he knew, she had raised Cedric on her own until he was around ten years old. After she died, Magnus returned andpleted his fatherly duties.


    Ss didn''t know much more about this situation, as it wasn''t really his ce to ask. What child knew every detail of their parents'' past? He also didn''t like the idea of digging up his father''s trauma.


    Even so, he knew enough to know that his grandfather bringing up his grandmother would be an easy one-way ticket to ruin.


    It was a Friday, and he didn''t want his weekend to be ruined by this.


    "Ss," Cedric spoke, a hint embarrassed.


    Honestly, the moment Magnus mentioned his mother, he had already seen red. It wasn''t just him, but even Magnus looked to sigh a breath of relief.


    "What''s going on?" Ss asked.


    "It''s just¡­"


    Magnus and Cedric looked at one another.


    "You''re already 26 years old, Ss. There are some things you should know," Cedric finally said.


    Looking at his son''sckluster reaction to these words, Cedric chuckled. He was about to reveal some big news, but Ss was already in "analysis mode."


    "Forget it. It''s not a big deal. We can be considered family with the Browns."


    Ss raised an eyebrow.


    The Brown family was synonymous with elite. They were currently the richest family in the world, had raised three billionaires in this generation alone, and could probably copse the GDP of a medium-sized country on a Tuesday if they felt their coffee was a bit too cold that morning.


    That hotdog merchant had tried to me global warming on them, and Ss didn''t really me him. Thergest industry the Brown family had gotten its start in was the paper milling industry. Though they had grown since then, they still had quite arge piece of that pie and had deforested their fair share of lush forests.


    That said, Ss'' reaction was basically as Magnus and Cedric had expected.


    So what?


    Magnus sighed. "I will tell you what I''ve been telling your father all of these years. He does not believe me, but what else can I do in my old age?"


    Cedric crossed his arms. If this old man couldn''t convince him, how was he going to convince his logic-brained son?


    Magnus seemed to realize this as well, but he simply gritted his teeth and continued.


    "The most powerful families in the world aren''t just there for show. There will always be things they know that themon people will not. Do you agree with this, Ss?"


    "I do."


    Ss nodded seriously. It was na?ve to believe otherwise.


    He didn''t believe in consOriginal theorists, nor did he believe government loyalists. Much like most things, he believed the answer was in the middle somewhere.


    "Good." Magnus nodded, feeling a bit hopeful. "I will get right to the point. The world will enter a state ofplete upheaval soon. Our best chance to survive is to return to the Brown family estate."


    "What sort of upheaval? War?" Ss asked.


    "Yes," Magnus said quickly, causing Cedric to roll his eyes.


    "He''s trying to whitewash it. The old man believes that a cataclysmic, apocalyptic-level event ising. War might be just one of the many oues."


    Ss fell into silence.


    His grandfather had exhibited no signs of dementia. In fact, even now, he looked quite healthy.


    Magnus had ruddy bronzed skin, a bright head and beard of white, and he carried the same ramrod posture all men of their family had.


    Despite being in his early seventies, he had run a half-marathon just two months ago.


    Dementia obviously didn''t have outward signs, but Ss hadn''t noticed anything out of the ordinary, and he interacted with his grandfather every day.


    That aside, his grandfather had never spoken of such ridiculous things before. It made him more inclined to believe him.


    "Isn''t there a simple way to check?" Ss said after a moment.


    Cedric''s triumphant smile became bitter, and Magnus'' eyes lit up.


    Ss walked to the side and unplugged aptop that was streaming a movie to the tscreen. It was stuck on a cartoon princess, so Ss assumed that his sister had been down here before the argument broke out.


    He walked back and ced theptop down on the pool table in view of his father and grandfather.


    "The most elite families in the world, I can think of quite a few, but just to check, we only really need to focus on three. Let''s go with the Browns, the Abadi family, and the Rouse family.


    "All three of these families have high-profile members that have their flight histories tracked, and all three have publicly known estate addresses."


    Ss looked up at his grandfather. "Is the address of the Browns the same as the publicly avable one?"


    He spun theptop screen toward his grandfather. It disyed a location deep in the Appchians.


    "Yes, this is the location," Magnus nodded.


    "Good. That means we can reasonably conclude that if there''s an upswell of "returnees", then many of these high-profile people will be returning home as well.


    "Lucius Brown¡­ Mchi Brown¡­ Astrid Brown¡­"


    These three were just the three billionaires that the Brown family had created in this generation. All of them were in their forties and had forged a path in their own unique industries.


    Ss frowned.


    Cedric frowned.


    Magnusughed.


    Ss opened up a new tab.


    "Kael Abadi¡­ Asher Abadi¡­"


    Ss'' frown deepened.


    "Ragnar Rouse¡­ Thorne Rouse¡­ Draven Rouse¡­"


    Each one, again and again, without fail, all had flight histories tracking them right to their estates and none afterward. All within thest week.


    Ss'' fingers sprang across the keyboard as though he were ying the keys of a piano. They seemed to blur as he moved faster. He forgot his grandfather and father were even present as he opened up tab after tab.


    He said that he would stop at three families, but he didn''t. He pored over every powerful family he could think of, an entire dozen of them before he was satisfied. He even checked some of the more minor ones he didn''t think were that specialpared to the rest, and it hadn''t changed a thing.


    Ss almost mmed theptop shut.


    "I do not know how true grandfather''s words are, but we need to go. Worst-case scenario, we return on Monday."


    Cedric''s expression was solemn. He looked toward his father, but Magnus had stopped gloating, almost as though Ss had just convinced him as well.


    ¡­


    That night, Ssy in silence, looking up at the nd ceiling of his room.


    ''Is this excitement?''


    He couldn''t remember thest time he had felt that. Even all the rare snakes he worked with, snakes that could kill an elephant with a bite, didn''t get his heart rate racing like this.


    The world just felt¡­ boring to him. Sometimes, he wished he was a religious person just so that he could feel assured that something bigger was waiting out there.


    This just might be that.


    Ss looked over as his room door creaked open. A little munchkin dressed in a pink nightgown that almost dragged across the floor peeked her head in.


    Ss smiled lightly. It seemed that the crying fit ra had gotten into earlier today made her not want to sleep alone.


    "Fine, but you''re getting too big for this, you know."


    ra pouted her lips and scurried into his bed anyway. She dove into his covers and imed a half of his bed, ignoring him as though he wasn''t even there.


    This seemed to calm Ss somewhat, and he felt that sleep wasn''t so far off after all.


    "Ss, am I going to see my friends again?"


    "Maybe," he replied after some pause.


    "Humph, mom and dad said definitely. I knew they were lying."


    Ss smiled bitterly. It seemed he might get scolded again for that one.


    "I''m sure they''ll be fine," Ss finally said.


    After all, it wasn''t like these families were escaping into outer space, right? Ultimately, they were all on the same. That meant there was a chance for everyone to survive.


    Although¡­ Ss knew that those odds, ording to his calctions, were entirely too slim.

 Chapter 2 Butler Joseph

    <h4>Chapter 2 Butler Joseph </h4>


    Ss ducked his head and took the first step on his way down from the private jet. He wore a pair of jeans and a white turtleneck, and matched both with a pair of loafers and a light brown trench coat.


    The wind was a bit chilly up here in the Appchians, so he had dressed appropriately. Oddly enough, the air wasn''t as brisk as he was expecting, and it felt more like spring.


    The words of the manic hotdog merchant shed in his mind again, but he didn''t pause his steps, looking around with his usual cid gaze.


    The Brown''s family estate was located high in the mountains; it was about as secluded as you could get. Quite frankly, without a private jet, it was impossible to get here unless you were willing to take amercial ne and then go on a week-long hike.


    As expected of a family of this stature, they had their own runway and airne hangar. There was even a small mansion not too far out of sight, where Ss assumed they allowed the pilots to rest.


    This was good news for him because he had booked their pilot for the entire weekend so as to avoid any potential mishaps.


    It was hard to get ay of thend while on this piece of it. The tarmac, the hangar, and the pilot amodations were all that were worth seeing here. They would likely have to take one of the helicopters he saw lined up to the side to the main abode.


    The rest of Ss'' family came down with him. After his father spoke a few words to their pilot, they separated and waited for their greeting entourage.


    All around them, there were simr groups, most of whom were well-off families that had long since separated from the Browns. Many of them were likely like Ss, not having understood this sort of connection until recently.


    ''The number is quite a few,'' Ss thought to himself. He counted nearly 50, and those were just the few that had arrived at a simr time to his own family.


    Ss looked over to find a butler headed over with swift steps. He was dressed as traditionally as one could imagine, his ck hair and meticulously trimmed beard holding hints of an aged grey.


    He bowed gracefully when he was in range.


    "Wee. My name is Joseph. You may all address me as such. Please follow me. I will escort you to your amodations promptly."


    ''Odd,'' Ss thought as he followed along. ''The other groups should have arrived before us, but they are still waiting. Why is that?''


    He looked over to find that his grandfather was practically grinning ear to ear. He managed to restrain himself eventually, but Ss took note of it.


    The family entered a helicopter and were soon in the air again. Not even a dozen minutester, theynded on the roof of just one of the many properties Ss could see from below.


    His sister couldn''t see on her own, so she had insisted on sitting on hisp. If not for the decorum everyone else was showing, she would have pressed her chubby little cheeks against the windows just to get a clearer look.


    "This home beneath us now will be your living quarters. There are five bedrooms and bathrooms, an outdoor bathhouse with sauna and pool included, along with an ample living area in the backyard. Should you have any specifications on what you would like the backyard to include, please inform me and I will have the construction workers and architects get started on a n right away."


    Butler Joseph continued to lead them through the house, exining a great many things, but Ss was still stuck on his first few sentences.


    ''Get an architect to start up a n immediately? Their intention is truly to amodate us all for an extended period. Indefinitely, potentially.''


    "¡ªWe''ve missed brunch, and I have yet to understand the particrities of your family. But I have taken it upon myself to schedule lunch at 1300 hours.


    "As ast point of emphasis, there are many questions that I am not qualified to answer, so please understand my position. I have been told thate tomorrow evening, everything will be properly addressed."


    With that, Butler Joseph bowed once more and swiftly headed to the servant''s quarters, likely to continue preparing lunch.


    The tour was soprehensive that there truly weren''t any questions to ask other than the ones that burned at their souls. However, after Joseph''s final words, they could only look at one another with somewhat nk expressions.


    It seemed that everything would have to wait for tomorrow evening.


    ¡­


    The day passed by swiftly. Normally, Ss would be a bit agitated. He had a meticulousness about him that many couldn''t understand.


    He liked to dress well, he liked to keep his things tidy, and he was always punctual and direct. The fact that this meeting would take ce Sunday evening, when he had lectures scheduled on Monday, didn''t leave him much room to maneuver unless he had the pilot take off in the middle of the night.


    However, he had surprisingly had very few thoughts of anxiety rted to this matter. His mind was entirely focused on theing meeting, and then the hour finally came.


    Holding onto his little sister''s hand, Ss followed along the outdoor trail Joseph led them all down. Though he described it in this way, the dirt road was so well maintained that it might as well have been pavement instead. It seemed the only reason it wasn''t was in order to keep the ambience of nature intact.


    There were many other groups of families walking down these paths anding out from their own homes, simr to them. The atmosphere was both polite and slightly rigid.


    Everyone knew that they were all rted distantly by blood, but it was difficult to feel that sort of closeness. With the meeting so close, there were also other things on their minds as well.

 Chapter 3 Turncoats

    <h4>Chapter 3 Turncoats </h4>


    Ss had been thinking about a great many things in thest day, and he felt that he had cobbled together some puzzle pieces.


    For one, just to make it here, one had to have a certain status, or at the very least be willing to take such a risk.


    A single flight hour for a pilot costed thousands. Even if you were near the estate, rtively speaking, you''d easily be five figures down the drain for this single trip¡ªat best. No normal family could charter a ne on a whim like this.


    That was just the first filter, though. The second filter, and arguably the more important one, was daring toe in the first ce.


    Objectively speaking, his grandfather''s words were ridiculous.


    An apocalyptic event? Only known by the truest elites of the world? Next thing the old man would be saying was that the Illuminati was real too.


    However, even though it sounded ridiculous, there were countless methods of checking the veracity of the im. Ss'' method was just one. If you knew what you were looking for, Ss could think of at least half a dozen other viable methods.


    There might be some among the families that came today who were just looking toe up in the world. Maybe they thought the Browns would provide them an opportunity to soar beyond their current station.


    In Ss'' opinion, these people should be the minority. The rest were simr to himself, sharp-eyed and looking to satiate their curiosity.


    The families were led into arge dining hall, each assigned to their own tables.


    ''Separated again,'' Ss noted.


    It was subtle, but there seemed to be a conscious effort to make it difficult for these various small families to interact with one another and start asking questions.


    Ss didn''t believe there was anything sinister about it, at least not yet. It was more likely to be a form of crowd control.


    A full three-course meal was served and the dining hall was filled with sounds of quiet chatter.


    Ss'' eyesnded on a few figures at the head tables, three in particr that he recognized instantly.


    Lucius Brown, Mchi Brown, and Astrid Brown, two men and a woman, each unique in their own way. They all shared one long table, facing the dining room as though this was the Renaissance Era and they were Kings and Queens.


    Oddly enough, they seemed to have no intention of addressing everyone. In a situation where everyone was meticulously following etiquette, this action, or inaction rather, stuck out like a sore thumb.


    Dessert was served, a nice light and airy cheesecake drizzled with strawberry jam. It looked delicious, though Ss didn''t eat it. He tended to stay away from sugar. He found that his body was a bit too sensitive to it.


    His little sister, though, happily stole away his piece. He really didn''t know where this little munchkin found the room in that bite-sized body of hers.


    Someone stood from their seat.


    Ss didn''t need to look to know who it was. He had been focused on these people for the entire night. The moment his ears twitched, he knew it had to be Astrid.


    Astrid was about the same age as Ss'' mother, and their looks were so simr that they could easily pass as sisters. They were two women in their mid-forties that looked to be in their early thirties instead. Their style of dress was simple and elegant, and their choice in jewelry was muted and not very bombastic.


    Astrid wore a ck gown that managed to not carry the gloominess one might expect. A pearl ne graced her slender neck, and her hair carried quite a bit of volume, almost as though she had hosed it down with hairspray, and yet it didn''t carry the expected stiffness as it loosely flowed to her shoulders.


    She was beautiful, but her brows carried an undisguised authority.


    There was a saying that most of the richest women in the world were widows or divorcees, but Astrid was neither, never having been married. She had every right to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lucius and Mchi. The two even seemed to defer to her somewhat.


    ''Not defer,'' Ss thought to himself. ''More like they are content to let her take the lead. They see one another as equals. What an interesting dynamic. What are theypeting for that such a hierarchy is necessary?''


    "I know you all have many questions, so I will speak once for all of you. Though these words sound arrogant, the family needs you all to understand that the current ways of the world cannot continue as presently constructed.


    "In the future, we will not all be equals. What you have must be earned, and only what you''ve earned, can you use."


    Astrid''s gaze swept through the dining hall. She was setting the tone and her authority made it difficult for anyone to even think of refuting her.


    "Earth has undergone six extinction-level events over the course of its history.


    "The Ordovician Extinction. The Devonian Extinction. The Permian-Triassic Extinction. The Triassic-Jurassic Extinction. The Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction. The Holocene Extinction."


    Many frowned when they heard this.


    They were all educated people. They had heard of these extinction events in passing, though not many had heard of them in so many words. But those that had felt odd that they were being grouped together like this.


    The Holocene Extinction, for example, was an extinction event currently ongoing, caused at the hands of humans and their impact on Earth''s wildlife.


    Why mention these things?


    "Your textbooks have told you that these extinction events were caused by various things. Volcanoes, ice ages, asteroids, countless horrible things.


    "However, I am here to tell you today that this is all nonsense.


    "Every one of these extinction events, even the so-called "ongoing" one, have all been caused by one single matter.


    "The Summoned Ascension."


    Astrid''s expression became solemn.


    "Many of you will choose to leave after tonight. I want to make it clear that the family will not stop you. We are not a charity, nor do we believe that those who carry our blood need such coddling.


    "Once you step out of that door, there is no return. Whatever happens afterward will have nothing to do with us. We have no patience for turncoats."

 Chapter 4 Stele

    <h4>Chapter 4 Stele </h4>


    Ss watched all of this silently.


    ''She''s quite a good speaker. She mentioned something as fanciful as a "summoned ascension," and then she rooted it right back in reality. Somehow it sounds less ridiculous when she puts it like that. Now I assume she''ll go back to exining what a summoned ascension is.''


    "The Summoned Ascension is a multiverse-level event. It is an opportunity for Earth to enter the world stage¡­ the true world stage.


    "The first opportunity was over 400 million years ago, and it ended in failure. The sixth opportunity, during the era of the United States of America, China, and Russia, was the closest that we''ve gotten to sess, but we were ripped apart by internal strife.


    "You''ve read books about the matters of culture and race, and how heavy a part they''ve yed in our history. What you don''t know is that even when our lives were on the line, nothing changed."


    Ss'' gaze suddenly turned sharp as he sat forward.


    These were simple words, but they practically hit him like a truck.


    Hundreds of years ago, the most powerful nations in the world were eradicated due to an all-out nuclear war.


    America, China, Russia, Britain¡ªthey all had their centers of power crushed.


    Although they were in the Appchians now, this country was no longer called America. Instead, it was called the United Coalition of Terranova.


    These names were purposely decided upon to exude a simr air to the countries they reced, almost as a silent salute to the lives lost and a reminder to never go down that path again.


    Even to today, when society had basically caught back up to the pre-nuclear fallout days, no country owned any nuclear warheads. Well, at least not publicly.


    This, though, was just the beginning.


    In this age, "race" wasn''t truly a thing. If you looked around, most people were quite ethnically ambiguous.


    If Ss was picked up and dropped into the era before the Sixth Extinction event, looking at him, it would be difficult to tell if he was Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, or maybe even a mixed-race descendent of some sort.


    This was the same for everyone. His parents, his little sister, his grandfather, Astrid, or even the other invitees.


    All of this was publicly avable information, the kind of open secret you didn''t even think about while walking through the streets every day, but Astrid''s words just now¡­ they made his heart start racing so long after it had finally calmed down.


    If after the Sixth Extinction event, Earth failed again, this time due to internal strife caused by cultural and racial differences, what better way to deal with that than to try to make everyone of one culture and one race? There was even now a universalnguage across all of Earth.


    It was a valiant effort, but humans were truly disgusting creatures. Without race, it became a matter of ss.


    Wasn''t the perfect example right here?


    The powerful families were gathering up now, and Astrid had mentioned "bloodline" once already. What about the poor? What about the people who didn''t have a trillionaire-ss family to suddenly call them back home?


    "This will be our seventh attempt to ascend. There is much on the line, but I will keep this short.


    "Every world only has nine attempts to ascend. After failure on the ninth attempt, it will lose its right to sovereignty and will be passed on to the other overlords of their gctic region.


    "Second, those of you informed about the past extinction events understand that we are quite lucky. Not all dominant species manage to survive an event. Many creatures of the past are no longer with us, the dinosaurs being the first that likelyes to your minds.


    "The human race managed to make it through one extinction event, but it is impossible to guarantee that we can make it through another."


    Astrid waved a hand and the dining room''s lights dimmed somewhat as a projector began to fall to her back.


    "Right now, all of you only have my words, and as I''ve said, I''m not here to coddle you all. But I do believe that it is only fair that you all get to witness exactly what me and my cousins have before you make your decision."


    The projector clicked into ce and an imaged fired onto it.


    No, it wasn''t an image, but it was a box, a bronze box that appeared, hovered and rotated in space.


    Ss frowned. He looked up at the ceiling and checked for wires, then he went through all the magic tricks in the book to try to find the catch, but nothing came to him.


    "This box is known as a City Stele. Most urately, a Bronze City Stele. It can be said that it''s because our ancestor managed to survive the Sixth Extinction that we have this in our possession. In fact, this Bronze City Stele is without a doubt the most valuable possession of the Brown family.


    "All of you, touch it."


    The lights returned to normal, and the projector slid back up.


    Astrid pressed a hand against the Bronze City Stele and it shot across the dining room to the first table.


    The wait was agonizing. Ss had to sit there patiently, watching as one gaze after another lit up like a raging inferno.


    His leg began to move up and down, moving so fast that by the time the Bronze City Stele got to their table, his breathing was a bit rushed.


    Even so, he controlled himself, watching as his little sister eagerly leapt at it first, then his mother, then his father.


    "Ss, Ss," ra pulled at his sleeve. "It''s so cool! It went like boom, then sh, and then all these words and letters appeared in my head like I was dreaming, but I wasn''t dreaming¡ª!"


    For the first time, Sspletely ignored his little sister.


    His grandfather smiled, pushing the floating cube toward him without even taking a nce at it himself. His gaze carrying a hint of pleasure and a knowing look.


    Ss reached forward and touched the cube, his mind going nk. No, it was like his mind and his body had been split in two, his mind seeing things that his body wasn''t. Somehow, he was certain that whatever this was couldn''t be seen by his eyes, but was rather his mind''s eye instead.


    Like ra said, it felt like he was dreaming.


    And then the words came.


    [Bronze City Stele]


    [Status: Dormant]


    [Vige Name: Unnamed]


    [Territory Level: Rudimentary Vige]


    [Territory Diameter: 100 meters]


    [Residents: 0/100]


    [Soldiers: 0/10]


    [Poprity: 0/0]


    [Subsidiary Vige Limit: 2]


    [Territory Stats: Basic Amenities +5%; Basic Limits +100%]


    Ss was inplete awe. There was simply no technology on this level anywhere. Even VR gaming was still stuck in a projected image era. It was nowhere close to being able to send something right into your brain.


    There was some improvement on the front of being able to useputer chips to rece eyesight, but there was simply nothing like this.


    ''Basic Amenities? Basic Limits? What is that?''


    Ss'' desire to understand everything was zing like a bonfire. His curiosity was practically eating him alive.


    What he didn''t expect was to get an answer.


    [Basic Amenities: Crop Output; Vige Attraction; Talent Buff; ¡­]


    [Basic Limits: Territory Diameter; Residents; Soldiers; Subsidiary Vige Limit]


    Ss was stunned into silence, not by the response, but rather by what the response meant.


    ''It read my mind¡­ it read my mind and then responded in kind¡­ How is that possible?''


    He already knew from that moment¡­ that he wouldn''t be returning home.

 Chapter 5 Token Gestures

    <h4>Chapter 5 Token Gestures </h4>


    The moon was full that night, tinged with a slight hint of blue that gave it an ethereal beauty. Ss marvelled at it, feeling that it held a different sort of significance today.


    It was no longer just a rock in the skies, a piece of Earth stripped away and tied by gravity. Instead, it felt more like a stepping stone, or maybe even a distraction, obscuring what was beyond with its gorgeous light.


    Ss felt someone sit by him. The stone bench had more than enough room, though it was odd that someone would be up sote at night.


    It was well past midnight. He usually liked to get to sleep on quite a strict schedule so that he could wake up early in the morning. People neglected sleep too often, when it was probably the most powerful super serum in existence.


    But since he couldn''t sleep either, who was to say that others wouldn''t feel the same?


    "Grandfather," Ss said lightly.


    Magnus smiled. By now, he was used to his grandson''s stiff form of address. He knew Ss'' heart better than almost anyone else, so he wouldn''t be caught up by such trivial things.


    "What are you thinking about, Ss?"


    Ss never took his eyes off of the moon. It wasn''t that he couldn''t answer, but that the answer would be too long, and ultimately wouldn''t get to the gist of what his grandfather wanted to talk about.


    "You''ve known for a long time?" was what Ss eventually said.


    Magnus sighed. It sounded aged and weary, and it was probably the first time his grandfather had truly exuded the presence of his age.


    "The fathers of Lucius, Mchi, and Astrid, they are my brothers. Compared to the other families brought here, it could be said that we are the closest to the main family in blood. Your father, he should have been the fourth among them. He, too, should have had the title of Grimde."


    "Grimde?" Ss asked.


    "Yes. This is the name of our Lineage. In order to better blend in with modern society, we changed our name to Brown. This is probably something that they will tell you in theing days, but they already dumped enough on you."


    Ss nodded slowly. Truth be told, this was much easier to ept now. If his grandfather had told him a few days ago, he might have tried to check him into a hospital.


    "Grimde¡­"


    It was a rustic name, and the emotion it gave off could only be taken one of two ways.


    Either you would feel that it was the fantasy of a five-year-old boy, or it was overbearing and valiant.


    Ss was neutral.


    "All those years ago¡­ It was my fault. I had a child with your grandmother, a woman that my father did not approve of. I withstood a great amount of pressure and ved for the family to make up for this mistake¡ª" Magnus shook his head. "Ultimately, the result was me abandoning your father for ten years, and not being there when your grandmother died."


    Ss looked toward his grandfather''s side profile. He had never seen Magnus cry before. Even now, thetter''s words were steady and even, but the tears continued to stream down his face in an uncontroble flow.


    "To cancer. Imagine that, my woman, the love of my life, died to such a vile, detestable thing when her man came from the most powerful family in this world¡­ when in just a few decades, such a disease could be cured with just a wave of the hand."


    Ss knew that his grandfather must be referring to thising¡­ "Summoned Ascension," they called it. Their world didn''t have a cure for cancer, but this world seemed to.


    Magnus shook his head again.


    "When I got word of your grandmother''s death, I abandoned the family and my birthright. My father forbade me from bringing Cedric back to the family, so we could only forge out on our own."


    "And you feel no resentment?" Ss asked.


    "Ha¡­" Magnusughed, his chuckle carrying a hint of darkness. "Who would I resent? That man has long since died and I didn''t even attend his funeral. Even if I did hold some resentment, this family deserves a chance to survive. Why would I let my own pettiness get in the way when the culprit is gone?"


    Ss didn''t respond, carefully listening to his grandfather''s words. These matters had been on his chest for a long time, but no one would believe him. Even his own son didn''t believe him.


    If Ss looked at this from his father''s perspective, it would seem like the Browns were obsessed with money and ss to the point they carefully controlled the marriages of their descendants.


    But now that he had seen the Bronze Stele, it was a matter much deeper than that. This was truly a matter of life and death, with the fate of the entire human race on the line.


    Considering the name "Grimde" and the fact his grandfather called it a "Lineage", it might also mean that bloodline was incredibly important as well, and his grandfather''s actions may havepromised that.


    With that perspective, everything was much more reasonable.


    Ss spent a lot of time with snakes. Carefully breeding them to select for beautiful patterns or more powerful venoms wasn''t something only he dabbled in, but one that many other reptile enthusiasts and scientists alike took part in.


    If the matter of bloodline became so important in this new world as well, and on a muchrger scale, he couldn''t help but feel that the efforts their predecessors had gone through in eliminating race would all be for naught.


    But wasn''t that the usual? The powerful making token gestures to the weak as they hoarded all the power for themselves?

 Chapter 6 Only One

    <h4>Chapter 6 Only One </h4>


    "Anyway, this old man has already properly vented." Magnus patted Ss'' shoulder. "This isn''t what I came here to talk to you about. Instead, I want to speak to you about the Bronze Stele. You are sharp, I''m sure you''ve already realized¡­"


    "That there''s only one?" Ss finished.


    Magnus'' smile widened, his teary eyes shing with pride. He loved his family dearly, and this grandson of his never failed to impress him.


    "Indeed. There is only one. There will only be one City Lord, and the choice will onlye from those three. Even if I hadn''t made that mistake all those years ago, it would be your father, and not you, that would have an opportunity topete for this chance."


    Ss nodded. He wasn''t surprised.


    The president of the United Coalition of Terranova had a minimum cut-off age of 35 years old. ording to the science, Ss'' brain had only recently stopped growing, and he didn''t have nearly enough life experience yet. Plus, while he was a tenured professor at such a tender age, what was thatpared to three billionaires?


    If the Browns only had one City Stele, and they were going to put their hopes in someone, even if it wasn''t someone of the immediate family, it definitely wouldn''t be someone as young as Ss.


    Magnus chuckled. He knew that his grandson had a great deal of self-pride; it was reflected in the way he was so strict with himself and in his discipline. But he was also logical to a fault. He wouldn''t be mad about something like this even though Magnus knew Ss only had one thought in his mind right now¡­


    ''I''m definitely the best choice.''


    "I can tell you what the ns of the family are in advance and you can make the choice for yourself. If you go off on your own, though, I''m sure you can understand the consequences. This is a matter of life and death, so the punishment for dissension will be proportional."


    Ss nodded. Even if Ss proved himself to be a talent, the family would want him to consolidate under them and help. If he ced his efforts elsewhere, it would be as good as going against them.


    "The City Stele is the most valuablemodity in the Ascension Realm. The mostmon of them are actually just titled "Common City Stele". Over 99% of cities will be like this."


    "Is that the reason for the buffers?" Ss asked.


    "Yes. The Bronze City Stele is an upgrade, so it receives more territory per level, more residents, etcetera.


    "However, the trial to gain one is excessive and heavy. For the Grimde Lineage to gain one of the Bronze grade, it required a sacrifice they weren''t willing to make until it was already clear that we would fail our sixth attempt."


    Ss'' brows rose slightly at these words, and his grandfather nodded in response.


    "We lost thousands of warriors and the Lineage was almostpletely wiped out, but it was only worth it because the Extinction Event wasing, anyway. It was either we took the risk, or we would be buried."


    From these words, and for this level of sacrifice, it was obvious that the Browns, or the Grimdes, rather, could never give this City Stele to a rtive outsider like Ss.


    They had given up too much.


    "Soon, the Summoned Ascension will begin, and this will be a period the family uses to evaluate which of the three will be most suited to bing City Lord. This period is also important because the location of your city is as important as anything else."


    "The world changes?" Ss asked.


    Magnusughed. Once again, his grandson had hit the nail on the head.


    "Yes. The Ascension Realm is randomized every time. The terrain, the ecosystems, even the dangers are alwayspletely different. Even if they weren''t, it would be very difficult for aprehensive map to exist in the first ce."


    "Then what do you want me to do?" Ss asked.


    Magnus smiled bitterly. "No, Ss. This isn''t something I''m strapping you with, I can just feel that this would be a choice you''d want to make and I''m giving you my blessing to do so¡­ IF and only if you want to.


    "Your father is a good man. I don''t know how much credit I can take for that, but he isn''t ambitious. He would be content to follow the ns of the family. Your mother is a good woman, and she will always support him well. The little munchkin is too young and won''t even be among the summoned unless Cedric and Isolde consent, and you know they won''t."


    "It''s not that father isn''t ambitious," Ss said lightly, "it''s rather that he has no reason to be, he is easily content, and that''s a good trait to have."


    Magnus agreed, but in this world, there really was no difference. If Cedric needed a trigger to be ambitious, by that point, it would already be toote.


    "Either way, what I''m trying to say, Ss, is that I am too old, and your parents don''t have the necessary character. Although age will be far less of a factor very soon, by that point, much of the oue will be decided and it will no longer be my turn to decide things.


    "You need to take this uing buffer period to figure out what you want to do¡­"


    Ss listened intently, and he and his grandfather spoke deep into the night.

 Chapter 7 Even if I Die

    <h4>Chapter 7 Even if I Die </h4>


    The days passed swiftly. Every day, a new meeting would take ce and the members of the family were briefed and prepared.


    However, it wasn''t until the veryst day that everyone learned of the weight of what they were about to do.


    This matter wasn''t a joke, nor was it a game. It was one of the final opportunities they had to save Earth, and the risk was proportional.


    In these days, the family didn''t train them. It was useless. What progress could someone with no fighting experience make in a mere week or so?


    Even Ss knew that this was a great weakness of his. He was at best an amateur boxer, and that was if he was generous with himself. All he had in his favor was his athletic build and decent stamina.


    Ss wondered why they wouldn''t have just called them over sooner, but then he realized that they already had. They had spared as much resources as they were willing to on the matter.


    They, the members of the Grimde''s branch families, were mostly ill-prepared, but was the same true of Lucius, Mchi, and Astrid? What of their direct subordinates?


    This was a clear dividing line.


    Calling them back was for nothing more than bolstering their administration with those intelligent enough to know to return.


    "Tonight," Lucius Grimde began, "you will be given two choices. The first choice will be to enter the Aether ne, and the second will be to remain here. If you pick the first, you will be thrown into a trial world, one where you''re ill-prepared and have a better than 90% chance of dying. If you choose the second, you will be giving up on this chance and will have another option down the line to subordinate yourselves to a City Lord.


    "The Grimde family will not make this choice for you. Regardless of what choice you make, we will be of one family and of one mind.


    "These are thest matters we need to exin to you. As for the rest, once the Ascension begins, everything else will fall into ce.


    "You are dismissed."


    Lucius'' words were much more forceful than Astrid''s and he often spoke like a strict sergeant. His words were alreadyced enough with his intentions that he didn''t need to make anything else clear.


    It was obvious the Grimde family wanted them to choose the second option.


    ¡­


    Ssy in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He subconsciously looked at his phone, checking the string of missed calls and unopened emails that would have usually filled him to the brim with anxiety.


    But right now, he was calm.


    Even though he had lied to his parents, to his little sister, even if he knew that death likely waited for him on the other side, he was calm.


    For the first time in his life, he was going to make the stupid, illogical decision.


    He had nobat experience, no hidden ace, nothing but the fragile brain squishing about in his skull.


    For some reason, his grandfather had known that he would make this choice, and he was probably the only one.


    His father and mother were so confident he would choose logic over the brashness of youth that they hadn''t even bothered to have more than a casual conversation with him about it. Amusingly enough, his little sister was closer to his grandfather in this regard, and he had to assure her many times that he definitely wouldn''t go.


    But he would go. He had to.


    He didn''t have some saviorplex, nor did he abhor the idea of being ruled by someone else so badly. After years in academia, he had gotten used to following rules, even when they were ridiculous. He had the discipline of a soldier.


    No¡­


    The real reason he was going was simply because he wanted to, because the idea filled him with excitement and pumped his cool blood with the heat a young man his age should have.


    Tick¡­ Tick¡­


    The clock on the wall seemed to slow before a blinding blue light rushed over the whole of Earth. If one observed the change from the Moon, it would look as though aser beam had suddenly collided with them, enveloping their entire world.


    And then the words appeared in his mind once again. Experiencing it for the second time, it felt so surreal. It was definitely only in his head, and yet with his eyes open, it felt like it had been iid into reality.


    [Summon Ascension Initiating¡­]


    [Summoned: Ss Grimde]


    [Enter Trial Ascension?]


    [Yes] [No]


    Ss'' lip curled. They made it sound so nice.


    Usually, a trial was supposed to be the easier version, the one where the training wheels would be on.


    But this was the exact opposite.


    In the Trial Ascension, the world would be stripped of all basic amenities, akin to Earth long before modern day.


    After this Trial Ascension was concluded, many helpful things would be added, such as System Cities, where things could be conveniently bought and traded.


    These were all differences drilled into his head by the Grimdes, likely to ensure that he wouldn''t make the choice he was about to make.


    Ss smiled. "Even if I die, I''m sure I''ll see something interesting first."


    [Yes].


    Ss vanished¡­ but Earth remained frozen in time, a state it would remain in until the Trial Ascension wasplete.

 Chapter 8 Stat Screen

    <h4>Chapter 8 Stat Screen </h4>


    Ss appeared in a world of white.


    He didn''t panic, as he knew exactly what this space was. Although the Training Ascension had no "training wheels," it didn''t throw you out like bait to the sharks either. He knew his choice was stupid, but he also wasn''t kicked-in-the-head. If this chance didn''t exist, regardless of how excited he was by the prospect, he wouldn''t havee.


    A screen shed before him.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: ¡ª(Empty)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: ¡ª]


    ---


    [Physical: 7]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 10]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 6]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 2]


    [Will: 10]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: ¡ª]


    [Comprehensions: ¡ª]


    ---


    [Gene State: Rigid]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F)]


    [Common Genes: ¡ª]


    [Bronze Genes: ¡ª]


    [Silver Genes: ¡ª]


    [Gold Genes: ¡ª]


    [Legendary Genes: ¡ª]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened) (-)]


    ---


    Ss analyzed every line of this screen. This would be about the only ce he could calmly do this. It would be thest chance he had for a while.


    Much of the information he used to analyze his stats came directly from his grandfather, as the Grimdes mostly spent time teaching them how dangerous the world on the other side was.


    For one, the stats of this Ascension Realm weren''t an objective metric of strength, but were rather rtive stats.


    10 represented the pinnacle of humanity and 1 represented the bottom of the barrel. Essentially, any stat Ss had a 10 in ced him in the 99th percentile. On average, you''d fall about ten percentile points down for every loss of one.


    This would be the new standard for the duration of the trial, and also a scale to help you understand just how much more powerful the surrounding creatures were. However, there were some exceptions, with Intelligence, Charisma, Will, and Luck being the main culprits.


    ording to his grandfather, these were the only objective stats.


    Intelligence wasn''t in regard to the normal definition of the word, but rather referred to one''s ability to allow the flow of a special energy his grandfather called Aether.


    This ability was mostly decided upon by your Race and your Genes. The human race was middle of the road in this sense, and the Grimde Lineage Gene didn''t help.


    Well, technically, the Grimde Lineage did help. The trouble was that it wasn''t strong enough to add to the stat, especially not Ss'' weakened version. After all, he was two generations removed from the purest Grimde bloodline.


    Charisma was simr and relied on Race and Genes. It wasn''t a matter of looks or sweet-talking, but rather how well one could impose their Will onto another party.


    Ss apparently had high Will, but he could not exert it onto others, at least not with any great effectiveness. He didn''t have the methods to do so.


    Will was the first one of these stats that Ss had thought about, that actually meant what it stated. It referred to a person''s tenacity and mental toughness.


    For the moment, Ss wasn''t sure why the stat needed to be listed. It didn''t seem as pertinent as the other stats. But he was sure that he would eventually find out.


    Finally, there was Luck. It was the only stat that started off at 1 no matter who you were, what race you came from, or what Genes you had.


    However, it was also the stat both most difficult and most important to improve.


    Ss continued to scan the list.


    The Physical stats were straightforward, with strength meaning Strength, Constitution referring to one''s durability, Dexterity one''s flexibility and Speed one''s, well, speed.


    The final of the Mental stats, Wisdom, was the one that focused on his IQ, his flexibility of mind, his ability to learn new things and adapt, as well as his EQ.


    There were only really two other things of interest on the screen, the first being his Affiliation and the second being his Gene Talent.


    The fact his affiliation already said Grimde Lineage was something his grandfather had warned him about.


    Normally, by default, he should be unaffiliated. Because he had an affiliation meant the head of an affiliation could check in on him and his status.


    The good news was that this couldn''t be done before the establishment of a City, and he would have time to shed this affiliation¡­ though not without price.


    Abandoning your affiliation would activate a hidden line in the stat screen that would make things very difficult for him. His grandfather hadn''t had more information than this, but he had been warned about it.


    Next, there was his Gene Talent. As expected, it was both mutated and weakened. The dashed line was there because it wasn''t even good enough to be F-grade. As for what was beyond F-grade, Ss had no information about this.


    That aside, his grandfather had warned him about this as well.


    Magnus had a child with someone his father didn''t approve of. And then, Ss'' father had a child with his mother, who was presumably also someone the Grimdes wouldn''t approve of.


    It could be considered a small miracle that Ss even had some portion of this Gene Talent.


    Ss slotted these things to the back of his mind and then looked toward the three floating objects before him, the real reason he was in this world of white. He already knew what they were.


    One was the option to pick a weapon of his choice, the second was an option rted to his Genes, and the final was the option of a Common City Stele.


    Without hesitation, Ss chose the second of the three options and he felt something burrow into his body.


    This option wasn''t for a new Gene Talent or even a Gene upgrade. Rather, it would change his Gene State.


    ording to his grandfather, this would be the easiest method of changing his Gene State. There would never be something so good obtained so casually again.


    Gene State represented one''s ability to ept new Genes into the body. The weaker the State, the more difficult it was to absorb Genes and mutate existing ones.


    Rigid, Inflexible, Brittle, Soft, Flexible, Malleable, Chaotic, and finally Free. These were the avable Gene States.


    At Rigid, it was impossible for you to change anything about your Genes no matter how many chances you had.


    At Free, your body was practically like y in your hands, ready to change and be molded to your wishes.


    This Gene State enhancer would allow him to have a Soft Gene State for a one-week period before wearing off. In that State, any Gene he absorbed would have a 50% chance of being sessful.


    Now it was a question of if he would manage to get his hands on any.

 Chapter 9 A Patient Stalker

    <h4>Chapter 9 A Patient Stalker </h4>


    Ss felt his vision blur once again, and soon the world took shape around him.


    It was a forest, dense and humid. Overgrown vegetation was ubiquitous, and the sun had a hard time prating the ground from the high skies above.


    Ss took this in with no small bit of satisfaction. If he had spawned in an area without cover, his odds of dying would be much higher.


    He looked down at himself and found that he was wearing a cheap set of light-brown clothing, made of a thin cotton. There was a distinctck of shoes on his feet which made the moist soil particrly grating on his psyche, and he wasn''t adorned with anything else special.


    ording to his grandfather, the spawn point shouldn''t have any significant predators within about a kilometer or so. Of course, the moment you touched down, these predators would no longer be restricted by such rules. So, caution was the name of the game.


    ''Weapon.''


    This was the first thing Ss'' mind went to.


    His grandfather hadn''t told him which of the three options to pick. It was only after much deliberation that he made the choice he had. It was the riskiest, but it was also the one with the greatest growth potential.


    If he had chosen the City Stele, he would have been given free warriors to fight on his behalf. The benefit of a weapon was obvious as well. It could be said that this was the only option that didn''t really give him any method of protecting himself.


    Ss began to move, getting ay of thend. He had to take advantage of this buffer to try to see if he could find any usablendmarks.


    Water, shelter, a natural fort potentially, all of these were things on his mind as he continued to move.


    In addition, though, he was also paying attention to potential markers that denoted territory. w marks, footprints, dung, anything he could take note of.


    On the way, Ss picked up two stones. He flexed his arms and bashed them together with his greatest strength, ignoring the aching in his wrist until they broke into pieces.


    He let them drop to the floor and picked out the one that both fit nicely in his palm and had a decent edge to it.


    He was lucky that there were no beasts around and this rain forest was an excellent muffler of noise, or else he would likely not dare to do this.


    ''Running water.''


    Ss'' ears picked it up, and he looked in that direction.


    He crouched down and leaned over a thick bush to take a look at the clearing. He had traveled about 200 or so meters.


    There were no creatures in sight, at least not immediately.


    A few secondster, Ss felt his heartbeat slow as arge elk came into view.


    ''That elk¡­ it''s at least two meters tall. It should be an extinct species.''


    ---


    [Mental Surpasses Target]


    [Analysis Sessful]


    ---


    [Irish Elk (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 14]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 3]


    ---


    Ss was a biochemist with a doctorate, but he wasn''t well informed on every extinct species to ever live. What he did know was that elk didn''te with bodies thatrge and antlers so expansive.


    Even so, this was something he had expected.


    ording to his grandfather, the Trial Ascension wouldn''t spawn creatures of other worlds, but rather ones pooled from Earth itself, extinct or otherwise.


    Considering there was arge number more of species that had gone extinct versus ones that were still among the living now, almost all the creatures that Ss met should be among the first number.


    ''A Mental of zero¡­''


    Ss remained hidden and continued to observe.


    The body of water before him was ake about 30 or so meters across. There was a stream that connected to it, expanding into a river that ran through the forest, but this should be the main body of water these creatures used to hydrate themselves.


    Ss made a mental note of it and made a move to follow the elk as it finished up.


    A Mental of 0 meant that the elk should be unable to use Aether. As they continued through the Trial Ascension, this would change and these creatures would be more dangerous.


    Its physical was unsurprisingly far ahead of Ss''. Double, in fact.


    The stats were scaled to human levels, so it was easy to tell just how much more powerful even an un-enhanced creature waspared to the average human.


    Ss was patient. Although the looming deadline of a week was practically ticking above his head, he knew that being rash would just get him killed.


    He followed a long way behind the elk and often couldn''t see it in his line of sight. He focused instead on its hoof prints, maintaining caution as his number one priority.


    Elks were creatures he vaguely understood. Since this one was a male, it would likely sleep alone. All he had to do was wait for the opportunity and hope another creature didn''t interfere with him.


    Luckily, it seemed that this elk had a strong dominion over the immediate area. It meandered about, eating vegetation here and there, marking its territory with its dung from time to time, and all-around asserting itself.


    Ss should have been bored to death. Having been born and raised in a world of smartphones and social media, following a creature without cognition strong enough for even this system to register should have been draining. Even so, in a ce where cking off even once could cost him his life, he somehow managed to remainpletely focused.


    Not only did he follow the elk as it moved about, he kept a constant vignce of his surroundings, even carefully avoiding any creatures unlucky enough to appear close enough to the elk.


    The hours ticked by and his patience never wavered, even as the sun began to set and darkness descended.


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: A Patient Stalker]


    [You have disyed astonishing Will and tenacity]


    [+1 Will]


    [+1 Dexterity]


    [+10% sess in absorbing rted Genes]

 Chapter 10 No Room for Error

    <h4>Chapter 10 No Room for Error </h4>


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    ---


    [Physical: 7]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 11]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 6]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 2]


    [Will: 11]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed when he saw the notification alerting his mind. He felt that it would be a bit dangerous if this happened in a situation where he needed hyper concentration, but he could only make-do for now.


    The Title system was something else his grandfather had told him about.


    In general, a Titles'' rareness could be decided by the kind of boosts it gave. The fact that this one could even increase the odds of absorbing Genes, even if it was only Genes of a specific type, meant that it was on the rarer side.


    Interestingly enough, Titles that gave boosts to hidden stats like Dexterity rather than overall stats like Physical or Mental were on the moremon side of things.


    The fact that this Title checked both boxes told Ss that he would have to weigh several things in the future.


    He found it odd that Titles didn''te with grades like much everything else seemed to, but he took it in stride. After all, he had other things to focus on right now.


    Night fell, but by dusk, the elk had already found a region to sleep.


    ''This is odd¡­'' Ss thought to himself.


    The sleeping pattern was too¡­ human.


    Most animals didn''t fall into a normal human-like sleep pattern. Ss wasn''t sure of the exact sleep-pattern of elks, but he felt that the fact it was going to rest at this time was peculiar.


    Even after the elk had fallen asleep, Ss continued to wait.


    After about a quarter hour, he noticed something interesting. An energy fell down from the skies and matched the steady breathing rhythm of the elk.


    ''Aether,'' Ss concluded as he put two and two together.


    He wasn''t being schemed against by this elk, its intelligence was that of a normal animal. It was impossible for it to lure him into a trap.


    Rather, it seemed that this system might have forced these beasts into uncharacteristic routines so that they could be evolved over time while they slept. This way, every day, they would grow stronger.


    ''Now or never.''


    Ss never hesitated when he made a decision, especially not one with such high stakes.


    The elk had done all the heavy lifting for him. This region was about as secluded as you could get in this dense forest. If he waited for the elk to evolve first, he didn''t know if his n would work.


    In the depths of the night, it was almost impossible to see. The sun could hardly prate the thick foliage in the day, let alone the moon now.


    However, the gentle rain of Aether, though subtle, was just enough for Ss to know where he was going. That, and the fact he had carefully scouted out this region in the day as well, prepared him for this eventuality.


    He burst into action and appeared behind the elk. He guessed that even if he made some noise, the likelihood that the elk would awaken mid-evolution was next to nil. Even so, he remained as stealthy as he could, rushing in from the back of the sleeping creature.


    At that moment, something inside him stirred. It was something that he had stealthily tested throughout the day: his de Aura Gene Talent.


    The stone he held in his hand gained a subtle twinge of something special as he leapt onto the back of the elk and swung for its skull at the same time.


    The sound of bone splintering echoed.


    Dexterity was a stat that decided not just one''s flexibility, but also how effectively one could use their Strength and Speed. The antlers of the elk wererge, and they provided great cover, however even while swinging with all his might, Ss'' stone managed to find a way through just the slightest gap, driving down with a strong force.


    The pulse of pain woke the elk. A cry that sounded like a mix between a cow''s moo and a whale''s roar echoed out.


    Ss frowned. His n was to end it in a single strike. His de Aura might be weaker than a true-blooded Grimde''s should be, and his weapon might be hardly considered a weapon at all, but it should have been enough.


    ''The Aether¡­''


    This was the only conclusion that made sense. Even though the evolution was iplete, it had already had such an exaggerated effect.


    Ss tightly bound his thighs to the back of the elk and held onto one of its branching antlers with his free hand. Using thetter as leverage, he raised his hand-ax into the skies and drove it down again.


    At that moment, he felt an unprecedented calm.


    Even when he thought about having to kill a living, breathing animal with a weapon as crude as a hand-ax, he didn''t flinch away from it. He simply felt that it was a necessity. There was no need to question it.


    The elk rushed up, its will for survival burning bright, and yet it was too disoriented and foolish to understand where the danger was.


    Its body red with an unknown energy, and all it knew was that there was paining from its head.


    It lowered its antlers, nearly throwing Ss off its backpletely as it rushed head-first toward a tree.


    It missed.


    Ss'' first two blows were enough that it couldn''t control its body properly anymore and it ran by the tree instead, its right set of antlers getting clipped on the bark and causing its neck to be ripped to the side.


    In this moment, Ss noted several things.


    For one, the body of the elk was already much stronger than it should be. Its speed and eleration were greater than what he had observed before, but its durability hadn''t caught up.


    The violent force of its antlers being caught in the tree broke off arge segment of it and worsened its injuries. However, it also put Ss in danger.


    His legs were currently mped around the neck of the elk. If it had a close shave with another tree, there was no doubt that he''d lose one of his legs or maybe them both at this kind of speed.


    As fast as his mind was moving, Ss knew that he couldn''t jump off now.


    The elk was definitely in its death throes, but with Aether as a variable, who knew how far it could run? How many animals would it alert? More importantly than that, wouldn''t he lose the right to benefit from its corpse if it disappeared into the distance?


    He had wasted an entire day waiting for this opportunity. He only had seven of them before his Soft Gene State wore off. There was no room for error.


    He raised his hand again as another tree swiftly approached, but this time he forgot everything.


    There was just the de in his hand and the spot of red on the elk''s skull.


    In the night, his pair of green eyes sparkled like gems.


    And then his hand-ax descended.

 Chapter 11 50-50

    <h4>Chapter 11 50-50 </h4>


    The crack was resounding, the stone de in Ss'' palm even splitting once more as the elk copsed, skidding along its front knees before one of its antlers was caught in the ground, sending Ss flying off.


    Ss'' shoulder rolled forward and he popped back up swiftly.


    The first thing he did was scan the area. It was hard to see anything at all, so he listened carefully.


    His breathing was even and his heartbeat was slow despite the situation he had been in. Everything felt slow as the seconds ticked by, but ultimately, there was nothing.


    ''It seems that the night mighte with some extra safety. It would be best to be nocturnal in this situation, but if I sleep in the day where the animals are most active, won''t I put myself in danger?''


    Ss had already not slept for over a day. He hadn''t had anything to drink either, and other than some bugs he had conveniently eaten while stalking the elk, he hadn''t had anything to eat either.


    He wasn''t worried about food. This was a matter of survival, so he wasn''t grossed out by eating insects if he had to. In addition, he had a good understanding of what was and wasn''t poisonous in terms of the nt life after observing the elk for a day.


    However, fatigue wasn''t something he could ignore.


    Ss shrugged this off for now and walked to the elk, putting a hand on it.


    [Irish Elk]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: Speed (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Titled Genes like the Grimde family''s Grimde Lineage were on the rarer side. Most Genes were like this one, bolstering a certain aspect of one''s Physical stats.


    Between Titled Genes and Physical Genes like this one, there were Attribute Genes which were a little rarer and could give one control over a certain type of Aether or other mysterious abilities.


    The rarest Genes of them all, though, were Genes that could grant Gene Talents.


    His grandfather had been very vague about any more specifics than this, but he had said that the world of Genes and how one could learn to use and manipte them were endless. It was a topic that there was the least amount of information on, and yet one should strive to learn the most about.


    Regardless, Physical Genes had their usefulness as well, that being that they were the easiest kind of Genes to stack. So long as they shared the same name, they could be fused.


    In addition, they were repeatable. In this forest, it was doubtful that there''d only be a single elk. In that case, it should be true that so long as he kept killing elks, he would continue to get the Speed Gene.


    [Yes].


    Ss held his breath. For the first time, he actually felt some of his nerves getting to him.


    He hadn''t felt nervous jumping into this death trap; he hadn''t felt nervous stalking an animal that could kill him with a few kicks; he hadn''t even felt nervous when he moved to strike it dead.


    But this 50/50 chance he was staring down right now had a lot riding on it.


    He had wasted an entire day on this elk, just for this chance right here. That was already one of his seven days.


    If he let the seven-day timer run out, he would be back to a Rigid Gene State and have a 0% chance of absorbing any Genes. Well, aside from that unexined 10% boost his Title gave him.


    To make matters worse, after seeing how powerful the elk got after just an iplete evolution, just how much worse would his situation be tomorrow when he was surrounded by an entire forest worth of animals that had actuallypleted theirs?


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    Ss stared at the screen for a long time before slowly closing his eyes. He took a deep breath.


    When he opened them again, his calm was just the same, and he moved on. A 50/50 chance was good odds, but ultimately, by definition, they were good odds of failing as well.


    His Title boost hadn''t kicked in¡ªsomething he could subconsciously tell¡ªso the elk wouldn''t be the best bang for his buck either.


    He needed to shift his attention. If he wallowed in his own misery, he would just be waiting for death.


    The first thing he did was look toward the elk''s corpse.


    It would be good food, but it was impossible for him to make use of it. The greatest benefit of this dead elk right now is that he should be able to make use of its territory to get some sleep of his own in.


    He looked at the broken antlers before walking forward and picking up some of the pieces.


    An elk''s antlers were incredibly sturdy, they were the naturally forged weapons of the creature. The fact they broke like this was one part coincidence, and another part due to the elk''s evolution.


    ''Considering the fact it gave me a Speed Gene, that meant its evolution tended toward that aspect. It should mean that its Speed Stat overwhelmed its Constitution Stat, which is why running into the tree like that caused its antlers to break.''


    Another secondary point was the sturdiness of the trees themselves. Their leaves didn''t even rustle after the impact.


    ''This is good.''


    Ss found what he was looking for: an antler with a particrly sharp point.


    de Aura could only be applied to a weapon. His hand didn''t seem capable of withstanding the Gene Talent without a great amount of pain. It had felt like he stuck his hand in a microwave when he tried. In addition, de Aura seemed to only be as good as the medium through which it was used.


    The hand-ax was too inferior, and it took several solid blows before Ss could kill the elk. Part of that was due to it being in a half-evolved state, but as Ss had already concluded, Constitution wasn''t the elk''s strong point.


    This sharp antler, however, was a far better conduit.


    Even so, it wasn''t Ss'' goal.


    Bending down, Ss channeled de Aura again before using the sharp end to begin carefully carving around the elk''s leg.


    His target was the elk equivalent of the human femur. The femur was the strongest bone in the body, and though Ss wasn''t an expert on elks, he assumed that there was some decent crossover here too. If this bone wasn''t the strongest one in the elk''s body, it wouldn''t be far from it.


    Ss suddenly felt a wave of fatigue, but he had already expected this. It would be foolish to assume that he could just use de Aura indefinitely without any consequences.


    Even so, he had already seeded. Using his high Dexterity, he targeted the soft flesh around the hind hip bones of the elk and took one of its legs.


    Then he hauled it over his shoulder and rushed back to the elk''s original territory.


    As he moved, he thought about another problem he was facing: blood.


    During the day, he hadn''te across any carnivorous creatures, but that didn''t mean there weren''t any. The death of the elk could attract them, and the leg he had just taken was not only heavy, it could also bring him burdens in other ways as well.


    He would have to be fast.

 Chapter 12 Blade Aura

    <h4>Chapter 12 de Aura </h4>


    Ss returned to the core of the elk''s territory. Even in the midst of that adrenaline-filled situation, he hadn''t lost his head, and he made careful note of exactly where the elk was running.


    During the day he spent stalking the elk, he had learned a lot about de Aura.


    The run-down was simple.


    He could only use it a minute at a time before needing ten minutes of rest.


    He couldn''t apply it directly to his flesh without being assaulted by a strong burning sensation.


    While he didn''t push himself to see if this would lead to permanent structural damage, when he did test it on a leaf, it shrivelled and basically burnt to a crisp. That led him to conclude that there was a certain level of agitation going on that organic material couldn''t handle, and this was especially so for organic material with high water content.


    Beyond that, de Aura running out felt simr to how he felt at the end of a half-marathon. He was out of breath, his body ached, and he felt like taking a long rest.


    However, unlike the end of a half-marathon, he recovered much faster.


    Ss'' stat screen didn''t have a "stamina" stat, but his assumption was that stamina was baked into Constitution.


    He felt that he was a decent long-distance athlete, but this system didn''t seem to approve of that analysis. Though, it was hard to tell without understanding how well others fared.


    Ss patiently waited for the ten minutes to be up before he went at it again.


    It took him over an hour to undergo this repetitive cycle again and again before he finally seeded in cutting out the elk''s femur, a much moreplicated process than just cutting off the leg.


    Ss frowned. ''I miscalcted.''


    Judging by the weight of the bone, it exceeded ten pounds. That was heavier than a longsword and was precisely the kind of burden that Ss couldn''t afford to lug around. In a dangerous situation, this would be the first thing he abandoned, and that was not the hallmark of a good weapon.


    It seemed that this situation was getting to him, after all. He wouldn''t normally overlook something like this.


    Now, he was filthy, covered in blood that was probably its own ticking time bomb, and didn''t have anything decent to show for it.


    ''No, this is still salvageable.''


    There wasn''t much night left, and Ss had to give himself at least four hours of sleep. That was his minimum requirement. He had to pivot and find a new path forward.


    He pulled out the tendons of the leg and ced them high on a nearby tree branch to dry. He just hoped the humidity wouldn''t ruin that chancepletely.


    Then, he brought the femur over to a stone.


    Trying to grind a bone down when it had yet to be purged of its water-content was a nightmare; Ss didn''t have to be a wilderness junky to know this. However, the quirk of his de Aura just might be useful here.


    Ss bet that if he used de Aura on bone, he could speedrun the evaporation of its moisture content and likewise get rid of the marrow within, not much unlike the leaf he had burnt to ash earlier in the day.


    The bone was thick. If it was dry, he could probably split it in two and sharpen it with greater ease. On top of that, if it lost its moisture content, there was a good chance that it wouldn''t be so heavy anymore.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t use this to speed up the drying process of the tendons. The tendons were just like his hand, being formed entirely of flesh.


    These deductions flowed through Ss'' mind like a river. He felt more at peace and his worries rushed away.


    Another hour ticked by and Ss breathed out heavy breaths. He had seeded.


    From one ten-pound bone that would have been no more than a burden, he now had two split-halves that weighed about three-ish pounds each.


    Each half was about three-quarters of a meter long and their width had a curve to them. Since bones were obviously hollow, this was an expected result.


    Thanks to his de Aura, they were perfectly dry as well, allowing him to use the nearby stone to sharpen them both into a point. Although they couldn''t exactly be called spears, the longer length should give him some extra leeway.


    After some thought, Ss stored one in a safe ce and rushed out into the forest again, his eyes sharp.


    There was still time. He gave himself an extra hour and his goal was clear: find another sleeping beast to target.


    Ss had been thinking about this matter for a long while and he felt that it was impossible that he could just continue to benefit from this loophole. If you could just hide during the day, and target sleeping animals at night, he didn''t believe his grandfather would describe this as such a dangerous endeavor.


    He realized, then, that this night might be a one-off chance.


    How many would stalk a single elk for an entire day and even wait until it fell asleep like he had? In most cases, humans would be taking this opportunity to sleep themselves, having spent much of the first day limating themselves and finding shelter.


    In addition, moving around in the rainforest at night was almost impossible. The moonlight was sparse and you could hardly see a few meters ahead of you. No one would choose to run around in this environment.


    But that was exactly why Ss had to.


    It was precisely in this darkness that it would be possible to spot the descent of Aether. He remembered it well. It had a slightly bluish tint, different from the moon''s silvery light. It was subtle, but it still stood out somewhat in this dark forest.


    Right now, he was banking on his luck. No, it wasn''t luck. In a forest of this size, the concentration of wildlife should be exceptional.


    As expected, it didn''t take even ten minutes for Ss to find a cascade of Aether.


    This one, however, made him freeze.


    ---


    [Titanoboa (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 21]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 6]

 Chapter 13 Find Out

    <h4>Chapter 13 Find Out </h4>


    A python, one extinct for ages, hung high in the trees. Its 12-meter-long body looped again and again, carrying such mass that it looked to be a miracle that the tree could hold it up at all.


    Ss had only just thought that he hadn''t seen a single carnivore in the region, only to find one mere minutes from his original location.


    Goosebumps erupted across his skin. Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively left. This was not a creature he wanted to get entangled with.


    As a researcher, he mostly worked with venomous snakes, and rarely constrictors like this one. However, he had just as much healthy respect for them as the former. This was about the worst kind of extinct creature he could meet, other than maybe dinosaurs themselves.


    The only good news was that pythons of that size were very slow. But the fact its Physical was that high despite what was likely low Speed and Dexterity meant that its Strength and Constitution must be off the charts.


    This was in part due to the Aether, Ss was sure. But its evolution wasn''t even over yet.


    Ss made a note to himself that his scouting abilities weren''t perfect. He was human and he could only use his eyes. He wasn''t the only creature that could blend into the environment, and he was definitely the worst suited to doing so on top of that.


    Soon, Ss found another cascading waterfall of Aether.


    [Red Fox (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 17]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 1]


    ''Red foxes should be mostly nocturnal, but it''s asleep. This is a plus for my theory about the Aether.''


    The high Physical stat threw Ss off, but at this point he had pretty much confirmed that this was the benefit of Aether. As the night went on, these creatures would only get stronger. By tomorrow, he would be surrounded by superhuman-level beasts and his odds of surviving would only plummet.


    He moved slowly, making sure to carefully check around the region to ensure that there were no other lurking dangers like the titanoboa. Then he exploded into action.


    He raised the femur spear up, activating de Aura and preparing to stab down. But then his heart skipped a beat.


    Time seemed to slow.


    The first thing he noticed were the twitching ears of the red fox. As Ss'' steely green eyes rushed through the night, they picked up on every detail, each one more of a shbang to his senses than thest.


    First it was its ears, then its tail swayed, and by the time Ss loomed over it, it had hopped to its feet, spinning around with a sharp glint in its eyes.


    ''Another mistake.''


    Ss was being hard on himself, but that was how he always was. Even so, he didn''t slow down or hesitate as he pierced downward.


    The fox''s body blurred, moving so fast that Ss'' eyes almost couldn''t keep up in the darkness. But he still felt something connect.


    A yelp came from the fox as a deep gash was torn into its front left shoulder.


    Ss felt its intention to run away immediately. Remembering its Will stat, Ss put two and two together, realizing that this might be a method of telling the tendencies of these creatures as well.


    This timidity only benefitted Ss.


    The red fox turned in an attempt to run, but its injured front leg threw its bnce off and it stumbled.


    Precisely what Ss was waiting for.


    He raised up the femur spear again and drove it down, this time right through the spine of the red fox.


    Another yelp echoed, but it was pinned to the ground and its strength was quickly leaving its body.


    Ss retreated. With its spine damaged, the fox couldn''t run away, but that didn''t mean it couldn''t try to harm him in some way. It was better safe than sorry.


    He watched as the red fox breathed itsst, his green irises floating in the darkness like eerie orbs of death.


    Walking forward, he ced a hand on the red fox.


    [Red Fox]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: Dexterity (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss epted the assimtion. He wondered if, since this was a Dexterity Gene, it would also mean that his Title would activate.


    Dexterity had been quite useful to him until now, and it appeared in subtle ways. The more he thought about these stats, the more he felt that they had multipleyers to them.


    For example, just now, he used all his strength but still managed to drive the femur spear exactly where he wanted it to go. Someone else''s uracy might have beencking in that rushed moment.


    As expected, Ss did feel his Title take effect, and he got a 10% boost to his sess.


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    Ss felt his body seize up for a moment before rxing.


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    ''No wonder there''s a choice. If I seize up like that at a bad time, I could die. It''s likely that the more intrusive the Gene, the worse the experience will be.''


    Ss exhaled a breath.


    He might have been sessful, but he didn''t forget about the fox waking up as soon as he approached. He didn''t think that was a coincidence.


    It shouldn''t be that the fox had a special ability, though that was a small possibility. Ss was more inclined to believe that it had been startled awake, maybe even by the Aether itself.


    Maybe it wouldn''t be as easy as he thought to take advantage of this loophole.


    ''There''s only one way to find out.''


    Ss went back on the hunt, but this time he was looking for another creature simr to the red fox. Preferably small and weak, with abilities that skewed more toward Speed or Dexterity.


    [Red Fox (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 18]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 2]


    Ss hid behind a tree and the first thing he did was throw a rock. It soared just over the ears of the red fox.

 Chapter 14 Gamble

    <h4>Chapter 14 Gamble </h4>


    It didn''t react.


    Ss prepared another rock. This time, he threw it simrly, allowing it to soar just over the head of the red fox. However, he took a lot of power off of it.


    The rock fell just a meter or two away from the red fox,nding in the soft grass.


    It still didn''t react as though it was too lost in its dreams.


    ''Is it really because of me?''


    The noise of that rock wasn''t significantly softer than his footsteps had been.


    After some more thought, Ss picked up arger rock, about two inches in width. He threw it again, but this time at a tree on the opposite side of the clearing the red fox was sleeping in.


    TA!


    Once again, it didn''t react.


    ''I see¡­''


    There was no way to tell for certain unless he moved forward himself, but it was as he feared. The animal was shaken awake by his appearance specifically.


    ''It must be the case that the Irish Elk didn''t react to me because it had only just started its evolution?''


    He wasn''t sure. He had managed tond a hit on the elk before it woke up, but these foxes¡­


    ''A gamble.''


    Once again, the moment he made the choice, he acted.


    He burst through the clearing. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he raised the femur short spear.


    The moment he got within three meters, he sensed it all again. The twitch of the ears, the sway of the tail¡­ but this time, it was all just a little bit faster.


    Even so, while the stats of this red fox were better, Ss was far more prepared. He threw a rock as hard as he could with his off-hand. For as long as he could remember, he had been able to use his left and right hands interchangeably, and at this moment, it came in handy.


    This rock was easily four inches in diameter and it had a great heft to it. It mmed down on the head of the red fox just as it tried to get up.


    The fox''s spin was dyed by just a half measure, allowing Ss the time he needed to thrust down with the femur short spear.


    It was all so perfectlyid out. Unfortunately, Ss was quickly learning that not everything in this world was under his control.


    The fox''s hair suddenly stood on end and its body shivered. In that split moment, it looked almost as though it had caught a bout of cold fever.


    Ss'' short spear stabbed down and hit nothing but air. The red fox seemed to phase through it, appearing just a meter to the side.


    For Ss, who had based his whole life on logical deduction, he felt as though his senses had short-circuited. What just happened?


    An almost cat-like growl echoed as the fox bared its teeth toward Ss.


    With quick movement, Ss pulled the short spear out of the soft grass. His off-hand pulled out the elk antler piece, clutching it tightly as he faced off against the fox.


    The good news? He had confirmed that this system wouldn''t allow him anymore easy kills. Last time, he had been within two meters before the fox reacted. This time, it was at three.


    As these evolutions continued, he bet that the range would only extend and he would only get more and more helpless.


    The bad news? As though the "good" news wasn''t tinged with enough angst, he now had to actually face off against this animal head-to-head without any tricks to rely on.


    Oh¡­ and his de Aura''s timer was already ticking.


    Ss could distinctly hear the rhythm of his breath. The crunching of the grass beneath his bare feet and the slight rustle of the chilly wind felt amplified a hundredfold.


    His usually steady and calm heart sped up, blood rushing through him and flushing his skin red.


    He waspletely on high alert, the tingling sensation of his small hairs rising to attention and goosebumps crawling up his skin feeling as visceral as a sudden dump in a coldke.


    Even as he circled the red fox, he realized that it was hesitant to attack as well. Its body continuously shivered, as though it was hesitating between running away and charging forward to rip Ss'' throat out.


    At that moment, Ss keenly remembered the cowardice of the first fox he hade across. It hadn''t even tried to fight back.


    This one had a will that was slightly stronger, but it seemed that that cowardice was ingrained into its very bones.


    The moment Ss made this deduction, he realized he needed to take the initiative.


    He spread his arms out wide, revealing the most vital parts of him to attack as he swept toward the red fox.


    The small creature froze for a moment, distinctly feeling just how muchrger Ss was than it.


    The fox wasn''t even half a meter from its paws to its shoulders, its overall body length not even reaching an entire meter. Compared to Ss, who was well over six feet, it was truly small.


    Ss'' approach could only be said to be crude beyondpare. He distracted the red fox with his arms, iling them out and shing his pair of bone weapons. Then, in that final moment of approach, his leg shed.


    The red fox''s eyes were darting between the bone weapons and didn''t even seem to notice as a foot hit it flush in the jaw.


    Ss'' jaw set into a flexed position. He had a working understanding of themon martial arts, but kicking against something with his bare feet like that wasn''t something that he was used to by any stretch of the imagination.


    The red fox released a yelp. First a stone had hit the back of its skull, and now a strong kick from an existence over 20 times heavier than it had sent it flying. How could it not feel the aftereffects?

 Chapter 15 10

    <h4>Chapter 15 10 </h4>


    As Ss had expected, the Physical of the red fox was only so high due to its main stat: Dexterity. In addition, it seemed that the odd move it had used before wasn''t something it could use continuously.


    It probably had decent Speed as well, but agility would definitely be its strong suit, maybe even eleration.


    The more Ss thought about it, the more he felt that the stat system wasn''t nearlyprehensive enough. There should be more to it, but none of those thoughts slowed his movements.


    He rushed after the red fox as it rolled across the grass, mming into a nearby tree before it could go too far. It tried to scurry to its feet, but the impact with the tree threw off its timing and, right then, Ss swept in.


    He pierced down with his femur short spear.


    It was then the red fox did something that was out of Ss'' calctions once again. Its tail whipped against the tree, giving it the extra bnce it needed to swiftly dodge.


    Ss'' short spear barely grazed against its ear, drawing blood and nearly cutting it in two.


    The fox leapt backward and let out an enraged yelp before leaping right at Ss'' head.


    Its agility was simply beyondmon sense. Ss hadn''t even retracted his hand from the first pierce. His body was off bnce and the only saving grace was that the fox was facing his body from a narrow angle.


    Ss tried to force himself to spin out of the way, but he wasn''t nearly as agile as the fox. At the very least, his own Dexterity stat seemed far more focused on uracy and control.


    The fox bit into his shoulder, angrily tearing into it with its teeth.


    The jolt of pain shot through Ss'' body and his mind went nk.


    In his life, he had never broken a bone, he never suffered any severe wounds, he had never even had any close run-ins with death, even given all the rare snakes he worked with¡­


    This could be said to be the worst sort of pain he had experienced in his life, and it came from a small creature with a maw so small it couldn''t even properly get a hold of even his rtively lean shoulder. Even the bite marks were hardly a couple of centimeters deep.


    An odd feeling welled up in his heart as time seemed to slow around him.


    It was one part humiliation, another part a reality check, and a final part¡­


    Excitement?


    His opposite hand suddenly shed over with the antler de. His de Aura was just about to tick down to zero, but there was still just enough left to drive it right through the eye socket of the fox.


    The red fox released in panic, but it couldn''t dodge as it fell to the ground.


    Ss raised his injured arm and drove the short spear right through the throat of the red fox.


    His de Aura blinked out, and a wave of fatigue hit him.


    He took deep breaths, standing there with his shoulder pooling with blood. His heartbeat was no longer calm, beating like a drum in his chest. Every pump seemed to force more blood out of his shoulder and reverberate through his very bones.


    It took a long while before he calmed down.


    Just what was that rush?


    ---


    [Red Fox]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: Dexterity (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss didn''t forget himself entirely. He couldn''t stay here for long.


    He had some worries about whether that fox had rabies. If it did, he would be in trouble. But he felt that he should be safe unless this system spawned viruses as well.


    For all of these extinct creatures to suddenly return, they had to have been recreated by some unknown method, maybe a far more advanced kind of cloning than the people of Earth had ess to.


    In that case, unless they were also being needlessly cruel, there shouldn''t be a reason to release viruses along with that. That wouldn''t preclude new viruses from manifesting on their own, but he could at least hope that he wouldn''t be that unlucky.


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    Ss felt his Title activate once again.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    [Gene Talent Detected]


    [Trade 10 Fragmented Dexterity (F) to unlock: Sudden Burst?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss'' brows raised. He hadn''t expected to run into such a thing so quickly. But he could only choose "No". He didn''t have ten Gene Fragments in total, let alone ten of this particr kind.


    It would also be a hard pill to swallow, even if he had the opportunity. After all, losing ten Gene Fragments would also mean losing all the stat boosts that came with it.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Patient Stalker]


    ---


    [Physical: 8]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 6]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 2]


    [Will: 11]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    Each Fragmented Dexterity Gene had given him a +1 to his Dexterity stat. If he wanted to awaken Sudden Burst, he would need to give all of that up.


    He had been lucky, getting two sesses in a row. But the failure of the elk was still looming over his head. There probably wouldn''t be such a good chance to kill an elk that easily again, either. Unlike the red foxes, the elks out-massed him. If he got caught by an elk like he had the red fox just now, instead of a few shallow wounds, it would have been broken bones at best.


    In this environment, he couldn''t afford such devastating injuries.


    The good news was that, ording to his grandfather, just the existence of Aether within him allowed wounds to heal much more quickly. An injury that would usually take weeks to heal might only take a few days now.


    Even so, those few days were too valuable to him right now. His Soft Gene State would end soon.

 Chapter 16 Choice

    <h4>Chapter 16 Choice </h4>


    ''I need to target small animals, ones that are at best 10% of my body weight, at worst 50%. Until I have the strength to go up against much more dangerous creatures, I will have to stick with what I canfortably deal with even if I have no Aether or extra Genes.''


    Ssid down his pride and realized he couldn''t be some big game hunter if he wanted to survive. If he could just eat bugs on his way to gaining Genes, he would do so. But he had killed a few while stalking the elk just for a meal, and there was never anything to gain.


    He assumed that the system had some sort of minimum size requirement, or he was targeting the wrong kind of bugs.


    There was some good news aside from the blow to his ego.


    For one, the corpses of the two red foxes he had killed were much more manageable than the elk. If he used his de Aura to target a small part of it, he could even cook them without starting a fire.


    ''Grandfather said I should look for a dungeon soon as well. Reach 20 Physical as quickly as possible and enter a Dungeon¡­''


    There were only two ways to gain items and treasures aside from Genes in this gamified world. The first was to steal from spawned cities, and the second was Dungeons.


    These spawned cities were different from the System Cities that would appear after the trial period was over. They were challenges created for those that chose the Common City Stele. Though there was no rule that said that Ss couldn''t attack one even without a City Stele, it''s just that he would have a death wish if he tried to do so.


    The second and more manageable challenge were the Dungeons. That wasn''t to say that they were easy, but rather that the variables were tightly controlled.


    Unfortunately, entering a Dungeon was easier said than done. ording to his grandfather, Dungeons gave off a dense concentration of Aether. Due to that, more powerful creatures tended to flock around it even though they could not enter. 20 Physical was more of a requirement just toy eyes on it than it was a minimum to enter.


    Ss took a breath. ''Sleep.''


    He broke out into a light jog, taking a more roundabout route back to the elk''s territory.


    He found a natural gourd hanging from a tree and ripped it off. Then, he entered the region of a familiarke.


    Gourds needed to be carefully dried and prepped for a long while before they could be used like containers, but Ss had a convenient shortcut for that. At this point, de Aura felt far more useful for misceneous matters than it was for actualbat.


    This would be the only convenient time he would be able toe to thiske, so he had to take advantage.


    Ss froze.


    He looked down at the clear waters and couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Aside from the dirty reflection that looked back at him, beyond that, deep within, there seemed to be something radiating a dense pulse of Aether.


    It was a Dungeon, Ss was certain. But what he couldn''t understand was how he could possibly be so unlucky.


    If the Dungeon was in the water, wouldn''t that mean that all the most powerful beasts would flock here after their evolutions wereplete?


    Even if he followed down the river, because of what he had learned from his grandfather, he knew it would be useless. With this level of Aether being pumped out, it would definitely follow the current and raise the concentration for countless kilometers. The longer this Dungeon went unfinished, the worse the situation would get.


    How would he get water?


    ''Fruits? Rain? Blood?''


    These were the only answers Ss coulde up with, but each was unreliable.


    Fruits or vegetables could tide his hydration over for a while, but how long? An extra few days?


    Given how much exercise he was doing on a daily basis, his throat was already dry after just today alone and he was running on empty. If not for his great stamina, he might have already copsed.


    Rain? This was a rainforest, after all. In a particrly tropical rainforest, it might even ur every few hours.


    However, in thisst day, no rain had fallen. In addition, he had no idea how the introduction of Aether would impact the ecosystem and weather. Even if it had rained, it would be hard to rely on it.


    If he took a step back and chose to blindly believe that it would rain, how would he capture it? His mobility was his greatest asset right now, but having a reliable form of collecting rain required a base, a protected one. And what if one day his base waspromised, and all his umted rain was ruined?


    Relying on blood was the worst of the options. He still hadn''t dismissed the possibility that the red fox gave him rabies. How could he, in good conscience, drink blood? Even if he was willing to take that chance, blood had a sodium content about as high as salt water. He would just be killing himself slowly.


    Ss dunked his head into the water. Having already been chilled by the night, it was a nice shock to his system.


    He greedily tookrge gulps, and for the first time, he wasn''t hyper-fixated on the surrounding environment, always looking around another corner for the next creature that wanted to eat his flesh.


    It was easily a minute before he pulled himself out.


    This was what he had wanted, no? Excitement? Was this exciting?


    No. It was terrifying.


    There was a slight tremor in his body that hadn''t been there before. The idea of slowly dying of dehydration yed in his mind so vividly that he might as well have already experienced it once before.


    That was the ultimate oue. No matter how many ideas he thought of, that was the end of it. He couldn''t escape it.


    If he left here today, it would be a race between his body tapping out and his Physical reaching 20, but even if thetter managed to win out, what state would his body be in at that point? Could he even fight his way back here?


    He had followed that elk for so long, moving across dozens of kilometers, and yet didn''t see a single ounce of water elsewhere.


    He didn''t like that feeling of helplessness. It was why he had made the stupid decision ofing here in the first ce.


    Ss stood at his feet. He pulled his blood-matted shirt and pants off before he began to clean his body. All the dirt, mud, and grime from the day were peeled offyer byyer under the harsh rubbing of his fingers.


    His green eyes didn''t contain any fear, nor helplessness. It was hard to read his emotions at all as he finally stepped out, feeling the cool wind slowly dry him.


    He stood there in silence, ironically as one with nature as he had ever been. Somewhere deep inside, he seemed to understand that this might truly be hisst day.


    His gazended on a tree with particrlyrge leaves and he pulled down a few vines from the surroundings. Carefully, he bundled his clothing into these leaves and tied them up tight using the vines.


    Then, he dove into the waters, holding his short spear and antler de in one hand, while dragging his bundle of clothes in the other.


    He would rather die in that dungeon than slowly cannibalize his own body out here.


    That was the choice of Ss Brown.

 Chapter 17 Slithering Madness

    <h4>Chapter 17 Slithering Madness </h4>


    Ss'' feet kicked at the water. In the depths of the darkness, the only thing that provided a light was the dungeon pumping with Aether in the distance. It must have been at least 20 meters beneath the surface, but had it been the light of day, Ss wouldn''t have noticed it at all.


    Though Ss thought about the possibility that this dungeon would take ce entirely in the water, ording to his grandfather, there would be a small introduction to the dungeon before you entered. It could only be said that if the dungeon was truly underwater, he would be doubly screwed. At that point, he could only try to store as much water as he could in the gourds and hope it rained more often.


    It didn''t take him more than a few seconds to reach the cave opening.


    ''Dexterity seems to be more important in the water than Speed¡­''


    Ss gave some breath to a fleeting thought before a sh appeared in his mind.


    [Slithering Madness (F)]


    [Level Maximum: 0]


    [Rmended: 50 Physical]


    [Description: Lurking in the depths, high in the trees and on the forest floors, they are natural predators, unfettered and unbothered. So scorned by the skies, they''ve been restricted to a life of crawling on their bellies. But their day to rise again is not far off.]


    Ss would have sucked in a cold breath if he wasn''t submerged in water right now.


    ording to his grandfather, 20 Physical was rmended, but Ss knew his grandfather well. Ever since Ss was young, his grandfather had been trying to manipte him using information, not out of maliciousness, but rather kind intentions.


    Ss seemed to very easily see both sides of a situation and could rationally pick a middle ground that fit well with what was in line with reality. This was a trait not taught to him by his parents, but rather his grandfather.


    Ever since he was about 16, he could see through his grandfather''s intentions and somewhat knew that Magnus was trying to pull him toward a certain direction. But despite his demeanor, Ss loved his family and felt no need to expose his grandfather for something so trivial.


    Magnus had learned very early on that Ss couldn''t be pushed and pulled with appeals to emotion and facies. The facts were what one had to manipte or obstruct to get at him.


    This was all to say that when his grandfather said he would need 20 Physical, it was almost certainly less than that. Ss had guessed that most dungeons probably had a rmended entry of around 15 Physical, maybe even less.


    But, 50? Why would this dungeon''s rmended stats be so high? That was more than double that of the most dangerous creature he had seen until now, the titanoboa.


    That aside, what about the exnation? How could it be considered a description at all? It only barely confirmed to him by thements about trees and the ground that it at least wouldn''t be underwater.


    And yet there was no other choice.


    [Will You Enter?]


    [Yes][No]


    The words practically taunted him. But he never hesitated when he made decisions.


    The world blurred around him.


    ¡­


    Ss'' eyes focused, and what appeared before him was an odd world.


    The first thing he felt was the cobbled stone beneath his feet. As he continued to look around, he pulled out his bundle of clothing and slipped on the mud- and blood-caked cheap pair of pants and shirt the system had given him.


    The world was dark in an odd sense, because the skies were pitch ck, without stars or a moon in sight, and yet he could see just fine, almost as though the ground and the objects on it gave off their own weird light.


    It was hard to see anything that deviated away from the cobbled stone path, though. So, his eyes could only focus on the forked road ahead.


    Down one path, the cobbled road curved and seemed to lead toward more stone. Down the other, foliage began to appear, grass grew from the cracks of the stone and the faint outline of trees could be seen in the distance.


    ''A choice?''


    Ss didn''t rush. He had expected to be thrown into danger immediately, or even die a sudden death before he could get ay of thend, but this was unexpectedly peaceful. If he didn''t take the opportunity to take a breath now, he might never get another chance.


    ''The description should clearly be about snakes, but in that case, why would there be a path that seemed to lead toward a civilization of some sort? Unless the "snakes" the description referred to are one of those alien races grandfather mentioned?''


    In the end, Ss walked toward the path of dense foliage. Ultimately, only one thing mattered to him and that was maximizing his chances at survival.


    Civilization sounded nice and cozy, but it would also plummet his odds of living to zero. There would be no terrain to take advantage of, no ce to hide, and everything would be up to his raw ability.


    On the side of the wilderness, he at least had a small chance. The only silver lining in all of this was the fact that the animal he was the most confident in dealing with was the snake¡­


    Not that it would matter if they all had 50 Physical.


    However, Ss had his own opinions on that. The rmended Physical should be proportional to the best challenge this dungeon had to offer. In that case, it should mean that the BOSS of this dungeon would take 50 Physical for one to have a shot at defeating it, but that didn''t necessarily mean all the challenges would be at that level.


    If he could pick and choose his targets like he had with the red fox, he had a chance.


    Thest red fox he had dealt with already had 18 Physical. There was a ray of hope, even though it was small.


    The cobbled stone path slowly disappeared and Ss watched as the skies above his head began to gain color as the previous path vanished.


    ''Did I make the right choice?''

 Chapter 18 -1

    <h4>Chapter 18 -1 </h4>


    Ss never hesitated when he made a decision, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t reflect. The fact he felt like he had entered a new world now meant that he had given something up, but he wasn''t even sure what the other choice was about.


    That feeling of not knowing grated on him, but he didn''t have the time to linger on it.


    His steps slowed, and he began to scan each and every leaf he came across as though it might be the next one to suddenly pop out with a vicious snake.


    Dungeons came in all shapes and sizes. His grandfather had said they likely hadn''t documented them all, and unfortunately, this seemed to be among the undocumented ones.


    As Ss continued to walk, his sense of focus riding an edge of adrenaline, his anticipation only grew with every second an enemy didn''t appear.


    While the cobbled stone path had vanished, the forest itself had still carved out a small, unkept path. It was hard to spot amidst all the foliage, and Ss guessed that if he had been in the forest itself, he could have easily missed it. But because he had started off on the path, it was easy to continue following it.


    ''Should I?''


    After moving about 50 meters or so, Ss made the decision to deviate from the path. Not far, but rather three to five meters, offset to the right. He wanted to see where the path was leading to, but he didn''t want to dive headfirst into what wasing either.


    Every decision he made felt like he had done so blindly. There just didn''t seem to be anything better to do. He might very well be trading in one danger for another.


    The path might be leading him to danger, but who knew if there were venomous snakes ready to bite at his ankles in all this high grass? If he had the skill to, he would have used the trees as a path instead, but other than some light experience with recreational rock climbing, he wasn''t exactly a spry monkey.


    He continued to follow the path, and eventually he reached it.


    ''There''s just no way¡­''


    [Little Madness (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 31]


    [Mental: 3]


    [Will: 6]


    Up ahead, there was a small clearing, the only obvious path leading to it that didn''t require leaping over shrubbery or trees, being the very path Ss was offset from.


    In that clearing, a python with scales of orange and cky in the grass. Though it was curled up, it must have been at least five meters long, while its jaw was lined with countless little spikes.


    ''31 Physical is one thing, but 3 Mental¡­ Assuming its Wisdom was 0 and its Charisma was likewise low, that would mean that its Intelligence is double mine¡­''


    Wisdom was a measure of one''s reasoning ability, knowledge, and other matters rted of the sort. These creatures were likely not intelligent in that way just yet.


    However, Intelligence was a measure of Aether control and abundance. If Ss'' assumption was correct, he was outssed by an impossiblyrge margin. It was possible that the rmendation of 50 Physical was just to offset the disparity in Aether control.


    These creatures were naturally granted such abilities in their sleep, but Ss and others like him could only slowly unlock them over time through Genes and other methods.


    Was he just supposed to rush in and throw his life away?


    Ss frowned. There had to be another method.


    He turned back and began to slowlyb through the forest, keeping track of where he was, where he had been, and where he was going.


    He must have spent half an hour going around, and yet he found nothing. One would have thought that some other creature would have at least jumped out at him, but it seemed that there were no others present.


    ''Is this a floored dungeon?''


    A dungeon separated into several floors usually had this sort of setup. The next floor wouldn''t appear until the BOSS of this one was defeated.


    But ording to his grandfather, such dungeons usually had smaller opponents lingering around. This Slithering Madness Dungeon, though, had none of that.


    Ss wasn''t sure whether to be relieved or devastated.


    Without smaller enemies to face, he had no way of increasing his strength.


    Ss winced as his toes hit against something. Luckily, he had been walking quite slowly and observing every little thing around him, or he would have face-nted right into the barrier.


    He had walked so far that he returned to his original starting area, the very area where the cobblestone path had originally been and disappeared.


    ''About what I expected¡­''


    If the choice was an important aspect of the dungeon, it wouldn''t just let him reverse it without reason.


    ''What''s that?''


    Ss touched the barrier again, this time more than ready to process the ripples. All across it, appearing and disappearing in a sh, snakes of all shapes and sizes performed all kinds of movements. Some seemed to be in battle, some seemed to be intertwined in an odd mating ritual, and some simply rose high, baring their fangs and roaring at Ss.


    It only appeared for a moment, but Ss felt his heart skip a beat.


    He kept touching the barrier again and again, just to see those ripples once more.


    His eyes went red, but he didn''t have a reflection of himself to see it. It was instead the rushing of his blood and the pain in his eyes that made him pull back, his features pulling into a tight frown.


    [Your Will has been influenced]


    [-1 Will (Temporary)]


    Ss was surprised by the sudden notification. Just looking at the barrier had done that to him? And what did temporary mean? Would it be a few seconds? Hours? Days?


    Will was his strongest stat aside from Dexterity, but he couldn''t say that he cared very much that he lost a point. When he had gained one, he didn''t feel much different to begin with. And like he had said previously, he felt the fact there was a Will stat was peculiar. How could you even measure that?

 Chapter 19 Will

    <h4>Chapter 19 Will </h4>


    Although Ss was a bit stubborn about it, he wasn''t a fool, either. He chose to pull back from the barrier for now and take note of how long it would take to recover.


    Since the system listed Will, and just now he had entered a bit of a trance, it was obviously more important than he had given it credit for.


    He was in a new world now and he had to do away with his old way of thinking about some things.


    Ss continued to walk around, getting ay of thend.


    ''Why add all this extra space if the BOSS fight is the only thing of importance here?''


    He came across a smallke. It didn''t seem to have anything feeding into it, but it did give him a sense of calm. Taking a seat by its shores, he just sat there and stared out into it.


    ''There''s nothing stopping me from staying here forever unless there''s some hidden timer I''m not aware of¡­ I''m not sure if it''s possible to alert that python, but at this point, it would be better to fight it in all this than in that opening. At least I''d have a chance to run out here.''


    Thinking to this point, Ss began to build a fire. Once it wasplete, he took out one of the two red fox carcasses, using the antler de and the smallke to clean it up.


    He didn''t have any seasonings to pair it with, but it was still the best meal he had ever had. He ate the entire fox, leaving nothing wasted but its inner organs and bones.


    ''It''s gone now.''


    [Will: 11]


    His Will had gone back to 11, but it didn''t take the entirety of the hour or so he had just wasted. It took just under 20 minutes or so. It was just a rough guess he had. It wasn''t as though he had a clock, he just felt he was quite good at roughly estimating that sort of thing. Though who knew, his sense of time might have already been distorted.


    ''I feel energetic.''


    Ss hadn''t slept in over a day now, so he had already begun to feel some lingering fatigue. But after eating the red fox, it felt like he had just gotten a full night''s rest.


    He had wanted to take the opportunity to get some sleep in as well, but it seemed that was no longer necessary.


    Ss took note of where theke was after taking another long drink, then began to walk around once again. He didn''t even know what he was looking for. Maybe it wasn''t a thing he wanted, but a sh of inspiration instead.


    [Your Will has been influenced]


    [-1 Will (Temporary)]


    He ended up running into another barrier, part of the samerger whole but located in a different region. He had just told himself to not be so stubborn, but something about the fact something could impact his own willpower was annoying him. Or maybe it was just that this situation was really starting to get to him.


    ''It''s just taking away and giving me back the same point it "gave" me in the first ce.''


    The only reason his Will was 11 was because of his A Patient Stalker Title. He found it somewhat amusing that it was this point that was being taken and given once more again and again.


    It felt like a farce. It even made him a bit angry. He was Ss Brown. He walked to the rhythm of his own beat¡ª


    Ss shook his head. This wasn''t like him.


    He frowned.


    [Your Will has been tainted]


    [-2 Will (Temporary)]


    The moment the debuff hit him, Ss felt a wave of nausea. It came so suddenly and unexpectedly that he heaved. A burning in his throat overwhelmed his senses, and he felt that he was just moments away from throwing up the meal he just had.


    ''No, I can''t¡­''


    This thought consumed him.


    He only had one fox carcass remaining. The only other food in the vicinity seemed to be that BOSS python. If he threw up here, the loss would be tremendous.


    ''Pull yourself together!''


    Ss couldn''t remember being so agitated in a long time. Ever since he had left his formative years, he was used to being calm and in control. Maybe his greatest fear was losing that control.


    He maintained strict discipline. He didn''t drink, he didn''t do drugs, he didn''t even eat sugar because he didn''t like the influence it had on him.


    But now some mysterious force was pulling at him from all sides, ying with his mind, and he absolutely hated it.


    "Enough!"


    Ss'' red eyes returned, but this time it wasn''t due to him staring at the barrier. It was rather something inside of them that spun wildly out of control.


    This something wasn''t natural. It was a product of the debuff that was pressing down on him. It retaliated against Ss'' Will, pressing it down even further.


    [Your Will has been tainted]


    [-1 Will (Temporary)]


    [Your Will has been tainted]


    [-1 Will (Temporary)]


    The first time it appeared, it had said ''influenced.'' The debuff of -2 Will, though, hade with a ''tainted'' tag. Every time Ss tried to fight back against it, it wouldsh out again, ripping out another piece of his Will.


    Ss knew that, logically, he should stop. He should stop moving, remove as much sensory information as he could, and hunker down. This was the smart thing to do, the logical thing to do.


    The moment his Will fell beneath 10, the barrier seemed to have ced a suppressive effect on him, an effect he hadn''t noticed earlier because his Will was too high.


    Ss hadn''t even realized that the moment he chose a path, the challenge had begun. The reason there was no timer was because no one could stay here indefinitely, not without losing their mind and going to challenge the python in a fit of rage.


    But Ss had identally stumbled onto this hidden challenge all on his own.


    Ss'' Will was blinking and shing, and suddenly it hit a critical low.


    [Will: 1]


    Ss'' expression turned savage and wild. He bared his teeth as though he were a wild beast, veins pumping across his body as though individual pythons were squirming beneath his skin.

 Chapter 20 Lose

    <h4>Chapter 20 Lose </h4>


    He looked in the direction of the BOSS monster. It was as though he could sense it all so clearly, but when he exploded forward, his body was jerked backward.


    A light of madness glowed in his eyes as he looked at his arm. His fingers dug into the bark of a tree just adjacent to him. He held onto it with everything he had, blood pooling from his nails and particrly nasty streaks of veins pumping along his forearm.


    His body wanted to go in one direction, but this arm alone seemed to have a mind of its own.


    He pulled hard and a few of his nails chipped as he ripped himself free. He rushed forward with his greatest speed, only for his arm totch onto another tree.


    This time, he fell back hard, a stinging paining from his shoulder. From an outside observer, it looked as though he had just tried to tackle a tree. The fact he got away with only a stinging pain was a miracle to begin with.


    "I SAID ENOUGH!"


    The roar came out of just one side of Ss'' mouth, one half of his lips quirking in an attempt to speak, and the other wanting to continue growling and baring his fangs.


    He felt as though he was trapped inside of his own mind, just the smallest hint of sanity keeping him together. If he allowed himself to run to that python, the only path for him remaining would be death.


    This wasn''t the ending he wanted.


    He was in control of nothing if not his own mind, his own thoughts.


    There was true fury stirring within him, but it was only making the situation worse. The debuff, the curse, or whatever this influence was,tched onto it and stirred it up, pulling out parts hidden so deep that even Ss didn''t know they existed. And yet, he was forced to face them.


    Why had hee here? Why did he put his life at risk? Why did he look his loving mother and father in the eye, his adorable little sister, and lie to them?


    It wasn''t just for some excitement, that was too small a part of it.


    It wasn''t because he was dissatisfied with his life. That was too small a part of it.


    It wasn''t even because he cherished his ownst name so much and refused to be a Grimde, and that was despite the fact he still called himself Ss Brown to this day, regardless of what this damned system said.


    It was because he couldn''t stand the idea of being under someone else''s heel. It was because he didn''t want to be just a cog in the wheel. He wanted to be the wheel itself, the carriage that rolled on it, the treasure that was being escorted from ce to ce in luxury.


    He had childishlye to throw his life away in a world he knew next to nothing about, all because he couldn''t keep his ego in check.


    That was the part he had been ignoring. That was the part of him that he had buried deep, the part he had ignored because he considered himself a logical man above such boorish and manchild-like ideals.


    But he wasn''t.


    He was still a hot-blooded young man in his twenties. He wasn''t free of those dreams all young men had. To be a hero, a knight in shining armor, Rambo in a forest with a machine gun tucked under one arm and a machete in the other.


    [Title Unlocked]


    [A Flexible Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind, but it is immature and still changing. Continue to forge it, young man.]


    [+10 Will]


    [+10% Will]


    Ss hardly registered the notification.


    The red slowly receded from his eyes and he coughed heavily, waves of pain hitting his body, especially from his right hand. Looking at it shakily, he hadpletely lost one nail, and two others were split right in the middle. It might have been even better if he lost thempletely.


    At the very least, this seemed to be his worst injury. The rest was just aches and bruises.


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [+1 Will]


    Finally, Ss got a grasp of what was going on.


    He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes widening when he saw that he was actually standing at the very edge of a familiar clearing. Just another half meter and he would have been in the BOSS'' territory.


    The thought was frightening, but for some reason, he calmed down much quicker than he felt he should have.


    He looked at his stat menu.


    ----


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker]


    ----


    [Physical: 8]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 6]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 2]


    [Will: 24]


    [Luck: 1]


    ----


    [Skill: ¡ª]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (-)]


    ----


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F)]


    ----


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ----


    ''That''s a slightly different color¡­''


    It was very subtle, and only by a shade or two, but Ss felt that A Flexible Will had a deeper color than A Patient Stalker.


    His grandfather had said that Titles with percentage boosts were rarer, so maybe that was part of it. But he once again found it peculiar that he didn''t have grades associated with Titles. Was the slight color change supposed to be the recement?


    He wasn''t sure.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss'' attention was drawn to the Comprehension portion. He hadn''t seen anything but a dashed line there before, but now there was Madness. In addition, it had a familiar line through the grade tag, much like his de Aura Gene Talent did. Ss took that to mean that hisprehension was toocking for it to be properly ranked.


    What was more surprising than that was that he had actuallye across a Comprehension at all.


    ording to his grandfather, Comprehensions were about the only thing that couldpete with Gene Talents in terms of usefulness. Skills could fall into that category as well, but there were a wide range of Skills, many of which could be entirely useless.


    Gene Talents and Comprehensions, however, almost never were.


    This was his grandfather''s understanding, anyway.


    Ss frowned. ''Madness¡­ do I need to lose my mind to use it?''

 Chapter 21 Images

    <h4>Chapter 21 Images </h4>


    ''I don''t like that¡­''


    Though Ss thought about this, he didn''t dismiss it outright for two reasons.


    First, he didn''t unlock this Comprehension until he broke free from the Madness. So, there was a chance that losing his mind wasn''t a requirement, and it was actually the exact opposite.


    Second, what choice did he have?


    He had finally found a reasonable method of making it out of here. If he could use the barrier to enter the state of Madness, and then break free continuously, wouldn''t he unlock his Comprehension fully?


    Maybe this Madness Comprehension could help him to beat the python.


    With this thought, Ss didn''t waste time.


    The situation was a bit helpless. He had only gotten two Genes out of his Soft Gene State and time was ticking away. Now that he had some hope again, he couldn''t waste any more time than he needed to.


    ---


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [+1 Will]


    ---


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [+1 Will]


    ---


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [+1 Will]


    ---


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [+1 Will]


    ---


    It was easier than Ss could have ever imagined. The first time, he almost threw himself toward his death. But now, he didn''t even suffer a debuff, and he broke free after just a few seconds.


    The worst he experienced was the tensing of his body, that feeling of his blood rushing through him, and then it all went away.


    He began to truly study the images. They shed for just a short time, but for some reason, they began to linger in his mind for longer and longer.


    It wasn''t just a wild array of snakes any longer, but it became a dance of sorts, a ritual painted in its own sort of beauty¡­ one of an animal bound to the earth, hoping to one day soar once again¡­


    Of a creature marred by its own Madness.


    ---


    [You have survived the Madness]


    [Your Comprehension of the Madness has deepened]


    [You have Comprehended the Madness]


    [+3 Will]


    [+10 Charisma]


    ---


    Ss looked at his stat screen.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker]


    ---


    [Physical: 8]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 9]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skill: ¡ª]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    With his intention, Ss focused deeper on Madness.


    ---


    [Madness (F)]


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+100% Charisma]


    [+100% Will]


    ---


    ''Charisma¡­ it seems that this isn''t just a boost to myself, but it forms an intention that attacks my enemies.''


    Charisma was a stat that decided how much of your own Will you could impose on an opponent. Ss still wasn''t sure exactly what this meant, but in this context, it should mean that he could force his enemies to face the same Madness as himself.


    ''But is this helpful?''


    When Ss was steeped in the Madness, he just wanted to fight for longer and harder. Sure, he almost threw himself to his death, but if his enemies were much stronger than him, it would just make him die faster.


    Ss didn''t let the angst get to him so quickly this time, and he chose to test it out first.


    With some intention of his will, he activated Madness by stirring his Comprehension.


    He felt an odd forcefield take shape around him, one that he had already begun to vaguely feel after his Charisma reached 12. Now, however, it was more obvious, and the world even turned a slight shade of red.


    Veins bulged across Ss'' body, but as expected, he was able to remain calm.


    ''It doesn''t really feel different. It''s a lot like my Dexterity. It feels like I can pull out the peak of my strength, but it doesn''t necessarily add to my strength, it only increases my control of it.''


    Ss put this feeling to the test by running around a bit.


    ''My pain feels duller. It''s easier to ignore. My body control is a lot greater. Though my Dexterity stat hasn''t changed at all, it feels like it''s at least doubled. The same can be said for my stamina, even though it''s not a shown stat. My body control is on a level where I''m at peak efficiency all the time. I wonder if¡­''


    Ss activated de Aura. He just wanted to see if the added stamina might impact it, too.


    His brows shot up.


    The formerly silvery light had a tinge of red to it now. It was steadier, and definitely far stronger.


    The time ticked by, and as expected, even after a minute, it didn''t show signs of fading. Even after two, it was still fine. It was only after three that Ss began to feel some fatigue, but it wasn''ting from his de Aura at all, but rather the usage of Madness.


    He exhaled a breath and let the feeling dissipate.


    The same wave of fatigue he usually got after using up de Aura didn''te. This feeling was much more stable and rxing, as though he had just spent a little bit too long reading.


    He knew he could have pushed himself much further, but likewise he would have risked falling into the Madness well and truly.


    Ss went back to the barrier to see if he could use it to continue increasing his Will. He had a feeling that the higher his Will stat, the longer he''d be able to use Madness for.


    Unfortunately, the barrier couldn''t even affect him anymore. He had already expected this, but he had to cover all his bases.


    ''The only thing left to do is to hope that this is enough, then¡­''


    He was about to turn his attention to the python again. ording to his n, he would test the ends of the Madness, and when there was nothing else to learn, he would go and fight.


    But then something about these images caught his attention again.

 Chapter 22 Lost

    <h4>Chapter 22 Lost </h4>


    They were even clearer now than they were before.


    There were three distinct sections.


    The battle section.


    The mating section.


    And the baring fangs section.


    Each one exuded its own peculiarity. In the past, they had blurred into a single bundle of Madness. But now that Ss had actuallyprehended Madness, he could feel the subtleties.


    Ss became a bit lost.


    It was odd. He could innately tell what the snakes were doing, but he didn''t have an easy method of tranting it to his own body. There was a barrier thaty between him and them. It was one part frustrating, but another part curious.


    He was ultimately a schr. He had spent more time than he knew with his head buried deep in his research or a paper of some sort. His discipline was often what carried him through those moments, but often it was fascination as well.


    His doctoral thesis had been about moving the world of antivenom toward the world of vines, namely mRNA vines.


    It was quite useless, honestly. Arge part of why venom used antivenom as a counter¡ªa more short-term solution¡ªwas because venomous creatures were rare and only a small segment of the poption met them. No one would feel the need to immunize arge poption of people against a snake they only had a one-in-a-billion chance ofing across.


    Even so, he had been fascinated by the topic because of the mongoose. It was a small, almost adorable creature. And yet it was well known as the bane of venomous snakes due to its natural defenses against venom.


    He had found it funny that a cute little creature could do what humans couldn''t, so he had chosen this route for his doctorate. It was just pure curiosity.


    Something about this felt so simr.


    Ss suddenly shook his head, feeling that he was getting sucked in deep. When he did, he found that his body had recovered from the Madness already.


    ''Has it been that long? Or was it something else?''


    He wasn''t sure, until he saw something new.


    ---


    [Skill: Maddened Meditation (F)]


    --''


    Ss had been so engrossed that he hadn''t noticed this change at all. He hadn''t known that it was possible to miss notifications.


    ¡ª


    [Maddened Meditation (F)]


    [You are deeply in tune with the Madness of your Ancestors. It helps you to focus and rx. Understanding yourself is a form of peace, and with peacees healing]


    ¡ª


    It was only after reading the description that Ss realized the oddity. All the time he had spent "observing" the mural of snakes, he had been thinking about himself. He hadn''t even thought about his doctorate in years. Why had it evene to mind?


    It wasn''t like Ss was passionate about snakes, he just found them somewhat interesting. And he was feeling that now he might be a little bit of an adrenaline junky on one hand, and a control freak on another.


    What was a better rush of adrenaline than handling creatures that could kill you with a single nick? And what was a better form of control than facing them without a hint of fear?


    ''I''m insane.''


    Ss was speechless toward his own thoughts.


    He felt that he had great self-discipline, and he even had daily meditation rituals. Simply put, he spent a lot of time in his own mind, but he had never assessed himself in this way.


    Was it because of the Madness? Was it influencing him more than he thought? Or was this truly him?


    Ss pulled away from the barrier and looked at his notification. The moment he wondered if there was a way to check what he had missed, a new menu appeared. This menu seemed to list all of his previous notifications in chronological order, starting with the most recent.


    Everything looked normal and the only thing he had missed was the new Skill. He wasn''t sure how powerful or weak this Skill was, though. He found himself once again feeling that there was too great ack of informationing from the system.


    ''The system is already enough of a help. I''m not sure what I''d do if it didn''t exist.''


    Ss concluded his thoughts with that and turned his focus toward understanding everything about Madness now. With Maddened Meditation as a support Skill, it went along much faster.


    Upon activation, the most obvious change was his stat boost to Charisma and Will. However, Ss felt that this was only a surface level change.


    The elevation of Charisma and Will likewise seemed to bolster his other stats. Although it wasn''t reflective in the numbers, it just felt like his body was running like a well-oiled machine, almost like his stats just¡­ meant more per point.


    This was most obviously reflected in de Aura which could now be used for just over three minutes. What was more interesting than that was that de Aura also seemed to be applicable to his body now. Well, it was before as well. But this time, it didn''t make him feel like he was boiling from the inside-out.


    When it was applied solely to his body, it couldst for about five minutes, which was the whole length he could have Madness activated for as well.


    However, while de Aura couldst longer applied directly to his fists, it was also weaker. The quality-based amplification was still there and obvious. Clearly, de Aura believed his femur short spear was the better weapon.


    Maddened Meditation made the various experiments far easier on Ss. It only took about five minutes to recoverpletely from five minutes of usage, so it was a nice trade-off. Without Maddened Meditation, it took upwards of half an hour.


    It was just unfortunate that he couldn''t use Maddened Meditation on the move. He had to bepletely still, and except in this environment where the only threat was locked away in a far-off region, he would be hard-pressed to find a ce where it would be easy to use it.


    Ss took a breath.


    It seemed that really was all there was this time. It was time to see what this Little Madness creature was all about.

 Chapter 23 Little Madness

    <h4>Chapter 23 Little Madness </h4>


    [Little Madness (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 31]


    [Mental: 3]


    [Will: 6]


    ¡ª-


    Ss looked at the creature again. Seeing that its Will was so low, he had some questions himself about how this would go.


    Madness was obviously part of what this dungeon wanted him toprehend, but he had also done it in a very unconventional way¡­ or so he assumed.


    But if this python could use Madness as well, wouldn''t it lose its mind almost instantly?


    Even with 36 Will, Ss could only use Madness for five minutes. How would this creature fare?


    Ss picked up a rock and tried to throw it right at the python''s head. But before it made it far, it bounced off a barrier.


    ''Seems it won''t let me y any tricks. This probably means if I take a step in there, I won''t be able to exit.''


    The python didn''t even react to the change, but Ss took note that the barrier here was identical to therge one that surrounded the entire forest.


    He rushed in.


    Much like always, when he made a decision, he never hesitated.


    The python stirred awake, its scales rippling as its orange-ck slit eyesnded right on Ss.


    It opened its jaw, and a scream came from it. It was a cross between a steam engine''s whistle and a hacking cough. It was the kind of thing one would never expect toe from a snake at all.


    And then it pounced.


    Ss activated Madness. The one thing he hadn''t been able to test was how his Comprehension could influence other creatures, because there weren''t any creatures around to influence. However, there was one thing he had noticed previously.


    When he pushed his Will outward, using his Charisma as a conduit to impose his thoughts onto the world, it went beyond just an ethereal result.


    Back then, he had been able to push the shoreline of theke away from him. It was just a few centimeters, and hardly noticeable. But when his intention was poured onto the snake, its eleration plummeted and its eyes turned red.


    It seemed to lose focus on Ss and its body thrashed about wildly.


    As expected, the Strength and Constitution of the snake were off the charts, but its Speed and Dexterity werecking.


    Ss ducked beneath a swing of its tail and shed his de Aura-infused antler de at its scales.


    The femur short spear was his best weapon, but he didn''t want to use it just yet, not until he understood just how hard the defenses of this python were.


    Soon, he realized he was right to be cautious.


    His attack did nothing but slightly push the head of the python toward the ground. His de rebounded off of its scales as though he was a toddler trying to wrestle with his parent.


    Ss ducked and rolled, leaping back to his feet on the other side of the thrashing python.


    It was beginning to move more and more wildly, attacking every- and anything indiscriminately.


    The reaction was fiercer that what Ss had expected, but it also didn''t put the python out ofmission. Considering the disparity in Will, and likely Charisma, Ss would have hoped to do more than just make this powerful creature rampage about like this, but he considered himself lucky to even be in this position to begin with.


    ''Maybe I can tire it out,'' Ss thought.


    He didn''t want to gamble on it. He could onlyst for five minutes, and the Constitution of this snake was so high. Who was to say that it would run out of energy to give before him?


    ''Attacking its eyes is the best chance. I can only hope that Aether doesn''t help these creatures to be invulnerable to even such a sensitive location.''


    Ss'' gaze sharpened as he circled around Little Madness. He didn''t dare to release Madness for fear that the snake would regain control of itself soon after. He had no choice but to end this within five minutes.


    He suddenly elerated forward.


    Ss only had 5 Strength. It wasn''t a surprise to him that his attack wasn''t strong enough to injure a beast like this. He would have to lean on his strengths.


    With the python thrashing about so wildly, most wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. How could you target such a small target when the rest of it was moving so erratically?


    But the moment Little Madness entered a rtively central part of the clearing, Ss burst into action again. He raised his bone short spear up in an overhand grip. Veins pulsed across his body, his green eyes gaining just the slightest sheen of red to them.


    ''There.''


    He struck down, piercing right into the python''s eye.


    However, he miscalcted.


    It wasn''t his strike itself.


    What he didn''t realize in this state of absolute madness was that Little Madness couldn''t even feel pain. It didn''t change its actions in the slightest, still madlyshing out at everything there was.


    It was amon misconception that animals didn''t feel pain the way humans did. It was evolutionarily beneficial to them to hide their pain so that they could survive in the wild, but they felt pain much the same way humans did, if not more so. In fact, many of the most predatory beasts in existence were maybe even more cowardly than humans as well.


    Unfortunately, in a state of madness, the python didn''t care for any of that.


    Ss dodged backward, forced to let go of his bone spear.


    The python continued to madly thrash about, so much so that it headbutted the barrier, shattering Ss'' femur short spear and driving it further into its skull.


    Finally, Little Madness shuddered. Even in itsst moment, it probably didn''t notice that it had done this to itself. But Ss couldn''t even feel happy.


    His jaw clenched. He had lost his best weapon, just like that.

 Chapter 24 Assimilation

    <h4>Chapter 24 Assimtion </h4>


    He truly regretted not going back to get the second short spear he had created, but he didn''t think he had the time to do so. With the night already waning, if he tried to do a round trip, he might get caught up in battles as the creatures began to wake up.


    What he had feared the most weren''t thend animals, though, but rather the creatures he had spotted sleeping in theke. He was already hardly a match onnd. If he had to fight in the water, he would be finished.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. Nothing had gone right this whole time, but hadn''t he made it here?


    ---


    [You have in Little Madness]


    [Floor One of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>Little Madness (Skill)]


    [>Inflexible Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    [>Little Madness yer (Title]]


    ---


    Ss frowned. Pushing forward with his intention, he clicked each one for more information.


    ---


    [Little Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone. Exchange your sanity for a power boost]


    ---


    Wasn''t this just a far weaker version of his Madness Comprehension? Plus, this seemed toe with side effects his Madness Comprehension didn''t have at all.


    ---


    [Inflexible Gene Stat Elixir (Consumable)]


    [A medicine for the soul and not for the taste. Drink this and maintain an Inflexible Gene State for three days]


    ---


    This wasn''t entirely useless. Although he had a Soft Gene State right now, which was two levels above this, it wouldn''tst forever. Still, it was a bit shabby.


    His Soft Gene State gave him a 50% sess rate of iming new Genes, but this would only give him a 10% chance of sess. It was unfortunate.


    ---


    [Little Madness yer (Title)]


    [You have taken down an apprentice of the Madness. Keep going and one day you just might step onto the path of true Madness]


    [+1 Will]


    [+1 Charisma]


    ---


    Ss shook his head, especially when he saw what happened to his stat menu afterward.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker; Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 8]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 5]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 8]


    [Mental: 9]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skill: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    For some reason, the Little Madness yer Title was dormant, and he didn''t even get the stat boosts from them. He didn''t really need more Will or Charisma, but it wouldn''t exactly hurt either.


    In summary, though, he had gotten very little out of this victory aside from the right to go and risk his life again on the second floor. He had a Skill that was useless, a Title that was dormant, and an elixir he would probably only drink if he really had no other options. Even then, he had to figure out a convenient way to carry this elixir around with him because he didn''t have a bag.


    ''I could try to make one out of the fox skins¡­''


    Ss decided he would do this before looking toward his final hope: Little Madness'' corpse.


    He walked over and put a hand on its head.


    ---


    [Little Madness]


    [Genes Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (7) Constitution (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss'' brows raised. His grandfather hadn''t told him this was possible, but this made sense. Maybe it was a case of if a creature assimted enough Fragmented Genes, they would form a Common Gene, so on and so forth.


    This would make his 50% chance worth far more, assuming that it did so one by one and wasn''t an all-or-nothing sort of situation.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    ---


    [Constitution: 9]


    ---


    Ss exhaled a breath when he saw this. Four of seven was a good oue. He was happy that it wasn''t an all-or-nothing situation. Although it would have been amazing to get all seven, just in a risk assessment sort of situation like this one, this was for the best.


    ''Floor two¡­'' he quietly thought to himself.


    He put a hand on Little Madness, hoping it would allow him to take it. He had no method of cutting apart those hard scales, but maybe he would find one on the next floor.


    Ss'' vision blurred, and when he appeared again, he was standing on a familiar cobblestone road. In the distance, it split in two directions, just likest time.


    After a moment, Ss lugged the heavy five-meter-long python over his shoulder and began to walk toward the forest again.


    As much as he was curious about what was down the other path, he wasn''t in a position to take risks for the hell of it. He would stick with what he knew for now and hope the situation would be the same.

 Chapter 25 Fangs

    <h4>Chapter 25 Fangs </h4>


    This was the only thought he could finish before a snake jumped out from a nearby bush, its jaws opening wide.


    Ss couldn''t even register exactly what it was. He just let his legs fall out from under him. With the pressure of Little Madness'' weight on his shoulders, he winced. He hadn''t had the time to brush the carcass off his shoulders and could only do his best to survive.


    The snake soared over his head even as Ss lost his bnce, the python corpse tilting him to one side. He couldn''t pop back up quickly, and his legs folded under him awkwardly.


    Danger signs red in his mind, not because he had awakened some magical sense for it, but because he knew he was screwed.


    He had been paying attention to his surroundings because he knew it was foolish to assume that Floor Two would be the exact same as Floor One. He just didn''t expect that he would be attacked so suddenly.


    For all he knew, the snake that had just soared over his head was already doubling back, ready for round two, and here he was, pinned beneath a dead python.


    ''Focus!''


    He activated Madness without even trying to look back. He knew that if he wasted too much time, he would be finished. He still hadn''t recovered from his battle with Little Madness, so he only had a minute or so left. The regret of not finding a ce to use Maddened Meditation first hit him. This was a new world. He always had to be near 100% so long as he could spare the time. What was he rushing to enter a new floor for?


    With a grunt, he pushed the corpse off of him. Ignoring the dull pain in his right leg, he popped back up to his feet, whipping around toward where the sneak-attacking snake had gone. But he saw nothing but a line of trees.


    He didn''t see anything, but that didn''t mean he didn''t hear anything.


    There was a wild thrashing in the grass and when Ss approached it, he found a snake of a little under three feet long. Its tail suddenly moved wildly and pped against a tree chunk, blowing a chunk of the bark off of it.


    ''So strong¡­''


    Ss had a lot of experience corralling snakes, but he gave up on any idea of that when he saw that tail whip.


    [Madness Minion (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 27]


    [Mental: 2]


    [Will: 4]


    ''I''m running out of time,'' Ss thought, watching the snake wildly whip its body around without a care for its life.


    His head spun back to the python''s corpse. He was ashamed of the idea he had just had, but he really couldn''t think of anything else. The experience with Little Madness had taught him that there was truly no chance for him to deal a death blow to these monstrous creatures. He needed something that could.


    He picked up the head of the dead python, pulling it toward the thrashing Madness Minion. By now, the much smaller snake had made it into the small path of grass leading to the BOSS of Floor Two, making it much easier on Ss.


    The Madness Minion didn''t understand anything that was going on around it, it just wanted to attack something, anything. And yet, it didn''t have the wherewithal to realize there was prey right in front of it.


    Ss opened the jaws of Little Madness wide, baring its teeth for it. His green eyes never left the wildly moving snake. He knelt to a knee, his arm arching from holding up just the head of this monstrous BOSS creature.


    He wouldn''t have more than one chance. The time he had left could be counted in the few seconds. When it fell below ten, he could already feel the weight of fatigue pushing at his mind.


    He knew what would happen if he pushed past his limit. He would truly fall into the Madness, and he would be no different from the snake before him. The difference was that there would be no escaping from him.


    He pushed everything he had to the forefront, pulling deep as the snake got close.


    ''Now!''


    The moment he moved, he knew he missed.


    The "weapon" was too awkward. How could he use the jaws of a creature that weighed hundreds of pounds to deal with a creature that was a fraction of the size and far faster? It was the most foolish n he could havee up with, but it was the only option he had.


    He didn''t know what would happen if he just tried to run away. Would he run into another beast? How many of them were in this forest with him? Also, what would happen to the snake once the influence of his Madness left it? Would it still be in range to chase him?


    This much smaller beast had a weaker Physical than Little Madness, but its Speed was much greater. He didn''t have a chance at outrunning it. And given the fact it could jump at his head from the ground despite only being over two feet long, he probably couldn''t escape it by going up a tree either¡­ not that he was even confident in climbing one.


    ''I''m going to miss¡­''


    The swirl of thoughts hit him like a whirlwind as his Madness'' timer fell to just three seconds.


    His Will moved out in a flood, catching onto the wildly thrashing snake.


    He wasn''t going to miss by much. He could feel that it would only be by an inch or two. The weapon was too awkward and his Dexterity and Strength weren''t high enough.


    But that was when this moment aligned with another.


    A moment where he had moved the shoreline of water back just enough.


    And under the influence of his Charisma, Will, and Madness, the trajectory of the snake''s wild movement shifted just enough that a single side of Little Madness'' fang tore into its body.

 Chapter 26 Head

    <h4>Chapter 26 Head </h4>


    Ss felt his Madness state slip away from him just as Madness Minion was pinned down beneath the jaws of the much heavier snake.


    To his surprise, even after his Madness faded, the snake hadn''t regained its bearings. It continued to wildly thrash about, but this time in a far more confined region, the weight of the python''s corpse keeping it mostly in ce.


    Ss took deep breaths.


    ''So it doesn''t fade away immediately¡­''


    He felt a wave of relief hit him. Unfortunately, the job wasn''t done quite yet. He had wounded the snake heavily, but not fatally.


    ''Hm?''


    His brows shot up.


    The thrashing of the snake slowed, and the entry to its wound actually began to corrode.


    ''A python is venomous?''


    This flipped Ss'' world upside down.


    Constrictors were constrictors, and venomous snakes were venomous snakes. They took two different routes of evolution, so it was considered unnecessary by Mother Nature herself for the two to share both.


    ''Another mistake¡­''


    Ss hadn''t even considered that these animals would be venomous. The moment he saw such arge creature, he made the assumption immediately. This time, his "experience" had almost really hurt him. He could be dead right now.


    ''Will the poison affect the Genes?''


    Ss rushed forward.


    ¡ª


    [Madness Minion]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (3) Speed (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ¡ª


    Ss confirmed.


    ¡ª


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ¡ª


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker; Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ¡ª


    [Physical: 9]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 9]


    [Mental: 9]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ¡ª


    [Skill: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ¡ª


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); Speed (F)]


    ¡ª


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ¡ª


    ''Unlucky.''


    Ss didn''t linger on the thought more than this. At the very least, the venom didn''t ruin the Genes, at least he thought so. It was possible that it had had four or more Speed Genes to give, but that was something he''d have to pay attention to in the future.


    He scanned the region, checking to see if anything else wasing. He was fairly sure this Madness Minion wouldn''t be the only one on Floor Two, so he had no choice but to continue being cautious.


    The quasi-kic abilities his Madness Comprehension was giving him were likely something that he should explore more, but right now it felt too weak. It felt more like an auxiliary offshoot ability rather than something baked into the Comprehension itself.


    Even so, it had definitely helped him just now.


    He would also have to do some experiments on the next Madness Minion he came across. How long did he have to activate his Madness for it to havesting effects? Was it just a single instant? Was it dependent on the target''s Will? He needed to know.


    Regardless, his Madness Comprehension was his greatest reliance right now. He needed it for more than its influence on his opponents, but it would be nice to know that he wouldn''t die the moment he ran out of it. Running away was definitely an option now.


    There was also something else of interest to consider¡­


    ''When I fell into the Madness, my only thoughts were to go and challenge the BOSS as quickly as possible. But these creatures lose their rationality and even forget my existence. Is it because of low Wisdom?''


    There were so many factors at y and it felt impossible to pinpoint them all. For now, he had to recover.


    Sticking close to the region the Madness Minion had attacked him from, he activated Maddened Meditation. His grandfather had said that dungeons were easier to clear than spawned cities because there were tighter controls on the variables, so his assumption was that there was a low likelihood another snake would attack him from here anytime soon.


    Simply put, this was probably the safest location on the entire Floor now.


    In five minutes, he was back up and running. He found that Maddened Meditation didn''t just help with his mental fatigue, either. It felt simr to eating the fox. He felt rejuvenated.


    He stood.


    By now, the Madness Minion''s corpse was mostly rotted. This was, without a doubt, the most potent venom he had ever seen. But he was counting on that.


    He carefully pulled the python''s jaws open again and ced it to the side. Then, using the antler de and de Aura, he cut into the rotten flesh.


    As expected, it was far easier than it had been previously and he sliced into the creature, leaving nothing but its head. It fit nicely in his palm, though the blood was less than great.


    ''Am I really about to use a snake''s head as a weapon?''


    The incredulity of it all wasn''t lost on him, but this was the best option he had right now¡ªthat and running.


    Snake fangs were actually quite fragile and could be easily broken. They had good piercing power, but were brittle.


    ''I probably can''t rely on the venom. Assuming they''re the same general species, all the Madness Minions will be resistant to this venom, and I obviously can''t use the python. It''s too heavy.''


    Go for the head.


    That was the best he could do.

 Chapter 27 Limit

    <h4>Chapter 27 Limit </h4>


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker; Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 11]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 17]


    [Mental: 9]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skill: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (9) Speed (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    Ss ced a hand on the corpse of yet another Madness Minion.


    ---


    [Madness Minion]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (4) Speed (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    After several battles, Ss had confirmed that the venom had, indeed, had an impact on the Genes. All the Madness Minions he had defeated until now had four Fragmented Speed Genes. Only the first one had three. So that seemed to be the best exnation.


    What happened next, though, caught him off guard.


    ---


    [Yes]


    [Gic Limit Reached. Please increase Level, change ss, or evolve Race to proceed]


    ---


    [Fragmented Gene <Grimde Lineage> has taken effect]


    [Soft Gene State Weakened by 10% for rted Genes]


    [Gic Limit Increased]


    ---


    [Gic Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gic Assimtion Triggered]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Failed]


    [Gene Assimtion Sessful]


    ---


    ''Gic Limit¡­ Increase Level¡­ Change ss¡­ Evolve Race¡­ This will be a problem¡­''


    Ss hadn''t thought about there being a Gic Limit to consider, and even if there was one, he didn''t expect that his own would be as low as nine. Didn''t that mean that if he didn''t have the Grimde Lineage, he wouldn''t even be able to unlock Sudden Burst in the future?


    ''Is nine the limit for all Genes? Or is it just Speed? If it''s different based on Gene type, other than Dexterity, Speed was my highest starting Physical stat. Doesn''t that mean I''m already close to my limit on Constitution, which started at almost half that of Speed?


    ''Maybe I can get other Genes that do simr things? Like the Grimde Lineage is named differently, so maybe there''s another "Lineage" that adds to Speed. Would it sh with the original Speed stats, or no?''


    There were too many questions and not enough information¡­


    Just like his grandfather had said it would be.


    ---


    [You have collected (10) Fragmented Speed Genes]


    [Would you like to fuse them?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss took a breath and moved his intention toward [Yes].


    [Fusion Commencing]


    Ss'' body froze. The feeling was much stronger than it had been in the past. It was like countless ice cubes touching each one of his pores with pinpoint uracy. And yet, somehow, it felt scorchingly hot everywhere else.


    ---


    [Fusion Complete]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; A Patient Stalker; Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 14]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 13]


    >[Speed: 28]


    [Mental: 9]


    >[Intelligence: 5]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skill: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F)]


    [Common Genes: Speed (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    ''It''s worth 20 now,'' Ss thought. One Common Gene was worth 20 stats, that was a huge leap.


    Although there were all these fancy numbers, and they were jumping across his screen now, Ss remained quite calm because he remembered something quite important¡­


    These were all rtive stats.


    ording to what the Grimdes had said, there were six total events just like this one in the past, events where there might have been much less intelligent creatures taking part¡­ but ones that were all far more powerful.


    What Strength would a Tyrannosaurus Rex have had? What Speed would a Raptor have?


    Forget about extinct creatures. What about creatures that were still alive to this day? What stats would the system give a Blue Whale? What about a Cheetah?


    A Speed of 28 only meant one thing to Ss: he was much faster than other humans, and that was all. In fact, because his Dexterity had begun tog behind, he couldn''t even maximize that Speed without activating Madness.


    This wasn''t the only disadvantage humans were at, either.


    Because this was the seventh attempt of their world, they were basically dealing with the scraps. For example, Titles. The strongest Titles were ones rted to progenitors, the first to do and aplish certain things.


    In the past, Ss might have gotten a Title forprehending Madness. But by now, all of those Titles were gone. The easiest boost to stats in the early game had already been used up by the former failures of Earth.


    He had to maximize his time in this dungeon or else he would only fall further behind these creatures.


    After another bout of meditation, he approached the BOSS. It didn''t seem like there were any other Madness Minions to take advantage of. Near the end, he had formed a pretty good system for himself.


    With his Speed increasing, it was easier to deal with the wild movements of the snakes. In addition, he had realized he barely had to use Madness for a few seconds for them to lose themselves for several minutes. Due to that, he could slowly find an opportunity and strike.


    Essentially, he had bided his time and waited for them to tire themselves out. One snake had died, quite literally, of exhaustion. Its heart had given out.


    It made Ss realize just how dangerous Madness was. What if he used it on humans? Could he snap them out of it before they died?


    He had tested that out and water seemed to work quite well, but only if he had activated Madness for a short enough time. If he held it for as long as he had against Little Madness, even driving a spear through their brains wouldn''t wake someone up.


    His eyesnded on the snake.


    It was much smaller than Little Madness had been, ironically. It was a sleek ck color with sporadic violet scales that popped with color from time to time.


    It was about four feet long, or just over a meter. This told Ss all he needed to know. It was likely another speed type.


    ---


    [Middle Madness]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 42]


    [Mental: 7]


    [Will: 11]

 Chapter 28 Middle Madness

    <h4>Chapter 28 Middle Madness </h4>


    This was the first time Ss had seen a creature with such a strong Will, but he felt that was more in line with the theme of the dungeon.


    The more he thought about it, the weirder he felt that his Will was so highpared to these creatures. Didn''t heprehend Madness from this ce? So why were the Wills of these creatures so poor?


    ''Maybe I''m looking down on humans a bit too much. We''re far inferior in the Physical stats, but we seem to have these animals beat in terms of Mental and Will stats.''


    Ss burst into action, Madness already activated. Middle Madness didn''t even have the time to open its eyes before that rush of insanity hit it.


    Ss maintained his distance. This was the strongest Will any target of his had ever had, so he wasn''t sure how resistant it would be.


    Luckily, it didn''t seem to matter.


    However, what was interesting was that Middle Madness didn''t start rampaging instantly. It seemed to try to resist, but it onlysted a few seconds before it lost control.


    Ss'' eyes widened.


    Middle Madness was like a bolt of lightning. It shot out so quickly and in so many directions that Ss heard the shes before he saw the streaks.


    Familiar shing patterns of fighting, mating, and roaring snakes appeared, but they were much more vibrant and livelier than they had been on the First Floor. In fact, because Middle Madness was mming against the barrier so frequently, it stayed lit for much longer than Ss was used to.


    Ss almost entered another daze before a whistling wind by his ear snapped him right out of it. What was he thinking? He was in the middle of battle!


    But Middle Madness was simply too fast. His eyes couldn''t track much more than a blur of ck and slight violet.


    Middle Madness'' Physical was 42, but it was clear that its Speed was a heavy factor. If it hit him¡­


    Everything suddenly came to a stop.


    A crumpled mess of flesh and blood fell to the ground. It squirmed about, trying to move more, but it seemed to truly be on itsst legs.


    When Ss used the system, he confirmed that it was, indeed, Middle Madness.


    Ss had truly not expected things to end so easily. Little Madness had gone wild for a long while, but when he thought about it, the Fragmented Genes he got from Little Madness were all Constitution-based. Obviously, Middle Madness'' Constitution wasn''t high enough to counter the Speed it was running into the barrier with.


    ''I really¡­ was not meant toprehend Madness like I did.''


    It finally sunk in for Ss.


    He had managed to grasp this Comprehension by touching a barrier he wasn''t supposed to be around in the first ce. It was there to keep him from running, not for him to study.


    When he thought about how Little Madness¡ªthe Skill¡ªwas just an inferior version of his Madness Comprehension, it sunk in even further.


    ''The barriers, I need to study them more.''


    Unfortunately, after Middle Madness killed itself, the barrier vanished.


    ---


    [You have in Middle Madness]


    [Floor Two of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>Middle Madness (Skill)]


    [>Brittle Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    [>Middle Madness yer (Title]]


    ---


    The Brittle Gene Elixir was a far better reward than his previous Inflexible one. A Brittle Gene State had a 30% chance to absorb Genes.


    As for Middle Madness the Skill¡­


    ---


    [Middle Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone. Exchange your sanity for a speed boost]


    ---


    This description made Ss pause for a moment. The description of Little Madness was near identical. The only exception was that it swapped "speed" with "power."


    The realization that he wasn''t meant toprehend Madness made Ss wonder. Could he use these Skills without the side effects, maybe?


    ''It was foolish of me to not even try. The Will of Little Madness was only six, while the Will of Middle Madness was only eleven. I assume they were able to use these Skills without killing themselves like Middle Madness just did, so why can''t I?''


    Ss made the choice to try it out, starting out with Little Madness (Skill) first.


    ''Hm?''


    Using a Skill felt¡­ odd. It was like something inside you was wiggling about on its own. That "something" should be his Aether moving along paths he didn''t quiteprehend, but the system did for him.


    And then it happened.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Little Madness> has deepened]


    [<Little Madness> has reached Common Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Little Madness> has deepened]


    [<Little Madness> has reached Bronze Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Little Madness> has deepened]


    [<Little Madness> has reached Silver Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Little Madness> has deepened]


    [<Little Madness> has reached Gold Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Little Madness> has deepened]


    [<Little Madness> has reached Legendary Mastery]


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Skill Savant]


    [You have disyed great familiarity with a Skill. This Skill has reached Legendary status and has truly be your own]


    [+100% Intelligence]


    [+50% sess in absorbing rted Fragmented Genes]


    ---


    [Little Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone; however, it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your power]


    [+200% Constitution]


    [+100% Strength]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. After a moment, he took the plunge and repeated for Middle Madness. This time, he didn''t receive another Title. However, the boost was just as appealing otherwise.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Middle Madness> has deepened]


    [<Middle Madness> has reached Legendary Mastery]


    ---


    [Middle Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone; however, it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your speed]


    [+200% Speed]


    [+100% Dexterity]


    ---


    ''I can''t make these sorts of oversights again,'' Ss thought to himself. ''Caution is fine. An overabundance of it will stifle me. This world is inherently one of danger now. Without risks, I will get nowhere.''


    It was because he made the choice to dive into thatke that he was given this opportunity. He had to continue being just as bold, or else he would never close the gap between humans and the extinct creatures of Earth.


    He walked to Middle Madness, cing a hand on its mutted corpse.

 Chapter 29 Theoretical Potential

    <h4>Chapter 29 Theoretical Potential </h4>


    [Middle Madness]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (9) Dexterity (F)]


    [Common Gene: (2) Speed (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Considering what had happened before, could he even seed? This wasn''t just one Common Gene, but two. ording to his original limit, he could only absorb nine Fragmented Genes. How much had the Grimde Lineage increased his limit?


    Well, there was only one way to find out.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Fragmented Gene: (6) Dexterity (F)]


    [Common Gene: (2) Speed (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Fragmented Gene: (3) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    Ss'' entire body seized. He only barely felt his Patient Stalker Title activate before he was overwhelmed by everything else. It was so much more violent than the first time that he fell to the ground, a cold sweat pooling around his body. Some of the sweat even seemed to carry slight hints of a red as though blood was being pulled right out of his pores.


    The process took several minutes, and yet for all his efforts, he was forced to look at a highly disappointing screen.


    ---


    [Speed Stat has reached 50 and cannot increase further. Species limit has been reached. Please evolve Species, increase Level, or change ss to progress further]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker; Middle Madness yer (Dormant); Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 21]


    >[Strength: 5]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 11]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F); Middle Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    ''This is¡­ a huge problem.''


    If there was one thing Ss was good at, it was analyzing a situation and making the best possible decision in the shortest amount of time. At the very least, he tried his best to do so with the information he had on hand, though he was ultimately a human at the end of the day.


    However, this stat cap was even worse than the previous Gene cap. This issue went back to the first and most important point: his stats were adjusted based on the dominant species of Earth. Because humans were the "rulers" of Earth, all stats in this seventh attempt would be adjusted to them.


    This essentially meant that, just because 50 was a high number, didn''t mean that it was worth anything. It didn''t even represent that he was five times faster than the fastest human either.


    ''The stats are based on a distribution curve where 10 stat points represented the 99th percentile of current humans. But even then, a single percent of the poption is still hundreds of millions of people. The weight of that stat isn''t as heavy as it seems.


    ''If anything, this 50 number is far more meaningful than a 10. If it''s referring to a limit of my Genes, or the theoretical and physical limit of the human body, that should mean that 50 Speed should represent around 50 miles per hour if the science is right. The fact they''re the same number should be purely coincidental.


    ''Unless the Grimde Lineage increased that limit for me? In which case, it''s something higher than 50 miles per hour.


    ''Either way, Middle Madness was definitely faster than that. My eyes could hardly track it. But that shouldn''t be its normal Speed, it definitely had Middle Madness activated.


    ''I also have to take into ount the fact the dungeons are weighted and adjusted to match the current poption as well. If this was still the era of the dinosaurs, it would have still been a 50 Physical entry rmendation, but that number would mean something far different to them¡­''


    Ss'' mind ran faster and faster, but the ultimate conclusion could be summed up in a few words.


    The human race had an uphill battle to fight, and an especially steep one at that.


    ''I need to find a way to increase this limit. It says levelling is a solution, but I should disregard that for as long as possible.


    ''Levelling should provide linear growth, but if my starting ce is too low, each one of my levels will mean less and less.


    ''That leaves finding a ss, changing my Species, or¡­''


    There seemed to be another option that the system didn''t mention. But when Ss thought about it, it seemed to fall in line with "evolving" his Species.


    The Grimde Lineage. It had helped increase his Gene capacity. Wouldn''t another Gene of a simr kind also increase his stat limit?


    ''Comprehensions as well¡­''


    That wasn''t the only option avable to Ss. Comprehensions seemed to be a great equalizer, Skills as well.


    His stats said 50 was his limit, but Middle Madness could still increase that by 200% when it was activated. Clearly, Aether was a huge factor in one''s strength, and it could be maximized with the use of Skills and Comprehensions.


    If there was one advantage humans had over the creatures of old, it was their intelligence¡ªnot the stat, but rather in the traditional sense.


    However, it wasn''t enough.


    In the end, those monstrous beasts, some standing at almost 20 meters tall, still lost in the end.


    ''If we want a chance to survive, some of us will need to go further than what these limits portray¡­''


    Ss took a breath and calmed himself. With his high Will, and his usual self-discipline, the ease with which he did so was only bing greater.


    ''Next Floor.''

 Chapter 30 Balancing Stats

    <h4>Chapter 30 Bncing Stats </h4>


    Ss appeared on a split road once again. The air here was particrly heavy. He didn''t know if it was because his mind was enraptured by thoughts of finding a way to break the mold of these stat limits, or if it was just that the air was mixed in with something different here.


    ''Aether?''


    Now that he thought about it, he had seen Aether. He had even felt it work inside his body, but he had never really interacted with it in the normal sense.


    Before him, the same choicey. This time, he actually hesitated, but in the end, he stuck with the same choice. Now wasn''t the time to suddenly get cocky, nor should he let his worry about his stats cause him to overextend himself.


    He was hauling the python over his shoulder as he chose the forest once again, but he didn''t make the same mistake he hadst time.


    The moment the cobblestone path vanished, he dropped the python''s corpse and sharpened himself, already activating Madness. If this was another Speed-focused floor, he might not be able to react fast enough this time.


    But nothing came.


    Ss slowly rxed and retracted Madness. Indeed, he had probably been a bit unlucky with an attacking immediately on Floor Two. But that didn''t mean there weren''t minions here as well.


    He chose to leave the python corpse behind, and Middle Madness'' corpse and the final fox carcass along with it. Then he carefully dove into the surrounding woods.


    It wasn''t long before he found what he was looking for.


    [Big Madness Minion (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 34]


    [Mental: 4]


    [Will: 7]


    Hanging from a tree, a bright yellow python, about three meters long, hung. Ss spotted it before it saw him, but it didn''tg too far behind, baring its teeth the moment it spotted him.


    It lunged at Ss, butpared to Middle Madness and the Madness Minions, it was too slow¡­ especially since Ss had gotten such a huge boost to his Speed.


    The Big Madness Minion missed,nding heavily on the ground with a much louder thud than Ss would have expected. Even so, it didn''t slow his reaction.


    Ss activated <Little Madness>. Since he felt rtively safe with the difference in Speed, he thought that he should try to test the limits of his body. His n was to use his fists and the antler de he had and see if he could do some real damage with the help of the boost in his strength and constitution.


    But the moment he activated <Little Madness>, it felt like his mind was being corrupted. It was instantaneous. A feeling of spiders and zombie-like hands fighting for pieces of his brain yed in his thoughts.


    Ss immediately activated Madness. He realized that without the support of his Comprehension, this Skill would really eat away at everything he was. It seemed that upgrading it to Legendary Mastery hadn''te without its drawbacks.


    Even so, he could control it.


    He dodged out of the way of a second lunge. He had been too dyed toplete his follow-up attack like he wanted, so this was his only choice.


    A fist wouldn''t work anymore, so as the python flew by, he used the only attack that seemed possible.


    He flooded de Aura into his elbow, and swung down.


    The Big Madness Minion came crashing down to the earth, looking slightly disoriented.


    But then the Madness settled in and the wild movements began.


    The minion became a punching bag for Ss'' experiment.


    Ss knew that his skill in actualbat wascking. There was only so far that Madness could take him, but there wasn''t much he could do outside of try to battle more. However, he also wasn''t strong enough to have a real head-to-head battle.


    CRACK.


    Ss'' antler de finally gave way, and he was left with nothing more than his fists.


    He dodged the wildly iling python, staying closer to it than he knew he should. There were more than a few close calls, but he managed to use Middle Madness to increase his Speed just before he really suffered.


    He wasn''t sure how much damage his fists were doing, and the dull ache was starting to be overwhelming.


    ''Should I really go back and get them?''


    Attacking with his fists like this, even with the Constitution bump to keep his hands from cracking like the antler had, and the strength to give him some added oomph, was probably even more foolish than using a snake''s head as his primary weapon. At this point, it looked to be the smarter choice to just back up and get Middle Madness'' head¡­ or rather, what was left of it.


    He shook his head.


    Taking a sudden opportunity, he grabbed the tail of the wildly iling beast. Using all his Speed and Strength, his core tightened, and he swung with all his might, cracking the head of the Big Madness Minion against a tree trunk.


    BANG.


    It wasn''t enough. In fact, the Big Madness Minion continued to writhe as though nothing had happened.


    So he did it again.


    And then again.


    On the fifth iteration, the Big Madness Minion finally twitched itsst, leaving Ss gasping for breath.


    With both <Little Madness> and <Middle Madness> activated, the length of time he could sustain Madness for seemed to have plummeted. Before, it was just over five minutes. But now, at around two minutes, he had already reached his limits.


    He sat down and activated Maddened Meditation.


    Five minutester, he got up and touched the dead python.


    ---


    [Big Madness Minion (F)]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (5) Strength (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss epted, and his body seized up.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Fragmented Gene: (3) Strength (F)]


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Fragmented Gene: (2) Strength (F)]


    ---


    This was good. Every Strength stat that he received would count for double just purely because of <Little Madness> and its 100% boost once activated. Maybe his fists could finally start doing some real damage.


    ''If my Strength exceeds my Constitution by too much, I could end up breaking my bones just attacking. I''ll need to protect myself¡­''


    Ss looked down at his bloody shirt. It seemed there really wasn''t much of a choice. He was just wearing it out of habit now. Considering how raggedy it was, it could hardly be considered a shirt at all.

 Chapter 31 Reprimand

    <h4>Chapter 31 Reprimand </h4>


    Ss methodically hunted down the Big Madness Minions. He hadn''t forgotten about studying the barrier, but he wanted to make sure that Floor Three was cleared of everything but the BOSS first.


    So long as he was cautious, with the support of Madness, his life was never truly in danger. Of course, it also helped that his Speed was greater than these particr minions.


    Soon, he reached his Gic Limit of nine Fragmented Strength Genes, and his Grimde Lineage kicked in again.


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker; Middle Madness yer (Dormant); Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ¡ª


    [Physical: 26]


    >[Strength: 27]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 11]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 36]


    [Luck: 1]


    ¡ª


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F); Middle Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ¡ª


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (2) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (1) Strength (F)]


    ¡ª


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ¡ª


    Ss needed to defeat six Madness Minions to create a Common Speed Gene. But he only needed to defeat four Big Madness Minions to reach this point. It seemed that he could continue loading up his Fragmented Genes to make another Common Gene.


    So that was what he did.


    Unfortunately, he soon ran out of Big Madness Minions and only managed to reach nine Fragmented Strength Genes, raising his Strength to 34.


    At this strength, he was already beginning to feel some pain through his makeshift bandages, but they were still holding up better than he thought.


    The current Ss was shirtless, his original linen shirt having been carved up into thin slices that wrapped his knuckles, palms, and wrists. This covered all his bases for now.


    He could inflict a surprising amount of damage when he used his high Speed in conjunction with his Strength. He had realized long ago that these stats had a lot more to them than what was shown on the surface, so it wasn''t surprising that the line between Strength and Speed could be blurred depending on action.


    It was especially easy to get used to these things when your opponents were all pretty much just live punching bags.


    ''It''s time to check the barrier¡­''


    Ss stood before the barrier.


    ''Thising BOSS likely won''t end up killing itself while it''s rampaging. If the pattern of the previous Floors is followed, this is likely to be a Strength-based BOSS, and its Constitution won''tg too far behind. If I want to beat it, I''ll have to be the one that does the damage. But¡­''


    Ss looked down at his fists. The blood-covered rags that coated them looked quite fierce, but theycked a real punch.


    ''The BOSS''s Strength would probably be around 80 to 100, somewhere in that ballpark. Its Constitution will probably be its second-highest stat at around 50, leaving it with Speed and Dexterity around 20 to 30.''


    These were just estimations Ss had made based on the previous BOSS matchups, as well as the minion fights. He had already checked the BOSS, and its Physical was 50 on the dot, just like he expected. That meant it had 200 total stats to spread between Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, and Speed. So that was what Ss had based his assumptions on.


    These estimations were probably simr for Middle Madness, just with Strength and Dexterity as its main Physical stats and a lower overall Physical. This was why its Speed had overwhelmed its Constitution.


    Obviously, that wouldn''t work this time around.


    ''If worsees to worst, I''ll hope to force its heart to give out like that Madness Minion. But it''ll be hard¡­''


    That BOSS also happened to have a Will that was much higher than Middle Madness'' had been.


    Ss touched the barrier.


    shing forms of moving snakes upied his mind again. This time, he basked in it, not cutting it off for the sake of battle.


    Maddened Meditation activated naturally as he was enraptured by the movement.


    He remembered what happened the first time he really looked at these images. He felt like there was a disconnect between what was happening and the actions he could copy. They had the bodies of snakes and he, obviously, had the body of a human. How could he imitate them?


    Did he want to imitate them?


    A third of the images were clearly images of snakes mating, their tails intertwining and their minds sunken into the throes of passion. It was usually very difficult to read the expressions of animals, their actions themselves were better tells of what they were feeling. But for some reason, it felt so clear to him.


    Was he meant to have a partner toplete this ritual of sorts?


    Ss didn''t know how he felt about that.


    This Madness was very important to him, but he didn''t want to find a partner just because it would make him more powerful. Plus, he was a virgin. Was he supposed to casually give that up as well?


    What was his virginity to the plight of Earth, though?


    Ss found himselfughing at himself, something he rarely seemed to do. The only one who could make him smile was that little munchkin of a sister of his. She was always so amusing in her own quirky ways. Being a 26-year-old virgin was definitely something she would make fun of him for. If she really knew what that meant, that is.


    ''Well, she''s 13 years old already. Who knows what those snotty-nosed kids are corrupting my little sister with¡­''


    Ss shook his head inment. Kids these days.


    It wasn''t as though he needed help in that department, anyway. He was a decently attractive man, sessful, tall¡­


    Then again, he did still live at home by choice. That wasn''t exactly a nice opener. He also liked to walk everywhere and didn''t have his own car. He also focused on work¡­ a lot.


    ''You''d think it was Cassarae reprimanding me again¡­''

 Chapter 32 Cassarae

    <h4>Chapter 32 Cassarae </h4>


    Ss actually chuckled again. There was, indeed, someone else that used to make him smile. Though he never reallyughed around her. He wasn''t asfortable with her as he was with his little sister, which was funny considering he had known her for longer than ra had been alive.


    Cassarae was an ex of his.


    ''Well, can she really be considered that?''


    Cassarae was more like a childhood friend than an ex. They had dated for two months when they were 17 years old. Hadn''t ended on bad terms¡­ he thought, anyway.


    But after that, they went from close friends to never talking. It had already been almost a decade since then, and he hadn''t even thought to contact her about this Summoned Ascension matter.


    ''Would she even believe me?¡­ Hey, Cassarae. It''s Ss, your high school boyfriend of two months. The world is ending soon, so you should probably prep for that¡­''


    Ssughed at his own joke.


    That was already three times in just a few minutes. It felt weird. He hadn''tughed like this in a while.


    It was a shame, though. The girlfriends he had after Cassarae all pretty much ended the same. Fizzled out with no real drama. Though it was hard to tell if that was because he was always so stoic about things or not.


    ''Well, women probably prefer funnier men. If I was going to sell my body for power, maybe I should go for a more stoic woman like me¡­''


    Ss shook his head again, almost immediately.


    He had tried that before with a certain rice. Who knew, maybe he had a thing for women with Cs in their names.


    That breakup could be considered to be his most dramatic, meaning not really at all.


    She was the kind of woman to make lists about everything, but he could respect that. Which was funny, again, because he had critiqued her list of reasons to breakup with him.


    It wasn''t as a ploy to keep her by his side or anything. He was a prideful man and if a woman didn''t want him, he wouldn''t chase after her needlessly. You couldn''t make a person change their mind if they didn''t want to.


    Instead, it was because he had found the list truly ridiculous. His reply was that she could have summarized it in one sentence.


    ''You''re not ambitious enough for me.''


    That was pretty much the gist of it. A 26-year-old tenured professor at the most prestigious college in the country wasn''t good enough for her.


    In her defense, he wasn''t tenured just yet back then. That, and¡­


    ''She''s probably not wrong, though,'' Ss agreed.


    Like he had said before, he had only casually chosen his doctorate, and it was taken in a field that was very unnecessary. No one needed venom vines.


    He only really worked on things that interested him, and much like his parents, when it was time for him to check out of work, he never brought it home.


    It could be said that he was curious about a lot of things, but not really passionate about anything. rice had picked up on that and felt like he was wasting his potential.


    He didn''t really have a goal for after securing tenure. Truthfully, he would have probably floated about until he found something else that interested him.


    ''She''s still not tenured yet, though¡­''


    A rare snidement flew by his thoughts. It surprised him because he felt that he was pretty much over that breakup. Actually, he thought he got over it the day of.


    Ss sighed.


    The world had just felt boring. How could he be ambitious about anything when there didn''t seem to be a point?


    Was it for money?


    His parents were already sessful and he could live off their wealth for the rest of his days without a care. Why should he strive for more money when he had more than enough?


    He foundfort in the little things. He loved his family. He liked running, walking,?hiking, and keeping himself in shape. He liked giving his life discipline and structure. He would probably like to find a wife to share his life with, but he didn''t want to settle for any random woman, either.


    He wanted a rtionship like his parents had. One that was built on mutual respect, mutualpetence, mutual love.


    ''In this day and age? Fat chance¡­''


    Ss suddenly chuckled again before his mind suddenly snapped back into focus.


    He blinked in a bit of a daze. Had he fallen into a trance again? He had ended up thinking about himself more than the barrier. What a bout of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    Subconsciously, he checked his notifications. There were only two lines.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Meditation> has deepened]


    [<Maddened Meditation> has reached Common Mastery]


    ---


    [Your Comprehension of Madness has deepened]


    [Madness has reached Common Mastery]


    ---


    [You have Comprehended the Madness]


    [+10 Will]


    [+20 Charisma]


    ---


    [Madness (F)]


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+200% Charisma]


    [+150% Will]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker; Middle Madness yer (Dormant); Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 28]


    >[Strength: 34]


    >[Constitution: 9]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 14]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 22]


    [Will: 44]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F); Middle Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (9) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (1) Strength (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]

 Chapter 33 Fangs

    <h4>Chapter 33 Fangs </h4>


    ''It seems that the additions to my Will and Charisma aren''t on top of the previous additions, but rather updates. My Will only increased by seven, and my Charisma only by ten.


    ''There seems to be a purposeful imbnce between Charisma and Will. If not for my "A Flexible Will" Title, Charisma would have already long surpassed it. But if it continues at this pace, it''s inevitable.''


    ¡­


    Ss appeared by the side of a tree, looking deeply at the BOSS thaty in the clearing across from him.


    It was a gargantuan creature, with a body at least ten meters long and covered in fierce red scales. It slumbered much like the others had before it, and yet its slow breaths seemed to make the ground unsteady.


    [Big Madness (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 50]


    [Mental: 8]


    [Will: 22]


    Ss walked in, gripping one empty fist and a sack weaved of leaves and vines.


    Madness.


    Big Madness stirred awake just as Ss'' domain of sorts descended. However, unlike the others, it really looked at him. As its yellow slit eyes slowly became redder, it truly looked as though it wanted to burn Ss'' image into its mind.


    It opened its maw and unleashed a roar.


    Ss had never met the dinosaurs, but he assumed that if a raptor wanted to unleash a call to nature, it would sound exactly like this. It was a grating sound, one that made goosebumps jump across his skin and his bones grow cold.


    Then it lunged at him in a maddened charge.


    Ss had no idea what threshold Big Madness had managed to reach, but unlike the others that thrashed about wildly, it seemed to be able to focus its irrational tirade on him.


    Without a choice, Ss could only quickly dodge out of the way, using his own speed while he maintained his focus. He had yet to activate <Little Madness>, and he didn''t need to. However, he was quickly bing aware of just howrge Big Madness was and how small the clearing was in return.


    There was only about 30 meters of diameter and they were surrounded by a ring of trees and the barrier. But Big Madness was already over 10 meters long. Even though it was slow, the space it covered was so vast that Ss was never truly out of danger for any longer than a few seconds.


    ''This isn''t good.''


    A useless thought flew through his mind.


    In the sack in his hand, he had gathered as many minion fangs as he could. It sounded like a good n, but with this enraged beast looming over him, it truly felt¡­ inadequate.


    Still, Ss reached into the sack, but the action slowed him down, almost allowing Big Madness'' tail to smash his head to pieces. If nearly 100 Strength, matched with that weight, collided with his head¡­


    ''Wait. No, Strength should be a function of their weight. It shouldn''t count more or the adjusted stats would be meaningless. Which means that the attack speed of this creature will be highly limited.''


    A roar interrupted his thoughts.


    Ss forgot about picking out the fangs one by one. With a pull, he unsealed the bag and everything came spilling out. Two potions and a collection of fangs pooled onto the ground.


    It seemed that he had made a mistake, but he didn''t panic at all as Big Madness spun around and charged at him, leaving deep gashes in the grass as it slithered forward.


    Ss pulled with his intention and a fang was magically pulled off the ground, suddenly zipping through the air and right into Big Madness'' right eye.


    Big Madness whipped its head wildly from side to side, the sudden spike of pain pulling it out of its maddened pursuit. For a moment, it seemed to have almost entirely lost its mind, much like the previous BOSSes.


    ''It can actually feel the pain!''


    Ss realized that it wasn''t entirely bad that the python was conscious.


    He ducked and rolled to the side, diving over a whipping tail and barely dodging it on its way back with another leap.


    His intention pulled at the ground again just as Big Madness managed to regain control over itself. Unfortunately for it, slowing down was thest thing it should have done, as its remaining good eye was ripped through by yet another fang.


    Ss thanked his lucky stars that these dungeon creatures had deviated from the path of normal pythons, or else it was impossible for them to be so effective. Well, that and his Charisma increasing to the point he could impose so much more of his Will on the world.


    Unable to see, the agitation of Big Madness grew to the point it couldn''t control itself anymore. It slowly sunk into the Madness as Ss quickly dodged out of its way.


    ''I can''t just use this opportunity to attack it. I''ll break my hand. What do I do¡­''


    There was a good chance that Big Madness might tire itself out, but the fact it had been able to maintain control of itself, and even regain control at one point, put Ss on edge.


    Snakes were known for their poor vision to begin with, Ss knew this. If it managed to calm down, it could use its sense of smell to track him down.


    ''I''ll have to cut off its tongue just to be sure¡­''


    Ss pulled at another fang from the ground. Timing it right, he sent it flying into the mouth of the python just as it roared. This time, he moved three at one time, lodging them in one after another.


    ''Fangs have good piercing power, but cutting¡­''


    Ss burst into action, <Middle Madness> activating. His Speed tripled and his Dexterity doubled.


    In his own act of Madness, he suddenly gripped the flickering tongue of Big Madness just as it whipped its head to the side.

 Chapter 34 Madness Key

    <h4>Chapter 34 Madness Key </h4>


    He held on strong, activating <Little Madness> and pulling with his doubled strength. At that moment, his raw power was truly great.


    A howl of pain was preceded by a spurt of blood.


    Ss already had his escape n prepared, ducking and rolling again to get out of the way.


    He tossed the bloodied tongue to the side, his green irises exuding a chilly light. It wasn''t killing intent, but rather sheer focus.


    He slowly dismantled the BOSS creature, cutting at its weaknesses one by one until it was just a shell of itself. It waspletely disoriented, unable to make its way in the world any longer.


    Ss controlled two more fangs, driving them right up Big Madness'' ring nostrils. Like this, the python not only lost the ability to see or smell, but had also lost the ability to breathe with any sort of ease.


    That was when Ss sent in a second pair of fangs into its nostrils, and then a third pair. He would have sent another, but he ran out. Even so, it didn''t seem to matter.


    Lacking sensory perception, and now having lost the ability to breathe normally.


    Big Madness began to keep its mouth open. Mouth breathing was the only option it had left to it, but the pooling blood that came from its torn-off tongue was making it a nightmare.


    It was too busy rampaging to slow down, and the cumtion of lost breath from its nose, and the fact blood was pooling into its lungs now with every haggard breath, was slowing it down further and further.


    Ss whittled the creature down step by step. It was an almost methodical ughter. Compared to how he had been when he first entered the dungeon, this was on another level.


    This was the Ss Brown he preferred to be.


    In the Madness¡­ he felt he understood himself better.


    ---


    [You have yed Big Madness]


    [Floor Three of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [You have Cleared Slithering Madness Dungeon (F)]


    [Rewards]


    [>Big Madness (Skill)]


    [>Soft Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    [>Big Madness yer (Title)]


    [>Madness Key (1/2) (Treasure)]


    ---


    ''Madness Key?''


    Ss had basically expected the other things, but this caught him off guard. Especially the fact that it only seemed to be one of a set of two.


    An elixir bottle and a key fell into his hands. Thetter was shaped like a very ancient key, one forged of heavy metal and had quite some thickness to it. However, it was t on one side, while its head was formed of a maze of peaks and valleys that likewise only looked halfplete. If there was another half, it would slide into the maze quite perfectly, Ss could imagine.


    ''Was the other key in the other paths? But it said the dungeon wasplete¡­ do I have to find the other key elsewhere? Or can the dungeon bepleted more than once, maybe?''


    Ss looked toward the other rewards.


    ---


    [Big Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone. Exchange your sanity for a strength boost]


    ---


    Ss nodded to himself. That seemed to be why <Little Madness> used the word power. It focused more on Constitution, though there was a great Strength boost as well.


    He activated <Big Madness> and a familiar pattern repeated itself.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Big Madness> has deepened]


    [<Big Madness> has reached Legendary Mastery]


    ---


    [Big Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone; however, it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your strength]


    [+300% Strength]


    ---


    ''That much Strength? That''s a four times multiplier. But what if <Little Madness> and <Big Madness> were activated at the same time? Would the +300% be added to the base number or the already +100% of <Little Madness>?''


    Ss soon got his answer, and it was quite disappointing.


    When he activated both Skills at once, or rather tried to, he was forced to immediately stop. It wasn''t because something had stopped him, but rather because he felt that the paths the Aether in his body were trying to take were about to sh. If he continued, he might have even ended up killing himself.


    He didn''t know what it would mean for Aether to explode inside of you, but it didn''t take a genius to know it wouldn''t be good.


    Maybe if his Constitution was higher, he could take the risk. But for now, activating both would be a death sentence.


    ''But would it even be possible for my body to withstand a four times multiplier to my Strength stat without the support of higher Constitution?''


    Until now, the Skills hadn''t really made Ss feel ufortable. It was probably because the power came from Aether, rather than increasing what his body itself was capable of.


    But even if that was the case, if he tried to use this added Strength to make contact with something, he could really hurt himself.


    He looked down at his hands. He really needed a weapon. Or¡­


    His gazended on Big Madness'' corpse. He closed the distance with a few steps and ced a hand on it.


    ---


    [Big Madness]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss braced himself, remembering the horrid paid it took to assimte Common Genes. He found something to bite onto and then moved his intention toward [Yes].


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Common Gene: (1) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (1) Constitution (F)]


    ---


    A deep grunt left Ss'' lips, his fingers digging into the ground. The nails he had lost on his right hand still hadn''t recovered, and yet he didn''t even seem to notice as he dug deeper and deeper, biting down on the piece of his pants hard.


    It took several minutes before he finally copsed in what felt like a pool of his sweat. He barely registered a familiar disappointing message.


    ---


    [Strength Stat has reached 50 and cannot increase further. Species limit has been reached. Please evolve Species, increase Level, or change ss to progress further]

 Chapter 35 Scorned Wraps

    <h4>Chapter 35 Scorned Wraps </h4>


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker; Big Madness yer (Dormant); Middle Madness yer (Dormant); Little Madness yer (Dormant)]


    ---


    [Physical: 42]


    >[Strength: 50]


    >[Constitution: 49]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 14]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 22]


    [Will: 44]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F); Middle Madness (F); Big Madness (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (9) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (2) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ---


    Although he knew he couldn''t put too much stock in these numbers, Ss still felt a childish sort of satisfaction watching them go up. The fact he had to suffer so much through the assimtion of those Genes only made it more satisfying.


    However, these stats were just a means to an end. Hadn''t he defeated all of these BOSSes despite the fact his stats wereckingpared to theirs?


    Granted, that was because of his Madness Comprehension, but a part of him still believed there were many factors this system couldn''t take into ount.


    ''Even so, I need to find a way to break these limiters. What if my Will caps at 50 as well? Wouldn''t that make Madness useless against more powerful targets?''


    He still hadn''t forgotten that Big Madness managed to shrug off his influence somewhat, and that was after his Madness had reached Common Mastery.


    When Madness was activated now, his Will was over 100 thanks to the 150% boost. But a creature with a Will of just 22 managed to maintain some rity. There was obviously a bottleneck somewhere here that he wasn''t aware of.


    ''Or maybe I''ve misunderstood Madness?''


    Every time he deepened hisprehension of Madness, at least the two times he had, it seemed to require a lot of self-reflection. If the point of Madness was to drive others crazy, wouldn''t hisprehension path have to be more general?


    Now that he thought about it, activating Madness also gave him a keen sense of self that was arguably stronger than the influence he had on other creatures. His stats didn''t increase, but they seem to¡­ mean more, in a weird way. As though he could maximize every inch of them.


    Then there were those telekic abilities he had gained. That was also a process of his own Will taking form rather than his just ying with the mind of an enemy.


    ''If that''s the case, it makes sense¡­ My ability to influence the minds of others isn''t scaling because that isn''t the point of the Comprehension at all¡­ At least, it''s not the main point¡­''


    Ss wasn''t sure if this was right, but his gut was telling him that he was on to something.


    Taking a breath, he exhaled slowly. He would have to explore this more. Without the barriers to study, he had lost his shortcut, though, so he would have to find another way or just take it one step at a time.


    Unless¡­


    He looked around. Between the various python corpses he had umted along the way, he had too many things to carry and yet no way of conveniently doing so.


    Once he left this dungeon, he''d be stuck in the middle of theke, and he would only have a short time to escape. Those animals that had been slumbering and in the midst of their evolution should have also long since woken up.


    Simply put, he couldn''t just carry hundreds of kilograms'' worth of snakes around with him no matter how great his strength had be.


    Without a choice, he kept only Middle Madness'' mutted corpse with him and was ready to leave when the screen appeared, sensing his intention.


    ---


    [You have Cleared Slithering Madness Dungeon (F)]


    [Leave Now?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss paused. After some thought, his intention moved toward [No] just to see what would happen.


    ---


    [Your Madness ismendable]


    ---


    The screen glitched for a moment before it came back into sharp focus.


    ''What was that?'' Ss frowned. The so-called ''screen'' was just a projection of his mind, so how could it glitch?


    A hint of worry sprouted in his chest. This dungeon had messed with his mind a lot. Even during hisprehension sessions, he had done a lot of thinking about things that hadn''t evene to mind in years. It was too weird.


    ---


    [Slithering Madness Dungeon (F)]


    [Level Maximum: 0]


    [Rmended: 100 Physical]


    [Description: Lurking in the depths, high in the trees and on the forest floors, they are natural predators, unfettered and unbothered. So Scorned by the skies, they''ve been restricted to a life of crawling on their bellies. But their day to fall again is not far off.]


    ---


    Ss'' memory was excellent, and it could be said to be doubly so when his attention was focused on every detail. He knew that in a world like this, even the slightest mistake could cost him his life, so he directly glossed over the fact the rmended Physical had doubled. That wasn''t the problem.


    ''But their day to fall again is not far off¡­ That definitely read "rise" before, not "fall"¡­ And scorned is capitalized now? What does that change mean?''


    ---


    [Your Madness has been Rewarded]


    [>Scorned Wraps (Treasure)]


    ---


    [Scorned Wraps (Treasure)]


    [A cursed treasure Scorned by the skies themselves. In its presence, your body cannot be adorned by armor, and your hands cannot be graced by weapons. The Madness is relentless and its fury Scorns the world in return]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    [+10% Constitution to fists]


    ---


    Right then, a pair of what looked like long, dirty cloths appeared in the skies, slithering down toward Ss, almost like snakes themselves. It seemed like they had once been a pristine and shimmering white, but were worn by dirt and dried blood over countless years of hardship and toil.


    Ss couldn''t avoid them even if he tried.

 Chapter 36 The Same

    <h4>Chapter 36 The Same </h4>


    The wrap he had used to brace his wrists and fists, made of his own shirt, burnt to ash the moment the Scorned Wraps touched them. He couldn''t even register the pain as the Cursed Treasure tightly wound itself around his fists, wrists, and a portion of his forearm.


    Ss was silent all the while. He had no idea what he had just gotten himself into, but he was smart enough to know that it was unavoidable at this point.


    ''What a weird way to use "adorned" and "graced", its as though it takes the usage of armor and weapon as the actions of the prim and proper, rather than that of a real warrior¡­''


    Ss looked down at his fists.


    Did he feel that way too? Absolutely not.


    His vision blurred, and he found himself on a forked road once again. However, this time, there was only one choice¡­


    The cobblestone path leading into what looked like an ancient ruin or city of sorts.


    Ss wasn''t sure about the situation ahead, so he tested a few things on this outer road. When he was satisfied, and feeling as good as he probably could in such a short time, he picked up his things and the various python carcasses before moving forward.


    Luckily, with his current strength, although there was a clear burden, it wasn''t as exceptional as it had been in the past. As he moved, his thoughts spun, these changes feeling quite heavy.


    ''These stats are all rtive, so does that mean that 50 would always be the limit regardless of race? If that''s the case, then the first iteration of this dungeon was meant to be entered by someone who had reached the limit¡­


    ''In that case, this second hidden portion of the dungeon is supposed to be passed by someone with double those stats, far beyond those limits¡­ as a Level 0?''


    Madness indeed.


    However, Ss felt a level of confidence he hadn''t felt when he first entered the dungeon, and that was for no other reason than his Comprehension. He had a feeling that it would be of great help here as well.


    What Ss didn''t expect was that he wouldn''t run into a swarm of enemies, or even some dangerous situation of sorts.


    As the cobblestone road to his back faded, a ruin that reminded him of the Stonehenge appeared before him. The main difference was that these tall stones were more irregrly shaped, curving and looping into one another as though dancing.


    Ss didn''t know why he got that feeling, because they were obviously static objects. But it was as though something was pulling at him.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss frowned, clearing his mind. This felt like a weaker version of what the barriers had tried to pull him into, much weaker.


    When he looked around, he found there was no entrance, no exit. The area was barely 30 or so meters from edge to edge and he could see every inch of it clearly.


    But there were no obvious enemies or targets.


    ''What''s the point of this?''


    He would have already felt hints of panic if he didn''t understand that there had to be a way out. There was a small, existential part of him that worried that the glitch from earlier might have applied to the whole dungeon, effectively trapping him in here forever. But he still felt that that shouldn''t be the case.


    He put the corpses he was lugging around down and began to walk around more earnestly.


    ''Why would I need 100 Physical for this? What''s going on?''


    He began to observe the curving stones more closely and found that there were grain-like patterns within them, so faded that in the somewhat somber lighting, it was hard to pick up until he looked closely.


    Once again, they reminded him of those snakes¡­ some roaring, some mating, some in battle.


    He touched it and felt a spark jolt through his body, but it ultimately didn''t feel like much. It was like he had rubbed his feet one too many times on some carpet and then touched a doorknob, but it wasn''t anything more substantial than that.


    ¡ª-


    [Floor One of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>Little Madness (Skill)]


    ¡ª-


    Ss'' brows shot up.


    Floor cleared? How? He hadn''t done anything. And also, wasn''t the rmended Physical 100? Shouldn''t the rewards be even better, then? Why was he getting the same reward he had already gotten the first time around?


    ''Is it the same? The shade of the color is a little bit darker¡­''


    Ss kept feeling that there was a lot the system was holding back on him.


    Titles didn''t receive grades for some reason, some of them were even dormant without any clear reason. And yet, there was very clearly a pecking order.


    When he got a new Gene, it just took its ce at the end. But he had gotten A Patient Stalker first, and it was third amongst his titles, while Skill Savant was something he had awakened after A Flexible Will, but it was second.


    It seemed that there was a hidden hierarchy he could only vaguely get a peek at through the rtive order between his Titles.


    But was A Flexible Will really the strongest? It only gave him a t +10 to his Will and a 10% boost. Was that really better than a pure +100% to his Intelligence like Skill Savant gave him? Thetter seemed far better¡­


    This was just one of the many issues Ss had with the system. It ran more like a poorly coded program than something the lives of real people were riding on.


    But he was even more frustrated with it now than he had been before because the confusing circumstances just seemed to be piling up.


    ¡ª-


    [Little Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone. Exchange your Sanity for a Power boost]


    ¡ª-


    Once again, the same description. The only change was that sanity and power were capitalized for an inexplicable reason.

 Chapter 37 It Didn’t.

    <h4>Chapter 37 It Didn''t. </h4>


    Ss shook his head.


    It was good that he had passed the First Floor so easily. What wasn''t so good was that he didn''t like not understanding why. It was possible that whatever he used to easily pass this round coulde back to bite him heavily in the next rounds.


    But it didn''t.


    ---


    [Floor Two of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>Middle Madness (Skill)]


    ---


    Ss stood in the middle of Floor Two, stumped once again.


    The tingling sensation on this floor was a little stronger, but he shrugged it off just as easily. The floor itself was practically identical. The only difference was that the faded images on the stones were far clearer and he could see them even from a distance now.


    ''Comprehension¡­ that''s the only exnation.''


    Maybe there was a path toprehending Madness in this dungeon, but because he had done so unconventionally, he took something that should have been a challenge and shrugged it off.


    Thinking about it now, what if he had chosen this path first? Maybe he would have stillprehended Madness, but then, when he got to the end, wouldn''t that mean he would have to face a 100 Physical Big Madness when he went through the dungeon a second time?


    Ss didn''t know if he was lucky or unlucky.


    On the one hand, he didn''t have to face off against truly monstrous creatures.


    But on the other hand, how many more Genes would have been avable if he managed to defeat a Little, Middle, and Big Madness that were twice as powerful?


    He managed to shake himself free of those angsty thoughts, though.


    Setting aside whether his Madness alone would have been enough to deal with them after even the weaker Big Madness managed to keep its wits under his influence, none of that would change his stat cap.


    Ss stepped onto the third floor.


    This time, there was a substantial change.


    The drawings felt alive and looked as though they had been painted into existence by arge amount of blood.


    The more Ss stared at them, the more real they felt until they suddenly began to move.


    It was so much clearer than the barriers. They didn''t fade in and out depending on his touch, but were really there, living and breathing.


    He no longer saw it as a series of separate actions, but rather a cohesive whole, and it seemed to embody passion in three different forms.


    Passion you were willing to put your life on the line for.


    Passion of love and affection.


    Passion of raw emotion, not necessarily love, but happiness, anger, even¡­ arrogance.


    ---


    [Floor Three of Slithering Madness Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>Big Madness (Skill)]


    [>Madness Key (2/2) (Treasure)]


    [>Common Gene Crystal (Treasure)]


    [>[VOID] (Title)]


    [>[VOID] (Skill)]


    ---


    The list was mostly confusing. He wasn''t sure what three of the five items were, and by the chosen words [VOID], it seemed the system didn''t really understand either.


    But quite quickly, both [VOID] rewards took effect on their own.


    ---


    [Title [VOID] has taken effect]


    [Big Madness yer, Middle Madness yer, and Little Madness yer have been fused]


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Madness Conqueror]


    [The Madness does not sway you, instead it fuels you. You have conquered the Madness]


    [+50 Will]


    [+100 Charisma]


    [+10% sess in absorbing all Genes]


    ---


    Ss'' brows raised. Until now, whenever he got a boost to Gene assimtion by any one of his Titles, they always specified Fragmented Genes. But this clearly did the exact opposite of that.


    He braced himself to hear the familiar chime of his stats having reached their cap, but instead, his world actually went white.


    When Ss'' vision cleared, he found himself gasping for breath on the ground. Something wet was on the side of his face, and when he reached for it, he was shocked to find that it was a striking shade of red.


    ''I''m bleeding from my ears?''


    It couldn''t be a coincidence. Will and Charisma seemed to have both to do with his mind, and now he was bleeding from his ears? Had he ruptured something? Were his eyes bleeding too? How was his brain actually doing?


    It wasn''t until several secondster that Ss realized he was thinking just fine and there wasn''t the expected fogginess in his mind. Instead, he felt unprecedented rity.


    ---


    [Skill [VOID] has taken effect]


    [<Big Madness>, <Middle Madness>, and <Little Madness> have been fused]


    ---


    [Madness Control (Skill)]


    [Your body is your temple, and it listens to nomands other than your own]


    [+ Dexterity]


    ---


    That was it. There was no number, no percentage, it just said + Dexterity as though that was supposed to mean something to Ss.


    Subconsciously, Ss tried activating the Skill, half expecting it to rocket up to Legendary Mastery just like the others had. But instead, everything seemed to slow down around him.


    When he looked down at his hands, he could seem to see afterimages being left in the air as though he was watching still frames of himself rather than true fluid movement.


    And then it stopped.


    He felt an emptiness in the pit of his stomach and at some unknown point in time, he had already gotten up from the ground and walked around the entire region before returning to his original spot.


    ''I ran out of Aether¡­''


    The weird part was that Ss could usually guesstimate how much time had passed while he was out of it, but this time there was nothing. His sense of time had been too distorted just now, and it felt like hours had passed at least, but he knew that was impossible.


    He wasn''t foolish enough to think that this Skill gave him control over time. Rather, it gave him such a high level of control over his body that it made whatever his Dexterity stat was meaningless¡­


    Maybe that was why there was no number attached to it. This Skill could raise his Dexterity to whatever it needed to be for him to unearth his full potential and then some.

 Chapter 38 Gene Crystal

    <h4>Chapter 38 Gene Crystal </h4>


    ==[Bonus Chapter for 50 Golden Tickets]==


    This must be what his grandfather meant by "not all Skills were created equal." He had just lost three Legendary Mastery Skills, and he didn''t even know if he should miss them at all. That didn''t even mention the fact <Madness Control> wasn''t even at Common Mastery yet.


    Ss turned his attention to the final two rewards.


    ---


    [Common Gene Crystal (F) (Treasure)]


    [One''s Gic Code is a universe within the universe. Endless and vast, the number of meandering paths it can take are uncountable. Use this Common Gene Crystal and begin to forge your own path]


    [Capacity: 50]


    ---


    ''Capacity of 50? Forge your own path?''


    Suddenly, the answer hit Ss like a bolt of lightning, and he understood.


    Until now, no matter what kind of beast he killed, he always received Genes of the same kind: one of the four basic Physical stats.


    Could it be that this Gene Crystal allowed him to take those Genes andbine them into something like the Grimde Lineage? And since it had the prefix of "Common", the capacity should refer to 50 Common Genes, then?


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He felt that his guesses were pretty close to the mark, but what of it? What could he do with this information? Did he just have to randomly pour Genes in and hope it popped out something good?


    And could he use it more than once?


    The description didn''t seem to say anything about a limit to how many times he could use it. So did that mean he could experiment?


    He needed more information, but there was just far too little. He could only turn toward the final item, hoping that it would give him something to bet on.


    With slow movements, he brought the two halves of the Madness Key together, but he couldn''t even take action before they snapped forward, forming a loop of twine around their handles and wrapping around his neck.


    ---


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <1 Fragmented> Gene]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <1 Common> Gene a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <7 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    ---


    Ss'' mind was entirely upied by a single line.


    Can answer one question in exchange for <1 Fragmented> Gene.


    He didn''t care about the cost, he didn''t care about the Glutton Curse, he didn''t even care about the so-called "Madness Disciples" or how this item somehow had a hidden space within it.


    When he saw this one line, he actually gripped his fists in excitement, showing more emotion than he was used to. It seemed that the Madness had its positive effects as well.


    But the moment the excitement faded, the flood of questions came.


    How much did it know? How broad could he make the question? How specific were the answers? What was the best way to test this without wasting a flood of Genes?


    The more he thought, the more niche the questions became.


    Did the Genes have toe from him directly? Or could he use the Key to absorb Genes instead? And if he used the Madness Key to absorb Genes directly from a corpse, what Gene State would it have? Could it absorb all the Genes? Or would it be weaker than his Soft Gene State in this regard?


    Should he test it with questions he knew the answer to first? And if all questions were worth the same regardless of what they were, should he try to frontload as many of them as he could now, even if it was at a short-term detriment to his overall stats?


    If in seven days'' time the cost of a question rose to two Fragmented Genes, wouldn''t he regret not doing so? Or worst yet, what if it immediately jumped to a Common Gene? There was no telling how badly the Hunger would kick it up.


    He had so many burning questions and ideas on how to best optimize this Madness Key that he felt his mind might explode.


    Eventually, he calmed himself down. Without a calm mind, he would only end up harming himself.


    This matter also helped to put a great deal into perspective. He was nearing his third day in this world, and yet it was already messing with his mind so much. He should have been able to take this in stride, but he felt real excitement at seeing this treasure.


    It wasn''t just that, either. The feeling of satisfaction he had watching his stats grow was somewhat addicting as well. It was like this world wanted you to get addicted to improvement¡­ to evolving.


    Ss picked up the Key that hung around his neck. As expected, some mysterious and invisible force stopped him from taking it off. He looked around, probing for the so-called space within, but he didn''t find anything until he thought of using his intention to open it like he did when he interacted with the system.


    Once he did, a world was opened up to him. Well, calling it a world was a bit much, but it was actually quite roomy. It was a two-by-two-by-two-meter nd grey space.


    ''Fascinating¡­''


    This was the only word Ss could use to describe it.


    He tried putting the Common Gene Crystal in and it vanished.


    He pulled it out, then put it back in again, getting used to the sensation.


    This space would definitely make things more convenient, but it seemed that he wouldn''t likely be able to use it in the middle of battle. Doing so required focusing his Will on it and then using his Charisma to force the change he wanted, and much like the system notifications, it would envelop his line of sight.


    The difference was that the notifications didn''t obstruct a lot of the rest of the world, while focusing on this inner space reced everything in his eyesight.

 Chapter 39 Become Strong

    <h4>Chapter 39 Be Strong </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (1/10)]


    Ss put the Crystal, the three potions he had gathered, and a few pieces of beast meat within. He didn''t want to waste so much space on Big Madness, so he didn''t even try to take it in.


    ''How am I supposed to dissect corpses now that I can''t equip weapons?'' Ss shook his head, looking at the Scorned Wraps.


    An idea came to his mind.


    ''No, it said I can''t use them in my hands, but it didn''t say anything about my Charisma¡­''


    He threw that idea to the back of his mind. Even if he had this thought, he had lost anything he could call a "weapon" in this dungeon.


    Ss thought about leaving now, but then he shook his head.


    This dungeon never seemed to rush him. It hadn''t hurried him forward through the Floors and he could always decide when it was that he wanted to move on.


    In that case, this might be the safest area he would have for a while. He should at least try to get a baseline understanding of how the Madness Key worked.


    ¡ª-


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Madness Conqueror; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker]


    ¡ª-


    [Physical: 42]


    >[Strength: 50]


    >[Constitution: 49]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 47]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 122]


    [Will: 94]


    [Luck: 1]


    ¡ª-


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Madness Control (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ¡ª-


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (9) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (2) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F)]


    ¡ª-


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ¡ª-


    Looking at his stat screen, Ss decided that the best Gene to use would probably be Strength. He had a buffer of four Fragmented Strength Genes that were lying dormant right now due to having reached his Gic Limit.


    He wanted to test the waters, but he also didn''t want to waste his Genes either.


    A dungeon was ultimately a controlled environment. There was no telling how much harder it would be to gather these Genes on the outside, so he had to be frugal.


    ''Let''s pick a question that''s been bugging me. It should be difficult enough, not too broad, but not too narrow either. Let''s see¡­ how does this work?''


    Ss touched the key, and once again used his intention. He focused on his Fragmented Strength Gene before he asked his question. As for the Common Gene that he needed to give up every day to keep it happy, the treasure hadn''t said anything about it, so he assumed he had a buffer period.


    "Why does the system feel iplete?"


    Ss was quite used to using search engines, as he had spent most of his life in academia. This question was, objectively, a horrible one to type in.


    His word choice wasn''t too specific, and it was mostly driven by his intention. In addition, the word "feel" was too broad as well. However, when given the context of this world, it should be something that an intelligent listener should be able to grasp.


    He felt a pulse from the Madness Key and a flickering image appeared before his eyes.


    ¡ª-


    [Why does the system feel iplete?]


    [The system is an intelligence forged by the universe, an evolutionary convergence to aid Ascending worlds. However, the information the universe can decipher, versus what lesser creatures can decipher, is separated by a vast chasm. Most Summoned worlds receive a rudimentary version of the system, stripped down of itsplexities, simplified in its numbers, and made easily digestible for the masses]


    ¡ª-


    Ss finally felt a hint of relief. He wasn''t crazy after all.


    When he thought about it, what kind of system would the dinosaurs have been given? Would they even be able to understand one asplicated as what Ss was using? Maybe theirs was dumbed down even further into a series of images or emotions or instinctual understandings.


    The answer of the Madness Key also seemed to imply that there was a better version of the system, or maybe even several forms of upgrades, but he restrained himself from asking about it.


    This satisfied one need, but he had other, more pressing needs. It was unlikely that he would be able to upgrade the system anytime soon, anyway.


    Turning his attention toward the Common Gene Crystal, he asked a question that was far more important to his immediate sess.


    ¡ª-


    [How do you use the Common Gene Crystal?]


    [Common Gene Crystals are Gene fusion devices capable of inputting Common Physical and Mental Genes, and outputting a Unique Gene. Depending on the Capacity, one can make more or lessplex Unique Genes, with the weakest oue being a Unique Fragmented Gene, and the strongest being a Unique Bronze Gene.


    [In order to begin, one needs to start with a foundation. This can be a Skill, a Comprehension, a Title, a Treasure, or a freshly in beast. With this foundation, the Gene Crystal will enter a state of dormancy. Upon awaking, it will provide an Evolution Tree and Gene requirements to meet the target goal depending on the path taken. These Gene requirements will list the number andbination of Genes necessary to sessfully fuse the Unique Gene.


    [A Gene Crystal can be used more than once, but its durability is variable. The closer to its Gene Capacity you go, the more durability it will lose per use.


    [Chance of seeding in absorbing a Gene Crystal-created Unique Gene is also variable. Gene Crystal can be sacrificed for an improved sess rate dependent on capacity. At 10 capacity, there will be a 50% chance of sess. At 50 capacity, there will be a 90% chance]


    ¡ª-


    Ss'' eyes lit up. After two questions, he was starting to get a bit of a better understanding.


    It seemed that his question didn''t need to be too specific to get him a wide range of information. But what would happen if he purposely made it too broad?


    ¡ª-


    [How do Iplete the Summoned Ascension?]


    [Be strong]

 Chapter 40 019

    <h4>Chapter 40 019 </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (2/10)]


    It was just two words, and it felt like quite a waste of a Fragmented Gene. Ss had already fallen from nine Fragmented Strength Genes to just six, but the more he stared at the answer, the more he felt that it was appropriate.


    There really was nothing else to it. Even if he gathered up all the knowledge in the world, it wouldn''t change this answer.


    ---


    [Why is my A Flexible Will Title ranked above my Madness Conqueror Title?]


    [Titles are separated into two forms, Fixed Titles and Growth Titles.


    [Fixed Titles only function within one''s Grade. Upon promoting from F-Grade to E-Grade, all Fixed Titles will be rendered useless.


    [Growth Titles are not restricted by this limitation and there will be a Quest associated with an upgrade. This will be a ime Quest in most cases, though there are some Titles that will provide an opportunity to secure a weaker Title upon a first failure. There are likewise some rare Quests that might prove an opportunity to upgrade a Title in the future.


    [A Flexible Will is a Growth Title and Madness Conqueror is also a Growth Title. However, the evolution branches and potential of A Flexible Will are much higher. It has the potential to be a Legendary Title though it is currently only Common, while Madness Conqueror can only be Gold, though it is currently Silver]


    ---


    Ss'' brows raised, finally understanding. He should have asked about the Madness Disciples honestly, but this had been really bothering him for a long while.


    Even so, he still spent another Fragmented Gene, causing his Strength to fall from 50 to 49.


    ---


    [Who are the Madness Disciples?]


    [The Madness Covenant is a ¡ª]


    ---


    The notification glitched.


    ---


    [Question has touched upon a Taboo. Glutton Curse activated. Hunger has increased.]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. The timer of <7 days> fell to just <3 days>. He had lost four days because he dared to ask the wrong question? How many other pitfalls like this were there?


    ---


    [The Madness Covenant is a mysterious organization, one shrouded by mystery. Madness Disciples are a contingent of geniuses who have grasped the Madness, but this is only the beginning. For the right to im a seat at the Altar, they battle across the vastness of the universe,?hoping to one day join this order of madmen]


    ---


    ''The Madness Covenant¡­ Altar¡­''


    Was that information worth the price? Ss wasn''t sure. This was why he had been hesitant to use one of his opportunities on this question because he expected that something like this might happen just given the path things had taken normally.


    But there was no use in crying over spilt milk.


    ''It''s time to leave.''


    Ss double-checked everything. Then,pletely naked again aside from the Scorned Wraps and the Madness Key around his neck, he moved his thoughts toward exiting.


    From dryness, Ss was immediately assaulted by a sharp chill.


    His senses were on high alert, and Madness was already activated. He was taking no chances. He was already at a huge disadvantage beneath the water.


    As expected, the region around the dungeon werepletely consumed byrge concentrations of Aether andrge aquatic beasts.


    ---


    [Orinoco Crocodile (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 37]


    [Mental: 1]


    [Will: 6]


    ---


    [Amazon Piranha (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 24]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 2]


    ---


    Ss immediately found himself surrounded, but just as quickly, the scene went wild. He felt almost immediately that it might have been a mistake to activate his Madness like this. With the sheer number of creatures around him, even if their Wills were too low to target him in specific, it was only a matter of probability and time that one eventually would.


    Plus, he felt that, with his Madness influencing so many at once, it had diluted considerably.


    He sensed a notification, but he directly ignored it for the time being, gathering up his Will and Charisma to propel himself out of the water.


    His telekinesis wasn''t strong enough to lift something as heavy as his body, but it could certainly help him to swim faster.


    In his slight panic, Ss had forgotten something¡­


    His current stats simply couldn''t bepared to what they had been in the past. Even if the water was a debuff, he could still out-maneuver these creatures. Ss still felt that Dexterity weighed a little heavier in the water, but with his telekinesis¡­


    It simply didn''t matter.


    He shot out of the water so fast that he appeared almost a meter above the surface before he started falling back down. But by this point, he had already reached near the shore.


    His eyesnded on the sheer number of beasts in the surroundings and he made a break for it.


    ¡­


    Ss took a breath and exhaled, pressing his wet back against a tree.


    Seeing the scene around the dungeon, he knew he made the right decision to enter it when he did.


    Now that the dungeon had been cleared, though, the Aether would slowly disperse and this region should go back to normal with time.


    ''I received a notification earlier,'' Ss thought, suddenly remembering.


    He used his intention to check on it.


    ---


    [Quest Received]


    [Plight of Casstle Main (Bronze)]


    ---


    ''Two s''s?'' Ss raised an eyebrow, but didn''t put too much stock in it. There could be any number of reasons why it was like this.


    ---


    [Rudimentary Vige <Casstle Main> is recruiting temporary adventurers from the surroundings to wage war. As the first established city of the Seventh Summoned Ascension, its status is special and the opportunities are plentiful]


    ---


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Do not allow Casstle Main to fall]


    ---


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Repel Rudimentary Gnoll Vige 019]


    [>Kill five Gnolls]


    ---


    [Bronze Reward Requirements]


    [>Conquer Rudimentary Gnoll Vige 019 City Stele]

 Chapter 41 Titanoboa

    <h4>Chapter 41 Titanoboa </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (3/10)]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Madness Conqueror; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker]


    ¡ª-


    [Physical: 42]


    >[Strength: 49]


    >[Constitution: 49]


    >[Dexterity: 19]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 47]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 122]


    [Will: 94]


    [Luck: 1]


    ¡ª-


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Madness Control (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (F)]


    ¡ª-


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (2) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F)]


    ¡ª-


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]


    ¡ª-


    Ss moved through the dense forest with swift feet. Both his stamina and Speed were exceptional now, the only unfortunate part was that his Dexterity wascking. He thought about it and felt that topping up his Dexterity stat first would be smart.


    After epting the Quest, he had a ticking timer of about three days to make it there. There was a virtual sort ofpass that appeared at the side of his vision, showing him where he needed to go.


    With his current Speed, not to mention his confidence in facing the creatures he might face, he felt it would only take him a few hours to cover that distance.


    From the stats of the creatures in theke, Ss had a general understanding of how strong the challenges he might face would be. Simply put, they were weaker than him. As such, it was best to take advantage of them now and reach his Species Limits before considering anything else.


    While he was looking for Dexterity builds to target, though, he didn''t expect that he would run into an old enemy first.


    ¡ª-


    [Titanoboa (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 39]


    [Mental: 3]


    [Will: 11]


    ¡ª-


    Its stats were much higher than thest time Ss had seen it. It was hard to tell if it was the exact same creature, but even in the past, titanoboas sorge should have been rare. He didn''t know much about the spawn rates in this world, but his gut feeling was likely to be correct.


    The titanoboa was a much browner color than it had been when Ssst saw it. It blended in so well with the bark that Ss had almost missed it.


    However, at the moment he was about to rush by, he had felt like a hand was almost trying to feel around in his mind. He had frowned and looked around before his eyesnded on the beast.


    ''Did it just try to look at my stats?''


    This was a plus-one for Ss'' theory about the system. Clearly, there was a version of it that all creatures could understand, even if their sentience was limited.


    Ss remembered that the first time he used the system to check an animal''s stats, it had mentioned something about his Mental overwhelming them, allowing the scan to seed. Was this what people would feel when it failed?


    All of Ss'' earlier confidence was forcefully flushed out of him. If he ran past that tree carelessly and the titanoboa timed its fall, he would be entangled in something he might not be able to get out of.


    Although the Physical of the extinct snake was only 39, there was no doubt that it was heavily skewed toward Strength and Constitution.


    The titanoboa hissed, retreating back into the tree.


    Ss'' Will stirred, and he used his Charisma to reach out into the world. With a strong tug, he pulled down on the branches the titanoboa was using to hold itself up.


    It didn''t need much help. The branches were under a lot of strain due to the snake''s weight, and pulling them down was only helped by the monstrous creature.


    However, the branches of these trees, just given the fact they could uphold the snake in the first ce, were extraordinary.


    Ss didn''t want to break them, though. He just wanted to take advantage of the snake''s movement to throw it off bnce.


    The titanoboa managed to keep much of its bnce, but its long tail fell downward.


    Its muscles reacted quickly, and it began to pull itself back up, but not before Ss rushed by, taking hold of the end of its tail and pulling down with all his strength.


    The titanoboa was already in a state of trying to regain its steadiness, and this action of Ss pushed it over the edge, sending it rocketing toward the ground.


    A dull boom echoed as Ss leapt out of the way, his green irises shing with a focused light.


    The titanoboa snapped its head at Ss. In that moment, Ss could almost feel the rage in its eyes.


    He sidestepped it. The creature was too slow.


    His fist hooked around its head, sending it rebounding against the trees'' trunk.


    The titanoboa attempted a retreat. One of its eyes was already half closed after hitting against the tough bark. Plus, the fall from so high above hadn''te without its own share of damage. It was disoriented, and its flight responses were on high alert.


    Unfortunately, its body was too big.


    Ss slipped out of the way of its swinging tail, not bothered by the thunderous bang that echoed behind him as it hit a tree instead.


    His fist found its way to the head of the titanoboa once again.


    He glided around, grasping the movements of the creature before it even seemed to know what it wanted to do. He could feel that his Will was feeling the world around him in a way that his eyes couldn''t. It was sudden before, but now that the stat was so close to triple digits, it was starting to be far more substantial.


    BANG.


    He drove another fist into the snake''s head. He could almost feel its tiny brain rattling within. The sensation of his knuckles colliding with it seemed to extend in his mind, that brief instant of contact feeling more like several drawn-out seconds. It allowed him to check his form, feeling the distribution of his weight, and even feel how he could bring out more power.

 Chapter 42 Cap

    <h4>Chapter 42 Cap </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (4/10)]


    It was hard to tell if it was an illusion or not. He wasn''t some master of the fist and he hadn''t spent a lot of time studying it. Aside from some good cardio, he had never seen boxing as anything more than that.


    But¡­ he did like to watch boxing and mixed martial art events. Those men and women were the ultimate exhibition of discipline. It felt like those memories were bubbling up, and under his strong Will, he was beginning to influence his body to follow those movements more fluidly, more perfectly.


    It wasn''t just that, but he felt that it was also a lingering effect of <Madness Control>. That feeling of being in perfect control of his body lingered in his thoughts¡­


    What if he could be like that all the time?


    BANG. BANG. BANG.


    A rapid-fire series ofbos came from Ss and it felt like he was briefly flying on a cloud.


    He wanted to feel that feeling again, but the titanoboa''s head copsed, noting back up.


    Ss exhaled a breath, his heart beating rapidly.


    He had gotten really into it just now. He was already good at focusing before, but now it felt like he had taken steroids for his mind. He hadn''t even ended up using de Aura or any other amplifiers.


    Suddenly, an ache came from his knuckles. After that high vanished, he winced, feeling as though he might have gone overboard.


    These Scorned Wraps only provided a +10% boost to Constitution, and only in his hands as well. The titanoboa''s Constitution was obviously high as well, so it was like rocks bashing against rocks. Considering the noises they had been making, that might as well have been the case.


    He reached down and touched the corpse.


    ---


    [Titanoboa (F)]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: (9) Strength (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss looked at this screen curiously. The snake''s stats wereparable to Middle Madness, but the output of genes was much weaker. It seemed that creatures in Dungeons probably provided a better return.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Fragmented Gene: (4) Strength (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Fragmented Gene: (5) Strength (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talent Detected]


    [Trade 10 Fragmented Strength (F) to unlock: Tail Whip?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss frowned. He did remember the whipping tail of the snake was quite powerful, but he didn''t have a tail. If he epted this, would it grow a tail for him?


    Then he remembered. Didn''t he have a treasure he could ask now? He didn''t have ten Strength Gene fragments right now anyway, he only had eight total after this victory.


    ''Oh¡­ so that''s how it works¡­''


    After giving up another Fragmented Strength Gene, Ss understood. The Genes wouldn''t change his appearance, but how well he could use it would depend on the phenotypes he did have.


    A phenotype was a person''s observable traits, and in this case, it referred to Ss'' clearck of a tail.


    Ss looked down at his leg. ''So I could, theoretically, use it with my leg? That''s not a bad idea¡­ if I can find something to protect my shins¡­''


    The Scorned Wraps stopped him from using weapons with his hands and he couldn''t wear armor. Thetter would make it difficult for him to find something to protect his legs, but it wouldn''t be impossible. Who knew, in a world like this, maybe there were kicking experts out there that had their own special weapons to attach to their legs?


    ''It hurts to continuously use my fists, but¡­ if I don''t get used to it, that could be a problem on its own. I can''t increase my Constitution more than a single point now. I''m already at 49. If this still isn''t enough to protect me¡­''


    Ss'' mind ran through options as he tried to think of solutions. Even if he got Tail Whip, it would only make his problems worse. His shins and feet couldn''t take that kind of punishment.


    There were methods of strengthening, but it took years of practice, years he didn''t have.


    ''I need some sort of shield Gene Talent or Skill¡­ I also need to find a way to increase my Intelligence. Right now, it''s the greatest limiter to my strength. Because of it, I can only use de Aura and Madness Control for a small moment.''


    He set aside the matter of Tail Whip for now and began his hunt for Dexterity builds in earnest.


    ¡­


    As Ss moved about, he wasn''t stingy with the questions he asked the Madness Key. By halfway through the second day, all of his Physical stats had reached their cap of 50. The distribution of his Genes was as follows.


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (7) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (3) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F)]


    ---


    He had managed to do all of this even with having to give up a Common Gene to the Madness Key. At least for now, he was able tofortably feed it and ask all the questions he wanted.


    What was unfortunate was that he still hadn''t found any methods of increasing his Intelligence. All the creatures he came across could only give Physical Genes.


    But this was a natural pitfall. These creatures didn''t particrly have high Mental stats, and they weren''t known for their raw intelligence on Earth either, so not finding Genes for Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma from them only seemed natural.


    Maybe he would have to kill humanoid creatures for that¡­


    Ss exhaled a breath. He didn''t blink at killing animals, but there was something a bit sour about this.


    However, he was more pragmatic than he was moral. Those gnolls might provide him with exactly what he was looking for.


    It was just unfortunate he would have to go looking like this.

 Chapter 43 Casstle Main

    <h4>Chapter 43 Casstle Main </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (5/10)]


    Ss looked down at himself. He was still shirtless, and he wasn''t going to find anything to rece it anytime soon. His bottoms were practically barely more than rags at this point, and he was just happy that his dignity at least was well hidden. Other than the key around his neck and the wraps around his hands and wrists, he had nothing else.


    ''It''ll have to do. Maybe that Rudimentary Vige will have someone who can give me real clothes.''


    He stood to his feet from the stone he was sitting on, tossing a clean bone to the side. He didn''t bother collecting the remaining body parts. He had found out the hard way that even forging weapons with his hands would be seen as a slight by the Scorned Wraps. So he could only pick up things that were already weapon-like enough and store them to use as a projectile with his Charisma, or leave them be.


    After a breath, Ss rushed in the direction of Casstle Main.


    It wasn''t long before it entered his sights. A wend that was only a few inches of rain away from bing a swamp appeared outside a clearing of trees. The grass was tall, at least half a foot, and every step felt like he might sink into a muddy quicksand adjacent.


    Casstle Main was up ahead and it lived up to the namesake quite well¡­ not the castle part, but the Rudimentary Vige part.


    The walls were just posts of wood that were the kind an old, shabby suburban home would have as a fence. The actual vige was just four buildings. Well, it was more like one shack and three kind-of-shacks-kind-of-tents. The mixture of wood and cloth wasn''t bad, though. The rest of it, though, were actual tents made of thin beast cloths.


    Ss couldn''t exactly look down on the appearance. After all, look at him.


    But what Ss saw next left him feeling much less¡­ reassured.


    There were two groups of people ahead.


    One group came from where Ss assumed was the vige. He remembered that a City Stele came with militia, and judging by the uniform of the men¡ªif you could call it that¡ªthey were all of one unit.


    There were five of them, and they seemed to be standing at the ready, not-so-subtly protecting two women.


    Across from them were three people. Two men and a woman. They stood somewhat together, but from just a casual observation Ss could tell that they had likely epted a Quest just like he had. That was because they weren''t a unified front like the first group at all.


    The trouble wasn''t this. The atmosphere still looked somewhat harmonious and there weren''t any fights that were about to breakout.


    The issue was what they were wearing.


    ''How?'' Was the only thought Ss could have.


    They weren''t exactly dressed like noblemen and women, but they were dressed much less shabbily than himself, and they even had weapons to boot.


    ---


    [Lauren Mitchell]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 31]


    [Mental: 17]


    [Will: 13]


    ---


    [Alex Reynolds]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 37]


    [Mental: 13]


    [Will: 9]


    ---


    [Morgan Hayes]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 47]


    [Mental: 29]


    [Will: 31]


    ---


    Ss blinked, feeling a bit shocked. He hadn''t even run into an option to progress his level, but these people already had?


    What was more interesting than that was the fact their Mentals were so high. He had 122 Charisma, yet that man, Morgan Hayes, only had 18 less Mental than him. Ss was immediately curious about what his stat distribution was.


    He turned his attention to the militiamen.


    ---


    [Marcus Tanner]


    [Level: 2]


    [Physical: 42]


    [Mental: 22]


    [Will: 12]


    ---


    ''A level 2?''


    He checked the other militiamen and they basically all had the same exact stats and the like.


    Ss had been so distracted by everything else that he had forgotten to ask the Madness Key about how to level up. He didn''t want to for now, but it was probably best that he knew what to avoid, so he didn''t identally ruin his own ns.


    ---


    [How do you level up?]


    [Creatures that have ascended beyond Level 0 will have a Gene Core within them. This Gene Core can be used to absorb their Genes and convert it into a higher form of Aether known as Pure Aether. Absorbing Pure Aether can elevate the state of your body and increase your strength. This is known as Cultivation by many]


    ---


    ''So they found a stronger beast. But how did they defeat a beast that powerful if the level zeroes I''vee across are already so strong?''


    The only exnation Ss could think of was that they had experiences simr to his own. The difference was that their Dungeons gave them actual equipment while his gave him rags.


    However, Ss wasn''tpletely disappointed. Just by their stats, he hade out ahead. If they scanned him, they should see:


    ---


    [Ss Grimde]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 50]


    [Mental: 47]


    [Will: 94]


    ---


    Even the strongest of them, Morgan Hayes, didn''t haveparable stats.


    Ss turned his attention to the two women the militiamen were protecting.


    ---


    [Olivia Thompson]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 32]


    [Mental: 21]


    [Will: 27]


    ---


    Ss nodded and moved on to the other woman when what felt like a white light blinded him for a moment.


    ''She...?'' Ss'' brows rose.


    Suddenly sensing something, the woman in the distance looked toward Ss and he almost immediately felt something press against his mind as well.


    But just as quickly, the woman frowned, closing her eyes as her nose scrunched up. Clearly, she had just felt something simr. But it surprised her a lot more than it surprised Ss.


    By then, everyone seemed to have noticed Ss running in from the distance.


    Several probing touches pushed at Ss'' mind, causing him to frown. It wasn''t because he felt that they were rude, considering he had done the same thing just now. It was just that he didn''t like the feeling. It was like fingers were poking right at his brain.


    But all of them reacted much the same as the woman had. Much more violently, in fact.

 Chapter 44 Hale

    <h4>Chapter 44 Hale </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (6/10)]


    Alex Reynolds, who had the weakest Mental of them all, even physically took a step back, tears falling from his eyes as though he had just been cutting onions.


    This reaction alone was enough for them to ignore what Ss was wearing¡­ if that could be considered clothing at all.


    The woman regained her bearings as Ss did, and the two looked at one another, a hint of something else in their eyes.


    Ss blinked with some surprise.


    He hadn''t been able to tell earlier due to the distance and the fact he could only see the woman''s side profile, but¡­


    The long ck hair, those blue eyes so pale they could be grey, that delicate brown skin that was a shade or two darker than even his own¡­ it looked like this Trial Summoned Ascension had taken its toll on her, but her eyes were still quite fierce, much like he remembered them.


    His mind filled in what the system had missed on its own.


    [Cassarae Hale].


    It suddenly made sense why this ce was called Casstle Main. It was just like her to pick such a silly name for something so serious.


    Cassarae blinked for a moment and then shook her head, looking back toward the adventurers.


    "I guess it''s four now," she continued her words from earlier. "I''ll get the formalities out of the way and I''ll say thank you foring to the aid of Casstle Main. However, I want to draw a clear line first.


    "You are, indeed, helping my Rudimentary Vige. BUT. You are being rewarded for it by the system. The more you help, the more you will receive.


    "My vige is not a charity case and I have full authority to revoke any epted Quests. If I feel that you are undermining my authority, or that you think you''re doing me a favor, I will not hesitate to do so.


    "I hope I''ve made myself clear."


    Cassarae swept her gaze over everyone. She didn''t single anyone out, not even Ss himself.


    Ss didn''t mind, nor did he try to press her for attention. Right now, she was a leader, and this was a matter of life and death, not a reunion. Those gnolls would really be out for blood.


    The two of them hadn''t been close for almost a decade. That was practically a lifetime. She had done a lot of growing without the name Ss Brown creeping into her mind for who knew how long?


    The fact she was acting like this actually made him feel more reassured. She would be more likely to survive in the long haul.


    Of course, there was the possibility that he was overthinking things. The odds she had recognized him might be lower than he knew.


    His own memory was quite good, and he was good at associations, but it had been almost a decade.


    If it was in a usual setting, the odds that she''d recognize him would probably be just as high. But right now, when he was covered in mud and grime, maybe she didn''t.


    That was fine too, in his opinion.


    "I''ll give you a brief overview. The Gnoll Vige is about twelve kilometers in that direction. We discovered them first, but there''s a good chance that they will stumble into us, eventually.


    "I want to take pre-emptive action, setting up traps around their territory and killing them off one by one until we can eventually conquer the city.


    "There are two problems with this n."


    Cassarae took a deep breath.


    "The first is their numbers. They had 20 warriors. They''re a pure militarized territory. They had no women and children and their entire poption is made up of warriors.


    "The second is their sense of smell. They once had 25 warriors. We killed five of them during earlier scuffles. However, due to an unfortunate slip up, we were unable to deal with one of the corpses properly before it was found.


    "We were forced to change our path back to the vige so that they couldn''t track us and managed to kill two of the five in that pursuit.


    "If we want to deal with that number of warriors, hit-and-run tactics are definitely the best. But we have to be sharp and precise, getting rid of evidence to stop them from tracking us.


    "Thest thing I have to tell you is that the Physical stats of the gnolls are around 40. If you are not prepared for this risk, please leave now.


    "We will set off for the first mission when the sun rises. They seem to be stronger at night, so it''s best we do our work in the day. I will provide food and amodations, please make yourselves at home.


    "I will also say just one more thing.


    "I don''t want to control you all like some sort of overlord, but you''re all smart people to make it this far. Revealing the location of my vige to you all is a risk. During the duration of this Quest, none of you may leave."


    After saying this, Cassarae gave everyone a final chance to leave before leaving the rest up to Marcus, the first militiaman that Ss scanned.


    They were led to arge tent outfitted with bunk beds enough to allow 16 people to rest herefortably.


    ''She must have been expecting more people, or she prepped for the future.''


    The four Quest-takers separated without much of a word, taking up four corners as though they all had their own tacit understanding of the situation.


    Well, all of them but one.


    Alex threw a sack he was holding to the side and slid back into the thin wooden cot with a sigh.


    "Ah, I really can''t do this," he suddenly said in a not-so-subtle voice. "I get the whole brooding and silent thing you guys got going on. Protect yourselves from potential mass murderers and all, but don''t you think we could do better if we actually, you know¡­ talked?"

 Chapter 45 Chat

    <h4>Chapter 45 Chat </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (7/10)]


    Alex put his hands behind his head, propping himself up just enough to send a look across the room. Ss and the others were looking at him, but neither of them actually responded.


    Alex chuckled.


    "Don''t look at me like that. Aren''t we all insane? A shing screen appears in front of us and we actually clicked yes to the madness. Then, instead of picking a nice cozy city, we picked weapons instead?


    "And look at that guy," Alex pointed at Ss, "he doesn''t even have a weapon. It''s either he lost it and somehow managed to survive until now without it, or he was actually even crazier than all of usbined and chose that Gene thingy."


    Alexughed to himself again, as though he was his own favoriteedian. If nothing else, the guy sure knew how to have fun.


    "I''m just saying, the odds of any one of us being a psychopath is pretty high."


    Ss raised an eyebrow. He found the guy quite funny. At least he had lightened up the mood a bit.


    He was right. If they were going to be fighting together, it was best they built some rapport.


    "My name is Ss," he responded. "You can call me that if you want."


    Alex sat up, somewhat surprised. "You actually speak! So you aren''t as crazy as I thought."


    "People with antisocial personality disorders, at least the ones you''re thinking of, are actually pretty good at blending into social situations," Morgan said with a chuckle of his own before looking at Ss. "No offense, of course."


    Ss waved a hand, indicating he didn''t mind.


    "I''m Morgan," the man continued. He was quite a bit bulkier and more substantial than Alex was, and his voice was deeper. He also seemed to be approaching his forties, while Alex was much more on the younger side.


    "You can call me Lauren," the only woman among them spoke in a soft tone. She had the air of the secretary of a CEO. She might have been able to be the CEO herself if she wasn''t so soft-spoken.


    She was on the younger side, along with Alex and Ss. It seemed that they were moremon in this trial because both Olivia and Cassarae were young as well. Who else but young people would be so reckless, anyway?


    It was interesting, though. Given the personality she exuded, Lauren didn''t seem like the type to make this decision. But honestly, neither was Ss.


    This had always been the illogical decision.


    "It''s nice to meet you all!" Alex said with a wide grin. He was almost a hair away from looking like an evil viin who had seeded in his master n. "I know I might be pushing my luck, but like I said, exchanging information now is probably the most valuable thing we can do for one another."


    Morgan sighed. "I get that you''re eager, but how about we feel each other out a bit more? We''ll be together for several days, at the least. There''ll always be time.


    "If you give information first, and someone else is unwilling to, it''ll only strain our future cooperation."


    Alex''s expression dimmed somewhat, but he eventually nodded in agreement. Soon, he was back to his chipper self.


    "In that case, let''s talk about something else to liven the atmosphere. Did you guys see those two bombshells? Especially the tall one. She was giving me dommy mommy vibes."


    Morgan covered his face with a palm, and Lauren surprisinglyughed.


    Alex grinned a bitsciviously. "You swing that way too, Lauren?"


    Put on the spot, Lauren flushed a bit but maintained herposure.


    "No, but I know a beautiful woman when I see one. I wouldn''t be so careless with how you speak, though. This is her vige, after all. Their militia is powerful."


    Alex brought a fist to his palm. "That''s something else I was wondering about. Those militiamen don''t quite seem like us, at least I don''t think she recruited them the normal way.


    "I was looking at the City Stele option before we all hopped in and it said you got five militiamen for a Common City Stele. Where do you think those peoplee from? Can the system just¡­ create people?"


    Alex whispered thest of those words as though he was scared others might hear him.


    Ss looked at Alex with a bit of contemtion in his eyes. This man was definitely smarter than he pretended to be, or at the very least, his candor and openness didn''t shroud it.


    "I was thinking about the same thing," Ss interjected. "If the system can bring back extinct creatures, there''s no reason for it to not be able to create humans from scratch too."


    Alex looked horrified when he realized Ss'' words were reasonable.


    Morgan sighed. "We''re too used to pretending we''re above all the other animals on Earth when really we''re just another one of them, especially to the people of this Summoned Ascension thing."


    "Especially?" Lauren asked.


    "Well, just think about it," Morgan continued. "All this Gene stuff, Fragmented, Common, Bronze¡­ up to Legendary. I won''t go into too many details, but they clearly don''t rank humans very highly on their lists."


    They fell into silence.


    Ss knew what Morgan meant by he wouldn''t go into details. Doing so would probably expose what secrets he did have. Ss himself entered with a Fragmented Gene, and he was already one of the better ones.


    Just look at how valuable the Bronze City Stele was to the Grimde family. They treated it like some holy treasure and were having their three candidates use this Trial as a ce to duke it out for its ownership.


    This went to show just how heavy the prefix "Bronze" weighed in this world, and yet there were so many ranks above it.


    Whoever had set up this Summoned Ascension probably didn''t treat humans much differently from the animals Ss had killed on his way here.

 Chapter 46 Gift (1)

    <h4>Chapter 46 Gift (1) </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (8/10)]


    Cassarae sat in her chair with a sigh, Oliviaing in not long after her.


    The insides were quite shabby, and she would have preferred to just stay in arge tent instead. But now there were too many things she had to bnce, including public perception.


    The militiamen weren''t the only things the City Stele had spawned. There were real people that actually depended on her now.


    This world just picked her up and plopped her down in the middle of nowhere, then expected her to forge a path ahead for herself.


    Honestly, she had leaned toward picking the Gene State booster as well. But she figured that she was a woman and had a weaker body, so it would be better if she went this route.


    She never expected that her Physical would have been bnced out with that of the men. If she had known that would happen, she would have never picked this route.


    Ss'' Strength had started off at just five, which meant he was around the 50- to 60th percentile in terms of strength. Just due to the existence of women alone, this should have been more unlikely than not.


    He didn''t exactly train for strength, he focused on cardio and the like. But as a tall man of his stature, his Strength shouldn''t have been so weak.


    If he had a conversation with Cassarae, though, he would understand why that was.


    Most women were at an innate disadvantage in this world, so the system took it upon itself to bnce that out, evenly distributing not just Strength, but all the Physical stats.


    "The fighting hasn''t even started yet and you''re already sighing," Olivia spoke with a smile.


    Between the two women, Cassarae was definitely the taller one. By at least a half head at that.


    Olivia was a bit fairer, but much like everyone on Earth, they both had a tanned richness to them.


    What was more interesting was their outerwear. Most of the vige''s funds went to outfitting them and the militiamen, so they wore good leather armor and they both had weapons sheathed at their waist.


    As the City Lord, though, Cassarae didn''t do much fighting. As for Olivia, she was much more active.


    It could be said that they were both very lucky to run into one another. Thesest three months had brought them much closer. Cassarae didn''t actually have any closer friends, just a bunch of quasi-friendships. But this situation had really pushed her and Olivia together.


    If Ss knew that it had been so long, though¡­ it was hard to say how he''d react.


    "It''s just continuous," Cassarae muttered. "We just dealt with the goblin vige, then this one popped up out of nowhere. And we''re still no closer to upgrading from Rudimentary Vige to a higher level."


    "Is that really all it is?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Aren''t you usually the positive one while I''m doom and gloom?"


    Cassarae muttered something under her breath before she sighed.


    "I dunno. Maybe I''m a bit annoyed. Just met someone I haven''t thought about in a long time."


    "Someone?" Olivia frowned. There wasn''t anyone to meet here unless¡­ "Oh, one of the Quest-takers? You knew one of them?"


    "Yeah, the shirtless one."


    "Ah, you always ruin my fun."


    Cassarae was speechless. "Didn''t you just say you''re the doom and gloom?"


    "Well yeah, why wouldn''t I be when there''s no dick around here?!"


    Cassarae burst into a fit ofughter, suddenly feeling a lot better.


    "There are plenty of men in the vige."


    Olivia found a stool and sat on it as defiantly as she could.


    "Yeah, but are they real¡­"


    Cassarae''s grey-blue eyes flickered with something. She could feel the weight of that question. It was something almost existential they were all going through right now.


    "Forget all of that. Is he marked territory?"


    "You can have him if you want him," Cassaraeughed, shaking her head.


    "Don''t give me that, I want details. No dick, no romance novels to binge, I''m going crazy here."


    "You''re really so interested in a man covered in all that dirt and grime? Get it together, Olivia."


    "Hoho," Olivia chortled, "that had a little extra spice to it. Didn''t end well?"


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "It ended just fine. We are cordial."


    "So no," Olivia nodded with assurance.


    "That''s not what I meant. You can''t even see his face all that clearly."


    "But you still recognized him immediately."


    "That''s not the point."


    "What is the point, then?" Olivia asked with a grin.


    "Nothing."


    "Well, I couldn''t see his face all that well, I can''t lie. But I saw his body."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes again. "Everyone''s a warrior now. There''ll be six-packs and broad shoulders abound. You need to up your standards now."


    "Yeah, but it won''t make them taller and it won''t fix what''s down there. Did you not see how loose his pants were? He was swinging that thing everywhere," Olivia spoke, her grin bing eviler. "Now tell me when to stop."


    Olivia held her hands out, facing her palms toward each other. Then she began to slowly bring them apart.


    "Olivia!" Cassarae grabbed her wrists before she could continue.


    "Cass!" Olivia called out with a heartyughter.


    "I only saw it once, alright? I don''t even remember it," Cassarae muttered, clearly not even believing her own words.


    "Only once? Only an idiot would believe that."


    Cassarae sighed. "Fine, fine."


    Olivia scooted forward on her stool, seemingly excited that she had finally wrung the details out of Cassarae.


    "We were 17. We never went that far."


    "Oh? A childhood friend? This is even more juicy than I thought."


    "Should have probably stayed that way," Cassarae shook her head. "We only dated for two months and¡­ he broke up with me."


    "What?!"


    Olivia stood to her feet as though she was horrified.


    She looked Cassarae up and down.


    "Bullshit." Olivia concluded.


    Cassarae smiled at that. "It''s the truth."


    "He didn''t even get a taste, and he left? I don''t even know what to say," Olivia snorted. "His loss. I''m sure there was a long line waiting to follow up."


    "That''s not the worst of it," Cassarae cringed a bit at the memory.

 Chapter 47 Gift (2)

    <h4>Chapter 47 Gift (2) </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (9/10)]


    "That''s not all?!"


    "I can tell you, but you have to promise not to let it affect your judgment. We were 17 back then and Syl''s¡­ Ss'' way of doing things is different from most people.


    "This isn''t high school drama, this is life and death, okay? Don''t bring it out of these four walls."


    Olivia''s eyes widened instead of answering.


    "¡­ That bad?" She eventually said, her tone softening.


    Cassarae smiled bitterly in response.


    "Cass, it''s okay. You don''t need to tell me. I wouldn''t have pressed so much if I knew that¡ª"


    "It''s fine, it was a long time ago. I''ve gotten over it."


    It didn''t look like she had, but Olivia didn''t expose her. At this point, she felt that the situation had changed from her really wanting to know, to Cassarae finally wanting to tell someone about it. So, she promised.


    "I promise¡­ Short of rape," she suddenly said fiercely after starting quite level-headed.


    Cassarae sputtered. "Girl, I just said we never went that far."


    Olivia pouted, unwilling to take her words back.


    Cassarae smiled before her eyes became somewhat distant.


    "He''s a little younger than me, his birthday is a month and a half after mine and right in the middle of summer.


    "I wanted to get him a birthday present, but he already has everything he needs and I didn''t really know what to do. Back then, one of my close friends, Melinda, made a joke about just giving him my body wrapped in a bow."


    Olivia''s brows raised, guessing some things.


    "I brushed it off as a joke, but as I thought more about it, I thought it was a good idea. We had only been dating for two months, but I had known him practically my whole life and I only really thought about losing it to him.


    "So when his parents were off at work, I came in early with my little get up." Cassarae tried to make it sound cute and lively, but her eyes were already watering.


    Olivia moved her stool to her side, wrapping an arm around Cassarae as she muffled her sobs.


    "When he saw me wrapped up like that," Cassaraeughed a little through her tears, "you should have seen his eyes. They got as big as saucers."


    Olivia smiled.


    "We got into it but¡­" Cassarae''s voice trailed off. "¡­ but he was really nervous and couldn''t really¡­ get going, you know?"


    Olivia rubbed Cassarae''s back, only responding with a nod and urging her to continue.


    "We ended up not doing anything that day but making out, and I could feel some distance from him. A few dayster, he asked me to talk and said that we probably weren''t meant for one another and that we should go back to being friends. He said some things about teen birth rates¡ª"


    "What?!" Olivia was aghast. She couldn''t help but interrupt.


    Cassarae didn''t seem to mind,ughing.


    "I know," she continued. "He talked to me like he was a parent lecturing a child. Said something about discipline and how we should try to practice abstinence, but how he understood that it was unfair of him to ask that of me if it was something I really wanted to do, so he let me ''free.''"


    Cassarae grit her teeth, her tears spilling forth as some of that familiar anger, anger she thought she had long gotten over, came spilling back out.


    "It was like the guy I loved was calling me a skank to my face. I really couldn''t take it Liv¡­ I really, really hated him back then¡­"


    Olivia''s expression softened, her palm still rubbing Cassarae''s back.


    "I knew he was like that, so calctive and analyzing about everything, but he couldn''t even analyze himself. He preferred to throw it on myp and make me deal with it.


    "So Ished out, and I said some really bad things to his face. I called him a weak, small man who couldn''t even get it up in front of a ''hot body like mine''¡­"


    Cassarae sobbed harder. It was hard to tell if it was because she regretted saying those words, or if it was because she was remembering the turmoil that brought her to that point.


    "¡­ He just stood there and took it, Liv. He even tried tofort me like he was doing me a service. I told him to fuck off, then the next week I pretended to get with some guy he said he hated. I can''t even remember that bastard''s name. But he ended up spreading all sorts of rumors about me when I didn''t even hold his hand, I just let him take me out on a date and let some people see it, hoping that Ss would regret it and try to get me back."


    "And he didn''t?" Olivia asked softly.


    "No¡­ he beat the crap out of that guy and got the first strike on his resume. They even suspended him. It was one of those draconian private schools, so they were monitoring our actions even during summer vacation. He sent me a text messageter about how he was always avable to talk if I wanted because we were ''friends.''"


    Cassarae broke down again. She let her forehead fall to her shabby little desk, her shoulders wildly convulsing.


    She had truly never told anyone this story. She even unfairly med Melinda for what happened back then, and sheshed out at everyone. She hadn''t had any friends to tell.


    Olivia''s arm wrapped all the way around her as she vented emotions she didn''t even know still existed.


    "¡­ Monthster, I apologized to him for what I said and that was thest time I spoke to him. It''s been almost ten years since then¡­"


    "I''m sorry, Cass."


    Cassarae sniffled, trying to regain some of herposure. It took a long while but she eventually blew out a breath, sitting upright again.


    "It''s okay," Cassarae smiled somewhat bitterly, "it was a long time ago. I feel better now. Thanks for listening."

 Chapter 48 Three Options (1)

    <h4>Chapter 48 Three Options (1) </h4>


    [Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RySalt!! (10/10)]


    "Of course. Whenever you''re ready to hear about my own traumadick experiences, I''lly it on you."


    Cassarae snorted. "Traumadick?"


    "The male species needs their own word for what they put us through!" Olivia said righteously. She stuck her chest out and spread her arms akimbo as though she was truly a valiant hero.


    Cassaraeughed, truly feeling better this time.


    "You sure I can''t cut it off?" Olivia suddenly asked.


    "Liv." Cassarae said, trying to be serious.


    "How about just a little piece of it?"


    "Liv."


    "One ball?"


    "Liv!" Cassarae couldn''t hold back herughter, and this time it came in waves.


    "Look at those tits go." Olivia clicked her tongue. "We''re going to find someone who appreciates those knockers, I promise."


    Theughter of the two women went into the night.


    **


    Ss'' eyes opened, and he was immediately alert.


    This was the first time he had had some real sleep since he came to this world. It could be said that cities had their benefits after all. He wasn''t sure about the specifics, but Cassarae probably had scouts and things of the like.


    But he wasn''t really thinking about this. His mind was on that dream he had just had. It had been a while since he dreamed about Cassarae. It threw him off for a moment. If not for this situation injecting some blood into him, he might haveid here a much longer while.


    He gave a quick nce around, and it seemed that the only one gone was Lauren. Alex and Morgan were still sleeping. That was a bit surprising to Ss considering he felt that he was up quite early. The sun wasn''t even peeking through yet.


    After some thought, heid back down and checked on his Gene Crystal. Previously, he had already done as the Madness Key stated and found a "foundation" for his future Unique Gene. Although he had some options, there were only really two options that made sense.


    The first was <Madness Control> and the second was Madness the Comprehension.


    The obvious choice was clearly Madness. It was the foundation upon which <Madness Control> was built upon, and intuitively¡­ a Comprehension just felt like a more solid "foundation" to use. He had even confirmed this with the Madness Key, though such a specific question felt like a waste.


    The trouble was that he still wasn''t sure what path Madness wanted him to take. At first, he had thought it was best used to attack the minds of others, but now he felt that it was best used to control himself, but then there was also the telekinesis aspect that seemed tangential? He still wasn''t quite sure if that was an ability he gained just because his Will and Charisma were so high, or if it was something else.


    This sort of confusion made it hard to bet on it, especially since it was quite clear that the best he could get out of the Gene Crystal was a Unique Bronze Gene.


    Byparison, <Madness Control> had a clear and obvious purpose to him. It improved his Dexterity considerably. Having a rted Unique Gene would be of obvious help.


    He could have made all of this clearer just by asking the Madness Key, but thest time he asked a Madness-rted question, it had snapped back. Considering this Madness Key liked ramping things up, the next time he asked one, it might be an even worse punishment. He was on his own for this.


    But in the end, Ss stuck with the obvious choice. He wasn''t going to try to outsmart a system that was clearly beyond him. He would try to stick with what was obvious to him, and if he made a mistake, he could only do his best to try to correct itter down the line.


    Plus, he had had another thought when he decided on this¡­


    Wouldn''t the Evolution Tree that the Common Gene Crystal formed give him some clues as well?


    And he was definitely right about that. It had given him three options.


    ---


    [Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    [>Fragmented Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 60 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (-)]


    [>Common Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 75 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    [>Bronze Gene]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 100 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    [Psyche Warp (F)]


    [>Fragmented Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 60 Rtive Physical Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (-)]


    [>Common Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 75 Rtive Physical Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (F)]


    [>Bronze Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Common Genes of a kind or (1) Bronze Gene of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 100 Rtive Physical Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (F)]


    ---


    [Harmonic Puppetry (F)]


    [>Fragmented Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 60 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (-)]


    [>Common Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 75 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (F)]


    [>Bronze Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Common Genes of a kind or (1) Bronze Gene of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 100 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (F)]


    ---


    Basic Aetherflow, Psyche Warp, and Harmonic Puppetry, these were the three Unique Genes that it had created for him. But the requirements weren''t cheap either. As for the names, they were decided by him after he read their descriptions.


    Each one had the exact same limit increasers. What really set them apart was hidden in the weeds.

 Chapter 49 Three Options (2)

    <h4>Chapter 49 Three Options (2) </h4>


    [Basic Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others]


    [+5 Intelligence; +5 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+10 Intelligence; + 10 Charisma (Common)]


    [+20 Intelligence; + 20 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(5) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(10) Charisma]


    [(15) Intelligence]


    ---


    [Psyche Warp]


    [The minds of others are yours to bend and twist to your pleasure. Feed them illusions, delusions of grandeur, fear the likes of which they''ve never experienced in their entire lifetimes.]


    [+5 Will; +5 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+10 Will; + 10 Charisma (Common)]


    [+20 Will; + 20 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(5) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(10) Will]


    [(15) Charisma]


    ---


    [Harmonic Puppetry]


    [Your body is your orchestra; its strings are yours to pluck. Your resistance to the mental assaults of others is unmatched, and your control over your body is unmatched, even if that means exceeding its limits]


    [+5 Dexterity; +5 Intelligence (Fragmented)]


    [+10 Dexterity; + 10 Intelligence (Common)]


    [+20 Dexterity; + 20 Intelligence (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(5) Strength, Constitution, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(15) Dexterity]


    [(15) Intelligence]


    ---


    Each one had its own merits, and it was actually quite difficult to choose.


    Basic Aetherflow was a huge enhancement to his telekic abilities. Arge part of the reason he was able to defeat Big Madness was because of those abilities, because getting close had been far too dangerous and his fists weren''t nearly strong enough to harm the beast.


    However, by that same token, Psyche Warp was just as important to him. Without it, he would have died on the First Floor of the Slithering Madness Dungeon. Being able to deal with enemies without putting himself in any danger was enticing, and both of these Unique Genes fulfilled that wish.


    Then there was Harmonic Puppetry. Its description felt like you were controlling your own body on puppet strings that came from your mind, which was why Ss had named it as such.


    This one was enticing for a different sort of reason.


    That magical feeling he felt while fighting the titanoboa had urred again and again on the journey here. That feeling of being able to control your body, making tiny tweaks here and there to make yourself even more perfect, was so enticing to him. It was like the perfect reflection of self-discipline, a form greater than even martial arts.


    Each one pulled at him so he could only start dinging them one by one.


    Harmonic Puppetry was appealing, but it was far too simr to <Madness Control>. The ovep was great, and <Madness Control> seemed to have a higher ceiling.


    Psyche Warp was great because it relied on his two highest stats, and also the two stats that didn''t seem to have limits attached to them. Well¡­ at the very least, he hadn''t hit them yet.


    But it was also the most hit-or-miss stat. If he met a creature with a high enough Will, it would be useless.


    Of course, that was the case for all stats to a certain extent, like because his Constitution wasn''t high enough, it was hard for him to harm strong beasts with his fists alone, at least when he didn''t use de Aura. But he could only use de Aura on his body when Madness was activated in the first ce.


    However, he could always fight quality with quantity and patience in that case, like he had against the titanoboa. Eventually, within reason, his hits were going to hurt.


    On the other hand, Will felt much more cut and dry. Either you had enough or you didn''t.


    Plus, it didn''t leave you with much flexibility either. Although Psyche Warp seemed to be evolving toward controlling people, maybe even more permanently, Ss wasn''t sure how he felt about that, either. It was a moral conundrum.


    He could target animals alone, but the conversation he had with Morgan and the others made that feel questionable, especially now that he saw their rtive Mental stats increasing slowly.


    Of course, Ss wasn''t some agent of morality. If it was the best option, he would take it. He just had no choice but to nitpick at this point.


    Then there was Basic Aetherflow¡­


    Ss had added in the word "Basic" on purpose because he felt it was the most scble of the three Unique Genes. So long as he had more Intelligence, more Will, more Charisma, his telekinesis would only grow stronger under its effects.


    Plus, the description of Aetherflow made it clear that he would even be able to apply his other Gene Talents to it and synergize.


    As for the ding on Aetherflow, well¡­ It was a deviation from his current path? He was using his fists a lot, and he had gained something he could conveniently use his legs with as well. He was moving toward being a pugilist, especially with his unequip-able Scorned Wraps.


    Could he focus on two things at once?


    ''Well, I think that settles it. That reason is horrible because it''s a problem that Psyche Warp suffers from as well. Harmonic Puppetry is the one that doesn''t, but the fact it oveps with <Madness Control> so much is too huge of a ding.''


    When Ss made his choice, he locked it in.


    Now¡­ he just had to find 50 Common Genes when all the beasts he had seen until now, aside from the ones in Dungeons, only had Fragmented ones. Not to mention the fact he had yet to see any Wisdom, or Mental Genes. He hadn''t received any Will Genes in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, which presumably focused heavily on it.


    ''I''ll just have to take it one step at a time.''


    The requirement of 50 Common Genes was only to unlock the Bronze Unique Gene. It scaled down for the Common and Fragmented ones.


    But Ss didn''t want to waste this opportunity on a weaker Unique Gene. Gene Crystals were probably even rarer than Gene State potions. He needed to optimize his usage.

 Chapter 50 Three Options (3)

    <h4>Chapter 50 Three Options (3) </h4>


    ''I should go see if I can take a bath or something of the sort. I saw a well earlier. They should have ess to fresh water even if it''s cold.''


    Ss preferred cold showers anyway. He wouldn''t mind it not being heated.


    He slipped off of his cot, feeling some of the aches and bruises on his body. But it was already better than it had been yesterday. It seemed that his Constitution was doing wonders. The nails on his right hand were already half grown back.


    Walking out of therge tent, he rounded it, heading toward where he had seen the well. But when he got to the back of therge tent, he heard a ssh of water.


    He looked to the side.


    There, down in a deep squat, a woman with her back to him threw some water over her shoulder with a cup and almost furiously wiped herself with a rough cloth.


    He couldn''t see much from this angle, but because of her deep squat, he could see some of the curve of her buttocks. But more than that, there were the clear and deep scars she had suffered. It was clear that anyone who could make it so far had dealt with their fair share of struggles.


    Ss shook his head and looked away. "My apologies."


    Lauren was startled and covered her chest. She looked back to see that Ss was already facing away from her.


    "No, it''s not your fault," she shook her head. "I didn''t expect that anyone would be awake this early. I was a little careless. The well has good water. You can use it to clean yourself if you want."


    "Mm, that''s what I nned to do," Ss responded. "I also wanted to ask if they might have some spare clothes. I''m in tatters."


    Laurenughed, pulling on a towel she had to the side and wiping herself down a bit before wrapping it around her armpits.


    "You can look now. Don''t worry, I''m not such a prude. I''ve already prepared myself for much worse in this world, plus I''m already almost thirty. I left that phase long ago."


    Ss turned back, mostly out of politeness. Since she had said as much, he would only make her more ufortable insisting on not doing so.


    Her hair was still wet, but she had a valiantness to her even in such a seemingly vulnerable position. She looked ready to drop her towel and pick up a sword right this moment if she had to, even if it meant going into battle naked.


    Definitely a woman that had been through a lot.


    "I think, if we can, we should try our best to hold on to as many of our old traditions as possible," Ss replied seriously.


    Lauren blinked, not expecting this response. Then she smiled.


    "Meaning I should protect my chastity with all my might?"


    "If that''s what you want," Ss nodded. "I only mean that if you wanted to be a prude, don''t let this world change who you are. We have to have our own sort of defiance, even in situations like this one."


    "I see¡­ that''s an interesting statement. You don''t look it, but you''re quite the rebel."


    "Rebel?"


    "I spent a lot of time as a secretary for people with egos toorge to fit through a door."


    "And I''m one of them?"


    "Maybe. It would depend on whether you can widen that doorway or be crushed by the archway."


    Ss didn''t respond, looking at this woman. It was rare that someone would leave him without the words to respond.


    Lauren seemed to be a little flustered beneath his look and shook her head.


    "I''m just speaking nonsense, really. Don''t mind me. If you don''t mind it, you can feel free to use the water I have left. Getting water is difficult in these times, especially with all those beasts surrounding theke and river," Lauren sighed. "It''s been months like that. I wonder how many people have died of thirst¡­"


    Ss grabbed onto a word she used immediately.


    "Months?"


    Lauren reacted with surprise. "Did you find another water source?"


    This was her immediate reaction. If Ss didn''t know about this, then could it be that he was getting his water from somewhere else? That would be huge.


    Ss put two and two together immediately.


    He had been in the Dungeon for months? But that was impossible. His Soft Gene Stat was still there, and it would onlyst for seven days. Looking at the time, he still had four days left. That meant that he could have only used three days so far at best.


    How had months passed on the outside?


    "No," Ss shook his head. "It just doesn''t feel like it''s been that long. I really lost track of time."


    "Ah¡­" Lauren sighed. "Yeah, it really is hard without phones and the inte to keep you on track." She shook her head. "Anyway, I''m going to go be a prude now and put on some real clothes."


    She gave Ss a smile and walked past him, holding a bundle of clothes in her hands as she slipped back into the tent.


    Ss conveniently took the bucket she had used and filled it to the brim at the well. It wasn''t like the water was used, this was just the bucket she had been scooping water out of, so he didn''t have a problem with using it.


    He began to clean himself as well, sighing that he still only had a single pair of pants. He should have asked about itst night, but he had to admit that it felt a little weird to have to ask Cassarae for things.


    They had ended on good terms, he thought. But that didn''t change the fact they hadn''t talked in almost a decade. He didn''t want to try to take advantage of a former rtionship.


    Everything in this world was earned, and she had worked for months to get to this point apparently, as had the others.

 Chapter 51 Gather

    <h4>Chapter 51 Gather </h4>


    [10 Reviews Bonus (1/3)]


    He couldn''t take anything here for granted, even the water.


    He pulled the grime off of his body and he seemed to feel better and better with every wipe. Soon, he was practically clean. Unfortunately, his pants were very much not. He was reluctant to put them back on.


    At that moment, he heard footsteps to his back, and he sent a nce over.


    A familiar woman¡ªOlivia, if he recalled correctly¡ªappeared. She didn''t seem surprised to see Ss, or maybe she wasn''t surprised to see a person here and wasn''t necessarily looking for him.


    The woman''s eyes were unruly, but Ss didn''t really care. She didn''t really seem to be interested in him, but was rather trying to test if he would get antsy under her gaze.


    He had seen women like this before. They tended to like pretending to be bold, but shying away at the idea of the actual act. If you pressed them, they would fold. She was most likely far more innocent than she let on.


    He slicked his hair back and shook the water out.


    "Olivia, is it?"


    Olivia nodded.


    "Nice to meet you."


    Ss tossed the cup back into the bucket and then bent down, sitting on the balls of his feet. He would just have to sacrifice this water to clean up his pants a bit, it seemed.


    "What''s your name?" She asked from behind, as though she didn''t know. Honestly, she just wanted to see if there would be a response. If she was asking his name, then that meant Cassarae hadn''t even bothered to talk about him. Maybe she could see something from him.


    She was disappointed.


    "Ss."


    "Mm," Olivia nodded. "I can give you a pair of pants if you want. It would just cost three coins."


    "Coins?" Ss asked, suddenly more interested in this conversation.


    "You don''t know what coins are?"


    "I don''t."


    "Ah, maybe that makes sense if you''re a bit lucky. They fall from humanoid creatures. They''re the only ones with drops other than Genes, at least so far."


    "I see. Then I''ll try to gather the funds at ater date. I don''t have that right now," Ss said forthrightly.


    "I can give it to you on loan. Just give me five coinster."


    Ss thought for a moment, then nodded. An almost 70% profit was ridiculous, but he didn''t care much. He really didn''t like the feeling of being dirty. If he hadn''t been so tired yesterday, he would have never slept in this state.


    By the time Ss had dried off somewhat, Olivia had returned with another pair of simple pants, simr to his original ones, just a bit darker.


    "Thank you." Ss nodded to her.


    "No problem. We''ll probably move out in a couple of hours."


    With that, she left, humming a tune.


    **


    The group gathered at the entrance of the Rudimentary Vige.


    Three militiamen and Cassarae were staying. As the City Lord, there were some restrictions on where Cassarae could go and for how long. Ss wasn''t sure about the specifics, but he believed his grandfather had said something about the Poprity stat.


    As a Rudimentary Vige, Casstle Main wasn''t solidified enough for Cassarae to leave for long periods of time without the vigers also bing unruly. As such, she appointed someone she trusted to manage things, that being Olivia. There was also Marcus, who was perfectly loyal as well, but mostly due to the bindings of the system.


    "I wish you all sess. Please listen to Olivia''s orders. She is a full extension of me. I hope that our cooperation can be fruitful."


    Cassarae met everyone''s eyes and eventuallynded on Ss. She hesitated for a moment, but she eventually spoke anyway.


    "Ss, are you sure that you don''t need any armor? I can give you a set on loan."


    Ss shook his head. "No, it''s not a problem. These pants were enough."


    His answer was quite firm, so Cassarae didn''t say anything else. Since he had made it so far, and he didn''t seem to have any of the scars the others had, he should know what he was doing.


    "Alright. Again, I wish you all sess."


    Cassarae watched them all leave, a hint of worry in her eyes.


    This Gnoll Rudimentary Vige wasn''t the first they had cleared; it would be the third. The first had almost wiped out her militiamen and the advantages she gained were all wiped out, trading with the system for more.


    There was a slight respite after the first time, so she was much more cautious the second time around and took her time. Unfortunately, the result was that, not long after clearing this second vige, a third appeared.


    Luckily, the destruction of the second vige had given her a Quest Trigger reward, allowing her to recruit some help while still benefitting from the destruction of the vige. It should have only called those with strength strong enough toplete this mission. But of the 16 spots she had, only four ended up being filled.


    That meant something much more worrying than she wanted to admit.


    That Quest Trigger reward only had a limited range of about 100 kilometers. That meant in this range, barring those that might have ignored her request¡­


    These were the most powerful humans here.


    That idea was daunting.


    Soon, more and more of such humanoids would begin to appear and the danger would only increase.


    The first month had been a grace period for her. The first Rudimentary Vige appeared after that and she cleared it within a week, taking heavy losses. The second Rudimentary Vige appeared a month and a half after that. She took almost three weeks to clear it, and then another one appeared soon afterward.


    From six weeks to three weeks. Would the next only take a week and a half to appear? Or was it just a coincidence?


    "City Lord," a voice came from Cassarae''s side. It was an older woman, one who seemed to be in her fifties.

 Chapter 52 Maya Sinclair

    <h4>Chapter 52 Maya Sinir </h4>


    [10 Reviews Bonus (2/3)]


    She was one of the "talents" that Cassarae was able to trade for. Her profession was an evolution of the Seamstress profession and she was able to make leather armors from beast skins.


    There was no doubt that she was the most important "strategic resource" Cassarae had, if you could call a human that¡­ or was this person even human at all? She didn''t even know anymore.


    ---


    [Maya Sinir (FF+)]


    [Level: 2]


    [Profession: Armored Seamstress (Bronze)]


    [Special Talent: Maximize]


    [Sacrifice 50% Durability to raise level of treasure to its maximum potential]


    [Favorability: 5/10]


    ---


    A double F talent, and one with a plus as well. Cassarae only knew monthster how lucky she had gotten on that roll. Though, not as lucky as she wanted, it seemed.


    That Favorability stat, though, was Cassarae''s greatest annoyance. This woman was hard to please. And unfortunately, unlike in a video game, Cassarae couldn''t just gloss over any mistakes she made. Maya wouldn''t just magically forget that she cussed her out. What could Cassarae say? She had a foul mouth and wasn''t the best at controlling it.


    She had learned that the hard way, and it had taken a lot of work, not to mention a lot of bowing and scraping to get it up to a neutral ce like this one.


    "Yes, Maya?" Cassarae kept the annoyance out of her voice and purged away her worry, giving the Seamstress a smile.


    "I only wanted to check to see if you informed the group to look out for quality beasts. I can''t make it to level 3 without¡­"


    Cassarae tuned out arge list of requirements. This was already the third or fourth time she had mentioned this list to her.


    Professions were different from sses or Species. Those who chose this route were able to increase their levels purely based on how well their practice was going. This was apparently a route that would only open up to humans of Earth after the Trial was concluded.


    Now that Cassarae thought about it, she wasn''t even sure when it would. Years, maybe? More?


    What did absorbing all these Genes do to their lifespans? She would assume they increased, but how much?


    Maya finished talking.


    "Yes, there are no worries at all," Cassarae nodded. "Olivia is on the job. We can trust her. But for now, the immediate danger to the vige are the Gnolls. Once they''re dealt with, we''ll have much more freedom to clear out some beasts for you."


    Maya shook her head in disappointment, her sternness remaining.


    "My advancement is the most important to the sess of the vige. There is a chance that I can improve my Profession to Silver in the future. If the investment happens toote, then my talent will go to waste.


    "First was the Goblin Vige, and you said much the same words back then. Now it''s the Gnoll Vige. This is bing uneptable to me."


    It took Cassarae a long time to appease the woman enough that she left in a huff.


    She rubbed her head. She really wasn''t cut out for this. It took everything in her not to drive a fist through that old bitch''s mouth.


    The unfortunate part was that she was kind of right.


    Basically, all of Cassarae''s other talents were F-. Maya was undoubtedly the best, and that was by far. Also, the weight of a Bronze Profession was heavy as no one else even had a Fragmented Profession. There were only unranked ones.


    But progressing was difficult.


    Most of the beast skins brought back to Maya were marred by de strikes and the like. It wasn''t hard to guess why Maya''s progress would be so slow, then.


    Cassarae looked down at herself and sighed.


    ---


    [Leather Chest Armor (FF+)]


    [Level: 2]


    [Creation of Maya Sinir]


    [+106 Constitution]


    [Ability: Repel]


    [Reflect 10% of damage for every one point of Durability]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    [Leather Leg Armor (F+)]


    [Level: 2]


    [Creation of Maya Sinir]


    [+12 Speed]


    [Ability: Refresh]


    [Restore 10% of stamina for every one point of Durability]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    Every time thedy pissed her off, Cassarae would take a look at these treasures. Maya was too valuable. She needed to swallow this anger and ept it.


    Her life and that of everyone in the vige were riding on this.


    She suddenly thought of Ss and those bandages on his hands. But she quickly shook her head.


    If she had to rely on that guy for something, her 17-year-old self might actually roll over and die, and what would that mean for her 26-year-old self?


    She liked breathing very much.


    **


    Ss'' mind was moving as they ran toward the vige. With their current Physical stats, the distance was only worth less than 20 minutes even given this terrain.


    He took casual note of everyone''s movement and made some conclusions.


    ''Olivia''s Speed should be quite high, enough that it''s skewed in that direction. Morgan is fast and has a lot left in the tank, but his Physical is also the closest to mine overall, and assuming he has the same limiters as me, basically all of his stats should be near 50 or at it already.


    ''Alex is the slowest, with Lauren in the middle somewhere. Alex definitely has his stats skewed more heavily toward Strength¡­''


    He wished the stat screen was moreprehensive when he was scanning others, but people couldn''t even scan him at this point, so he was on the luckier side, anyway.


    "There''s a beast ahead," Olivia suddenly said. "It''s Physical is at 32. Who wants it?"


    ''Scouting ability?'' Ss thought.


    "Oo, me, me!" Alex volunteered, then shot forward.


    Basically, all of them were equipped with swords aside from the militiamen who used spears. This wasn''t a surprise to Ss, since the sword was probably the most flexible weapon, though if he had to choose a starter weapon as a human thrown into this world, he would definitely choose the spear.


    Olivia shook her head. She wanted to say more, but she waited.

 Chapter 53 Failure

    <h4>Chapter 53 Failure </h4>


    [10 Reviews Bonus (3/3)]


    Alex appeared in their views not longter and he was entangled in a battle with a red fox. The creature was exceptionally quick, and it was the perfect counter to Alex''s Strength build. He almost looked like he regretted it already.


    Lauren covered her mouth with a palm, and Morgan shook his head. These two had already cozied up to Alex the day before, and seeing that he wasn''t in danger, they found it more amusing than anything.


    Olivia sighed. "I was going to say that, if you can, please keep the beast pelts as pristine as you can. I can pay five, twenty, or fifty coins depending on quality. I can increase the pay based on size as well. Though, for now, I can only take mammalian coats."


    "Got it!" Alex called out.


    Seeing that this was going to take a while, Olivia had no choice but to speak again.


    "I''m sorry, Alex, but if you waste too much energy here, we''ll never make it far. Um, Ss, can you help him?" Olivia suddenly asked.


    "Sure." Ss burst forward without much thought.


    "Ugh, unfair, but alright," Alex grumbled, making some distance to support Ss.


    His actions were unnecessary.


    Ss'' hand shed forward, and he chopped at the back of the fox''s neck, the moment it leapt in the air, with all his strength.


    The red fox was a Dexterity-based creature. Its evolution had changed next to nothing about that. Compared to Ss'' current Strength, it could do little.


    BANG.


    The fox''s neck broke on impact, but the subsequent rebound into the ground shattered its limbs.


    Alex''s mouth hung open. "Damn! Psycho Ss really is super strong, I knew it!"


    Ss shook his head. Alex had taken to calling him that afterst night, so he could only ept it.


    He reached down and touched the fox, iming four Fragmented Dexterity Genes. Then he picked it up.


    The corpse looked mangled, but the fur coat was pristine. None of the broken bones had poked through.


    However, the red fox was quite a small creature, so it was probably not worth all that much, anyway.


    "How much?" Ss asked.


    Olivia blinked and suddenly grinned.


    Cassarae wasn''t willing to rely on Ss, but Olivia didn''t see it like this. Instead, she was putting the man to work.


    Plus, this couldn''t be considered targeting him. Wasn''t she paying him?


    "Say, Ss. What would you say to some cooperation between our Rudimentary Vige and you?"


    Ss raised an eyebrow. He didn''t even know what coins could do for him right now. But now that he thought about it, those System Cities that would appear after the tutorial would likely use this currency. Why not save up a bit right now?


    "What do you have in mind?"


    "Everyone here uses weapons but you, and you can seem to kill these animals without them. Pristine animal coats are exactly what the vige needs. If it won''t tire you out, can you fight all the beasts we meet from now on? Of course, all the Genes and such are yours."


    Ss didn''t answer immediately, instead looking at everyone else.


    They only shrugged. It wasn''t as though there was a shortage of beasts. The main benefit right now was that there were many of them in a group, so it was safer than what they were used to. But ultimately, only one person could take the Genes, anyway. It wasn''t like they could split it.


    "Then, alright." Ss nodded.


    He needed to gather up some Genes to keep the Madness Key satiated for the long haul, anyway.


    So that was what he did.


    Ss took the vanguard and everyone seemed to slowly realize why it was he had no need for armor. None of the beasts could even touch him, and his fists were practically like iron clubs.


    When Ss was alone, he was always so focused on the next step, the next improvement. It was only after being around other humans that he realized he had actually progressed so muchpared to everyone else.


    But much like with Cassarae, this didn''t make him happy¡­ this left him worried.


    If this was the best humanity had to offer right now, when they apparently had a three-month advantage on him, wouldn''t this seventh attempt end in failure as well?


    **


    Ss hopped out of the way of a swiping paw. His feet glided against the moist grass and his toes dug in, his power exploding as he pped the w of the bear down, thenshed out with a kick that mmed against the side of its head.


    ¡ª-


    [Andean Bear (F)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 33]


    [Mental: 3]


    [Will: 7]


    ¡ª-


    Ss'' bnce shifted somewhat, and he retreated instead of using a follow-up attack. Using kicks in battle wasn''t as natural for him as his fists, and neither were palms, for that matter.


    To protect his knuckles, he had been trying to fit in some more palm strikes when a duller blow would do, but it was also a strike with a weaker range than his fist would have. Although it was only a few inches, he found that it mattered more than he initially thought.


    The bear roared in anger, standing on its hind legs and looming over Ss with a menacing glint in its eyes.


    It fell forward, trying to smash him from above, but Ss slipped by, gliding under its falling front paws and appearing at its side.


    His torso tensed and his left arm unleashed a corkscrew of pressure that ascended up his legs and through his abdomen.


    He rarely attacked creatures anywhere but their heads because it felt like a waste, but he didn''t give up this opportunity to drive his knuckles into the bear''s ribcage.


    A tremendous amount of pressure descended onto Ss'' wrists. The bear was still falling downward and Ss attacked before itnded. He was currently withstanding not just the Strength of his left hook, but also the weight of bear.

 Chapter 54 Solution

    <h4>Chapter 54 Solution </h4>


    [100 GTs Bonus]


    But that was also what made the strike so powerful.


    He felt the bones of the creature crack, and even with the Scorned Wraps separating them, he could practically feel its organs deforming beneath his strike.


    It was the perfect blow. His hand was perfectly aligned with his wrist, which was perfectly aligned with his forearm. It was like he was driving a spear right into the beast.


    Ss pulled back with an inhuman level of Speed, just dodging the descent of the bear.


    It barely managed to stay on its feet for a moment before it copsed. Shards of bone and broken flesh tore into its abdominal cavity, leaving it weak and almost lifeless. It couldn''t gather up strength at all.


    From the side, Ss'' leg suddenly rose high into the air, his heel driving down with a tremendous amount of force right onto the bear''s skull.


    The crush was resounding.


    Ss pulled back, shaking out the ache in his left hand and his heel. He could feel his battle style bing smoother, but he could also practically feel his weakness as well.


    He could do well when he only had to focus on one enemy, but would that always be the case?


    He collected the Genes of the bear, but he was much less enthusiastic. It turned out collecting four Common Genes of a kind was his limit. When he tried to collect a fifth, it always failed.


    At the same time, there was a limit of ten Fragmented Genes. This didn''t seem to be a personal Gic Limit, but rather something that was universal. It was either you upgraded your Fragmented Genes to Common, or you wasted them.


    This made sense intuitively to Ss. Even disregarding the human body, you couldn''t pack aputer with an endless number of files. It would eventually run out of space. You''d have to either zip those files into a smaller size, or summarize the files you felt were important into something more manageable.


    He assumed the human body was simr. There were only so many things that you could pack into it before it tapped out.


    That gave him an excuse to pour more into the Madness Key, though. So for now, it wasn''t all bad. Plus, he could offload some of them into the Gene Crystal as well.


    Ss looked back toward the group not far away. By this point, they were more used to his disys.


    "Damn, Psycho Syl, you really minced that bear up," Alex chuckled. "No wonder we can''t read your stats if you take them down that easy."


    Alex said the quiet part out loud. It was indeed the thought they all had.


    This was already the third beast they hade across, and Ss took it out with the same ease. He didn''t even look tired, and it didn''t look like he was using Skills or Gene Talents either.


    Ss shook his head at the man''s antics, but he didn''t mind it.


    "How much?" He asked Olivia.


    "This one is much bigger than the other two. I can give you a full fifty coins. If you want, we can give you some armor instead of the money. It''s your choice."


    Ss shook his head. Olivia clearly thought that he had rejected Cassarae out of something like pride, but that couldn''t be further from the truth. He quite literally couldn''t wear armor even if he wanted to.


    He''d just have to focus on not getting hit or tanking it when he did.


    "The money is fine."


    Olivia didn''t press, her deep brown eyes lighting up with joy. Between the fox, wolf, and bear, this bear was worth the most of them all. It was a huge,pletely intact corpse.


    It was just unfortunate that her storage treasure had already run out of space. This would be thest creature she could have Ss kill for them. They couldn''t take on burdens on this trip, and she had to save the rest of the space inside just in case things went south and they had to hide a gnoll corpse.


    The transaction finished quite quickly.


    A new line had appeared on Ss'' stat screen right beneath his Titles.


    [Coin: 70 (F)]


    "We''re in range of gnoll territory now. ording to their patterns, they set out to hunt early in the morning right about now. Follow my lead¡­"


    Olivia''s voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed.


    "Something wrong?" Morgan asked.


    Olivia hesitated, but eventually decided to tell the truth. Their team came together for benefits. Lying or concealing the truth would only fissure them.


    "Like I said, the hunting party set out. The problem is that there''s usually three in the party, but today they sent out five for some reason."


    "Will they separate?" Morgan followed up.


    "No," Olivia shook her head, "they''re humanoid hyenas, and they act much like the real ones. They target the weak, they always stick together, and they''re very bloodthirsty."


    "There are seven of us. We can take ''em," Alex puffed out his chest.


    Olivia looked toward this man somewhat speechlessly. She found it hard to believe that he had made it so far with that attitude.


    "We need to be more cautious than that," Lauren said with a frown.


    "It''s a shame none of us are archers," Morgan sighed.


    Being an archer in this world would be asking for punishment. Who could procure arrows here? While being able to safely shoot from a distance sounded nice, you''d quicklye to regret it if you ever ended up in a battle where distance wasn''t an option.


    Even so, in this case, an archer would have been invaluable.


    Olivia shook her head. If anyone would have an archer, it would be them. But Cassarae had wisely chosen militiamen as her base soldiers, and they hadn''t been able to spare the funds to unlock archers.


    Plus, if they did, they would face the same problem a real archer would have. Funding armor repairs was bad enough without also having to stock up on arrows too.


    Ss'' gaze descended andnded on Olivia''s hip. She sensed the gaze and frowned, but Ss had already spoken.


    "I might have a solution. But I would need to borrow those daggers."


    Olivia raised an eyebrow.

 Chapter 55 Friendly Fire

    <h4>Chapter 55 Friendly Fire </h4>


    [150 GTs Bonus]


    Ss gripped the branch beneath him with the balls of his feet. He was slowly getting used to walking everywhere barefoot, though it took him more time than he would like to admit climbing up here. It was hard climbing a tree that was so thick when the first branches were at least five meters up.


    He ended up using some clothes he borrowed from Olivia and wrapping it around the trunk. Then he walked up the side of it.


    Shifting the cloth up had been a bit dicey, but he managed.


    ''There¡­''


    Olivia''s scouting Skill was truly impressive. The gnolls had been more than a hundred meters away, a distance, in this thick forest, that might as well have been ten times that.


    Even so, her information was spot on, and from high above, knowing what to look for, Ss could just barely sense their movement. As he focused, he seemed to feel his vision sharpen and zoom in.


    It was an odd feeling, and he didn''t know what was causing it, but he also didn''t fight against it.


    That was when he saw them. Truly grotesque creatures in every sense of the word.


    They had the faces of hyenas, but the rest of their bodies were mostly humanoid aside from below their knees where they had clear digitigrade feet. Their furs alternated between a sickly yellow and a faded grey, their teeth in an almost permanently bared position.


    Their legs were overall quite slender while their torsos were beefier. Each one held a bone-forged ax, with torn pants and loose straps holding rocks and various other trinkets acting as their only articles of clothing.


    ¡ª-


    [Snarl (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 42]


    [Mental: 13]


    [Will: 27]


    ¡ª-


    [Krag (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 41]


    [Mental: 15]


    [Will: 23]


    ¡ª-


    [N (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 39]


    [Mental: 19]


    [Will: 28]


    ¡ª-


    [Drax (F)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 41]


    [Mental: 15]


    [Will: 23]


    ¡ª-


    [Vorak (F)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Physical: 45]


    [Mental: 30]


    [Will: 44]


    ¡ª-


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. This was bad. Very bad.


    The problem was with thest gnoll he had scanned. When he left, Olivia made no attempt to warn him about scanning, which meant that she likely didn''t know a gnoll could even have Mental that high.


    Even Morgan''s Mental, which was 29, was weaker than Vorak''s. If any one of them attempted to scan this group from afar, Vorak would be immediately alerted, and they''d be exposed.


    But Ss also had no easy way to inform everyone about this.


    The gnolls were clearly far more wary and intelligent than they had given them credit for. However, under normal circumstances, Olivia would have retreated. It was only because of Ss that she decided they had a shot at this.


    Although it wasn''t his fault since he did, indeed, have a method, he still felt some responsibility for a situation that was very obviously about to go left, and quick.


    ''What do I do?''


    Ss'' eyes narrowed, his mind churning.


    His original n was simple. To his side, there were two daggers embedded in the ground. These were Olivia''s secondary weapons. Ss couldn''t touch them with his hands, but what he could do was use his telekinesis to lift them.


    ¡ª-


    [Simple Dagger (F)]


    [Level: 2]


    [+5 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce]


    [Makes applied Strength doubly as Effective]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ¡ª-


    He nned tounch a sudden attack on the gnolls from a distance, injuring two of them.


    The range of his telekinesis was only about 20 meters from his tests, but so long as the gnolls passed by near him, which they were already on track to do, he would be able to at least cripple one of them, ideally two. And, because he could use telekinesis, he could pull the daggers back before the gnolls got the chance to use it to track him or Olivia with their sense of smell.


    If he managed to stay hidden after the first volley, he would try again until they were forced into conflict or the encirclement the others had nned.


    But if things continued like this, the gnolls would be tipped off and then the hunt would begin.


    He had questioned the Madness Key a little about these spawned viges and what to look out for. What he had learned was more than a little concerning.


    Cassandra was right about the spawn rate bing faster. The speed would increase until one of these viges appeared somewhere around her Rudimentary Vige at least once a week, and very soon they wouldn''t be Rudimentary Viges anymore.


    At this size, around 20 to 30 warriors were normal, and they never had any normal civilians. There were three elites and one head, and this Vorak was definitely one of those three elites.


    If he took action, it could only be at the order of the head of Gnoll Vige 019, which meant that whoever they were might already be prepared to take action.


    To make matters worse, they weren''t that far from the vige either, half a kilometer at most. If they slipped up, they could quickly find themselves surrounded by an entire small troop.


    ''I need to act before Vorak is alerted. Or¡­''


    The group of five slowly got into range. Ss was ahead, but he felt it likely wouldn''t be long before Olivia and the others spotted them as well. The timer was ticking already.


    Madness.


    Ss'' Comprehension flourished. At the same time, one of the daggers was ripped out of the bark by his ear, whipping forward. It streaked through the air, whistling with a harsh melody.


    The reaction was immediate. The gnolls were almost feral creatures to begin with and their eyes went red, their dirty fur bristling and growls leaving their lips.


    Their will to do battle skyrocketed and one of them suddenlyshed out at another, smashing a bone ax against their chest.


    Vorak roared, grabbing Snarl''s wrist and looking down at the injured N with a snarl on his face. Enraged, he broke the wrist of the attacking gnoll.

 Chapter 56 The Flow of Battle

    <h4>Chapter 56 The Flow of Battle </h4>


    [200 GTs Bonus]


    He knew it was stupid, but his rage got the best of him. He could feel that something was attacking his mind, and it was taking all of his concentration to fight back against it.


    With his back turned to Ss'' location, Vorak didn''t even notice the flying dagger until it was toote.


    It shot downward and ripped apart the Achilles tendon of Drax.


    Ss pulled it back before it could embed itself into the ground. Using telekinesis at the moment, he could only output less than half of his current Strength. However, with the abilities of the dagger, it was just about enough to match him if he wielded a normal dagger without the Pierce ability.


    His Will and Charisma average was around 110 or so, which was just barely double his Strength stat. That meant that he needed four times the Will-Charisma average to equate the same amount of Strength¡­ and he would take full advantage of what he had.


    The dagger embedded itself into a tree that was nearby, and the second dagger whizzed forward.


    Vorak reacted quickly, releasing Snarl''s wrist and pivoting. With a strong sweep of his bone ax, he knocked the dagger out of the air.


    The force was much too strong for Ss to get control of it in a short time, so he didn''t bother, letting it fall directly to the forest floor as he fell from the trees above.


    He hit the ground in a deep squat, not minding a six-meter drop at all. His knees absorbed the impact like a spring and he rolled forward, dissipating the rest of the force before jumping to his feet.


    He elerated forward.


    The others weren''t sure what had happened because Ss had already dissipated Madness. He couldn''t control who was and wasn''t affected, so he had no choice but to do this to avoid friendly fire.


    However, it was because they weren''t sure what happened that they felt that everything was still going ording to the original n and they burst into action as well.


    Ss, though, was alreadypletely focused on Vorak.


    The truth was that he could have likely seeded in sneak-attacking Vorak as well and taken out one of thergest concerns immediately, but he hadn''t done so for two reasons.


    First, if he used Olivia''s weapons to kill or maim Vorak, it would be a question as to who could im the Genes. Vorak looked like the best opportunity he had to find something other than pure Physical Genes due to how high his Will and Mental were. Ss didn''t want to muddy those waters.


    Plus, Snarl''s wrist was snapped, N had a nasty gash across its chest and it was quickly bleeding out, and Drax had a useless leg after losing an Achilles tendon.


    He had done enough on that front.


    And second¡­


    He really wanted to fight him.


    Vorak''s eyes seemed to collide with Ss'' and a high-pitched squeal-turned-roar echoed.


    The gnoll elite was about to attack when he sensed other humans suddenly rushing through the clearing. He clearly hesitated, his eyes churning with thoughts that felt distinctly more human than beast.


    Ss could feel it. There was a n to execute, and Vorak was hesitating about whether it was even possible anymore.


    It wasn''t.


    Ss appeared before the gnoll elite, his fist shooting forward.


    Vorak took a step back and swung down at Ss'' arm, wanting to take the whole thing. But Ss'' arm had already pulled back in a feint, his leg whipping against the gnoll''s knee.


    Tail Whip.


    A subtle glow came from Ss'' shin as his kick suddenly elerated.


    His kick cracked against the side of the gnoll elite''s knee and it buckled inward.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He had expected more substantial damage than that, but he didn''t mind it. Caught off bnce, Vorak wasn''t in a position to counter at all, so he pressed his advantage.


    His kicking foot descended to the ground and swung back as he shifted his weight, sending a straight right into the gnoll elite''s snout.


    Blood spewed, and Vorak stumbled backward. Rage lit the gnoll elite''s eyes as he looked like he wanted to rip Ss'' throat out with his bare teeth.


    Ss could feel the flow of battle clearer and clearer. His mind was so calm under the effect of his heavy Will that he seemed capable of thinking three or four steps ahead.


    That was why when the gnoll elite''s Aether moved, seemingly about to activate a Skill, Ss activated Sudden Burst first.


    His body flickered and his Dexterity increased enough that he went from a full stop to his top Speed in an instant.


    The gnoll elite couldn''t react to Ss grabbing the arm of the former''s weapon and then driving his elbow right into its snout again.


    Vorak''s head whipped backward, the feeling of disorientation so heavy that his eyes watered. He tried to wrestle control of his weapon away, but Ss'' Strength was too great to easily ignore.


    Ss drove his elbow across Vorak''s snout a second time before thettershed out with his free hand, swiping a w at Ss'' head.


    With movement that almost looked pre-nned, Ss'' elbow shifted positions and mmed against the gnoll elite''s forearm, blocking the w swipe. Then, his weight dropped, pulling the bone ax down with him, and Vorak as well, who still refused to let go.


    The moment his knees bent to an extreme, he exploded upward, his knee driving right into Vorak''s chin.


    The gnoll elite''s grip loosened on the bone ax and instantly, the Scorned Wrap red up, burning it to ash.


    Vorak stumbled backward, but Ss'' leg kick from earlier kicked in, causing him to lose his bnce and fall to a knee.


    Without hesitation, Ss activated Tail Whip again, driving his shin right across the gnoll elite''s skull.


    The sick sound of shattering bone echoed, and Ss stood there, taking deep breaths.


    Blood dripped from his elbow, both his own and the gnoll elite, but he couldn''t feel the tooth fragment embedded into him at all.


    His blood was boiling. The flow of battle seemed to be bing more and more natural to him.

 Chapter 57 Basic Scouting

    <h4>Chapter 57 Basic Scouting </h4>


    [250 GTs Bonus]


    Olivia was in a daze as she watched Ss fight. That was because she had tried to scan the gnoll elite and what she had seen left her floored. How could he be so strong?


    ---


    [Vorak (F+)]


    ---


    The rest was cut off from her, unable to be elucidated by her special scouting Skill.


    ''An F+ warrior! We ran into an elite!''


    This was the only thing she could think before Ss jumped into battle. She called out to him, trying to get him to retreat, but he seemed to not have heard her at all. He had tunnel vision, and he dismantled the gnoll elite as though it was worth next to nothing before him.


    When Olivia thought about how her scouting Skill didn''t work on Ss at all, she felt that it was maybe more eptable. But even so¡­


    It was too ridiculous.


    The vast majority of creatures in the forest, including the humanoids, were F-. They had learned through their excursions that this didn''t denote their stats necessarily, but rather how effective they were at using them, what Skills and Gene Talents they had topliment them, and their overall battle skill in general.


    It could be said that you could take an F- threat''s stats at face value. An F threat was about 5% stronger than their stats suggested. As for an F+ threat, Olivia had no idea because she had nevere across one before.


    Both Lauren and Alex were at F- ording to her Skill, but Morgan was at F. She, herself, was also rated at F.


    But to deal with an F+ so easily¡­


    What was Ss at?


    No, forget that. For an F+ to appear so casually, just what level was this gnoll vige at? And without Ss, what would they have done?


    ''No, it''s not a hopeless situation. They''re powerful, but they''recking in equipment. Their bone axes aren''t graded, and they have no armor. I would assume their greatest strength is their numbers. With Maya''s armors, we should be fine¡­ it''s just unfortunate she can only create leather armors and not forge weapons.''


    Olivia calmed herself and kept a level head as she watched the rest of the battle.


    The injuries to the remaining gnolls made them easy targets. Only one of them waspletely free of them, while aside from Vorak, who had just fallen, there was a second that was breathing theirst after being attacked by one of their own.


    That left Snarl with a broken arm and Drax with a useless leg after losing his Achilles tendon. The worst part for Snarl in particr was that Vorak had caught his ax-swinging hand, which meant that he was forced into battle with his off-hand.


    They stood no chance against the numbers of the humans.


    Morgan took on the healthy Krag. He used a longsword, much like Alex. But unlike Alex, who used it practically like a hammer with an edge, Morgan was more deliberate. His steps were smooth, and he used his reach advantage on the bone ax quite expertly.


    Lauren wielded the lightest sword of them all and she used it as though she were an expert fencer. In fact, one would be hard-


    pressed to believe that she was anything but.


    She fought with her body narrow, leaving little for her enemies to target as her sword led her movements. It was clear she put caution at the forefront.


    Alex''s Strength was on full disy. He was left fighting Drax, and since thetter only effectively had one leg, he couldn''t escape Alex''s mad swings like the fox could. Despite being the least skilled, as a result of his battle style, Alex was the first to finish his battle after Ss.


    Soon, the three adventurers stood over their enemies.


    Alex exhaled a breath. "Damn, Psycho Ss. That shit was badass. You took down that F+ like it was nothing."


    Ss was prepared to casually wave away Alex''sments as usual as he watched the changes to the gnoll corpses. But he frowned when he heard "F+."


    "F-plus?" Ss asked.


    Alex and the others looked over at him, looking just as surprised as him.


    "Holy shit, you don''t have the Basic Scouting Skill? How did you even survive after the first day? Scouting creatures is like rolling the dice if you go deep enough into the forest, without the Basic Scouting Skill you could easily run into something you can''t handle."


    Ss didn''t reply, his thoughts churning.


    Now that he thought about it, for whatever reason, Little, Middle, and Big Madness all gave far more Genes than creatures with simr stats to them. Could it be that they were part of this elite group of creatures as well?


    "I''ve just been using my Mental all this time," Ss eventually replied, not wanting to be rude.


    Everyone looked at one another. The surprise in their eyes was evident.


    Ss could only be said to be ying with fire in their eyes, unless his Mental stat was truly that high? After all, their Basic Scouting Skill didn''t even work on him either. But¡­ they thought that it was because he had a Skill to counter it. The City Lord, or "dommy mommy" as Alex called her, had a simr Skill.


    However, why would he pick up a Skill to counter <Basic Scouting> if he didn''t know what <Basic Scouting> was?


    "Hey Ss¡­ I know it''s rude, but I have to know. Just how high is your Mental?" Alex asked, a light of curiosity in his eyes.


    Mental was extremely difficult to increase. They could pick up Physical Genes anywhere, but without going deeper into the forest and really risking their lives, they couldn''t find Mental ones at all. Most of them had only gathered one or two of them. Even Morgan, the strongest of the three, didn''t even have 30 Mental.


    Ss gave Alex a look, causing thetter to look at him somewhat sheepishly. Clearly, he wasn''t going to answer.

 Chapter 58 Show

    <h4>Chapter 58 Show </h4>


    [200 PSs Bonus]


    "The Basic Scouting Skill costs 100 coins, Ss," Olivia suddenly said.


    Another surprise.


    Ss had no idea that Skills could just be bought like that, but he was also a bit hesitant to ask more questions. The more he revealed what he didn''t know, the more they would be able to deduce about him.


    Things seemed harmonious now, but the words of Astrid still echoed in his mind.


    She imed that it was human disharmony that led to their downfall during the Sixth Summoned Ascension. They took drastic steps to mitigate that, race mixing to the point there were no obvious traits that distinguished them. The entire world even spoke just a singlenguage. But if Ss knew humans¡­ there was always a way.


    If it wasn''t race, it would be location, if not location, then it would be ss. If not ss, it could even be something like hobbies or skill or anything of the sort.


    The fact that the survivors of the Sixth Summoned Ascension chose to take such drastic measures told him all he needed to know. The capacity of humans to be disharmonious was like a malignant cancer.


    "Alright," Ss said.


    By this point, Vorak''s corpse had already begun to emit a light of Aether. Then, it coalesced into an orb that had its innards obscured by a fog.


    Ss took it and crushed it in his palms. Maybe he should have waited untilter, but he felt that he had already shown too many signs of standoffishness and distrust just now. In the end, he had to maintain a bnce.


    While Ss seemed to act one way, he was quite adept socially. At the very least, Morgan was right about the fact he could blend in easily enough while also being himself.


    They were all working together right now, and he had to show a carrot after using the stick. As for his questions, didn''t he have the Madness Key? It wasn''t as though he''d be able to break free of the 50 Physical cap anytime soon.


    ---


    [+30 coins]


    [Bone Ax (F)]


    [Genes Detected. Convert to Pure Aether?]


    [Yes] [No]


    ---


    Ss immediately chose [No]. He had already confirmed with the Madness Key that his hypothesis was correct. The further he could push himself at Level 0, the better he would be.


    ---


    [Common Gene: (2) Will (F); (3) Intelligence (F)]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed when he saw this. It wasn''t because he had finally found a method to find these Genes, but rather because he was suddenly wary.


    He put the Gene Core away in the Madness Key space.


    To have three Intelligence Common Genes, Vorak''s Intelligence had to at least be 60, likely more. That left his Wisdom and Charisma on the much weaker side, but that wasn''t really the point.


    What Ss was thinking about was how their battle might have changed had Vorak started using Skills. If Ss hadn''t reacted quickly, with Intelligence this high, the battle could have gone left and his entire advantage might have been thrown out the window.


    Gene Talents allowed a sudden spike in Physical rted to the talent in question, while Skills used Aether to create a simr effect. In practice, it was difficult to tell the difference between the two for most. Though, for some reason, Ss had been quite certain that Vorak had been about to activate a Skill.


    If he went ayer deeper, it was even likely that Vorak had been so hesitant to use his Skill for fear that Ss could disrupt his mind while he did so. In which case, it was a more of a fluke than anything else that Ss had won so easily, because he certainly couldn''t activate Madness in range of so many allies.


    ''There should be two more on the level of Vorak and another on a level above the three of them, the City Lord¡­ This will be troublesome without a n.''


    The Bone Ax fell toward the ground, but Ss caught it with his telekinesis. After weighing it for a moment, he shook his head.


    It was too heavy.


    He had learned several things about his telekinesis in thesest few days, however the most important thing was that its "Physical" was the average between his Will and Charisma divided by four. Meaning the Strength, Speed, and Dexterity of his telekinesis right now was 27.


    The trouble was that there wereyers to this information.


    For example, if the 27 Strength of his telekinesis was stressed too much, then Speed and Dexterity would fall. That essentially meant that anything a human or beast with 27 Strength would find too heavy to carry would put a ding on his flexibility in using his telekinesis.


    27 Strength was exceptional, and it was already far beyond the human limit. However, it wasn''t enough.


    Ss found it best to imagine telekinesis like a swing of the arm. A strong man of Earth at the elite level, before the Summoned Ascension, could lift over a thousand pounds off the ground, but certainly not above their heads. And even if they could, swinging a 30-pound sword was out of the question.


    Ss'' current limit forfort was probably around 20 pounds, or fewer than 10 kilograms. This bone ax was almost double that, and he obviously couldn''t wield it with his hands.


    He looked around for a moment as everyone else looked at their own loot, trying to see something. As he expected, they mostly just got coins and Genes, and he didn''t see any other items drop.


    But more importantly than that, he saw their disappointed faces.


    If he had to guess, their Gene States probably weren''t high enough to allow them to seed in taking the Genes they wanted.


    "Can you tell me the specifics of the Skill?" Ss suddenly asked, noticing Olivia''s gaze on the floating bone ax.


    It was clear that this bone ax was much better than the ungraded weapons the gnolls had been using. The others didn''t even look at them.


    "I can just show you."

 Chapter 59 Grades

    <h4>Chapter 59 Grades </h4>


    Ss was confused again before a screen suddenly appeared before him.


    ''You can project information like this to people?'' Ss hid his shock, but he felt that his word choice just now had let slip more of his ignorance.


    ---


    [Basic Scouting (F-)]


    [Requirement: 10 Intelligence; 10 Charisma; 10 Will]


    [Use this Skill to reveal Basic Information on living and non-living targets. Scales with Intelligence, Charisma, and Will]


    [Basic Information: Species; Grade; Level; Stats; Abilities]


    ---


    ''There''s those weird Grades again¡­''


    Ss had noticed that some names given by his system had slightly different colors. It was subtle, but he just barely managed to notice them.


    He wondered if those subtle changes in shade denoted this hidden system of Grades.


    "Are you willing to trade for this bone ax?" Ss asked. "Or any one of you, for that matter?"


    Of them all, both Olivia''s and Alex''s eyes lit up.


    Olivia was about to speak, but then she smiled bitterly as Alex spoke up first.


    "Holy shit, Psycho Syl, are you really willing? Are you sure?"


    It took everything in Olivia to not roll her eyes. Ss had just revealed that he didn''t have <Basic Scouting>, which meant he probably couldn''t even see the Grade of that bone ax.


    Of course, Ss was probably smart enough to know he had found something valuable. But Olivia wasn''t all that familiar with Ss, so he had no idea about the extent of his analytical abilities. If there was a small chance to take advantage, she would have.


    Unfortunately, that had just gone out of the window.


    "The path of weapons is not for me," Ss replied simply. He was sure that they had seen Vorak''s weaponbust in his hands, but there was no need to bring it up so clearly.


    "Honestly, this longsword doesn''t really suit me," Alex said, straightforwardly. "That weapon is F+ and it''s only the second of its kind that I''ve seen. It probably costs easily 1000 coins, and that''s probably conservative. I don''t have that much."


    Ss looked down at the daggers on Alex''s waist. It seemed that they all had secondary weapons.


    "How much can you pay?" Ss asked.


    "Probably like¡­ 200?" Alex said sheepishly.


    "Alright. Give me 200 and those two daggers on you."


    Alex''s brows shot up. "Really?"


    "If you''re alright with it," Ss shrugged. "Those secondary weapons might save your life if you''re ever painted into a corner, so they might be worth more to you than that."


    "No way, I can always get a few more of these cheap daggers, but that bone ax¡­"


    "There''s another reason as well," Ss said seriously. "This matter will be more dangerous than I thought. The more powerful everyone is, the higher our likelihood of survival.


    "I don''t know if your <Basic Scouting> could see or not, but this elite gnoll had 45 Physical, 30 Mental, and 44 Will."


    The eyes of the other widened. They hadn''t known Ss for long, but none of them believed he would be lying in this situation. What would be the purpose? Especially since he was trying to give up such a valuable weapon.


    "From my calctions, its Intelligence should be around 60 points. If I didn''t take the initiative and it started using Skills, the battle could have been much more gruelling."


    At this point, even the usually silent militiamen wore serious expressions.


    Ss'' telekinesis tossed the bone ax at Alex, who deftly caught it.


    Alex looked at Ss with gratitude. He really didn''t have the skill for a sword, but this ax¡­ also, he had a Skill that he couldn''t use properly with a sword that he could finally make use of now.


    It only took a moment for Ss to store the two daggers and take Alex''s 200 coins. Then, he directly transferred 100 coins to Olivia.


    ---


    [Simple Dagger (F)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+3 Strength]


    [Ability: Restore]


    [Use 1 point of Intelligence to restore 1 Durability]


    [Durability: 8/10]


    ---


    [Simple Dagger (F)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+3 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce]


    [Makes applied Strength doubly as Effective]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    Unlike Olivia, Alex''s two daggers weren''t identical and only one of them had been topped off on Durability. But Ss could imagine why.


    Alex probably wasn''t as topped up on funds and ess as Olivia was, so he used the Restore dagger most often because he wouldn''t need to repair it. He probably saved the Pierce dagger for the most dangerous of situations.


    "When can I trade for the <Basic Scouting> Skill?" Ss asked Olivia.


    "We''ll have to return to the vige first. I think it''s best we do that right now. If you''re correct, we''ll need more preparation than this."


    Olivia spoke as she took out a bottle and began to sprinkle an odd powder everywhere. An equally odd smell was whisked into the air before it vanished entirely.


    Then, she stored away the gnoll corpses and picked up the pair of daggers she had allowed Ss to borrow.


    Ss didn''t respond, looking in the direction of the gnoll vige. He doubted that they''d have such an easy time with it.


    And he was quickly proven right.


    The first thing that came was an arrow. It came out of the foliage so suddenly that its entry into their vision sounded almost like a whip pping against the tree''s leaves.


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat. He forgot about everything else and activated Madness and then <Madness Control> in a single instant of time. That mysterious flow of battle acted even without his mind acting first.


    His telekinesis and his hand moved at the same time, one forming a wave of pressure that pushed against the forward pursuit of the arrow, the other grabbing at the air as his body moved violently to the side.


    The arrow rotated wildly in Ss'' hand, a wild heat spreading across his palm. But for the first time, the Scorned Wraps were on his side.


    Just as the arrow was about to break free and pierce into his shoulder, it burnt to ash.

 Chapter 60 Truest Friend

    <h4>Chapter 60 Truest Friend </h4>


    "Attack!" One of the militiamen barked, immediately picking up a spear in one hand and his shield in another. They seemed already prepared to charge at the enemies beneath the domain of Ss'' Madness.


    Ss cursed beneath his breath as he stumbled, retracting his Madness. It was something he rarely did, but it seemed appropriate in a situation like this one.


    He had no choice but to deploy it to save his life, but it had thrown everyone off bnce. The militiamen were under orders to protect Olivia as their top priority, and so they were already charging into the forest. Olivia herself was in too much of a daze to call them back, Alex was looking at his bone ax like he might start tongue-fucking it, and Morgan, the sanest of them, was still frozen in ce for a moment, struggling to regain his bearings.


    To make matters worse, Lauren fell to the ground, dropping her weapons and tightening herself up into a ball, a sound that was a cross between a manicugh and sobbinging from her.


    The range of reactions was vaster than Ss would have expected, but the ultimate result was apletely disorganized group right in the middle of an ambush.


    Without Olivia''s Skill, Ss couldn''t even get an understanding of how many gnolls they were facing, but she was only just regaining her focus.


    Ss knew he had no choice but to activate Madness just now, but he was still frustrated with the oue, especially since his mind said the smartest thing to do was to activate it again.


    Right now.


    He did as his logic guided him, and it wasn''t even a moment too soon. Another arrow appeared, but this time, he was ready.


    He ducked out of the way. Even without <Madness Control>, the added control Madness alone gave him was enough to overturn most disadvantages.


    He dashed forward, ducking behind trees and quickly changing positions as he rushed after both the militiamen and the apparent location of the archer.


    If this archer was anything like a sniper, they might already be changing locations. But he had noted a few things.


    ''It took time for them to reload¡­ the arrow was on a slight downward trajectory, so they are likely high up in the trees¡­ the second arrow came from an angle, so they likely haven''t changed locations just yet¡­ they''re targeting me, and though it''s not certain that they''ll leave the others alone when I start hunting them down, it''s the best option I have¡­''


    If he stood there, trying to protect people he barely knew, he would not only be a sitting duck, but he might even put them in even more danger.


    He dispelled his Madness. He couldn''t use it continuously anyway, and as he made some distance between him and the others, it would at least give them a chance.


    The wind whistled by his face, the humidity of the rainforest mixing with his sweat. Adrenaline pumped through him as his green eyes flickered from side to side, scanning for anything he coulde across.


    Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he ducked and rolled.


    ''There.''


    He could feel his senses on high alert. He had felt it before, but the higher his Mental and Will became, the sharper they seemed to be. Now that he was actually looking out for a specific sound, he reacted to it instantaneously.


    The arrow pierced into a tree with such force that its tail vibrated wildly, but Ss had already darted forward again.


    He seemed to have turned a blind eye to the militiamen who were charging forward.


    ¡ª-


    [Lurk (F)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 40]


    [Mental: 42]


    [Will: 47]


    ¡ª-


    Ss'' sharp eyes finally spotted the archer. Hidden in the foliage, he surprisingly had two crossbows strapped to his wrists while he wielded a bow that honestly looked one pull away from snapping in two.


    When Lurk saw that Ss had spotted him, a yellow grin spread across his face as a light far more intelligent than Ss wanted to admit lit his eyes.


    ''It''s luring me somewhere.''


    Ss'' head turned toward the militiamen who were charging in thepletely wrong direction and he gritted his teeth.


    There was no choice. He had to catch Lurk before he could seed. And even if he did seed, he had no choice but to fall into this trap.


    If Lurk could sneak attack them, there was no doubt that he had locked onto their scents already. Even after killing five more, the vige would still have not just two elites and a super elite remaining, but a total of fifteen warriors.


    That could overrun Casstle Main ten times over.


    It would be worth the retreat if the Rudimentary Vige had some real defenses, but the "walls" of that vige were no different from a suburban home''s fence. It wouldn''t work.


    ''This is stupid,'' Ss told himself.


    Who cared about the vige? If the gnolls tried to track him through scent, he would just disappear into the forest. See if they could track him through a sea of beasts as he picked them off one by one. It wasn''t like he was tied to the vige.


    He knew the real reason he was doing this, even if he didn''t allow his mind to go there. He had been fiercely protective of her his whole life, and it seemed almost ten years had changed nothing.


    Those vague memories that resurfaced during his Madness Comprehension, especially the ones where heughed at himself for what he would say if he called her to tell her about the Summoned Ascension, lingered in his mind for longer than he cared to admit, along with another emotion¡­


    Guilt.


    He didn''t even think of her back then, as though she was just some distant, meaningless memory. And yet it hit him like a truck the moment he saw her again.


    She was the truest friend he had had in his entire life. Even if sheughed in his face, he should have at least picked up a damn phone.

 Chapter 61 Focus!

    <h4>Chapter 61 Focus! </h4>


    [400 PSs Bonus]


    epting Olivia''s arbitrary cost for perfect beast skins that definitely made those high-ss armors she was wearing, not saying anything about the fact Olivia had them fight while she and the militiamen did nothing¡­ and now this.


    Olivia probably thought he had no idea, but if there was one thing Ss wasn''t, it was a fool. If the bone ax was worth over a thousand coins, then the armor Olivia wore was easily worth as much. Paying 50 coins for a beast skin that could make at least two or three of them was practically spitting in his face.


    However, he epted it for a simple reason.


    He was 100% certain that Cassarae hadn''t ordered it.


    Madness.


    Sudden Burst.


    <Madness Control>.


    The sneering Lurk froze.


    With Ss on the ground and him leaping backward from tree branch to tree branch, there was still at least 20 meters that separated the two, but Ss suddenly became something even more than superhuman.


    Sudden Burst not only allowed him to reach his top Speed instantly, but when he really pushed it and didn''t deactivate the skill, basking in the stress his body was under, he could feel himself breaking beyond that limit.


    Under <Madness Control>, his body didn''t rip itself apart, neither did the Gene Talent run out of control. Instead, the world seemed to slow to a crawl around him, and the entire potential of Sudden Burst was unearthed until it evolved to something beyond a Dexterity Skill.


    In an instant, Ss had cut the distance in half. The effects of Sudden Burst ran out and he could feel the burning in his body that told him he wouldn''t be able to use it again for a while. However, this was enough.


    A dagger came out from his Madness Key, and under the +150% Will and +200% Charisma that came from Madness, the Physical of his telekinesis skyrocketed to just over 75!


    It whistled through the air with a high-pitched screech and impaled Lurk''s chest down to the hilt in what felt like an instant.


    The gnoll elite opened his eyes wide, not expecting that this would have happened.


    However, Ss'' mind was on something else entirely. It wasn''t just the fact that Lurk had managed to keep his sanity beneath Madness'' effect, but that he had already been spotted.


    Just as the gnoll elite was falling from the trees, another group of four gnolls had already spotted Ss.


    Ss came to a stop. He could feel his body aching beneath the effects of Sudden Burst, but his mind was still moving like a roaring engine. Despair was thest on the list, and he didn''t have the luxury of going through all his emotions one by one.


    His eyes shifted from the group of gnolls that had been waiting for him to run into the trap to the quiver that had been crushed beneath Lurk''s fall.


    It spilled out with arrows, what must have been about a dozen crudely formed ones. As for the crossbows strapped to his wrists, each one only had a single bolt attached with a not-too-


    subtle dripping green liquid on their tips.


    Now Ss understood why the archer had only sent three arrows until now. Lurk had a limited number and even his crossbows were one-time-use items.


    Judging by the bone ax he hid on his back, he probably chose an unorthodox path on purpose. He probably never nned to kill Ss with an arrow.


    Even with all of these thoughts, Ss was still the first to react. His telekinesis ripped out an arrow from Lurk''s quiver and it tore into the forehead of a gnoll.


    The group hesitated about escaping for only a moment before Ss'' Madness field enveloped them.


    ''It''s so much easier.''


    This was the only thought Ss had before another arrow tore through the air.


    The gnolls reacted better this time, but it still tore through one of their shoulders.


    They charged toward Ss with madness in their eyes, thoughts of running and reporting flung far to the back of their minds. The distance between them wasn''t far to begin with. By the time Ss had ripped out another arrow to use, they were already bearing down on him.


    His focus shook as he braced himself, and the arrow fell to the ground.


    Ss cursed again.


    He could only control one thing with his telekinesis at a time. It required his Will, and by obvious extension, his focus. He wasn''t sure if he could practice to make it better, but right now obviously wasn''t the ideal situation to do so.


    Three weapons bore down on Ss from three different sides and he felt a panic awaken in his heart. He had run down the list and finally hit despair.


    When he could focus on one enemy at a time, everything was perfect. But he was only human. He couldn''t calcte his way through the intentions and reactions of three separate entities at once.


    Retreat.


    That was all he could think of,unching himself backward to try to get out the range of their strikes.


    The harsh whistling of their weapons cut through the air and whipped against his face with disced wind. He could practically imagine those des cutting right into him and very much human emotions began to bubble up within him.


    ''Focus!'' Ss roared in his mind.


    A steel-like will forged through decades erupted. It wasn''t a mere stat; it was Ss Brown.


    He elerated in his retreat, weaving through the trees along a path he had already been through once. He didn''t even turn back, his eyes focused on the three enraged gnolls that rushed after him.


    He could feel that <Madness Control> was already about to run dry. His Intelligence was only at 10 and his Aether pool was pitifully small as a result. Using this high-level Skill for extended periods of time was impossible, but being able to keep out of the range of these enraged gnolls while running backward was impossible without it. He wouldn''t have the control needed.

 Chapter 62 Exhilirating

    <h4>Chapter 62 Exhilirating </h4>


    [300 GTs Bonus]


    Luckily, he already found what he was looking for.


    A pair of dazed militiamen stood in the distance, seemingly both having snapped out of Ss'' Madness and realized they were lost.


    Unfortunately for them, that didn''tst long, as Ss'' Madness enveloped them again. This time, they fell into it even quicker and their eyes turned a zing sheen of red.


    They looked around like wild animals.


    Ss'' back smashed into a tree, just barely out of the eyesight of the militiamen, and all they saw was a torrent of infuriated gnolls.


    The three quickly closed the distance on Ss, but the roar of the militiamen came as well.


    The gnolls looked to bepletely focused on Ss, but at that moment, thetter''s second dagger appeared out from the Madness Key and pierced one right through the brows down to the very hilt.


    The stricken?gnoll''s eyes dimmed, and it copsed, tripping up and slowing the forward momentum of the other two just as the militiamen rounded the tree.


    The two were suddenly embroiled in battle and the gnolls forgot Ss'' existence. Ss, though, didn''t forget theirs.


    His telekinesis ripped the dagger out from the forehead of their deadpanion and he took the opportunity of their distraction to rip out the throat of one, circling the dagger back around to stab in the back of the head of the second.


    He retracted his Madness then broke into a sprint. If he died under the assault of the two militiamen, it would probably be the greatest joke he''d never get to tell.


    Luckily, the militiamen looked around in rage, not understanding why their opponents had suddenly vanished. Then they looked toward one another, suddenly finding the other annoying.


    It was then that Ss'' Madness vanished and confusion lit their faces again.


    Ss'' breath came out in heaving gasps. His body ached, his mind felt drained, but his eyes shone like two bright gems.


    Pulling himself out from near death felt so¡­


    Exhrating.


    Ss put his hands on his knees, his breathing sounding like a roaring engine in his ears. His lungs were practically screaming for a break and he felt his vision was blurring. It was the kind of fatigue that made a person want to keel over and vomit, only after ripping their lungs out so that the burning would go away.


    Using Sudden Burst to the limit had already brought him over that edge, but then he used <Madness Control> for so long afterward, pulling out every hint of potential he had remaining. It was like he had been in a full sprint for almost a quarter hour.


    He thought about those corpses he had left behind and felt no small amount ofment. Did he have time to go and get them? Was it safe to? Was there another ambush?


    Ss didn''t choose to make a foolish mistake.


    He turned back and saw the militiamen in a daze, directly snatched the reward orbs of the three dead gnolls, then raised his voice.


    "We need to go. Now."


    The militiamen blinked in confusion, but Ss'' familiar face seemed to snap them out of their daze. They subconsciously nodded and then followed after Ss.


    Ss sent onest nce toward where Lurk had fallen, feeling for the loss of a gnoll elite''s reward, but he never hesitated when he made a decision. This was the right thing to do.


    The three returned to where Olivia and the rest had been. They had already recovered, and there seemed to be an argument about what to do. They hadn''t even been aware enough to know where Ss had gone and some of them apparently thought he had already deserted.


    "We need to retreat."


    Ss said these words and didn''t wait for everyone''s reaction.


    Seeing him return with the two militiamen, they were rightfully confused. There was some guilt toward their earlier assumptions about him, but Ss didn''t me them for this either. They weren''t in their right state of mind, anyway.


    "Just what happened?" Olivia asked, quickening to catch up with Ss.


    At this point, Ss was most definitely not walking. This wasn''t the appropriate time for leisure. He was in a jog that his broken body could barely withstand right now.


    "We were attacked. I dealt with it," was how Ss responded.


    "I think you owe us an exnation that''s better than that," Morgan chimed in from behind.


    "I don''t, actually." Ss said. Inwardly, he was sighing, though. He didn''t want to take such a firm stance right now, but there were some lines that had to be drawn. "If you want to know what happened, ask them."


    He pointed over his shoulder at the two militiamen.


    The group fell into silence.


    Olivia gave them a questioning look. It was clear that most of the group didn''t really treat the militiamen as people. It was easier for them to go about in ignorance that way. That was obviously why they chose to question Ss instead.


    The two militiamen looked toward once another.


    "We only remember rushing toward where the hidden archer was and getting lost. Then we found three gnolls and rushed to fight them, but then they suddenly died under a flying dagger when we engaged them."


    Flying dagger? They all looked at Ss.


    Each one had been shocked by Ss'' telekinesis. It wasn''t something any one of them could do. It wasn''t just a matter of having high Will and Charisma. Ss was pretty sure that it was because he unlocked Madness that he likewise unlocked telekinesis, even though the more he learned about the two, the less connected they seemed.


    "And what about the archer?" Olivia asked.


    "They never appeared again."


    She sucked in a cold breath. Didn''t that mean that they had to kill at least nine gnolls in a single trip? But¡­


    "But the corpses!" Lauren suddenly called out.


    "It''s toote." Ss interrupted. "This was all nned from the start. The first ''hunting party'' already smelled off. When the second one appeared not long afterward, it wasn''t a coincidence. They''re trying to hunt us down. There might even be another party trying to close in on us right now."

 Chapter 63 Status Change

    <h4>Chapter 63 Status Change </h4>


    "There''s only ten of them left. If we return to the vige and they track us down, it''ll be eleven versus ten. This is the best option." Ss finished.


    "You killed five?" Morgan did the math.


    "Yes," Ss replied coolly.


    The entire group looked toward Ss'' back as they ran, feeling as though they had all run into a monster.


    This wasn''t the movies. Winning against one strong opponent was already impressive enough. You couldn''t win against two unless you were at least 50% stronger than them both from their experience, let alone three or more. Was Ss really one of them?


    Olivia frowned, feeling that she had lost control of the situation. Ss went and made such a huge decision on his own, and she was fairly certain that the field that disrupted their minds hade from him. Although there was also arge chance it came from the gnolls as well, her senses were sharp. She obviously didn''t have just the <Basic Scouting> Skill either.


    She had to admit that she had bent Cassarae''s rules a little and taken some advantage of Ss, but she had never put his life in danger. It was uneptable to her for this to happen, and yet, at the same time, she gave Ss more leeway than she would have someone else.


    Maybe it was because she knew quite clearly that Cassarae still had feelings for him and would likely let this matter slide as well.


    As for Ss, he already knew it was inappropriate. This wasn''t his vige and yet he had made such an important decision for them, he wasn''t na?ve to that fact.


    Unfortunately, there also wasn''t a choice for propriety.


    The group moved as fast as they could and this time, it was actually Ss whogged behind them, his lungs screaming. However, he urged them to keep going and not slow down so they could lessen the potential variables.


    The group inevitably came across beasts, but this wasn''t the time to care about collecting beast pelts, so they directly attacked as a group, skewering the animals from all sides.


    This slowed them down, but not by much, and soon the vige was in sight again as they stepped into the wet marsh.


    There were two guards facing the direction of the rainforest and the gnoll vige, likely men of the vige. It was clear their only task was to scout and report because the moment the group was seen returning, one of them immediately rushed off to inform the City Lord.


    Soon, Cassarae had appeared with the militiamen. There was a tight frown that knitted her brows, as she could already feel that something had gone wrong. Her heart plummeted to the floor when she didn''t see Ss among the returnees.


    "Where is Syl?!" Cassarae questioned immediately. She looked at Olivia with a hint of frantess in her eyes that was barely masked by her attempt to keep herposure.


    Olivia was startled for a moment and looked back. Ss was very tired, and he had been falling further and further behind their pace as they moved.


    The adventurers looked toward one another. Ss knew the City Lord? That was¡­


    At that moment, Ss jogged out of the rainforest and into the marsh, his body slick with sweat and his chest heaving.


    It was only after seeing this that Cassarae had to stifle a breath of relief. She immediately moved on as though she hadn''t said a word.


    "What happened?"


    Olivia gave her friend some grace and moved on as well, exining the situation.


    Cassarae bit at her bottom lip as she listened. Knowing that the vige would likely be attacked soon put her on edge, even if they had the numbers advantage right now.


    They would likely have to be on edge and the gnolls might try a night raid. And, from their information, the gnolls were even stronger at night.


    This also wasn''t the modern world anymore. At night, it would practically be pitch ck aside from the moonlight. Their scouting wouldn''t even be effective. The gnolls would definitely have far sharper vision than them in this case as well.


    Ss finally caught up. His breathing was ragged just a moment ago, but for some reason, he stood straight and tall now, as though he was just fine.


    "We will have to prepare the vige." Cassarae regained all of herposure at the same moment. "Gather the women, children, and weak near the center. We''ll give the men spears, but inform them that they aren''t to fight. They''re only there for intimidation and to keep up appearances.


    "They will probably try a night raid, so if you can help it, I would suggest resting as much as you can now. This will be dangerous, but it will also be a great opportunity."


    ''These two¡­'' Olivia was speechless.


    There was a rush to fulfill Cassarae''s orders.


    Sspleted his trade with Olivia and finally learned <Basic Scouting>. Then, he found a bed and copsed, his aching bodypletely forgetting that he had gotten a good night''s rest just hours ago. He barely had the time to take a nce at his new-look status screen.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 50]


    >[Strength: 50]


    >[Constitution: 50]


    >[Dexterity: 50]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 47]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 122]


    [Will: 94]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Maddened Meditation (FF-); Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (6) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (3) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-)]


    ---


    There were so many things that Ss noticed immediately, so many surprising things, from two of his Titles actually swapping ces, to the fact one of those titles didn''t seem to have a rank at all, and then the new ranks everything seemed to have gained¡­


    But he didn''t allow himself to think too much about it. Maybe it was because of his strong Will, but he shut those thoughts down, forcing his mind into a nk state where sleep was king.

 Chapter 64 Overprotective

    <h4>Chapter 64 Overprotective </h4>


    "Cass, we need to talk," Olivia followed in after Cassarae, the two entering the shabby shack at the center of the vige.


    Cassarae took a seat at the head of her desk, a tight frown on her face. Clearly, theing battle was weighing heavily on her mind, and Olivia''s sudden sternness wasn''t really to her liking either.


    She sighed. "Lay it on me."


    "Well, it''s not all bad news. There is some good news."


    Olivia passed over a ring.


    ---


    [Simple Storage Ring (F-)]


    [Contains hidden space essible by the mind. Size is dependent on Aether Units invested with a limit of 10 by 10 by 10 meters]


    [Aether Units: 20]


    [Scale: 10 centimeters]


    ---


    Such arge storage device sounded great, but it was unfortunately an F- treasure for a reason. The scbility was terrible.


    An Aether Unit was the equivalent amount of Aether someone with 10 Intelligence would have. Meaning, someone with 10 Intelligence would have to drain all the Aether they had just to increase this ticker by one.


    This was fine enough, but the real trouble came in what each unit meant.


    A single Aether Unit was worth about an additional ten centimeters. So Ss, for example, would have to drain himself 20 times just to gain a two-by-two-by-two-meter storage space.


    The worst part was that the invested units were not permanent, as they would dissipate over time. After a day, a ring of this quality could lose about 20% of its size, and that was regardless of how much you invested. Due to that, the two women were actually reluctant to fill it past 20 Aether Units even if they could.


    In this world, Aether was probably the most valuable resource. They couldn''t afford to drain themselves everyday just out of convenience.


    Not everyone had Maddened Meditation to quickly replenish themselves, and even then, Ss was only able to replenish his Aether so quickly precisely because his Intelligence was so low in the first ce.


    "These are¡­ beasts?" Cassarae''s brows jumped. "They don''t have the usual signs of wear and tear. They''re perfect. How¡­" Cassarae smiled bitterly. "It was Ss, wasn''t it?"


    Olivia pouted. "You took all the fun out of it. Couldn''t I have had a breakthrough or something? Do you really have so little faith in me?"


    "You didn''t¡ª"


    "Stop, I already know what you''re thinking. I paid him."


    Cassarae''s eyes narrowed. "How much?"


    Olivia coughed. "Anyway, the bad news. I think we have to draw some lines in the sand. I understand if you might have some more¡­ leniency toward Ss than most others, but today he basically made this choice for us."


    Cassarae leaned back into her chair, taking those words in. Although Olivia didn''t exin with any depth, she understood what she meant.


    Ultimately, this was her city. There was a reason she had made it a point to say that the Quest wasn''t a charity event, and they would get rewards for their participation. She knew a lot about human nature.


    Whether or not she or Olivia would have made the same decision, it wasn''t Ss'' ce to unterally decide for them.


    But at the same time, considering the circumstances, was there another choice?


    "How much?" Cassarae suddenly asked again.


    Olivia didn''t expect this, but in the end, she told the truth.


    Cassarae sighed, rubbing her brows.


    "He didn''t even know coins existed until I told him about it. Even if he learns in the future, he won''t put two and two together. The events will be separated by too much time. Don''t be like that. We''re tight on funds, we have to cut corners where we can. Plus, in this world, as cruel as it sounds, he can only me himself."


    Cassarae shook her head. "Everything you said would have made sense¡­ if it wasn''t Ss. He definitely already knows. He just didn''t bother to call you out on it."


    "Then that''s even better. He''s not a petty person."


    Cassarae''s smile became even more bitter. "He''s the pettiest person in the world. Don''t let that stoic face fool you. He''s brattier than you are."


    "I am not bratty!" Olivia said with a gasp. As for Cassarae''s words about Ss, she didn''t argue¡­ that was because she remembered that even though Ss knew she was interested in the bone ax, he didn''t even talk to her about it, directly selling it to Alex for such a low price.


    "He''ll definitely remember this. Take the initiative to give him an extra 600¡­ no, actually. We''ll let him use the Nexus."


    Olivia''s eyes widened. "Cass, you¡­"


    There was a smile on Cassarae''s face and she didn''t even seem to be listening to Olivia anymore.


    Was she surprised about Ss? Killing an F+ elite, then ughtering five gnolls including another elite on his own¡­?


    Not really.


    She just felt that it was typical Ss. She had never thought about it so clearly, but there was never a doubt in her mind that he would have clicked [Yes] to enter this world. And once he did, he would definitely excel.


    And most importantly, she saw something that Olivia didn''t. He definitely didn''t have to go after those five gnolls.


    He did it for her.


    He was still the same Ss. Still as overprotective as ever.


    **


    Ss'' eyes shot open. He only should have slept for an hour or two, but he felt that his body was feeling much better. He had already had a good night''s rest, and this nap had more than made up for his aching body. If he had had arge meal, it would have reced it quite easily. Unfortunately, he had traded away the beasts he defeated.


    ''There''s time between now and the night. There''s a good eight hours¡­ I can go hunting, or I can use my coins to exchange for something if they don''t let me leave.''


    They had left barely after dawn, and it should only be around noon now. Assuming they attacked at night like everyone thought they would, there was definitely time.


    However, Ss set aside his hunger. He hadn''t forgotten that he had gathered many rewards.

 Chapter 65 Spoils

    <h4>Chapter 65 Spoils </h4>


    [600 ps bonus]


    He still had the gnoll elite''s Gene Core even though he hadn''t gotten anything from Lurk, and he had the reward orbs of three more gnolls on top of that.


    But Ss was a bit hesitant.


    The reason he didn''t absorb Vorak''s Genes was because, unlike with the Madness Key, he couldn''t directly pass Genes from himself to the Gene Crystal. This seemed to be a unique ability the Madness Key was capable of, but the Gene Crystal could only absorb fresh Genes.


    This wasn''t actually entirely bad. That was because the Gene Crystal could absorb Genes with a 100% sess rate, so there would be no loss.


    However, the drawback was obviously that any Genes he gave the Gene Crystal, he couldn''t take in himself.


    Vorak had two Common Will and three Common Intelligence Genes. Only Intelligence was needed for unlocking Basic Aetherflow, but he needed a whole 15 of them. These three would obviously go a long way to helping that.


    Unfortunately¡­ he couldn''t pick and choose which he took. It was either he tried to absorb all five, or he took in none of them. That also meant that the Gene Crystal would directly discard the two Common Will Genes and they would vanish.


    That was a +40 Will gone into the wind. That was a huge amount, almost 50% of Ss'' current stat total.


    ''In base, that would be a whole +5 to my telekinesis'' Strength. If I added +150% when Madness is activated, that would be an additional +25 Strength just from those two Genes alone¡­


    ''Of course, I also have to consider that the odds I seed in absorbing both of them are only 25% considering my Soft Gene State only gives me a fifty-fifty chance¡­


    ''The hardest thing to ignore is the potential boost to my Intelligence. Madness Control runs out too quickly. If I could use it for longer...''


    What made all of this harder was the fact Ss had lost a gnoll elite corpse. If he had two of these Gene Cores, it would have been an easier choice to make. But scarcity made it more difficult.


    On the one hand, he needed more immediate strength. But on the other, he needed to improve his future potential as well.


    ''Let''s check the other stuff first to see if it''ll tip things one way or another.''


    Ss took out the reward orbs of the three gnolls, crushing them one after another.


    Between the three of them, he gained a total of 50 coins.


    ---


    [Coins: 220 (F)]


    ---


    Then there came the Gene Cores.


    ---


    [Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]


    [Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]


    [Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]


    ---


    They were identical down the line, and also equally as disappointing.


    Ss ended up using two to feed the Gene Crystal, and as a result he wasted one Strength Gene and one Constitution Gene. There was no way to split Genes, and Basic Aetherflow only needed five Strength and Constitution Genes, so the sixth of each was dissipated.


    Or so he thought.


    The Madness Key vibrated and the dissipating energy was suddenly sucked into it.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss felt something change, but he wasn''t sure what it was.


    He looked inside the Madness Key and suddenly understood. The space inside had gotten bigger. From a one-cubic-meter space, it had be a three-cubic-meter space.


    That wasn''t all, either. When he used his intention to connect with the Madness Key, he felt like he was staring at those dancing snakes, each onepleting a different sort of action.


    ''Is this what happens when I overfeed the Madness Key?''


    He had never tested it out, and why would he? Genes were precious even if he had reached the stat cap. But he never expected that the Madness Key would have these hidden abilities.


    Could he use it to improve his Madness Comprehension, then?


    Right now, the insights were still much weaker than the barriers within the Dungeon, but if he fed it more that would change, no?


    He looked at thest gnoll Gene Core he had and chose to take a gamble. It wasn''t like he could increase his stats right now, anyway.


    The Madness Key greedily swallowed.


    The space inside grew once more, from three cubic meters all the way to nine cubic meters.


    It was a shocking change. This size could already dwarf a small cabin or house, and it was much more space that Ss even knew what to do with currently.


    ''Still not enough¡­'' Ss thought.


    This was, indeed, a game changer.


    ording to his new scouting Skill, Madness Control was an FF+ rated Skill while Madness was an FFF rated Comprehension. Ss could still remember how his Comprehension had helped <Little Madness> and the other Madness Skills to reach Legendary Mastery in a single bound. He felt that it could be able to do the same for <Madness Control>, but the problem was that it was a much higher-tier Skill.


    Essentially, increasing his Madness Comprehension now was akin to killing two birds with one stone. Madness Comprehension was now at Common Mastery while <Madness Control> was still at Fragmented, but if the former rose to Bronze Mastery, he had a feeling that <Madness Control> would rise with it. And, an increase in Madness would raise the boost his telekinesis gained when it was activated, and thus be worth far more than any boost Will Stats could give him, while an increase in <Madness Control> Mastery would make his Intelligence stretch further.


    With this thought in mind, Ss made his decision. He passed the three Intelligence Genes to the Gene Crystal, knocking down the 15 he needed to 12.


    The Madness Key acted again, absorbing the twotent Genes, and its size expanded again.


    ''Unfortunate¡­'' Ss sighed.


    The space grew to 10 cubic meters, then stopped. There should have been enough to grow to 11, but it didn''t do so. Instead, the rest of the energy was infused into the walls, but it still wasn''t enough to surpass the barriers. Though, he could feel that it was already about 90% simr in strength.


    Ss had a feeling that if he wanted to go beyond Common Mastery, he would need to allow the Madness Key to absorb Bronze Genes. That seemed to be the adequate trade.


    Still, he didn''t regret the gamble. That was because he felt something else stirring.


    <Madness Control>.

 Chapter 66 Effectiveness

    <h4>Chapter 66 Effectiveness </h4>


    [350 GTs bonus chapter]


    He remembered that while Madness and <Maddened Meditation> were both at Common Mastery, <Madness Control> was certainly not.


    Having the Madness Key around his neck felt far more¡­ intimate than observing the barriers had been. It didn''t flicker in and out, and he felt that he could be immersed in his own thoughts and under its influence at the same time¡­


    ---


    [Madness Control (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own]


    [+ Dexterity]


    ---


    He focused in on that + Dexterity.


    The more he came to know about this world, the more he understood that things weren''t always as they seemed. There were obviously some things, often hidden in in sight, that were obscured maybe by design, maybe maliciously, or maybe both.


    There was no reason for the Grades of his Skills and such to be hidden. The idea of "simplicity" made no sense. The human race was an intelligent enough one to understand a simple nine-tiered system from F- to FFF+.


    But as with everything in this world, information was at a premium.


    They distracted you with Genes and fancy stats and Aether, when in reality nothing was more important than the information surrounding them itself.


    And he felt that this was another piece of wool over his eyes.


    He looked down at the Madness Key. This thing could give him the answer to any question he wanted, and yet there were so many weird things surrounding it. There was that odd glitch in the system, then there was him magically losing three months of time, and for what? Because there were certain things he shouldn''t be allowed to know?


    Even for the Madness Key, when he asked a question that he shouldn''t, he was directly punished for it.


    There were big yers in this world, a world that was suddenly far vaster than he was used to.


    ''Efficiency¡­'' Ss suddenly thought. ''¡­ No, Effectiveness.''


    Ss'' mind suddenly drifted to a thought, linking two seemingly unrted things together. He had lost one of his daggers, but there was still one that remained.


    ---


    [Simple Dagger (F)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+3 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce]


    [Makes applied Strength doubly as Effective]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    That word "Effective" was capitalized, much like Strength was.


    Why?


    ---


    [What is Effectiveness?]


    [Effectiveness is a hidden Variable Stat. It acts as a multiplier to your stats, ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. Though, some special methods can push it beyond those measures, sometimes at a cost. Its purpose is in deciding how Effectively your stats, Skills, or Comprehensions are being applied]


    Ss''s eyes narrowed. A hidden stat? And by its description, it was probably the most important stat there was.


    But it made sense. What did having 50 Strength even mean? Could he exert the same Strength with a fist as he could a kick? Of course not. Thetter would always be stronger. Would he be able to run at the same Speed on grass while barefoot versus if he had a pair of cleats? Again, of course not.


    Even so, he felt that the purpose of the hidden stat was moreplicated than just those obvious examples. It probably took into things like technique, how trained his actions were, how well he shifted his weight in battle, how good the defenses of his opponent were.


    The number of factors was endless, and Ss suddenly understood why it was hidden. At least it made more sense that this stat was hidden as opposed to the nine grades.


    Such a number would wildly fluctuate so quickly in battle that no human, not even Ss, could possibly read and react to them. What would even be the point in seeing it?


    Unless¡­ you had a Skill capable of taking control of those variables, putting yourself in a perfect state at all given times.


    Suddenly, it clicked.


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    If he was going around with a 0.1 Effectiveness, but <Madness Control> could raise it to 0.2, it would be as good as doubling all Suddenly, it clicked.


    If he was going around with a 0.1 Effectiveness, but <Madness his Physical stats instantly. It was no wonder this Skill was the result of the fusion of those three.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has deepened]


    [<Madness Control> has reached Common Mastery]


    ---


    [Madness Control (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own]


    [+0.1 Effectiveness]


    ---


    The change feltckluster, especially when even a trashy dagger could double the Effectiveness of Strength. But Ss felt that this small change might be worth far more than he knew. Pierce could only work in conjunction with the Strength stat, but this applied to an overall change, a synergy of sorts.


    Stats, in general, felt like they had quite some ovep. For example, just simple physics, wasn''t Speed often corrted with Strength? And what about eleration? If you were given little room in battle, and needed to explode with a lot of power in a short time, wouldn''t you need Dexterity? Would Strength alone be able to do it? And what about when your attacknded? Would you prefer if your fist was as stic as a bouncy ball or as tough as iron? If you chose thetter, wouldn''t you need a high Constitution?


    Everything fed into one another, and an overall increase of 0.1 Effectiveness was more like 0.4 when it was evenly applied across his stats, another 0.1 for when he activated a Gene Talent, and then another 0.1 for when he used his Aether.


    They would all steamroll into one another,yering and strengthening.


    Ss wouldn''t be surprised if his overall battle prowess had suddenly taken a huge leap forward.


    The ps of therge tent suddenly opened, letting some sunlight in.


    "Ah, you''re awake," Lauren said with a pleasant hint in her voice. "The City Lord asked to see you."


    "Oh, alright," Ss nodded, standing to his feet.


    He kind of wanted to take another shower, but it was more inconvenient now with everyone out and about. The Bronze Stele had a diameter of 100 meters and a poption cap of 100 as well. This Common Rudimentary Vige, though, had half that. It was the middle of the day and everyone was rushing to prepare for tonight. He didn''t have the luxury, so he could only deal with it.


    Ss thanked Lauren for delivering the message and made his way to the core of the city before being escorted by a militiaman into a shabby shack where both Olivia and Cassarae were waiting.

 Chapter 67 City Lady

    <h4>Chapter 67 City Lady </h4>


    The first thing Ss did after giving the two women a nod was take a nce around. The shack was simple, just a desk, a bed, and what looked like a barrel used for simple baths. It was allpletely normal except for one object.


    A floating cube glowed a dull grey color, hovering above an altar in the corner of the small shack. It could only be one thing.


    ''City Stele¡­'' Ss thought to himself.


    His brows raised. This was definitely not an area you should casually allow anyone to enter. These two were probably the only ones who knew that the City Stele was located here. Technically speaking, Ss only had to put his hands on it to trigger a conquer sequence.


    Ss'' brows lowered, and he looked toward Cassarae.


    Olivia''s jaw almost hit the floor. ''Is that a smile?''


    It definitely was. She hadn''t known Ss for long, but even Morgan cracked a quirk of the lip or two at Alex''s antics. Ss himself almost pretended as though he hadn''t heard anything at all.


    Well, calling it a smile was probably pushing it. Ss'' expression just seemed to be a hint warmer than the stone cold she had be used to.


    "Ss, you''re here," Cassarae nodded, "that''s good. I heard from Olivia that you helped us gather up some very important strategic resources, so I wanted to make sure that you were properlypensated for your efforts."


    "Oh?" Ss didn''t seem too surprised by this. He felt that this was an expected oue.


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "Can''t you react with some gratitude? Maybe an: ''oh my, City Lady, you''re so generous.''"


    Same Ss, pretending as if he knew everything.


    Ss gave an exaggerated formal bow. "You''re right, the esteemed City Lord has done me a great service."


    "City Lady," Cassarae corrected.


    "There''s no such term in history," Ss stood to his full height again and replied without missing a beat. Well, City Lord wasn''t an official historical title either, but she didn''t need to know that.


    "Who cares? My city, my rules."


    "Your Rudimentary Vige, you mean."


    "You trying to pick a fight, Ss?"


    "If you want one."


    Cassarae looked both irritated and amused at the same time. She never understood people who said Ss wasn''t funny, his words themselves were, it was just that delivery was almost too quick andcked re.


    Olivia looked back and forth between the two and suddenly let out a sigh.


    "Holy shit, Ipletely misread this situation."


    Ss and Cassarae looked at her at the same time with usatory nces that seemed to say: "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    Olivia held up her hands in surrender, not even quite knowing what she was apologizing for.


    Cassarae cleared her throat. "Anyway, like I was saying, we appreciate your efforts. We spoke about it and think that a good reward is giving you ess to the Nexus."


    "Nexus?" Ss asked.


    "It''s a hub you can ess through a City Stele or during Quick-time Events in the wilderness. It''s essentially a ce you can pay for information, form connections and, maybe most importantly, ess the system store. One of the perks of being a budding City Lady."


    Ss'' brows raised again.


    "What are these Quick-time Events?"


    "Has your head been buried in the sand for thest three months?"


    Ss spread out his hands. "I''ve been upied by some things."


    "Not upied by getting armor or better weapons than¡­" she looked toward the dirtied and bloody wraps still tightly wound around his hands, wrists, and forearms, "¡­ whatever those are.


    "Anyway, Quick-time Events are like open-air Dungeons. In this region, they basically happen once a month. Leveled beasts are usually hard to find outside of those events, unless you''re risking your life and adventuring particrly deep into the forest. Those that reach a certain threshold during the event can usually ess a Nexus afterward."


    "But you have perpetual ess to one," Ss said as less of a question and more of a statement.


    "Yes, and no¡ª" Cassarae started before being interrupted.


    "Cass!"


    Cassarae waved a hand and told Olivia not to mind it.


    "Not all City Ladies have ess to a Nexus, and the one we have ess to is gated. Technically, the Quick-time Event Nexuses are gated as well, depending on the difficulty and your performance, but they tend to be less so than ours.


    "This is all to say that what you can buy through our Nexus is very limited."


    "Okay, I understand."


    "Then feel free," Cassarae pointed a finger toward the City Stele. "So long as you help us to gather more intact beast furs, you can use it whenever you need it. Just keep it under 500 coins."


    Ss nodded and didn''t say anything as he made it to the City Stele, sinking his mind into it.


    He immediately saw several options.


    ---


    [View City Status]


    [Conquer City Stele?]


    [Enter Nexus]


    ---


    He chose thest option, and his mind was warped into a white space.


    On the outside, Olivia sighed. "Tell me the truth, ''Lady,'' what elixir did he force-feed you?"


    "Huh?"


    "You''re a little too trusting, don''t you think? He feels more powerful than us all and that''s without all the easy ess you''re giving him."


    "I know him," Cassarae said, somewhat defensively.


    Olivia raised an eyebrow as though she were looking at a crazy person. She really wanted to say: "No, you know the Ss of ten years ago, not this one," but she bit back her statement. It was hard not to feel like a third party getting in the way of a love affair right now. All things considered, she had only known Cassarae for three months.


    However, in that time, they had truly had each other''s backs. They had gone through true life-or-death events when either one of them would have already had the opportunity to backstab or betray the other. Olivia, likely rightfully so, felt that that was worth far more than whatever childhood love Cassarae had experienced.

 Chapter 68 Leaderboard

    <h4>Chapter 68 Leaderboard </h4>


    You never really knew a person until they were painted into a corner. There were married couples who had experienced decades with one another that didn''t truly know their "other half," and this wasn''t even that.


    While she understood that this was Cassarae''s city, they couldn''t have gotten to this point without the efforts of both of them. In addition, if anything were to happen to the city, it wouldn''t just be Cassarae who was put in danger, or just the vigers she still didn''t know were real or not, but Olivia as well who would potentially be thrown into the mess.


    It was hard to feel like Cassarae wasn''t gambling with all of their lives based on the memory of a person she once knew, and a person she clearly had a blind spot for as well.


    Ss had just unveiled something that could barely be considered a smile, and all of Cassarae''s promised sternness had gone out the window.


    Olivia exhaled a breath.


    "Okay, I''m sorry. I wasn''t very professional in this matter and I cut corners where I shouldn''t have. But! This little vige is basically our make-or-break. We have to be more cautious with it."


    Cassarae blinked, seeminglying to understand Olivia''s perspective. Earlier today, Ss had made a unteral decision for them, and now it seemed that she was raining rewards on him for that.


    At the same time, her image as a City Lord was also highly important to her poprity amongst her citizens. Ss was a variable that could easily throw that in the wrong direction if things were handled inappropriately.


    Cassarae shook her head. "Olivia, what happened today?"


    "I already told you¡ª"


    "Tell me again."


    Olivia frowned, but wanting to know what Cassarae meant, she did so anyway.


    "There," Cassarae stopped her barely a few seconds in. "An arrow came out of nowhere and your mind suddenly became fuzzy. Then Ss ran. Some of you assumed that he had escaped alone, but then he came back. You''re failing to bridge two important things."


    Olivia parted her lips to respond, but stopped, waiting for Cassarae to continue.


    "The assumption that he ran away isn''t a bad one, because it''s what any smart person would have done in that situation. All of you were tied down, and he was seemingly the only one who could move, so why didn''t he?"


    "The arrows were targeting him, though," Olivia countered.


    "They were. But if he ran away from the archer instead of toward them, what would have happened?"


    Olivia''s eyes widened. "I¡­"


    Cassarae shook her head. "No, it''s not your fault. You''re smart, smarter than me, that''s for sure. I just shouldn''t have told you that story. It colored your perception of him and clouded your judgment. I know I told you not to let it go beyond these four walls, but we''re all human, aren''t we?"


    A bitter smile spread across her lips. She did regret telling that story. She had held it in for ten years, so what was another ten? Unfortunately, she couldn''t bottle up spilt milk, and it would be hard to mend the rtionship between the two.


    "The short of it is that I want to nip this in the bud right now, Liv. Don''t trust Ss because I happened to know him ten years ago, trust him based on what he''s already done. That is enough."


    Olivia exhaled a breath. "Alright."


    ¡­


    Ss couldn''t hear what the women were talking about, and they probably knew that, which was why they didn''t bother to hide their voices at all. His mind was sent into a realm of sorts.


    It was yet another world of white fog, one that reminded him a lot of the first ce he had entered when the Trial began.


    He moved his intention, and suddenly the world began to zoom around him. Soon, he found himself in a city with buildings that were somehow both simple and yet far more substantial than the ones he was used to on Earth.


    There weren''t any skyscrapers, nor oundish architecture, but it felt like the city nning was designed by a person with decades more experience than modern Earth, not to mention the funds to do so.


    He didn''t know why he got that feeling. He had only seen what was objectively a small part of this city, a city he was now seeing was mostly deserted, but it was the feeling he got, nheless.


    ''This must be the gathering ce Cassarae mentioned, but as expected, there aren''t any people here. Or maybe there are people, but they''re so spread out within the city that I can''t immediately spot any one of them¡­''


    Ss was about to pull back when his eyesnded on something. High up in the skies, there was a board visible from seemingly all angles, and upon it there were three columns, one of which waspletely empty.


    ---


    [Leveling Leaderboard]


    ---


    [1. Kael Darkmane - Level 9]


    [2. Astrid Grimde - Level 9]


    [3. Thorne Ravenw - Level 9]


    [4. Mchi Grimde - Level 9]


    [5. Lucius Grimde - Level 9]


    [6. Draven Ravenw - Level 9]


    [7. Asher Darkmane - Level 8]


    [8. Ragnar Ravenw - Level 8]


    [9. Brakk Smith - Level 6]


    [10. Hilda Silverden - Level 6]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Those names¡­ theirst names had changed, but all of them had been on the list of flights he checked that day. The top eight waspletely controlled by the Browns, the Abadi, and the Rouse. Or, rather¡­ the Grimdes, the Darkmanes, and the Ravenws. The gap between them and ninth and tenth ce also seemed to be quite substantial.


    A part of Ss thought that they would have hung around at Level 0 like he did¡­ or was it that their starting Genes Limits were so much better that it was unnecessary?


    Ss thought about what it would take for him to finally leave Level 0. Part of him wanted to hold out until he could form a Legendary Gene and really go all out¡­ but was that realistic?

 Chapter 69 Categories

    <h4>Chapter 69 Categories </h4>


    [800 PSs bonus]


    He had been lucky to get his hands on the Gene Crystal, but even that would only allow him to form a Bronze Gene at best, and that would "only" raise his stat limit from 50 to 100.


    It was likely that the Grimdes without diluted bloodlines like his own had already started off with a simr stat limit, which was why they left behind Level 0 so quickly.


    He mulled it over for a moment, looking at that leaderboard. But he eventually shook his head. He would focus on satiating the Gene Crystal first, then he could worry about everything else. Who knew? Maybe by then he''d have another chance to take advantage of.


    ---


    [City Leaderboard]


    ---


    [1. Casstle Main]


    [2. Dark Cer]


    [3. The Enve]


    [4. Look at me, Mom! I''m Famous!]


    [5. Gandalf''s Pass]


    [6. Dragon''s Lair]


    [7. Rune Haven]


    [8. Steinesburg]


    [9. Euphoria]


    [10. The Sword in the Stone]


    ---


    Looking at this list of names, Ss didn''t find them funny. In fact, he found it all to be quite sad.


    He could imagine the thought process of many of these people. Some of them had probably thought it was a joke, some of them feeling like they were in a silly dream until things suddenly became very real.


    There was a clear contrast between the people on the Leveling Leaderboard and the people on the City Leaderboard.


    The Grimdes had yet to establish their city. They were using the Trial to not only decide which of the three of them would be the City Lord, but also as an opportunity to scout for the perfect location. Ss would assume that the other powerful families were much the same.


    The people on the City Leaderboard, however, were themoners, the people who knew nothing about thising Summoned Ascension and had probably been forced to plop their cities down wherever they happened to spawn at.


    The silly names they had chosen when contextualized like that made the reality all the more striking.


    Just what was the point of all of this? If the human race was willing to go so far and even eliminate the visible differences between them so thoroughly, why not go further? Why hadn''t they spent thest couple of centuries training everyone for thising moment? Why hadn''t it been taught in schools and lectured about every day?


    In the end, there was really only one answer to that, and it was as obvious as the ten names that imed supremacy on the Leveling Leaderboard.


    Ss shook his head. He couldn''t say that he had a bleeding heart about the matter, but he didn''t like to be controlled. His Madness Comprehension had made him shed a bit of his pretentiousness. He knew quite well that he just wanted power of his own.


    ''I guess we''ll see,'' Ss thought in silence. ''Between you all and I, whose methods will finally break this streak of failure?''


    Ss had once again returned to a world of white fog and soon found a panel hovering before him. Upon it, there was a list of categories, everything from Skills to Genes. At the bottom, there was a counter.


    ---


    [Coins: 23 478 (F)]


    ---


    These coins were obviously the resources of Casstle Main. By entering the Nexus like this, he was obviously seen as acting on Cassarae''s behalf, and as such, he wasn''t using his own store of coins. That was why Cassarae had mentioned the 500-coin limit.


    While 500 coins seemed insignificantpared to Cassarae''s current wealth, Ss didn''t feel it was inappropriate for her to limit him so much.


    For one, she didn''t owe him all of her wealth. That was ridiculous. Second, she had a vige to run. These coins were probably a lifeline in a true crisis, not to mention a bedrock for her future ns.


    Ss paid more attention to the store itself, perusing the various categories. He quickly came to understand what Cassarae meant by how "limited" the Nexus was.


    It seemed that the highest-quality items that could be traded for were at the F- level. There weren''t even any F''s or F+''s, let alone anything beyond.


    That said, it wasn''t all bad. It wasn''t as though he had the funds to splurge. At least in this one case, Olivia had told the truth. <Basic Scouting> did, indeed, cost 100 coins, and all such F- Skills were around that price.


    Ss thought about what he needed and pretty much immediately thought of two things: his martial arts, and his telekinesis.


    For the former, he felt that he was getting more and more used to the flow of battle, but most of what he did relied on his mind recalling the boxing and MMA matches he liked to watch and trying to copy the techniques of those men and women.


    Thanks to his Will and his high Dexterity, not to mention the added control over his body that <Madness Control> and Madness gave him, he had great sess with this.


    But for some reason, he kept feeling like he was close to something while sensing that so-called Flow of Battle, and yet even after going through his fair share of battles by now, he hadn''t really been able to grasp it.


    It could be that he was just being impatient, but time also wasn''t something he had the luxury of wasting, especially since he had apparently lost three months already.


    As for his telekinesis, between now and when he finally seeded in awakening Basic Aetherflow, he felt that he needed much more practice with it. At the very least, he wanted to be able to move freely and use his telekinesis at the same time without it feeling so awkward.


    ''It seems like what I want is pretty straightforward, but it''s actually far more abstract than not,'' Ss thought to himself. ''What I don''t want is a particr Skill, but rather something that can better help me to maximize those abilities first¡­''


    Ss didn''t have a lot of Aether; he couldn''t just load up on Skills. <Madness Control> was enough to leave him on empty. Stocking up on others would be foolish.


    ''Hm?''


    Of all the categories, he didn''t expect to find something interesting in Titles.

 Chapter 70 11

    <h4>Chapter 70 11 </h4>


    [75 GTs bonus]


    The Titles category didn''t allow you to buy Titles, but rather allowed you to buy introductions to Titles. Essentially, it would be a guide to teach you how to unlock certain Titles.


    ---


    [Common Arts Enthusiast (F-)]


    [You are a jack of all, master of none. However, your efforts have given your style ofbat a unique re and an air of unpredictability that strikes fear in your enemies]


    [+1 Dexterity]


    [+10% sess in absorbing rted Genes]


    ---


    [Cost: 300 (F) coins]


    ---


    After looking around for a while, this was what called out to Ss the most. But would it really help him? So what if he unlocked this Title? It could only impact his immediate stats, not his overall situation. Plus, he had already reached his stat cap. He doubted a Title would change that.


    On the other hand¡­ this Title seemed to perfectly describe what he was looking for. In addition, it was more expensive than the others by three times. Assuming the system was a fair arbitrator, this probably meant something.


    Ss narrowed his eyes and continued looking. Soon, he found something for his telekinesis in yet another unexpected ce. This time, it was actually the Elixir section.


    ---


    [Slight of Palms (F-)]


    [Drink this Elixir and gain the enlightenment of truly independent hands. Whether for the purposes of increasing your skill in concocting, or in dual-wielding weapons, rise to an all-new level]


    [+1 Wisdom]


    ---


    [Cost: 300 (F) coins]


    ---


    Ss obviously wasn''t concocting anything, nor did he need to dual-wield weapons when he couldn''t wield one weapon at all, let alone two. However, the description intrigued him.


    That was exactly what using his telekinesis felt like. It was like he was trying to learn the piano again, trying to y quarter notes with one hand and eighth notes with the other, or like he was trying to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other at the same time.


    What he was especially curious about was the +1 Wisdom that came with the Elixir. Could that be just an unrted side effect? Or was it that the higher his Wisdom was, the easier it would be to split his attention and do multiple things with his body and telekinesis at the same time?


    Ss mulled it over, checking over the whole store diligently. But he really didn''t find anything else that was worth the gamble. There were other things that were marginally or somewhat rted, but nothing that truly called to him.


    The two were over budget by 100 coins, but he did have 220 coins left over, so he could cover it. In the end, he felt that these two were the smartest decision he could make, so he traded for them and pulled away from the Nexus.


    ---


    [Common Arts Enthusiast (F-)]


    [Unlock Requirements]


    [>Perform 1000 Kicks]


    [>Perform 1000 Punches]


    [>Complete 10 Fluid Attack Transitions]


    ---


    [Progress]


    [223/1000 Kicks]


    [578/1000 Punches]


    [2/10 Fluid Attack Transitions]


    ---


    Ss was a bit surprised, so much so that he didn''t immediately interact with Cassarae and Olivia. He had alreadypleted that many?


    Setting aside what a Fluid Attack Transition was, he didn''t expect that he would have already used his body to such a degree already. Though maybe it made sense.


    Those sounded like high numbers, but because he was stuck with using his body as a weapon, his strikes were far less potent than someone using a sharp de. His battles, as a result, required many more strikes for him toplete, though he usually had better stats than the enemies he was facing off against.


    Even to defeat a beast with 30 Physical, he''d probably need a few dozen strikes, so maybe this wasn''t too surprising.


    ''But what is a Fluid Attack Transition?''


    He was going to ask the Madness Key when he remembered where he was and looked up.


    "Right, I spent an extra hundred over budget. Here," Ss extended a hand toward Cassarae.


    She hesitated somewhat, because she was really thinking of saying it wasn''t a big deal. But in the end, she chose to just keep things as professional as possible as that they could get past these speed bumps.


    The two shook hands and Ss'' 220 coins fell to 120.


    Not long after, Ss left, saying his goodbyes. He waspletely focused on trying to take advantage of what he had just gained.


    Olivia raised an eyebrow as he left, but Cassarae waved a hand.


    "Don''t mind it. He''s like that when he finds something that interests him."


    "Ai, I''m going to have to get used to you making excuses for him now, huh?"


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "Focus on the preparations. We still have a lot to do."


    ¡­


    Ss returned to therge tent, ignoring everything around him and sliding into the bottom bunk of his bed with a focused expression.


    He took out the one dagger he had remaining. Although he thought of trading for more, he didn''t want to waste his coins until he understood exactly what room he had for improvement first.


    The Title was a bit more difficult to get a handle on immediately, so he took out the potion instead. Then he downed it.


    He paid attention to what was happening within him very closely, also trying to see if there were any changes to the dagger he was controlling in front of him.


    The Elixir tasted almost like a slightly bitter wine. It had a hint of kick to it, and that came with a slight burning sensation down his throat as well.


    Then came a rush.


    Ss didn''t drink coffee, but from how people described it, he felt that it might very well be simr. It was like his mind was suddenly more alert, but in a subtle sense. It was more like his brain fog had cleared up just a little bit and he had more motivation to do things he otherwise wouldn''t want to.


    The feeling persisted and Ss checked his Wisdom to find that it had indeed increased from 10 to 11.

 Chapter 71 Visualization

    <h4>Chapter 71 Visualization </h4>


    ''Hm¡­''


    The feeling was ultimately extremely subtle, and he couldn''t glean anything more from just this. So, he tried moving the dagger around some more.


    He controlled the dagger to move in a circle while he tried to draw a square with one of his fingers in the air.


    Ss'' green irises brightened. He could actually do it.


    But this wasn''t too difficult for him. Compared to boxing where he was mostly an amateur, he was quite a high-level pianist. He felt that he should have already been capable of doing this. The question was whether he could really control the dagger like a secondary version of him or not.


    Even with his experience as a pianist, he had found controlling the dagger, or multiple daggers at once, too taxing in battle.


    He raised his other hand, trying to draw a square with one, a triangle with the other, and a circle with the dagger.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He could feel himself running into a bit of a bottleneck. If he did so really slowly, he could just barely manage it.


    ''This is progress. I don''t think I would have been able to do this before drinking the Elixir. But does that mean I''ll have to drink more of them to seed?''


    There didn''t seem to be a limit on how many he could drink, but they were obviously expensive. He didn''t have enough left to buy even one, let alone multiple.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss suddenly had a thought.


    When he was controlling the arrow to kill the gnolls, he had remembered feeling that it was so much easier. Why was that?


    ''The obvious reason is that these aren''t flying daggers I''m using. They''re meant to be wielded by the hand and so they''re not bnced that way¡­''


    Ss'' frown deepened. He felt that he was onto something. The difference between before and after the Elixir felt like he was approaching a problem from a new angle.


    It made him think of a very important question.


    How did his telekinesis work, exactly? Not the underlying mechanisms. Those were probably beyond his current self to grapple with. But rather, how did it manifest?


    Did he think of a hand wrapping around an object and control it that way? Was he taking control of some intrinsic part of the item and "gifting" it his Will to control itself? Was his telekinesis more like aw of physics, akin to something like gravity except working in any direction he so chose?


    The more Ss thought about it, the more he realized that he could think of a ton of potential mechanisms through which telekinesis might work, but he had never really consciously realized which one he was using. He just did it without much thought.


    ''Which one¡­ it feels like when I use telekinesis, the object bes imprinted into my mind like a memory, and I manipte it by transforming that memory, but that feels too abstract, not to mention extremely taxing¡­''


    Ss frowned.


    Whenever he used telekinesis, uracy was never a problem. He could always bring an object to exactly the location he wanted, and he had never had to practice that. That was why his dagger, or arrow in some cases, always struck true.


    Of course, so long as it was within his 20-meter range.


    Now he realized that the reason for this uracy was due to this memory-imprinting process. He reflected not only the object in his mind, but the environment it was in as well.


    ''Is that how it''s supposed to work?'' Ss thought to himself. ''Let''s try and simplify it, maybe?''


    Ss tried stripping it down, removing all the extra steps and frilly bits until he was down to nothing more than a thin, barely perceptible energy connecting himself and this dagger.


    The dagger trembled.


    ''This¡­ is terrible.''


    That was the first thing Ss thought. When it was stripped of that innate visualization he was doing, it felt like he was trying to use his left hand to write. Or it would have, had he not been ambidextrous.


    When he rebuilt that visualization again, the dagger stopped trembling and was as steady as a stone statue.


    ''In that case, why not try imagining myself in the visualization as well?''


    The only thing missing from the memory he was imprinting was himself, but that made sense. He couldn''t "see" himself; he could only feel himself. But if he used his proprioception, an innate sixth sense everyone had for the position of their limbs, it should be possible.


    Ss slowly got out of his bed, moving as he carried the dagger around with him.


    He found that the feeling was awkward, but not as awkward as it had been to try to draw three shapes at the same time. And yet, he was certain that this was the far more difficult feat.


    Ever since he learned to walk, he had already gotten used to just doing things with his body. He didn''t think about how to walk or how to run, he just did it.


    But taking a step back, didn''t he envision those fighters while he was in battle and try to emte them? Instead of taking that extra step, why not just trying to envision himself?


    Ss sent out a punch. It was tight, and the form was good, but it was nothing amazing.


    What was amazing, though, was the dagger floating beside him that made the motion of a hook even though his punch was a jab.


    He pulled back his hand and sent a hook with his left. The dagger moved at the same time in the motion of an uppercut.


    The more Ss moved, the faster he became. The dagger was like an extension of himself, moving with his thoughts as fluidly as his body itself.


    His leg whipped out, and the dagger followed an arcing from the opposite side, as though he had sent out two roundhouse kicks at the same time.


    Just when it seemed like he would pierce his own foot, they both came to a stop, his foot and the dagger hovering just a few inches from each other.

 Chapter 72 Rotten

    <h4>Chapter 72 Rotten </h4>


    ''I don''t think I can control a second dagger with this level of fluidity¡­ at least not without increasing my Wisdom more. But I will be able to soon.''


    Ss lowered his leg, feeling content with just the one dagger for now. With this unequip-able Scorned Wraps on his hand, he was highly limited. Telekinesis would have to bridge thatck of ability for him.


    With thatpleted, Ss wanted to turn his attention back to the Common Art Enthusiast Title, but amotion caused his ears to twitch first.


    He rushed out of the tent to find militiamen shouting out warnings.


    The tent that the Quest takers were lodged in was close to the gate, so Ss saw it immediately. Not that it would have mattered, considering the fact the vige was about 50 meters from end to end. He would have definitely seen it, anyway.


    Although it couldn''t be considered a stampede, it was definitely a tide of sorts. Half a dozen wolf beasts with rotten flesh and blood-stained fur charged toward the vige.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. It couldn''t be a coincidence. There was no way Casstle Main was this unlucky. He didn''t believe that this was unrted to the gnolls.


    ---


    [Rotten Wolf (F)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Physical: 58]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 0]


    ---


    The creatures were grotesque. Standing at two meters tall, they were covered in what could only be described as patches of ck fur. Everywhere there wasn''t this fur, there were ghastly open wounds reeking of puss and disease.


    And yet, nothing about this seemed to slow their steps in the slightest. They had only just cleared the forest line, but had already cleared the remaining distance by half, with the only part of them not affected by the rot, those glistening silvery ws, tearing up the wet grassynds in their wake.


    Ss moved first, leaping over the weak wooden fences without a word. The ends of his Scorned Wraps and his ck hair danced in the wind as he elerated.


    The vige didn''t have any defenses, and by now, the vigers had already been evacuated to the core of the territory. However, there were hardly any better defenses there, either.


    The best defense there was were the warriors themselves, and whether it was Ss, the militiamen, or the other Quest takers, they had all already jumped to action.


    Ss immediately got the attention of the wolves, their eerie green eyes pulsing with malice as they focused on him.


    When he saw this, Ss, who had been charging right at them, suddenly took a hard turn to the left, sprinting full tilt perpendicr to their path.


    As expected, the wolves almost immediately went after him.


    After seeing their zero Mental and Will, Ss already understood that these were unintelligent creatures. Even if they had been sent here, the kind of orders they could take would be extremely limited.


    Six Rotten Wolves chased after Ss and they quickly gained on him, their speed clearly superior. The stomach-churning scent of corpses filled the air. As the wolves moved, their pot-


    filled tongues hung from their mouths and their bodies leaked foul liquids from seemingly every orifice.


    The lead wolf closed in, its saliva pooling as it felt close to biting Ss'' head off.


    Suddenly, Ss'' dagger shed, arcing through the air.


    He couldn''t visualize a target he couldn''t see. He was currently in a full sprint away from the pack of wolves, so it was impossible for him to likewise have eyes on their exact locations. As such, under normal circumstances, he would only be able to wildly il with the dagger. However¡­


    These wolves were highly unintelligent. They didn''t know how to work together, and the moment they started chasing after him, they didn''t do so as a pack, rather, they did so aspetitors vying for a piece of meat.


    They were practically running on top of one another, jostling for position with their shoulders and snapping jaws. So when Ss sensed a hot and acrid breath to his back, his dagger shot straight and true directly behind him with only one purpose.


    The dagger shed and cut into the open maw of the Rotten Wolf, ripping up the side of its upper mouth, taking a few of its rotten teeth and drawing up across its cheek and eye before flying overhead and into the distance.


    Ss expected a cry of agony, or since it was a creature, at least some sort of pause, but he got nothing of the sort. In fact, the wolf even looked as though it was about to continue biting down on his head without a care.


    ''They can''t feel pain.''


    This was the one thought he had before he suddenly ducked.


    His Speed plummeted, and he was suddenly about to be stampeded by the pack of wolves.


    He rolled to the side, but there was another wolf ready and salivating at his scent, ready to rip him to shreds.


    He activated Sudden Burst in that moment, exploding to his peak Speed in an instant and sliding out of the way of the way of the beast.


    Luckily, the Speed of the wolves might have been high, but their agility seemed low. It was the reason he had managed to catch them off guard with the first maneuver, and why he had also managed to do it this time as well.


    Their reactions were dull, their intelligence was low, their Constitutions should also be rtively weak. However, their Strength and Speed were off the charts, and they couldn''t feel pain.


    Ss sent a quick nce toward where his dagger might havended, but he had already lost it in the thick, wet grass. And after Sudden Burst had worn off while the wolves reacted, they were already turned toward his direction, ready to pounce again.


    Luckily, by that point, three militiamen alone with Lauren, Morgan, and Alex had finally caught up.


    The militiamen stormed up with their shields, passing Ss by and forming a wall between them.

 Chapter 73 Corrupt

    <h4>Chapter 73 Corrupt </h4>


    [150 GTs bonus]


    They crashed into the charging wolves, their eyes widening as they felt the strength. However, while the wolves were mostly independent, the militiamen worked as a single unit, amplified by not only their armor but their shields as well.


    The wolves were stalled for but a moment.


    "Holy hell! They''re so strong!" Alex''s voice was tinged with a hint of shock and fear.


    "Ss," Morgan called over, tossing a dagger toward him.


    Ss gave a grateful nod, caught the dagger with his telekinesis, and then burst into action again, targeting one of the wolves about to round the solid wall the militiamen had formed.


    The load was immediately far easier. Ss felt like the dagger was an extension of himself, an extra limb that he could use as easily as his left and right hands.


    The wolf snapped its jaws at him, but he dodged to the side, bringing it further from the group before he suddenly attacked.


    His fist was about to drive through the wolf''s snout when a w swung at him from the side. It was fast, too fast.


    Ss rolled his shoulder into it, moving closer to the wolf instead of further away and ruining its y at leverage. He grunted as a sharp, three-pronged gash was torn across his arm and shoulder, but his Constitution wasn''t entirely for show at this point either.


    Just as he took the attack, his dagger swept through the wolf''s blind spot, ripping across the tendons of its front paw.


    The attack was perfectly timed. Although his punch didn''t go as nned, his dagger acted perfectly as his third limb, adjusting.


    The wolf was using one w to attack when its other front paw suddenly lost its support. Its body tilted forward uncontrobly and its jaw crashed toward the ground as Ss leapt back. It barely managed to lower its second front paw to the ground to catch itself before it lost its bnce entirely, but Ss didn''t give it so much time to keep its bearings.


    He moved with a sh of his steps and brought down an ax kick right onto the wolf''s skull, causing its eyes to bulge out of its sockets, one of them popping out with a sickening wet sound, dangling on a string of flesh and oozing puss.


    Ss unleashed a flurry of strikes, his fistsnding like hammers as he shifted to the weakened side of the beast. He seemed to want to punch right through the creature, shattering its ribs and caving in an entire side of its body.


    The wolf tried tosh out with its injured paw, but it couldn''t flex its ws without those tendons and ligaments. The attack ended up being easily pped away by Ss as his dagger shredded apart the tendons in one of its hind legs.


    Ss'' assault was relentless. After the first w strike that cut him, he seemed to have be untouchable, every strike of his more devastating than thest.


    He drove another fist into the wolf''s skull and it suddenly gave way entirely, crushing it to pieces.


    It fell limp to the ground and Ss didn''t even give it another nce as he charged back to the main battlefield, taking on another.


    He could feel it inching closer, the flow of battle he was looking for.


    ¡­


    The battle ended with everyone gasping for breath. They checked for rewards, but to their disgust, there were none to be had. The result seemed as rotten as the beasts themselves.


    When they tried to check for Genes, they received a prompt that made them all frown.


    ---


    [Rotten Wolf]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Fragmented Gene: Speed (F)]


    [Gene Corrupted]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Not only was there only one Fragmented Gene, something that waspletely disproportionate to the strength of the creatures, but the Gene was also apparently Corrupted?


    None of them wanted to find out exactly what that meant by testing it on themselves.


    The worst part was that the troubles didn''t end there at all. These wolves were obviously not edible. Their coats couldn''t be used for making armors, and worse than that, they couldn''t just leave them out here to continue rotting.


    Not only was the stench absolutely foul, but who knew what sort of diseases they were carrying? Ss was already somewhat worried about the wound he had suffered, even though the ws of the wolves seemed like the only clean part of them.


    ---


    [What is a Corrupted Gene?]


    [A Corrupted Gene cane from an undead creature or a Gene processed via an unconventional method. Usually, their theoretical worth doesn''t line up with their actual wealth. Their amplification to the body is almost always far more than expected, but the price to pay is heavy as well without adequate preparation.


    [They are a tool often used by the desperate in an attempt to surpass Gene and Stat Limits. But with unearned power, there will always be consequences]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes narrowed, looking toward the corpses with a hint of something else in his eye.


    ''What is "adequate preparation" to absorb a Corrupt Gene?''


    ---


    [What is adequate preparation to absorb a Corrupt Gene?]


    [Corrupt Genes can only be safely absorbed when high Will and natural treasurese together. These natural treasures can range from Elixirs capable of eliciting a Free Gene State to Legendary Genes themselves used as a catalyst]


    ---


    Ss knew that he was insane to even think about it. He was only given one body in this world and he couldn''t just erase mistakes he made in it. But he needed to know.


    Regardless, it wasn''t like it was actually achievable right now.


    A Free Gene State was the highest Gene State there was, one where you could absorb 100% of all the Genes you came into contact with without fail. Considering how much trouble Ss had to go through just to get another Soft Gene State, and one that would onlyst three days as opposed to his current seven-day window at that, one could imagine how rare it was.

 Chapter 74 Other Side

    <h4>Chapter 74 Other Side </h4>


    [225 GTs bonus]


    A Legendary Gene spoke for itself. Ss hadn''t even seen a Bronze Gene yet, let alone a Legendary one.


    Also, the Madness Key didn''t specify what it meant by high Will either. He thought that he had high Will, but did he? Or was his Will just highpared to his fellow humans, a species the system didn''t even think high of to begin with?


    Olivia rushed over from the distance. Cassarae wasn''t allowed to leave the limits of the vige without special permissions that she had yet to unlock or earn, so Olivia, her, and the remaining two militiamen had taken up arms within the vige just in case any of the wolves made it through.


    "We need to deal with the corpses," Olivia said. "Leaving them around here will cause problems. I''ll have to ask everyone to help to transport them away."


    "I can deal with them," Ss suddenly said.


    "You can?"


    "Mm," Ss nodded, cing a hand on the wolves and taking them into the Madness Key.


    Everyone''s eyes widened when they saw that Ss was actually able to store all six corpses without an issue.


    ''Seems the size of my spatial device is an anomaly,'' he noted.


    He had hoped that maybe the vige had one of equivalent size but couldn''t use it because it was storing something important, like emergency food, maybe. Looks like he wasn''t so lucky--


    ---


    [Curse: Greed has activated]


    ---


    Ss'' brows immediately furrowed as the Madness Key suddenly glowed a faint light on his chest, something that only happened when it was absorbing Genes.


    He sent his mind inside, and suddenly the size began to grow explosively again. In a single instant, it reached 20 cubic meters beforeing to a stop.


    The wolf corpses dissolved and vanished into nothing.


    ''What just¡­''


    His head snapped up and toward a certain direction. He heard it long before he saw it.


    Another group of Rotten Wolves was approaching, this time from apletely different direction. There was no way they could make it before this pack crossed into the vige.


    Everyone broke out into a sprint, but it was actually Cassarae who reacted first. She was still within the bounds of the vige and she saw quite clearly that not everyone would make it in time.


    A greatsword of exaggerated length appeared in her hands. It must have been at least a meter and a half long, not to mention at least eight inches wide at the base before tapering off at the very edge. It was longer than even a traditional longsword, and yet it had a rigidity to it that made Ss cringe.


    Just how much pressure was on her wrists?


    There was a glow that enveloped Cassarae, and she suddenly elerated. A sweeping strike cut into the ground and arced upward, slicing through the earth and air as though they were made up of the very same consistency and cutting off the heads of two Rotten Wolves.


    Their bodies copsed and were trampled beneath the ws of theirpanions, but that still slowed thetter group down considerably.


    Cassarae stood red-faced and gasping for air, but the glow around her quickly solidified once again as she seemed to visibly recover.


    She brandished her sword again, cutting down from above and splitting a stumbling Rotten Wolf in two.


    Everyone seemed to finally catch up at this mountain and they gathered as one, fighting off and killing the final three slowly, but surely.


    Ss looked up, a grave expression marking his brows as what he feared would happen urred soon afterward. A third group of wolves appeared once more, this time from yet another corner of the vige.


    Without a choice, they broke out into a sprint once more.


    ¡­


    [Common Arts Enthusiast (F-)]


    [Progress]


    [422/1000 Kicks]


    [932/1000 Punches]


    [4/10 Fluid Attack Transitions]


    ¡ª-


    Ss took deep breaths, his body covered in wounds and his chest having gained a bloody w mark to match his shoulder.


    This was already the fourth wave of Rotten Wolves, and the daylight was slowly beginning to wane. If he only had a guess that this was rted to the gnolls before, he would be shocked if it wasn''t now.


    By this point, even he was dead tired, let alone everyone else. The only positive was the improvement to the Madness Key. The now over 20 Rotten Wolf carcasses he had taken in had allowed it to reach 20 cubic meters, and though it hadn''t improved beyond that, the density of Madness he could sense from it was on apletely different level.


    If he just had time, he was certain that he''d at least have a good chance at improving his Madness Comprehension to Bronze Mastery, but there just wasn''t.


    Every time he thought it was over, another wave woulde. The aim was clear. By the time the gnolls actually appeared, they''d be too dead tired to do anything about them.


    ''The question is, though¡­ if they''re able to control these wolves, why not attack alongside them? And why send them only six at a time? Why not send all 24? There would be no way for us to deal with all of them at once.''


    Ss looked up. The sun was beginning to set. He looked around and could see the gloominess on everyone''s faces. Honestly, he would have expected some of the Quest takers to leave by now, and maybe he would have also if not for the fact this was Cassarae''s vige¡­


    At the same time, he felt some guilt.


    He had made this decision for everyone, thinking thating back to the vige would give them the best chance. But how had things turned out? Logically, he felt that it was the right decision. But passing judgment as an unaffiliated third party was always easier than if you were a leader, and you had to bear the consequences yourself.


    His chest heaved, his green eyes glistening as dusk settled in. Finally, his breathing settled down, though the aching of his body didn''t. Even so, he was still better off than most of the others.

 Chapter 75 Saw

    <h4>Chapter 75 Saw </h4>


    [1000 PS bonus]


    It wasn''t just a matter of injuries, but Aether and mental fatigue. Ss hadn''t been able to use his Madness for obvious reasons, and he hadn''t used <Madness Control> either. However, in order to keep up with therge gap in Physical stats, everyone else could only use their Aether, and without a Skill like <Maddened Meditation>, there was no easy way for them to recover it without time and rest.


    They had already been running on empty after the first two skirmishes, and the only way they had managed to continue was because Cassarae traded for something she called Aether Rejuvenation Elixirs from the Nexus.


    But that was the other thing, that being Cassarae herself.


    By now, Ss understood that the great strength she had disyed was as a direct result of her vige. She couldn''t easily step outside of its bounds, but that didn''te without its benefits either.


    Unfortunately, those benefits weren''t unlimited and using them put a great amount of strain on her body.


    This was also likely the reason Ss couldn''t scan her stats. It wasn''t that her Mental was higher than his, though that might still be a possibility. It was rather that the boost of being within her city was a great advantage and added extra protection.


    Ss even had a feeling that this was all within the expectations of whoever was leading the gnolls. Their biggest obstacle wouldn''t be him or anybination of the others, but rather Cassarae herself, and it was in their best interest that she be on herst legs before they attacked.


    He looked over.


    Cassarae''s dark hair was matted to her forehead, her breathing ragged and rushed. She leaned over on her greatsword, her chest heaving beneath the thick leather armor. Although she was trying her best to keep up that strong front, it was hard even to stand straight any longer.


    The others looked like they were in worse-off condition, having suffered ghastly looking wounds. But Ss could tell that the one among them who was in the worst condition was definitely Cassarae herself. Her body was practically shutting down.


    ''Aether¡­'' Ss thought to himself.


    He never really thought about it too much before, but when it flowed through his body, he could almost feel something like a cool liquid. But he could imagine that if you were using too much of it, too quickly, whatever organs it was flowing through would be damaged.


    Even if Cassarae looked fine on the inside, whatever was going on inside of her couldn''t be good.


    Ss looked into the skies as thest rays of sunlight winked out, disappearing over the tall trees.


    ''I need to be able to use my Madness, or else this won''t work. But I can''t direct it properly at all, and I obviously can''t fight ten gnolls on my own either¡­''


    His jaw set.


    "Cassarae, how many Aether Rejuvenation Elixirs do you have left?" Ss suddenly asked.


    Cassarae looked up with tired eyes. "I can still trade for more, but it''s dangerous to take too many in a short time. They suggest only one an hour."


    Ss frowned. He had definitely seen Cassarae ignore that limit, but he didn''t say so. While she wasn''t using the Elixirs directly, the silvery-blue glow that appeared around her when she fought was definitely doing something simr.


    Obviously, one was an Elixir, and the other seemed to be a more natural phenomenon. But judging by Cassarae''s state, it didn''t seem to be much different, honestly.


    "Give me just one for now," Ss replied.


    Cassarae nodded and took out one, passing it to him. Now that she thought about it, Ss was the only one of them to never ask for one. How was he doing it? Was he relying entirely on Gene Talents?


    Ss found a spot and directly plopped down, his mind entering a focused state.


    He really wanted to improve his Madness and even learn how to control and direct it, but he had no inkling of how to do that. However, what he did have an inkling toward was his <Maddened Meditation>.


    The Skill could do two things. First, it helped to refresh his mind, and second, it replenished his Aether. The only drawback was that he couldn''t use it while he was moving and he had to sit down.


    But Ss thought of something important. If he could manage to use Maddened Meditation while he was moving, then his low Intelligence would mean much less.


    This was a thought that had always been in the back of his mind, but there was little he could do to fix it. But then, he had a breakthrough in his telekinesis.


    He realized then that the visualization method he used to use his telekinesis was very simr to what he used with <Maddened Meditation>.


    <Maddened Meditation> wasn''t an Aether Cirction method, but it rather put the mind in a particr state of peace and harmony that allowed Aether to naturally flow into you, reinvigorating the spirit and one''s Aether pool.


    That state of harmony¡­ it reminded Ss a lot of Fluid Attack Transitions.


    He had been paying close attention to those tickers on his progress. By now, he had sessfully risen from two to fourpleted circuits, and they wereing faster and faster now.


    It felt like a state where he knew what wasing before it did, and he reacted ordingly.


    All of these things seemed toyer atop of one another, each one forming a thin line of connection between them.


    He felt like he was missing just one more thing, something that was just out of his grasp, and he felt that maybe he''d find it in an unconventional ce again.


    Would this Elixir help him?¡ª


    ROAR!


    Ss'' eyes snapped open, and he jumped to his feet, his head turning in the direction of the sounds.


    There was a harsh whistling in his ears that told him his eardrums had just taken some serious damage. But what could possibly make such a loud¡ª


    Then he saw it.

 Chapter 76 Decisive

    <h4>Chapter 76 Decisive </h4>


    [1200 PS bonus]


    A group of ten stormed out from the forest line, their sickly yellow eyes glowing in the dark. Nine of them rode upon Rotten Wolves, but in the center of those rampaging, two-meter-tall beasts, there was a monstrosity that stood at three.


    It had two heads, each fighting over supremacy over which was the rottener of the bunch.


    ---


    [Twin-Headed Rotten Wolf (F+)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Physical: 65]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 0]


    ---


    Even with this being the case, Ss'' focus was on the man¡­ or thing, riding its back.


    ---


    [Zurog (FF-)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 52]


    [Mental: 42]


    [Will: 56]


    ---


    Zurog wielded a bloody scythe, and he exuded something that seemed thicker and beyond anything that Ss had ever experienced before, something that reminded him a lot of himself.


    ''A Comprehension? No, it feels slightly different¡­''


    Ss looked around, and he saw the despair coloring everyone''s face. Olivia especially looked as though her body had beenpletely drained of all its blood. Ss understood that this was likely because of her Skill. Even if she couldn''t see Zurog''s stats, she could still see his grade. Before, she had said that she had never even seen an F+ before, but it seemed that this was something even worse than that.


    Morgan gripped his sword hilt hard, his knuckles having gonepletely white.


    Alex''s breathing was ragged and his pupils werepletely dted, likely as a result of a Skill. He barely managed to be the best of them due to it, his adrenaline roaring through his veins.


    Lauren held her sword tightly to herself, fear radiating from her in palpable waves. Ss didn''t quite understand why he felt it so clearly, but he was certain it was there.


    And then there was Cassarae.


    Her pale blue eyes, almost like a stroke of grey-silver in the night, carried a fierceness within it. She looked like she was only one moment away from baring her teeth and growling, herself. And for some reason, Ss wanted tough at that sight.


    "Marcus!" Cassarae barked.


    "Lord!" One of the militiamen stood at the ready.


    "You five will protect the vigers with your lives. Let not a single one of these fuckers through."


    "Yes!"


    The militiamen were nothing if not courageous. They didn''t even blink at the order, forming a line of five as they blocked the path to the center of the vige.


    Cassarae looked at the others. "I''m not certain why it is you three¡­ four," she corrected herself, "haven''t run yet, but I have a good idea."


    Morgan, Alex, and Lauren gripped their weapons tightly, but they didn''t respond.


    "I hope that we can all survive and see those thoughts of yourse to fruition."


    Her eyesnded on Ss and when she saw the amused light in his eyes, as though he was trying to hold back augh, she too seemed to rx. For some reason, she felt that so long as Ss wasn''t panicking, maybe things would be fine¡­


    "Everyone," Ss suddenly said. "Trail me by 20 meters. Don''t step into that range until I tell you it''s alright."


    After saying these words, Ss shot off.


    His Speed was fast, but not as fast as the oing troop of Rotten Wolves and gnolls. However, it was just enough to get 20 meters away from the group and clear the broken fences of the vige.


    Madness.


    It rolled out from Ss like a tide. The Madness Key danced around his neck and his green eyes glowed in the night.


    Almost immediately, the Rotten Wolves lost their minds and Ss'' gaze sharpened.


    It was just as he thought. The control these gnolls had over these Rotten Wolves was incredibly limited. If they could truly control so much, then why only send six at a time? And if they could control more than six, why only charge forward with ten now?


    All but the Twin-Headed Rotten Wolf bucked their riders off, but that wasn''t to say that the Twin-Headed Rotten Wolf escaped the fate of Madness. Its Mental and Will were zero, it had no capacity to resist Ss at all. Instead, Zurog was able to maintain his bnce even with the wolf going wild beneath him.


    Confusion coloured the yellow eyes of the gnolls as the Rotten Wolves actually began to attack one another and their riders.


    Then the Madness hit Zurog. He felt like his mind was being slowly corrupted and his eyes even began to go red for a moment before he managed to shake himself free, the shock even more evident in his eyes now.


    A maddened brawl broke out as Ss kept his distance. There was no use in getting close now and maybe causing one of them to take out their rage on him.


    He realized that even when his Madness wasn''t strong enough to make peoplepletely lose their minds, it did make it hard for them to focus, and it enhanced their deepest emotions.


    Back when his Madness enveloped the group, Alex had just gotten the bone ax from him and his emotions spilled over as though he was ready to anthropomorphize it. Lauren was the most jittery of the group, and shepletely shut down.


    The more intelligent a creature was, the more specific and unique their reaction to Madness would be¡ªso long as they couldn''t resist the effects, that is.


    For Rotten Wolves who had no resistance at all, the result was obvious. They didn''t even fight as hard as Little and Middle Madness had. They immediately lost what small bits of rationality they had,shing out at everything that was close to them, even the riders they had only just been allowing to use them.


    Zurog realized that it had to be Ss who was doing this. It was unbelievable to him, but he was intelligent enough to know what he had to do.


    Ss'' gaze sharpened as Zurog suddenly swung his battle ax down, severing both heads of his Rotten Wolf and leaping toward his direction.


    ''Decisive.''

 Chapter 77 Range

    <h4>Chapter 77 Range </h4>


    This was the only thought that Ss could have before Zurog was already upon him, or rather¡­ his bloody scythe was.


    Ss barely managed to lean back, dodging out of the way, but a swing came instantaneously.


    Zurog was fast. His legs were like their own pumping engines. Just to make it to Ss so fast, he had to cross over a dozen meters in what felt like a single blink.


    Much like Cassarae, he seemed to treat the ground as though it was air, slicing through it with the same ease as the wind. The difference was that he didn''t seem to need to use Aether at all.


    Ss was immediately at a disadvantage. The polearm of the scythe was at least two meters from end to end, and the de itself had an exaggerated bend, along with a ghastly serrated edge. Compared to Ss'' arms and even legs, the difference was toorge.


    Luckily, Ss had already shored up this weakness.


    A dagger glistened through the night, appearing within Zurog''s guard and at his throat in an instant. Beneath the amplification of Madness, Ss'' telekinesis imposed a Strength and Speed of 75 while its eleration was near instant.


    Zurog leaned back, mming the butt of his scythe into the ground in an attempt to keep his bnce and dodge that at the same time. He had obviously been observing the battles from earlier in the day and knew of Ss'' telekinesis. He had been waiting for it the entire time.


    His mouth suddenly opened and Ss barely had time to sense a rush of Aether before Zurog unleashed a puff of ck smoke from his lips just as the dagger floated above his nose.


    The dagger was under Ss'' control the entire time. He had been ready to pull it back like it was a jab, but Zurog''s reaction was quick, too quick.


    The dagger suddenly crumbled to ash, the corrosive ck fog wilting it and crushing it like dried leaves.


    Ss rushed forward, trying to take advantage of the gnoll elite''s imbnce, but thetter shot out a kick that nearly caught him in his chest.


    Ss crossed his arms to block, feeling a tremendous force push him backward. He gritted his teeth, holding it in and digging his heels into the ground. He knew that he couldn''t retreat too far. If he did, he would be forced to release his Madness and his ability to control the flow of battle would plummet.


    Zurog recovered in an instant, a crooked grin twisting his snout as he followed up, pulling his scythe out from the ground and plunging into another assault.


    Ss dodged one way, then the other. Every time he tried to close the gap, Zurog had a perfect counter waiting for him, thetter''s skill in battle clearly on a tier higher than his own.


    Suddenly, Ss sensed Aether circting again, and he immediately went on high alert.


    Zurog opened his mouth again and Ss immediately dove to the side. If that caustic fog could do what it had done to his dagger, he didn''t want it to touch even an inch of him.


    But it was a feint.


    The butt of Zurog''s scythe drove into Ss'' side just as he dove.


    Ss coughed out a breath, feeling his Constitution almost giving way beneath the Strength of the strike.


    He sprawled across the ground, gliding across the earth on a knee and elbow before he barely managed to stand to his feet, rolling out of the way of another strike.


    ck fog oozed off the scythe, leaving trails in its wake.


    "Ss!" Olivia called out and threw a dagger toward the battlefield as hard as she could.


    Ss barely registered it. It was impossible to visualize without eyes on the weapon, and in the darkness, it was even harder. However, he heard the whistle and the THWACK as it pierced into the ground not far away.


    He dodged out of the way of another strike and looked in the direction of the sound. He didn''t spot it immediately and was forced to dodge again.


    Zurog was absolutely relentless, his attacks flowing freely from one to another. The drawback of only being able to use his fists as weapons was biting back hard right at this moment.


    ''No, it''s because Ick the skill.''


    Ss'' green irises oozed an eerie light as he timed his movement.


    He dodged another strike and suddenly nted his leg hard.


    Sudden Burst.


    He immediately closed the distance, entering the range of Zurog''s scythe and striking out with a fist that carried everything he had.


    A mad cackle came from Zurog.


    "You fool! My scythe is the strongest in this range!"


    The voice was unexpected. Filled with gravel and malice, it rumbled beneath the night sky, spreading out almost like the very same caustic ck fog.


    The concave side of the de glistened behind Ss'' neck and Zurog suddenly took a step back, pulling his scythe back and toward it. Even if Ss punched him now, he would only be helping his momentum.


    Signals of danger seemed to flood Ss'' body. He could almost feel the whistling wind as the gnoll elite moved to take his head, as though chopping tall grass.


    There was no other choice.


    <Madness Control>.


    The world slowed around Ss, and he seemed to gain an extra second to react to the world around him.


    His fistnded with a dull boom. He could feel Zurog''s flesh distort beneath his knuckles and the whistling of the scythe behind himing with an even faster Speed.


    All at once Ss ducked, using his telekinesis to press up on the scythe and push himself down even faster.


    A whistling wind caught his hair and just barely missed his scalp.


    He suddenly released the pressure on Zurog''s scythe and thetter stumbled only just a bit, but it was enough for Ss to regain his bearings.


    ''That''s right, my telekinesis doesn''t just have to be used on myself or my items.''

 Chapter 78 More Fluid

    <h4>Chapter 78 More Fluid </h4>


    Even though it was currently very limited on heavier objects, and that would likewise apply to weapons being wielded with great Strength as well as that was even worse than just a heavy weapon, that didn''t mean it was useless.


    Zurog regained his bnce, snarling. He could still feel that heavy punch, and it had jarred him quite seriously. Behind him, his Rotten Wolves andpanions were still ripping each other apart. His heart was truly bleeding.


    The entire gnoll vige had been wiped out by these people. He could feel a dense rage bubbling up within him.


    Unbeknownst to Zurog and even Ss, Madness had inexplicably taken hold.


    Zurog roared and shed out, his Aether spinning freely as a de jetted out toward Ss.


    Ss'' eyes widened. He hadn''t been expecting this at all.


    Sudden Burst.


    He rushed to the side, feeling the ache in his body after using the Gene Talent so soon after the first time. At the same time, he could feel that <Madness Control> was already running out, and he didn''t feel any closer to winning this battle.


    Zurog released another wild strike and Ss felt that he was beginning to retreat too much. Even if Cassarae and the other retreated, what about the militiamen and the vigers? If his Madness enveloped them, there was no telling what could happen.


    ''Focus. Think.''


    Even though he told himself this, he had no idea how to deal with this situation. All this time, he had been relying on fighting entertainment he had watched back on Earth to barely inform his fighting style. But nowhere in those matches would there be a weaponless man going up against a polearm like this, and definitely not a scythe of all things.


    Even worse, by now he hadpletely lost track of the dagger that Olivia had thrown. He still knew around where it hadnded, but no matter how much he looked for it in that region, he found nothing.


    However, he finally found some hope to cling onto.


    He realized that Zurog''s attacks had be more dangerous, but he was even more focused on Ss than he had been before. As Ss made a subtle attempt to lead him in a different direction, the gnoll elite unhesitatingly followed.


    Fatigue was beginning to take hold and <Maddened Control> was moments away from not having any Aether to draw on.


    Ss slipped past another attack and downed the Elixir that Cassarae had given him.


    He suddenly felt a wild rush of Aether flood his body and his eyes widened. It was more than he could handle.


    It was only an F- Elixir, so he hadn''t thought much about it, but Ss had forgotten that his Intelligence was incredibly weak.


    He felt a bulge in his stomach area, but luckily it didn''t feel too dangerous. He could only let the Aether leak out of him, his body clearly incapable of handling anything more than this.


    ''This is¡­''


    Ss felt something odd. It was like the reverse of <Maddened Meditation>. The Aether had nowhere to go, and so it naturally flowed out of him. But when he used <Maddened Meditation>, it was as though the opposite was created, almost as though his body was suddenly the point of low concentration it needed toe to¡­


    A scythe''s de appeared before Ss. With his <Madness Control> still in effect, he found it just as easy to dodge, his control over himself at a peak.


    His eyes seemed to ze over as heprehended something.


    [Skill <Maddened Meditation> has evolved into <Maddened Enlightenment>]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Fragmented Mastery]


    [Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [You are deeply in tune with the Madness of your Ancestors. It helps you to focus, rx, and form a oneness with the world. Understanding yourself is a form of peace, but understanding your ce in the world makes you Enlightened]


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has deepened]


    [<Madness Control> has reached Bronze Mastery]


    Ss'' head ducked under a scythe''s de and he suddenly felt like he could see with far more than his eyes. He looked in the direction of the fallen dagger again. His eyes still saw nothing, but for some reason¡­ he could feel it.


    His telekinesis tugged, and the dagger rushed over with 75 Speed.


    Madness, which had been about to run out as well, suddenly snapped back into focus and his mind felt like it had just expanded.


    Zurog couldn''t even react as a dagger suddenly plunged deeply into his back. Unfortunately, there was armor there, much thicker and more substantial than anything the other gnolls had been wearing.


    Even so, Ss didn''t regret it. The sudden attack from the back sent a spike of fear through the gnoll elite, whose eyes suddenly cleared somewhat as he looked for his attacker.


    Taking advantage, Ss pressed his advantage, closing in and drawing a hook across the gnoll''s snout.


    Zurog''s teeth flew and blood sttered, but he reacted quickly, his Aether rumbling again.


    ''Feint.''


    Ss concluded this without the slightest change in expression and unloaded an elbow across Zurog''s snout before unleashing a knee right into his crotch.


    One of Zurog''s hands released from his scythe in an attempt to swipe at Ss while his scythe pulled back once again.


    ''The same trick won''t work twice.''


    Zurog seemed to have already forgotten about the dagger because when it suddenly moved, pulling out from his back and shing against his wrists, his cry of agony was as much of pain as it was of surprise.


    His fingers loosened their grip as his scythe fell to the ground, and his body became a punching bag. A barrage of fists and kicks, each one flowing seamlessly from thest, bore down on the gnoll elite.


    The feeling of rotten flesh and putrid blood flying through the air seemed to fuel Ss all the more.


    Faster. Sharper. More fluid.


    Tail Whip.


    His shin collided with the side of the gnoll elite''s head, causing sprays of blood to flow.

 Chapter 79 That Face

    <h4>Chapter 79 That Face </h4>


    [300 GTs bonus]


    Aether moved within Zurog again, ast-ditch effort. But it was clear that he had wasted too much of it earlier, and while Ss was seemingly a funnel for Aether in the surroundings, Zurog had no such ability. That and¡­


    It was much toote.


    Ss'' fist moved like the wind, the darkness not seeming to bother him as much any longer as he drove a fist right through the gnoll elite''s head. At the same time, his dagger drove into the back of his skull.


    The two-pronged attack skewered the gnoll. Thest of his strength sputtered as he fell to his knees, his eyes filled with disbelief up until the moment they finally dimmed.


    Ss stood there, huffing deep breaths.


    This was it. The flow of battle.


    ---


    [10/10 Fluid Attack Transitions]


    ---


    Ss tilted his head up to the skies, breathing heavily. Blood trickled down his body from various wounds, but oddly enough his Scorned Wraps always seemed to remain dry.


    The moon was a beautiful crescent, and the stars were twinkling in their own beautiful orchestra. It was the kind of sight you couldn''t normally see on Earth, at least not where he lived. But even so, it felt so benignpared to the feelings rushing through his body right at this moment.


    By this point, he was certain that he was some kind of deviant. He wasn''t sure what was so fun about putting your life on the line constantly, but maybe he should have known that he had these sorts of proclivities the moment he clicked [Yes].


    He could faintly hear Cassarae making a victory speech and the celebration of the vigers, but he tuned it all out as he basked in the feeling.


    "I know that face."


    Ss didn''t know how long he stood there, but the voice came so suddenly that he was almost startled. Only after he looked over did he realize it was Cassarae.


    "We need to go clear the gnoll vige," Ss suddenly said.


    "Don''t try to change the subject, Ss," Cassarae said with an almost creepy grin, as though she had caught him doing something dirty. "If you had a mirror here, you''d probably be jacking off to your own reflection. Don''t think that just because you''re not wearing a shit-eating grin that I don''t know what you''re thinking."


    Ss wasn''t even surprised by the crude words. She had a model''s looks and a sailor''s mouth. It was probably Newton''s fourthw that Cassarae had to cuss at least once for every sentence she spoke in a day.


    "using me of such things when you clicked yes too is kind of hypocritical, don''t you think?"


    He wasn''t looking at her expression, so he didn''t see the odd look in her eyes when he said that. What he did hear, though, was her quippy response.


    "Deflecting again, huh? Well, I can''t say you don''t deserve it this time, just don''t get in over your head."


    Ss finally sent her a nce and blinked. "You look tired."


    She did. Her hair had lost all its volume due to the sweat and blood, and her eyes seemed to have lost some of its usual brightness.


    In response, though, she rolled her eyes.


    "You still haven''t learned how to talk to women. I believe the words you were looking for are: ''you look perfect.''"


    Ss actually chuckled a bit, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked her up and down and shook his head.


    "No, you definitely look like a hot mess."


    Cassarae flipped her sweat-matted hair. "Emphasis on hot, thank you very much. Now go get some rest yourself. We''re in no state to raid a vige right now. Although there shouldn''t be any other gnolls, who knows what''s out there?"


    Ss shook his head. "We can''t risk that. There was something very odd about the leader, especially those zombie wolves too. I think the secret is in or near the vige."


    Cassarae hesitated. She really just wanted to sleep and her mind was filled with worry about who she''d even put on guard duty for the night. All the militiamen and the Quest takers werepletely spent. She really didn''t want to deal with this right now, especially since the main threat was gone. But¡­


    "I''ll go. It isn''t a problem. I''ll be back before the night is through, so long as everything goes well."


    Cassarae bit her lip. "Are you sure?"


    "Yes."


    She hesitated before she steeled herself. "Then, are you willing to join Casstle Main? As an official member, I mean. There''s a system that allows the recruitment of adventurers. It''s a slightly different path than the usual viger spawning path. I think that''s what the others want to do too¡­"


    Her voice trailed off.


    It was clear to her that Morgan, Lauren, and Alex saw this as more than just a Quest. They saw it as hope to not have to spend every second looking over their shoulders. This was the real reason they had stayed. They really didn''t want to have to go back.


    Casstle Main was the number-one-ranked human territory. If they didn''t join her, then who would they join?


    "I would love to, but I can''t," Ss replied.


    Cassarae''s expression dimmed a bit. But what she didn''t expect was to suddenly see Ss'' status screen in front of her.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 50]


    >[Strength: 50]


    >[Constitution: 50]


    >[Dexterity: 50]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 47]


    >[Intelligence: 10]


    >[Wisdom: 10]


    >[Charisma: 122]


    [Will: 94]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (6) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (3) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-)]

 Chapter 80 Executioner’s Sweeper

    <h4>Chapter 80 Executioner¡¯s Sweeper </h4>


    [375 GTs bonus]",


    Cassarae''s eyes widened. "Holy shit, Syl!"


    She felt like her head was spinning. Setting aside the fact showing someone your full status window was basically unheard of. What she was seeing was ridiculous.


    There was a long list of cusses and things she wanted to say, but she eventually bit her tongue, pulling Ss away to a location that was even further from everyone else.


    "As you can see, I have an affiliation already and it''s not convenient to try to change it now. I can''t join, not because I don''t want to, but because I can''t."


    "That''s not the point, Syl¡ªas," she hissed. "You can''t just go around showing people your stats like that!"


    Ss raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that I would just show it to anyone?"


    Cassarae''s mouth opened to respond, but she realized she didn''t have an immediate quippy reply and chose to look away instead, pretending to be irritated.


    "Forget it. Why are you stats so ridiculous, anyway? How are they so high when you''re not even Level 1? You don''t even have a ss!"


    "What''s the normal cap?" Ss asked. Honestly, he would be lying if he said this wasn''t one of the reasons he had chosen to reveal it like this. He wanted to know more about how he stacked up to others.


    "The usual Stat Limit is 25. Some people, people who were particrly good athletes back on Earth and such, can push it to 30. But 50 is asinine. You can only get that with a ss or by levelling up."


    Ss nodded slowly. He knew that his Grimde Lineage did help him, but he didn''t expect it to be so much. If his Stat Limit was already so high, how high were the Grimdes with the unmutated version of the lineage?


    "But you actually have a Comprehension. It''s no wonder you''re so ridiculous¡ªI''ve never seen one of those before. No one even knows how to get one¡­ And why is your Intelligence so stupidly low? Somehow it''s your Charisma carrying your Mental stat? There''s some god out there having a goodugh at this bullshit."


    "Is it?"


    Cassarae frowned and gave Ss a deep look. "This ispletely unlike you. You know so little and we''ve already been here for three months. What happened to the professor?"


    Ss looked a bit surprised. "You know I''m a professor?"


    "Idiot. You''re practically a mini-celebrity. It''s not every day Veridian appoints a new tenured professor. It was in a few local news papers."


    "Oh," Ss nodded. He did remember doing a few photoshoots, much to his distaste. He hated taking photos. "So you don''t know anything about Comprehensions?"


    Cassarae shook her head. "No one I''vee across has one, and unlike everything else, there doesn''t seem to be an obvious path toward getting one either."


    "Then what about sses? You can get them?"


    "Both yes and no. I''ve learned that there are two ways to get a ss. The first is to stumble into a ss Dungeon or a ss-themed Quicktime Event. The second is to wait until you''re Level 10, then you will receive a system award that guides you toward a ss you''ve¡­ earned? I guess?"


    "Is one path better than the other?"


    "Again, it depends. It''s possible to run into a Bronze ss in a Quicktime Event, for example, and it might be better than to take it than to wait until your Level 10 and hope you''ve done enough to earn a Bronze ss Quest.


    "Plus, you can skip the Quest in the case of a ss Dungeon of a ss-themes Quicktime Event because the events themselves are the Quest."


    "So a Bronze ss is really rare, then?"


    Cassarae smiled bitterly and nodded. "I heard news in the Nexus about a Common ss Quicktime Event triggering and it was aplete bloodbath. No one who chose to participate even survived. It''s not ast man standing sort of thing. If you don''t meet the requirements, you''re finished.


    "But I''ve also heard of some powerful people hoarding sses as well. They''ll join the Quicktime Events but then not even absorb the ss Crystal."


    Ss'' brows raised, so that was possible, too. He would have to keep that in mind.


    "Can you change your ss?" Ss asked.


    "Um¡­ I''m not sure, honestly. There''s probably a price to pay for an attempt. Nothing everes free in this world."


    "So you''ve already chosen your ss, then?"


    "I¡­"


    Cassarae shook her head and waved a hand.


    ---


    [Name: Cassarae Hale]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Casstle Main]


    [ss: ¡ª(Empty)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: Executioner''s Sweeper (F)]


    ---


    [Physical: 28]


    >[Strength: 28]


    >[Constitution: 28]


    >[Dexterity: 28]


    >[Speed: 28]


    [Mental: 32]


    >[Intelligence: 69]


    >[Wisdom: 22]


    >[Charisma: 5]


    [Will: 32]


    [Luck: 5]


    ---


    [Skills: Sharpen (F-); Basic Scouting (F-); elerate (F-); Execution''s de (F+); Withstand (FF)]


    [Comprehensions: ¡ª]


    ---


    [Gene State: Inflexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: ¡ª]


    [Common Genes: (2) Intelligence (F); Will (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: Harden (F+)]


    ---


    Ss was surprised seeing this screen, mostly because it didn''t make much sense to him. How could she have so few Genes but have so many stats? Did she gain stats through other means?


    ''Wait. The system messages made a distinction between Gene Limits and Stat Limits, but I''ve been thinking of them interchangeably. But¡­ what is the meaningful difference between the two?


    ''I''ve been able to gather more Genes than my stats allow me to disy, but why? And Cassarae seems to have done the opposite, gathered more stats than her Genes would otherwise suggest was possible¡­


    ''What''s the purpose of the distinction?''


    Seeing Ss immediately lose himself in thought, Cassarae couldn''t help but roll her eyes again, but she didn''t interrupt.


    Now that he thought about it, that Elixir had been able to increase his Wisdom, but he didn''t gain a Gene for it. So was that how Cassarae had done it? She certainly had the wealth to attempt it, but¡­ it felt like he was missing something deeper.


    ---


    [Why is there a distinction between Gene Limits and Stat Limits?]

 Chapter 81 Wealth and Expenditure

    <h4>Chapter 81 Wealth and Expenditure </h4>


    [450 GTs bonus]?",


    [Why is there a distinction between Gene Limits and Stat Limits?]


    [A body that has more Genes than Stats is considered to be in a State of Wealth. The body is healthier, bounces back from damage with greater ease, and can unlock higher Stat Limits through rigorous, physical training over long, extended periods of time.


    [A body with more Stats than Genes is considered to be in a State of Expenditure. This is usually achieved through methods of Elixir drinking and treasure consuming, a path usually taken by the rich, affluent andzy. Such a body will be filled with impurities and break down under constant usage]


    ---


    Ss frowned. He didn''t like that. Obviously he was in this so-called State of Wealth, but Cassarae was not. But as much as he wanted to help her, he only had one more Soft Gene State Elixir and he couldn''t give it to her. However, he did have a Brittle Gene State Elixir that wouldst for three days. Though it wasn''t as good as a 50% boost, 30% was definitely far better than her current 10%.


    ''I still don''t know how rare this stuff is,'' Ss thought as his frown deepened. ''Let''s see what the Quest rewards are first. Who knows, maybe she''ll get an even better Elixir. At that point I can help her out with the Genes.''


    Diverting his resources wasn''t a smart choice. He felt like concentrating things on him was the best bet, but he also couldn''t let Cassarae continuously put this kind of strain on her body every time she fought.


    "Don''t try to gather the rewards from the gnolls until I get back," Ss suddenly said.


    Cassarae blinked at the sudden change, but eventually nodded.


    Ss ran through the forest swiftly. There was still a halo of fatigue looming over him, but he felt that they couldn''t be casual so casual to wait for the morning before getting things done.


    It was also a clear sign of trust that Cassarae had allowed him to go as well. Had it been anyone else, Ss was well aware that she would have insisted he stay.


    The value of a city was clear and obvious, and letting Ss go and im one that had spawned several F+ warriors and an FF- warrior spoke volumes.


    At the same time, though, Ss was pretty much the only one who still had the legs to do this.


    ''Why do I feel like this¡­''


    Ss questioned himself as he continued to run. It felt like he was missing something, but he had an easy path toward figuring out what it was.


    This was unusual for him. He didn''t usually act without a solid understanding or a n. This time, he was purely acting for the sake of lessening risk.


    ''That will have to be enough.''


    ¡­


    "Where did Ss go?" Olivia asked, a frown on her face. She had been helping the militiamen and the other reorganize the vige and settle everyone down while spreading news of their sess. She had seen Cassarae pull Ss away, so she didn''t interrupt. But then Ss suddenly ran off.


    "I sent him on a mission," Cassarae replied.


    "The Gnoll Vige?" Olivia asked questioningly.


    Cassarae smiled but didn''t respond.


    Everyone began to gather up, realizing that something was wrong as well. But it was also hard for them to say much too. It was clear that Ss was thergest contributor here.


    "Don''t worry, Ss will be back soon. Then, we can split up the rewards. I''m also sure that once he''s done, you''ll also receive your Quest Rewards as well."


    They frowned, a hint of uneasiness in their eyes. But ultimately, they nodded.


    Alex smiled, raising up his bone ax. "Getting this for so cheap was already enough reward for me. Take as much time as you need. I''m going to sleep."


    Morgan hesitated to speak, but he shook his head and held his tongue. Right now, flying under the banner of Casstle Main would only be a benefit to them. Rather than talking andining, it was best to watch and see how this would y out.


    "Will he be okay?" Lauren asked with a frown. "There are more threats out there than just the gnolls. The vige''s location is already starting to get a bit deeper into the forest. We should have waited until the morning."


    Cassarae nodded. "I understand your concerns, but right now Ss is the only one amongst us in fighting condition, and too many things can happen between now and when we''re ready to move out again. This is just to minimize risk.


    "You''ve also seen his strength. If things are going left, he can definitely retreat."


    Cassarae spoke out Ss'' reasoning, as though it was her own to appease everyone and they slowly dispersed once more.


    ¡­


    Ss locked eyes on a far more substantial wall. Compared to Casstle Main, Gnoll Vige 019 had a line of half logs deeply entrenched in the ground. As opposed to looking like a suburban fence, it really looked like it could stop a great deal of people.


    It was especially imposing in the night, standing a good three meters out of the ground. There didn''t seem to be any easy ess seams to it, and if there was a gate, it was difficult to locate in the darkness.


    Still, it wasn''t bad. Three meters would be tough for an average human to climb, especially with no obvious footholds or things of the like. But for Ss, he was a single wall jump from grabbing the top of the walls, smoothly pulling himself up and over.


    Hended softly as he was immediately hit by a terrible stench. It was like all the smells of the Rotten Wolves had concentrated and settled down here, trapped by the tall walls that surrounded the vige.


    It was hard to make out details with the moon covered by the foliage of the thick trees, but the vige itself was a mess as well, even aside from the foul stench.

 Chapter 82 Den

    <h4>Chapter 82 Den </h4>


    [200 PSs bonus]",


    The tents were hardly tents, but rather beast skins riddled with holes. They seemed to shit and piss in random locations, adding to the vomit-inducing aroma, and in the unorganized mess, Ss couldn''t even easily pick out where the head gnoll would have slept.


    ''There should be some indication. Cassarae''s City Stele had a glow to it.''


    Ss carefully moved around,menting the fact he didn''t even have shoes to wear in this godforsaken ce.


    What he didn''t expect was that he would find something else before the City Stele.


    ---


    [Rotten Wolf Den (F+)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Spawn Rate: 3]


    [Mutation Rate: 0.01]


    ---


    It was an inconspicuous stone buried in the ground. It was sleek and smooth, and had Ss not identally stepped on it, he was fairly certain that he would have missed it.


    ---


    [im Den?]


    [Yes] [No]


    [Warning: moving a recently upied Den will lead to a period of dormancy]


    ---


    Ss'' brows shot up again. ''These things can be imed like cities? Does that mean that if I gave this to Cassarae, she''d be able to spawn those Rotten Wolves to fight on her behalf? But is that even a good thing? Theypletely turned on their masters and the gnoll head didn''t dare to charge with all of them at once¡­''


    ---


    [What are Dens?]


    [Dens are special Steles that spawn beasts or special races. They are ssified by their Grade, which decides the strength of spawned beasts; their Level, which decides the Level of the spawned beasts; their?Spawn Rate, which decides how many beasts are spawned per day; and their Mutation Rate, which decides how frequently a stronger beast would spawn.


    [A Mutation Rate can be between 0.00 and 1.00, where the former is a 0% chance and thetter is a 100% chance. When a Mutation is triggered, no matter the Spawn Rate, only one beast will appear.


    [It is ill-advised to use a Den without a Beast Master Professional on hand. Beasts, unlike spawned humanoids, are notorious for their low loyalty, and this is especially so for specialty Dens such as Undead Dens, Mythical Dens and Legendary Dens.


    [Should this advice be ignored, be prepared for a battle within your own walls]


    ---


    Ss took a breath after he read it. It seemed that Dens were a double edged sword, and this should be an Undead Den. But in that case, how had Zurog controlled them?


    When Ss found the City Stele, he got his answer.


    ---


    [ss Stele]


    [Lurker of the Night (Fragmented)]


    [The darkness calls to you and the ult is your friend. You are a mere fledgling, but you are eager and willing to sacrifice happiness and contentment for suffering and greed]


    [+30 Intelligence]


    [+30 Will]


    [ss Modifiers: 0.1 Intelligence; 0.1 Will]


    [Uses Remaining: 9/10]


    ---


    ''So it''s possible to get a ss like this as well? Seems it even allows you to pass it on to multiple people¡­ This should be that odd feeling I was getting from the gnoll head that was something like a Comprehension, but not quite¡­''


    The ss Modifier was the most interesting line to Ss. If he was correct, that 0.1 should mean that it improved your Stat Limit by 10%, but at the same time, it was a worry to him. It meant that something else he was dreading happened to be true as well¡­


    There was a Stat Limit up ahead for his Mental stats and Will.


    Ss had been wondering if he would ever run into one. Maybe it was possible that those stats would increase to the point his poor Physical wouldn''t matter. Who knew, maybe the Human Race could have be a Race of psychics rather than warriors.


    But this was a clear sign that that was impossible.


    ''It seems that this world will really be like a game¡­''


    Usually, for a game to have any sort of bnce, you couldn''t have someone like Ss who could have perfect stats across the board. It seemed that the real distinction between stats and one''s strengths and weaknesses would only really begin to show after everyone got their ss Modifiers.


    Ss put the ss Stele away.


    ''That?'' Ss'' gaze flickered with disgust.


    Thanks to the light of the City Stele, he could see a bit better in here. At the corner of the tent, there was a corpse lying there, one that looked like it had been dissected, or even¡­ eaten?


    He recognized it immediately by the strewn about arrows and the poison-tipped crossbow bolts.


    It was Lurk.


    Despite his disgust, Ss still went over and ced a hand on the corpse. Maybe he would be able to get the Genes he had missed out on.


    Unfortunately, he had no such luck. Other than a disgusting feeling in his palm, there was no other feedback.


    He shook his head and turned his attention to the City Stele and put a hand on it.


    ---


    [View City Status]


    [Conquer City Stele?]


    ''There''s no enter Nexus option¡­''


    He pushed his intention toward conquering, and a blinding light shot into the skies. Even though he was standing within a tent, he could feel it clearly. The light had pretended as though the ---


    tent wasn''t even there.


    ---


    [Conquer Sequence Triggered]


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:59]


    ---


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:58]


    ---


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:57]


    ---


    Ss'' frown deepened. He didn''t have to stand here, he could even more his hand away. But he didn''t like the fact he had just lit up the night sky in an otherwisepletely dark forest.


    Would beasts make their way here?


    ¡­


    "What the hell? Why is the description of this ce so vague?"


    "The informant said it was around here somewhere. Let''s just keep looking. They should be locked in a battle right now. We have time."


    In the night, two men walked, one clearly more peeved than the other. Both were dressed in cloaked that looked quite simr in style to one another. There were faint hues of purple that shone beneath the sparse moonlight that made it through the thick foliage, and their heads were covered in hoods and partial masks.

 Chapter 83 Max

    <h4>Chapter 83 Max </h4>


    Suddenly, a blinding ray of light reached them.",


    "What the hell, Max. Isn''t that a Conquering Sequence?! Didn''t you say they were in battle?"


    "Forget that, hurry up!"


    Max shot forward, his speed exceptional. He seemed to leap from the ground onto the branches of some trees as though they were just a step away, while his irritablepanion followed up.


    "Cover me, Jared." Max called out, his voice much more restrained. "This Gnoll Vige spawned with a Den. We can''t give it up."


    ¡­


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:21]


    ---


    Ss kept looking at the timer, but he was on full alert. The walls should actually be a benefit to him this time, so he didn''t make any rash movements, remaining as still as possible.


    He remembered how difficult it had been for him to find the location of the City Stele, even when there weren''t any individuals to stop him. Even if a beast, or even a person, saw the blinding sh of light, they would only have a general location and nothing too exact.


    His ears twitched.


    ''That''s not a beast.''


    The person was exceptionally light on their feet, but the moment Ss heard the silent scuffles and dull thump, it felt like a hand had wrapped around his heart.


    Someone was here.


    He moved, shifting his position in the tent.


    ''This person, assuming they know what that sh of light was, will know that there''s someone here. If that''s the case, they won''t take a normal approach to checking the tents, they''ll eitherunch an all out attack from the outside or they''ll just get rid of the tent in the fastest way possible, maybe even throwing it into the air.


    ''It''s also possible that there''s a scouting skill simr to Olivia''s that could ignore any cover¡­''


    Ss was torn. In one case, the person would expose themselves first and he could take advantage. In the second, he would be a sitting duck, waiting for a person''s response.


    He made a decision in his heart and counted the seconds in his head.


    After three, he unleashed Madness.


    Max frowned, feeling a sudden assault on his mind that he wasn''t ready for. His eyes went red as he was creeping forward, and his baser instincts almost took over.


    ''A mental attack? What is this?''


    He had never run into such a thing before. The effects of Ss'' Madness were unlike anything he had faced.


    ¡­


    Off in the distance, high in the trees, Jared held a bow, a frown on his face. His eyes glowed as he activated a Skill that sharpened his vision. He could see the target, and he was sure that Max could too. So why wasn''t he moving?


    ¡­


    On the ground, Ss slipped out of the tent, moving, shifting to the side of an adjacent tent until he caught sight of his target.


    ---


    [Maximillion Cooper (F)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 62]


    [Mental: 51]


    [Will: 55]


    ---


    Ss'' gaze sharpened. Those stats¡­ he had to kill this man fast before he locked onto him.


    He was just about to use his dagger when he heard the whistling. Ss had already been through one archer attack before, and on such high alert, he heard it as clear as if a beast was roaring into his years.


    Without hesitation, he dove to the side. He could barely see a streak of blue through the night and he didn''t even have the time to understand just what was happening when he actually saw the arrow curve in the air.


    He had reacted quickly, but still not quickly enough.


    The arrow grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep groove that would probably require two or three dozen stitches. It was a ghastly wound that left his arm feeling almost limp.


    Ss couldn''t believe he had just survived a battle of such terrible proportions, only tond himself in this situation immediately afterward.


    Ss couldn''t believe he had just survived a battle of such terrible proportions, only tond himself in this situation There was a dull BANG as the arrow cut out a small crater in the ground.


    Max''s head snapped in the direction of Ss, using the location the arrow hadnded in as a guide.


    ''Not good,'' Ss'' mind spun like a churning engine.


    He used his momentum to roll to his feet, springing up and hugging the walls of the vige.


    The only way to stay out of the archer''s line of sight was to keep close to the walls, or more urately, the side of the walls the arrow hade from. If they wanted to target him from that position, they could have toe closer or even climb atop the walls themselves. If they didn''t dare to, then they would essentially be cosigning their partner in crime to a one-


    on-one battle.


    Ss'' jaw steeled. He realized that maybe this group wouldn''t find that to be so bad. He waspletely outmatched, and he barely had time to wonder about why his scan worked when this man''s Mental was greater than his own before he was forced to duck again.


    Max suddenly appeared by him, using a Skill or maybe a Gene Talent that reminded him of a Sudden Burst. However, Ss could practically ''feel'' him approaching from the side. The moment Max''s eleration Skill came to an end, Ss activated his own, just barely dodging out of the way as an arrow soared over his head.


    Ss spun around, his back mming into the wall of logs as he faced Max, his green eyes glistening. He activated <Madness Control> and <Maddened Enlightenment> at the same time.


    All around, Aether began to gather, and the situation became vaguely illuminated, allowing Ss to see more of the situation than just barely outlined shadows and streaking arrows.


    At this point, he was certain that these two had some sort of night vision Skill or Gene Talent. There was no way that archer could target him from so far away without one. In that case, he had nothing to lose by doing this.


    "Agh!" Max subconsciously blinked as his eyes were assaulted by the sudden light.

 Chapter 84 Care

    <h4>Chapter 84 Care </h4>


    Ss was taken aback, but his reaction was quicker than his shock. Out of the archer''s line of sight, he used the full brunt of his telekinesis.",


    Olivia''s dagger cut through the air like it had shot out of a cannon. Ss poured everything he had into it.


    Max barely managed to recover, sensing that something was wrong. He tilted to the side, but he wasn''t fast enough to stop the dagger from tearing right into his shoulder. His left arm immediately went limp.


    Ss tried to draw the de across his body, but the resistance was too strong. With thebination of Madness and the de, the piercing power had the effectiveness of around 150 points of Strength, but there were too many other variables at y to end it all in a single strike.


    A pained cry left Max''s lips and Ss knew that he was running out of time. That archer would be here soon.


    Ss moved forward, his stride so long he closed the distance in a single bound.


    Max moved to counter, but Ss'' telekinesis ripped the dagger out of shoulder right at that moment, sending another spike of pain through thetter''s body that caused that saber he was holding in his hand to falter.


    Ss'' fist mmed into his nose and Max''s world felt like it was suddenly spinning. Was he going to die like this?


    It was then Ss heard it. Even in this situation, his mind was on high alert.


    A wave of light passed through the region as the vige officially fell under his control, and at the same moment, Jared appeared on the vige walls, his bowstring already pulled into a full moon position. It also seemed that Jared''s night vision Skill was on another levelpared to Max''s because he seemed entirely unfazed by the sudden light.


    What he wasn''t unfazed by, though, was Ss suddenly round to Max''s back, grabbing Olivia''s dagger, and holding it to thetter''s throat. Or, rather, it looked like he had done so. In reality, his telekinesis was holding it a few centimeters from his palm.


    Jared froze, and Max suddenly didn''t dare to move.


    Ss'' breathing was haggard, but his gaze was sharp and controlled.


    "Who are you?" He asked coldly.


    Jared didn''t reply, and Max didn''t dare to speak.


    Ss pressed the dagger more forcefully on Max''s neck, drawing blood.


    "I asked a question."


    "It''s a stupid question," Jared eventually responded. "Why would tell you who we are change anything?"


    Ss didn''t reply immediately. Was it a stupid question? Of course not. Jared was just pretending like it was.


    Ss had asked for a very specific reason, and that was because he didn''t think it was a coincidence that these people were here. Someone had told them about this location. It could be one of the three Quest takers, or it could be that another vige run by humans had found it.


    It wasn''t like Gnoll Vige 019 was marked for Casstle Main alone. Anyone could clear it.


    Rather than being a stupid question, it was the most important question.


    Just when Jared was trying to figure out what to do in this situation, Ss drew the dagger across Max''s neck.


    It was so sudden and abrupt that Jared didn''t even know how to react for a moment, and when he did finally react, there was nothing but rage in his eyes.


    He released an arrow in pure fury, but aiming for Ss'' head. At this range, his archery skill was more than high enough not to miss.


    Unfortunately for him, Ss had the initiative. He had already ducked the moment he cut Max''s throat.


    The arrow was swift, almost undodgeable. But even when it curved toward its target, it ended up running right into Max''s chest. Ss had already seen that the homing ability of Jared''s arrows was far too limited to round such a tight corner.


    He kicked Max''s body away when its use had run out and a crossbow bolt appeared out of his Madness Key. Jared had already begun drawing out another arrow from his quiver, but how could he be faster than Ss'' telekinesis?


    The bolt shot up and through the skies, appearing before Jared''s head in an instant.


    The archer might have been slow to draw his arrow, but his Speed and agility were great. It was what he focused on most of all.


    He barely managed to tilt his head to the side, barely dodging. The arrow grazed across his cheek and his evasive maneuver put him off bnce.


    Ss immediately pulled out a second arrow, and it rocketed through the skies, but what he didn''t expect was that Jared would suddenly go limp, his body never managing to regain its bnce.


    Jared stared out into space, wide-eyed and disbelieving.


    "¡­ Poi¡­son¡­"


    His body froze. He was very much still alive, but his body was entirely paralyzed.


    Even Ss was stunned. ''It worked so fast?''


    Ss took deep breaths, exhaling slowly.


    Most venoms, even potent ones took hours to kill. Even among the fastest, a quarter to a half hour was a necessity. But Jared had barely been nicked, and yet he ended up in such a state before he could even fall to the ground.


    ''Venoms in this world probably work by attacking Constitution. Considering his Speed and Dexterity, he likely focused on them more than Constitution¡­ though it''s hard to say. There''s also a chance that the poison is just that powerful, but where did that gnoll find it?''


    Jared fell from the top of the log-walls, unable to bnce himself. Ss didn''t bother to try to catch him. A three-meter fall wouldn''t kill a Level 4, and even if it did, he wasn''t sure if he would care.


    He had moved without hesitation to kill Max and he didn''t even feel very much different now that that had settled in. Max was the first human he had killed, and he even knew his full name. It was just that¡­ he couldn''t be bothered to care.

 Chapter 85 Limit

    <h4>Chapter 85 Limit </h4>


    [Bonus for 400 PSs]",


    If he had killed Max without reason, then maybe he would feel differently. But he would never do such a thing to begin with.


    From the beginning, Max and Jared had approached with thoughts of dealing with him. That much was clear. That initial arrow was definitely meant to kill. Since that was the case, he didn''t see a reason to second guess himself.


    Morality and grace were the privilege of those living in times of peace. Things like philosophy or sociology could only be pined over and parsed after your ancestors had done all the fighting for you.


    It was ironic. Ss had a conversation with Lauren not long ago about keeping as much of your original self in this cruel world as you could¡­


    But he didn''t really feel like he was changing at all right now. He felt like he was bing more of himself.


    He finally caught his breath and stepped forward. Jared''s eyes widened with terror as Ss grabbed him.


    "Can you speak?"


    The corners of Jared''s mouth twitched and spasmed, but nothing came out. Since he was useless, Ss drew the de across his throat as well.


    Jared''s pupils trembled with shock and resignation, but maybe the cruelest part was that he couldn''t even feel himself dying. All he felt was numbness.


    ''There shouldn''t be a third person. If there was, they would have either shown up by now or they went to report¡­ I guess I should try to get out of here as fast as I can.''


    Ss rushed back to the City Stele and stored it away.


    He did want a city of his own, but not yet. After seeing the Bronze City Stele of the Grimde family, he really couldn''t see himself settling for anything less. At the very least, he had to reach that stage, or everything he was doing would be meaningless.


    When he came back to the edge of the vige, he began to go through Max and Jared''s corpses. They were obviously equipped with excellent stuff. He just had to be careful with touching it so that the Scorned Wraps didn''t ruin everything.


    ---


    [Homed Bow (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    [+14 Dexterity]


    [Ability: Homing]


    [A target locked upon with your Will will be tracked down by your arrows]


    [Durability: 9/10]


    ---


    [Rushing Saber (F)]


    [Level: 4]


    [+16 Speed]


    [Ability: Sudden Burst]


    [Reach your top speed instantaneously in exchange for one point of Durability]


    [Durability: 17/20]


    ---


    [Leather Chest Armor (F-)]


    [Level: 4]


    [+6 Constitution]


    [Ability: Sturdy]


    [Withstand a near fatal wound and attack with 5% more of your maximum Strength in exchange for remaining durability]


    [Durability: 4/10]


    ---


    They both wore the same armor with the same abilities. Butparing this to what he had seen from Cassarae''s armor made him realize that there was a sheer night and day difference.


    That Maya Sinir really was an invaluable strategic resource. Her Level 2 armors could provide +100 Constitutionpared to this that wasn''t even in the double digits. He could hardly fathom why the gap was sorge.


    Ss stood ready to move out, but then he stopped and looked back toward the corpses.


    He knew why he hadn''t thought of checking their Genes. They were humans, not the beasts or mythical creatures he had fought before. They were real. They deserved to be seen as something more than just resources to collect¡­ right?


    Ss bent down and pressed his hand to Max''s corpse.


    ---


    [Maximillion Cooper]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (2) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (3) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (2) Will (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss paused.


    It was as expected. This system had no special ce for humans in its heart. To it, they were no different from any other species, a people that could be easily replicated through their superior technology and butchered no different from themon animal.


    Ss pushed his intention toward [Yes].


    Since there were the two of them here, and he had just learned that there was likely a limit to his Mental stats as well, he wanted to see how far it would go.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Common Gene: (1) Strength (F); (1) Constitution (F); (3) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Common Gene: (1) Strength (F); (1) Constitution (F); (1) Will (F)]


    ---


    The pain hit Ss like a truck, but this time, rather than being in his body, it felt like his mind was being forcefully split in two.


    ---


    [Mental Stat has reached 50 and cannot increase further. Species limit has been reached. Please evolve Species, increase Level, or change ss to progress further]


    ---


    [Skill Savant (Title) has activated. Stat Limit increased]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 50]


    >[Strength: 50]


    >[Constitution: 50]


    >[Dexterity: 50]


    >[Speed: 50]


    [Mental: 53]


    >[Intelligence: 23]


    >[Wisdom: 14]


    >[Charisma: 122]


    [Will: 116]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (3) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-)]


    ---


    Ss took deep breaths, slowly recovering from his splitting headache. When he could finally see again, he felt that his mind was even sharper than it had been before, but he could only sigh.


    It seemed that this was the reason Mental was so often treated as a single stat, even deciding whether you could scan others or not. It seemed that its limit wasn''t in individual stats, but rather the overall stat.


    This was probably also the result of the Grimde Lineage increasing his Stat Limit as well. It was highly disappointing.


    But¡­ there did seem to be a silver lining.

 Chapter 86 People

    <h4>Chapter 86 People </h4>


    [Bonus for 600 PSs]",


    ''I was wondering what Titles were¡­ if this is the case, then Titles should also be a method of evolving your species in a way. It was applied after the Gene boost, so my base Intelligence moved from 5 to 14, and that capped my Mental at 50. But then Skill Savant activated and my Intelligence doubled, causing the Stat Limit to be raised as well.


    ''But if this is the case, I won''t get another chance like that again¡­ Even so, that''s something that I can take advantage of in the future.''


    Ss immediately took stock of his Titles again and noticed many things.


    He had managed to absorb all three Intelligence Genes because Skill Savant didn''t just give him +100% Intelligence, but it also gave him a +50% chance of absorbing "rted Genes".


    And due to Madness Conqueror, he had a permanent +10% sess rate in collecting all Genes, so aside from Intelligence, he actually had a 60% chance on everything else.


    He took stock of his Titles again as though he was seeing them all for the first time again. He wanted to make sure that there weren''t any loopholes he missed.


    When he finally pulled his mind away, he found another silver lining.


    He had been wondering why Will wasn''t incorporated with the other Mental stats. It seemed to fit in with them perfectly.


    Could the reason why be purely because it wasn''t subject to Stat Limits?


    Ss really hoped that this was true. He had entered this world gung ho, he even remembered being pissed off by the fact Will even had a stat of its own, how could you even measure that?


    But now he was just hopeful that he wouldn''t be limited.


    ''This world''s already whittling me down, huh?''


    Ss looked up toward the skies, his green eyes flickering with a depth of calmness. Deep within, there was a me burning.


    These limits¡­ he really wanted to break them all.


    He stood, moving forward and pressing a hand on Jared. He hadn''t seen the man''s stats before he died, so he was a bit curious.


    ---


    [Jared Cooper]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (3) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (4) Intelligence (F); (3) Charisma (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    ''They were brothers¡­'' the thought caused Ss'' eyes to dim a bit. The odds that they would share the samest name and not be rted felt¡­ slim. They were lucky to find each other in this Trial, and yet unlucky in the end, anyway.


    Ss gave all the Genes over to the Gene Crystal. The one Will Gene ended up being "wasted", but it was quickly absorbed by the Madness Key. Just in time too, since it was just about for its hunger to kick in again. Now there were only two days left before the feeding requirements increased.


    Other than Max and Jared''s Genes, Ss also gained their remaining coins.


    ---


    [Coins: 3185 (F)]


    ---


    ''It''s time to return.''


    **


    Ss reached Casstle Main in the dead of night. It was both the furthest it could be from dusk and dawn.


    ---


    [Quest "Plight of Casstle Main (Bronze)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Bronze]


    [Rewards]


    [>Bronze Mastery Crystal]


    [>Bronze Nexus Ticket]


    ---


    ''Oh?''


    ---


    [Bronze Mastery Crystal (Treasure)]


    [Absorb to instantly raise any Skill or Comprehension to the Bronze Mastery level]


    ---


    There was only one thing that Ss would use this on, and that would obviously be his Madness Comprehension. It was his strongest ace and the core of his strength right now. Although he felt that raising <Maddened Enlightenment> right from Fragmented to Bronze was enticing, it still wasn''t the best use of his resources. In fact, raising Madness could have a positive impact on it as well.


    ''I''ll have to find a safe region to do it. Every time my Madness progresses, I enter that contemtive state and I''m pretty sure my Madness uncontrobly leaks as well¡­ It also doesn''t help that there''s potentially a spy here¡­''


    Ss checked in with the militiaman on duty and entered the vige. Things had mostly settled down, but he hadn''t been gone for more than an hour to begin with.


    Ss checked in with the militiaman on duty and entered the vige. Things had mostly settled down, but he hadn''t been Torches lit the paths and people cobbled together some semnce of peace so that they could rest for the night and work againe the morning.


    Soon, he had made it to Cassarae''s shack, and he knocked.


    A groggy voice that was trying its very best to not sound groggy came from the other side.


    "Come in."


    Ss opened the door and realized that it was just Cassarae. Olivia had likely already gone to bed, as had the other adventurers. Cassarae, who was probably the most tired of them all, had to keep up appearances by, at the very least, napping on her desk.


    "Ie bearing gifts," Ss said, a light smile tugging his lips.


    Cassarae rested her chin on her desk, looking up at him. She was much toozy to raise her head any further, but her eyes did light up a bit at the words.


    Ss took out the Den, ss Stele and City Stele.


    "Holy shit," she mumbled. "¡­ I was wondering why the Quest Reward I got made this a Bronze Quest. I''ve never even seen one before. But this is probably why¡­"


    "Can you use them?"


    Cassarae sat up so that she could talk easier.


    "The ss Stele is huge, and it''s probably a method of controlling the Rotten Wolves, too. The problem is the vigers. They''re much like normal people¡­ no, maybe they are normal people. They''re not just NPC''s, they have their own biases and everything. If a normal vige like mine starts using zombies¡­ well, public perception would plummet."


    Ss nodded. "But¡­?"


    "But I can use this stuff to upgrade the Nexus. With them, we could probably unlock F+ materials, maybe even FF-¡­ they''re so valuable. And with the City Stele, there''s a chance we can upgrade from a Rudimentary Vige to a Vige and build some real walls, finally."


    "That''s good. Then I should probably also tell you that I was attacked."


    "By beasts?" Cassarae asked, already frowning.


    "People."

 Chapter 87 Leader

    <h4>Chapter 87 Leader </h4>


    [525 GT Bonus]",


    Her frown deepened, not liking the implication.


    This Quest had called up everyone in a hundred kilometer radius. Of course, it was possible to just directly ignore, but then you wouldn''t get any details, nor would you get thepass leading here. There was also a penalty involved for epting and then king in the end, though this penalty wasn''t worth your life.


    "You think it''s one of them?"


    "I don''t know. It could be a coincidence, they could have gotten the information through other means, or any number of things.


    "There''s definitely the possibility that there were some who ignored the Quest that could use where it pinged them as a clue for which areas to check on.


    "You said it was 100 kilometers, right? That''s quite arge area¡­ but it''s not impossible, given the strength of those people."


    "How strong were they?"


    "Level four. F-level threats. Two of them." As he spoke, he took out their equipment and ced them down. They were useless to him as well, so he might as well pass them on to Cassarae as well.


    Cassarae took a breath and exhaled slowly. She took a moment to gather herself before she spoke.


    "You really don''t need to give me these, you know. Don''t treat me like that same little girl. I have a little strength of my own, you know?"


    There was a hint of irritation in her voice, but Ss knew it wasn''t really aimed at him.


    "If you have a method of trading them in, do so," Ss said. "I''m not giving them to you out of pity. I just quite literally can''t use them."


    Cassarae''s frown returned. "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    Ss held up his hands. "I can''t take these off. They''re bound to me. I can''t unequip them, and while they''re in my possession, I can wear any armor or wield any weapons."


    Her eyes widened. "No way, I''ve never heard of something like that. Is it a really powerful item, then?"


    Ss blew out a breath and shook his head. He wished.


    "It just gives plus ten percent Constitution, and only on my fists. I''m not even sure it would apply if I used a palm attack or something like that."


    Cassarae fell into her thoughts. +10% Constitution felt weak but¡­ if it was a permanent stat boost like it seemed, it could very quickly roll into something much more substantial.


    Now that she thought about it, she had never seen a treasure item give a percentage boost at all¡­


    The only reason Ss brushed it off was because he had two methods that gave him far better and far more permanent stat boost. So many of his Titles gave better boosts, while his Comprehension current gave +150% and +200% boosts to respective stats.


    It was hard for him to take +10% seriously, especially since it was just to a single stat.


    "I don''t know what you''ve gotten yourself into, but that''s kind of gross." Cassarae looked at the blood-soaked wraps in mock horror.


    Ss shook his head. That was a gripe he had as well. But at the very least, it wasn''t itchy, and it didn''t seem to give off any foul smells. Oddly enough, it felt "self-cleaning" as well. He had gotten it soaked in much more blood than this over time, but it seemed to revert back to this condition every time.


    Cassarae stood to her feet and rounded her desk.


    "Come. Watch this," she said with a grin.


    "You sure you want to advance your vige right now? I think you should make a spectacle of it."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. It wasn''t much of a surprise if he guessed what was going to happen before she did it.


    "You''re no fun, but now that you say so, you''re probably right. This leader stuff just isn''t for me."


    "I don''t think so."


    Cassarae looked over, about to say something quippy, when she realized she had misconstrued his words.


    He didn''t mean to agree with her, he meant the opposite.


    "Your temper is a bit of a problem¡ª"


    "Excuse me?"


    "¡ªBut you have a very good feel for people. You cane off as very endearing to many. And from what I see, your spawned vigers don''t have any ingrained biases as women leading, so you''re in a good position.


    "If you took the role of War Lord, you''d do very well. Appoint others to do administrative stuff if you don''t want to deal with it and lead the people''s spirit, not their minds.


    "You''re ranked number one right now for a reason, no?"


    "How can you make such nice stuff sound so annoying at the same time?"


    Ss smiled. "Good night, Cassarae. Get some rest."


    Cassarae watched Ss walk away, huffing out a sigh.


    ''I guess he''s right. After this upgrade, instead of a Professional, I''ll try for an Administrative-type Spawn instead and hope I get something good¡­''


    She looked at her Luck stat. Hopefully, it woulde through again.


    **


    The center of the vige was filled with hustle and bustle, but it wasn''t unruly. It felt quite warm and home-like, filled with hope and expectations for the future.


    After surviving such an encounter, many of the vigers were in high spirits. They looked no different from normal people, everything from their skin tone to mannerisms perfectly mirrored the people of Earth. They even spoke the samenguage.


    The only thing that stood out was the fact they were all around the same age, somewhere between their twenties and early thirties. There were no children around, and there only seemed to be tentative rtionships between the people. Although there were some who no doubt shared a bed at night, none of them were husband and wife.


    Ss took silent note of all of this, but he didn''t say much. He knew that Cassarae wasn''t a fool. Administrative stuff might annoy her, but she really understood people. At the same time, her education was just as good as his own. They had attended the same schools, after all.

 Chapter 88 Compensation

    <h4>Chapter 88 Compensation </h4>


    [600 GT Bonus]",


    "Thank you for gathering, everyone. This is a momentous asion for us all, and I wanted you all to be here to witness it."


    Cassarae stood on a makeshift podium, probably one she had gotten the militiamen to put together casually. To her side and a step back, there stood Olivia, while before her and down on the ground before the podium, there was a line of militiamen.


    Although the scene was a bit shabby, it got the point across and raised her prestige in their eyes. Cassarae could practically feel the poprity rising.


    "Today, we will move forward, leaving behind the dregs of the Rudimentary Vige rank and move to the stage of a true Vige. The security, our number of helping hands, and our quality of life will all increase."


    Cassarae waved a hand and there was a sh of light that cabin from the cabin behind her. The people gasped in awe as a ripple of light spread through the surroundings.


    In the distance, the weak suburban fences became more substantial, reced by a wall of thick logs evenrger than the gnoll vige had had.


    The tents in the surroundings became shacks more like the one Cassarae lived in, while Cassarae''s shack becamerger, taking the shape of a minimalistic cabin.


    The vige itself becamerger as well. If before it had been around 50 meters in diameter, now, it was double that and nearly took up the whole marsh. There was a lot of empty space created by this change, but the happiness in the eyes of the vigers couldn''t be shaken. In fact, even Maya looked quite content as her abode got a substantial upgrade. Of course, thoseplete beast skins also had arge part to y in it.


    Cassarae smiled. "I would also like to introduce you all to a new addition to our vige, a man that we will rely upon heavily from now on."


    With a click, a man who seemed to be in histe thirties walked out of Cassarae''s cabin. Compared to the vigers who all wore linen clothes, he seemed to be dressed more¡­ nobly. It was an odd feeling considering the fact his dress was much the same, just a simple linen shirt and pants.


    But the way he carried himself easily attracted a great deal of attention.


    Ss narrowed his eyes. He could feel that this man''s Charisma was very high, but it manifested in a weird way. Ss definitely didn''t have this sort of maism when he just appeared.


    ''This feels simr to that feeling the gnoll head was giving off. It''s like a Comprehension but not at the same time¡­ so it''s a ss?''


    ¡ª-


    [Gregory Chambers (F+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Profession: Steward (Common)]


    [Favorability: ¡ª]


    ¡ª-


    Ss couldn''t see the Favorability. That was likely something that only Cassarae could.


    ''I see¡­ it''s likely that a ss, or a Profession in this case, doesn''t just improve certain stats. I don''t believe this man spawned with higher Charisma than me, though it''s potentially possible. It seems that a ss modified how a stat works, or maybe changes its Effectiveness¡­''


    Everything he learned about these systems, their stats, and how they worked made it all so much moreplicated. He could almost understand why they had just given them a stripped-down version of the system.


    Soon, the ceremony was almost over, and Cassarae looked toward theQuest takers and Ss.


    "We aren''t quite finished with introductions quite yet. Everyone, please allow me to introduce the heroes ofst night''s battle. They will be joining us from today onward and be solidified members of our family."


    Cheers broke out, and the small excursion drew to a close. Afterward, Cassarae invited the Quest taker, Olivia, and the newly minted Gregory into her cabin.


    "Gregory, just listen in for now. I want you to understand theyout of the vige for a while longer before you start making suggestions."


    "Not a problem, City Lord," he bowed.


    Cassarae nodded and looked back toward the others.


    "I will be blunt. Ss and I do have a rtionship that goes a long way back, but we have not seen each other in almost ten years. Our meeting was purely a coincidence, and I sent him on the mission yesterday because he was the only one fit to go.


    "You all should have received your Quest rewards already, and I have the spoils of the battle here. There were ten gnoll corpses and ten Rotten Wolves, including the evolved one.


    "As you all probably know, the Rotten Wolves are useless to us. The Genes are corrupted, so we can set them aside for now. Of the ten remaining corpses, there''s the gnoll head, and there is one other elite gnoll.


    "Technically speaking, Ss and his methods killed almost all of them, so he is entitled to the majority. What you are all entitled to is a cut of what was found in the vige, as it was thanks to our collective strength that they were dealt with.


    "You all yed arge part in allowing the vige to upgrade to a new stage, so I am willing topensate you for your efforts.


    "First, I will give you all your own individual homes. You won''t have to share bunk beds any longer. It will all be paid for on my own dime.


    "Second, the armor I am wearing now, I will have onemissioned for each of you."


    Cassarae disyed the stats of her armor for everyone to see and their eyes couldn''t help but open wide. Why were the stats so exaggerated?!


    "Third, so long as you need anything and have the funds to pay for it, I will be able to trade for it for you so long as it is at the F-


    minus level."


    "Wow, dom¡ªCity Lord, that''s crazy!" Alex recovered quickly, covering his early slip up with enthusiasm.


    Morgan shook his head, and Lauren covered her mouth, holding back herughter.

 Chapter 89 Spawn

    <h4>Chapter 89 Spawn </h4>


    "These rewards are excellent," Morgan said, helping Alex out a bit so that Cassarae didn''t have the time to figure out what thetter had really wanted to say. "I have no objections."",


    "None here," Alex seconded.


    "None here as well," Lauren confirmed.


    "Good," Cassarae nodded. "In that case, we can talk about more of what we expect out of this sort of cooperation. But first¡­"


    She smiled and held out her hand, shaking each one of theirs one by one. There was a bit of a lull and Ss could tell that they were checking their new Affiliations, so he pretended to do the same.


    This change was a protection for both parties.


    Now that they were under Casstle Main, Cassarae was beholden to them to an extent. At the same time, there was no easy way to get rid of an Affiliation one had one, that was a conundrum that Ss himself was in right now. And, Cassarae should be able to see all of their stat windows as well as their Favorability.


    It could be said that it was a two-way rtionship, one slightly skewed in Cassarae''s favor. Which was also why Ss took note of the fact they had all epted it so easily.


    If there was a spy amongst them, he would have expected for one of them to escape in the night, or something to that effect. But everyone was still here, obvious. It seemed that what happenedst night was deeper than what it appeared to be. And worse than that, whoever remained was likely supremely confident in their abilities, even after watching his feats.


    ''¡­ We''ll see,'' Ss thought.


    ¡­


    Not long afterward, Ss found himself in the small shack promised to him by Cassarae. It was small, but it was cozy.


    ''It''s no wonder she was so stingy with her funds. I wonder how many coins she had to spend to get all of this up and running¡­''


    Ss only had a vague idea about how cities worked, but there seemed to be a ton to bnce. Even the "talents" she spawned would only start with a slight favorable impression of her. If she didn''t perform well, they could easily turn on her.


    This was why Ss had noted the existence of Gregory. Compared to Maya, even though Gregory was of lesser talent, he was far more dangerous.


    Maya was pretty widely unliked. But if Cassarae slipped up with her rtionship with Gregory, then she might soon find her entire vige turned against her.


    There was another reason Ss was so put-off by Gregory''s appearance as well. It wasn''t exactly his existence, per se, but rather how he existed at all.


    This system was creating all of these people, but was it from scratch? Were they essentially newborns? Or could it be that they were from other worlds? Could the system fast track maturity and even select people''s personalities?


    Whatever the true answer was, it was definitely an ufortable one.


    It was all so eerie and¡­


    Ss sighed, closing his eyes.


    ¡ª-


    [Where do the beings spawned by the system for citiese from?]


    [¡ª]


    ¡ª-


    There was a wild glitch, shing with cracked lines and twisted space in Ss'' vision.


    Ss'' eyes snapped opened and he looked toward the Madness Key, a hint of dread forming between his brows.


    ¡ª-


    [Question has touched upon a Taboo. Glutton Curse activated. Hunger has increased.]


    ¡ª-


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <5 Fragmented> Gene]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <5 Common> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <7 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    ¡ª-


    Ss could feel the Madness Key suddenly quaking. He didn''t want to find out what would happen when it reached a peak.


    With swift thoughts, he pulled out one of the normal gnoll corpses and fed it to Madness Key. Only then did it calm down.


    Each one of these normal gnolls had six Common Genes a piece, so he had ended up wasting one. But there wasn''t much he could do about that, anyway.


    ''This time, it didn''t even answer the question¡­ so the question doesn''t necessarily have to be about Madness to elicit this response¡­''


    Ss'' brows tightened into a frown. He didn''t like this at all. What was taboo about the question he had just asked?


    It felt taboo, but that was only from his perspective. Ostensibly, this spawning of humans from scratch should bemon and uninteresting to the system. This entire world was formed of spawned creatures in this way, and humans were just another of these "creatures".


    The only reason Ss could think of for this to be a taboo subject was if there was something that went beyond what was clearly observable going on here.


    ''Summoned Ascension¡­ for there to be a system in ce, it has to mean that someone or something created it. Even if it''s just some unknownw of physics that humans as a whole have yet toe into contact with¡ªat least not until now¡ªwhat remains certain is that others must have benefited from it and interacted with it.


    ''Assuming that Earth wasn''t the first world to receive this opportunity, and also assuming that there are others that have not only received it, but seeded where we failed¡­


    ''How would these worlds feel about the addition of new worlds to their system? Would they greet it with open arms? Would they want to use us as ves? Maybe as soldiers in their wars? Would they be akin to a Benevolent God, looking out for our best interests?


    ''What if this system is under the control of someone else? In that case, is it even possible to rely on it to match or even surpass such a person?''


    The thoughts came in an avnche and by the end of it, Ss was certain of only one thing¡­


    They had to be more cautious of these spawned humans.

 Chapter 90 Dead

    <h4>Chapter 90 Dead </h4>


    There were many thoughts going on in Ss'' mind, but ultimately, he knew many of these things weren''t under his control. Even so, as he brought out the corpse of the gnoll elite, his mind was fluttering with a thought.",


    ''Genes seem to be the foundation of everything¡­ if this system ends up being a shackle, then I will just need to figure out a way to collect them and use them without the system as a bridge.''


    ---


    [Threshak]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (2) Intelligence (F); (3) Wisdom (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss passed it all to the Gene Crystal. He could feel himself inching closer to unlocking it.


    ---


    [Basic Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others]


    [+5 Intelligence; +5 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+10 Intelligence; + 10 Charisma (Common)]


    [+20 Intelligence; + 20 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(2) Speed, Wisdom]


    [(3) Dexterity]


    [(7) Charisma]


    [(6) Intelligence]


    ---


    ''Maximillion and Jared both had far more Genes than the gnolls¡­ I wonder why that is¡­''


    Though Ss wondered, he didn''t dare to ask the Madness Key. The gnolls were spawns of the system. Who knew if he would touch on another taboo?


    The spike was already far worse than he expected. After another seven days, he would be spending all his time hunting to feed the thing instead of improving himself.


    Then again, with all these Gene and Stat Limits¡­ at least he was making use of all those excess Genes somehow.


    ---


    [+30 coins (F)]


    ---


    This time, there was no bone ax, so Ss moved on. He ignored the normal gnolls because with the new insatiable requirements of the Madness Key, he would definitely be needing them. Plus, the stats they provided¡ªStrength and Constitution¡ªthe Gene Crystal didn''t need anymore.


    ---


    [Zurog]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (2) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F); (2) Charisma (F); (2) Will (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss passed them all over to the Gene Crystal again.


    ---


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(2) Speed]


    [(3) Dexterity]


    [(4) Intelligence]


    [(5) Charisma]


    ---


    The remained two Will was absorbed by the Madness Key, but this time Ss really observed the process.


    ''I lost three months of time because of this key¡­ those glitches as well¡­ it''s possible that it exists outside the parameters of this system, at least in part. In that case, observing it might be a key to learning how to absorb Genes without the input of the system.''


    Ss wasn''t sure if Gene and Stat Limits were artificially ced by the system or not, but if he could gain an inkling from observing the Madness Key, maybe he could find out.


    Unfortunately, he got nothing out of it. It was just a pulse of energy and then it surged into it. He had no choice but to table the idea.


    ---


    [+100 coins (F)]


    ---


    The total brought his coins up to 3315 coins. However, there was actually another item in the Reward Orb this time as well.


    ---


    [Dungeon Map ¡ª(FF+)]


    ---


    A scroll appeared in Ss'' hand, but when he tried to open it, nothing came of it.


    ---


    [Map Locked. Requirements not met]


    ---


    Ss frowned and was forced to turn to the Madness Key. Only then did he learn what was going on. It seemed that the map wouldn''t unlock until he actually entered the Dungeon. However, with it, he could vaguely feel the general direction the Dungeon was in as well.


    ''It might not be the best time to leave considering what happened before, but I doubt there''ll ever be a "best time". I''ll also need to leave one way or another so that I can raise my Madness to Bronze Mastery.''


    Ss made a decision and stood, but he immediately got hit by a wave of dizziness.


    He had pushed himself very hard the previous day, having fought not just one or two battles, but effectively four of them, the third of which was extremely drawn out due to the waves of Rotten Wolves.


    It seemed he hadn''t fully recovered. He had cut his sleep short because of the excursion to the gnoll vige.


    ''I''ll catch up on rest, then eat some of the animals I killed on the way there and back¡­ then I should be good to go.''


    Ss reined in his eagerness, trumping his desires with a familiar discipline. Sliding onto his new hay mattress, he closed his eyes and drifted off.


    **


    "They''re dead."


    Darius ckwood was a man who could be considered quite calm most of the time. But news that two of his Level 4s didn''t return was like a knife stabbing into his heart and twisting. Those two were firmly within the top five of his group, and they were four and five either.


    "Are you sure they haven''t defected, City Lord?"


    ---


    [Benjamin Cross (FF-)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Profession: Steward (Common)]


    [Favorability: 8/10]


    ---


    "No. I would have seen it happen."


    "It''s possible. There are many methods of deceiving the eyes."


    Darius nodded, agreeing with Benjamin''s sentiment.


    "I agree. That''s why I never trust this bullshit system with anything. How can it read a person''s heart? Or assign a value to a person''s Will? I prefer to look someone in the eye, and Max and Jared were two trustworthy men. They wouldn''t run off with the treasures alone."


    Darius took a breath and exhaled. He stood from his desk and moved to the City Stele, checking something in the Nexus before pulling back.


    "Casstle Main has progressed to the status of an official Vige."


    He let the words hang in the air as he paced. Ss could only see the name of the cities, but Darius could see far more, and this confirmed exactly what his spections were.


    "Something has changed," Darius thought aloud. "The City Leaderboard is based purely on the progression of the city, not the strength of the city. I thought Casstle Main put too much emphasis on pushing up their city''s level, and not enough on nurturing its warriors, so I wasn''t worried."

 Chapter 91 The Enclave

    <h4>Chapter 91 The Enve </h4>


    "But if they''re able to not only deal with the 25 gnolls and still have enough strength to kill both Max and Jared, they''re more of a problem than I originally thought. And, if they have someone with an <Advanced Scouting> Skill, which they almost certainly do, they''ll know it was us, The Enve, that attacked."",


    ---


    [City Leaderboard]


    [3. The Enve - Grade 7 Rudimentary Vige]


    ---


    "What do you suggest, Benjamin?" Darius looked up and met his Steward''s eyes.


    "We have lost two powerful warriors, City Lord. But we still have the advantage of the informant."


    "Couldn''t they have died already? They''ll certainly specte that there''s a spy."


    "Yes, but you know as well as I how well they are able to hide themselves."


    "With they still work with us?"


    "Therein lies the potential problem," Benjamin nodded. "The informant isn''t one of our own. They just believed that it was more worthwhile to take a gamble on us as opposed to Casstle Main.


    "I do not believe that the informant, given their abilities, would make a mistake. In that case, whatever circumstances led to the death of Max and Jared should be outside the expectations of the informant as well."


    "Meaning?"


    "We wait." Benjamin said. "If the informant contacts us within the day, it means that they believe that we are still the better bet despite the changes. If not, then we will need to pivot."


    "Toward?"


    "We are still unaware of the informant''s origins. It''s possible that they could be from another city and attempting to use a borrowed knife to clear away some of their enemies.


    "Casstle Main is a decent distance from us. It took three days'' travel for Max and Jared to make it to the gnoll vige. Though most of that was due to the danger of the beasts in the region, that will be to our advantage.


    "Even if the informant chooses Casstle Main, the impact on us won''t be felt immediately. There''s no need for us to waste time shoring up defenses or things of the like. We were already given an extremely advantageous starting locale.


    "Instead, I think we should make a push toward bolstering our Professions."


    "Like Casstle Main."


    "Yes. The informant alluded to the fact Casstle Main was leagues ahead of us in terms of armory. We need to change that. For the Grade 8, Grade 9 and Vige upgrade, I suggest focusing it all on Profession spawns.


    "We have an advantage that others do not. We need very little defenses, so we can send out far more warriors to collect resources. This will be our advantage.


    "In fact, whether the informant contacts us again or not, I believe that this is the path forward. The fact they have taken so long already means that they are wavering.


    "Such an ally is not one we should rely on."


    Darius agreed with a nod. "This will still put a huge strain on our coins. Gather everyone for a meeting. We won''t break the news to them immediately. We''ll wait until next week for that."


    **


    Ss rushed through the forest. He had made his departure clear, but honestly, he wasn''t exactly sure of how long he would be gone. He only got a vague sensation of direction from the map and, for all he knew, it could be half-way across the world.


    Honestly, though, even if it took him months, from what he hade to understand about this current world, an FF+ Dungeon was too great to pass up.


    He wasn''t sure of the ranking for the Slithering Madness Dungeon, but it was no doubt the reason for his sess today. Despite losing three months of time, he could easily keep up with those around him, and that meant a great deal.


    Plus, Cassarae wasn''t a child who needed her hand held, as much as he seemed eager to clear the path for her. She had survived three months without him, and she could survive another three again.


    Soon, though, the first day waned.


    Venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, Ss found that the creatures were bing more dangerous. Although he had still yet to meet a Level 1, the standard was rising to an astonishing degree.


    He hadn''t realized just how shallow a depth he had been in, but as he waded deeper into these murky waters, it became clearer and clearer.


    Luckily, he had traded for something quite important before leaving.


    ---


    [Basic Night Vision (F-)]


    [Requirement: 10 Mental]


    [Use this Skill to illuminate the darkness around you]


    ---


    That wasn''t the only thing he had gained, either.


    ---


    [Common Arts Enthusiast (F-)]


    [You are a jack of all, master of none. However, your efforts have given your style ofbat a unique re and an air of unpredictability that strikes fear in your enemies]


    [+1 Dexterity]


    [+10% sess in absorbing rted Genes]


    ---


    He had managed to im the full Title and his Dexterity had actually risen to 51¡­ and no small cost of pain and misery. It seemed that the pain was even worse when you were at to your Stat Limit.


    ''Eating these animals really does keep me awake, though. I can''t tell if it''s more like coffee and I''m harming myself, or if this influx of Aether can really rece sleep¡­''


    After gathering up so many beasts after a day''s work, Ss could more than afford to ask the Madness Key, so he did so, using Common Genes instead of Fragmented ones.


    ---


    [Can eating Aether-infused meat rece sleep?]


    [Digested Aether gives the body a sense of freedom and lightness simr to a night''s rest, but it cannot do the same for the mind. Extended periods of time without sleep, unless one is an Ascended Being, can be very detrimental to progress]


    ---


    Ss noted this. It couldn''t rece sleep, but it seemed there was another benefit he had neglected: healing. It couldn''t help his mind recover, but it certainly could help his body too. This meat would be important for keeping himself in tip-top shape.


    Deep into the night, Ss set up another item he bought.

 Chapter 92 Spitting Cobra

    <h4>Chapter 92 Spitting Cobra </h4>


    [Basic Enclosure (F-)]",


    [This treasure is a must for solo adventurers. Set up a parameter of detection and sleep with peace of minding]


    ---


    The item was a sleeping bag with many hidden bells and whistles. It could be hung from a tree or ced directly on the ground. At the same time, it could alert the user to any movement within ten meters.


    This felt like too short a distance, but honestly, Ss wasn''t sure he wanted arge radius than this. The forest was filled with creatures. If he was alerted to everything within even 25 meters, he would never get any rest.


    He strapped himself to a thick branch after climbing about five meters up a tree and then slept the night away.


    When he awoke, he sprung into action again.


    By this point in his journey, his Gene Crystal had already shored up all the missing Physical Genes it needed. There were only four Intelligence and five Charisma Genes remaining for him to seed.


    Unfortunately, none of the beasts he came across gave Mental Genes. He was having a feeling that he might need to go and kill more humanoid species if he wanted to finally unlock Basic Aetherflow and raise his Stat Limit to 100.


    Ss'' steps came to a stop and his head jerked backward.


    A spurt of green liquid collided with a tree by his right shoulder, rebounding back somewhat and drizzling down a momentter.


    Ss frowned. That green looked almost identical to the green of Lurk''s crossbow bolts. Was it a coincidence?


    He suddenly put two and two together. ''The Dungeon is close¡­''


    He had wondered where Lurk could have possibly gotten such potent poison from. But what if Zurog had already found the Dungeon before, but couldn''t venture in because there were too many creatures surrounding it?


    That would exin where Lurk had gotten the poison and the Dungeon all at once.


    Soon, Ss was proven right¡­ though in this case, he had hoped that he was very wrong.


    The entire Dungeon region was surrounded by a species of paralysis-venom-spitting cobras.


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra (F-)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 32]


    [Mental: 49]


    [Will: 23]


    ---


    Ss snatched the spitting cobra before it could spit again, mping down on its head hard. He had a lot of experience wrangling snakes, and though this one had a high Mental, its Physical was astoundingly weakpared to the current Ss.


    After killing it and checking its Genes, he felt like he understood why.


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (2) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    This was the first time Ss had seen a beast that gave a Mental Gene, but what was more important than that was that this was clearly the spitting cobra''s strength. The paralysis venom they spit must be powered by Aether somehow.


    ''Or would it count as poison now¡­ the spitting cobra species back on Earth can''t do harm through its spitting action unless itnds on your eyes, really¡ªso it should count as venom. But transferring my knowledge from Earth to this situation couldnd me in danger like it almost did in the Slithering Madness Dungeon¡­''


    The distinction was mostly meaningless¡­ for now. But Ss was the type to want to understand more about the world around him.


    Ss gave the two Genes over the to the Gene Crystal. Now he only needed two Intelligence Genes and five Charisma Genes, and considering the current situation¡­ he had a feeling that he would get those two Intelligence Genes quite quickly.


    Even without moving from his location, he could see the telltale markings of a Spitting Cobras. He could make out several burrows, not to mention dung that was congruent with Ss'' studies for reptilians of the like.


    ''This seems to only be the edge of the territory¡­''


    Ss could hear running water up ahead. At some unknown point, he had run back into the river this area shared. This made sense to him, as Spitting Cobras loved the water.


    However, he could also feel a thick stream of Aether in the air as well. Even without taking out the Dungeon Map, he could sense it.


    Ever since he had evolved <Maddened Meditation> to <Maddened Enlightenment>, he had gained a subtle sixth sense of sorts. It couldn''t quite "see", but it could feel. Almost akin to the feeling one would get when you felt someone was looking at you.


    Toward Aether, though, this sense was much stronger than. It flowed like smoke through the air in Ss'' eyes, and a sight that he could usually only see at night was slowly forming before him the more he focused on it.


    The Dungeon was definitely up ahead. Not far, just 200 to 300 meters. However, there was a minefield of Spitting Cobras between himself and that goal.


    Ss narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting to the venom that was still drizzling down the tree trunk to his side. He brought out a dagger and controlled it with his telekinesis. Then, carefully, he scooped up some of this venom and bnce it on the de.


    ''It''s not ideal, but it''ll work. Let''s go test this out.''


    Ss ended up experimenting for about an hour, catching several spitting cobras in the process.


    ''In conclusion, the venom, indeed, works like venom. So long as it doesn''t get into my eyes, it hitting my skin is not a problem. However, even the slightest nick leads to paralysis. It doesn''t seem to lead to death anymore due to some odd mutation, but even so, if you''re stuck frozen in the middle of battle, you''re as good as dead.


    ''The higher the Mental of the Spitting Cobra, the more potent the venom is, and there are some creatures that can shrug off the paralysis in a few fractions of a second so long as their Physical and Mental is at a certain level. If I had to assume, I would say the stats that yed thergest role were Constitution and Intelligence.''

 Chapter 93 Reign

    <h4>Chapter 93 Reign </h4>


    This was positive for Ss. At the very least, he didn''t have to worry about having a perfect streak of dodges. He could slip up so long as the venom didn''t get into his eyes, and to be on the safer side, he should just avoid all orifices in general.",


    ''There''s just one more thing I want to practice¡­''


    ¡­


    [Spitting Cobra (F-)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 33]


    [Mental: 47]


    [Will: 22]


    ---


    Ss didn''t immediately rush the snake, circling the grey and ck scaled creature.


    Then it came. A spurt of green that moved with a swiftness that must have been at least 50 Speed.


    Ss didn''t panic, reacting to 50 Speed wasn''t an issue for him. His Will swelled up and his Charisma pressed it down onto the world, and at that moment, the line of venom froze in the air.


    ''Sess.''


    Ss flicked it back at the snake. This obviously wasn''t going to harm it, as it was definitely immune to its own venom. Instead, it was just to prove to himself that he could do it.


    The venom moved back. Without Madness activated, his telekinesis could only disy around 30 Speed, so the snake was actually able to dodge. However, Ss followed up with a swift kick that sent it spiralling to the side.


    He rushed after it before it could gather itself and grabbed a hold of its neck, squeezing down hard.


    Ss'' telekinesis worked best on items that were exceptionally light. However, even light objects could be hard to control depending on their Speed. For example, Jared''s arrows were far beyond his ability to control with his telekinesis.


    However, as he had expected, this venom seemed to be in a sweet spot. It was fast, but it was also so light, and its weight was so spread out, that he could take control of it.


    That would only benefit him. Who knew, maybe in the future, when his telekinesis increased in strength, even stopping arrows wouldn''t be impossible.


    A dagger shed out from the Madness Key and severed its head.


    Ss threw the snake into a separate storage device, a new one that he had bought with his funds. The space of the Madness Key was great, but the problem was that anything with Genes that he tossed in there would be swallowed up. The good news was that aside from the Rotten Wolves, it would leave the other corpses behind. So he could at least storerge amounts of food. But it was very inconvenient to lose out on certain Genes.


    This sort of Intelligence Gene haul was rare and he couldn''t let the Madness Key act as it pleased, especially when absorbing these Genes didn''t allow him to postdate the next Curse activation.


    Ss brought out a bottle of water, another F- treasure that stored far more liquid than it seemed to. This one bottle could produce five liters of water naturally in a 24-hour period. It could store up to 20, but it had the size of a normal half liter bottle of water.


    He took a long drink, then had some lunch. After he felt he was sufficiently rested, he turned his attention to the Dungeon again.


    ¡­


    Ss burst out into a sprint. His actions immediately caused a response. Several Spitting Cobras rushed out from the burrows or slithered out from the river to the side, the air suddenly bing filled with streaks of green.


    He had thought about taking a slower, more methodical approach. But the ending of that choice was obvious. He''d find himself surrounded and fighting a prolonged battle. By the time he made it to the Dungeon, he wouldn''t even have the strength left to deal with whatever danger it had avable.


    He weaved in and out of the rain of venom.


    Suddenly, a cobra fell out of the tree, appearing just above his head with its maw opened wide.


    Ss didn''t even look at it, a dagger shing out from his Madness Key and slicing it in two just as Madness activated.


    Shrieks filled the forest floor, and the snakes entered a frenzy. They seemed to forget that Ss was amon enemy and venom flew in all directions.


    Ss put a dagger away and misdirected a spirt of venom that came from his side. With a leap, he shot over a dead and fallen tree trunk, his palm rebounding off of it for just a split moment before he hit the ground on the other side.


    ''Big¡­''


    A cobra that was almost five meters long appeared. No, it was more than one.


    Ss had known that the closer he got to the Dungeon, the more powerful these creatures would get. But he didn''t expect to see a Spitting Cobra that put even a King Cobra to shame in size.


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra (F+)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 47]


    [Mental: 62]


    [Will: 37]


    ---


    The cobras rose up, their hoods ring as they hissed. Then, their venom shot out like a rain of arrows.


    Ss didn''t try to control fully, nor did he try to reverse their directions. Instead, he simply misdirected them.


    He kept charging forward with his greatest Speed. His mind visualized the area around him, locking onto the flying venom and only changing their directions slightly. At their Speed, just the slightest deviation sent them flying way off the mark, shooting over Ss'' head and far wide of his body.


    An F+ cobra snapped at him, but Ss'' dagger appeared once more, driving right into its mouth so hard that it pinned the snake to a nearby tree.


    Ss didn''t even try to pull the dagger back, dodging through a group of behemoth-sized cobras and shooting into the distance.


    They were hot on his trail and their Physicals weren''t nearly as weak as the snakes in the outer ring. But by now, Ss had alreadyid an eye on the Dungeon.


    ---


    [Basilisk''s Reign (FF+)]


    [Level Maximum: 5]


    [Entry Limit: 3]


    [Rmended: 75 Physical; Mental 60; Will 50]


    [Description: The King of Snakes is undisputed, regal in their temperament and unopposed in their might. Those who dare step into their domain will show respect or pay for it in kind]

 Chapter 94 Vanished

    <h4>Chapter 94 Vanished </h4>


    Ss quickly read it. Despite his situation, he wouldn''t rashly jump into a Dungeon without understanding what it was all about. The description didn''t tell him much, but the rmendations at least told him that it wasn''t too far out of his league. If he stupidly jumped into a Level 10 Dungeon or something even worse, it would be toote to regret it.",


    He hopped into the Slithering Madness Dungeon only because he felt he had no other choice. He wasn''t in such desperate straits this time around.


    However, the Entry Limit wasn''t a line he had seen before. The Slithering Madness Dungeon had not had it.


    Ss'' eyes flickered down. ''These beasts¡­''


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra (FF-)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 64]


    [Mental: 74]


    [Will: 49]


    ---


    Ss'' pace didn''t slow down. He had already expected that since the gnolls hadn''t taken full advantage of this region, there would have to be something even Zurog couldn''t easily handle, and this creature more than fit the bill.


    It must have been at least seven meters long and though it wasn''t asrge as Big Madness, when it peeked up from its nap and red out its hood, its intimidation factor was on a whole other level.


    A hiss that pierced Ss'' ears echoed.


    Ss felt his steps slow down and his blood run cold. It wasn''t out of fear, but something deeper than that.


    ''A Skill.''


    The cobras that were rushing after Ss no longer dared to get closer, their bodies directly frozen in ce. Ss'' Will, though, seemed to be unearthed and shrugged it off.


    The FF- Spitting Cobra seemed to be enraged by this and charged, a line of venom shooting out from its maw.


    ''Fast.''


    It was incredibly so, and Ss was running right toward it, making it even worse.


    He pushed with his telekinesis, pushing the venom upward as he rolled forward. He did his best to maintain his momentum, but this also meant that the cobra was suddenly right before him, moving with such Speed that by the time he jumped to his feet, it was already bearing down on him.


    A dagger flew out from Ss'', headed right for the cobra that was slithering right toward him.


    The cobra was faster.


    Ss sensed Aether moving and an invisible wall formed around it, almost like it had solidified the air in an area. The Speed of Ss'' de plummeted, and it felt like it had gained ten times the weight instantly.


    The Mental of the cobra disyed itself and it opened its maw again, spitting out a line of venom that was even faster than before. Not only was it faster, the venom was an even brighter shade of green and the distance was closer.


    It felt like a far more substantial attack, almost like the venom had be an arrow itself. Ss tried to control it with his telekinesis, but it seemed rebuffed by something.


    ''Aether¡­ Intelligence? Wisdom, maybe?''


    Ss realized right then that there were more ways to rebuff his telekinesis than just weight. It was just unfortunate he learned in this situation. Even so, he didn''t panic.


    Sudden Burst.


    He exploded to the side, then elerated forward. He closed in the distance between himself and the cobra, his fist shooting out in a coat of de Aura. Now that he had <Maddened Enlightenment> he didn''t have to choose between using his other abilities and de Aura, he could use them all at the same time.


    And keeping in line with that, he activated <Madness Control> at the same time.


    His fist mmed into the body of the cobra. Its head loomed above his own, but it didn''t faze him in the slightest.


    He could feel the wall of solid air trying to slow him down, but he ripped right through it. It seemed that the Skill wasn''t too different from his own telekinesis. Against something of more substantial weight, it struggled.


    The cobra reeled back, the momentum of Ss strikes causing its body to curl and its head to snap downward.


    Ss'' body twisted as he entered a Flow of Battle state. His torso tensed and his leg whipped out with astonishing speed, coated by de Aura.


    Tail Whip.


    BANG!


    Thebination of two Gene Talentsyered atop of one another resulted in a rain of blood and gore. de Aura pushed his Constitution to a level that could more than bear the power of his strikes and he suffocated the cobra in a rain of Skills and Gene Talents.


    He almost forgot about the Dungeon for a moment. The other Spitting Cobras didn''t dare toe close to their king''s territory, and he took full advantage.


    He drove the cobra''s head into the ground with the heel of an ax kick, and at the same time, a dagger ripped up through its throat in an uppercut motion, zing forward with over 80 Physical under the influence of his Madness.


    Ss huffed out a breath, his green irises zing. A good battle, an excellent battle. He was starting to get addicted to this feeling.


    He quickly rushed down, not wanting to give the other Spitting Cobras the chance to catch up before he had time to take advantage. He had already lost out on one bundle of elite Genes. He didn''t want to face that again.


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (6) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss threw it into his separate storage device. He had been hoping that it would have some Charisma Genes after that telekinesis-like Skill, but it seemed he wasn''t so lucky. But this creature was definitely a boon, nheless.


    He rushed toward the Dungeon. Unlike Slithering Madness, this Basilisk''s Reign Dungeon was carved into a tree. It looked like a swirling mass of opal embedded right into a willow. If Ss had had the time, he would have liked to look at longer. This world was truly filled with fantastical things around every corner.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the leisure.


    With a leap, Ss vanished right into it.

 Chapter 95 Map and Mastery

    <h4>Chapter 95 Map and Mastery </h4>


    Ss'' vision cleared, finding himself standing on cool, grey stone and surrounded by simr walls.",


    The region was circr, but there were three exits around him. They were formed by doors or gateways, but were instead just gaps in curved pieces of wall.


    Embedded into the cool, grey stone that made up the region, there were green veins that seemed carved of precious gems. These vein patterns seemed to be the only light source and pulsed with a dull light that illuminated the surroundings.


    ''A maze?''


    That was the best description. He seemed to be in a starting area of sorts, or he might even be right in the middle of it, and he had to choose one of the three exits to start his journey out of his Dungeon.


    ''Then that must be what this is for?''


    Ss took out the Dungeon Map, and for the first time, it didn''t resist him opening it up. Although he had some expectations for what he might see, what was actually there stunned him.


    It was much more detailed than he thought.


    ''I think I made an erroneous assumption¡­''


    ---


    [What is a Dungeon Map?]


    [A Dungeon Map is a treasure capable of leading one to a nearby Dungeon as well as detailing aprehensive map of said Dungeon upon entry. The higher the Grade, therger the range of detection and the stronger Dungeon it can lead you to. Limited use item]


    ---


    Ss understood. It wasn''t that this treasure was specific to this Dungeon, but rather that it would have always been able to find an FF+ rank Dungeon so long as one was within its range of detection. In that case, this Dungeon Map was like a consumable, one time use treasure.


    ''Then¡­ This area is about as good as it''s going to get for me. This region is protected by beasts that can''t enter this dungeon, so there''s no better time than right now to progress my Madness.''


    He looked around, and it didn''t seem like there were any creatures that were going to suddenly pop out of nowhere. The chance seemed small enough that it was worth it.


    [Bronze Mastery Crystal (Treasure)]


    [Absorb to instantly raise any Skill or Comprehension to the Bronze Mastery level]


    ---


    He held the bronze orb in his hands, rotating it between his fingers for a moment before sitting down in afortable position against a curve wall and crushing it.


    Ss moved his intention toward his Madness Comprehension, subconsciously also pulling against the Madness Key as well as he sunk into a state of meditation.


    Almost immediately, he felt that it was different from what he was used to.


    The first two times his Madness had improved, first when heprehended it in the first ce, and second when he improved it to Common Mastery, he had lost himself to a runaway train of thought. But this time, he was sopletely focused that it was the exact opposite of what he experienced during those times.


    He felt his mind sharpen, and he began to sense Madness from an objective and scientific lens rather than the usual casual manner.


    It felt¡­ ufortable.


    It was like he was running counter to the nature of Madness, and though his understanding was quickly deepening, it wasn''t in the same way.


    Ss realized something. ''I''m not going to be able to grasp Bronze Mastery like this¡­''


    With quick thinking, he changed his approach. He used this new open and free mind not to try to reach a new level of mastery, but instead he tried to deepen his understanding of the mastery he already had.


    What was Madness truly? How best should she use it? What was the best method of application?


    ''It seems to be about control of the body, or on a deeper level than that, control of the mind, the self¡­''


    As Ss moved along with this thought, he grappled with an understanding he had grasped somewhat, but not quite.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> and <Madness Control> were extensions of his Comprehension, both of them had only been created off of his Madness Comprehension to begin with, which was why they tended to increase when his Comprehension deepened.


    And soon, when he unlocked Basic Aetherflow, it too would be among that number.


    ''Oh¡­ So it''s like that¡­''


    Ss'' Madness, which had already spread out wildly, slowly began to be reined in.


    ''Right now, I''m using my Comprehension like a bludgeon, but it''s by definition an enhancer. I''m supposed to use my Comprehension to enhance, whether that be my battle style, a Skill or even a Gene Talent. It''s akin to a universal amplifier.''


    As Ss reflected under the influence of the Mastery Crystal, while his Comprehension didn''t evolve, it did strengthen. His control over it tightened, and he began to sense its influence in other ways.


    When he used <Maddened Enlightenment> with Madness fused into it, it was more than doubly effective.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension]


    [<Madness Control> has temporarily reached Silver Mastery]


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has temporarily reached Common Mastery]


    ---


    [Madness Control (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own]


    [+0.6 (+0.3) Effectiveness]


    ---


    After reaching Bronze Mastery, the boost to his effectiveness under <Madness Control> had been 0.3, but now it was 0.6 after temporarily reaching Silver Mastery.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> didn''t have as clear as a change, or more urately, there was no easy stat to read associated with it. Ss had a feeling that this was because <Basic Scouting> wasn''t at a high enough level. It was simr to how before he got <Basic Scouting>, the descriptor for <Madness Control> had only said + Dexterity, an arbitrary and nonsensical description.


    Seeing this change, Ss was even more eager to unlock Basic Aetherflow. If he had a conduit to feed his Madness through, how much more powerful would his telekinesis be?

 Chapter 96 Close

    <h4>Chapter 96 Close </h4>


    Ss eyes opened. ''I wonder if I can use this on <Basic Scouting> as well?''",


    After his Comprehension session, Ss hade to understand that all things that relied on stats rted to Charisma and Will could be enhanced with his Madness Comprehension. <Basic Scouting> fell right into that wheelhouse. So, the first thing he used it on was <Maddened Enlightenment>.


    ---


    [Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [You are deeply in tune with the Madness of your Ancestors. It helps you to focus, rx and form a oneness with the world. Understanding yourself is a form of peace, but understanding your ce in the world makes you Enlightened]


    ---


    ''Interesting, there''s no change¡­''


    Ss didn''t believe that this was because it didn''t work, but rather because he was trying to find out something through the use of <Basic Scouting> that it wasn''t designed to do. Either that, or there was really nothing else to see.


    ''Then what about de Aura?''


    Ss had never been able to see even a description for de Aura. He wondered if that was just natural, but he could see one for Tail Whip and Sudden Burst if he wanted, so that shouldn''t be it.


    To his surprise, it worked.


    ---


    [de Aura (Gene Talent)]


    [A Gene Talent capable of adding the effects of Pierce and Rigid to any de]


    [Ability: Pierce (Mutated)]


    [Makes applied Strength 25% more Effective]


    [Ability: Rigid (Mutated)]


    [Increases applied Constitution by 25%, increasing rigidity of opposite force and forcing the enemy to withstand the brunt]


    ---


    Ss was intrigued. So that was why he had been able to pummel the spitting cobra so easily. His Strength was the 25% more Effective, so though it wasn''t exactly the same, it was almost like he had 63 Strength instead of 50.


    At the same time, Rigid was extremely interesting.


    Every Force had an equal and opposite force. So, the harder Ss punched, the stronger the rebound he experienced was. Rigid was able to not only increase his Constitution by 25%, but it was also able to lessen the rebound he experienced, transferring it over to his enemy. This was effectively yet another Strength increase.


    Essentially, it was like his enemy was getting his with a nigh immovable force every time he punched or kicked them. Or at the very least, it was something close.


    In Ss'' opinion, Rigid was actually far better applied to his pugilist path than it was to a de. It seemed like something more effective when used for blunt impact. It was just that there were probably very few who could ept de Aura into their bodies without boiling themselves up from the inside out.


    ''It''s time to go.''


    Ss opened up the Dungeon Map again. There was a perfect replica of the maze on it. He could easily see the perfect path to take through it.


    There were nine BOSSes in the Dungeon, but if you chose the optimal path, you only had to face off against three of them. Then, when you stepped out of the maze, you would have to battle one more.


    In addition to the BOSSes, there were several minion-type beasts scattered, and Ss could actually watch their movements just like he could on a video game map.


    The question was whether he should go for the optimum path or not.


    Any animals in this Dungeon would definitely have excellent Genes to take advantage of, and it would be a controlled environment, unlike the outside world.


    ''Well, let''s check out the strength of these animals before I make such a decision.''


    Ss chose to optimal route. After locking onto the location of the creature in question, he peeked around the corner. He fused his Madness with Basic Scouting and peeked around the corner.


    Now that he had learned to rein in his Madness, he didn''t need to worry about being discovered and used it more freely.


    ---


    [Basilisk Minor (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    ---


    [Physical: 52]


    >[Strength: 72]


    >[Constitution: 74]


    >[Dexterity: 31]


    >[Speed: 31]


    [Mental: 49]


    >[Intelligence: 74]


    >[Wisdom: 8]


    >[Charisma: 65]


    [Will: 38]


    ---


    Ss'' brows raised. He could see the actual stat breakdown now. This was more than what he expected, and also far more useful. Rather than having to deduce the advantages of a creature, he could see them as in as day and approach with that thought in mind. He could skip the probing.


    Ss pulled out the Dungeon map again and waited patiently. There was no need to get into a battle he didn''t have to, he just had to wait for the perfect chance.


    ''Its Constitution is 74. If I activate Madness and use the Pierce Dagger, I''ll have an effective Strength of 160. Piercing it will be easy¡­ Now.''


    Ss acted the instant the Basilisk Minor turned its back.


    It was a beautiful snake, Ss had to admit. It was covered in ck scales and had veins of gold on its head, forming a crown. It didn''t have the hood of a cobra, but its spine, jaw and tail were covered in bony, golden spikes that reflected like polished brass.


    It would be a dangerous creature to fight head-on, especially if it had half the Skills of the Spitting Cobra creature outside. But¡­


    He didn''t have to.


    A dagger shed and buried itself into the back of the creature''s skull, slipping right between its bone spikes, severing its spinal cord and slicing its brain apart in an instant.


    The creature froze, and then slowly fell to the ground, unable to fight back.


    Ss checked the map to double check the coast was clear. Then he rushed forward, cing a hand on the creature.


    ---


    [Basilisk Minor]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (3) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss was disappointed again. He had met the requirements for unlocking the Common version of Basic Aetherflow long ago, but there was no way he was going to waste such a rare item like that when he was so close.


    There were just five Charisma Genes left. If this Dungeon panned out, he would be able to gather thest Genes he needed to unlock his first Bronze Gene.

 Chapter 97 Roll for Entry

    <h4>Chapter 97 Roll for Entry </h4>


    ''This is consistent with the first Dungeon I entered. These minion-type monsters will only provide one type of Gene, but the BOSSes should provide multiple, and thus will give me a better chance of getting exactly what I want.?",


    ''If I keep using this strategy, clearing out the mobs will be easy enough. I would only have to tire myself out facing the BOSSes themselves. In that case, I can be more bold with how I approach this and clear out the whole maze.


    ''I''ll still with this optimal path for now. It''s still possible that the BOSSes will be too much for me to handle. I can double backter if things go well.''


    With that, Ss took his time, collecting one minion corpse after another.


    Luckily, because he didn''t really need to worry about Aether consumption, he was able to raise it to a five cubic meter size. That was the equivalent of the current Ss draining his Aether around 18 times¡­ if he didn''t have <Maddened Enlightenment>, that is.


    With it, he could replenish his Aether even while walking in a little under five minutes. If he redirected the Aether flow from himself to the ring itself, it only took less than an hour and a half to bring it to that size.


    And, since it only lost 20% of its size every day, Ss only needed to invest barely a quarter hour a day to keep it at its current size.


    Thanks to this, he had more than enough space to store these carcasses for now. It would have been more useful to use the Madness Key, but until he found a method to keep its Hunger in check, this was just going to have to be the way from now on.


    **


    Outside the Dungeon.


    "These damned snakes, why the hell are there so many of them?!"


    "You know why, there''s a Dungeon nearby."


    A group of four walked in formation. At the helm, a man wielding a round shield wrapped in leather took the vanguard. His Aether spread out and expanded the range of his defenses.


    To his back, there were three spear wielders. The group was formed of two men and two women, and their teamwork seemed to be decent. At the very least, the snakes, even with theirrger numbers, were unable to prate their ranks.


    The defensive shield of Aether didn''t seem to block the attacks of the spears at all, so they moved forward unfazed, relying on their anchor to press forward.


    Soon, they came across a group of five meter long spitting cobras and a more substantial battle broke out. Even so, it was only a matter of half an hour before the battle was through.


    "You know the rules: keep the corpses fresh in the team storage ring. Once we get some decent Gene State Elixirs, we''ll have a go at it."


    The shield man spoke ndly, more so out of formality.


    "You''re sure this is it?" One of the women said, looking at the Dungeon ahead. "The informant said it would be much harder to make it to this point, so why was it so easy?"


    "Can''t fake a Dungeon, now can they?"


    "Who knows what that informant can do? They''re raking in all this cash, just sitting on their asses all day. They obviously have no fighting power or else they would be gobbling up all these opportunities on their own. They probably just don''t have a good measure of strength," the other woman replied.


    The group seemed to ept this answer and were taking a small break before the shield man cursed.


    "Fuck. This Dungeon has a two person entry limit."


    "An entry limit? What the hell is that? I''ve never seen that before," the second man responded.


    "Well, it''s right there. Look for yourself."


    "Holy shit, a double F plus Dungeon?" The first woman cried out.


    "Something''s fishy here," the shield man frowned. "The informant didn''t say anything about an entry limit, also didn''t say anything about this dungeon being so strong, either. What''s the catch here? The price we paid was heavy, but not heavy enough for this."


    The group fell into silence.


    "Retreat?" The second man asked.


    The silence turned to faces of hesitation. They all knew the value of a Dungeon. It was the easiest and most systematic way of gaining Genes. And they also almost always had Gene State Elixirs, probably the most valuablemodity in this world now.


    "Roll for entry."


    They spoke at the same time.


    **


    Ss pressed his back against the cool stone. He had gotten used to going around shirtless these days, but he felt that he should probably get some real clothes at some point. There had to be items out there that could enhance his stats but wouldn''t be considered to be armor by the Scorned Wraps.


    His dagger suddenly moved in a blinding sh, killing another minion.


    ''I can definitely use my Madness for much longer periods of time now. If I was in the same situation as before, I would have already run out and been forced to use <Maddened Enlightenment> more seriously. But I guess that makes sense. Since I''m not spilling out the influence of my Comprehension everywhere, it''s taking less of a toll on me.''


    Ss put the carcass away after double checking that it was still only giving Intelligence Genes.


    ''I''ll fight the next minion. They should mirror the abilities of the BOSS to some extent, so it''ll be good to prepare.''


    With that thought, Ss followed the path set by the Dungeon Map and swiftly found the next minion. This should be thest one before the BOSS. It was also convenient to fight it because there were no other threats in the immediate area. He had already cleared them all, while the BOSS was unable to leave its designated area.


    ---


    [Basilisk Minor (F)]


    [Level: 3]


    ---


    [Physical: 52]


    >[Strength: 73]


    >[Constitution: 75]


    >[Dexterity: 32]


    >[Speed: 30]


    [Mental: 49]


    >[Intelligence: 72]


    >[Wisdom: 8]


    >[Charisma: 67]


    [Will: 41]

 Chapter 98 Basilisk Minions

    <h4>Chapter 98 Basilisk Minions </h4>


    Ss took a breath and rounded the corner. A dagger hovered behind his back, out of view of the snake, and he had already entered a battle stance.",


    The basilisk minion unleashed a shriek and hissed, slithering forward with great speed. It wasn''t thergest snake he hade across in this world, but its three meter length was still significant.


    Ss was cautious about closing the distance, and he dodged out of the way of the snake''s attempts to get a bite out of him.


    When it realized its Speed and Dexterity were too far inferior to Ss'' own, his yellow slit eyes suddenly glowed and became a slight shade of crimson, almost as though some droplets of food color had fallen into it.


    The feeling of something wing at his mind almost overwhelmed Ss. It was simr to when others tried to get a read on his stats, but far more invasive, almost as though the creature was trying to suffocate him with its Will.


    In the instant his mind went nk for a moment, the bone-barbed tail of the Basilisk Minor was already swinging for his head.


    Ss must have recovered faster than it expected, because when the creature saw the human''s eyes sharpen, it hissed.


    A single hit of that tail had enough Strength to knock Ss out. But if the bones spikes were also taken into ount, it would practically be an instant death.


    Sudden Burst.


    Ss dodged forward and to the left, out of the way of the tail swinging to his right.


    The snake bit at his head, but the dagger hidden behind him suddenly shed and tore right into its mouth. However, just when Ss thought that dagger would rip into its skull from the inside, the creature bit down, its teeth shimmering with Aether as it crushed the dagger into pieces.


    Ss frowned, but his follow up punch wasn''t slow. Madness and de Aura circted, a slight coating of red covering him as mmed a powerful fist right into the snake''s throat.


    BANG.


    The snake slid backward.


    Between the 10% increase of Constitution from the Scorned Wraps and the enhancements from Rigid, so long as it wasn''t the bone spikes, Ss had no fear of shing head on with this beast.


    Even so, thoughts were swirling in his mind.


    ''The dagger has a durability limit of its own. It was only Level 2 and it can only take so much punishment with how strong my telekinesis is.''


    Ss was already finding that his daggers lost one point of durability every time he attacked these creatures with strong Constitutions. He had luckily traded for a half dozen total, expecting such a thing, but he had already lost one when he had yet to beat a single BOSS.


    Even so, he knew this was necessary. He had to be prepared for what the BOSS had to offer.


    ''I''ll have to switch over to the Restore daggers so that I can deal with the durability issues. It''ll be hard to pierce these snakes, but at least I can use my Aether to repair them.''


    As Ss thought, he didn''t forget to follow up. He and the basilisk minion entered a dance where Ss lost himself, sliding out of the way of attacks and fiercely countering.


    The more he battled, the easier he found it. His sense of the world was so much greater with <Maddened Enlightenment> activated, and the control he had over his body with Madness was even clearer now regardless of the fact he hadn''t activated <Madness Control>.


    It was a bit weird, actually. This Flow of Battle state felt somehow connected to his Madness and not at the same time, almost as though it was a child being suppressed under the umbre of something muchrger.


    But Ss didn''t mind it. He truly didn''t have the time to mind it even if he wanted to.


    The day that child coulde out from the umbre of its elder brother, maybe it would have already be something that could match Madness.


    BANG.


    The head of the basilisk rebounded against the stonewall like a bouncing ball and thest bits of light in its eyes faded away.


    Ss exhaled a slow breath and looked at his fists.


    Even with de Aura, his lethality wascking considerably if his telekinesis were discounted. Soon, he would have to figure out a method of doing some real damage with his body. These long, protracted battles would make him pay a heavy price someday, even though it helped him get limated to the Flow of Battle with greater ease.


    He checked the corpse, and after confirming the same thing he had thest half dozen times, he moved toward the location of the BOSS.


    The area up ahead was almost identical to the location he had started in, a circr space with three entries. Though, one of them led to a dead end, while the one he stood in front of now led back to the starting position.


    The created with was curled into a tight spiral, its head resting atop its coils.


    It was a ten meter long version of the minions that Ss hade across until now, that and it had horns.


    ---


    [Basilisk Minor (F+)]


    [Level: 4]


    ---


    [Physical: 60]


    >[Strength: 81]


    >[Constitution: 83]


    >[Dexterity: 40]


    >[Speed: 38]


    [Mental: 55]


    >[Intelligence: 78]


    >[Wisdom: 14]


    >[Charisma: 73]


    [Will: 48]


    ---


    Ss took a step forward, and the creature stirred. It''s opened its eyes, and unlike itspanions, there were already flecks of red in its yellow irises.


    The hiss sounded like the howl of a steam engine as the creature rose to its full height.


    Ss was forced to look up as it did so. The strength of the basilisk''s core muscles seemed to be far beyond that of Big Madness. While thetter could only mostly slither on the ground with most of its body rooted to the earth, at least half of the basilisk''s body rose up tall, looming almost three meters above Ss'' head.

 Chapter 99 Overlooked

    <h4>Chapter 99 Overlooked </h4>


    Unlike the other beasts, it didn''t attack Ss immediately. It loomed tall and proud, as though disdaining his presence. And then, its Will pressed down.",


    Ss looked up indifferently. His hair rustled slightly as though a breeze had just passed by, but he felt nothing else at all.


    After feeling the attack of the lesser minion, Ss had already grasped how to counter it. His Madness game him full control over himself. That was precisely what it pursued: absolute freedom at the constant of perfect understanding of oneself.


    The most protected portion of Ss'' body was his mind. The earlier slip up that almost lost him his head was just a poor application of his Madness Comprehension.


    It wouldn''t happen again.


    The snake that fancied itself a king was immediately enraged by Ss'' indifference. Ss could feel the fury emitting from it, almost as though they were palpable waves.


    A tail whip shot out with extreme Speed, closing the distance between it and Ss head in an instant.


    Ss took a step back and ducked, but his heart skipped a beat when he felt a rush of Aether.


    The tail changed its momentum instantaneously, going from a sideways motion to mirror the downward stroke of a sledgehammer.


    Ss, who had already bent down to duck, suddenly found himself cornered.


    It didn''t make any sense. That sort of movement broke anyws ofmon sense.


    Ss already knew that Sudden Burst wouldn''t be fast enough. If he tried, his torso might make it, but his legs would be crushed. By then, he''d only be able to wait for death.


    His mind moved with an inhuman swiftness, and he could practically feel his heart pumping. This feeling¡­


    He loved it.


    BANG.


    Ss activated Madness, de Aura and <Madness Control> all at once. At the same time, he pulled on his spatial treasure, taking out the carcass of the elite Spitting Cobra and blocking overhead. He crossed his arms, shielding his head, and as a final measure, he pushed out his telekinesis in a wild stream, doing everything he could to slow the blow.


    A tremendous pressure descended on him with a might that drove one of his knees to the ground.


    He grit his teeth, moving the instant he felt the pressure alleviate.


    He rolled to the side, the roar of the basilisk like the sounds of victory in his mind. However, he snapped out of that frame instantly. The rage of the basilisk was a tonic that filled him with pleasure, but it was also a reminder that it was very much still alive.


    Ss jumped into battle, his movements far more agile. He advanced and retreated smoothly, pulling at the air with <Maddened Enlightenment> to quickly replenish his Aether stores.


    ''This snake is slow, but its attack speed is much better. That Skill also allows it to change the direction of its attack on a dime without losing any Strength or momentum.''


    Ss could no longer confidently dodge until he was getting well out of the range of the basilisk''s attack. The only path to victory seemed to be his daggers, but if he used them to kill this basilisk, then what about the next BOSS? And the one after that?


    He hadn''t had enough money to buy more than the half dozen he had brought, and now one was already destroyed. This BOSS had over 80 Constitution. One attack might take out as many as three Durability, and if he wasn''t using the Pierce daggers, it would be hard to even injure this beast.


    Ss dodged out of a swinging tail, trying to figure something out. The beast was just toorge. The only way he could kill it with fists and kicks would be by assaulting its head directly, but how could he do that with any sort of ease if it was meters above his head?


    ROAR!


    The basilisk waspletely furious. Its prey was so slippery that it couldn''t get a proper hit. When had its dignity as a King of Snakes ever been challenged in this way?


    Its eyes shed with a bright red and Ss felt that gathering of Aether.


    The beast came to a sudden halt and loomed even taller, a mighty presence descending and suffocating Ss from all sides.


    Ss felt his body slow for a moment. This was definitely the same Skill the minion had used, but on apletely different level.


    He broke free of it with a slight push of his intention, elerating out of the way even faster.


    ''A Skill¡­ but why does it feel so much like teleki¡ª''


    Ss'' eyes opened wide, as though he had just realized that he had overlooked something.


    He was obsessed with using his telekinesis on everything else, but why had he never tried to use it on his Aether?


    He knew why, of course¡­ it was because it didn''t seem to make sense to. He couldn''t project Aether out of his body anyway, he could only circte it within himself and activate a Skill based on that. In fact, it wasn''t even technically him actively circting his Aether in the first ce. It was much more like a video game, as though the system felt he was too stupid to do it on his own, so he had to move his intention toward a particr Skill like he was pressing a button on a keyboard, and then it would do it for him.


    It was said that Intelligence decided how well your Aether flowed. These were the words his grandfather had told him. But until this point, it seemed that Intelligence''s main function was actually just to decide how much Aether you had.


    Even if there was a part to y in controlling the energy, Ss had long realized just how much these stats ovepped. And when he thought to that point¡­


    How could Will and Charisma, two stats designed to decide how well you could impact the outside world, not be rted to your Aether control as well?

 Chapter 100 Exploded

    <h4>Chapter 100 Exploded </h4>


    The reason why this Skill felt so much like telekinesis to him was because it was! He almost couldn''t believe that he hadn''t noticed it earlier.?",


    ''Just a different form of it¡­ in which case¡­''


    Ss suddenly stopped gliding backward, his hips dropping as he erupted with a punch.


    The air pped as though something had justpressed it to an extreme, and right then, an entire ten meters away, the basilisk''s head snapped back, a roar of paining from its maw.


    Ss'' green irises lit up. Just now, he had broken through his usual ten pound limit. However, the drain on his Aether had been substantial. He felt like he could only send on less than ten of those attacks. Even with <Maddened Enlightenment> activated, his pitifully low Aether just couldn''t keep up.


    But that was a problem for future Ss. Right now, he wanted this victory.


    He sent out another two quick punches, putting his entire strength behind both before he suddenly unleashed Tail Whip.


    It felt like a scythe had cut through the air. The telekinesis fuelled kicknded with such strength that the basilisk''s head snapped downward, rebounding against the ground.


    Ss exploded forth, stepping onto the head of the beast and pressing downward. It was as though his weight had increased by a factor of a hundred, the freeness of his Aether under the control of his telekinesis making him feel as though he had the strength to level mountains.


    The jaw of the basilisk shattered as it was pressed against the ground. Its tail tried to reach Ss, but the angle was far too awkward for it to aim at its own head¡­ and Ss took full advantage, driving a fist right through its eye that sent a pulse rippling through its skull.


    Ss'' eyes shone like two bright orbs. That feeling was amazing.


    Honestly, even until now, this world felt so grounded. Even though he could control flying daggers with his mind, he never really felt that fantasy world he was in until now.


    Using his Aether and telekinesis together felt like he was making his Will more tangible. He could directly transfer the strength of his body to any target within his original 20 meter range. The difference was that unlike his telekinesis, the power output diminished the further away from him it was as it ate up its own momentum.


    ---


    [Basic Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others]


    ---


    The description of Basic Aetherflow came to Ss'' mind, and he felt that he had overlooked the obvious for too long. Basic Aetherflow was clearly a clue in this direction, but he had overlooked it.


    ''The other two Bronze Genes I had to choose from¡­ Psyche Warp and Harmonic Puppetry¡­ They''re both also abilities that I already have ess to.


    ''Psyche Warp is an assault on the minds of others, and my Comprehension can naturally do that. Harmonic Puppetry is an elite control over the body, and I can also do that already as well.


    ''I should have seen this already.''


    Ss felt like kicking himself. Had he realized this already, he wouldn''t have struggled so much until this point. There was so much more potential in his telekinesis than he had gotten out of it until now.


    These Bronze Genes weren''t just a method of unlocking new abilities. In fact, by definition, they were designed to enhance abilities that he already had. That was why a foundation had to be chosen first.


    Aetherflow was already an ability he had. He just hadn''t used it yet because it hadn''t urred to him. If he unlocked the Bronze Gene Basic Aetherflow, this ability of his, and its clear limitations, might be alleviated substantially. At the very least, it would be far more powerful than it was now.


    ''I want to understand this first¡­''


    Ss did a few calctions and had a small Q&A with the Madness Key before he felt that he dialed everything in. In the end, he hade to understand a few things.


    A Skill required a cirction pattern to activate. This cirction pattern was essentially a message to one''s Aether to perform in a specific way. However, with telekinesis, Ss could bypass this necessity, directly dictating the actions of his Aether to act as he wanted it to. Essentially, every time he did this, he was using a Skill without necessarily using a Skill.


    That said, there were drawbacks to this as well.


    Without the form of a tried and tested Skill, his Aether was reliant on what was essentially Ss'' crude projections. Well, the projection of his Will was actually near perfect because of his ability to visualize his surroundings. The problem was actually a limitation of training.


    Ss was still ayman in terms ofbat, and though he was improving greatly every day, he still had a lot to learn. As such, whenever he threw out a punch or kick, his Aether was mapping onto his limited skill and thus the power output was limited as a result.


    As things stood, if his punches were to rank like a Skill, they wouldn''t even be F-.


    Even so¡­ they were extraordinarily powerful. Thebination of Ss'' Physical, his Aether and hisbined Will and Charisma stats, made the output, or his Aetherflow, incredibly powerful.


    When his Madness was activated, his telekinesis could output 82 Physical. His own Physical was 50.


    Without ounting for the scale of diminishing returns as his Aetherflow got further from him, in its maximum range, the output was the average of the two, which was 66.


    However, there then came a multiplicative effect due to the addition of Aether.


    One could essentially expect around a 10% boost in ability from an F- Skill at the base Fragmented Mastery level, and could go to around 40% upon reaching Legendary Mastery.

 Chapter 101 Dots

    <h4>Chapter 101 Dots </h4>


    However, he wasn''t even at that level. At best, he could gain an extra 5%, raising the 66 overall Physical to 69. This seemed like a small boost, but 69 was already almost 20 stats over his current Physical. This was a huge boost.?",


    The best part was that Ss also didn''t have to project it out. He could attack directly with his fists and use his telekinesis and Aether to drive through the opponent, thus boosting his current Physical to a new level.


    Even with all of this said¡­ there were clear drawbacks.


    The first and most obvious was the consumption, consumption that would only increase as hisbat skill increased and his ability to visualize the projection of his fists and kicks likewise increased.


    Right now, he was using as much as 0.2 Units of Aether for every attack. Considering an Aether Unit was considered to be 10 points of Intelligence human like him, that meant he was using up 2 of his meager 28 Intelligence every time he punched or kicked.


    When he stacked Tail Whip with it, his Skill, as directed by the Gene Talent, rose firmly to the level of an F- Talent. That meant that he used 0.5 Units of Aether or 5 points of his meager 28 Intelligence every time he used it.


    And, because an equivalent Gene Talent was akin to a perfectly mastered Skill, it should have raised his Strength output by 40% on top of that. Unfortunately, Tail Whip was a talent designed for an appendage Ss didn''t have, so it was closer to a 20% boost instead.


    Even so, this raised his 69 Strength output to 79! On top of that, it concentrated it into a de-like consistency that made it almost gain some characteristics of Pierce. This was why he had been able to cut a gash across the head of the basilisk despite its Constitution being so great.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> could replenish around 30 Intelligence, or three Units of Aether, in five minutes, under the condition that he was moving, and also considering his current Mastery. This was mostly in thanks to the boost from Madness, otherwise it would just be one Unit of Aether per five minutes.


    If he was in real meditation, it would be easily twice as fast, and replenish him in just two minutes.


    Assuming he never used Tail Whip, though¡­ he would only be able to send out 14 strikes in battle. In this dungeon, that might be enough, but what about against stronger enemies? And also, who was to say that the main BOSS would be as easy to deal with?


    Also, even against the more normal BOSSes, was he capable of harming them to this extent without using Tail Whip? In which case, he could only use just five attacks?


    This was just the first of two problems, the second of which being the fact that if he was using this ability, he couldn''t use his telekinesis in other ways.


    His Wisdom was only high enough to control one dagger at a time while he fought. It wasn''t strong enough for him to visualize the projection of his attacks while also wielding a dagger.


    It could be argued that the tradeoff was worth it, but depending on the situation, he might like the added flexibility of a magically floating dagger.


    ''Ultimately, I need to raise my Wisdom and my Intelligence or else I won''t be able to use my greatest strength.''


    And there was only one way to do that: by unlocking Basic Aetherflow.


    Ss took a step forward and appeared by the corpse of the beast, pressing a hand down.


    ---


    [Basilisk Minor]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (3) Intelligence (F); (3) Charisma (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes shed when he finally saw the Charisma Gene he had been looking for all this time. Without hesitation, he sacrificed the entire corpse to the Gene Crystal, relishing in the sight of the five Charisma he needed to fall to two. That should mean that he was just the defeat of one BOSS away from truly unleashing his Stat Limits.


    ---


    [You have yed Basilisk Minor]


    [Rewards]


    [>Astral Bind (1/3) (Skill Fragment)]


    [>Inflexible Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    ---


    Ss raised an eyebrow, finding the screen curious. This was only one piece of the Skill, so he had to defeat three BOSSes to get the full thing? Or was it instead that he had to defeat a specific number of the three BOSSes in order to get the full Skill, in which case he might have to fight all nine if he was unlucky enough?


    Honestly, Ss wasn''t too bothered by this. With his new breakthrough, not to mention the one he could see quicklying over the horizon, he was much more confident in fully clearing the Dungeon before he faced off against the Final BOSS.


    He pulled out the Dungeon Map and was ready to target his next BOSS when he suddenly frowned.


    There, on the map, there were a pair of dots moving together.


    ''What?'' Ss was startled, not understanding immediately.


    His first thought was that the minions were ganging up and working together. Maybe if he took too much time to clear the Dungeon, they''d all eventually be a hoard, and he''d have no way out. There were some mob clearing games that might work like that on asion.


    This was especially possible because he had spent so long meditating in an attempt to make a breakthrough in his Comprehension earlier. So although he might have cleared the first BOSS with quite some speed, overall, he had been slow.


    But then he watched as one of the other dots met up with the duo and then blinked out. Then, he traced his eyes across the paths they should have taken and found that there were a great deal of missing dots where there likely should have been more minions.


    His eyes widened, and he came to a realization.


    ''The entry limit¡­''

 Chapter 102 Simple

    <h4>Chapter 102 Simple </h4>


    Ss suddenly remembered something. When he first entered, it said the entry limit was three. He had thought that maybe after he entered, the entrance would close anyway. The other requirements were just suggestions, so he thought that the entrance would disappear after he entered.?",


    It seemed that he had made the incorrect assumption.


    ''Two people entered after me.''


    Ss'' gaze narrowed.


    Several questions popped up in his head, but the main of them was: if he killed them, would the entry limit open up again for more people to enter? That might be more trouble than it was worth.


    But the minions here were also very valuable to him.


    ''Even if it allows more in, the odds that there''s another group ready to enter nearby is slim¡­ unless they came in arger group than just a pair, in which case, their other partners might be waiting and notice that the entry limit increased once again.''


    Ss mind spun with several thoughts and hended on yet another worry¡­


    Did they know he was here?


    First it was the duo that ambushed him in the gnoll vige, and now these people. Was it a coincidence? It couldn''t be.


    Ss hadn''t spent very long in the forest alone. Aside from the first day he spent stalking the Irish Elk, he had spent the rest of the time in the Dungeon and then had somehow lost himself three months while inside it. That was all to mean that he had no idea howmon it was to meet fellow humans in the wilds.


    But for it to happen twice, and both times while he was at such a pivotal moment?


    ''Should I kill them?''


    This was the final thought that came to mind.


    Ss hadn''t hesitated to kill those two men. He also didn''t lose any sleep over it. Maybe all of Alex''s jokes were right on the money and he really was on some kind of spectrum.


    Honestly, he wasn''t sure, nor did he think that it particrly mattered. He didn''t kill indiscriminately, nor did he feel some sick pleasure when he did. It was just like any other action he took to him, one that benefitted himself and paved a path toward his future.


    Everything he came across in this world was a matter of life and death. He wouldn''t allow his sentiments of morality to limit his future path.


    But¡­


    He remembered his words to Lauren quite clearly. He told her not to let this world dictate or change you¡­


    The difference was that Ss didn''t think he was changing at all. He was still the same Ss.


    On Earth, he wasn''t allowed to kill to meet his own ends. In fact, doing so would limit and cut off his future instead of enhancing it. It was almost impossible tomit the perfect crime in modern times.


    In this world, though¡­ he was.


    It was that simple to him.


    ...


    Tail Whip.


    Ss'' legshed out in a violent arc. The F+ Basilisk Minor was entirely unable to withstand the sudden barrage.


    In its view, Ss was too far away to attack it, and yet in the instead, a roaring scythe de split its side. It had sensed the danger at thest moment, but it was simply too slow to react.


    Ss rushed forward, activating Sudden Burst to rush out of the descent of a physics defying whipping tail. He rounded therge snake''s side, unleashing a quick three strikes of his fist, each one coated by a silvery blue light.


    Fueled by de Aura, his rudimentary form of Aetherflow, and a +10% boost to his Constitution from the Scorned Wraps, three craters appeared in the body of the Basilisk.


    Ss'' Speed was already capable of overwhelming the beast, but now his power output was on apletely different level.


    Feeling that his Aether was about to run out, Ss leapt upward, jumping almost two meters into the air.


    A tail swept out from under him, just missing his toes.


    Hended on the ground and activated Sudden Burst again, ignoring his aching muscles. He could practically smell hising breakthrough, and it fuelled his boiling blood to another level.


    A dagger appeared out from his Madness Key, rounding the blind spot of the creature caused by Ss'' earlier tail whip. Ss himself unleashed a punch toward the other side.


    The creature was too tall for him to reach, but Aetherflow activated once again, a silvery blue illusion of a fist forming in the air and shattering part of the minion''s jaw.


    Ss uncorked his torso, winding his momentum in the other direction and unleashing a second punch, this one following the tail of the flying dagger to perfection.


    He was entirely focused on this, forgetting everything else. Controlling a dagger with his telekinesis and using Aetherflow at the same time really pushed him to his limits. It felt like he was doing everything he could to slowly draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other.


    However, there was a loophole to this.


    He didn''t have to control the dagger all the way through. He just had to send it flying on a trajectory of his choosing. Then he would release it, following up with an attack that would explode with even greater strength.


    BANG!


    The dagger flew into the gaping gash and a silvery blue fist followed right after it. The instant the dagger lodged into the open wound, Ss''s Aetherflow follow up, smashing through its butt with a tremendous momentum.


    The basilisk unleashed a roar of pain, but the dagger was quickly driven in so deeply that its eyes went wide before slowly losing all luster.


    Just now, it was as though Ss had stacked his Strength. His dagger applied 82 Strength and his follow up punch applied 62. Stacked in a chain like that¡­


    The dagger ripped through the flesh of the basilisk, shredding apart its Constitution and tearing out the other side.

 Chapter 103 Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 103 Evolution </h4>


    The creature teetered, then copsed, puffing up a cloud of dust in the dull boom.",


    Ss exhaled a long breath, <Maddened Enlightenment> already circting at full tilt.


    ''I feel like I''m able to use Sudden Burst easier the more I use it. That''s interesting¡­''


    Before, he could only use Sudden Burst once in a battle. But now, he could use it twice without issue.


    Gene Talents, unlike Skills, felt like a new limb of sorts, one you got morefortable with the more you use. Also, rather than using Aether, they relied on your physical stamina.


    Whether it was Gene Talents or Skills, each one had their own strengths and weaknesses.


    A Gene Talent would immediately be at the same level of a Legendary Mastery Skill of the same Grade, but it would also be more difficult to scale its usage. Skills, on the other hand, while they had to be mastered, could be used almost without cooldown so long as you had enough Aether to burn.


    Still, all things considered¡­ Ss felt like he leaned toward Gene Talents. It was a shame that they were so rare, and even if you ran into one, they might necessarily suit you.


    ''First, follow the n¡­''


    Before going to the creature, the first thing Ss did was sacrifice his Intelligence Genes to the Madness Key, causing his Intelligence to plummet back to 5 stat points. Then he walked forward and pressed a hand down on the creature.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk Minor]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (3) Intelligence (F); (3) Charisma (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ¡ª


    He took a breath. It was finally here.


    Without hesitation, he passed on all the Genes to the Gene Crystal, perfectly content to allow the Madness Key to swallow up the excess of four Genes.


    The Gene Crystal glowed, signifying itspletion after absorbing the final two Charisma Genes it needed.


    Now, he had a choice to make.


    There were two ways to use a Gene Crystal. The first was to gamble on your Gene State and the second was the sacrifice of the Gene Crystal. In the first case, he would have a 50% chance of sess. With his Madness Conqueror Title, he would have an addition +10% for a 60% chance of sess total. With the second option, if he sacrificed the crystal, because it had a 50 Gene Capacity, ording to the Madness Key, he would gain an immediately 90% chance. With his Madness Conqueror Title, that would mean he would have a 100% chance of sess.


    Gene Crystal couldn''t be used forever. And, because Ss was using it to its maximum capacity instead of settling for a lesser form of Basic Aetherflow, it was likely that it would onlyst one more try, two more if he was lucky.


    It was a difficult decision.


    On the one hand, gaining the chance to use the Gene Crystal again was huge. At least, it felt so. Plus, a 60% chance of sess wasn''t bad. And, even in the case he failed, the hardest Genes to gather¡ªIntelligence and Charisma¡ªwere in abundance in this Dungeon. He would have a quick path to getting ready for another attempt.


    But, on the other hand¡­


    The reason he fought this basilisk first instead of going to face off against those two adventurers was to shore up his strength first. If he failed here, wouldn''t he be putting himself in danger? What good would another chance at using the Gene Crystal mean if he was dead?


    ''There''s one other thing that I forgot to consider earlier¡­ even if I fail, doesn''t it count as a usage of the Gene Crystal? So if I fail and have to use the Gene Crystal on the same Bronze Gene, what good would it do me to have had the extra attempt?


    ''Also, there''s one final thing to consider. Whether it''s Basic Aetherflow, Harmonic Puppetry, or Psyche Warp, all of them can only raise my Gic Limit to 20 Common and one Bronze Gene, and my Stat Limit to 100. Stacking them won''t increase that. So the only benefit I will get from using the Gene Crystal again is the abilities themselves.


    ''Although the abilities alone are powerful, without the boost to stats, it makes them less appealing. So if we''re splitting hairs here¡­ it''s not worth it.''


    Thinking to that point, Ss made his decision.


    His hand squeezed down, and he sacrificed the Gene Crystal.


    Ss'' body seized. Veins bulged all across his body, and he keeled over, suddenly beginning to vomit.


    His expression twisted in horror when he saw that his vomit was actually a grotesque dark green, as though it had been ckened by something.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t linger on the realization for long before his body seemed to violently self destruct¡­


    At least that was what it felt like.


    He fell to the ground, his muscles spasming and his inner organs shifting as though he had just been hit by a speeding truck.


    His pores dted and a foul stench pooled out from them, his body quickly bing covered inyers of dirt and grime that seemed toe from nothing else than himself.


    Ssy there gasping for breaths minutes after, a sudden feeling of euphoria washing over him. It was so intoxicating his eyes rolled back. Blood rushed into ces it certainly shouldn''t have and an embarrassing scene pushed against his simple linen pants.


    Ss had spent his entire life avoiding drugs. He didn''t put anything into his body that he didn''t feel was perfectly natural, and he was always meticulous with his own arbitrary standards of discipline.


    But at that moment, he would have given anything to feel this feeling again.


    Slowly, his vision cleared and flushed skin and rushing blood ebbed like a tide.


    They said that one felt the greatest desire to pass on one''s Genes during a near death experience. It was a physiological response of the body, a reaction to evolution, a natural fact of life and reality.

 Chapter 104 Black

    <h4>Chapter 104 ck </h4>


    One''s purpose in life was to ensure that your core Genes were passed on to the next generation.",


    And during this moment of evolution, Ss felt that feeling more intimately than he ever had in his life, and for a brief moment, he almost felt like he couldn''t control those thoughts at all.


    Luckily, it only seemed tost for a short while, and though there was still a slight burn in his lower belly, he felt that that too would go away quite soon. Especially since there would be nothing but battle left for him quite soon.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 77]


    >[Strength: 89]


    >[Constitution: 71]


    >[Dexterity: 78]


    >[Speed: 68]


    [Mental: 73]


    >[Intelligence: 45]


    >[Wisdom: 31]


    >[Charisma: 142]


    [Will: 116]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Aetherflow (F+)]


    ---


    The first this Ss did after regaining his bearings was checking his stats. Everything was as expected, but he couldn''t help but fall into thought when he saw his Mental. He was already so close to its limit and he wouldn''t have much of a chance to change things.


    He needed higher Wisdom, because it was what would allow him to split his mind more and focus on several things at once. If he could control numerous daggers at once, how much greater would his strength be in battle?


    However, at the same time¡­


    ''I want to take advantage of the loophole my Titles give me. If I hadn''t purged my extra Intelligence Genes first, my Intelligence would have sky-rocketed to over 100 before I could take action. By then, I would have already reached the stat limit before I could take advantage of the loophole.


    ''Just now, Basic Aetherflow gave my +20 Intelligence and Skill Savant immediately doubled it. If I absorb the elite Spitting Cobra corpse right now and seed in taking half of its six Intelligence Genes, that should give my +60 Intelligence¡­ Skill Savant would give me another +60 Intelligence on top of that¡­


    ''That would break the Stat Limit and put me at 113 Mental with 165 Intelligence total.


    ''But¡­ doesn''t that also mean that I won''t be able to increase my Wisdom until the next time I raise my Stat Limit¡­''


    Ss fell into deep thought.


    The extra Intelligence was huge to him right now, and it felt more important than just because able to control multiple daggers. His daggers were already fragile enough to begin with. He couldn''t afford to use one at a time, let alone more.


    Plus, the dagger he had used to kill this particr basilisk had shattered due to the stacked strength he ced on it. With his increasedStrength output, not to mention the boost his telekinesis had gotten and was about to get, how long would it be until he could actually afford the weapons he needed that could actually withstand it?


    Ss thought for a moment, then asked the Madness Key a question.


    ---


    [How to naturally increase Wisdom?]


    [There are two methods to increase Wisdom, one is by rote memorization of arge number of materials and practices, and the second is meditation and visualization. Some methods are capable ofbining the two and they are naturally the best. Techniques such as the Memory Pce are a good starting point]


    ---


    ''Seems the question was a bit too broad so it could only answer like this, but this is¡­ good.


    ''The Common Wisdom Gene I got from Maximillion''s corpse already rose my Wisdom to 31, that more than double than it was before. For now, that will have to be enough.''


    Ss had learned already that when one was in a State of Wealth and had more Genes than Stats, it was possible to improve your stats through training alone.


    He had yet to see such a thing happen, but he had also only spent a short time around here.


    Right now, his Stat Limit might only be 100, but he could gather 20 Common Genes of a type and one Bronze Gene as well. 20 Common Genes was already the equivalent of 400 total stats. It likely wasn''t possible to unlock them all through training alone, at least not without decades, or maybe even more without things in this world seemed to work.


    But, much like weight training, there should at least be a "newbie gains" period that he could take advantage of.


    ''If those techniques exist, then if I use that bronze nexus voucher I received as a reward for the quest, maybe I can find one in there¡­?''


    Ss made a decision. At this point, his priority should be his Intelligence. Even if he could control dozens of daggers, would his Aether be able to keep up with them all if his Intelligence was too low?


    He took out the Spitting Cobra corpse and pressed a hand to it.


    ---


    [Spitting Cobra]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (6) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Common Gene: (4) Intelligence (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Common Gene: (2) Intelligence (F)]


    ---


    Ss shook and quakes. A BANG! echoing through his mind as he felt like his brain was being ripped apart. The world swirled around him, and as strongly as he tried to fight back against the urge, knowing he had to protect himself in the world, he just couldn''t hold on. All the Will in the world felt useless, and he felt his body shut down.


    His vision with ck, blood spurting from his nose as he fell once again.

 Chapter 105 Two

    <h4>Chapter 105 Two </h4>


    [525 GTs bonus]?",


    "This Dungeon¡­ we''re going to tire ourselves to death moving through it like this. I suggest we slow down."


    The shield man exhaled a breath after he finished speaking. This sort of Dungeon was the absolute worst. You wouldn''t even know if you were making progress until you got to the end of the path. You could very well be fighting meaningless battles.


    Brant, the shield man, was a pragmatic but simple man. Among the three choices everyone received at the start of this trial period, he picked the weapon option. However, rather than choosing a sword or a spear, he chose a shield.


    His teammates often made fun of him for this. Rather than pragmatic, he was clearly far more simple. How he managed to survive after making such a silly decision was beyond them. However, there was no denying that his existence was an anchor that had saved their lives more than once.


    This sort of suggestion was more than in line with his character.


    "You''re probably right," the spear wielding woman to his back agreed.


    "What''s that? An agreement?"


    The woman rolled her eyes. "This time you''re not being a turtle in its shell. The minions in here aren''t difficult to deal with, at least not aside from their weird Skills. But who knows how big this ce is? We also just fought a battle on the outside, too. It''ll start adding up if we aren''t more cautious."


    The basilisk before them suddenlyshed out with a sharp gaze, its Aether rolling.


    Brant held up his shield, a dull light pulsing from it. There was a ssh of Aether across its service.


    The basilisk''s eyes went dim for a moment.


    "Aria," he called out.


    The woman''s spear was already moving, sliding past Brant like a shadow and slicing a wound across the basilisk''s body.


    The creature reeled back, the spike of pain shaking it awake.


    "Its Constitution is tough," Aria spat.


    "Back up."


    Brant pressed forward, unleashing a shield bash that added to the creature''s disorientation. An echo of Aether rippled out again, sending the creature flying.


    Aria followed up once again, shing out. Her spear''s strength wascking, but its precision was top-notch. She shed against the open wound she had created earlier, severing the creature''s head from its body.


    Brant walked forward and pressed a hand to the creature.


    "You''re right. This one had a higher Constitution than the others. There''s an extra Constitution Gene."


    "Are they getting tougher?"


    "It''s possible. In a Dungeon like this one, it''s unlikely that their strength will remain stagnant¡­ if not, you could probably take your sweet time beating them all."


    "Mm, then we should probably hurry¡­ I don''t know if taking our time is a viable solution at this point."


    Brant didn''t answer immediately, his brows furrowing.


    The Mentals of these creatures were too high. The only way to get a decent gauge of their stats was after defeating them and checking their Genes. That, and battle.


    "There''s something fishy here. ording to the entry requirements, the rmended Physical is 75. Logically speaking, these minions should be nowhere near that limit, only the Final BOSS should have stats near or exceeding that," Brant said.


    "You''re missing something," Aria said.


    "Hm?"


    "The entry limit was two."


    The realization hit Brant. "Shit," he cursed.


    If a Dungeon had a rmended Physical of 75, but it allowed two people to enter, then how hard would the challenges be? Would the BOSSes have 80 Physical? 90, maybe? What would the Dungeon deem appropriate? It was hard to tell. None of this even mentioned those Mental and Will requirements either.


    He shook his head. "You''re right. Then we have to be extra cautious."


    Aria rolled her eyes again, but she didn''t reject.


    "Top up. We''ll take a few minutes between every battle unless the situation changes. Even if their strengths are increasing, there''ll be a limit to it."


    ¡­


    Ss hacked and wheezed as he got up, a splitting headache making him see double and triple. The dull lights of the Dungeon might as well have been darkness to him at the moment.


    He cursed.


    He knew it wouldn''t be easy to take advantage of a loophole, but he didn''t expect that it would knock him out in the process. That was thest thing he could afford in a ce like this.


    He had expected pain, but this was more than he had bargained for. The pain didn''t even seem to want to go away, or rather, it was only retreating every so slowly.


    A groan came from his lips as he picked himself up, dragging himself to the side of the basilisk corpse so that he could prop up against it.


    Then he checked his stats.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 77]


    >[Strength: 89]


    >[Constitution: 71]


    >[Dexterity: 78]


    >[Speed: 68]


    [Mental: 126]


    >[Intelligence: 205]


    >[Wisdom: 31]


    >[Charisma: 142]


    [Will: 116]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (4) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Aetherflow (F+)]


    ---


    The change to his Mental alleviated the spikes of pain that were being driven through his head¡­ a little bit.


    His thoughts were correct.


    ''If my math is correct, if my Mental had a cap of 100, then I should have had around 81 stat points of room between myself and that cap. I was just short of that, and then my Skill Savant Title kicked in, doubling the 80 stats I got from four Intelligence Genes to 160. Added to my original 45 Intelligence, that makes 205¡­''

 Chapter 106 Duck and Roll

    <h4>Chapter 106 Duck and Roll</h4>


    [600 GTs bonus]?",


    As he thought, Titles should be Genes of some sort as well. If not, there was no way they could just weasel their ways around Stat Limits like this.


    Though, it seemed that taking advantage of them wasn''t so easy either.


    ''Is taking advantage of Genes easy either?''


    Ss shook his head, taking deep breaths. He pulled out his water bottle and took deep sips of waters.


    There was no way he could fight in such a state. He would have to give it a few hours to wear off. Luckily, he had the map to ensure to prepare any contingencies ahead of time should dangere his way.


    To his surprise, by the time he had a meal and some water, his body was quickly getting better. He thought it might take hours, but it didn''t take nearly so long.


    This was a huge relief to Ss. He was actually somewhat worried that taking advantage of this loophole might lead to irreparable damages to himself.


    Of course, he had consulted the Madness Key about these matters, but it was hard to just logically wave away something when your head felt like it was splitting itself in two.


    Ss exhaled a breath. As his headache subsided, he realized that there was quite a bit of bloating in his body in general, bloating that he had been in too much pain to even notice.


    When he checked, he realized that there were far thicker streams of Aether rushing through him now. What he was mistaking for bloating was just a cool, foreign energy swimming through his body in rivers.


    He could sense his Aether far more clearly than he had in the past. It had practicallymandeered his blood vessels, moving along in a symbiotic rtionship with his blood and giving it a brighter crimson color.


    Every time his heart beat, the stream would intensify for a moment.


    ''The center doesn''t seem to be in my heart though¡­ and though I feel it the most in my belly, the core should be¡­''


    Ss suddenly realized why he had a splitting headache before. It wasn''t just his body that was bloated, but his literal brain. The change in Aether was so great that the tender flesh had pushed against his skull.


    ''I have a concussion¡­''


    Ss sighed. He wasn''t a doctor, so he wasn''t absolutely certain. But that seemed like the only real conclusion.


    His recovery should be far beyond that of a normal human by now, and considering his subsiding headache, he should be fine soon. But he realized just how dangerous that was.


    He shook his head. ''There''s no other way. If I don''t take risks like this, this seventh attempt will end up just like all the rest¡­ and for the eighth, there might very well be no humans left to do anything.''


    Ss stood to his feet and finally imed his rewards for defeating the second BOSS.


    ---


    [You have yed Basilisk Minor]


    [Rewards]


    [>Astral Bind (2/3) (Skill Fragment)]


    [>Inflexible Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    ---


    ''The second fragment¡­ that''s good.''


    Ss stored it away. The only slight disappointment was that he only received another Inflexible Gene Elixir rather than a higher grade one. But he had to admit that he was a bit spoiled on that front.


    He had seen the stats of several people by now, and it was obvious that his Soft Gene State was an anomaly. If not, their stats wouldn''t be so poor after so long.


    ''Since I''m not 100% yet, this is the best chance I''ll get to really put Basic Aethorflow through its paces¡­ Let''s see if it was the correct choice.''


    Ss took a breath and pulled out a dagger from his Madness Key. By this point, he only had four left, and they were no doubt a preciousmodity.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss had yet to activate anything just yet, but he was immediately surprised. There was a smoothness and almost carelessness to his control that hadn''t been there before.


    ''Maybe?''


    Ss pulled out a second dagger, and he began to control them both, his brows jumping.


    It still felt easy, almost like his mind didn''t have to fully focus on them at all.


    He took out a third.


    Only when he did this did he begin to feel some push back, and at the same time, there was a dull aching in his head.


    ''This shouldn''t be because of my increased Intelligence, that stat has nothing to do with my telekinesis or my telekinesis control. This should be a passive I received after forming Basic Aetherflow¡­''


    ---


    [Basic Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others]


    ---


    The description of Basic Aetherflow came to mind.


    He thought that he had to activate his Aetherflow Gene Talent for it to work, but then he remembered that even without Basic Aetherflow, he had already gained a great deal of talent in using telekinesis already. Clearly, forming the Basic Aetherflow Gene had increased the foundation of that ability even without the attached Gene Talent activating.


    The daggers zipped around and Ss began to control his body. At that point, he felt like he had truly reached his limit.


    He was able to control three daggers and his body at the same time. This was a huge change. Even without the additional Intelligence, this was a qualitative change to his battle strength.


    ''If only I had strong enough daggers to keep up with my strength¡­ Let''s try activating the Aetherflow Gene Talent now


    ¡ª"


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss ducked and rolled, his eyes twitching.


    His three daggers¡­ they all exploded.


    Ss was lucky to have reacted so fast. No¡­ it was precisely because he had to visualize whenever he used his telekinesis that he was aware that something had gone wrong almost instantly. He not only ducked and rolled before the explosion urred, but he also managed to send the daggers flying further away as well.


    ''What¡­ just happened¡­''


    Taking his time, Ss analyzed the situation before he came to a conclusion.

 Chapter 107 Rebuffed

    <h4>Chapter 107 Rebuffed </h4>


    [400 PSs bonus]",


    His Aether¡­ when he activated Aetherflow, his telekinesis became a perfect extension of his body, and as such, his Aether flowed freely within it. However, because he was controlling three daggers, his Aether had flooded into them. The daggers were unable to handle his Aether and actually exploded under the pressure.


    ''Aren''t they treasures¡­? How are they unable to handle Aether?''


    Now that Ss thought about it, he had never tried to pour Aether into his weapons. The only analogous ability he had that was capable of doing something simr was de Aura. However, he was unable to project his Aether out of his body, at least not without a Skill as a conduit¡­


    That was until he mastered Aetherflow.


    Regardless, it seemed that treasures weren''t able to withstand Aether. Or, at the very least, not treasures of this level.


    ''It might also be that I poured way too much Aether into it¡­''


    He was used to having pitifully low Intelligence, even Cassaraemented on it. It''s possible that he had just gone way overboard.


    "Hm¡­"


    Ss walked over to the basilisk corpses and pried its jaw open. With a punch, he knocked out some of its teeth. By this point, his Strength was almost near 90, and with the +10% of his Scorned Wraps, his Constitution was near 80. He didn''t find these things difficult anymore.


    He lifted a tooth into the air with his telekinesis and sent it flying a good distance from him. When it was about 10 meters away, he activated Aetherflow once more.


    BANG!


    Ss frowned as he dodged tooth shards. Although he tried to ease his foot off the gas pedal, he realized that there was actually no stopping it. The basilisk had over 80 Constitution and yet its teeth couldn''t withstand his Aether at all.


    Ss really didn''t want to ask the Madness Key. Now that his Genes were actually showing up as stats again, every question would mean a loss of five stat points. That was way too much to bear, given he was still in the middle of a dangerous situation. If he wasn''t worried about his concussion, maybe it would be worth it. But right now, he needed the greatest advantage he could get just in case he was sluggish in other ways.


    He shook his head. ''I don''t have to understand this immediately. I only have one dagger left now, anyway. What good is it? When I leave, I''ll gather 20 Common Genes in all categories as quickly as possible.''


    There was just one other thing that Ss first.


    If his Aetherflow Gene talent caused these sturdy weapons to just implode on contact¡­ then how strong did it make his fists?


    Ss leapt back and steadied himself into a boxing stance. He dropped his and twisted his back foot hard as he unleashed a fist.


    He stood in silence as he watched the result. After a while, he nodded to himself and walked away. His destination? The pair of dots on his map.


    After Ss left, the basilisk corpse slowly rolled over, revealing a clean hole that went right through its pristine scales. Blood was sttered in all directions as the beast settled into its final resting ce.


    ¡­


    Ss moved like the wind. Even when he came across an F ranked Basilisk Minor, it took just a single fist to crush them. Their best Constitution was around 70, while his Strength was already near +20 of that. He had an over 20% advantage that couldn''t be overlooked.


    Much like all Gene Talents, he couldn''t use Aetherflow continuously. He could feel a fatigue overwhelming him when he tried, but he also didn''t need to. His stats were overwhelming.


    His Will shrugged off their telekic attacks, his Strength overwhelmed their Constitution, his Speed was so far superior to theirs that they almost seemed to move in slow motion inparison to him.


    ''I''ming up to them soon¡­''


    Ss stepped over another snake''s corpse.


    The duo was closing in on a BOSS room. From what Ss could tell, they had yet to find even a single one. Every time they killed a basilisk, they would take their time to recover before moving on to the next. They seemed to be the cautious type from this alone.


    ''Their formation is also staggered. One of them is almost always the vanguard while the other flickers forward from time to time, and then retreats again. I would assume that whoever is at the helm has superior defensive abilities, and likely has Skills tailored to this in specific. That could be a troublesome opponent.''


    Ss'' thoughts gathered the information he had on hand. He was more cautious approaching these twopared to the basilisk''s because he had no idea if any of them had a detection Skill as good as Olivia''s.


    So, rather than trying to sneak up on them, he went for the opposite approach.


    Overwhelm and suppress.


    ¡­


    The moment Ss shot out from around the corner, Brant and Aria werepletely taken aback, but they reacted with the grace of two that had already suffered through many battles. Though they were still in the middle of a battle with a basilisk, they didn''t panic. Instead, they both began a slow and steady retreat, warily watching Ss'' approach.


    Ss, however, had no intention of taking the slow and steady route.


    ---


    [Brant¡ª]


    ---


    Ss'' attempt to read the stats of the two was rebuffed by a glow of Brant''s shield. The reaction speed of the shield man could be said to be excellent.


    ''It''s not automatic. He activated a Skill to block me. But I feel that while it''s active, I can''t try again. It''ll be useless.''


    This realization didn''t slow Ss down. He suddenly felt a probe at his mind and he activated Madness instinctually.


    They weren''t the only ones with the ability to block probes.


    At the same time Ss activated Madness, Brant stumbled back as though something had just impacted his mind while Ss aimed his Madness at the basilisk.

 Chapter 108 They

    <h4>Chapter 108 They</h4>


    [675 GTs bonus]?",


    Just when the F grade Basilisk Minor wanted to turn back to see what themotion was about, it felt a sudden rage surge up from within it. It forgot about everything but the opponents right before it and it lunged at the off-bnce Brant with malice.


    There was another sh from Brant''s shield, and his eyes cleared. He reacted to the lunging snake with a shield bash, and Aria''s spear thrust through the air.


    The spear''s tip glowed with a subtle hue as she activated a Skill of her own and the de ripped right through the beast''s throat.


    Ss took it all in, closing the distance rapidly. However, it was clear that he wouldn''t make it in time to affect the situation¡­


    Or so it seemed.


    Sudden Burst.


    Ss was already at his top Speed, but he activated Madness Control and ripped through those limits, taking the pair off guard as a de Aura infused fist released a hollow whistle. The attack cut through the air, aiming right for Brant''s head.


    With the sort of power Ss had now, killing a man with a single fist wasn''t anywhere near an impossible task.


    Brant was ready, though, raising his shield and preparing for another flow of Aether.


    That was when Ss suddenly pulled back his feint, his other hand shooting forward and grabbing onto the pole arm of Aria''s yet-to-retract spear.


    He had only faced off against Brant for a short time, but he already knew that he wanted nothing to do with the man, at least not head on. His goal had already been Aria.


    Aria''s brows jumped as she was somewhat caught off guard as well. Even in this situation, she was a half step behind Brant and she was used to the man always covering for her weaknesses.


    In her mind, it made sense that Ss would try to take him out first. He was the greatest threat. It was a mistake so many before had made.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t.


    Even so, Aria''s Aether zed, and she reacted quickly. Her wrist twisted as she pulled, another light forming on her de tip. So long as Ss'' grip loosened just the slightest bit, he would definitely lose his hand.


    But it didn''t. In fact, his Strength was so overwhelming that she was pulled off her bnce, stumbling forward.


    "LET GO!" Brant roared. He had just wasted a Skill and wasgging behind a bit.


    Aria listened, but to her surprise, Ss released the spear at the same time. Then, the spear that should have fallen to the ground was pulled away by a mysterious force and sent nging behind Ss.


    From their perspective, it looked as though Ss had thrown it away and they didn''t think twice about it. Using a weapon you weren''t familiar with in battle didn''t make sense.


    Ss'' movements didn''t stop as Aria retreated and Brant bore down on him. He kicked at the basilisk corpse that had fallen to the ground, activating Tail Whip.


    The heavy creature shed against Brant''s shield and was repelled back toward Ss even faster.


    ''His defenses are so sturdy.''


    And that was precisely why Ss felt that his approach to this battle was perfect.


    The snake''s corpse collided with him in a dull boom, knocking the air out of his lungs as he stumbled backward and almost fell to the ground.


    Brant stomped a heavy foot, and another Skill activated, a wave of pressure pushed Ss back even further. At the same time, Aria pulled out an item and threw it in his direction when they felt that the distance was enough.


    A erupted from the silver ball, covering all of Ss'' escape routes. Heavy balls that made up its edges wrapping around him in an attempt to nail him down to the ground.


    Brant pressed forward in an attempt to nail down their advantage, and it was right then that the forgotten spear suddenly erupted from the ground with the strength of Madness fueling it.


    The spear whistle by Brant''s ear before he could even react, piercing through a shocked Aria''s throat.


    Brant looked back in shock. It was the worst thing he could have done in this situation, but his instinctual reaction got the best of him.


    "Aria!"


    He seemed to realize at that moment that she was finished, and the only thing he could do to avenge her was to take care of Ss.


    But at that moment, the that should have already enveloped their enemy was flying toward him instead.


    Brant reacted with an instinctual shield bash, his Aether sending out an even stronger pulse than before. But, just when he got rid of the, the sickening sound of his own bones snapping rang through his ears.


    Brant quivered, falling forward. The spear¡­ how had it hit him? No¡­ how had it even flown toward Aria in the first ce¡­?


    Ss jumped backward, leaping out of the way of the flying again, then using his telekinesis to toss it to the side.


    Brant was in no condition to fight. Just now, Ss had driven the spear right into his hip. In this world, that kind of wound should be a death sentence. But Ss wasn''tcent. He had no idea what other things these people had on them, and for all he knew, Brant also had an overpowered healing Skill of some sort. Ss had never seen such a thing, but who was to say they didn''t exist?


    Standing a good distance away, he used his telekinesis to pull the spear out from Brant''s hip and hovered the de above the man''s head.


    "Who are you? And how did you find this Dungeon?" He asked coldly.


    Brant let out a hollowugh, his face as pale as a sheet. Right now, his forehead was pressed against the ground. He could even move without the spikes of pain, making his feeling like his insides were shredding to pieces.


    "You¡­ must be the person¡­ they wanted us to probe¡­ Should have known¡­"


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. "Who is they?"

 Chapter 109 Brant

    <h4>Chapter 109 Brant </h4>


    [750 GTs bonus]


    "You''re going to kill me anyway¡­ why should I tell you? Isn''t that my¡­ only useful card to y here?"


    Ss didn''t respond to the question immediately. "Who is she?"


    "A¡­ teammate¡­"


    Brant was too muddle-headed to even understand the implications of the question.


    ---


    [Brant Collin (FF)]


    [Level: 4]


    ---


    [Physical: 67]


    >[Strength: 91]


    >[Constitution: 97]


    >[Dexterity: 38]


    >[Speed: 42]


    [Mental: 51]


    >[Intelligence: 131]


    >[Wisdom: 9]


    >[Charisma: 12]


    [Will: 87]


    ---


    Ss was astonished by the stats.


    ording to what he knew, if you were without a ss, every Level should only give you a +10 to your Stat limits and an immediate +3 to all stats without absorbing Genes. That meant that as a Level 4, if Brant was ssless, and since he wasn''t a member of those great families, then he should at best have a Stat Limit around 70 or so.


    Mental stats worked in conjunction with one another, so they could be ignored. But for his Strength and Constitution to be so high, it could only mean this man either had gained a Gene Crystal like Ss had or he had unlocked a ss.


    A Fragmented ss was the same as the ssless in that they gained only +10 to all stats per Level, while a Common ss only gained +15. With a modifier of 0.1 for Fragmented and 0.2 for Common for specific, ss-rted stats, that was +11 or +18.


    It couldn''t be the former. That was too low. But with thetter, Brant, assuming a ss that focused on Strength and Constitution, and assuming his original Physical limit was around 30, then he would''ve a current Stat Limit of around 100.


    Ss walked by Brant. Thetter shivered when he heard the steps but couldn''t see them. However, Ss paid him no mind as he pressed a hand on the woman.


    ---


    [Aria Winters]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (3) Speed (F); (4) Dexterity (F); (3) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss shook his head inwardly. He had realized by now that when you killed a fellow human, the Genes you gained from them should be pretty much all of their umted Genes. You could make far more progress killing humans than you could even the BOSS of a Dungeon, and that realization had probably caused its fair share of massacres already.


    However, he hadn''t pressed on Aria''s body for this sake.


    He asked Brant who she was because he wanted to check what their rtionship was. Were they really just teammates? Or more than that? At the very least, it didn''t seem that they were husband and wife because they neither shared a name nor a hyphenated name.


    The reason he wanted to know was quite simple. If they were really so close, he would rather kill Brant than find out about this mysterious person who seemed to be messing with him.


    However, if he wasn''t that close with Aria¡­ then maybe it would be possible to make use of him. In exchange for his life, Brant just might spill the beans on many things¡­.


    ---


    [Gene Assimtion Starting¡­]


    [Gene Assimtion Triggered]


    ---


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Common Gene: (1) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (1) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F)]


    ---


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Common Gene: (2) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (2) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F)]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 87]


    >[Strength: 89]


    >[Constitution: 71]


    >[Dexterity: 100]


    >[Speed: 88]


    [Mental: 126]


    >[Intelligence: 205]


    >[Wisdom: 31]


    >[Charisma: 142]


    [Will: 116]


    [Luck: 1]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (4) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (5) Dexterity (F); (6) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    [Heavy Net (F)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Ability: Suppress]


    [Flow of Aether is 50% slower when enveloped by]


    [Durability: 20/20]


    ---


    Ss checked over the and raised an eyebrow. He didn''t know that tools like this existed, but it was good to know.


    The variables in battle were too numerous. He wasn''t the only one with a trump card that could take an opponent off guard. What if the object Aria had thrown out had been a bomb instead?


    He reached down and picked the Heavy Net up, but what he didn''t expect was that it would actually burn to ash an instantter.


    ''¡­ Really?''


    He had never expected for that the Scorned Wrap would also consider this a weapon. Was its definition so loose? In that case, did it mean that he couldn''t touch Brant''s shield, either?


    Ss had to admit that he was quite interested in the shield. It looked like an excellent item and it might have some use.


    After gaining Basic Aetherflow, the weight of the items he could control had increased. That was why he could control that spear so well. Although Brant''s shield should have been so powerful mostly due to his Skills, Ss had still been interested in seeing if he could make use of it.


    But if he couldn''t even use an item like a, then there was no way the Scorned Wraps would let a shield slide.


    ---


    [Bulwark Leather Shield (FF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [+110 Constitution]


    [Ability: Repel]


    [Reflect 20% of damage for every one point of Durability]


    [Durability: 26/30]


    ---


    As expected, it was truly an excellent item. It was no wonder Brant was so difficult to deal with.


    ''Things like Skills and treasures like this make checking someone''s stats almost useless. I''m not sure how Constitution is applied when a treasure is used like this, but if it''s an overall boost to his stats in general, with this shield equipped, he had 207 Constitution. There''s just no way topete with that. If I hadn''t sneak attacked him with that spear, I''m not even sure my fists could harm him.''

 Chapter 110 Numb

    <h4>Chapter 110 Numb</h4>


    [600 PSs bonus]",


    After seeing Cassarae''s armor, Ss knew exactly how much weight treasures held. And yet, he couldn''t even use any of them, at least not without his telekinesis as a proxy.


    But if he was using his telekinesis, the stat boosts obviously wouldn''t apply to him.


    ---


    [Trembling Spear (F+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [+45 Dexterity]


    [Ability: Tremble]


    [Exchange 1 Unit of Aether for +50% Strength Effectiveness. Limit: 4 Units]


    [Durability: 17/20]


    ---


    ''So this is why I was able to pierce through his Constitution so easily. Before she lost her spear, she poured quite a bit of Aether into it, probably to the limit of the four Units. The Tremble ability has a lingering effect or else it would take way too much Aether use this ability.''


    Essentially, because of Aria, Ss'' sneak attack had essentially had three times the Strength.


    After the increase to his Charisma thanks to Basic Aetherflow, Ss'' telekinesis, when Madness was activated had around 90 Physical. With three times the Effectiveness, that was 270 points of Strength. Even with this ridiculously powerful shield, there was simply no way for Brant to block.


    Of course, that Strength was only applied at the point of contact and didn''t make the spear fly any faster, but it was a shocking feat, nheless.


    None of this made Ss happy, though. If anything, it was the exact opposite.


    How many people had weapons like this? How many hidden items were there? How much greater would his disadvantage be because of these Scorned Wraps?


    Ss stared at the spear silently for a moment before a thought came to mind. He waited patiently for the Aether to run out and for the de to dimpletely. Then, he moved a good distance away and activated his Aetherflow Gene Talent once again.


    He had been ready for an astounding explosion, but this time, the spear just trembled and managed to withstand it. A green glow enveloped the spear and Ss'' eyes began to shine.


    Finally able to sustain Aetherflow for a long while, Ss felt like he could do so much. His telekinesis had be a true extension of himself. He could even use his Gene Talents and Skills through his Aetherflow.


    However, when he activated de Aura, he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. The increased pressure on him was considerable.


    Ss released Aetherflow and exhaled a breath.


    He checked the spear again.


    ---


    [Trembling Spear (F+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [+45 Dexterity]


    [Ability: Tremble]


    [Exchange 1 Unit of Aether for +50% Strength Effectiveness. Limit: 4 Units]


    [Durability: 15/20]


    ---


    ''As expected¡­ it lost two Durability already¡­''


    It seemed it wouldn''t be so easy to find something capable of withstanding the effects of his Aetherflow. But this was certainly better.


    As a trump card, this spear was truly excellent.


    The best part to Ss, though, wasn''t the spear itself, but rather what being able to wield it so well meant for him.


    The spear weighed more than double a normal long sword, approaching 20 or so pounds. Before, the limit of his telekinesis ten pounds when he wasn''t allowing his Aether to flow into it. But now, it seemed to have more than doubled. He didn''t think his limit was 20 pounds. It should be somewhere between 25 and 30. That was a huge difference.


    If he could wield something that heavy with almost 90 Physical, he could just bludgeon his targets to death.


    Ss checked through the items Aria and Brant had. He found several Elixirs, mostly Aether and recovery rted concoctions, along with some healing Elixirs.


    ---


    [Simple Healing Elixir (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar, the caress of a mother in liquid form. Drink this and Heal yourself]


    ---


    Ss raised an eyebrow. The description was too vague. After some thought, he infused Madness into <Basic Scouting> and tried again.


    ---


    [Simple Healing Elixir (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar, the caress of a mother in liquid form. Drink this and Heal yourself. For every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +50%. Effectsst a single day]


    ---


    ''I see¡­''


    This taught him two important things. The first was obviously how this healing potion in specific worked, but the second was more interesting. It seemed that one''s healing factor was tied to Constitution.


    He had suffered many wounds during his journey already. There were the several w marks from the Rotten Wolves, just as one example. Those were wounds that should have required stitches, but they had already scabbed over after just a few days. It had to be his Constitution.


    Regardless, this wasn''t a miracle healing potion. With his current 71 Constitution, a wound that could usually take three days to heal would not take a little over a day if he took this potion. But it wouldn''t just instantly return him a full bill of health.


    Ss pulled out a sleeping bag and some rope from the two''s stores. He then tied down Brant''s arms and ankles in the best knots he knew¡ªwhich probably weren''t all that great at all, if he was honest with himself.


    Once he was done, he slipped Brant into the sleeping bag, then made a leash for the bag.


    Brant''s gaze dimmed when he understood what was happening. On the one hand, he was happy to be alive, but on the other, Ss'' eerily calm demeanor made him feel quite cold.


    Would he die eventually once his use was up?


    As he was dragged along, he couldn''t help but cast onest nce toward his fallenpanion.


    Would he be like her?


    ¡­


    Brant quickly grew numb.


    One would have thought that this was because he had suffered a terrible wound and Ss had done next to nothing to treat it, but this was far from the case. His Constitution was too high. Although he was still more than a week from fully recovering without the help of Elixirs.


    Considering a broken hip should take surgery and sometimes even over a year to recover from, it could be said that Brant''s recovery was exceptional.

 Chapter 111 Skills

    <h4>Chapter 111 Skills </h4>


    [800 PSs bonus]",


    But no, this wasn''t why he was numb, nor did he feel close to death.


    Rather¡­ watching Ss make quick work of a Dungeon, both he and Aria had to be so cautious it made him feel like he was living in a fairy tale.


    He was almost certain that Ss had to be in the top ten. He couldn''t think of any other exnation.


    Brant thought that he had done well for himself in these past months, and the system had even judged him to be in the FF Grade. But he always felt waves of awe when he saw the people on that list.


    Even the weakest of them was two Levels above him.


    He knew how hard it was to progress in this world. Even finding creatures above Level 1 meant travelling deep into territories infested with high concentrations of Aether, ones where beast hoards reigned supreme and killing just one would lead to a deluge of danger.


    He couldn''t even understand how those monsters had made it to Level 9 in such a short time¡­


    But seeing Ss now, he thought he finally understood.


    They weren''t human at all, they really were every bit the monsters he thought they were.


    Ss made such short work of the minions that it seemed he never exchanged more than three fists with them before they copsed. In fact, he even seemed to be holding back for the sake of refining his battle style.


    When he came across BOSSes, this was made all the more obvious. Brant thought he was watching some sort of action martial arts movie. Ss could st a hole through a beast from meters away without even breaking a sweat.


    He would toy with them, using them as sparring partners as though they weren''t beasts that looming three meters above him. He shrugged off their attempts at freezing his body and mind, then when he felt he had gotten enough out of them, he would shred them to pieces with his bare hands.


    He never seemed to tire, his Aether pool seemed endless, and Brant didn''t see him use an Elixir even once.


    It didn''t even make sense. How could a person ze through a whole Dungeon without needing to recover their Aether?


    How could he know that after Ss'' Intelligence had increased, Maddened Enlightenment had actually scaled up with it? When Madness was fused with it, it still took Ss just five minutes to recover all 20 Aether Units he now had.


    By the time Brant witnessed the fall of the seventh BOSS, how could he not be entirely numb?


    As for Ss, his mind was on other things.


    ---


    [Rewards]


    [>Astral Bind (3/3) (Skill Fragment)]


    ---


    [Rewards]


    [>Momentum Shift (3/3) (Skill Fragment)]


    ---


    [Rewards]


    [>Solidify (3/3) (Skill Fragment)]


    ---


    [Astral Bind (F+) (Skill)]


    [The gaze of a Basilisk King is supreme. Freeze, mere mortal]


    ---


    [Momentum Shift (F+) (Skill)]


    [Laws of the world do not bind the Basilisk King. Bend to my whims, be suppressed beneath my Will]


    ---


    [Solidify (F+) (Skill)]


    [You are unworthy to even touch the Basilisk King. My defenses are unmatched]


    ---


    When Ss applied his Madness, his depth of understanding of the techniques deepened. Each and every one of these techniques was a telekic one with applied Aether. He had never expected that there would be such a wide range of uses.


    <Astral Bind> could lock an opponent in ce. The duration was dependent on the gap in the average between Will and Charisma, plus a factor of Aether Units applied. This would also change dependent on mastery.


    With 50% more Will and Charisma, and 0.5 Units of Aether applied, you could lock a person in ce for a full second. For every additional 50% gap, you would gain another second. Or, you could apply another 0.5 Units of Aether for the same effect.


    <Momentum Shift> was a method Ss was quite familiar with. It was the technique the Basilisk had used to suddenly change the direction of their attack without warning.


    This was probably the most disappointing of the skills because, much like Tail Whip, it simply wasn''t perfectly designed for a human to use.


    A snake''s tail could obviously suddenly change its momentum without issue or worry, but Ss had his joints and bones to worry about.


    If he was throwing an uppercut, no Skill was going to suddenly turn that fist into a downward smash without also bending his elbow the wrong way.


    ''But, if I use it on my telekinesis, that''s a different story¡­ However, if I want to apply a Skill to my telekinesis, I need to activate the Aetherflow Gene Talent first. So this Skill is going to have to remain on the back burner for now.''


    Per activation, <Momentum Shift> needed 0.5 Aether Units to change any singr attack''s momentum. In addition, there was a Physical limit as well. At Common Mastery, it could only shift attacks with up to 100 Physical. There was an additional 25 Physical added for every new level of Mastery.


    Finally, there was <Solidify>, and Ss actually felt that this was the most useful of the Skills because it finally gave him something for his greatest weakness¡­


    Defense.


    <Solidify> allowed the formation of a solid barrier of Aether. In exchange for 0.5 Aether Units, at the Common Mastery, an attack of 100 Physical could be blocked. It also gained the ability to block an extra 25 Physical for each level of Mastery.


    Of course, all of these calctions didn''t take into ount the influence of Madness, which synergized perfectly with these Skills.


    Under Madness'' influence, they were raised to the Legendary Mastery in a single bound.


    Now, for every 10% gap in Will and Charisma, Ss could use 0.5 Units of Aether to bind a target for a full second.


    <Momentum Shift> could be used on attacks up to 200 Physical.


    And finally, <Solidify> could block attacks of up to 200 Physical as well.


    With these Skills in his tool belt, Ss felt he was more than ready to face off against the Dungeon''s Final BOSS.

 Chapter 112 Basilisk King

    <h4>Chapter 112 Basilisk King</h4>


    [Basilisk King (FF+)]",


    [Level: 5]


    ---


    [Physical: 80]


    >[Strength: 110]


    >[Constitution: 123]


    >[Dexterity: 42]


    >[Speed: 45]


    [Mental: 72]


    >[Intelligence: 99]


    >[Wisdom: 19]


    >[Charisma: 97]


    [Will: 91]


    ---


    Ss faced off against the Basilisk King, his heart beating in a slow, steady rhythm.


    He was a bit biased, but it was truly a beautiful creature. The bed of bones on its head shimmered with a golden color that truly made it reminiscent of a crown, the lines between its dark scales flickering with the same hue, making the snake look as though it was more a deity than a beast.


    The Basilisk King was actually smaller than the other BOSSes by half, being perfectly eye-level with Ss rather than looming overhead.


    Even so, the aura of danger it exuded was on an entirely different level.


    When Ss stepped into its territory with Brant in tow, it unleashed a roar that froze thetterpletely.


    Unlike its counterparts, this Basilisk King had slit irises that were entirely crimson, not even a single drop of a different color in sight. It looked as though an array of shades of red had exploded like a neb within its eyeballs.


    It cast <Astral Bind> almost immediately, but it bounced off of Ss as though it didn''t even exist.


    Ss released the rope he was using to pull Brant along and rushed forward, his eyes sharp.


    The head of the basilisk shot toward him, and he sidestepped. The stats of this creature were far too strong for him to meet it head on, he had to feel it out first.


    He used his superior Speed and unleashed a cross right into its body.


    Fist met scales in a dull thud and the Basilisk King swayed only for a moment before biting at Ss'' neck with a vicious chomp. Aether glowed along its glistening rows of teeth, revealing a strength that should shatter steel.


    Ss retreated with a fluid step and struck a palm at the edge of the snake''s open jaw, pushing it to the side and parrying its strike in a single motion.


    ''Strong...'' Ss thought as he was forced to retreat again. He was only able to pull that off because of his superior Speed, and yet he had still almost suffered for it.


    The Basilisk King was thrown somewhat off bnce, snapping its maw closed around a gust of wind. Ss moved forward in an attempt to take advantage, but the off bnce BOSS suddenly reversed its momentum under a sudden rush of Aether.


    Ss'' gaze sharpened. He had alreadye forward to attack, and it was toote for him to change direction. <Momentum Shift> only worked on singr attacks. There was no way for him to use it on his whole body like the Basilisk King just had.


    Ss found the Basilisk King''s head snapping at him once again, its mouth roaring with malice. His arm was already punching forward, its destination the open mouth of the snake.


    <Solidify>.


    A shield, exuding a delicate green color, appeared. Aether was usually a silvery blue, but Ss had found that whenever it was infused with his Will, it turned into a shade of green.


    And that shade of green was precisely what the Basilisk King crashed into.


    BANG!


    The Basilisk King rebounded, its jaws snapping closed around nothing once again. Ss'' own fist shot right through the shield as though it wasn''t even there, giving the Basilisk King a second dose of hurt.


    It was formed from his own telekinesis. If he didn''t want it to stop him¡­


    It wouldn''t.


    The basilisk reeled, but Ss pressed forward, unleashing a rain of fists. The creature roared out in pain, its buddy suffering several concussive blows.


    Ss realized immediately that he was doing superficial damage at best, but he expected as much. His Constitution, even with the boost from the Scorned Wraps, was more than 40 points beneath that of the Basilisk.


    Suddenly, the beast glowed with another light of Aether. Its head fell back under Ss'' punches and its tail whipped out for a vicious blow.


    The shield that had begun tog behind Ss shed and appeared in the tail''s path, but it onlysted a moment before it shattered into crumbling pieces.


    ''So that''s what it meant by 200 Physical¡­'' Ss took note of this as he took advantage of the brief instant his shattered shield had given him, retreating out of the way of the tail.


    It seemed that 200 Physical didn''t just refer to the amount of damage <Solidify> could take, but rather the umted Physical. Otherwise, wouldn''t the shieldst forever?


    Essentially, if someone had 50 Strength, the shield wouldst for four punches.


    ''I also have to take into ount what boosts Aether might give to strength-output as well.''


    Ss calmly analyzed this matter, unperturbed that the beast had managed to gain itself some breathing room. The more battles he found, the calmer he found himself being, and the sharper his reactions and thoughts process became.


    Of course, his recently tripled Wisdom yed arge role in that as well.


    He took a step, meeting the Basilisk King''s enraged re. It was time to see where his limits trulyy.


    When he was in range, the basilisk roared and unleashed a vicious tail whip.


    Ss was prepared to slip out of the way, but he stopped his movements suddenly. The tail changed its trajectory, mming down to the ground.


    Sudden Burst.


    He erupted from his stopped position and entered a region of closebat. A green glow coated his fists as he punched, unleashing a lethalbination. Blood and chipped scales rained as Ss'' Strength soared.


    Madness pulsed to life as he began to use Basic Aetherflow, his high Intelligence fueling his every movement.


    In that moment, it felt like his mind and body were truly connected as one. There was nog between the thoughts of one and the action of another, and the result was devastating, one that made the air quake.

 Chapter 113 Sorrow

    <h4>Chapter 113 Sorrow </h4>


    The Basilisk King was forced to retreat again and again, its high Constitution bing akin to minced meat.",


    Every time it tried to counter, Ss would suppress it with his superior Speed.


    We walked the creature down, his fists falling like rain and his kicksing in a sudden change up, striking down any counter the beast might have had.


    The roars of rage came from the Basilisk King in steady waves, but Ss'' Aetherflow was too overwhelming.


    Right now, both his Strength and Madness boosted telekinesis were at 89. With Aetherflow, there was a 5% boost given due to the skill of his fist arts, raising it from 93 to 94.


    However¡­ none of this ounted for the extra Effectiveness of Madness Control nor the hidden increase in Effectiveness his telekinesis had gotten after unlocking Basic Aetherflow. It was thetter that allowed him to go from casually controlling 10 pound object to now near 30.


    Even so, all of this paled inparison to a single fast¡­


    Ss was stacking his blows. The Basilisk King wasn''t suffering just one punch of his at over 90 Strength, it was suffering ayering of three of them. Ss had realized that instead of controlling three daggers at once, he could just use his mind to visualize his fists and kicks three times over. Although this wasn''t the same as having 270 Strength, not even close¡­


    To the Basilisk King, there might as well have not been a difference.


    Ss took a step back, sliding out of the way of a swinging tail and suddenly driving an elbow down.


    An illusory elbow appeared above the Basilisk King''s tail and smashed it right into the ground.


    He reached down, pinning the tail with a foot, grabbing it with a free hand.


    The Basilisk King roared, but Ss picked it up with ease.


    He raised into the skies, and just as the creature was going to make an attempt to bite his head off again, he smashed it down.


    His muscles bulged, his veins popping as illusory handsyered his own. He grabbed the snake with two hands, his 89 Strength roaring as he picked it up and smashed it again.


    Brant could barely breathe as he watched Ss throw the snake around like it was a rag dog. Every vicious m sent arger rain of blood spilling out into the surroundings, and the Basilisk King''s roars of rage quickly became faint whimpers.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss'' torso flexed and his heel spun on the ground, sending the snake careening into the sturdy walls of the Dungeon.


    The sickening sound of bones cracking echoed.


    The creature had tried to use <Solidify> several times to protect itself. But when Ss was using his fists, he simply projected them right past its barrier, and when he used the basilisk itself as a weapon, what could its shields do aside from be another sturdy surface for it to crash into?


    Ss huffed out a heavy breath, feeling that his Aether was almost on empty now. He rushed forward with thoughts of finishing the job, but that was when something unexpected happened.


    The Basilisk King, which had been in the process of struggling to push itself up, suddenly lowered its head to the ground, low and docile.


    Ss thought that there was another Skill he wasn''t familiar withing. Until now, the creature had only used what seemed to be superior versions of <Astral Bind>, <Momentum Shift> and <Solidify>, but he had been on the lookout for any new techniques as well. This was the Final BOSS. It was bound to have some other tricks up its sleeve.


    That was when the runes on the Dungeon began to glow.


    Ss frowned. One of the first things he had noticed in this Dungeon was that it didn''t have a natural light source. All the light came from the greenish vein patterns that shimmered light emeralds¡­ well, if emeralds could give off their own light, that is.


    The crown of gold on the Basilisk King''s head sunk into its forehead, vanishing.


    ''What is going on?'' Ss thought to himself.


    This wasn''t good. He hadn''t been trying to reserve his Aether because he just assumed this would be the final challenge. In the back of his mind, he knew that Brant might or might not havepanions waiting on the outside, but there was a lot of downtime in Dungeons as well. He knew he would have the time to replenish himself properly first.


    But he didn''t expect for something like this to happen. There were too many unexpected things about this world that seemed to catch him off guard constantly. For someone who liked to be in control of all aspects of his life, this was truly the worst-case scenario for Ss. However, there was no changing it, so he could only choose the route of caution.


    He retreated, not sure what sort of transformation the creature was undergoing. He activated <Maddened Enlightenment> in full force, stayingpletely still to get the full effect of meditation to speed up his recovery even further.


    ''If ites down to it, I''ll use one of the Elixirs I took from those two.''


    Ss didn''t choose to do so immediately, though. He knew there was a limit to how frequently you could take such Elixirs without harming yourself, so he would only take them if he was really backed up against a wall. Plus, who was to say he wouldn''t need themter?


    The glow of the green veins became so fierce that they bordered on blinding.


    ---


    [Quest Received]


    [Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Fragmented)]


    ---


    [A King without a Kingdom. The Basilisk is a fallen creature; from where? No one knows. Maybe even They have forgotten Their former glory. You have met a Basilisk whose pride has been shattered and whose Will has been torn asunder. Remind this Basilisk King of who He is.]


    ---


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Awaken the Pride of the Basilisk King]

 Chapter 114 Taboo

    <h4>Chapter 114 Taboo</h4>


    [800 PSs bonus]",


    Ss had been ready for another epic battle, so this could be said to be thest thing he had expected. All this for a Fragmented Quest? It felt¡­ odd. Was he missing something? He felt that it was almost certain that he was.


    But how was he supposed to awaken the pride of a beast without intelligence? Also, what about his Dungeon rewards? If he killed this beast, wouldn''t that mean that he failed the quest?


    The Basilisk King simplyy there, its former golden glow gone. It looked like a normal ck snake now, its crimson eyes the only thing that remained special about it.


    Ss'' frown deepened, not liking what he read.


    Giving up an FF+ Dungeon''s rewards for a Fragmented Quest sounded foolish. Why would the system want him to do such a thing? It felt like an insult to his intelligence.


    ''Wait¡­''


    Ss'' brows furrowed.


    The rankings systems of this world just felt so¡­ arbitrary and out of ce so often.


    Why were some things ranked with the Fragmented to Legendary grades, while others used F- to FFF+. Was there an important distinction between them?


    ''This isn''t the only odd thing¡­ ording to this system, Brant is already an FF, but is there really so little room to grow between this stage and the pinnacle of humanity?''


    From his understanding, Skills, Comprehensions, Titles and even his overall battle prowess were ranked from F- to FFF+. Ss had never even checked to see what level the system would rate him at¡­ but he honestly didn''t think it particrly mattered. If he could see a person''s stats, did he need to care about their grade?


    Or was he looking at all of this wrong to begin with?


    Ss hesitated. Once again, he didn''t want to use the Madness Key. Before, asking a question just meant casually using some extra Genes that weren''t of much use to him outside of thetent potential they provided. But now, things were different. All of his stats showed up, and every question he asked was another hit to them.


    Brant might very well have otherpanions waiting on the outside. He had to be as strong as possible to deal with them, especially if they had a numbers advantage.


    Although he had thought about questioning Brant about this sort of stuff, he also realized that he had no way of confirming whether the man was telling the truth or lying. It was best to go into the situation as on guard as possible. Even if there was an insurmountable challenge waiting, learning about it or not wouldn''t help. In fact, any information Brant did tell him might bias his mind in the wrong direction.


    This was all to say that he felt a strong resistance toward using the Madness Key right now.


    Plus, this was a question that seemed to be rted to the system¡­ and it really didn''t like it when he asked questions like that.


    Some things were fine, but it seemed that he could easily step over a Taboo as well, and by then he''d find himself feeding it more than the five Genes he already owed it a day.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. He closed his eyes for just a moment before opening them again.


    He was allowing himself to be overwhelmed, and there was no need. Maybe there was a rational exnation that he was missing.


    ''What do use the Fragmented to Legendary system? There are sses, Skill Mastery, Quests and Genes. Everything else seems to use¡ª''


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. No, there really was no rhyme or reason. He couldn''t find amon link between them at all. If there was an easy to find connection, he would have long since stumbled upon it naturally.


    ''Why am I getting stuck in this quagmire? This is about the beast and whether I should ept its Quest or not.''


    Ss hesitated again. But then, he made a decision, and as per usual, he didn''t second guess it.


    He brought out the Madness Key.


    This situation was too important. Even if it came back to bite him, even the act of touching upon a Taboo might give him some information he might need in the future. Who knew? Maybe it would penalize him and then answer anyway like it had the first time.


    He took out a gnoll corpse and absorbed the Genes within it. Each one had three Strength and three Constitution Common Genes. He managed to sessfully absorb two Strength and one Constitution.


    He allowed the Madness Key to suck up the extra Genes and asked a question at the same time, hoping that the wasted Genes would actuallye to benefit him this time.


    Luckily, his gamble worked. Although he had lost a convenient sacrifice for the Madness Key, he had at least benefited some¡­ for now.


    [What is the significance of the F- to FFF+ rating versus the Fragmented to Legendary rating system?]


    [During the Fragmented Era¡ª]


    ---


    The notification glitched. It felt like sunlight spawned right into Ss'' eyes and a burning sensation ran through his senses as though trying to sear his mind out of existence.


    ---


    [Question has touched upon a Taboo. Glutton Curse activated. Hunger has increased.]


    ---


    Ss cursed.


    ---


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <1 Common> Gene]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <10 Common> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <7 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    ---


    A mysterious power descended, and the glowing green veins of the Dungeon actually seemed to stabilize. Ss felt his heart seize. It had truly stopped beating entirely. A cold chill spread through his veins, but at that moment, the Madness Key quivered his warmth returned.


    The devastating power dispersed, and then, to his surprise, the Madness Key answered the question.

 Chapter 115 Every Fiber

    <h4>Chapter 115 Every Fiber </h4>


    [1000 PSs bonus]",


    [During the Fragmented Era, the life of themon man was harsh and brutal. It was under the power of the Madness Emperor that an era of prosperity was ushered in, and it was thanks to the Madness Emperor that the first system was introduced.


    [Many years passed and the Fragmented Era gave way to the Common, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and the greatest of them all, the Legendary Era¡ªwhere experts were abound and greatness piged from the jaws of destruction and chaos.


    [No Era is destined to exist through time immemorial, no one is promised forever. Phoenixes are bound to fall from the skies, and even Dragons will eventually enter an eternal slumber. When the timees, even the universe itself will fall into silence, never to rise up again.


    [The Legendary Era fell and a new Fragmented Era was ushered in¡ª]


    ---


    The words cut out. It was abrupt, and what Ss wanted to read was ripped away from him. But in these simple words, he had found a kernel of something different, something that pulled at his heart. His curiosity had both been satiated, and yet simultaneously stimted to a ridiculous degree. Even for him, he found it hard to calm the urge, as though he couldn''t stand to not read the rest.


    ''The first system¡­''


    He understood, now. There must have been more than one system, and with that, there came a mishmash of ranking and grading systems that seemed to work, but were sometimes disjointed and iprehensible.


    ''Madness Emperor¡­ it shouldn''t be a coincidence.''


    Why had he lost three months? Why was it that the first glitch he sensede when hepleted the first half of the Slithering Madness Dungeon?


    Was it because the first Dungeon he had stumbled upon a remnant of this first system? And the second, or rather, new system, didn''t like that?


    What had he inadvertently gotten himself into?


    ''And in that case, Quests¡­ They use the old ranking system? Is that just coincidence? Something randomly co-opted by the new system and is thus a worthless data point to draw a conclusion from? Or is it something deeper than that¡­?''


    Ss wasn''t inclined to believe that there was some secret here. Although he had stumbled into this new bit of information, that didn''t necessarily mean that there was something superior about Quests.


    After all, he had alreadypleted a Quest, and the rewards were good¡­ but nothing mind boggling. He still had the voucher that he was waiting to use after he umted more coins, but even if he got good stuff out of that, this was just a Fragmented Quest.


    ''But it''s different in its own right as well¡­ the first Quest was triggered due to a reward that Cassarae received from the current system. This one, though¡­''


    Ss looked around at the bright lights of the Dungeon.


    Not only did this Quest somehow seem tied to the Dungeon, but it didn''t even give him a chance to reject it. When Cassarae''s mission came, he had to ept it first and only then did apass point him in her direction appear. But this one seemed to plop him right into the middle of the Quest.


    Now, the decision was before him.


    Kill the Basilisk King and clear this Dungeon and im its rewards¡­ or try to clear the Quest.


    ''Is it even possible for me to get out of this Dungeon without killing it?''


    Sylis was pulled from two directions at once before he made a decision.


    ''If it''s possible to leave this Dungeon, then I will ept the Quest. If it''s not possible, then I''ll kill it.''


    Ss walked toward Basilisk King. It gave him a weak snarl before it seemed to give up and sprawl out.


    Reaching down, Ss ce a hand on its head. The beast shuddered for a moment, but ultimately did nothing.


    ---


    [Your Will haspletely suppressed <Basilisk King>]


    [Contract of Subservience has been formed]


    ---


    Ss was taken aback. He had just been trying to push his intention toward leaving this ce, hoping that an option of some sort would appear, but he didn''t expect that this would happen.


    But what happened next caught him even more off guard.


    ---


    [A Taming Contract has been formed]


    [Beast Taming Profession Stream has opened]


    [Anomaly detected. Trial period will be shortened]


    [Time remaining: 03:23:59]


    ---


    [System-Wide Message]


    [Professions have been unlocked ahead of schedule. The Trial period will thuse to a close]


    [Time remaining: 03:23:59]


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: System Breaker]


    [You have shattered the norms of the system. The system is watching you]


    [+10 Luck]


    [+100% Luck]


    [System Reward]


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Legendary Tamer]


    [You have subdued the pride of a Legendary Beast, your skill knows no bounds]


    [+100% Wisdom]


    [+100% Will]


    ---


    ''Shit.''


    He had cursed more in thest week than he had in the entirety of thest year. The moment he saw the details of the second Title, and realized that his intention had already solidified his desire to move out of the Dungeon, he knew he was really screwed this time.


    As expected, the moment he registered it, a searing pain assaulted his brain like hot coalsshing out against the inside of his skull. The Stat Limits on his Mental broke again, and he tried to force himself to stay conscious, but his high Will seemed to be irrelevant.


    Ss'' body appeared out in a familiar expanse of woods just as his vision went ck. Thest thing he saw were two unfamiliar people looking toward him with the sameck of familiarity¡­ and far more surprise.


    Was this how he would die? Not because of his own mistake, not because of some overwhelmingly strong enemy, but because of a ridiculous hidden variable like this one? How could he have possibly guessed this would happen, even with all his intelligence?


    Hisst coherent thought was one of unwillingness and rage.


    Thisck of control¡­


    He absolutely hated it.


    He hated it with every fiber of his being.

 Chapter 116 Garrick and Sera

    <h4>Chapter 116 Garrick and Sera</h4>


    [1200 PSs bonus]",


    Garrick and Sera were taken aback by the sudden change. It hadn''t been very long since the duo entered, and it wasn''t umon for clearing an F- Dungeon to take upwards of a day, let alone an FF+ Dungeon. So they had already set up camp and a rudimentary defensive perimeter. Luckily, when the Dungeon was filled, its Aether consumption was much less obvious, so its attraction to beasts was likewise weaker.


    Due to all of this, though the two were disappointed the roll didn''t go their way, they were still looking forward to at least a day or two of leisure.


    What they didn''t expect was that three figures would suddenly appear, only one of which they actually recognized, while the other was a heavily injured ck snake.


    As for the one they recognized, that was, of course, the beaten and restrained Brant.


    The two did what they always did in this situation and immediately scanned everyone. However, even as they did so, the situation only seemed to be more odd.


    The only standing human passed out, while Brant, who was stuck looking at the skies, still hadn''t gotten a full understanding of the situation and was slow to react.


    Their attempt at scanning the man was rebuffed, but when their Skillnded on the Basilisk King, their eyes opened wide.


    Those stats.. they were absolutely ridiculous!


    They were already scrambling to their feet, the both of them grabbing their spears, pointing them toward the snake with wary expressions and caution painted within their gazes.


    Ss hit a ground with a thud,pletely out of it, while the Basilisk King was still in a sulking mood. Rather than helping, the Contract of Subservience had only dampened its pride further. It didn''t even seem to register the humans before it, its head lowered to the ground. Blood slowly leaked from its wounds, dripping to the ground and droplets of violet.


    However, this sort of reaction from it only made them more wary.


    They were used to dealing with wounded beasts, and they almost always got more aggressive. They didn''t understand what was happening.


    "Hey! Brant!" Garrick called out. "Are you in there!?"


    "Garrick?" Brant mumbled, seemingly stuck in his own state of confusion and pain.


    The Dungeon hadn''t exactly deposited him softly. He felt like the shards that made up his hip now had formed a vortex in his flesh, blending him up as though he were a mound of vegetables rather than a human. He was entirely focused on not screaming out, not to mention sweating out beads that could drown an ocean, so other than realizing he had been transported elsewhere, he knew nothing else.


    "You''re awake? What the hell is going on here?!"


    Brant wasn''t sure how to respond. He was in so much pain that he felt like cursing his idiot teammate out. Did he look like someone who could understand what the hell was happening?


    "Do I look like I know?! My damn hip is shattered to hell. I can''t even move!"


    "Who did this to you?!"


    Brant froze, remembering Ss only then. The pain had practically co-opted his mind. Why weren''t his teammates dead already? Would Ss be mad because he was answering at all?


    By this point, Ss'' image in his mind had been imprinted like a brand. The man was a deity in his eyes, and almost certainly among the top ten.


    Brant didn''t dare to respond.


    "Brant?"


    "We can''t just stand here," Sera suddenly said.


    She sprung forward, thrusting a spear at the Basilisk King''s head. She had no intention of dealing with Ss until this clear threat was out of the way.


    And yet¡­


    CLANG!


    Her spear bounced off the head of the snake, causing her retreat even faster than she sprung forward. Her heart rolled in waves, not understanding what had just happened.


    She had the same Trembling Spear as Aria. Although she had yet to load it with Aether Units, the fact she couldn''t even scratch it filled her with untold fear.


    Even if it wasn''t listed as an ability, all de weapons had some variable Pierce attached to it depending on several factors, although it was much weaker than the real ability.


    Her Strength was only around 40, but the fact she couldn''t even dent the snake''s scales with that strike was enough for her to retreat far away.


    How could she know that the Basilisk King''s Constitution was over 120? That kind of half-assed strike couldn''t budge in the slightest even if it was beaten half to death.


    Garrick''s spear tip trembled, his jaw clenching.


    Was the beast not even reacting to them because they weren''t seen as a threat to it?


    The Basilisk King looked up, seemingly only now noticing their presences. And suddenly, it felt angry.


    Now, even these sorts of ants dared to insult it?


    Had it truly fallen so far?


    Its crimson irises flickered and its tailshed out with unprecedented speed. Its wounds red up, but this only seemed to enrage it further.


    Compared to its Strength and Constitution, its Speed and Dexterity were mediocre. But its attack speed was another matter entirely. Fueled purely by its Strength, it was like a blurring whip in the air, cracking with a flicker and closing the distance to its targets in a blink.


    Sera elerated back and out of the way, but she was still too slow. She was forced to block with the body of her spear, pressing it up against her right side in hopes that it would block most of the weight.


    The crack that echoed was sickening.


    The arm bracing her spear was shattered like ss and the spear bent beneath the pressure, pushing against her chest and ribs.


    She was dead before she hit the ground, her chest cavitynced through by her own bones.


    The Basilisk King retracted its tail, its tongue slithered in and out of its mouth as though tasting the blood in the air. It could feel a sense of something welling up inside it again, but then it remembered Ss.

 Chapter 117 Tamer

    <h4>Chapter 117 Tamer </h4>


    Its mood plummeted.",


    These were just ants, after all. What would killing them prove?


    Nothing at all.


    Its head drooped down to the ground again. It caught Ss'' unconscious form out of the corner of its eye, and it was taken aback. How had this monster ended up like this?


    It could remember every punch Ss had thrown, but more than that¡­ it could remember his eyes.


    They flickered with a calm light probably even he wasn''t aware of. There was never panic, never fear, and most importantly to the Basilisk King¡­ there was never rage. Nothing could move him from his center of calm.


    Should it kill him now?


    Its lowered head slowly raised from the grassy ground, looming over Ss. Itpletely turned its back to Garrick, not caring about his existence in the slightest.


    Garrick didn''t even dare to make a sound. In fact, when he saw the Basilisk King turn, he immediately did the same, rushing away at his fastest possible Speed.


    The Basilisk King paid him no mind, its maw opening wide as it loomed over Ss. Blood and saliva pooled from its teeth, dripping with malice.


    A Basilisk King should have more pride than to attack a wounded enemy¡­ but what pride did it have left, anyway? Wouldn''t it be better to y the monster here? So long as it ate this monster, it would grow stronger¡­ who needed pride if you had strength?


    A hiss filled the air as its head snapped downward.


    Ss'' eyes snapped open.


    The Basilisk King reeled, throwing itself to the side and bashing its nose against the ground. It didn''t even seem to realize as it slithered up into a curled lump, hiding its head deep within. Its body quivered, loose scales and blood dripping down to the ground.


    Ss sat up, grabbing at his chest. His heart was beating particrly fast, and his breathing was hurried. He could truly feel the scent of death around him, and he almost couldn''t believe that he had gotten the chance to open his eyes again.


    And then came the splitting headache. It rolled in his skull like a continuous drum, and the pain was more piercing than even the first time.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Beast Tamer (?)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 77]


    >[Strength: 100]


    >[Constitution: 91]


    >[Dexterity: 100]


    >[Speed: 88]


    [Mental: 136]


    >[Intelligence: 205]


    >[Wisdom: 62]


    >[Charisma: 142]


    [Will: 218]


    [Luck: 22]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Soft]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (4) Speed (F); (6) Strength (F); (4) Constitution (F); (5) Dexterity (F); (6) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    Ss pressed a finger to his nose, and it came with a dark hue of red blood. He touched his ears, and the result was the same. No matter what answers that Madness Key had given him about this issue, there was simply no way for him to be at ease.


    It felt like his brain was turned to mush. What kind of price was he paying for forcefully crushing these Stat Limits?


    ording to the Madness Key, it was fine¡­ but was it really? What would happen the next time he identally awakened a Title and passed out in battle? Would he be as lucky as he was this time? Or would he have to purposely give himself a buffer from his own Stat Limits so that this wouldn''t happen again?


    ''Question mark?''


    Looking at his Beast Taming Profession, Ss realized that this was the first time he had seen this sort of nomenture on the system. He had seen a dash before, even the word "Dormant", but never a question mark.


    His intention moved toward it in the hopes of distracting himself from his thoughts. At this point, between the Basilisk King and the defensive perimeter Sera and Gerrick had put up, he was probably in the safest ce he could be, aside from a fortified vige.


    ---


    [Beast Taming Stream has been unlocked]


    [Legendary Requirements are met. Profession has been forcefully seized by participant <Ss Grimde>]


    [Legendary Beast tamed amplified applied]


    [System Breaker amplification applied]


    [All Paths unlocked]


    [Please choose <3> Paths]


    ---


    Ss had barely moved when the wall of text assaulted him. He waspletely floored by the choice and he didn''t even quite understanding what he was seeing.


    The so-called "Paths" ranged from Fragmented to Legendary, each one giving a unique benefit. It took a while for Ss to understand, but it seemed that they would be like special abilities or Skills he gained in his profession.


    He didn''t know if being able to choose three was a lot of a little, but he was certain that most people wouldn''t be able to see even Common Paths, let alone Legendary ones.


    Ss really wanted to read them all. That was just the type of person he was. Although logically it seemed that it was best to just ignore them all and only read the nine Legendary Paths on his screen, he felt that he needed a moreprehensive understanding of what was going on.


    He was hoping that maybe in the future, if he ever passed out like this again, his beasts could cover for him. Well¡­ that might be a pipe dream since the Basilisk King had just tried to take a chunk out of his head¡­


    However, Ss had a feeling that this was only because his Beast Taming Profession hadn''t truly been activated yet. He hoped this world would give him a small path forward, at least.


    He had been very lucky up until this point, but he couldn''t just keep relying on luck.


    So, that was what he did.

 Chapter 118 Paths

    <h4>Chapter 118 Paths</h4>


    He read every single Path there was, even going deep into the night. He knew there were only four days left in the Tutorial, supposedly because of him, but this matter was too important to leave for another time. Who knew what might happen after the Tutorial ended?",


    Then, he finally got to the Legendary Paths.


    ---


    [Conduit of the All (Legendary)]


    [Are you a Beast Tamer? Or a Master of All? By collecting beasts of certain skill and skill types, using them as a conduit to master Professions outside your realm of expertise. Want to be a weapon smith? Tame an Earth Giant. Want to be an alchemist? Tame a Phoenix of legend. Want to be a poison master? Time the Thousand Colored Serpent]


    ---


    [Gaze of the Master (Legendary)]


    [There is no need for a Master of your stature to lower yourself tobat. Directly subdue beasts with Will within 100% of your own]


    ---


    [Tamer of Elements (Legendary)]


    [It is said that Elemental Aether is extraordinarily rare, but not to the likes of you. Master any Elemental Aether your beast controls, swap between them freely and gain an amplification to your prowess that others can only envy]


    ---


    [Were-for-the-Invincible (Legendary)]


    [Werebeasts are the stuff of horror and the bane of man, but that only refers to the weak. Fuse with any of your beasts and gain 50% of their stats as well as all of their Skills and Gene Talents]


    ---


    [Tamer of Dimensions (Legendary)]


    [The Beasts of Legend exist across all known and unknown Existence, impossible to find to all but you. Form a Dimension of your own to store your beasts, and open gateways to explore new worlds to find more]


    ---


    [Divine Protection (Legendary)]


    [The Beasts of Legend are Gods to themon folk, and to you they provide their Blessings. Offset your damage to your beasts and avoid harm. In addition, im their Blessings for a short time]


    ---


    [Beast Sage (Legendary)]


    [Taming Beasts of Legend is at the bottom of your priority list. You don''t tame them, you create them. Unlock a string of abilities rted to guiding and evolving beasts to reach past their full potential and be the stuff of Legend]


    ---


    [One Kind For Me (Legendary)]


    [You have realized that trying to be a Master of All will only make you a Master of None. Rather than trying to tame an assortment of beasts, you focus on a single Kind. Your intimacy allows you to share their Blessings, understand their story, and unlock their greatest potential. Gain ess to Beast Totem]


    ---


    [Taboo Bond (Legendary)]


    [Your sphemy knows no bounds, and your pursuit of knowledge is relentless. In your hands, the enigma of Genes is malleable and your beasts are your y. Fuse beasts to create a new species, splice them apart to shed weakness or add the strengths of one to another, even change your own body to something no longer recognizable. However, be mindful. The Taboo is not to be taken lightly]


    ---


    Ss fell deep into his thoughts. Reading through the nine options, he actually felt that he had made a smart decision by reading through the thousands of others, even when they were clearly far inferior. And that was because of one important concept¡­


    Synergy.


    When the system gave him an option of three Paths, then opened up all these Paths to him, it was almost like dangling a treasure in front of a dragon with a hoarding problem. Most would probably just look for whichever seemed the shiniest and take a dive head first.


    However, Ss'' brain was beginning to build up a differentwork of understanding. When he got to see the full picture, he noticed many things.


    For one, the Legendary Paths seemed to be a fusion of many of the lesser abilities, converging into a final set of nine.


    Second, even the Legendary Paths seemed to have quite some ovep in their meanings and what they could do. They weren''t obvious at first nce, but with the context of everything else, Ss began to see many things¡­


    For example, there was Gaze of the Master and One Kind For Me. These two were seemingly entirely unrted¡­ at least on the surface.


    However, the Beast Totem of One Kind For Me had many functions, one of which was almost identical to Gaze of the Master. Of course, it only worked on a single kind of creature, but the point still stood.


    Then there was Beast Sage and One Kind For Me. Clearly, the abilities of guiding and helping beasts to evolve was baked into One Kind For Me as well, it was just that, once again, it could only be used on a single kind of beast.


    And what about Were-for-the-Invincible and Tamer of Elements? When you fused with your beast, if you gained theirs Skills and Gene Talents, couldn''t that also spill over into this so-


    called Elemental Aether?


    The way these Paths ovepped wasn''t obvious at first nce, but the more you looked at it, the more ring it became. And if you took a step back and took note of the lesser talents they were fused from, then one could see how they came about.


    It was precisely that line of thought that made Ss realize something¡­


    These Legendary Paths were forged with many lesser Paths as their foundation. If all of those lesser Paths coulde to create such powerful abilities, and there was also so much ovep between the Legendary Paths as well¡­ then instead of trying to maximize his variety, should he actually be doing the exact opposite?


    If he picked Legendary Paths that had great synergy between them, then when they worked together to improve his strength, would he actually be able to create something beyond even a Legendary Path?


    The more Ss thought about it, the more he felt that this had to be correct. In fact, it felt like a hidden clue shing right in his face.


    ''Then, before I chose, I should make a list of cons. The pros are clearly listed here already. There''s no need to go over them¡­''

 Chapter 119 Open

    <h4>Chapter 119 Open </h4>


    [1400 PSs bonus]",


    ''Conduit of the All sounds great, but how would I even go about procuring these Legendary Beasts? They say that the Basilisk King is a Legendary Beast, but is it? Why would a Legendary Beast only be in control of an FF+ Dungeon? The Path would be entirely dormant until I stumbled upon beasts that met the proper criteria.


    ''Gaze of the Master would practically give me immunity to all beasts and make gathering Genes a matter of waving a hand, but it''s also the Path with the narrowest scope. It can only do one thing and it enhances nothing. In addition, the most dangerous enemies in this world aren''t the beasts that can''t organize themselves, but rather the humanoid viges.


    ''Tamer of Elements¡­ it describes Elemental Aether as being something extraordinarily powerful, but I don''t know how seriously I can take these descriptions. Conduit of the All praised being a Master of All while One Kind For Me ims doing so is impossible. It seems that these descriptions are only designed to increase the prestige of the Path. Any embellishment should probably be ignored¡­ I would posit that Elemental Aether is only as powerful as you make it, much like everything else.


    ''Were-for-the-Invincible¡­ it''s a bit harder to figure out a perfect rebuttal to choosing it. Overall, it''s excellent, and other than Gaze of the Master, it has the most straightforward ability as well. Any trouble with probably be more hidden¡­. What does fusing with a beast even mean? Will it influence my mind? Will we share a body, or will I be firmly in control? Or, worse, the opposite?


    ''Tamer of Dimensions feels a lot like Conduit of the All to me. It sounds great, but where would I be opening these gates to? And even if I knew exactly where, what good would it do me? Would I have the power necessary to grasp that chance?


    ''Divine Protection is another one that is difficult to pin down as horrible with any immediacy. Offsetting damage would be huge, especially since my greatest weakness currently is ack of armor and defenses. If I could offset damage to the Basilisk King¡­ However, the "Blessings" seemed like a hidden pitfall. It once again clearly relies on the Legendary status of beasts, which makes the other half of its abilities only as useful as the beasts I''m lucky enough to get my hands on.


    ''Beast Sage is probably the most well rounded and perfect of them all. In fact, because of this, it would synergize especially well with the Paths that demand Legendary Beasts. Its weakness would probably be the time and likely resources I''ll need to follow up on it.


    ''One Kind For Me has an extremely narrow scope, and focusing on just one kind of creature would greatly limit my battle style. It would be very easy to counter me if there were individuals who had information about me and could n ahead¡­ Though that would also depend on how broad the definition of One Kind was to begin with.


    ''Then, finally, there''s Taboo Bond. The fact it''s the only one with an ominous warning is enough of an issue¡­''


    Ss'' brows furrowed as he got lost in the quagmire. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he saw a clear path forward.


    ''The Madness Emperor¡­ Slithering Madness¡­ The Taboo¡­''


    Ss rolled the key around his neck through his fingers, feeling its pattern etched surface and running past both its sharp edges and smoothed out corners.


    ''I think that the best choice is¡­ Were-for-the-Invincible, One Kind For Me and Taboo Bond¡­''


    There were so many choices pulling him in all sorts of directions, but Ss felt that if he wanted to maximize everything he had, this was the best path forward.


    He had been curious about something for a while¡­


    Why snakes?


    The Slithering Madness Dungeon had introduced him to the Madness Comprehension. He guessed that it didn''t have to be snakes. For all he knew, this was just a single branch of the Madness doctrine and it just happened to be the one he stumbled upon.


    But he still took note of it¡­


    And then there was the Basilisk King. He didn''t think much about it¡­ until it lost its pride.


    The description of the Basilisk King falling and the description of the Slithering Madness Dungeon were so simr¡­


    Snakes that were once high and mighty, but were now forced to crawl on their bellies rather than soaring through the skies.


    It was a tale as old as time, one that had been told in a million different ways through a billion different mouths. But it struck a chord, nheless.


    And then there was the Taboo. It was something that kept haunting Ss again and again¡­ and yet, every time he managed to step on some toes and cross into the Taboo, he learned things that maybe for this current iteration of Earth¡­ only he knew about.


    That was the foundational reason for his choice. He felt like he was stuck in a quagmire, and identally at that. Back then, he had just been trying to survive, but he had ended up wrapped up in what looked like a war between systems.


    There was simply no getting out of it now. He was a Madness Disciple.


    These Scorned Wraps were unequippable.


    This Madness Key was unequippable.


    The Madness Comprehension was his strongest reliance, and he had no intention of handicapping himself and abandoning it.


    And since he wouldn''t and couldn''t, there was only one choice: to dive in headfirst.


    Were-for-the Invincible would allow him to put himself in the shoes of those slithering serpents. He had seen the images of them roaring, of them copting, of them battling¡­


    He always got the feeling that the Madness wanted him to put himself in their shoes, but he was still far away from understanding exactly what that meant, and he felt that this would open up the door.

 Chapter 120 Choices

    <h4>Chapter 120 Choices</h4>


    121 Choices


    [1600 PSs bonus]


    His choice of One Kind For Me was even more straightforward. If he was going to go all in, then why not go all in. If he focused his Beast Taming on snakes and serpent creatures alone, he would gain an intimate understanding of them and even gain their Beast Totem. Maybe, that Beast Totem would synergize well with his Madness and even elerate his Comprehension speed.


    Finally, there was Taboo Bond. It was the one that filled him with the most trepidation, but it was also because of that he felt he had to choose it.


    Setting aside how well it synergized with both other Paths, how it could allow him to both intimately understand the snake species and improve them¡­ Ss also had motives outside of this as well.


    The power to manipte and control Genes¡­ it made him wonder. Wasn''t this simr to what Gene Crystals could do? And if he could incorporate them into himself, would it be possible to skip over the necessity of a Gene Crystal and directly create his own unique Genes?


    Every time he ran into a Stat Limit or a Gene Limit, it felt like was running headfirst into a steel wall. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that there would eventuallye a day where he''d run into one he could just push past¡­


    The Slithering Madness Dungeon was a glitch in this system''s matrix, and yet it only provided him with one Common Gene Crystal. How difficult would they be to find?


    Separately, these Paths were perfect for him¡­ or rather, they were perfect for the Ss that had already stepped onto the Path of Madness. There was simply no going back.


    But together, they were even stronger.


    Were-for-the-Invincible could allow him to bolster his stats by fusing with his beasts, One Kind For Me would allow him to intimately understand these beasts, likely to the point he wouldn''tck familiarity with their Gene Talents or Skills, and finally Taboo Bond would allow him to directly improve his beasts to further strengthen the stat boosts he would receive, while One Kind For Me would give him the perfect path to doing so.


    Together, they stacked perfectly and Ss felt that for his situation¡­ there was simply no betterbination.


    So he chose them.


    ---


    [Paths <Were-for-the-Invincible>, <One Kind For Me> and <Taboo Bone> have been chosen]


    [Profession initializing¡­]


    [Profession Title Sequence paused. Please choose a Kind]


    ---


    Ss nodded to himself.


    A "Kind" was broken up into several categories, but they were mostly divided into narrower versus broader categories. An extremely broad category might be "mammals" or "reptiles" or even "birds" would fall into that category as well. A middle ground would be something like "canines" or rge cats" or even "dinosaurs". The narrowest categories were mostly highly specific and included singr species with no variation between them.


    Something like "serpent" or "arachnid" or even "beetle" would be considered a new middle ground between the original middle ground and the narrowest categories, and they were actually a sweet spot.


    The more restrictive your Kind was, the stronger your Beast Totem and the clearer the information and links you would receive would be. But, obviously, if your chosen Kind was too restrictive, then having all the information in the world would be worthless.


    This is why Ss didn''t hesitate to choose serpent. Or, rather, their official Genus.


    Serpentes.


    Ss felt a ripple when his choice was made. Goosebumps rose all along his skin and for a moment he thought he had grown scales, only to look down and find that he had over thought it.


    ---


    [Profession Formed]


    [Congrattions, you have be a Vipermancer]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    ---


    [Open Profession Window?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    [Yes]


    ---


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 1]


    ---


    [Paths]


    [Were-for-the Invincible: Lv1]


    [One Kind For Me: Lv1]


    [Taboo Bond: Lv1]


    ---


    [Contracts]


    [1. Basilisk King: Lv5]


    ---


    The screen looked simple at first, but Ss quickly realized there were a wide range of hidden menus within.


    ---


    [Basilisk King]


    [Status: Heavily Injured; Mentally Fragile]


    [Loyalty: 1/10]


    -


    [Skills]


    [>King''s Bind]


    [>King''s Shift]


    [>King''s Shield]


    -


    [Gene Talents]


    [>King''s Gaze (Dormant)]


    ---


    Ss didn''t bother to look at the Basilisk King''s stats. He had already seen them once before. It was unnecessary to him. However, he did take stock of its dormant Gene Talent before moving on to the next screens.


    ''This is¡­''


    ---


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 1]


    [Experience: 0/100]


    --


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv1]


    -


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <50%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <5 minutes> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <30 seconds>]


    ---


    [Fusion current impossible. Check beast Status]


    ---


    [Path Quests Avable]


    [>Raise Loyalty to 2: 10 Experience]


    [>Groom your Contract: 10 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Raise your Constitution to 123: 50 Experience]


    [>Raise Basilisk King''s Dexterity to 100: 100 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Rekindle Basilisk King''s Pride: 1000 Experience]


    ---


    Ss fell into some thought after a moment. The Path Quests were all perfectlyid out for him, and his assumption was that the higher Level the Path was overall, the stronger the rted Path Talents would be.


    What was interesting to him was that there seemed to be some ovep between the Path Quests of his three Paths. Did that mean he could only cash them in once? Or was this a hidden benefit of synergistic paths? Maybe due to their synergy, he could Level them up all at the same time.


    ---


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 1]


    [Experience: 0/100]


    -


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv1; Insight Lv1]


    -


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <20%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <100%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <50%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <20%>]


    -


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    -


    [Path Quests Avable]


    [>Groom your Contract: 10 Experience]


    [>ce Contract in Hibernation Realm: 10 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Document Contract Gene Sequence: 250 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Rekindle Basilisk King''s Pride: 1000 Experience]


    [>Find an Evolution Trigger: 1000 Experience]

 Chapter 121 Deterrence

    <h4>Chapter 121 Deterrence </h4>


    [1800 PSs bonus]",


    ''Comprehend¡­'' Ss'' eyes narrowed. Did this mean that he could read the Basilisk King''s thoughts? But wasn''t it an unintelligent creature? Or was it the case that, due to Aether, these beasts had already evolved beyond that point?


    He turned toward the Basilisk King, who had remained curled up in a ball all this while. He realized that even in the darkness of the night, he could practically "feel" the Basilisk King''s presence.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss didn''t hear words when he moved his intention toward using Insight. Rather, he felt waves of emotions as though he were feeling them for himself.


    Fear. Anxiety. Hunger.


    Those were the three biggest ones, but there was another that was the undercurrent of them all. It was much moreplex and harder to summarize in a single world, but Ss felt that it was¡­


    Embarrassment.


    ''I see¡­ So it can''t talk, but I can anthropomorphize it¡­''


    After feeling around for a bit longer, Ss felt that he had gotten the hang of it.


    He called up the Basilisk King''s Gene Sequence and almost immediately shut it close.


    ''¡­''


    His mind was nk. He truly didn''t know what to think for a moment. He hadn''t known what he really expected, but he thought that it would be something simpler, at the very least.


    Until now, Genes were all so straightforward and simple. You killed a beast and you plucked them out. But¡­


    It was only now he realized just what the Madness Key had meant by the fact that the system simplified things, because in the one case it didn''t, his mind was almost overloaded.


    And he also understood why the system had called it by a term he had yet to see until now.


    The Gene Sequence was almost blindingly literal. Just now, he had seen a spiralling staircase of DNA, strung out into what felt like infinity.


    Ss'' doctorate had heavily relied on mRNA, so he was quite familiar with howplex these matters got. But breaking down a sequence based on somewhat known scientific methods, with the help ofputers to processrge amounts of data, was one matter¡­ but this was an entirely different ballgame.


    What was he supposed to do? Read it? How could you even begin to analyze a string of data thisrge?


    Ss shook his head. After he got past the overload of information, he didn''t panic. In fact, he was quite certain that he would be able to find a solution.


    This system was so impossibly beyond anything mankind had ever created. Wouldn''t they have methods far beyond what he had grown used to? In that case, with these Paths in hand, and some background knowledge to rely on, what did he have to fear?


    ---


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 1]


    [Experience: 0/200]


    -


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv1]


    -


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Fragmented> Genes]


    -


    [Path Quests Avable]


    [>Document Contract Gene Sequence: 250 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Find an Evolution Trigger: 1000 Experience]


    ¡­


    [>Modify Hibernation Realm into Laboratory: 10 000 Experience]


    ---


    ''200 Experience instead of just 100 is needed to Level up¡­ and there''s only one Path Talent with oddly vague parameterspared to the others. And what''s this about the Hibernation Realm¡­?''


    The Hibernation Realm was mentioned as an ability of the Beast Totem. He could use it as a ce to not only store his Contracted beasts, but it would elerate their healing. He didn''t know what creating a Laboratory entails, neither did the Quest borate. But he assumed that if it was easy, it wouldn''t be worth 10 000 Experience.


    Ss closed his eyes and took a breath. He would allow this matter to marinate in his thoughts for a while longer. He would rest for now, then make his way back to Casstle Main. He didn''t know what the end of the Trial would entail, but he was looking forward to seeing his family again.


    **


    After a night of rest in the Hibernation Realm, the Basilisk King''s Status had gone from Heavily to Moderately Injured. Ss didn''t actually think that this was because of the Hibernation Realm alone, but rather because of the insane Constitution of the Basilisk King. In another day or two, it should be back up to full health.


    Ss still took it out, though, for two reasons.


    First, he wanted the Basilisk King to drag Brant.


    He had realized that Strength didn''t have a direct role on Speed, but the higher your Strength was in rtion to your Speed, the more Speed you could maintain while carrying a heavy object. The Basilisk King only had 45 Speed, but its 110 Strength was so far superior that it could see maintain its peak even with Brant on its back.


    The second reason Ss had brought it out was deterrence.


    He realized that the entire time he spent reading about his new Vipermancer Profession, they hadn''t been attacked by beasts even a single time.


    At first, he thought it was the defensive perimeter. Butst night, while the Basilisk King was in the Hibernation Realm, he suffered two attacks.


    He felt that it couldn''t be a coincidence, and as expected, the journey was smooth sailing. He had to slow down considerably to allow the basilisk to keep up, both because it was still injured and his own Speed had hit 100 after absorbing the Genes of the woman the Basilisk King had killed.


    That wasn''t all he had gained from them.


    ---


    [Coins: 7294 (F)]


    ---


    This was the total he had gathered from the two women in addition to what he forcibly took from Brant. Although he was keeping thetter alive, that didn''t mean he wouldn''t take his things. He was still having thoughts of the Bronze Nexus voucher he had. If he wanted to maximize it, he definitely needed more coins. After all, he could only use it once.


    Ss had underestimated just how much time he wasted fighting and avoiding beasts. He took three days to make it to this location originally, but even with him limiting his Speed to the same level he had been before forming Basic Aetherflow, he could already see familiar territory around him after just a single day.

 Chapter 122 Grumlok

    <h4>Chapter 122 Grumlok</h4>


    [2000 PSs bonus]",


    It seemed that this new Vipermancer Profession was giving him both obvious and hidden benefits.


    ''I should rest for the night.''


    He felt good, extremely good. He assumed that it was both because of his increased Mental and Constitution. He definitely needed less sleep now than he did in the past. But he was still mindful of the Madness Key''s warning. If he could afford it, he should take a rest when he could.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss frowned. He felt his mood shift oddly just now. It was something that he would ignore usually, but ever since he hadprehended Madness, he was hypersensitive to his own mood changes.


    ''What was that? No, what''s this uneasy feeling?''


    Ss was about to rest, but something told him not to.


    He frowned, but ultimately listened to it. He was at most two or three hours from Casstle Main.


    Casting a nce at the basilisk, he frowned. It was fatigued because of its injuries and it was far too slow.


    "Follow after me using our connection. Protect this one. Don''t let him escape."


    Ss gave it simplemands. The Loyalty of the beast was low, but a Contract of Subservience was a Contract of Subservience. Loyalty was a measure of what kind ofmands the beast would follow and how far they would be willing to go without amand.


    So long as themand was reasonable and didn''t extend too far, even a beast with one Loyalty would listen.


    After he finished speaking, Ss'' foot pressed so hard into the ground the soft soil sunk three inches before he exploded forth.


    ¡­


    Ss heard the sounds of battle long before he saw them. In the depths of the night, unless he kept his night vision Skill active indefinitely, it was impossible to see a far distance. However, it wasn''t long before his eyes spotted it.


    It was the only light source, one light by the torches of Casstle Main and bolstered by the Aether pulsing into the skies.


    The first thing spotted were the trolls. They were far toorge, standing at two and a half meters tall on average. Their figures wererge and bulky, their shoulders as wide as carriages. They looked like walking, club-swinging trucks.


    There were just three of them, but the carnage beneath them was unsavory. Ss spotted the corpses of Rotten Wolves strewn around them and he immediately understood that the situation was bad. If not, it was impossible that Cassarae would have gone so far.


    ---


    [Grumlok (FFF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    ---


    [Physical: 137]


    >[Strength: 183]


    >[Constitution: 247]


    >[Dexterity: 52]


    >[Speed: 67]


    [Mental: 2]


    >[Intelligence: 0]


    >[Wisdom: 5]


    >[Charisma: 0]


    [Will: 151]


    ---


    Ss couldn''t believe his eyes. All three had stats just as ridiculous. And yet, they weren''t alone.


    There was a group of what looked like under a dozen humans who were attacking what looked like a Casstle Main defensive shield vigorously with the backing of the trolls.


    ''How did this happen? Where did humanoids with such outrageous strengthe from? And why are they working with humans?''


    Ss'' green irises shed in the night as his gazended on a person.


    ---


    [Rakk Smith (FFF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    ---


    Nothing else showed up. However, Rakk immediately turned to meet Ss'' gaze, his own irises shing as well. When he realized he couldn''t scan Ss, his expression became frighteningly serious.


    "You three, go deal with him. If you can''t capture him, don''t hesitate to kill."


    [Alexia Brooks (FF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    ---


    [Jackson Obri (FF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    ---


    [Natalie Parker (FFF-)]


    [Level: 4]


    ---


    Ss heartbeat fell into a steady rhythm, his thoughts seemingly elsewhere.


    He didn''t believe in the metaphysical, and he especially didn''t like things that he couldn''t exin. He had felt an odd feeling, and it led him here. It was irrational and made little sense, but he had followed it and ended up in this situation.


    How was that possible?


    His status window appeared and blended into the world, augmenting his reality. Then, his gazended on his Luck stat¡­


    It felt like the only exnation.


    Premonitions?


    It was faint, and without Madness he wouldn''t have even registered it¡­ but he was certain that it was there.


    Madness.


    Ss took a step forward and in that moment, it seemed as though his foot rippled color out into the world. The vague, illusory feelings seemed to solidify until the world was projected into his mind.


    Alexia nocked three arrows into their bow the instant they closed the distance to just 20 meters. Natalie and Jackson continued rushing forward as she took a light jump into the air, releasing her three arrows at once.


    Her jump seemed to allow her to glide. She kept moving up under a force that was beyond her actual leaping strength and she didn''t stop until she was just barely five meters high in the air.


    Then her arrows descended, one flying true and the remaining to curving in the opposite direction. Thetter two weaved through the shallow line of trees Ss was standing within.


    Jackson brandished a sword while Natalie had yet to take out any weapons¡­ or so it seemed. Ss felt like he could see through it all. His visualization had never been so clear before. The night might as well have been bathed in the sun''s rays.


    Just when the arrows were about to hit Ss, a green glow grabbed a hold of them. Oneyer, then two.


    They froze in the air, unable to move even a single step forward any longer.


    By now, with Madness'' buff, Ss'' telekinesis could output a Physical of 121. When he cast it out twice, whatever momentum the arrows had once had was snuffed out like a waning me on a cold day.


    Ss took another step forward, and the arrows reversed, flying back with so much speed that Jackson couldn''t even react before his head was pierced right through.


    Natalie arched her back, bing almost akin to a contortionist. Her head almost hit the ground and she barely stopped herself with a palm, but it was useless.

 Chapter 123 Barrier

    <h4>Chapter 123 Barrier </h4>


    Aetherflow.",


    Momentum Shift.


    The arrow that had just been flying straight abruptly took an inexplicably sharp 90-degree turn downward, finding Natalie''s forehead before she could even take out the weapon she had been so carefully hiding.


    Ss only activated Aetherflow for a brief instant, and yet the arrows shattered into shards.


    Natalie''s head blew into pieces, but Alexia had been further away. The explosion hit her like a solid wave of air. As though a sledgehammer had rocked her, she flew backward, falling onto the grass with a heavy thud.


    Ss finally stepped out of the clearing of trees and into the marshynds. His green irises glowed beneath the cool night air as he suddenly elerated, his 100 Speed on full disy as he closed the distance.


    He almost seemed to fly, closing the distance on Alexia before she could even gather herself from the ground. A distance that had been less than 20 meters to begin with felt like a matter of four or five steps for him.


    These people had equipment that was likely beyond most of what he had seen until now. He couldn''t give them any quarter.


    BANG!


    His fist shattered her skull, forcing her body to rebound against the ground.


    Blood sttered and flew under Rakk''s shocked gaze.


    Natalie was one of his elites. His entire team, in general, was among the cream of the crop.


    What Ss hadn''t realized just yet was that the F- to FFF+ ratings given to beasts and humanoids alike were, much like stats, rtive. It measured how good you were in rtion to all humans. It was a ranking that would shift every day if you happened to fall behind or improve.


    An FFF- like Natalie ced her in at least the 90th Percentile of humans. But she was killed in an instant.


    Unless Rakk set his trolls on her, it was impossible for him to do the same.


    Who was this man?


    Ss didn''t give Rakk the time to figure it out. In his clear vision, he could see the subtle lines of Aether connecting Rakk and the trolls. He had alreadye to understand that this man was the mastermind of everything. So long as he killed him, everything would be over.


    The Mentals of these trolls were so poor that there were any number of ways to defeat them without his direction.


    Seeing how fast Ss was closing the speed, Rakk frowned.


    "Leave the barrier to the trolls. Everyone together!" Rakk ordered just as Ss'' fists began to glow.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Just when it seemed that Ss would have to close the distance to deal with them, three heads caved in, their noses deforming and their frontal skulls copsing beneath the pressure.


    Rakk''s pupils constricted. What the hell kind of attack was that?! It didn''t even have to travel through the air. It looked like it just appeared before their heads. How were they even supposed to dodge?


    "Activate your defenses! Now! Do not use any archery against him! Watch out for projectiles!"


    Rakk pped against his chest as he spoke, his leather armor thrumming to life. He secretly sent amand to one of his trolls at the same time. He estimated that Ss'' output strength was around 100. With the troll''s Constitution, there was no getting by that. They just had to watch out for any weapons or treasures he might have.


    A silvery-blue light of Aether coated their bodies and their Constitutions were multiplied several times over.


    Ss took silent note of this as a swordsman closed the distance on him.


    ''Closebat will be dangerous, but if I keep ying it safe, they will suffocate me. The only way to deal with the unknown variables is to press them all down so quickly they don''t have a chance to retaliate at all.''


    ¡­


    Within Casstle Main.


    Cassarae was scrambling. They had managed to withstand this siege for two days already, but there was only so long her barrier wouldst. They were chewing through theirs funds like there was no tomorrow, and there still wasn''t a simple way to defeat them all¡­


    Until she saw that system message.


    She had never sighed such a breath of relief in her life. Now, it wasn''t like they had to withstand an indefinite siege. They just had tost for four days. Just four days, and now there were just two left.


    Even so, she couldn''t help but pace back and forth.


    What would happen after they returned to Earth? They would have toe back to this world eventually, no?


    Would the siege still be here? Or would everything be transferred to Earth? They called this the Trial. So was the main event going to bring everything back home?


    There were so many unknowns.


    "How the fuck did this happen?" She cursed under her breath. "I have to go and fight, but I can''t step outside of the city. But if I let them inside the city, I obviously can''t use the barrier. Fuck!"


    "City Lady," a voice came from outside of the doors.


    Cassarae''s cabin was far more substantial now and was quite elegant as well. She had an office with a window that overlooked the vige, but she hadn''t had the heart to look out there for a long time already. Every time she did, it felt like she was bleeding money.


    She had spent over 10 000 Coins on a barrier that could withstand 20 000 000 Physical and replenish 1 000 000 Physical every hour at the cost of a 100 coins every time. From her calctions, they did about 1000 damage every three seconds, and that was ounting for the breaks they took.


    At that pace, ounting for the replenishing barrier, they did 200 000 damage every hour, which would put them over the four-day mark before they could seed in taking it down.


    But all of this would cost almost 20 000 Coins total and it would put her on the edge.

 Chapter 124 Forward!

    <h4>Chapter 124 Forward!</h4>


    A vige couldn''t run without money, and they certainly couldn''t make more in this situation.",


    So when Gregory called her, she didn''t even register it for a full five seconds.


    "Oh, right. Yes,e in," she called.


    Gregory walked in and bowed. Cassarae had gotten tired of telling him not to do that, and just acquiesced.


    "Miss Olivia has reported that Sir Ss has appeared."


    Cassarae suddenly stood up straighter. "¡­ No, this is bad."


    Her immediate reaction was to let him in, but it took time to deploy the barrier. In those seconds, it would be a simple matter for them to break in.


    She grit her teeth. This was a problem that wouldn''t just disappear the moment the Trial ended, anyway. Shouldn''t they go all out in an attempt to stop it?


    "Take the barrier down," Cassarae suddenly said.


    Gregory frowned. "City Lady¡­ this¡­"


    "Take it down. Now."


    Cassarae grabbed her long sword, sheathed and leaning against her desk. Gripping its sheath tightly, she took long steps toward the door, ready to take action herself.


    Gregory hurriedly followed after, trying to make ast-ditch attempt to change her mind, but¡­


    "That''s enough!" Cassarae snapped, barely holding back the curses threatening to roll from her tongue. "Call the militiamen and adventurers. Prepare the vigers for retreat. We move now."


    Cassarae''s steps became even faster as she descended to the first floor of her cabin and opened the door with a snap.


    Quickly, she closed the distance toward a barrier of light guarded by two militiamen and stepped by them after receiving a nod from both. She clenched her jaw and interfaced with the window, shutting it all down.


    ¡­


    Ss felt like sh bangs of color were erupting in his mind. The night felt so bright and illuminated that it was almost as though the sun hadn''t set at all.


    In his vision, the arc of the sword reflected not just where it was, but also where it had been and where it was going.


    He activated <Maddened Enlightenment> and <Madness Control> at the same time and the world seemed to slow even further.


    He side-stepped the swing of the sword, but it arched back up instantaneously, aiming for the fragile flesh of his legs defended by little more than his fluttering loose pants.


    <Solidify>.


    Ss didn''t retreat like the swordsman expected. Instead, a barrier appeared right at his feet and a punch shattered a head into a rain of sparkling crimson.


    The droplets of blood and mashed meat of flesh glittered particrly brightly amidst Ss visualization. It felt like he was seeing life, and its rtion with death, more clearly now than he ever had before.


    The others clearly didn''t expect one of their own to fall so quickly, but their shock changed nothing. Thest grip strength of the swordsman faltered as his sword was ripped out from his possession, shing out in a beautiful arc that was eerily reminiscent of his first attack against Ss.


    CLANG!


    In a pincer of two, one defended against the sword strike while Ss closed in on the other.


    A spear swept out, only to sh against Ss'' earlier cast of <Solidify>. And to Ss'' surprise¡­ the shield of Aether didn''t shatter.


    ''¡­ Weak,'' Ss thought, while his movements suddenly elerated.


    He had thought that thebined attacks of two of these elites would use up the 200 Physical that the shield could withstand, so he hadgged behind in his response a bit. But a single use of Sudden Burst quickly made up for that.


    As the spearman reeled from the shock to their wrists, Ss unleashed a tail whip and a maelstrom of Aetherflow, bowing the man''s head with such momentum that his bone shards sttered akin to the eruption of a grenade.


    The gore sttered against his ally, still upied by the flight of a telekinesis driven sword.


    Rakk was taken aback. He had only turned his attention to the trolls for but a moment to call one forward, and yet two of hispanions had fallen in such quick session.


    Who was this monster?


    ''Grumlock! Forward!'' He roared in his mind.


    At that moment, the barrier that had hounded them for days already was taken down, changing the situation entirely.


    Ss sighed inwardly. He knew this would happen, but this unfortunately made things a lot moreplicated for him.


    The group could barely stand up against the Rotten Wolves. How would they fare against this group of monsters? He would likely have to overextend himself. Either that, or he would need to make a disy of power so grand that they chose to run away on their own.


    His gaze flickered as he noticed a charging Cassarae, moving so fast that her long sword, dragging behead her, seemed to be able to ride on the wind. Her gaze was filled with determination, and she didn''t look toward him even once¡­


    Likely because she knew just how disapproving his gaze would be.


    CLANG!


    The sword under the control of Ss'' telekinesis shed out in an arc eerily reminiscent of Tail Whip, forcing the female warrior back.


    "I''ll give you all a single chance," Ss suddenly spoke, his Madness flourishing and touching their minds for a single instant before pulling away.


    They all felt the touch on their psyches, but it registered like an oppression due to the brevity.


    "I don''t know why you''re attacking Casstle Main, but leave now and we can end this here. I do not know where youe from, nor who sent you. It would be an easy matter for you to go.


    "If you choose not to, I will make you suffer even worse casualties."


    Ss spoke calmly. He was still surrounded by over half a dozen warriors, not to mention the Troll that was looming over head or Rakk, who was a wild card he wasn''t certain he could ount for.


    But nheless, he had to speak these words. Although letting them go was its own form of trouble, he was working with a different set of information now.

 Chapter 125 Notice

    <h4>Chapter 125 Notice </h4>


    [825 GTs bonus]?",


    He would be very surprised if this wasn''t rted to the "informant" Brant spoke about. He had questioned thetter on some things on the way here, but he hadn''t been able to find out much.


    All he knew was that the informant, too many people, was more likely an organization rather than just a single person. In this entire region, therge path of forest they had begun calling the Amazonian Wilds, they had their hands in many pies.


    When Ss asked why it was that they called them by the singr, Brant said it was because everyone was contacted by the same androgynous voice, spoken by the same person every single time. But they found it hard to ept that a single person could have such a wide array of knowledge, it didn''t make sense.


    This aside, he had already been targeted twice, and even though this wasn''t a direct assault against him, it was hard for him to separate the matter entirely. This truly felt like the third time.


    It couldn''t be a coincidence. He didn''t believe in such coincidences.


    This was all to say that whether he killed all these people or not, it was likely that these attacks would still keeping. But letting them go might lower the casualty count.


    Rakk frowned when he heard Ss'' words.


    Why had hee here? Obviously, it was to conquer this city. He had the warriors and the personal skill, so long as he found a city of his own, his strength would skyrocket.


    Casstle Main was perfect. It had invested too much into advancement and not enough into personal strength. If he became its City Lord, it would be a melding of two strengths into a true superpower. He had paid quite a pretty penny just to get this information, but now¡­


    This Ss was truly a wrench in his ns.


    Right now, not having a city wasn''t a big deal. There were many who would probably bide their time, finding the perfect location before attempting a City Stele Quest. Very soon, the difference between those who controlled cities, or were among the top echelons of one, and those who weren''t, would be akin to the haves and have-nots of this world.


    He couldn''t allow himself to be among the have-nots.


    Should he¡­?


    Rakk narrowed his eyes and suddenly put two and two together. Inwardly, he sneered. Clearly, Ss was afraid of what might happen to the vige during their stampede. Why not press on that weakness?


    "Go." He said in a gruff voice.


    The two Trolls to his back charged toward the vige.


    Ss fell into silence.


    The ground shook beneath their heavy steps, the roar of nging armor and shifting Aether riding the wind and buffeting the trees.


    He had experienced a lot in this world since he came. The others had experienced three months, and he had experienced just over a week. It was only recently that his Soft Gene State finally ran out.


    Despite this, he hadn''t really experienced many emotions. The closest he got was when he meditated on his Madness, but there was a difference between recalling memories and experiencing something first hand.


    When he killed, his baseline of emotions didn''t shift either. He simply did what he felt would garner him the best oue.


    But right now, standing in silence and letting the cool night air lick against his skin¡­


    He suddenly felt angry.


    He could see Rakk''s intentions in his eyes, the implicit threat that was the undercurrent of his words.


    It was the logical thing to do, smart, even. To target your opponent''s weakness and capitalize on it. It was something that Ss himself had done several times already in his short time in this world.


    However, on one side, there was his logic.


    And on the other, there was something all too rare and nigh foreign to him.


    He suddenly felt that he understood those snakes, losing themselves in battle, in rage, in lust.


    It was Madness.


    A ring of red appeared about Ss'' green irises as his Comprehension billowed out in waves.


    Grumlok the troll had already appeared before him, swinging down its club with a mighty momentum. The air pressure stung and the wind swing. With the way the moonlight caught the edge of it, one would have almost thought that it was a falling meteor from the skies, heating up beneath the rage of its sheer speed.


    BANG!


    Grumlok''s head exploded, a spear appearing out the back of its skull.


    A Trembling Spear, its de vibrating with fouryered Units of Aether, shone in the night sky.


    BOOM!


    It left a trail of exploding air in its wake as it elerated, appearing before Rakk in what felt like an instant.


    Rakks'' pupils constricted. His ck irises seemed to be a whirlpool of sinking shock. Quickly, his Aether circted and an borate shield of silver and blue appeared before him, but the spear tore through it in an instant.


    The FFF+ elite used the split moment to raise his staff, ready to retaliate with the spear suddenly exploded, breaking into countless shards that pelted the surroundings.


    Rakk felt as though he had been hit by a truck, but little did he know how lucky he was that the spear''s Durability had finally given out.


    With Madness, Ss'' telekinesis could output a Physical of 121. But with the +200% Strength Effectiveness given by the Trembling Spear, its effective Strength just now was over 350.


    Ss took a step forward, the sword he was wielding with his telekinesis rising up into the air before the spear wielding woman and suddenly jetting out.


    He threw a fist, one that was perfectly timed. An illusory green punch following the butt of the sword, driving it into the woman''s chest and through her defenses as though they were nothing more than Swiss cheese.


    Without even looking toward them, two spears rose into the air, a flood of Aether making them shake and quake. With every second that ticked by, they lost a point of Durability, but he didn''t seem to notice.

 Chapter 126 Step Late

    <h4>Chapter 126 Step Late</h4>


    [900 GTs bonus]?",


    His hand rose into the skies and he pointed toward the two trolls charging toward the vige.


    Astral Bind.


    In that moment, the two behemoths froze in ce, unable to move a single inch. For every 10% gap and 0.5 Units of Aether, Ss from them for an entire second. Just one pulse of half a Unit was enough to freeze them for almost five seconds.


    Rakk was disoriented after the explosion, his head spinning. He couldn''t quite understand what was happening, but when he finally managed to struggle up, he found a scene that was nothing short of absolute carnage.


    Ss was almost certain that these Trolls were Rakk''s summons, which also meant, more likely than not, he''d have some sort of method to help them break free¡­


    But did it matter when the man couldn''t even think straight?


    His group couldn''t withstand even a single swipe of those spears. Ss skewered their chests through one after another before those two spears likewise exploded.


    Dead. All dead.


    "Where¡­?" Rakk''s head snapped toward his Trolls, only to realize they were bound in ce, being assaulted by a group of people who couldn''t even leave a scratch on them. "A bind? No, break free!"


    He circted his Aether, prepared to unleash a Skill when a fist appeared before his forehead, smashing him into the ground again.


    Ss'' hand rose into the air, an illusory green hand forming around Rakk''s throat and squeezing over it tightly.


    Fatigue was beginning to pull at his body, but he didn''t seem to notice, his cool, green eyes, rounded by a ring of red, looking into Rakk''s own as he squeezed the life out of him.


    Rakk began to foam at the mouth, scratching and wing at the hand on his throat, only to pass through air and scratch himself bloody.


    Ss could feel his blood boiling, his earlier rage having abated in the slightest.


    Just when the trolls were about to break free, Ss cast Astral Bind on them once more, seemingly not realizing that dual casting a Skill shouldn''t have been so easy.


    Something suddenly dawned on Ss. In the midst of a sea of blood, buried beneathyers of an irrational protective urge¡­ there was a kernel of rationality that remained.


    This was what the system deemed to be an FFF+ of humanity¡­?


    Why was he so¡­


    Weak?


    This was the best they had¡­? What chance did they have to survive at the end of all of this?


    The ring of crimson slowly faded from Ss'' eyes, and he could suddenly feel the great drain on his body. He had had Aetherflow activated for so long that the paths of Aether hidden within his body were screaming. His torso was both cramping and aching as though he had just been branded by a hot iron.


    "Who sent you?" Ss asked in a voice that was far more raspy than he expected. His throat seemed to have dried out, his body overheating. His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest, thrumming with such fervor he thought it might want to shatter the very ribcage protecting it from the harshness of the world.


    Ss shook his head as Rakks'' eyes rolled into the back of his skull. What was he doing? How could the man even answer in this situation?


    He raised his head and looked toward the trolls again.


    ''Good¡­'' he thought. It had taken some time, but ten seconds frozen was too much, even a creature with almost 250 Constitution. He couldn''t even see how much spears and swords had been driven through their eyes from his vantage point. They practically made them into a twin set of bouquets.


    Rakk''s body began to convulse due to theck of air, no longer having the strength to w at his throat, which wascerated by blood wounds caused by none other than his own hands.


    Ss tossed the man to the ground and impaled a spear through his hip, much like he had done for Brant. However, he made a mental note that he had to be much more careful. He couldn''t read this man''s stats even though he didn''t seem to be using an active Skill. That could only mean that he either had a passive ability, or his Mental somehow surpassed Ss'' own.


    ''It can''t be that simple. I''ve been able to scan others who had higher Mentals than me due to Madness. But I''m stone-walled here¡­ he is very dangerous even if he can''t move.''


    Ss swayed and pressed a hand against his forehead. He knew that he was ignoring something important¡­ just now, he had really lost himself to his emotions. It had been¡­ a very, very long time since that had happened. In fact, thest time¡­


    His mind shed with memories of an arrogant jerk.


    He shook his head, not wanting to think about those thoughts.


    He distracted himself by watching the final strokes the group levied at thest trolls. The militiamen, Lauren, Alex, Morgan¡­ Olivia, Cassarae¡­


    They all fought together, bringing it down.


    A wooziness blurred Ss'' vision. His consciousness faded in and out until he realized what was wrong¡­ his heart¡­ it really was beating a little too fast¡­


    He pressed a hand to his chest, the difort steadily growing.


    ''Wait¡ª''


    Ss'' head snapped back toward a particr direction, and to his surprise, his gazended on Lauren. He was practically boring holes into her, and yet he couldn''t understand why.


    --


    [Lauren Mitchell]


    [Level: 1]


    --


    [Physical: 31]


    [Mental: 17]


    [Will: 13]


    --


    He remembered her stats perfectly, and they were identical to the first time he had seen them¡­ but why did they show up like that? Why couldn''t he see the¡­


    Ss'' eyes widened and he suddenly burst forward, the raging tempest in his heart. The avnche of beats, as persistent as a rain of boulders falling from a mountain''s peak, beat against his chest.


    But he was still a stepte.

 Chapter 127 Betrayal

    <h4>Chapter 127 Betrayal </h4>


    Her gaze locked onto Ss with a hint of surprise. She blinked innocently, a gaze that he hadn''t seen from her before. She had been a gentle and mostly shy woman. She had a fierceness to her, honed through months in the Amazonian Wilds, but it was mostly ebbed by her days as a secretary.",


    Now, however, she looked almost¡­ yful. More like a woman that would let Ss walk in on her naked on purpose rather than by ident, as he had thought.


    She reached toward Cassarae that had her back turned to her and suddenly ripped an inconspicuous ne she had worn around her neck away.


    Then, she vanished as though a mirage in the desert.


    Ss came to a halt, his eyes wide. What just happened?


    She didn''t kill anyone, she didn''t even really harm them. She just¡­ took a ne?


    What was going on?


    Ss stood in silence for a long time, looking out in nk space. His heart was thumping wildly, even now. In fact, it was only getting worse. It somehow felt to him like what had just happened was worse than anything else could have been, and the worst part about it was that he had no idea why.


    He was almost certain that this was all a result of his improved Luck stat. But he didn''t like the push and pull of these inexplicable emotions. It felt like a different sort of maniption of his mind, one that was an offshoot of Madness, but not quite the same. And the most poignant point was that while Madness at least helped him to understand himself to a greater degree, this did nothing of the sort. In fact, if it wasn''t for Madness, he wouldn''t even quite understand what was happening.


    There was only one thing that was clear to him. Somehow, he had just lost a game he wasn''t even aware he was ying¡­ and that feeling threatened to send him into another spiral.


    "Ss? Ss! Are you alright?"


    Ss didn''t know how long he stood there for, but when he looked up, he found that Cassarae was standing right in front of him, looking up into his eyes.


    "¡­ What did she just take from you?"


    He needed to know. The thoughts were consuming him.


    Just now, he had reyed every interaction he had ever had with Lauren, but they were so few and far in-between that he couldn''t glean anything. Their most substantive interaction was the first morning he had spent in Casstle Main, but the conversation took ce on an abstract in. It felt¡­ there was nothing tangible to grasp from it.


    There was only one point of oddity that he zeroed in on.


    That day, the one where he, Olivia and the others set out on their mission against the gnoll vige, his Madness had enveloped everyone. Everyone had their own reactions to the situation, but when he thought about it¡­ Morgan and Olivia were much more subdued, Alex was enamored with his ax, and Lauren, she felt into a ball on the ground, hiding her¡­


    Ss'' gaze suddenly sharpened. He moved before anyone could react and he cast Astral Bind.


    The illusion chain of Aether constricted Alex into ce. The cheery young man was entirely stunned, taken off guard, much like everyone else was. But before he could react, a de fragmented was already pressed against his throat.


    "Who are you people?" Ss asked coldly. "The next thing out of your mouth better be an answer, or else the first thing to go will be your carotid artery."


    Ss realized that he had been a fool. It was staring him right in the face, and he hadn''t even noticed it.


    That day, Alex had looked like he wanted to bed his ax, as though it was a voluptuous woman rather than an inanimate object. Then there was Lauren, who dropped to the ground as though she was experiencing the greatest fear of her life.


    He hadn''t thought much of it back then because it was the first time he had enveloped anyone with his Madness, but how many battles had he fought since then? He had been able to see how Madness interacted with humanoid creatures again, and again, and again.


    Fear and lust weren''t the appropriate responses. Unless¡­


    You felt an assault on your mind you could resist, but weren''t sure of exactly how to pretend like you had been affected in the first ce.


    Seeing the cold indifferent in Ss'' gaze, Alex''s confusion vanished and his demeanor seemed to change as well. Clearly, he hadn''t expected this oue, but his reaction wasn''t one of fear either.


    "You''re smart¡ª"


    PCHU!


    Alex''s eyes widened. This time, it wasn''t an act, because it was toote.


    The de shard pushed into his neck, severing one of his carotid arteries. Blood sttered, and Alex found himself quickly losingrge amounts of blood.


    He had never expected for this to happen. He hadn''t taken Ss'' threat seriously. Wasn''t it just human nature to wait to hear him out first?


    Alex''s Aether suddenly rampaged and Astral Bind shattered. He shuffled backward with great speed, clutching onto one side of his neck.


    "I''ve been careless¡­" he mumbled to himself in shock.


    He had the strength to not fear Ss, and yet he had actually let his bravado underestimate this man one more time. He was shocked enough when he couldn''t read Ss'' stats, but after some time they came to understand that this wasn''t because he was such a freak, but rather because he had gained some unique Comprehension that protected his mind better than most other things could.


    After observing him for a time, they were quite certain of Ss'' limits.


    What they didn''t ount for was his decisiveness.


    Alex coughed, but didn''t hesitate to riprge amounts of cloth off his body and jam them into his neck as he continued to retreat with frightening Speed.


    Everyone was still in shock, not understanding what was going on.

 Chapter 128 Fatigue

    <h4>Chapter 128 Fatigue</h4>


    Ss had just suddenly attacked Alex, and they hadn''t even managed to get a grasp on the situation before thetter was heavily injured.",


    There was no time to exin. Ss could only rush after him, casting Astral Bind again, only to be rebuffed by some mysterious strength.


    Alex red daggers at Ss as though trying to bore the man''s visage into his psyche. He felt humiliated, but he also felt that it was his fault. It wasn''t just Ss'' stats that had calmed him, but also the fact the man was at the end of his rope. And yet somehow he had still let this happen.


    Suddenly, Ss took out the second Trembling Spear from his Madness Key. His eyes reflected with a cold, indifferent glint, his emotions unreadable.


    Alex''s gaze glinted. That was the second item they wanted to procure in this excursion, a serendipitous coincidence, if you will. But the cards hadn''t fallen.


    A normal person would have let their guard down after Lauren exposed herself, but somehow Ss had seen through him. Clearly, there was some sort of w the two had left behind.


    Alex''s body suddenly gleamed like metal beneath the moon''s light as he pushed out against theing spear.


    The sh shook his arm, but he used the momentum to carry him backward even further, using his agility to slip into the cascade of trees.


    "Ss! Stop!" Cassarae called out. "You''re too spent!"


    She had seen how heavily Ss had been breathing until just now. But it wasn''t just that he was tired, he was clearly brash as well. She was usually the rash one. It was Ss who was the voice of reason. If he was so certain that Alex was a traitor, why not use him as bait? This would make things more troublesome.


    What Cassarae hadn''t considered was that Ss felt he had no choice. The methods of these people were too deep. They could hide their stats, apparently they could fake their affiliations as well or else Cassarae would have long since seen through their Favorability, Lauren had somehow just disappeared into thin air, and just now Alex had managed to keep his hand aftershing out against the equivalent of over 350 Effective Strength with just a fist.


    You could only use such a tactic against people you understood the limits of. If you didn''t understand where their limitsy, then you''d just end up dying before you understood what was going on.


    Even so, Ss came to a stop, his breathing out in heaves. Cassarae was right. He really didn''t have the strength left to go after him. Just those few failed casts of Astral Bind and pumping that spear full of Aether just now had made those searing Paths within him cry out in horror again. It felt like he had just dumped a bunch of rubbing alcohol on an open, festering wound.


    However, that didn''t mean things would end like this.


    "No!" The sudden cry came from the forest and a familiar figure was sent flying back into the wet marsh.


    Alexnded in the tall, wet grass, scrambling backward. He still had a hand pressed heavily into his neck, but his gaze was flickering with emotions that ranged from astonishment to fear.


    At that moment, a ck snake slithered into view, barely perceptible under the night air. In fact, if not for the two orbs of crimson that pulsed with their own light, its silhouette would be hardly discernible.


    Alex didn''t understand. Beasts this strong shouldn''t appear in this location of the Amazonian Wilds. They were much further into the rain forest, at least hundreds of kilometers from this location. How could only be here?


    He had already lost way too much blood. His effective stats were plummeting by the second and the healing Elixirs he had only worked as well as he could avoid getting injured again.


    This was the absolute worst-case scenario.


    Or so it seemed.


    At that moment, a small bead of flesh suddenly appeared. He couldn''t react as it burst, a greenish liquid falling over him and his wounds.


    It was yet another situation that he simply didn''t understand at all until he was suddenly paralyzed. No matter how hard he tried to move, his nerve endings simply wouldn''t receive his mind''s signals. Even worse, his Aether had slowed to a crawl.


    This was all so absolutely infuriating. He was certain that under normal circumstances, his Constitution would be strong enough to shrug off this low-level venom. But now¡­


    Alexy there, helpless, a ck scaled creature looming over him while another green-eyed beast, this time in human skin, loomed behind him.


    "I asked you a question," Ss'' voice came from behind him as everyone else caught up. "Who are you?"


    Ss frowned when Alex didn''t answer. "I know your Constitution is high enough to resist the venom and speak. This time, if you don''t reply, I will just kill you."


    Alex''s spine tingled. Thest time Ss made such an ultimatum, he had really died. He truly didn''t dare to¡ª


    The arrow came out of nowhere.


    Maybe it was because Ss'' mind was too fatigued from the continuous battles, but that wasn''t how he remembered it.


    When he recalled this day, he would remember something too fast, too slippery, too steeped in shadows to react to.


    It tore through Alex''s mouth, through the roof of his skull, and plunged into the soft soil, causing an eruption of dirt.


    Ss'' gaze shed as his head turned sharply toward the direction it hade from¡­ or, rather, the direction he thought it hade from¡­


    It was truly too sudden and too fast, and with how the arrows of this world could curve, the angle it hit the ground at was useless information to him.


    If only that beautiful tapestry of colors his mind had been able to form earlier hadn''t vanished under his fatigue¡­


    Ss stood in silence, as did everyone else.

 Chapter 129 Or Not?

    <h4>Chapter 129 Or Not? </h4>


    [975 GTs bonus]


    They didn''t understand what he did, but given how things had ended, they could piece some things together. They had been betrayed by not just one, but two of their own. And for reasons beyond their understanding¡­ they had seen it fit to silence Alex.


    Ss'' gaze dimmed.


    He reached down and pressed a hand to Alex.


    [Alex Reynolds]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (4) Speed (F); (4) Dexterity (F); (2) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Gene: (1) Strength; (2) Constitution; (1) Intelligence]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss didn''t say a word for a long while. It was the first time he was seeing a Bronze Gene, and the realization made him not know what to think.


    How could that little de cut his neck if he had two Bronze Constitution Genes? Was it because he was in a State of Wealth? Or was it because the method he and Lauren had used to conceal their stats dampened them as well?


    There were too many questions¡­ too many unknowns¡­


    "Cassarae¡­ tell me¡­" Ss asked softly.


    Cassarae hesitated for a moment, then sent him a message through the system, something he didn''t even know was possible until now. If it was, why hadn''t she contacted him earlier?


    ''It was a Luck stat treasure¡­ it was able to increase your Luck Stat by 400%.''


    Ss fell into silence once more.


    Thinking about the changes to himself when his Luck stat increased, he realized that this was a huge deal.


    He had gone from believing that humans were far too weak in one moment to suddenly feeling lost in another.


    But was all of this a good thing¡­ or not?


    **


    The atmosphere of Casstle Main was odd. It was too quiet given the situation they had just survived, but there were also a sea of eyes that were wide awake nheless.


    Many of them stood huddled together near the center, half evacuated and half not. They seemed to have been corralled beneath Gregory''s soothing words and whatever fear they might have had was washed away.


    A group consisting of Ss, Cassarae, Olivia, and Morgan, as well as the militiamen¡ªof which Ss had noticed two were strikingly missing¡ªwalked toward them quite somberly, having left the battlefield half cleaned.


    Gregory looked back toward them with a bright smile on his face.


    "Our heroes are back, everyone."


    The cheers of the vigers only sounded now as though they were ignorant of what had just happened.


    Cassarae took it in with a smile, the worry that had weighed her down being whisked away into the cool night air.


    ¡­


    The night passed quickly, but not without its share of trepidation. The vigers might have been in a relieved state, but the higher echelon of the vige was in shambles.


    They had just lost two supporting pirs, one by death and another by betrayal, their location had been revealed to those that were likely enemies lurking in the dark, and now it was unknown when they might face their next assault.


    The gnoll vige had fallen just over half a week ago now. The time for the next humanoid vige to spawn was quicklying up, and yet they were stuck in this precarious situation with the end of the Trial looming over their heads.


    It was unknown if there would even be a temporary relief to look forward to either. Once it was confirmed that a part of the poption had suddenly gained powers, who knew what would happen to the world?


    How would the people in power try to maintain their power? And what would happen to those who suddenly had more power than they knew what to do with? Would the normal boundaries of the world even remain?


    It was with these thoughts swirling in their minds that a morning meeting was held.


    Cassarae, Olivia, Morgan, and Ss were present. There was also Gregory, mostly out of necessity rather than a willingness.


    Cassarae couldn''t treat Gregory like an NPC as much as she wanted to. If she tried to hide things from him, he would know. So, even though their worries were rted to a world Gregory had no understanding of, Cassarae had him participate anyway.


    She gave everyone a look, her gaze lingering on Ss who looked like a mess.


    Well, a messpared to his usual self.


    He had taken a bath and had even reced his pants with a new pair of linen. He had even found a simple linen shirt to wear. However, even this couldn''t hide the sheer abuse his body had been through.


    Just on the parts of his skin she could see, he was covered in deep bruises and half-healed cuts. His eyes were somewhat sunken as though he hadn''t gotten enough rest, and the Ss she remembered had been clean-shaven for all his life. Now, however, there was a distinct shadow gathering on his handsome features.


    Had he been around for months like they had, this shadow would have already be a full-blown bush, but even now it felt out of ce.


    ''I kind of like it,'' she thought to herself with a smile before she met everyone else''s gazes.


    "Soon, the Trial will end and we will return home. Honestly, I have no understanding of what this means for Casstle Main, but I think we should probably address the elephant in the room."


    Morgan''s gaze dimmed somewhat. In this ce, he was the outsider. He half expected to suffer a great amount of scrutiny. Who would have thought that two of them would be spies?


    "I partially me myself," Cassarae said with a sigh. "I trusted the Favorability ratings too much. As with everything in this world, it should all be taken with a grain of salt, so I want to incorporate some new guardrails to hopefully avoid such a thing in the future.


    "But for now, this isn''t what I want to consider. There isn''t enough time, or nearly enough of us to put my thoughts into action. And after my ne was stolen¡­ well, many things will be far more difficult."

 Chapter 130 Top

    <h4>Chapter 130 Top</h4>


    [1050 GTs bonus]


    "Instead, I want to apologize to you all. It was my job as the City Lady to prepare for such an oue."


    Morgan didn''t expect that the first thing Cassarae would want to do was this, but when he looked at her now¡­ he felt his own Favorability increasing despite himself. A heavy weight that had been on his chest was slowly put down.


    "Now that we''ve gotten the unfortunate stuff out of the way, I think I should also shed some light on some things. While we''ve suffered a blow, we''ve also gained a lot.


    "There are three troll corpses, and we''ve also managed to gather several powerful treasures from the battlefield as well¡­"


    Cassarae began to exin their gains, livening up the mood. Ss noticed that she didn''t mention using the humans for their Genes and only did so with the trolls, but he felt that this was only to be expected.


    Ss didn''t expect that everyone would be as nonchnt about using the Genes of their fellow humans for improvement.


    "City Lady, if I may say something," just when Cassarae was about to get into the details of the end of the Trial, Gregory spoke up.


    "Yes?"


    "I do know a little bit about the end of the Trial."


    Cassarae was pleasantly surprised. "Please."


    It wasn''t just Cassarae either; everyone was curious.


    Gregory cleared his throat. "This is information I''ve been made aware of so that I might properly guide you in making decisions. From my understanding, most administrative personnel like myself will be informed of this basic knowledge. Please use it to inform your decisions.


    "The Summoning is a process of integration between your world and wider existence. During this event, your world will be split into two, not in a literal sense, but in a more metaphysical sense. The process of the summoning is the real ne of existence that is your, fusing together with this Aether-dense ne.


    "Once the Trial concludes, this process will begin, but only slowly. As such, in the beginning, there will be no Aether on your, meaning that while you might keep your physical prowess, your more fantastical abilities will be sealed off from you.


    "However, this exnation shouldn''t steer you wrong. It isn''t that your needs this Aether ne and not the other way around. The Aether ne needs an anchor in reality. You can imagine it like a fabric of space and time; it has no substance if it''s not in rtion to other things.


    "The so-called nine attempts are the limit of the Aether ne. If it fails nine times, it will either copse or be forced to pick a different world to integrate with. After this ninth failure, Earth will be pulled along and be tethered to this different world as well, and ultimately you''ll lose all rights to rule yourselves¡­ if you survive, that is.


    "The process of tethering to a different world is very violent, and it''s likely that very few, if any at all, would survive this oue. The Extinction Events that result from failure would be on a far smaller scale than this."


    Gregory let his words hang in the air, and everyone felt the weight of them¡­


    Those Extinctions had sometimes wiped out more than 90% of Earth''s poption, and yet this was supposedly worse than all of that?


    "Setting this aside, once the Trial has concluded, you will be able to return to Earth, and gateways will form. You will be able to travel back and forth between your and the Aether ne by making use of these gateways, but they will also be a trial for Earth as well.


    "This location is just the outskirts of the Amazonian Wilds. But the gateways that will appear can do so from anywhere, at any time.


    "The closer to the end of the Summoning your worldes, the more frequent these urrences will be until there is little difference between the Aether ne and your.


    "As for the final step¡­ I am hazy on this matter because it is said that it is very different depending on the world, its grade, and the integration type. It should even be affected by surrounding sessful Summonings as well.


    "But from myyman''s understanding, in order to seed in the final step, the Aether ne and your need a stabilizing force of some kind, while you also need tobat destabilizing forces.


    "These destabilizing forces are often events of the system¡­ Dungeons, Quicktime Events, Quests, even powerful extinct creatures¡­ the more of these remain unresolved, the stronger your stabilizing force needs to be to counter them.


    "That is everything I know."


    Everyone fell into their thoughts, somewhat understanding and somewhat not.


    Gregory still hadn''t exined what a stabilizing force was¡­


    And the destabilizing forces, how many of them did they need to clear? It couldn''t be them all, right?


    And why were the extinct creatures counted? That felt odd.


    Ss wasn''t sure what to think either. He felt that they were missing too much information, but once again¡­ it was impossible for him to ask the Madness Key about the situation unless he wanted to get pped with another Hunger spike.


    "Thank you, Gregory," Cassarae smiled, feeling that it was good that she had invited him. "In that case, I believe our best choice is to attempt to meet on the other side, no?"


    She let the question hang in the air. Everyone looked toward one another and eventually nodded.


    Ss frowned. This might be difficult for him. Would the Browns let him leave? And if he did so, what would it mean for his family? Unless he was strong enough to not worry about the Browns, or the Grimdes as they called themselves now, it was impossible for him to make such a choice.


    As strong as Alex had been, or even Lauren, neither had been on the top ten list, while it was a Grimde that firmly held that top ce.

 Chapter 131 Accept?

    <h4>Chapter 131 ept? </h4>


    [1125 GTs bonus]


    There was a chance that they had the ability to obscure the truth much like they had with Cassarae''s Favorability¡­ but Ss didn''t want to bank on it.


    There was a good chance that the trio of the Grimdes was even more powerful than them, and they definitely had a greater supporting cast around them as well.


    Cassarae already knew of Ss'' situation, so she spoke first.


    "Ss and I live in the same area. We cane together first. Olivia, you know the location already. Morgan, I am not sure where you live, but you don''t need to tell me. You''re one of us now, so if you can, bring those you can to Veridian. I live in a town close by to the famous university. Ss over here is one of their tenured professors."


    Both Morgan and Olivia blinked in surprise, looking toward Ss at the same time.


    "Really? He''s so young¡­" Morgan said with a breath.


    The world didn''t have a universal university ranking system, but every country had their own clear number one, and they all shared the same prestige.


    Veridian was without a doubt the number one ranked university of the United Coalition of Terranova.


    Olivia chuckled. "No wonder, everything makes sense now."


    Ss raised an eyebrow, but didn''t pursue the line of questioning. Instead, he gave Cassarae a look that only she would take as his version of thanks. As for everyone else, it just looked like his normal, indifferent gaze.


    "That location is quite far for me," Morgan replied honestly. "I live in the Celestial Republic, across the ocean."


    The Celestial Republic was located in what had once been China before the Sixth Extinction. Without understanding what the situation would be like on the other side when they returned, this would, indeed, be tricky.


    Cassarae leaned back, tapping her finger on her armrest. This was, indeed, a problem.


    "Gregory, what do you think? Should we have Morgan stay put?" Cassarae asked.


    "It''s possible, City Lady. There could be some benefit in having two foundations instead of just one. You have to remember that once your Vige bes a Town, it''s possible to form subsidiary branches of your power. Having a location that is already well-established could be more beneficial than not. There are some pros and cons to weigh, though."


    Gregory was quite tactful, but his meaning was clear. This was a matter of whether Morgan could be trusted or not.


    Cassarae looked into Morgan''s eyes and made a decision.


    When Ss saw the fire in her eyes, he couldn''t help but smile a bit.


    The person the most pissed off about what had happened wasn''t Ss; it was without a doubt Cassarae. And when this woman was backed into a corner, she didn''t cower, she preferred tosh out and bite back.


    "Morgan, soon, a specialty armor created thanks to the beast pelts Ss brought back will bepleted. I will give it to you along with 10,000 Coins and a Noble Title. This Noble Title will allow you to recruit vassals for yourself, who will by proxy be our supporters as well.


    "Do you ept?"


    ...


    A few more details of theiring operation were hashed out, and by the time the meeting ended, the sun had already been high in the sky for a while and was beginning to ebb away into the front end of an early evening.


    "¡­ Don''t worry, City Lady. I will appease Seamstress Maya. I believe that she will be very happy. The trolls do not have furs, but their hides are thicker than any beast. It will be an easy task."


    "I will leave that to you, then. I''m sure everyone wants some rest now, so please enjoy the rest of your days. I will take a small break as well."


    With that, everyone left one after another, leaving Olivia and Cassarae behind.


    Ss stepped out from the office, exhaling a slow breath. He had been in this world for barely over a week and yet so much had happened¡­ he was looking forward to seeing his family again.


    "Ss, can we talk?"


    Ss looked over to find Morgan. He nodded and followed.


    "What did you want to talk about?" Ss asked.


    Morgan sighed. "Honestly, I didn''t expect to get strapped in like this to a bunch of youths like you all, but after I heard you were a professor as well, I thought that you would probably understand me the most."


    "As well?" Ss asked.


    Morgan smiled. "I''m a professor at King. It seems we have more inmon than I thought."


    King was to Morgan''s country what Veridian was to Ss'' own. It was no doubt at that top-tier echelon.


    "Oh? What do you research?"


    There seemed to be a glint in Morgan''s eyes before he replied, as though he wanted to see through Ss first.


    "Psychology."


    "That''s a pretty broad response," Ss replied. Though he said this, he remembered Morgan correcting Alex on his understanding of sociopaths when they first met. He hadn''t thought much of it back then because it was semimonnguage, but it seemed that there was more to it.


    "You''re right. I''m used to replying with that because it''s what most people understand. You could say that I study neurodivergence."


    "Mental illness?"


    Morganughed. Ss was, indeed, much like what he thought he would be.


    "It does sound like a new, politically correct term. But no, I mean neurodivergence. And by that, I mean in the sense of people who seem to have superhuman mental capacities. Kind of like you."


    Ss shook his head. "I don''t believe that I''m special enough to be categorized like that. My memory is a standard deviation better than most, as is my spatial awareness, but most of everything else is based on diligence."


    "Mm, I didn''te to diagnose you, though I don''t like that word. I believe that it has a negative connotation when it shouldn''t. Either way, I will take your word for it. I only called you here to say thank you."


    This time, Ss was surprised. "¡­ Why?"

 Chapter 132 Slots

    <h4>Chapter 132 Slots</h4>


    [2200 PSs bonus]


    "Because I believe the City Lady trusts you almost implicitly. It''s because you never suspected me that she chose to show such trust in me. This opportunity is better than any I could have expected. So, thank you for that."


    Ss looked into Morgan''s eyes. They were a deep brown and carried an inconspicuous amount of intelligence that Ss had never noticed. He considered himself to be quite an astute person, but he had never seen this side of Morgan as well.


    He realized then that there were more ways for a person to be dangerous outside of their stats. The informant never once showed their face¡­ or maybe they did? Either way, how much trouble had they given him without raising a single finger?


    Morgan wasn''t likely a traitor, not in Ss'' opinion. If he was, he would have never shown Ss this side of himself. It would have been far smarter to continue hiding it.


    But now that he had¡­


    Ss reached out a hand and shook Morgan''s.


    **


    Later in the day, Ss entered Cassarae''s cabin and met her in her office.


    "So what do you want to do?" Cassarae asked.


    Ss didn''t need to question what she meant. She was obviously referring to the fact she had lied to everyone on his behalf when they both knew that he definitely couldn''te.


    Right now, he was pretty well strapped to the Browns. There was little he could do.


    "I don''t believe that they''ll truly restrict my movements, at least notpletely. They will definitely do so in part, especially after they notice that I entered the Trial after they¡­ let''s say gently encouraged most not to.


    "If I''m correct, after we return, they''ll actually have no choice but to let us out."


    "Why''s that?"


    "Because originally, their intentions were to use the Trial to decide who was most worthy of bing the City Lord of their Bronze Stele. But now that the Trial''s been cut short, the twogging behind the current leader will definitely argue for another opportunity.


    "That will be my chance."


    "Your chance?" Cassarae''s eyes squinted. "You''re going to do something fucking stupid again, aren''t you? I can see right through you, Ss. All of this is just because you don''t want to follow their orders, isn''t it? They probably haven''t even done anything bad to you."


    Ss cleared his throat. "There actually is a good reason to not trust them."


    "Oh? Pray tell." Cassarae leaned back into her chair with an amused expression.


    "Things aren''t adding up," Ss said. "They say they mixed races to give us the best chance at survival, so why are there still families? Why was my grandfather ostracized for marrying the ''wrong'' woman? Why is this the first I''ve heard of this Summoning in my mid-twenties and not when I was old enough to read?


    "If they really cared about the world, and not maintaining power for themselves, they would have disseminated this information long ago."


    "You''re missing something." Cassarae suddenly said.


    Ss waited for her to continue.


    "If they didn''t care to keep up pretenses even that much, then why force the races of the world to be homogenous in the first ce?"


    "I''ve been thinking about that as well, and I believe the answer is actually right in front of us."


    Cassarae raised an eyebrow.


    "Intelligence is difficult to grasp. All methods of measuring it have one weakness or another, and the markers are so multyered andplex that they''re impossible to pinpoint. There''s a reason so many believe in the existence of a soul. It''s hard to grasp that everything is rted to a lump of meat in our skulls.


    "However, physical gifts are different. If two tall people marry one another, their child will likely be tall. If two athletes marry one another, their child will likely be athletic."


    "¡­ You''re saying that they mixed the races to benefit from the best of everyone¡­"


    "Not just that," Ss said softly. "If I''m correct, the ''fusion'' of the races is likely a key to evolving our Race grade in the future.


    "They never did it for the sake of harmony; these people don''t care about that stuff. All they care about is maximizing their chances at being the ruling ss once Earth makes it to the other side."


    **


    Ssy in the bed of his cabin. He took deep breaths, his thoughts running at inconceivable speeds.


    Something Morgan said interested him.


    Whether he was neurodivergent or not didn''t matter to him. What did matter was that his mind had shifted back toward the scientific method for a moment.


    Would it be possible to use his university as a foundation to help analyze the Basilisk King''s genome better?


    He couldn''t analyze it all, but could aputer not? The question was whether he could make the transfer or not¡­


    Hey there, watching as the timer slowly drifted down. Soon, there were only three seconds left and he felt himself rxing.


    [Time remaining: 00:00:00]


    A blinding sh of white filled Ss'' eyes. He could have sworn that he would appear right back in his room, but to his surprise, he actuallynded right back in the world of white he had entered before the Trial.


    He looked around with hints of confusion before the world flickered and what looked like a slot machine appeared. It somehow seemed deeper and more profound than the usual slot machine, but ultimately, it couldn''t be ssified as anything else.


    [Tickets: ¡­ Calcting¡­]


    ''Calcting? Ah¡­ is it evaluating my Trial performance? The tickets, I assume, will let me use the slot machine? I haven''t heard of this before¡­''


    [Tickets: 44]


    Ss wondered what that number was based on, but he didn''t really want to specte so he ignored it for now.


    He looked at the slot machine, wondering what secrets it would reveal to him.


    --


    [Would you like to sacrifice 10 Tickets for a higher grade slot machine?]


    --


    [Fragmented Slot Machine]

 Chapter 133 Flow

    <h4>Chapter 133 Flow </h4>


    ''Oh?''


    Ss didn''t think for very long and sacrificed 35 of his Tickets. It took 10 to get a Common Slot Machine and 25 to get a Bronze one. Unfortunately, he needed 50 to get a Silver one, and he was already running out of Tickets to begin with.


    ''I assume that the reason so many Tickets were given is because getting anything at all is difficult. But¡­ my Luck should be higher than most, and even if it wasn''t¡­ nine chances at a Bronze item should be better than over forty chances at a Fragmented one.''


    There was another reason he did this as well.


    He had thought that Luck would just be an intangible, hardly noticeable, abstract stat. But almost the moment he got it, he felt the significant change.


    Then, there was Lauren¡­ was it a coincidence that a slot machine had appeared here not long after she stole Cassarae''s Luck ne?


    With his intention, Ss slotted in a ticket and watched the machine roll.


    The three slots pinged into ce, all on different items.


    ''A City Stele, a sword, and a Gene State Elixir?''


    Ss'' brows shot up as he realized something. Was this another chance to benefit from those three starting items again? And maybe this time, of even higher quality?


    Either way, it didn''t matter. His first roll was a dud.


    He used another ticket, and once again, there was nothing.


    He went for a third time, and there was nothing once again.


    Ss continued without the slightest fluctuation in his expression. He was already prepared to get nothing at all. However, on the fourth, something changed.


    The slots came to a stop on a row of three daggers¡­ no, they looked more like hollowed-out kunai, sparkling with a silvery light.


    With a thrum of light, the slot machine opened up and presented an orb of light.


    ---


    [Flying Kunai (3) (Bronze)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Ability: Pierce; Evolve]


    [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <1%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <1 Common> Gene]


    [Durability: 5/5]


    ---


    Ss immediately noticed that this set of flying kunai used the old grading system and not the new. That seemed toe with an evolve ability that allowed him to use Genes to level it up. He couldn''t help but wonder what its limits wereparatively speaking¡­


    At the very least, it started far weaker than even F- weapons, but could it grow beyond them? It was yet another thing that he had to spend Genes on, but all things considered, this was a good item for him. He even suspected that although the slot machine failed a lot, when it did seed, it would tend to give him what he needed. Maybe this was also rted to his elevated Luck stat as well, though it was hard to tell.


    Ss guided the orbs of light into his Madness Key, then continued.


    ''Thankfully, the Madness Key doesn''t need a constant flow of Aether like other spatial devices, or else it would be useless back on Earth¡­''


    Ss continued to spin the slot machine.


    The fifth attempt was a failure, as was the sixth, but with the seventh, there was another change.


    Ss'' eyes lit up.


    The slot machine stopped on a familiar crystal, a Gene Crystal.


    [Bronze Gene Crystal (F) (Treasure)]


    [One''s Gic Code is a universe within the universe. Endless and vast, the number of meandering paths it can take are uncountable. Use this Bronze Gene Crystal and begin to forge your own path]


    [Capacity: 70]


    When Ss saw the Capacity, though, he couldn''t help but be disappointed.


    The Common Gene Crystal he had gotten had a Capacity of 50 Genes, meaning that he could fuse together 50 of them to create a new Unique Gene.


    From his understanding, Fragmented Gene Crystals had Capacity ranging from 1 to 10, for Common it was 11 to 50, and for Bronze it was 51 to 200.


    He had ended up with a Gene Crystal on the lower end of the Bronze Gene Crystal spectrum, so the results were bound to be a weaker upgradepared to the absorption of his first.


    In addition, because it was a lower end, the boost he would get for sacrificing the Crystal was limited as well.


    With his Common Gene Crystal of 50 Capacity, sacrificing it boosted his chance of absorbing the Genes by 90%. But a Bronze Gene Crystal with a 70 Capacity would only give him a less than 50% chance, an amountparable to a Common Gene Crystal with a Capacity of only 11.


    Of course, he had other boosts that could help him out¡­ but his Soft Gene State had already run out and now he was beginning to understand the plight of everyone else.


    It was a hard life walking around with a Rigid Gene State. Even if he raised his Stat Limits, he would still be unable to absorb any Genes.


    ''This is still better than not having it. I''ll consider whether to use Madness as a foundation again¡­ or maybe use the Grimde Gene as a foundation. de Aura could be very useful if it was improved again¡­''


    Ss decided to consider thister. It was a hard decision. On the one hand, Madness was his strongest foundation and one he should build upon. But with Aetherflow active, de Aura synergized with it well.


    Ss rolled again and, to his surprise, the slot machine clicked into ce once again. This time, it looked to be a¡­


    ''Skill booklet? No, it''s different¡­ the patterns are different¡­''


    ---


    [The Flow of Battle (Silver) (Quest)]


    [The Laws have sensed your Flow of Battle more than once. However, suppressed by a Comprehension much deeper and profound, it has been unable to shine its way through.


    [The Pugilists, Warriors, and Berserkers of the pastment this tragedy and seek to give you an opportunity.]


    [Find your Flow of Battle and conquer it]


    ---


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 1 Level above you]


    ---


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 5 Levels above you]


    ---


    [Bronze Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 10 Levels above you]


    ---


    [Silver Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 15 Levels above you]

 Chapter 134 Mortimer

    <h4>Chapter 134 Mortimer</h4>


    Ss'' eyes snapped open, finding a familiar, yet not so familiar ceiling above him.


    He had only slept one night in the bed before, so unsurprisingly, he was probably more used to his bed in Casstle Main than this bed in the Brown familypound.


    Ss sat up and a familiar wave of pain hit him. He looked down at himself and found that he was still covered in the same bruises, but was also somehow wearing the same blue striped pajamas he had been wearing before he entered the Trial. At the same time, the Scorned Wraps and the Madness Key had magically appeared on him as well.


    He sighed. It seemed that there was no escaping them. He would probably have to wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt from now on just to hide the Scorned Wraps, but he wondered if that would bring more attention to them than not.


    He stood slowly, wanting to go and shower and more importantly, shave. He knew it would probably be impossible to hide from his family that he had gone when they had explicitly hoped that he would not, but since he hade back alive, he assumed it would be easier to smooth that over anyway.


    ''Hm?''


    The door to his room had an outline of light though it should still be the dead of night. ording to his understanding, during the Trial, time was frozen. Most of the world, at least on this hemisphere, should be in bed right now. Though, it was hard to say if that''dst for long.


    But what caught his attention more than that was the fact there was a shadow through the outline of light.


    Someone was standing before his door?


    Ss walked toward it and opened it. The first thing he saw was a little girl in a pink gown, she was half reaching for the doorknob and half bawling her eyes out. Clearly, she was scared to see what might or might not be on the other side.


    He could have sworn that he already appeased her. Between her and his parents, she had been the hardest to convince that he definitely wouldn''t go. It seemed that he could be a bit naive too, she didn''t believe him even a little bit.


    ra looked up with red eyes, and when she saw that it was Ss, she was startled at first before she jumped at him, her sobsing in waves. Having been containing herself for so long, she could no longer stand it. She huped and wheezed, barely breathing properly.


    A pang of guilt echoed in Ss'' heart, a sigh leaving his lips.


    "What are you crying for, little munchkin? Aren''t I here?"


    ra didn''t answer, crying harder. She had only seen Ss for a brief moment, but how could she not notice the changes in her brother? He had just magically gone from clean-shaven to a scruffy beard in what was effectively a few seconds?


    They said that kids were more intelligent than adults gave them credit for, and it seemed that Ss was learning that the hard way.


    ra had been holding back her sobs before, but after seeing Ss she couldn''t contain it any longer and the noises quickly caught the attention of his parents and grandfather.


    Another sigh came from Ss as the tired eyes of his parents appeared, blinking under the lights of the hallway and widening when they noticed the changes in Ss.


    ''Well, it seems I''ll have to face this music earlier than I thought,'' Ss thought to himself.


    ¡­


    It took quite a while for Ss to calm everyone down. His grandfather even pretended to be angry with him as well, shirking all responsibility.


    But honestly, seeing them act like this, Ss felt a rare peace. At least in thest more than week, he hadn''t experienced such a thing. He had mostly gone to the Trial for selfish reasons, but being with his family now¡­ it felt like he had more purpose than he thought.


    When the time came, the foundation heid in the Trial would be what helped his family stay just as safe and carefree.


    Well, most of them, anyway. As for his little munchkin of a sister, she insisted on sleeping with him again as though he might try to disappear again.


    She harrumphed, turning her back to him and stealing all the covers for herself.


    Ss smiled and let her throw her tantrum. He''d have to find a way to make it up to her when the sun rose.


    **


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    The location was a simple office, or so it seemed. The more one looked, though, the more extraordinary it became, carrying the **


    The location was a simple office, or so it seemed. The more one air of a ce entrenched in wealth rather than being new to it.


    The desk was made of a solid oak b that would have cost hundreds of thousands tomission from a woodworker. The white carpet that would sway like grass if there was a crosswind was made from a rare pr bear hide. Even the pens that stuck out from a carefully carved ornament would have been worth thousands of dors each.


    And yet it was easy to ignore these things due to the man that sat behind it.


    He wore simple silk robes and held a cigar, puffing out tufts of smoke from time to time. His eyes looked much older than his countenance, carrying a deep wisdom. But his face itself was covered in a mostly ck beard with strands of white and grey, his hair carrying a deliberate, slick style to it that gave him a modern touch.


    This man was Mortimer Grimde, and it was a name that would shock most because he was the founder of the Browns'' moneymaking empire, a man who should have been the grandfather to Ss'' own grandfather, and yet¡­ here he was¡­ alive and well.


    Astrid, Lucius, and Mchi stood in a row before this man, their backs straight and their eyes sharp.

 Chapter 135 Seventh

    <h4>Chapter 135 Seventh </h4>


    [400 PSs bonus]


    "I''ve heard that many of our returnees didn''t heed our advice, entering the Trial anyway?" Mortimer spoke in a deep voice.


    "Yes." The three spoke at the same time, each one wanting to get the initiative. They had also had their own reports to give, but when they spoke at once like this, they were forced to stop. If they tried to talk over one another, they would just earn themselves the disdain of this man.


    Mortimer chuckled. He could see through the thoughts of these descendants of his, and he didn''t mind it. This was how a Grimde should be.


    "And what do you think we should do with them? One by one, this time. Starting with you," Mortimer pointed his cigar at Mchi.


    Standing up straighter, Mchi replied. "Those not smart enough to grasp our implied meanings can''t be nurtured. They''ve overstepped their bounds and should be treated as such. There''s no need to act directly against them, but they shouldn''t be priorities. Instead, we can use them as a lesson to others, and a constant reminder of what it means to ignore our words."


    Mortimer nodded and turned to Lucius. "And you."


    "I believe that it will depend. That they did isn''t as important as why they did. We should observe them, maybe even reward them so that they show more of their true natures.


    "If they entered the Trial because of curiosity, it can be forgiven, and that courage should be nurtured. If they entered because of ambition, those wills should be crushed, and I believe we should find an opportunity to get rid of them. The dead are not a threat."


    Mortimer nodded once again, his expression still giving nothing away before he looked toward Astrid.


    "And you."


    "I believe that the more ambitious they are, the better. This is how the Grimdes should be. A dull tool is not a useful tool. It is the job of a leader to wield them, and the job of a warrior to not be harmed by their own double-edged de.


    "The head of the Grimdes should have the confidence to use their people. If we neuter them all, what would be the point? We would be a family without generals."


    "Haha!" Mortimer suddenlyughed, pping a palm on his desk before rising to his feet. "I will be honest, of your answers, my style is the most like Lucius''"


    Lucius'' eyes brightened.


    Mortimer continued, "having people that are too ambitious is a problem, and it''s best if they''re weeded out. Under normal circumstances, this is a strength of a family, but when the world is in a burgeoning state of rapid growth, where heroes can be made overnight, it''s much too great a risk to take.


    "However, Lucius also performed the worst amongst the three of you, ranking just fifth on the Leaderboard, and Astrid not only ranked second, but her words have stirred something within me.


    "In an ideal world, one where we were unafraid of failure, I would want to give Astrid''s philosophy a chance."


    Mortimer paced for a moment before looking toward the three once again.


    "Unfortunately, the battle between the three of you has yet to be decided, so I will give you a chance. The world will soon be in a state of turmoil, and you shouldn''t growcent. It isn''t just the Grimdes, Darkmanes and Ravenws that have an advantage, there will be many hidden dragons and crouching tigers.


    "We have the advantage because we are the warriors, but they have the advantage of numbers. As you three know, in the past it was very much like this as well. The governments controlled the Aether ne and our Ancestors were able to carve out a path for us, eventually allowing us to rise to a stage where they could no longer ignore our strength and could only let us be.


    "But as you''ve seen, over the years, the world records have been falling one after another. The 100 meter sprint is at 9.28, 12 separate athletes ran the marathon in under two hours at thest Olympics, the world record deadlift has reached 550 kilograms¡­


    "The governments have taken a different approach from us, but their methods might very well work out for them in the long run and the carefully crafted chance we''ve been given coulde crumbling down.


    "Once this news descends, everyone might think that anarchy wille soon, but the governments will take this chance to disy theirpetency, and soon there will berge numbers of people under their banners.


    "However, they''ve been caught off guard by this matter much like we have. Their ns have yet to be fully entrenched and they''ve been caught with their pants down, so this is an opportunity.


    "Since the Trial was cut short, we will have to take your battle to a new stage. If you want to be granted the Bronze City Stele, it will be dependent on this nexting year.


    "Of those in the family, there are 27 that took the Trial against our best advice. Divide them amongst yourselves in a draft format. Astrid first, Mchi second, Lucius third.


    "Your task from then on is simple. I will assign you each a random city. Whoever rips that city from the ws of the government first and firmly marks it as Grimde territory, taking all its citizens under your wing, will be granted the Bronze City Stele."


    The three Heir Candidates clenched their fists hard, their eyes zing with ambition.


    "Ancestor, is it alright if we hold this draft after a period?" Astrid asked.


    Mortimer thought for a moment and then nodded. "You have three days. After that, you all will show me which of you deserves to lead the Grimde family into this new world. You may go."


    After the three left, Mortimer stood in silence, looking out into the dense bamboo forest just outside his window.


    There were many secrets of the world that would be revealed very soon, so many that the matter of his living after all these years would be insignificant in the face of it all.


    The Seventh Summoning¡­ would they fail once again?


    =End Vol. 1=

 Chapter 136 Hike

    <h4>Chapter 136 Hike </h4>


    [1150 GTs bonus]


    Ss jogged through the Brown familypound, his pace light and his breathing even. He had packed with the assumption that he would be staying here for a while, so he had most of what he needed. It turned out that he was right in the most unexpected way.


    It was still hard to wrap his mind around everything that had happened, but he thought himself to be a rational person. There was no need to ignore objective truth in favor of a reality that was no longer worth much in the grand scheme.


    The world was changing, and if you were smart, you would ept it.


    The cool wisp of fall air danced through the colored leaves. An array of reds, yellows, and oranges danced.


    Ss quite liked this sort of environment, and cardio had always been his guilty pleasure. Though, that was probably why the system had judged his Strength to be weak overall.


    "I hate you¡­!"


    A huffing breath of annoyance came from behind Ss and he seemed to remember that he was on this little excursion with his little sister.


    The little munchkin had been attached at his hip for the past two days. She hated working out, and yet she had forced herself toe with him both yesterday and today.


    Ss found it adorable, though also quite unfortunate. Because she insisted on tagging along, he couldn''t run at the speed he really wanted to go at.


    While his Aether was suppressed, his Physical Stats were the same, as were his Mental, Will, and Luck, for that matter.


    He had tested it already, and the oue was both within his expectations and quite intoxicating. It made his experiences in the Trial seem all the more real, and he was likewise all the more confident in his decision to go.


    If he was stuck in a world where he was suddenly surrounded by superhumans and a normal man, he would have felt suffocated.


    ''Maybe it''s for the best,'' Ss thought to himself. ''If I ran at the speed I really wanted to, it would be very obvious to anyone that might be monitoring me what my true strength is at. If I want a chance to continue increasing my stats, I''ll have to find a more¡­ covert method.''


    Ss slowed his jog until his little sister caught up.


    ra gave him a re as he rubbed her little head, puffing out her cheeks as though she was a toddler rather than about to go into high school.


    "Alright, want a piggyback ride?" Ss asked.


    She pouted her lips, clearly wanting to refuse. But in the end, her weak legs won out and she ended up on Ss'' back.


    ''This isn''t bad,'' Ss thought to himself.


    His sister was at most a hundred pounds, and it wasn''t nearly enough to strain his current self. But he thought that maybe if he found a way to add a substantial amount of weight to himself, he could see if he could eke out those extra Stat points he was owed.


    ''Blood restriction should also be a good method. I''ve seen some studies on their usefulness, I''ll have to try it out as well. Unfortunately, it seems that technology has stopped working as intended¡­''


    Over thest few days, there had been some odd urrences.


    For one, though his phone andptop still worked, and the electric grid was fine, the inte was spotty at best. It seemed to only work at certain times of the day and it was much slower than it had been in the past, and even if just thesest two days were taken into ount, yesterday''s inte was much faster than today''s.


    Ss had considered the fact that maybe it was the Browns doing this, but he dismissed it after a while for no other reason than the unlikelihood.


    Logically speaking, the Browns would have definitely brought them over for a purpose. They needed them, and alienating them like this would do them no good in the long run.


    ''As I''ve thought in the past, there''s only two groups of people who would respond to the Brown family''s call. Either fools looking for a quick payday, or people who thought it through and felt that something was up.


    ''You might get such a tactic past the first group, but doing so for thetter would be near impossible. At the same time, thetter is the exact group they don''t want to ostracize. Though I assume that soon, they''ll start having us do something far more substantial than justze around at our own pace.''


    Ss continued to move, slowing into a brisk walk. If he jogged as normal now, it would be too obvious that his stats were on another level.


    Although he was certain that the Browns likely had a method of telling whether he entered or not, that didn''t mean they had to know how strong he was.


    His current advantage was the fact he likely read as a Level 0 on their list, even though his stats were beyond most.


    As for whether they could tell if he was an FFF+ or not, well¡­ it was likely that they could. But in Ss'' opinion, this wasn''t a big deal either.


    He had recentlye to understand that the grading system was on a curve and it was decided by rtive strength.


    Being an FFF+ Level 0 meant that amongst Level 0''s, he was excellent, but it didn''t mean more than that. He might still very well be far weaker than a Level 1.


    ''A stupid ranking system. I almost have a feeling that it''s designed that way specifically to make new worlds like our own, fresh out from the Summoning, overestimate themselves.''


    Ss came to a stop as someone walked into his path.


    He was running along a trail in a hiking region. It was still on the Brown familypound, mostly because the estate was truly thatrge. It was rare for others toe, so the fact that someone had blocked him seemed to mean that they hade for him in specific.

 Chapter 137 Decent Enough

    <h4>Chapter 137 Decent Enough </h4>


    There were other active people like Ss, but there were less than a hundred that hade back to the Browns family. With howrge thepound was, the odds of a coincidence urring were low at best, impossible at worst.


    It was a young woman wearing a tracksuit as well. The outfit was quite formfitting, and for some reason, despite the chilly breeze, the zipper was undone to the point mounds of delicate brown skin were clearly visible.


    She looked up toward Ss in surprise, doing a double take at his height before smiling.


    "This is the second time," Ss suddenly said before the woman could speak.


    The young woman blinked in confusion.


    Her reaction was expected. Ss was speaking nonsense to her, she had all the right in the world to look at him like a crazy person.


    "Who sent you?" Ss asked.


    She blinked in surprise. "I¡­"


    Ss shook his head. "Just tell them that they don''t need to test me like this. It isn''t necessary."


    He stepped by the woman, continuing up the hilly trek withrge steps.


    "Sy, you''re never going to get a girlfriend like that," ra spoke into his ear.


    Ss almost wanted tough. "I can get a girlfriend just fine."


    "Can you?" ra asked doubtfully. "Why have I never seen you with one?"


    Ss didn''t even know how to respond. He wouldn''t introduce his family to random women, least of all his little sister. It was hard to judge a person''s character even after you had known them for years, let alone a few short months. Who knew what they might do?


    That wasn''t to say that Ss walked around thinking everyone to be some sort of mass murderer, but there were many levels below that, especially in the social media age. He didn''t want to piss off the wrong woman, and have it end with his little sister getting harassed.


    He was fiercely protective of those he loved.


    "Maybe one day," Ss finally said.


    "Humph, if you''re that desperate, I can introduce you to some nice girls. Remember Sophie? She really¡ª"


    Ss reached back and covered his little sister''s mouth, a cold sweat forming on his brow for the first time in this run.


    He did not want to listen to his little sister pitch to him why he should be considering a 13-year-old for a girlfriend.


    ra wiggled her tongue into Ss'' palm as revenge and the pair of siblings continued their hike up the mountain, leaving a stunned young woman behind.


    "Dammit! You''re lucky you''re wearing gloves!"


    ¡­


    "He said that?"


    The young woman stood before Astrid, half peeved and half respectful. Ss hadn''t even exchanged a word with her before he said that.


    She wasn''t really interested in Ss, aside from his looks. How could she be? She didn''t even know him. But at the same time, to not even give her more than a nce?


    Astrid didn''t seem to react much to this information at all. Ss wasn''t the first to react like this. There were others that were more aggressive, and even quicker on the pickup as well.


    The reason Ss reacted the way that he did was because just yesterday, on his hike with his little sister, he had coincidentally met with another man. But this man, in both covert and overt ways, was practically grilling him about how he felt about the Browns family.


    It felt like the man was trying to goad him into saying something disparaging about the family in an attempt to get him into trouble, or at the very least, to tease out his real thoughts.


    For that man to appear yesterday, and for the woman to appear today, it wasn''t a coincidence.


    Astrid sent the woman away and fell into her thoughts.


    ''His reaction wasn''t the best. If he was the shrewd kind, he would have kept it to himself. But the true loose cannons reacted fiercely the first day. The man I sent was aggressive and hardly hid their intentions¡­ but what is interesting is that today, he didn''t even wait for the woman to speak first. Why is that?


    ''Is it rted to something my brothers did? Maybe this isn''t the second time he''s run into such a matter, but rather the third, or fourth, or fifth. In that case, his grade might be even lower than it seems.


    ''Hm¡­ I also need to factor in the fact that he was with his sister. Even if he was attracted to Malissa, it would take the worst of men to abandon his sister for the sake of some time with a woman he had only just met.''


    Pulling out a sheet, Astrid began to score Ss, and in the end, she ranked him seventh on her draft sheet. Of the 27 individuals, she felt that there were likely six she should pick above Ss. But the trouble was¡­


    Next, she pulled out Ss'' file.


    ''He''s my cousin¡­ at least in-name¡ªthere shouldn''t be much blood rtion if any at all. His grandfather was a true Grimde until he married out¡­ A tenured professor at Veridian at such a young age¡­ but the credentials of the other six are even better than this, his resume isn''t very diverse and his doctorate waspleted in an inconsequential field¡­''


    Astrid tapped her pen on the desk, clicking and unclicking it out of habit.


    She wished that she could meet him in person, but this would be against the rules. It seemed she would just have to stick with her current evaluation.


    **


    Ss returned to his family''s home with his sister on his back. As he passed by, he waved politely to the family that lived near them.


    His parents had been bored out of their minds so they had begun to make friends with their surrounding neighbors, and that had eventually roped him into the mess.


    They obviously all shared the Brown family name, though that was now Grimde. They seemed like decent enough people.

 Chapter 138 Draft

    <h4>Chapter 138 Draft </h4>


    Ss dropped his sister down and the two went their separate ways to clean themselves up. There were more than enough bathrooms in the house and Ss could already smell breakfast in the air, but his mind was on other things.


    ''The inte is going down, and I wouldn''t be surprised if soon all electronic devices stopped working. In that case, my goal to use a supeputer to analyze the Basilisk King''s genome might be a pipe dream¡­ is the only solution to improve my Wisdom to the point I can analyze it myself?''


    Ss shook his head.


    No, he didn''t have so much time to waste. He would have to find a way to get off the Brown familypound before technology becamepletely useless.


    Soon came the third day. The day of the draft.


    **


    Ss stood in a row with several other people. He could feel just from the cadence of their breathing that these individuals weren''t normal. It wasn''t just the rhythm, but the sheer length of time between their breaths. Some of them only seemed to take in a breath every few seconds, some of them only seemed to breathe twice or thrice a minute.


    He couldn''t help but wonder if they noticed that they were doing this or not.


    Unlike Ss, who only spent over a week in the Trial, they had all experienced months. This was their new normal, and they probably hadn''t registered that they weren''t acting as others did any longer.


    The room they all stood in was quite simple and unadorned. There were training mats that lined the floors and even the walls. It looked like a ce forbat and sparring, though there was no other equipment aside from this.


    Before them, there was a group of people. Or, rather, three. Each one was headed by one of the three candidates for City Lord of the Bronze Stele: Astrid Grimde, Mchi Grimde, and Lucius Grimde.


    Behind Astrid in particr, Ss spotted Mellissa, the woman that had stopped him just yesterday. He also spotted the man who had questioned him as though he was some sort of psychotic consOriginal theorist.


    He noticed that some were surprised by their presences, but most weren''t.


    ''Last I checked, all three were Level 9''s, but Astrid was ranked first, Mchi second, and Lucius third¡­ I wonder howrge the gap between them is. Is the ranking based on strength? Or purely how close to Level 10 they were? And if it''s just based on distance to Level 10, theoretically the stronger their foundations, the more Pure Aether you would need to Level¡­''


    It was easy to doubt the rankings at this point. Everything Ss learned about this world made him second guess everything else. It was as though they wanted him to take it all in with a grain of salt.


    Mchi stepped forward. The first time they were all addressed, it was Astrid. It seemed that he had drawn the winning lot this time around.


    "We''ve called you all forward today because you''re the elites that managed to enter and survive the Trial,ing out and bing pirs of the family.


    "You were all informed earlier that my brother, sister, and myself are inpetition for City Lord. Unfortunately, that was cut short so we will enter a new challenge. This is not all bad, as it gives us a different set of opportunities.


    "Today, we''ll be drafting you all into our teams. Astrid will go first, I will go second, and Lucius will go third. We do not know much about you all, so we can only base it on what we''ve seen from your Trial performance, your Levels, and some other general information about your lives. So if you feel that you''ve been misevaluated, I can only say to prove us wrong in the future.


    "We are all family here. Regardless of which of the three of us wins, we''ll all have just one goal in the future, and that''ll be to support one another and the rise of the Grimde family."


    Mchi didn''t say much more, taking a step back and allowing Astrid toe forward.


    Before all of this, Astrid had felt that going first was a blessing. But over thest three days, she realized just how much pressure there was. While she had the most freedom to pick, that came with the greatest room for mistakes.


    But this wasn''t the time to look indecisive. She had to disy a strong front.


    "Alexander."


    The moment she stepped forward, the name rolled off her tongue with great ease.


    A man stepped forward. He had a sharp, military cut and a jaw sharper than a de.


    Astrid picked him less for his performance in the Trial, and more because of his background. The reality was that anyone could get unlucky in the Trial, especially when they wouldn''t have as much information and resources on hand as Astrid and the others. Just survival alone was impressive enough.


    The numbers hadn''t been released yet, but there was no doubt a worse than 90% mortality rate for those that entered the Trial. If previous patterns remained true, about half of the people on Earth should have epted entry. That meant, overnight, nearly half of Earth''s poption had vanished.


    So the real reason Astrid had picked Alexander was because his background was excellent.


    He was a special force member, handpicked out of Military College to join the Elite NIA, and evaluated to have an IQ of 147. He was cool under pressure, had experience in subterfuge and espionage, and more importantly than that, he had an inside look into the current state of the government.


    There was no doubt that he was a high risk, high reward sort of choice.


    He was exactly the kind of man that Lucius might have wanted to kill just to avoid the trouble. Right now, the government were their enemy, but to themon people, they were a force of good, while to a military man like Alexander, this was almost certainly so.

 Chapter 139 Draft (2)

    <h4>Chapter 139 Draft (2)</h4>


    [1250 GTs bonus]


    However¡­ if this was truly the case, why did he return to the call of the Browns?


    This was what Astrid was betting on.


    Alexander walked to Astrid''s side and took his ce. He seemed neither pleased nor disappointed by what had just happened. His baseline remained the same and his alertness didn''t fade in the slightest.


    Lucius stepped forward next. "Isabe."


    A woman with her hair done up in a high bun and particrlyrge, brown eyes stepped forward. Her eyes made her look far more youthful than she was, when in reality she should have been in her forties.


    She was a renowned surgeon and had be a Laureate in Medicine for her work in advancing the field of surgical enhancements, specifically in the field of athletic performance. She had managed to take a foundation of CRISPR treatments for blood-borne diseases like sickle cell anemia and turned them toward not just fixing ailments but creating superhumans as well.


    Of course, it wasn''t so exaggerated, and most of her methods were banned in officialpetition, but she had opened up much discussion in philosophy fields for what should be allowed in terms of "innovation" and what shouldn''t be.


    "Nathan."


    Lucius spoke up right afterward, almost as though he was scared someone else would speak up before him.


    Nathan Brown was the only other billionaire in the group aside from the three of them. However, he was extraordinarily unique because he wasn''t the majority owner in any one of his businesses. Instead, he was known as an entric that liked to create and then abandon projects, keeping a small sliver of their profits.


    But even so, having entered his fifties, he had sessfully formed threepanies with billion-dor evaluations and almost four dozen others that were into the nine figures.


    All of his sess was supposedly based off of his self-created AI, one that he modified based on the business and research of the market.


    He was a business genius few couldpare to.


    Like that, it was Astrid''s choice once more, and she was wholly surprised¡­ because her number two was still there.


    On her list, Alexander was first, Nathan was third, and Isabe was fourth.


    As for her second, it was¡­


    "Elena."


    Elena Brown was the second and final Laureate of the batch, a brilliant gicist. It could be said that, at least in part, Isabe wouldn''t even exist without Elena.


    She was the oldest of them all, approaching her sixties. She would have been thest person any one of them expected to enter the Trial, but she had and she hade out stronger on the other side. In fact, she had managed to be a Level 5 and was an FFF+ level threat on top of that.


    Astrid almost felt that it was unbelievable she wasn''t chosen, but when she thought about it, she understood.


    This woman was maybe more dangerous than even Alexander. Any sixty-year-old willing to take such a risk was on another level entirely, she wasn''t much more than ten or so years younger than Ss'' own grandfather.


    In addition, she was a gicist. Given that Genes built the foundation of this world, who was to say whether she could capitalize on this and surpass them all?


    The mental fortitude needed to do what she had done made the risk factor associated with her that much higher.


    This was where the difference in philosophies between herself and her brothers shone through.


    However, even so, Astrid took her without hesitation. As she said, it was the job of a leader to wield these double-edged swords. If she couldn''t make them shine through, what was the point?


    Lucius and Mchi both reacted with sharp gazes, but neither said a word.


    "Sophia."


    Mchi made his pick, and though it wasn''t nearly as awe-


    inspiring as the first four, it was a solid pick nheless.


    Sophia Brown was an environmental scientist focused on renewable resources. There was a small chance that she could leverage this as they moved from an era of fossil fuels to Aether, but this was only a secondary reason for Mchi.


    More importantly than this, Sophia was an Olympian. In fact, she was a silver medalist in the 5K. Compared to others, her foundational Genes should be exceptional, and she had a lot of room to grow.


    Aside from these first four, most of theing choices would be based on these more physical evaluations as well.


    Finally, it was Lucius'' turn once again.


    For the first time, an immediate choice wasn''t made. Lucius stood there for a long while, looking them all in the eyes one by one. Some looked away beneath his pressure, others continued to meet his gaze, and then there were some that didn''t look at him at all.


    Ss fell into this category, his breathing even. He seemed focused on keeping his breathing normal, taking a breath every one to two seconds.


    "Ss."


    The echo of his name caused Ss to look up and meet Lucius'' gaze for the first time. He nodded faintly then walked toward the man, taking up a spot beside Nathan.


    The billionaire gave him a smile and Ss nodded in acknowledgment. Nathan seemed to have a perpetual twinkle in his eyes, as though he was always searching for the next thing to tinker with.


    The rest of the draft went by swiftly. Unsurprisingly, the further along they went, the less impressive they became. But overall, the standard didn''t fall too far. Just by virtue of being able to make it here, these people were decently well-off without a doubt.


    Soon, everyone was allocated.


    "Come with me," Lucius spoke to his nine choices, taking them out of the room and toward his personal living quarters.


    The main Grimde family lived in the core of thepound and Lucius had one of the many sectioned-off courtyards within. He gathered everyone on hisrge, 20-person dining table and called his chefs in to prepare arge meal.

 Chapter 140 Setting Themselves

    <h4>Chapter 140 Setting Themselves </h4>


    [800 PSs bonus]


    "I will keep this brief. Tomorrow, we will be setting off to Lone Star, taking advantage of the nes while they still work. Soon, it''ll be difficult to travel such distances, at least until Aether tech catches up."


    "What will we be doing there?" Nathan asked.


    "That will depend on the situation. We will evaluate and make a n once there. Unfortunately, the family hasn''t given me much information on this front. There is rtive peace here, but understand that this is only because we are isted and have prepared to be so for the next ten years if need be. Even after this ten years is up, we will be prepared to be self-sufficient indefinitely.


    "The outside world, though, is very much different. Half the poption of the world has likely vanished overnight, and the Trial ended before any absolute powerhouses could be formed.


    "In the past, by the time the Trial ended, most would be invulnerable to guns and normal weapons of the like. This sounds like it''s a good thing because that way the government can suppress the situation with greater ease¡­ but that is missing the forest for the trees.


    "The chain ofmand is in shambles right now, and because the government couldn''t take full advantage of their head start, the gap between themselves and vigntes isn''t asrge as it should have been. This will only add to the chaos.


    "Our task is only to see what we can do."


    With this, Lucius didn''t say more on the topic, but Ss had already realized something.


    ''Lone Star¡­ that''s the capital of the Ranger Province and it is most definitely a top five city of importance in the whole country¡­ and all this talk about the government¡­


    ''They''re definitely setting themselves against the government.''


    **


    "You''re going?"


    Ss'' grandfather took a seat by him.


    Beads of sweat poured down Ss'' brows, the veins across his arms looking particrlyrge at the moment, almost as though green snakes were crawling beneath his skin.


    He might have taken his training a bit too far, but he had to, especially after not seeing many results in the past few days.


    Logically, there shouldn''t be any results after such a short time. Even in a period of what was dubbed as "newbie gains", it still took more than a handful of days for there to be any tangible benefits. If anything, pushing himself so hard would have the opposite effect. His body wouldn''t be able to recover and he''d end up gaining less over time.


    Ss knew this, but these things were the wisdom of a past that was no longer reflective of the present. There had yet to be studies on what it meant for a human to have 123 Constitution, and he had been proven correct.


    Today, Strength had actually increased from 110 to 111. It was such a small, insignificant change in the grand scheme, but it was a change nheless.


    As for what it took to aplish that, well¡­


    There were chains tightly wound around Ss'' arms and legs. They dug into his skin with so much force that they drew blood, but they had to be that tight or else his Constitution would shrug them off.


    At the same time, there was one band wrapped tightly around his mouth and nose, restricting his breath to a trickle.


    The weights here weren''t heavy enough for him to use. The entire gym was outfitted with about 300 pounds total, a more than reasonable amount for any casual lifter, but far too little for a Trial Taker like Ss.


    However, bybining these weights with blood flow restriction and oxygen restriction, he could make them feel tens of times heavier. At the same time, his heart and lungs were working overtime, trying to keep up with the needs of his body while the oxygen he was taking in wasn''t nearly enough.


    Over thest two days, since he had the thought, Ss had given himself three workout sessions of an hour each every day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one right before bed. Between that time, he fueled himself up with as much food as he could get.


    In exchange for those six hours of work, he had gotten 1 Strength Stat Point in return, and he was too overjoyed to even answer his grandfather''s question immediately. Well, that and the fact he could hardly breathe.


    Magnus reached over and pulled the band off of Ss'' face, shaking his head and chuckling. He couldn''t help but feel a hint of jealousy. If only he was still young, maybe he could do the same.


    "Yes¡­" Ss wheezed. "In about¡­ half¡­ an hour¡­"


    Magnus nodded. "Be careful. The governments aren''t as simple as they seem, even if they''ve been caught off guard."


    Ss looked over, realizing that his grandfather knew more than he was letting on.


    "The more I tell you, the more troublesome it will be. But since you are headed out, it''s best that you know.


    "During the Sixth Summoning, the government took the lead in everything. While it''s true that half the world entered, most died, and ultimately those with the highest chance of survival also happened to be those with the closest ties to them. The best scientists, the strongest soldiers, wouldn''t they all have ties to the government?


    "It was easy for them to take over, and this isn''t necessarily a bad thing. A transition to a new world where the governments remain is a good thing for the people. It gives them structure."


    Ss nodded. In this sort of situation, the Browns could actually be seen as the bad guys. They were the ones sowing chaos when there was an otherwise perfectly good system in ce already.


    However, he didn''t feel that the governments were trustworthy either. Why didn''t they inform the world about theing Summoning either?


    The obvious excuse was to avoid panic, but in Ss'' opinion, this was a foolish reason.


    If they could cause so many changes to the world after the failure of the Sixth Summoning, even merging all the Races and changing the structure of so many countries, why would informing the people be so impossible?

 Chapter 141 Paradise

    <h4>Chapter 141 Paradise</h4>


    It had to be remembered that after the Sixth failure, the survivors would have already experienced a Summoning. It should have been easy to pull them under one banner.


    Why make just a single Race, and yet leave so many separate countries? What was the point of speaking just onenguage if there were still dozens of cultures?


    It all felt like a smokescreen only capable of fooling those too lost in their propaganda or too uncaring to think past a singleyer.


    It seemed that everyone was scrambling to hold onto their power in some way and couldn''t be bothered to consider anything else.


    If the human race was still acting like this after almost getting wiped off the face of the, he couldn''t imagine they would ever change.


    "Anyway, I don''t know many details, this is all I can tell you. You''ve already made it so far on your own, so feel free to make your own decisions," Magnusughed, "not that you need me to tell you that."


    **


    A ne touched down from the skies. Lucius and his drafteesnded in the Ranger Province not in an airport, but a rather inconspicuous stretch of asphalt surrounded by a wheat field.


    They had clearlye for battle.


    With Aether, spatial devices had be useless and most could only carry around their weapons and various armors. Since there was no point in hiding it from the Browns anymore, they had all brought out their treasures.


    On the ne, however, Lucius had given them allrge bags to hide them. Each of them was now carrying around a pack that must have been at least a meter or two taller than them.


    Well, except for Ss. He just had a normal suitcase of clothes.


    He looked the most normal of them all. He was wearing the same tan trench coat he hade to the Brownspound with. Beneath it was a white turtleneck and a pair of ck cks and loafers.


    Rather than battle, it looked like he was about to teach another ss.


    Most had picked up on the hint that the government was not their friend for this excursion. But only Nathan and Ss seemed to realize that this didn''t mean they were going balls to the wall.


    How easy would it be to turn the people against the Browns? A family of billionaires suddenly wanted to seize control of power when the world underwent a change?


    This would be an uphill battle, and that was precisely why it was a test. One that Lucius apparently wanted them to see through on their own.


    Lucius didn''t inform them of this on purpose, clearly as an attempt to test them. The more leeway he gave them, the easier it would be to observe their characters.


    "Let''s go. There''s a small town about fifty or so kilometers from here."


    With that, he set off.


    Such a distance would have been unconscionable for them to cross before, but they hardly reacted to the distance after Lucius finished speaking.


    Like this, they set out in a group of about 30 or so. Aside from the draftees, Lucius of course had his own trusted aides.


    ¡­


    Their destination was a neighboring small town to Lone Star known as Paradise. It had a poption of only 10,000 or so, and it was quite used to having a great deal of tourists. Those that took long road trips to Lone Star would almost certainly stop here.


    For much of its life, it had lived up to its name. It was peaceful, had a low crime rate, and a warm atmosphere.


    However, as the town came into view, the first thing Ss noticed were the patrols.


    A town like this one would have a sheriff''s office. It would be an elected position that would likely double as a mayor. Clearly, whoever this sheriff was had deemed it necessary to set up such a.


    ---


    [Gabriel Shroom]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 7]


    [Mental: 7]


    [Will: 7]


    ---


    Out of habit, Ss checked one of their stats, but the result was a surprise that shouldn''t have been one.


    He shook his head. The reality was that most of the humans on Earth right this moment were not Trial Takers as the majority had died. What he had to be worried about wasn''t this person''s stats, but instead the gun on his waist.


    Ss'' gaze shifted to the gun on the man''s hip. Because the Trial had ended early, the force multipliers of Earth''s technology still reigned supreme. If someone thought they could act freely just because they had a few stats, they would quickly find themselves to be sorely mistaken.


    The unfortunate part was that Ss couldn''t scan Lucius. He was very curious about the man''s stats, but the risk was too high. He''d have to wait for a good time.


    Soon, Gabriel and his partner noticed them and couldn''t help but frown. Even under normal conditions, a group of more than 30, each with a huge sack on their back, walking into a small town like theirs would have attracted attention no matter what¡­ let alone now.


    "Stop right there!" Gabriel barked. "Identify yourselves!"


    His hand shifted to the holster on his hip, his wariness shining forth in his eyes.


    Lucius held up his hands and everyone followed suit.


    "I know it looks odd, officer, but we''re just a group of campers that got caught up on the road."


    "Campers?" Gabriel frowned, looking them over. He could believe that for some of them, but why were two of them so well dressed? Who went camping in a thousand-dor coat?


    Ss silently watched this interaction, slowlying to understand something.


    ''¡­ He''s trying to force a conflict¡­''


    It was impossible for Lucius to be so airheaded that he''d neglect such a detail. He didn''t brief any of them on exactly what the ns were, and up until a couple of hours ago, they had all thought that they were going to Lone Star, not an adjacent town.

 Chapter 142 Portal

    <h4>Chapter 142 Portal </h4>


    They could have easilye up with a n?


    Suddenly, the ground trembled and arge change began to take ce.


    Ss'' gaze snapped upward as a swirling portal appeared at the entrance of Paradise, hovering high above Gabriel''s head.


    The officer''s face paled with fear as he and his partner stumbled backward. They had been briefed on what this event was, but they didn''t expect it to appear right above them like this.


    "Run!" Gabriel yelled, turning around and hightailing it out of the region. He pulled at his other hip, taking out a radio. "Code ck! One of those fuckers has appeared! West entrance!"


    The portal swirled with greens and purples, then with a pulse, a creature leapt out.


    ---


    [Dire Wolf (F+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Physical: 39]


    [Mental: 3]


    [Will: 11]


    ---


    However, it seemed that this was just the beginning as another came, and then another.


    They rushed forward, some shocked by the new scenery and others not caring at all.


    Ss'' gaze flickered as he looked at the back of Lucius'' head. Thetter had already slowly lowered his hands as though he had never been worried about the result.


    ''Did he know?''


    Lucius looked back at them. "Looks like we''ll have to save this town."


    By the time he finished speaking, dozens of wolves had already surged in, and some had diverted their attention toward their group, charging forth.


    Ss looked down at his clothing and shook his head.


    "This is as good a time as any to establish a point system. We are in the fledgling stages of our little group, so the rules will be morex now. Anything you kill, you keep. If it''s a group battle, I''ll distribute. But since there are many targets here, have at it."


    Ss raised a palm and three floating kunai were pulled out of his pack. Although his Madness Key worked just fine, the world didn''t need to know that.


    ''Without Madness, my telekinesis should be able to exhibit 45 Physical right now¡­ that''s perfect. Not too powerful, and not too weak either.''


    He could feel some ncesnd on him but his kunai had already moved, shing across the throat of a dire wolf before they could react. As for the gazes, he didn''t care very much; he just didn''t want to get his clothes dirty.


    Ss'' fingers flickered as his kunai danced in the air. Most others didn''t even get the chance to pull out their weapons before the beasts fell one after another.


    In the distance, the portal continued to pulse, even beginning to slowly expand as though it was about to swallow the small town whole.


    ''This situation isn''t good,'' Ss thought to himself. If things continued like this, the town would be overrun.


    The beasts were rushing out for a reason. If Ss was correct, then to them, the portal must have the same attraction that Dungeons did, that being the concentration of Aether.


    Earth was barren of Aether for now, but this portal had suddenly be arge concentration of it.


    Just like Gregory had said, as time passed, more and more of these portals would appear, and it would be precisely through them that Earth integrated with the so-called Aether ne.


    ''I''m running out of time. If Aether is the downfall of technology, then it won''t be long before theputers I need be useless¡­''


    Ss looked toward Lucius, waiting for orders. He couldn''t just rush forward on his own even though that was his original intention.


    Unsurprisingly, Lucius was looking at him as well. Well, somewhat. In reality, his gaze was flickering between Ss and the floating kunai.


    ''Have they never run into someone who uses telekinesis before?'' Ss wondered.


    From his understanding, all you needed to use telekinesis was high Will and Charisma. Then again, since the Strength of telekinesis was the average of the two stats divided by four, you''d likely be hard-pressed to find anyone with Will and Charisma high enough to make a difference at these early stages.


    Lucius smiled and nodded, one part impressed by Ss'' disy and another part satisfied that he didn''t try to rush off on his own. Then again, he doubted anyone here was stupid enough to try such a thing.


    "Let''s form a perimeter here to stop the beasts from spreading outside the town. If they scatter in the real world, they''ll unleash carnage on the ecosystem.


    "As for the innocents on the inside, we''ll have to be more careful with how we deal with them. You all saw it just now as well, the police aren''t exactly on our side. There will be shes if we act rashly, and none of us are immune to firearms.


    "We''ll take things one step at a time. Show me what you all can do."


    Lucius handed out his orders. He was unfamiliar with their strengths, so he didn''t direct any of them too much. Instead, he split them into about ten groups of three and they were each designated about fifty meters or so of a perimeter.


    Ss, and none of the other draftees for that matter, were paired up with one another. Instead, they were paired with Lucius'' men and people who had been in the Brown family long before the Summoning began.


    There was a man and a woman in Ss'' group. A Mark and a Bloom.


    "I can take the vanguard," Mark spoke. "Ss, you''re an excellent support. Bloom, act at your own discretion. Look alive,dies and gents. There''s money on the line, haha!"


    Mark spoke in a much cheerier voice than his somewhat stern appearance would assume. One wouldn''t think a man wearing a leather jacket with skulls for shoulder pads would be so carefree, but you could never judge a book by its cover.


    With a BANG! Mark took a heavy shield out from his back, one that by coincidence had a skull of its own embedded right into the front. Then, he unhooked an ax from his hip.

 Chapter 143 Idiot

    <h4>Chapter 143 Idiot </h4>


    [1200 PSs bonus]


    His gaze moved toward the town. It was hard to see as the portal becamerger andrger, but whatever was on the other side couldn''t have been good.


    ''They shouldn''t be hopeless¡­ the strength of these beasts isn''t enough to act with impunity. Thirty to forty strength isn''t even enough to knock down a barricade door, and most guns don''t need technology to work.''


    Morality wasn''t something that Ss often concerned himself with. Well, more urately, he didn''t concern himself with the same arbitrary lines of morality drawn by everyone else. He hadn''t even hesitated to kill humans in the Trial.


    However, he had his own bottom line about certain things. If Lucius wanted to use the sacrifice of the town to establish some sort of dominance or prestige over them, which was likely where this was going, Ss himself wouldn''t feel too chipper about that.


    That said, he wouldn''t stop it either. Now wasn''t the time to stand opposed to the Browns. So he could onlyfort himself with those thoughts.


    "Iing!" Mark called out.


    [Dire Wolf (F+)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 49]


    [Mental: 13]


    [Will: 21]


    A trio of dire wolves charged forward, their tufts of ck fur pressing against their bodies beneath the wind pressure.


    They wererge, standing at a meter and a half tall, and their length, even excluding their tails, was easily over two.


    The extinct creature carried a speed with its enormous body that defied logic, and it closed in with untold swiftness.


    "I can''t block all three of them, look alive!"


    Mark took a heavy step forward and thrust his shield forward. He angled it perfectly, throwing the first-in-line dire wolf into the runningne of another.


    The third burst through the line, appearing before Bloom in a sh.


    Bloom''s spear danced, an odd sudden burst of strength rushing out from her as she thrust thrice in quick session.


    The first, aimed at the wolf''s front paw, forced it to dodge swiftly to the side.


    The second, aimed right at itsnding spot before it could even regain its bearing, tearing into its chest.


    The third swiped up and to the side, shing into the beast''s maw, opened in a bid for immediate retaliation.


    ''Skilled,'' Ss thought as his kunai sprung into action. They swept at the wolf''s front paw as it was distracted by its pain, leaving it with just three.


    The three kunai flew in a line, seemingly gathering strength from one another. When they struck, they struck at the same ce continuously, eventually severing the stubborn leg as though a tough cut of meat.


    Losing its bnce, the wolf stumbled to one side, just in time for Bloom to follow up with another spear strike, this time right through its open maw and into its brain.


    The beast copsed while Ss had already turned his attention to Mark''s situation.


    The man was about to be pincered by two enraged wolves. He propped up his shield to defend against one while he swung his ax at the head of the other.


    Without the support of Aether, Mark could only use his shield in the most basic of ways. If not for this restriction, blocking those three would have been a walk in the park.


    Ss had seen the skills of a shield man before, namely from Brant. So he knew exactly how troublesome they could be to deal with. Right now, Mark was practically fighting with a hand tied behind his back.


    Mark was forced back a step as the wolf collided into the shield. The sudden change forced his ax swing off the mark, leaving him a bit flustered.


    Ss frowned. ''The warriors of the Browns should be much stronger than this, what¡ª''


    His eyes widened in realization.


    The strongest reliance of the Browns should be their de Aura, but that Gene Talent was useless without Aether. At the same time, whatever advantage of Level they had gained from the Trial was also useless because there was no Aether here.


    It was likely that any stat boosts they had gained from leveling Aura, but that Gene Talent was useless without Aether. At the same time, whatever advantage of Level they had gained from up had actually regressed or atrophied, likely to only return after a steady supply of Aether was provided.


    Was that why Lucius wanted this town so badly? The portal was a headache to deal with, but it was also the only thing pumping out Aether on Earth right now other than, obviously, other portals.


    Not only was it worth it to deal with the hassle in this situation, but these portals would even be strategic resources.


    ''No, this is just a hypothesis for now. Technically speaking, the Browns'' base stat limits should also be exceptional. Mark is currently fighting two wolves, so that could throw off my estimations a bit¡­''


    On Earth, even the heavyweight boxing champion of the world wouldn''t be able to fight two people at once with ease. Ss only gained the ability to control a battlefield against multiple people at once after he gained Skills to support his battle style.


    For Mark, who had grown used to fighting a certain way for thest three months, to have to adjust to a new style, it would be troublesome.


    If only he could take the risk to scan their stats, then he wouldn''t have to do all this guesswork.


    Despite his flood of thoughts, neither Ss nor Bloom was slow to react.


    Bloom was a step slower, so Ss'' kunai rushed forward, blocking the path of the wolf before it could lunge at Mark. It was forced to dodge to the side, unwilling to get caught up.


    "Mark, you fucking idiot. I swear to god if you die because of these little dogs, I''m going to piss on your grave."


    Ss blinked.


    It was the first time Bloom spoke, and he thought for a moment that it was Cassarae instead. It seems he finally found someone who could give her a run for her money.


    Bloom seemed to truly be pissed off. Ss was going to act again, but he quickly found that he didn''t even get the opportunity to.

 Chapter 144 Flow Once More

    <h4>Chapter 144 Flow Once More </h4>


    [1350 GTs bonus]


    This was the first time Ss had seen someone fight and truly felt in awe of their skill. He realized that stats or not¡­ the Browns were on an entirely different level.


    Bloom had already appeared in the path of the beast the moment it dodged Ss'' kunai, almost as though she had already read and predicted it.


    Her spear swept from the ground up, drawing a gorgeous arc through the air. Fluttering cuts of severed grass followed her stroke as though nature was blessing the sweep of the de.


    The dire wolf swiped a paw at it, and de and w shed for but a moment before Bloom''s wrists twisted.


    The spear seemed to be akin to a slithering snake, curling around the beast''s w and cutting spiraling patterns through its limb.


    Tendons were cut, and the beast''s front leg fell limp.


    Bloom retracted her spear, her stance shifting like lightning. She slid her body to the side of the injured paw, giving the wolf no chance for rebuttal at all as she furiously swiped out.


    The de cut so deep into the wolf''s neck that its head almost fell off entirely.


    Seemingly not finished with her tirade, Bloom''s steps didn''t pause as she pivoted to thest beast being blocked by Mark''s shield. She found a perfect gap between the swing of his ax and the pause of the wolf and thrust her spear once more, skewering the animal right through the ribcage and rupturing its heart in a single strike.


    From one attack to the next, and then the third. Every one of her movements was perfect, and Ss felt that it was almost¡­ beautiful.


    ''That''s where that feeling ising from¡­ it feels like the flow of battle¡­''


    "Do you take pride in being aplete moron or something? You''ve been training all your life but somehow stick your head up your ass the moment you lose Aether? What is wrong with you?!"


    Bloom reached up and pulled on Mark''s ear, forcing the tall man to look him eye to eye. It looked like she would take a bite out of his nose if he dared to say the slightest word in rebuttal.


    Mark was a bit embarrassed. He really did make a rookie mistake, but in his defense, he had spent thest three months training his muscle memory to take advantage of Aether. He had gotten a bitcent.


    Ss didn''t interject; it wasn''t his ce to. Plus, he found it a bit amusing. Even without checking, he could tell that Bloom was Mark''s elder sister. They bickered like a couple, but there wasn''t that sort of feeling of romance between them. It was just a vibe he picked up, he felt that he was fairly good at sitting back and reading people.


    ''Hm, it''s sharper now than it has been in the past, though¡­''


    Normally, Ss wouldn''t make such a certain prescription without evidence, but he sounded so sure of himself just now. He couldn''t help but look toward his Luck stat.


    He still didn''t know what it was exactly, but those odd feelings he had experienced on thest day of the Trial stuck with him. This stat¡­ it was probably the most mysterious of them all.


    He had no idea how Cassarae managed to get her hands on a treasure that could give a +400% boost to it, but he didn''t need to know much to know that this was huge.


    Ss shook his head. The battle wasn''t over just yet.


    ¡­


    The hours ticked by and the cohesion of the trio grew.


    Mark didn''t make the same mistake again, and Ss quickly found that he was no less skilled than his elder sister, though a bit on the air-headed side.


    His ax and shield moved as one, and he became the anchor that made all their lives much easier. Ss never had to overextend himself, especially with Bloom by his side. They all seemed to assume that his Physical stats werecking, and he had no intention of correcting them.


    At some point after the three-hour mark, the portal''s expanding size settled down. By now, it had swallowed up half the town and felt satisfied.


    The number of beasts was stabilizing somewhat, and that left Ss curious. What was the stabilizing force? Logically, it felt like the stream of them should only be increasing.


    "The portal''s stabilized," Lucius'' voice boomed loud enough for them all to hear. "Get ready, we''ll be entering. We''ll be setting up a City Stele, but because this is no longer the Trial, we''ll have to face the Judgment. We move out in 20 minutes."


    Ss'' gaze narrowed. ''Judgment?''


    He walked toward a few of the wolves and sacrificed them to the Madness Key. From an outsider''s perspective, it looked as though he was trying his luck Genes, something everything was doing.


    ''I see. So the Judgment is a form of bnce¡­''


    Those that set up citiester had an advantage. If you chose a City Stele among the three awards, in all likelihood you wouldn''t be able to choose your location because it was the only method through which you could protect yourself. Plus, your militiamen would all start off as Level 0, just like yourself.


    If you set up a city at ater stage, your advantage was huge. Not only would you be able to pick a location, but you''d, assumedly, be of a higher Level and you''d be able to quickly catch up with a city that started off with a weaker foundation.


    It seemed that there was a penalty for choosing this route, that being the so-called Judgment. It was essentially a challenge you had to pass, a lot like a Quicktime Event. If you failed, you would lose your City Stele as well.


    ''Interesting¡­ the system doesn''t seem to be something that cares about "fairness," though¡­ So why the insistence on early cities?''


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat as he recalled something.

 Chapter 145 Fast Enough?

    <h4>Chapter 145 Fast Enough?</h4>


    Now that the Trial was over, didn''t that mean that the System Cities would begin to appear now? Could it be that this Judgment only existed for the sake of not allowing morepeting cities to join? Ones that could encroach on the monopoly of the System Cities?


    His grandfather had only told him a small bit about System Cities, but from his understanding, they were like Nexuses, but far easier to ess for themon adventurer. In fact, the vast majority of the poption would end up relying on them to survive.


    These System Cities should have existences from outside of Earth''s territory, many of whom were from worlds that had already seeded in their Summoning, or had failed and integrated with other worlds.


    Ss didn''t like the implication the slightest bit.


    After learning about the fact there werepeting ideologies in the system, one from a past era and one from this current one, he had already begun to feel uneasy. When he realized that he had entered some sort of glitch and lost three months in the Trial, this only bolstered his worry. As though that wasn''t enough, there was the fact even the Madness Key couldn''t tell him where the humans spawned in the viges came from¡­


    Everything pointed toward the fact that this was a losing game. Maybe they were never meant to seed in the first ce. There might be people with a vested interest in making sure they never passed the Summoning.


    Ss slipped on a tracksuit, changing in the field and neatly folding his clothes back into his bag. He had no intention of entering the Aether ne once more in such nice clothing.


    "He''s a bit of a stickler, isn''t he," Markughed.


    Bloom didn''t respond. It seemed that if she wasn''t an erupting volcano, she was entirely dormant. Mark was practically having a conversation with himself.


    Therge man looked at Ss'' floating kunai and poked at them. To his surprise, they were frighteningly stable, not even swaying a bit.


    "Don''t you feel tired holding them up like this? You should be draining something, no?" Mark asked curiously.


    "Not much, no. It''s not really much different from talking," Ss replied, standing to his full height and zipping up his windbreaker.


    "Really? Wow," Mark''s eyes lit up.


    Telekinesis worked on Will and Charisma; the drain was about as much as lecturing. Sure, Ss couldn''t do it endlessly, but several hours wasn''t a problem.


    "We''re moving out!" Lucius'' voice echoed. "Stay in your teams. The first order of business is to secure the perimeter. I''ll need each group to cut down five trees once we have. Make sure to conserve your Aether!"


    Ss, Mark, and Bloom moved out.


    ''This was a clever way of building cohesion before battle. At first, he seemed disorganized, but this Lucius knows what he''s doing. None of the three candidates the Browns have picked should be weak.''


    The world shed around them and soon they found themselves in a thick forest. However, Ss quickly realized this wasn''t the Amazonian Wilderness.


    There was a thinyer of snow on the ground. There were thick trees, but they were all evergreens. And there was a biting chill in the air.


    To their backs, the portal was still there and it was an easy jump to the other side. By now, Lucius'' intentions were obvious.


    He wanted to set up a city to control this ess point, allowing the Browns to control the traffic into and out of this area. At the same time, it would be the perfect springboard to Lone Star.


    Ss sensed a surge of Aether and he noticed that it was Mark and Bloom circting what looked like an Aether Replenishment method. But clearly, they couldn''t wait out the time because they also chugged an elixir soon afterward.


    Mark tossed one to Ss who nodded in return. Although Maddened Meditation could do far more for him, Ss chose to chug nheless. Even for him, there wasn''t much time to re-


    up because the beasts were already here.


    [Dire Wolf (FF-)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Physical: 55]


    [Mental: 17]


    [Will: 20]


    Snow waspressed and flung to the side by their paws. The contrast of dark fur and fluttering white would have been gorgeous in retrospect if they weren''t also such ferocious beasts.


    Ss'' kunai began to glow with a delicate green light.


    [Flying Kunai (3) (Bronze)] [Level: 5] [Ability: Pierce; Evolve] [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <1.5%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether] [Level Up Requirement: <6 Common> Genes] [Durability: 10/10]


    If it wasn''t for the fact Ss had to evolve three of them at a time, the beasts he had killed earlier today would have given him far more than this alone.


    The consumption of Aether was also exceptional because it took three times the amount to keep them all on the same ying field.


    That said¡­ his Intelligence was 205, he had enough Aether for 20plete Aether Units. This wasn''t enough to slow him down.


    He immediately used two units on each flying kunai, giving them a 30% boost. The true beauty of these kunai was that if they had a limit to the amount of Aether they could absorb¡­


    He had yet to find it.


    Mark charged out with boomingughter, his shield glowing with a silvery blue light as he bashed it outward.


    As though a shock wave had hit the line of dire wolves, their momentum was entirely stifled. They rolled back and into one another''s path and it was then that Ss and Bloom unleashed carnage.


    At first, Bloom held back a beat, feeling that she should be ready to intercept any wolves that threatened Ss'' life, but to her surprise, it was entirely unnecessary. None of them could evene close.


    After getting his Aether back, his kunai became even more lethal, not just because of Pierce, but also because of <Momentum Shift>.


    Back on Earth, the wolves could still dodge his kunai from time to time because he was only using 45 Physical. But now, even when the wolves were fast enough, it simply didn''t matter.

 Chapter 146 Now or Never

    <h4>Chapter 146 Now or Never </h4>


    On top of that, because the Physical limit of <Momentum Shift> was 200 Physical, but he was only using 45, the usual consumption of 0.5 Aether Units per activation lessened considerably to barely above 0.2 Aether Units. In fact, Ss felt that he could chain movements as the effect of the skill lingered.


    If one sudden change in direction wasn''t enough to kill the wolf, the second certainly was.


    Ss'' three kunai moved through the skies with a swift indifference for life. Every time, it was just one sh, one attack, as though he couldn''t be bothered to use a second, as though the wolves weren''t worthy.


    They fell in waves until a roar echoed from the distance, the ground shaking as though a small earthquake had been triggered.


    Ss'' gaze sharpened as he pierced through ane in the trees, finding a dire wolf looming at almost three meters tall, dashing toward them so quickly it was almost hard to spot.


    It weaved in and out of the trees, its eyes shing with hues of red as it saw its deadpanions.


    [Dire Wolf (FF+)]


    [Level: 2]


    [Physical: 70]


    [Mental: 42]


    [Will: 33]


    Ss would have really liked to see the breakdown of these stats, but he was trying not to use his Madness if he could help it. Although he had managed to learn to restrain it, who was to say what detection type abilities these people had?


    ''Speed and Dexterity should be its heavy emphasis.''


    "This is a bit fucked!" Mark called out. "There are too many. If I block it, the others will run free!"


    Despite the carnage Ss and Bloom had unleashed, there still seemed to be endless waves of wolves. It made Ss wonder just how many of them had just ended up rushing into the town.


    ''It''s not just that, but Earth has no Aether¡­ it''s possible that they entered, realized that, and then returned. The portal has a great pull for them, but what''s on the other side is meaningless. That should be why they''re pooling around the portal like this, but most won''t enter, and that should also be why the wave on the outside stabilized.''


    It all clicked into ce for Ss.


    "I have a binding Skill," Ss called out. "But it will only hold for a fraction of a second. Can you kill it in a single blow, Bloom?"


    Bloom blinked in surprise but nodded. A bind Skill was extremely rare, only the elite of the elites would have one.


    Of course, Ss was lying. With the gap between himself and this beast, he could hold it in ce for almost 10 seconds with just one 0.5 Aether Unit cast of <Astral Bind>. But once again... they didn''t need to know that.


    The FF+ dire wolf suddenlyunched itself into the air, soaring over its pack and lunging at Mark''s head.


    "Now or never!" Mark roared out.


    Ss'' Aether circted and <Astral Bind> activated.


    Bloom shot out like an iron ball from a cannon, activating an eleration-type skill that left a line in the snow.


    The dire wolf froze, but its body continued to fall through the air. The sudden change made it overshoot its target as Mark ducked behind his shield.


    The moment it was about tond, Bloom appeared with a sparkling stroke of her spear, piercing right through its frozen, open maw and into its brain.


    Her knees bent beneath the weight of the creature as it copsed overtop of her, but with a grunt, she pushed up with her legs and threw it off her spear.


    She looked back at Ss and shed a deadpan thumbs up beforeunching herself back into the battle.


    "Damn, there''s not much time," Mark said between heaving breaths.


    They had finally cleared enough of the wolves to get started on their tree-cutting task. But they didn''t have an easy way to do that. None of them wanted to waste the durability on their weapons, and they didn''t have any other tools either.


    The environment of the Aether ne was much sturdier than that of Earth. While everything looked normal, whether it was the ground, the nts, or the trees, they were all far sturdier.


    The more you fought, the more important Durability became. Due to Basic Aetherflow, Ss had run into that exact problem several times already, and it seemed he would be faced with it again.


    Just as they were stressing over the matter, a jogger came forward from the distance and tossed the three of them a few hand chainsaws. They had the teeth of chainsaws, but rather than being connected to a rotating, electricity-powered mechanism, they instead had two handles. One was essentially meant to wrap around a tree then use a back and forth motion to slowly cut a tree down.


    Afterpleting their task, the jogger headed toward the next group.


    Ss caught the hand chainsaw with his telekinesis.


    "Show off," Markughed. He had been the one to toss it over. Although Ss seemed a bit entric to him, he had more than pulled his weight so there was no need to sh over such a meaningless thing.


    Ss smiled bitterly inwardly, but he didn''t exin. If he really caught it with his hands, there was no telling if the Scorned Wraps beneath his gloves would register it as one or not.


    It didn''t seem like it should count as a weapon, but he had thought the same thing about the treasure he took from Brant''s partner. Yet, that had burnt to ash just the same.


    The three got to work. There was no telling when the next wave of beasts woulde, so they had to build up their defenses as quickly as possible.


    Ss controlled the handles of the hand chainsaw as though they were two different objects.


    It took a bit to get the hang of it. While he was pulling with one, he couldn''t exert the same amount of strength with the other. It was a novel feeling.

 Chapter 147 Suppressed

    <h4>Chapter 147 Suppressed</h4>


    [1600 PSs bonus]


    It was very intuitive to do it with his own hands, but the back and forward motion of the chainsaw was harder to grasp with his telekinesis.


    It was slow to start, and more than once the chain went too ck to cut anything.


    However, after a few seconds, Ss quickly got the hang of it, and his speed became even faster. Soon, however, he ran into another problem.


    ''Interesting¡­ it should be the bottleneck for the amount of weight my telekinesis can move.''


    The friction of such an action was exceptionally high. At some point, Ss tried to move too fast, and the friction reached a state that was equivalent to trying to lift a heavy weight. Right now, his telekinesis could still only lift around a few dozen pounds at most before the Physical he could exhibit weakened.


    Ss could break past the limit with Basic Aetherflow, but for obvious reasons, it wasn''t worthwhile to do such a thing here. But at the same time, he obviously couldn''t touch the chain.


    He slowed down the movement of the chains, maintaining a speed that was just enough that his telekinesis'' Physical didn''t fall beneath 45.


    ''Fascinating¡­''


    Ss found himself lost in the intricacies of his telekinesis. There were so many odd tidbits and quirks that he hadn''t noticed before, at least not until he was put in this novel situation.


    Technically, the hand chainsaw was one object, but his telekinesis was acting on it at two separate points.


    Could his telekinesis ovep?


    Ss tried, but they ended up canceling each other out.


    ''Makes sense¡­ my influence is already there once, unless I shrink one the other can''t take action. But if they''re acting on separate regions, it works¡­ could that work on my kunai?''


    Ss continued to cut the tree, paying attention to the minor changes. Unwittingly, his telekinesis was bing more and more refined.


    ''No, that won''t work. If I tried, it would throw the bnce off¡­''


    The first time Ss used his telekinesis to control an arrow, he distinctly remembered that it felt so much morefortable than controlling a regr dagger. When he controlled his kunai for the first time, he had the same feeling.


    This meant one very obvious thing: the aerodynamics of an object could help or hinder him.


    For example, if he was controlling an ax, he had to be mindful of the pivot point. If he just shuttled it through the air, it would lose much of its effectiveness. He would have to first move it to a proper location and then imagine it rotating with its handle as the pivot point.


    Taking a step back, if he tried to apply two different control points on his kunai, it would actually ruin the fluidity of its movement through the air and throw off its bnce instead.


    Ironically, if he wanted to apply two or more control points, it would be best if he used regr weapons rather than ones meant for flight.


    There was something else as well.


    Controlling one object from two points seemed to take more intention and focus than controlling two objects from one point. This could be seen from how it took him a while to get a hang of using the hand chainsaw.


    ''It requires more visualization. Even if it worked, the tradeoff might not be worth it depending¡­''


    Ss was so lost in thought that he almost didn''t realize that he had cut through the entire tree.


    "Iing," he called out. He had cut out a notch ahead of time, so they knew exactly what direction it would be falling in.


    After a loud BOOM! he moved on to the next tree, his thoughts still churning.


    The problem he was the most intrigued by was the weight limit. Why was it that his telekinesis wasn''t scaling as much with his Will and Charisma as much as he thought it should? In fact, it required unlocking a Gene Talent.


    ''I remember that Charisma is a stat that varies based on species. So does that mean its effectiveness is likewise decided by natural ability?''


    Ss imagined the baby of some foreign species born on another capable of using their telekinesis on objects multiple times their weight from birth.


    Was this really the case? Or was he missing something else?


    So long as the object was beneath his peak threshold, no matter how light it was, his cap was always 45 Physical. It didn''t seem to make sense. Why could he control a feather and an ax with the same¡ª


    Ss paused, his eyes shing with a blinding light.


    ''Gravity.''


    He suddenly understood something.


    When you dropped two objects from the same height in a vacuum, they would hit the ground at the same time no matter what¡ªassuming they were on the same. Could it be, then, that his telekinesis was akin to a universal constant? Except this time, rather than being decided by a or other celestial body, it was based on himself?


    Ss felt like he had just grasped onto something profound, but much like his Flow of Battle state, it felt like he was grasping at clouds. It was right there but it slipped through his fingers again and again.


    He frowned.


    ---


    [The Flow of Battle (Silver) (Quest)]


    [The Laws have sensed your Flow of Battle more than once. However, suppressed by a Comprehension much deeper and profound, it has been unable to shine its way through.]


    [The Pugilists, Warriors and Berserkers of the pastment this tragedy and seek to give you an opportunity.]


    [Find your Flow of Battle and conquer it]


    ---


    A familiar Quest screen appeared before him, and he read it carefully once more.


    ''Suppressed¡­''


    This could really only mean one thing. Comprehending Madness somehow restrained his other Comprehensions.


    Ss had already noticed that he was a bit of an anomaly. In the Slithering Madness Dungeon, heprehended Madness from the barriers earlier than he should have. This was why when the special event was triggered and he redid the Dungeon, he breezed through it.

 Chapter 148 Orciulius

    <h4>Chapter 148 Orciulius </h4>


    [2000 PSs bonus]


    If he was correct, the second go-around was when he should have grasped Madness or died trying. Even the Dungeon hadn''t expected him toprehend Madness the way he had.


    Since then, he had stumbled onto another Comprehension, and this should be the third time. But both this second and third time seem to have been stifled by Madness.


    He didn''t really understand why this was happening, but by this point he did have more than enough beasts randomly strewn about to find out.


    [Why is my Comprehension being stifled by another?]


    [A Comprehension is a kernel of enlightened understanding toymen, but in practice, it represents a path. The requirement to elevate your strength from F-ss to E-ss is a Comprehension.]


    [When a Comprehension manifests, it bes a part of you. This is why its activation can directly influence your stats. It is intertwined with your Genes and as such can bolster their function.]


    [For another Comprehension to appear after one already has, it either must suppress your original Comprehension and force it into Dormancy, or it must form a synergistic link and bnce.]


    [If this is not possible, you will never form another Comprehension.]


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    He never really thought about the mechanism through which his Comprehension raised his stats, but it made sense. How else could it raise his stats if it wasn''t fused with his Genes somehow?


    ''The Quest is implying that it can help me with this¡­ it seems I''ll have to take it much more seriously¡­''


    It wasn''t that Ss wasn''t satisfied with Madness, but the secrets surrounding it were¡­ troubling. The Madness Key, the Scorned Wraps, the mysterious loss of three months, the system, and the Legendary Era¡­


    It wasn''t smart to put all his eggs in one basket, especially if that basket bit back.


    Ss absentmindedly cut down his five trees. He made another cut to slice away their branches and tten out the tops. After that, he began to pull them over.


    The trees they brought over were quickly processed and cut into two, forming a five-meter-tall wall that surrounded the portal.


    Ss noticed some debris from the town, but much of it had actually been processed and repurposed. One didn''t need to be a genius to know that Lucius nned to use them to build some of the town''s facilities.


    "There won''t be much time between the activation of the City Stele and the Judgment, so rest now and prepare yourselves."


    The city felt out of ce, as though it fell from the skies and onto a random plot ofnd, ttening whatever had once been there.


    It had tall, steel-like walls that rose 20 meters in the air, and within, there were buildings and skyscrapers that dwarfed even them. It looked like a metropolitan city had randomly spawned in the middle of a dense forest, and it felt distinctly Earth-like¡­ but almost too much so. Almost like an alien race had read what Earth was like in a book and recreated a fanciful version of it.


    This ce was none other than the first System City of a long list of many, and it just so happened to be less than a hundred kilometers from Paradise''s portal.


    Whether that was a coincidence or not, it was hard to tell.


    It was deep within this city that seemed already bustling with people that a shield of light was hidden within in view.


    The location was known as the Capital Building, and it wasn''t much unlike the White House of the United Coalition of Terra Nova. Just after the city fully formed, a silver fox of a man slowly opened his eyes, a radiant blueing from their depths.


    [Rond Orciulius]


    [Level: ???]


    **


    Ss stood up high on the smooth surface of a log. The footing was solid, far more solid than he had thought possible. But who would have thought that Lucius would prepare arge amount of concrete?


    Now that they had a portal between the outside world and the Aether ne, there was no need to restrict themselves. As long as it didn''t rely on electricity, the other forms of human ingenuity were all a go.


    And now it wasing.


    The vige that Lucius built with their help was simply constructed. On the inside, there was another fence structure that marked the outer region of therge spherical portal. The actual living structures were nothing more than simple tents for now that surrounded it.


    The portal had swallowed up what felt like half of Paradise, so you could imagine the size of it. Luckily, the part that was near the ground was still manageable.


    Ss had a hard time wrapping his mind around exactly how it worked, but the portal seemed somewhat unstable despite its construction seeming to belie that fact.


    The portal looked like a smooth snow globe without a base, reflecting the images of the world on the other side and projecting them right onto its surface.


    But there was a bit of distortion nheless. It was akin to how one could never perfectly project a t map because the world was round. So there were some imperfections, almost like looking at a fish through the water.


    Due to that, when Ss, Mark, and Bloom entered from the other side, though their point of entry was almost identical to the others, when they made it to the other side, they were actually a long distance away from the other teams.


    Ss silently took note of all of this, taking a breath as a pir of light shot into the skies.


    A screen appeared before him.


    [Judgment Commencing]


    [Time: 00:00:30]


    The time ticked down, a feeling of oppression spreading through the battlefield


    ''There''ll be three waves, each one having one BOSS. The strength is proportional to the City Lord''s, but Lucius almost certainly had someone else take up this responsibility.''


    There was a reason this loophole was there. Controlling a city was a huge power boost.

 Chapter 149 [Judgment Commencing]

    <h4>Chapter 149 [Judgment Commencing]</h4>


    It was rare for someone stronger to entrust a weaker person. And it was likewise difficult for a weaker person to entrust a stronger person to protect them.


    So why was Ss so sure? That was because there was no way that Lucius would ept the penalty of being unable to leave the city limits.


    Though¡­ Ss wondered. Was the Portal a loophole to that?


    [Judgment Commencing]


    [Time: 00:00:03]


    Ss took a breath and exhaled as the skies turned red.


    At first nce, it looked like a trick of the eye, a mirage painted by fatigue instead of reality. However, upon second inspection, it became clear that it wasn''t the skies turning red at all, but rather a dome of crimson had rooted itself in this city''s territory.


    The scene below looked like it was straight out of a video game. shes of light bloomed as creatures began to spawn one after another¡­ except this time they weren''t beasts, but rather humanoids.


    --


    [Draga (F)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 62]


    [Mental: 51]


    [Will: 42]


    --


    [Grimgor (F+)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 65]


    [Mental: 57]


    [Will: 51]


    --


    Grimgor led a squadron of ten and charged toward the walls.


    Ss looked to the side, seeing if there was a different situation elsewhere. It seemed that there were three such troops of gnolls total, and each one was led by an F+ while the troop itself was formed of F''s.


    ''This is the first wave? Where is the BOSS?''


    The details were murky to Ss as most things had only been exined in passing. But it seemed that they would have to defeat this siege of 33 before they could even see the BOSS.


    This was very troublesome, mostly because this number was about equal to their own, and if the first wave was actually so strong, how many of them would die?


    As a Level 9, it should theoretically be possible for Lucius to deal with all of this with ease, but Ss was fairly certain that he wouldn''t be lifting a finger unless he had to.


    Everything, from start to finish, was a test.


    The question was how best to protect himself without disying too much?


    Mark reached into a bin of javelins and threw one down toward the ground with all his might. It lit with Aether and sliced through the air with a sort of menace attached to it.


    The gnolls raised wooden shields in an attempt to block with crude weapons, but the result was about as much as you might expect.


    The first in line was skewered right through the chest, the defense of his shield bing a thin reminder of the gap in equipment.


    Ss sent a gaze toward the basket. Lucius had taken a mostly hands-off approach to everything, but that wasn''t to say that he had done absolutely nothing.


    How would they take advantage of their elevation advantage if they couldn''tunch long-ranged attacks? But at the same time, bowmen were incredibly rare after the trial. It was a true luxury to rent a bow, not just because of the difficulty of procuring arrows, but the learning curve was steep.


    It had to be remembered that most who entered the trial werebatymen. From their perspective, it was easier to sh and pray than to hope their arrowsnded.


    In the end, it was easier to give them all javelins and hope that it was enough.


    But Ss couldn''t help but wonder¡­ why not guns?


    Logically, a gun was just a mechanism that relied on gunpowder. Wouldn''t it be easy to deal with this wave with a few weapons of that caliber? So long as it wasn''t a machine Logically, a gun was just a mechanism that relied on gunpowder. Wouldn''t it be easy to deal with this wave with a gun or other advanced artillery that would need electricity, there shouldn''t be a problem.


    Another test maybe? Another reason.


    Mark kept throwing out javelins. His uracy wasn''t the best, but Ss didn''t mind because soon¡­ it wouldn''t matter.


    Ss raised a hand and a javelin was pulled out from the basket. It was a manmade treasure, formed from a special steel alloy. It had no stats at all, but its strength couldn''t be denied.


    Mark blinked when he saw this. He had made the assumption that he would be the one throwing the javelins because he had the greatest physical strength, and he hadn''t seen Ss'' telekinesis ever pick up anything heavy.


    After throwing out six javelins, he had only managed to kill two of the gnolls and they were already within 20 meters of the wall¡­


    And that happened to be Ss'' range.


    The javelin suddenly shot through the air. It moved much slower than when Mark threw them out. It was to the point the gnolls didn''t take them seriously¡­


    Until it was toote.


    A gnoll that nned to casually dodge the javelin found it skewering their jaw in an instant. Before the rest could react, the javelin made a sudden movement once again and killed another.


    A single javelin, two kills.


    Grimgor was enraged and suddenlyshed out, bringing down a heavy bone ax onto the javelin''s body.


    It nged into the snowy ground, nearly ripping a trench into it. The javelin lost its glow and fell to the ground, but Ss had already picked up another.


    Grimgor''s actions were, indeed, a good way to deal with his telekinesis. Any strong attack like that would effectively multiply the weight of the weapon, causing him to be unable to control it in that instant of time. But he still wasn''t done yet.


    With a flicker, the second javelin rushed down.


    This time, the gnolls were far more cautious. They didn''t know how Ss could suddenly turn the javelin with such speed, but they had no choice but to take precautions. They nned to use one gnoll to block the javelin and a second to send it crashing into the ground.


    Their tactic worked. The difference between humanoids and beasts was clearly on disy as their intelligence was often even more important than their strength.

 Chapter 150 Nazgul

    <h4>Chapter 150 Nazgul </h4>


    Even so, Ss unhurriedly took out a third javelin and sent it flying out.


    Mark frowned and was about to say something when Bloom blocked him with a hand.


    When he gave her a questioning look, she gave him a re in return.


    The gnolls were ready to use the same tactic again, focusing their attention on the javelin. But just as they were about to deal with it, it fell from the skies limply.


    They were caught off by this change when suddenly, the second javelin they had left behind whirred to life, shooting forward before Grimgor could even react and piercing the back of his skull.


    Grimgor''s eyes dimmed.


    The gnolls looked back in shock, only for the third javelin to suddenly burst to life and reap another.


    Before they even managed to make it to the walls, only four gnolls remained.


    "I''ll deal with the rest," Bloom spoke a few rare words. "Ss, support me, please."


    She leapt down from the walls after this, her spear shing like streaks of silver stars through the night sky.


    With the support of Ss'' kunai, Bloom made quick work of them. In fact, they were the first to finish.


    There were other teams tasked to deal with this section of the wall with them, but none of them got the chance to act at all.


    They could only stand by and conserve their strength.


    Mark pulled Bloom up from below with a rope, grinning ear to ear.


    "What are you grinning for? You almost ruined everything! Do you think being an idiot is a personality trait?"


    Mark rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.


    ''She''s sharp,'' Ss thought to himself. He watched Bloommbasting her younger brother for the hundredth time today, but he didn''t see theedy in it this time. He was instead focused on something entirely different.


    Bloom understood what he was doing even though she shouldn''t have. In fact, he originally nned on stopping Mark from moving himself and would have had she not intervened.


    The only way she could have known was that she had already deduced that he could pick up objects within 20 meters and "losing" control of his telekinesis didn''t mean that he did so permanently.


    The question was¡­ did she gain this knowledge because she had observed other telekinesis users¡­? Or because she had seen through him?


    The difference seemed meaningless. And yet, to Ss, they were worlds apart.


    The ground rumbled and a sh of light formed in the distance.


    A gnoll, two and a half meters tall appeared. Its arms seemed to be much longer than normal, the twin bone axes it held barely hovering above the snowy ground. A foul, green liquid dripped from its bared teeth. In fact, this same green liquid seemed to coat its des.


    Ss looked over and found that the other two waves of gnolls had yet to be cleared¡­ but the BOSS had already appeared?


    ''It''s time-based,'' Ss realized. ''Does this mean that if we don''t clear this wave fast enough, the second wave will start andbine with this one?''


    Ss realized that this could get very bad, very quickly, but there was no sign of Lucius taking action at all.


    [Nazgul (FF)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 72]


    [Mental: 60]


    [Will: 58]


    Ss frowned. This situation could get out of hand quite quickly, and he felt that there was a reason Lucius was doing things this way.


    In a pressure-cooker-like situation, it would slowly force them to reveal more and more of themselves until they had nothing left to give. It was likely that it would only be at that point that Lucius would finally take action.


    Even if it didn''t work out that way now, Lucius would likely keep putting them in situations like this one until he had a full scope of understanding of them all.


    It was smart, but it put Ss in a bind. Now he had to find a way to both leave this ce and ess aputer as quickly as possible, while also defeating this wave without disying too much of his strength.


    He didn''t believe for a moment that if he pretended as though he was going to die that someone would sweep out and save him. It was more likely that Bloom and Mark would be put in danger in his stead, and though he didn''t blink while killing those he had to, he wouldn''t risk the lives of those that had done no wrong to him either.


    That was the piece of his humanity he chose to keep. Unless he had no other choice in the matter, he wouldn''t take such a step. However, if push came to shove, he would always pick his own family over this brother-sister duo. He just hoped that it wouldn''te to that.


    And if he wanted to avoid that future, he would have to find a way to pre-emptively deal with this.


    Ss scanned the battlefield as the BOSS, Nazgul, rushed toward the wall. With its speed, it was only a matter of a few seconds at most.


    ''How do I do this¡­ the steel alloy javelins are sharp, but they can''t withstand Aether. Even if they could, using Basic Aetherflow would be a step too far. If the battlests too long, though, it will cause more problems than not as the subsequent waves start making their way in. Do I have to reveal that I can wield multiple heavy javelins at once? But then what?''


    The space was enclosed, the city was mostly empty, the only weapons they were given were the alloy javelins and¡ª


    Ss'' gaze sharpened.


    He lifted up a hand and the chainsaw whip that he had tucked away suddenly flew into the air. In fact, Mark''s and Bloom''s flew up as well.


    Who said that he could only use his telekinesis to attack?


    "Get ready to throw, Mark," Ss called out, his gaze sharpening to an unprecedented extent.

 Chapter 151 Waves

    <h4>Chapter 151 Waves </h4>


    Mark blinked in confusion but picked up a javelin anyway. His aim wasn''t the best, but since Ss had said so and he didn''t want to get scolded by his sister again, he did as he was told.


    By this point, Nazgul had already entered a 20-meter range. It saw the hand chainsaws rushing forward. They spiraled through the air, swinging like pinwheels in hard-to-predict patterns.


    With a savage glint in its eyes, Nazgul swung one of its des toward the chainsaw, but this time the result was unexpected.


    The hand chainsaws were long enough to wrap around the thick trunks of trees. A usual handheld chainsaw would at most be around three feet or a meter long. These, however, were twice that, likely to take advantage of their added Strengthpared to normal humans and the fact they were cutting down quite substantial trees.


    As a result, when Nazgul swung at the rotating chain to knock it down, rather than seeding, its two halves suddenly swung out in opposite directions, wrapping around Nazgul''s weapon, wrist, and arm.


    "Ready," Ss spoke, and Mark raised the javelin.


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    To the outside world, it looked as though he was still controlling just three objects, that being the three handheld chainsaws. But in reality, he had suddenly split his attention four ways.


    He had already been able to control three daggers before he passed out in the Basilisk Dungeon the second time. But now that his Wisdom was 62¡­


    He pulled at the handheld chainsaw from two opposite ends, applying the skills he had just learned barely an hour ago.


    Blood flew as the chains cut into Nazgul''s arm as a whistling sound cut through the chilly air. Mark''s javelin shuttled through the air, streaking with a silvery light.


    Nazgul''s odd green liquid began to corrode the handheld chainsaw, but it wasn''t fast enough. The wounds that appeared on his arm were merely superficial, and by the time Nazgul realized he should drop his second weapon in an attempt to peel the chain off of himself, it had already snaked up his arm, down his torso, and tightened around his ankles.


    In a vain attempt, Nazgul tried to use his overwhelming Strength to rip his legs apart and shatter the chains, but the result was even more tragic. The gnoll elite ended up sealing its own fate. Its tendons tore apart beneath the des before the chainsaw gave way, and just as it tripped forward, unable to uphold its own weight any longer, Mark''s javelin arrived.


    As unlucky as the gnoll elite was, it fell right into the path of Mark''s javelin and its head was pierced through.


    "Holy shit! Badass!" Mark yelled out.


    In the chaotic battlefield, it was quickly drowned out, but Bloom and Ss heard him well enough.


    Ss didn''t respond, waiting for the other foot to drop. He was almost certain that all of this was time-based. The three of them had killed the first ten gnolls so fast, but the BOSS had appeared right afterward. It couldn''t have taken more than ten minutes even including Bloom''s personal ughter fest.


    This time, they took out the BOSS in less than a minute, so Ss was paying attention to how long passed as he thought about his attacks just now.


    ''I don''t always have to take the hard approach to telekinesis, the soft approach is even fiercer in a lot of ways, especially since I can control it from a distance. I don''t have to put myself in the line of risk¡­ it''s no wonder the Scorned Wraps destroyed the. Such things can be considered to be weapons as well¡­''


    The only unfortunate part was that the chain had been somewhat corroded by whatever green liquid had been dripping from the gnoll elite.


    The good part, though¡­


    Ss raised a hand and the twin axes came toward him one by one.


    Lucius wanted to eke out his real strength? Well, they''d have to see if these monster waves were good enough to get past his schemes first. As it seemed right now, they had no chance.


    ¡­


    Time passed quickly and the second wave came and went, as did the third. In the end, Ss, Bloom, and Mark ended up bing mercenaries, traveling to the other parts of the wall to help with the lingering threats from former waves.


    Every time the BOSS appeared, Ss'' telekinesis would suffocate them, thebination of handheld chainsaws and the helpful addition of the gnoll elite''s corrosive weapons gave him an edge the others couldn''t ovee.


    Thest BOSS was more difficult because of its exceptional Constitution, but even then, Ss was able to use what remained of the three handheld chainsaws to tie it up along with <Astral Bind> to give Bloom a chance to deal the final, fatal blow.


    In the end, the three of them were responsible for the kill on all three BOSSes.


    It was just a shame that Ss didn''tnd the killing blow on any one of the BOSSes, so for now, he had still only cleared the Fragmented level of his Quest.


    ---


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 1 Level above you (Cleared)]


    ---


    Lucius sat back in his chair, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He didn''t expect that he wouldn''t have to take action at all. He thought for sure that he''d have an opportunity at some point or another.


    He read the reports once, then twice.


    ''Interesting¡­ his strength isn''t that great, but his application of it is far beyond anyone else. But that is also because his telekinesis has a crazy amount of flexibility.


    ''He''s Level 0? But his Charisma should be in the hundreds at the very least, so his Intelligence and Wisdom are likely weak, but his Will should also be exceptional¡­''


    Lucius wasn''t surprised by this, it was still within the realms of reason. It was still eptable for a Grimde, even if it was a Grimde who hadn''t followed along with the pure lineage.

 Chapter 152 Suspension of Belief

    <h4>Chapter 152 Suspension of Belief</h4>


    [2800 PSs bonus]


    Even an impure Grimde should have around a 50 Stat Limit at Level 0. For Mental, that meant he could have abined total of 150 stat points across Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, while Will was outside that calction. So, assuming that Ss'' Intelligence and Wisdom were weak, it still made sense that his telekinesis could be so strong.


    ''That isn''t all. From my understanding, even having high Charisma and Will alone isn''t enough to use telekinesis to this extent. You need a talent for visualizing your environment and excellent spatial awareness¡­''


    Lucius was very surprised that the best performance came from Ss. He didn''t know whether he should be disappointed in his first overall pick or not, but then again¡­ he hadn''t chosen Nathan for hisbat prowess, but rather his administration abilities.


    Still, Nathan hadn''t performed poorly either, he had shown some shes. It could be said that Ss was just on another level.


    ''He''s as good as the family''s seedlings¡­ his ability to adapt is excellent and he also didn''t try to hide himself, he shone brightly even though he didn''t have to¡­''


    Lucius tapped a finger on his desk.


    He had taken a risk in drafting Nathan. While thetter was a genius, the kind of ces he would need him to disy his abilities in would also leave him quite vulnerable. That meant that he would need to take a great amount of care and time before he could trust Nathan with anything.


    But Ss¡­ not only was he his second overall pick, but he had given him quite a good surprise.


    ''We''ll take things slow. I''ll see if I can trust him by giving him a few tasks and see how he performs.''


    **


    "Scout?" Ss raised an eyebrow after listening to Mark''s exnation.


    "Yes. Lucius wants us to take a trip to Lone Star and get ay of thend. Paradise is actually pretty important to Lone Star. You probably know but Lone Star is a huge city and it''s always constructing new skyscrapers and attractions. Much of the refined metals they need for thate from right here, but those metals are important to our operation. We need to go and find out how Lone Star ns to deal with this matter.


    "It''s unlikely that they''ll be in the mood to build attractions when they just lost half their city''s poption, but it''s our job to find out."


    Ss nodded slowly, but he had a feeling that with how flimsy this exnation was, this was hardly the real exnation.


    Something like the steel used in skyscrapers had to go through countless processes, from mining, to refinement, and then shaping. There was no one location that could do all of this, especially not a single town. Maybe if it was a chain of towns he''d believe it, but this exnation was too stupid.


    Second, even if he was willing to suspend his disbelief and take them at their word, what did they mean by "find out how Lone Star ns to deal with this matter"?


    The real reason for this flimsy exnation was just a subtle nudge.


    First, it let Ss in on the fact that they were at odds with the government, and second, it let him know that while they were increasing the length of his leash a little, it wasn''t to the point of letting him have free rein. Even now, they were willing to lie right in his face and not blink twice.


    ''Even so¡­ I don''t think they''d make up such an exnation for no reason. It should at least be somewhat rted to metals¡­ this is a good opportunity.''


    "Okay," Ss nodded. "When do we set off?"


    ...


    The path to Lone Star wasn''t as smooth sailing as the road to Paradise had been. There wererge numbers of beasts that had slipped through the cracks, and it even seemed that some of the creatures born and raised on Earth had begun to change as well. In all likelihood, they were undergoing a simr process to what had urred during the first night of the Trial, but it was taking ce over a longer period of time.


    However, rtively speaking, the issue wasn''t veryrge.


    The Portal was attractive because of therge concentration of Aether, but thisrge concentration quickly dissipated the further from the Portal you were. It seemed that the Portal was a funnel of sorts that was increasing the Aether concentration of Earth, but it would take a significant amount of time for it to have arge effect. In fact, it would most definitely take several portals working together in conjunction for such a thing to ur.


    What Ss did find, though, was his answer to why Lucius hadn''t used guns.


    Originally, he had just dismissed it. This was because he assumed that Lucius was just trying to test them, and if they were all using guns, that wasn''t much of a test.


    However, it seemed that the problem was much deeper than he thought.


    On the way, he saw a few of the deputies and policemen fighting against waves of beasts, and for some reason, their guns continuously jammed.


    A jam or even two wasn''t a problem. Over arge enough period of time, it was bound to happen. But the frequency was frightening.


    ''It seems I''ve been naive,'' Ss thought to himself. ''Why would electricity stop working in the presence of Aether? It''s easy to just wave it away as a quirk of the special energy, but what if what''s really happening isn''t that Aether is suppressing technology, but rather that thews of physics and chemistry that we''re all used to are slowly changing over time?''


    When Ss had this thought, he finally understood. It was no wonder, then, that they were even walking on foot. Setting aside the fact that most cars these days were full of electronics, maybe even thebustion that the engines relied on couldn''t be produced reliably anymore, just like the gun powder of their guns were misfiring at least 30% of the time, it seemed.

 Chapter 153 State Your Purpose

    <h4>Chapter 153 State Your Purpose </h4>


    Unless they adapted, there was no way their previous reliances would be useful. In another few months, the world would be unrecognizable and science would have to restart from square one.


    Things began to click into ce for Ss one after another.


    He had wondered ever since he learned that there was more of a connection between themselves and those that fell during the Sixth Extinction event. If the governments from back then could still organize themselves so well, and ancient families like the Browns managed to make it through¡­


    Why was technology basically identical to what it had been in the 21st century? In fact, it seemed that they had only just finally been able to make up for the losses.


    But this exined everything. If you had to restart from the very beginning every time a Summoning was failed, then it was impossible for science to progress quickly. In fact, if an entire civilization was wiped out, it would only be worse. The reason they still had this technology at all was because humans managed to survive the Sixth Summoning. If not, they would have been knocked back even further.


    ''If that''s the case, it shouldn''t just be that the Aether appears and changes the fundamentalws of the world and then everything goes back to normal afterward. It''s more likely that there are subtle changes to technology every time, or else the Browns would have long since been ready to put out technology that would actually work in this new era¡­''


    Ss was entirely lost in his thoughts when he felt like he had suddenly stumbled into something big.


    ''No¡­ that''s just spection, I can''t say for certain. I need more information¡­''


    Just now, Ss'' mind had wandered to the System Cities and the Judgment. His question was simple¡­ if the Judgments thatter cities faced were a barrier to suppress them, who was to say that this was the only way to suppress them?


    His System Breaker Title was the perfect example that the system wasn''t infallible. Who was to say that it couldn''t be tweaked around the edges?


    If after every failure, they were given time to adjust their technology to the newws of the world and could continue advancing, what level of technology would they have now?


    It had been less than 200 years since thest the Sixth Extinction, but ording to what he understood about the 21st Century, technology back then was takingrge leaps every decade. AI was just starting to be huge and it seemed that every moment that passed a new resounding breakthrough would be made.


    Who was to say what they could have done if they kept up that pace for 200 years?


    But what if instead of being allowed to keep up such a pace, they were thrust back to a state where they had to relearn all the fundamentalws of the world, a state where the shoulders they had once stood upon to progress became useless?


    Ss'' gaze couldn''t help but narrow.


    He knew that he was specting too much. He couldn''t draw such overarching conclusions based on a few jammed guns.


    ''And maybe, they''re not as helpless as I think they are¡­''


    His thoughts drifted to the special steel alloy that made up the handheld chainsaws and the javelins. Maybe they were more prepared than he thought¡­ at least in some respects.


    Time would tell.


    ¡­


    It took the trio three days to reach Lone Star on foot. By this point, they were out of the range of the denser patches of Aether and were able to hop into a car directly for the rest of the way.


    A city like Lone Star should have hadrge amounts of traffic moving in and out, but it had nothing of the sort. In fact, the car they had taken was abandoned. They were unsure of what happened to it, nor did they particrly care.


    Well, Bloom didn''t care since she was the one that hotwired it. As for Mark, he followed anything his elder sister did and Ss just didn''t feel there was a need to mince their actions when the world was already in a state like this one.


    As they got closer, though, Ss felt impressed for no other reason than the fact there weren''t any signs of rioting and looting on the streets. Or, if there had been, they had long since been suppressed by the government.


    Soon, though, they rolled up to a checkpoint and were blocked by some soldiers.


    ''Soldiers, not policemen,'' Ss thought to himself.


    They were dressed in heavy armor, the bulletproof vest type rather than the medieval type that Trial goers had gotten used to seeing. They wore ck armored caps on their heads and all of them held rifles.


    "State your purpose," a gruff-looking man said in an even tone.


    His gaze couldn''t hide his training. The trio was too odd. Bloom and Mark wore leather while Ss wore a tracksuit, one of the windows of the car was sted out, and they didn''t look nearly as nervous as they should have been.


    He almost immediately pegged them as the worst of the lot: Trial Takers.


    In thest few days, there had been more than one instance of fools with godplexes thinking that it was their turn to rule the world, establishing themselves as kings and queens of their regions.


    They had managed to suppress these people, and the situation had stabilized, but news of towns across the United Coalition of Terranova losing contact with the outside world was quickly spreading. The more this continued, the harder it would be to control the situation.


    That said, just being a Trial Taker wasn''t enough to be a death sentence. Though, they would surely be detained if anything of the sort was confirmed. Such existences should be under the control of the government and they should lend their services for the betterment of society, not for their own petty gain.


    Bloom put on an annoyed expression.


    "What the hell do you mean: ''state our purpose''? The government isn''t doing anything to protect its people, but it has time to harass them? Fuck you!"

 Chapter 154 Registry

    <h4>Chapter 154 Registry</h4>


    Ss understood Bloom''s intentions immediately and didn''t say a word.


    Mark, though, forever in the dark, tried to pull on her sleeve, telling her to stop. He was just a perfectly useful idiot for this sort of y that Ss didn''t even have to help out.


    Bloom ripped her sleeve from Mark''s fingers. "Don''t try to stop me. Is the fucking government going topensate me for my broken windshield? How about the fact we almost died three times on the way here? Now when I''m finally about to make it home you''ve got some shit to say?!"


    The soldier stood there, undeterred. He had been well-trained, and a little yelling from a woman that felt half his height wasn''t going to move him.


    His gaze shifted toward Ss who was in the back seat. Ss met his gaze without a word and the soldier couldn''t seem to read anything from his expression at all.


    "You say Lone Star is your home? Alright, show me your license and registration please."


    This seemed to throw Bloom into an even deeper rage.


    "You just stopped me at a checkpoint because you felt like it and now you want me to ID myself? Is this even Terranova anymore? Or did my country be a dictatorship while I was asleep?! You need probable cause, don''t you think, bozo?"


    The soldier frowned.


    He wasn''t very familiar with these sorts ofws, he was a soldier, not a police officer.


    It was impossible for Earth to have been perfectly peaceful in thesest 200 years, so even they had to fight battles from time to time, though never against therge, empire-like nations. This was all to say that he was a fighter, not awyer.


    But none of that mattered.


    "We are under martialw,dy. Show me your driver''s license and registration, or else I''ll have to ask you to step out of the car."


    "Fuck you! Arrest me, then! Martialw my ass, just another fancy word for I own you so do as I say. I bet it must make you feel so big and strong bullying a woman like me. How do you even sleep at night?"


    Bloom''s face twisted with disgust.


    The soldier''s patience was wearing thin when Mark finally couldn''t hold it in anymore.


    "Bloom, just show him the damned registration."


    Mark was flustered, wondering why Bloom was making such a big deal about such things when they had already prepared them in advance.


    He pulled at the glovebox and took out everything before passing it along.


    Ss inwardly frowned. ''Faking a license shouldn''t be difficult for the Browns, but how could they have time to make a registration too?''


    A registration should have the make and model of the car. They had just randomly picked this one up off the side of the road, so how could they make one in time?


    Even if they waited until they came across the right make and model, what about the license te?


    Ss didn''t say a word as the soldier scrutinized the register.


    "Look at this fucking idiot," Bloom muttered under her breath. "Do you need an hour to read two lines?"


    The soldier took a breath to suppress his temper and passed the two documents back. There was, indeed, nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, just Bloom''s actions alone were enough for him to feel like this.


    Although he had thought about the fact Bloom might be acting like this on purpose, whether it was Mark or Ss, they were the variables that made it odd.


    He didn''t believe anyone in this world could act as well as Mark, and if there were a pair of siblings capable of all of this, they wouldn''t bring an amateur like Ss along who added nothing to their little y.


    In the end, he could only let them go.


    [Kyle Brunson (FF+)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 70]


    [Mental: 59]


    [Will: 64]


    Ss nodded slowly. ''Smart.''


    Putting someone with such high Mental at the border was an intelligent move. He had taken a bit of a risk to check him in the first ce, but that was because he felt that no matter what they did, someone would being for them.


    It could be said that their scheme was perfect. In fact, they had even used a method simr to what Lauren must have to hide their stats and look like normal civilians in the eyes of anyone who checked.


    Bloom had gone so far mostly because their spatial devices didn''t work. Their weapons were hidden in the car, and if there was a check, they''d be screwed.


    In that way, they hit all the right notes but there was still a problem that they couldn''t fix.


    ¡­


    In that way, they hit all the right notes but there was still a problem that they couldn''t fix.


    Kyle watched as the car drove away, a nagging feeling eating away at his heart. Had he been toox? Or had he done too much?


    ''XDX 364¡­''


    His gazended on the Lone Star license te.


    "Hey, rookie,e over here. Run this license te for me."


    The rookie rushed over, expecting Kyle''s anger to be taken out on him. But there was actually a faint surprise instead.


    "The registry is¡ª"


    "I know. It''s a pain in the ass standing here all day in this heavy equipment, take it as a break."


    "Right away, sir!"


    The inte was spotty at best right now. Cross-checking a registration in real time was impossible, and although Bloom was annoying, she was also right about something. If the government made their citizens feel too ufortable, the situation would be even worse in the long run.


    If the wrong person ran into a portal and gained some power for themselves, they could really wreak havoc like those billionaire family progenitors had done during the Sixth Extinction. They had no choice but to y a delicate bncing act.


    It wasn''t until his shift was nearly finished that Kyle got the information he wanted back.


    "Fuck. Report this to the higher-ups, now!"

 Chapter 155 Time

    <h4>Chapter 155 Time </h4>


    The moment the trio left the checkpoint, their expressions turned serious. They knew that they didn''t have much time, and it was hard to actually tell how much of it they actually had.


    All they could do was their best.


    The first priority was to get an understanding of the currentyout of the city. The perimeter the military had formed was one point of note, but that didn''t mean that it was the only checkpoint to be mindful of.


    It was also important to at least get a feel of how the citizens were feeling. How were they reacting to these new changes?


    The second task was to get an understanding of how the city''s current distribution channels were holding up.


    Half the world''s poption had suddenly vanished overnight. They had disappeared across organizations and careers, whether they were truckers, farmers, bankers, or politicians. What would this do to the food supply? The city''s amenities? How was the government countering all of this?


    They almost certainly were ready for these logistical matters. Where theycked was in the firepower needed to keep the new superpowered humans in check.


    As for the third task, Ss was certain that there was one, he just didn''t know what it was.


    The first two tasks were deduced by him based on the information they gave him. But the third was something they refused to even give him a hint about.


    ...


    The city wasn''t as barren as it seemed from the outside. There were still some cars on the road, and some people trying to go about their business.


    As expected, even if the government wasn''t ready for the Trial to end so early, they would have certainly been ready for the Trial itself.


    However, things only looked normal on the surface.


    Every few street corners they passed would have at least one shifty-eyed individual. This man or woman was almost certainly an agent of the government, and they weren''t doing a very good job of hiding the fact they were undercover, though that was part of their role.


    Many might feel ufortable about the constant surveince, especially since most wouldn''t havee across a Trial Taker personally considering how rare they were. But at this point, the government had no choice but to do this.


    If there had been time and the Trial was yed out to its end, then the government would have ess to arge pool of extremely powerful warriors.


    But without them, they could only y a game of numbers'' advantage.


    CRASH.


    Suddenly, the sound of shattering ss echoed through the street and Bloom was forced to m the brakes hard.


    A shadow dashed out from the jewelry store. They had only just entered as a normal customer seconds ago, and yet in a brief instant, they had swiped an entire aisle and dashed out.


    [Carter Prince (F+)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 62]


    [Mental: 49]


    [Will: 33]


    ''He''s fast,'' Ss thought.


    The Speed wasn''t far from what Ss could do right this moment. While all of his Physical stats but Constitution were at 100 right now, most skewed wildly in favor of one stat or another, and this person was clearly one of them.


    ''And impulsive.'' Ss finished his thought.


    Shrieks echoed as the man dashed out. He at least seemed to have nned his route out, diving down an alley and scaling a fire escape.


    Ss'' brow quirked. ''He''s going to escape?''


    His gazended on the disguised military personnel on the street corner. They had already dashed out, but they were far too slow.


    [Gertrude M (F)]


    [Level: 1]


    ''And that''s why.''


    The man obviously had his face covered. By the time Gertrude reached the fire escape, he was already at the top of the building, and he began to jump from rooftop to rooftop, clearingrge swaths ofnd in the blink of an eye.


    To the shock of the spectators, he jumped clear across an entire street, a distance that was at least 12 meters.


    The current long jump record was just over nine meters. It could be said that no one had ever seen a human jump so far in their entire lives, let alone on concrete.


    Soon, the man was out of the scope of Ss'' Visualization, and he had vanished into the distance, a bag of precious jewels in his hands.


    Gertrude was quickly speaking into amunication device, but the connection seemed spotty at best.


    However, to Ss'' surprise, she pulled out something from her pocket and pped it onto the back of the walkie-talkie. Suddenly, the static vanished, and the voice on the other side became clear.


    ''What''s that?'' Ss didn''t hide his gaze. ''An extra battery pack?''


    That was what it looked like, but he couldn''t be certain. Could it be they could ovee, at least for the time being, with more power?


    He slotted this thought away. He had a feeling that it woulde in handy very soon.


    After Gertrude finished speaking to a colleague and Bloom pressed the gas again, she began to close off the perimeter.


    "If anyone is willing to give me a statement, please step forward!"


    The female military officer took out a badge hidden within her jacket and let it hang around her neck.


    ...


    The trio continued to drive, and about half an hourter, they reached their destination.


    Bloom seemed to know exactly where she was going even if Ss was confused.


    They pulled into the garage of a normal single-family home and closed the garage door behind them.


    Bloom hopped out and unscrewed the license tes, keeping them under her arm and opening a box to the side. From the metal box, she pulled out a new pair of tes and screwed them in before nodding in satisfaction.


    "We''ll be living here for the time being."


    Ss nodded. That was fine by him. The more time they had, the better odds he''d have of finding aputer he could work with.

 Chapter 156 Kid

    <h4>Chapter 156 Kid</h4>


    Soon, there would probably be a nket search going on for them. But without the reliance on cameras and video, it would be a tall task. And even if there were, it would be difficult to disseminate the information to everyone. Even so, it would start to be troublesome once descriptions of them began to circte.


    The biggest problem was probably the fact they hade to a suburban region, a ce where everyone likely knew their neighbors at least in passing. The appearance of three new people would be a red g. They would have to deal with this appropriately. Unless, of course¡­ this was the home of Bloom and Mark to begin with. Did they n so far ahead?


    Ss gave them a nce but didn''t ask. Since they were still on guard against him, there was no need to expose his thoughts.


    ¡­


    The home was well-furnished, the fridge was fully stocked, and right in the middle of the living room, there seemed to be a radio set up of some sort. Bloom plopped down on the couch and pulled a pair of thick headphones over her ears.


    "She''s going to be listening to see if she can pick up anything interesting," Mark exined. "You probably saw it, but the only way to force technology to work properly in this environment is to use more energy than normal. If you want a cellphone to work properly now, you''d probably need to pull as much power as a deep fryer. Well, if you want consistency anyway."


    Ss gave Mark a look.


    "What?" He put his hands up. "I know some stuff too. Anyway, because they''re amplifying everything so much, it''s easier to pick things up than it would otherwise be. The satellite dish on our roof is actually only there to pick up those signals."


    Ss nodded. "I understand."


    "Welp, I''m about to whip up some food. I usually cook for the both of us. Want anything in particr?"


    "I''m not picky," Ss lied. "I do eat a lot these days, though."


    "Haha!" Mark gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Me too. All those extra statse with their downsides. Don''t worry, we''ve got enough."


    ¡­


    The day came to a wrap and Ss used the excuse of taking a walk after dinner to slip out. He walked down the street with his usual long strides, doing his best to maintain his former Speed.


    ''They let me take this walk without pushback. I wonder if it''s part of observing my actions, or if it''s something else¡­''


    Ss didn''t know much about Lone Star. He had visited once or twice, but he ultimately lived in the northern reaches of Terranova while Lone Star was fairly far south. He had done an exchange once with Lone Star State, the university. He knew that they had a supeputer that he could use, but he had no idea where he was in rtion to it.


    His strides brought him to the park and he took a seat on a bench, breathing in the air. Somehow, it felt fresher than normal. The Aether ne was excellent in this regard, but Earth was filled with pollution. Albeit a small shift, it seemed to be changing.


    ''Was my nose always so sensitive?''


    He couldn''t help but wonder. There were so many hidden stats and implications to his visible stats, it was hard to tell what improvements wereing from where. Were senses baked into Constitution? Or were they in Mental? Abination of both?


    Ss looked up and saw a skatepark in the not too far-off distance. It was part of the greenery and a trio of teens were having their fun. The streetlights weren''t long froming on, if they even did that anymore, and there was some peace.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss looked at one of the teens more closely and noticed something.


    [Carter Prince (F+)]


    [Level: 3]


    ''What a coincidence. Looks like he got away with it¡­ for now.''


    He recognized the build first, then he noticed that the teen was moving with much more fluidity than he should. He was too busy showing off to his friends to even notice that he had been exposed. Ss looked away and waited.


    The minutes ticked by and the streetlights eventually came on, but they flickered intermittently. Luckily, it wasn''t all at the same time, or else it would be even more annoying than it already was. The teens decided to go their separate ways and head home.


    Ss'' original n for this trip out was to intercept a person and ask them about Lone Star. He had nned to keep it as casual as possible. While he was waiting, he had seen several targets, but since Carter was here, was there a need? This would make things even more convenient.


    Ss stood up and went after Carter. The teenage boy, who could have only been 17 years old at most, didn''t notice Ss until they were separated by no more than three meters. By this point, they were on a trail by the park. It was dark enough that most everything were shadows, but not dark enough that they couldn''t still see with decent rity.


    Carter looked back and didn''t think much of it at first until Ss spoke.


    "Around here is enough."


    Carter turned back again. "What the hell are you talking about?"


    He obviously wasn''t afraid, and Ss didn''t expect him to be. If the kid survived in the Trial for three months, he had seen much worse than Ss¡­ at least visually speaking.


    "You''re the kid who robbed the jewelry store earlier."


    "I don''t know what you''re¡ª"


    Carter suddenly attacked. Fast and ruthless. His fingers had already reached for Ss'' throat. He could already see the final result. A pinch and twist and this man would be left on the ground bleeding out and unable to call for help. However, what he didn''t expect was that Ss would sidestep his strike with even greater Speed.


    ''I made a mistake,'' Ss thought to himself.

 Chapter 157 Disoriented

    <h4>Chapter 157 Disoriented </h4>


    [1450 GTs bonus]


    He had only been in the Trial for a little over a weekpared to everyone else. Although he had killed, he wasn''t used to people being so ruthless yet. That forced him into a situation where he had no choice but to disy some of his real Physical stats.


    His telekinesis grasped a rock by the side and it smashed into Carter''s chin with 45 Strength, rocking the young man''s senses. He might have made a mistake, but his reactions were fast.


    The world swirled around Carter and he stumbled. He plopped down to the ground, unable to orient himself properly.


    Ss stood over him, holding up a head and allowing three tennis ball-sized stones to float above his hand.


    "I just have a few questions."


    Carter was much too disoriented at first to realize what was happening around him. By the time he could and his sights on Ss sharpened, his gaze finally showed a hint of hesitation and fear.


    This man not only knew what he had done, but he was so much stronger than him that he couldn''t understand it. On top of that, Carter had never heard of telekinesis, so he thought that Ss was using a Skill to levitate the rocks like that, and that only made him more shocked.


    Who didn''t know that Earth didn''t have much Aether yet? How could he even use Skills in this ce?


    "First question," Ss began, "are you the only Trial Taker you know?"


    Carter blinked in confusion for a bit, seemingly still a bit disoriented before he shook his head and then nodded.


    Ss waited for him to rify.


    "I do not know anyone else, but I received a message¡­"


    "A message?"


    "Yes. After everyone came back, the government used thest couple days of good tech to send out a PSA. Not long after that, someone contacted me. It was weird, but I thought it was just bait. Probably the government trying to get me to expose myself¡­"


    ''A PSA?'' Ss thought to himself and then understood. ''The Browns probably cut it out and didn''t let us see it. They don''t want most of us to know that we''re standing against the government just yet. That must be part of the reason why there isn''t mass panic yet, though I''m sure if there were some, they would crush them as quickly as possible.''


    ''Plus, without the inte working properly, any unrest would be hard pressed to spread.''


    Even so, Ss didn''t expect to get another interesting tidbit of information like this.


    Carter was probably right that it was the government trying to suss out any stragglers. The first PSA was an open invitation, while the second was a hidden one for those that were less inclined to follow government orders. It would be two birds with one stone like that¡­


    But what if it wasn''t?


    Lone Star was quite an important city, not only in Terranova alone, but across the world.


    In Terranova, it was easily top three, with the other two being York City, his home, and Ros¨¦. He wouldn''t be surprised if these were the two cities Astrid and Mchi were sent to.


    This was all to say that the Grimdes probably weren''t the only ones who understood how much of a strategic piece it would be. Who could dare im they were the only ones making any moves here?


    "What did the message say, exactly?" Ss probed.


    "I can''t remember, I tossed it in a dust bin. I thought it might have some tracking bullshit on it. Tech isn''t working, but who knows what the government''s got?"


    Ss shook his head and let it be. He thought carefully about his next question.


    He didn''t want to kill a kid if he didn''t have to, so it was best he try to cover his tracks as best as possible.


    "You probably have a pretty bad concussion right now, do you remember where you are?" Ss asked.


    "I wonder why," Carter mumbled. "I''m fine."


    "Answer the question. I want to make sure your answers are well-formed enough to be trustworthy."


    "This is the Farhavenmunity," he eventually grumbled out.


    "In rtion to where? Give me location and referencendmarks."


    "I dunno man," Carter spoke out in annoyance. It seemed that his rebelliousness was overriding his fear.


    "Okay. Seems I''ll have to keep you for a while until your mind is good to go."


    "Alright! Alright! We''re like a 20-minute bike ride from downtown, there''s the Moody Lake not too far from here and that''s a good attraction, Lone Star State is a 20-minute bike ride the other direction and there are house parties around here all the time, satisfied?!"


    Ss nodded. He got exactly what he wanted after the kid mentioned Moody Lake. He had been there once before and knew it was near to the university. But mentioning the university itself was a cherry on top.


    A 20-minute bike ride? He could probably get away with jogging that tomorrow. He''d go then.


    As for tonight, he would just find the location of Moody Lake and then return. So long as he knew where it was, he could make his way back.


    He asked Carter a few more perfunctory questions and then told him that he would have his eye on him before leaving.


    ¡­


    Not long after Ss left, Carter struggled to his feet and began to slowly make his way home. He was very cautious and took several detours, inwardly promising himself that he wouldn''t go to the skatepark for at least the next month.


    What he didn''t know was that Ss was watching him high up on a tree. The trees in his small trail weren''t veryrge, but there were still some that dwarfed ten meters. He made the assumption that Carter''s home wasn''t very far from here, so he watched him from the foliage. With his current eyesight, he was able to follow Carter for quite a long while before he vanished from his vision.

 Chapter 158 Basement

    <h4>Chapter 158 Basement </h4>


    [1550 GTs bonus]


    He didn''t end up seeing exactly which home Carter entered, but he at the very least had a general understanding of which direction his home was in. If he needed more in the future, this would certainlye in handy.


    ''It''s unfortunate he tossed that invitation. I would have liked to see it.''


    Ss began to walk back, knowing there was no point in even trying to look for it.


    Soon, he entered Bloom and Mark''s home to their greetings. Bloom seemed to still be listening for signals so Ss didn''t do much but give her a nod.


    **


    Early the next morning, Ss went out for a run and the pair of siblings once again didn''t stop him. Without his little sister trailing him, he was able to pick up the pace a bit. When that was paired with his air restriction mask, he got an excellent workout in.


    Luckily, these masks were semimon even before the Trial. At the very least, no one would give him a second nce just because he was wearing one. What they didn''t know, of course, was that he had modified it so that the restriction was even worse.


    He wasn''t an engineer, but it was nothing a few extra heavy pieces of cloth couldn''t fix.


    When he returned, he took a shower and had breakfast Mark made once again. What he didn''t expect, though, was that time would just idle by so slowly.


    There was nothing to do and the siblings didn''t give him any orders.


    Mark was using a generator to watch old movies and Bloom was still listening. He couldn''t help but wonder if she ever got tired; he wasn''t even sure if she had sleptst night.


    Although their stats gave them many advantages over other humans, Ss had already realized that nothing could rece sleep just yet. At the very least, he wasn''t so superhuman.


    Dinner came and went, and Ss went out once again. The pattern repeated and the siblings did nothing to stop him.


    ¡­


    Ss bolted down a trail. The sun was somewhat setting already; with winter approaching, the days were shorter. Without anyone in the near vicinity, he was able to unleash more of his actual Speed.


    From his memory, there was a long hiking trail that he could follow that would put him about five minutes from the university. That should be great cover for his stats.


    So long as there were no cars or other vehicles to judge his Speed by, most wouldn''t notice much wrong even if they came across him. But he still chose to be cautious.


    His ears were constantly primed and his gaze constantly swept through the region.


    This time, he didn''t wear his air restriction mask, keeping it in his pocket and pushing himself as far as he could.


    The feeling was greater than he remembered. Maybe it was because he had limited himself for so long until now, but he already felt that he was close to the running high he had always loved so much.


    It ended too soon.


    It was a trail that should have taken 15 minutes even with a bike, but it took Ss not even seven. Of course, that 15- minute estimation was based on a leisurely bike ride and not a sprint, but it was shockingly impressive nheless.


    Ss slowed down somewhat after reaching this region. There was a river nearby, the very one that rolled right into Moody Lake, and there were a few youths that were enjoying the scenery and strolling by.


    The atmosphere was much less rowdy than one might expect, especially considering these were university grounds in the evening, but Ss could imagine why.


    Many of these students had probably lost their friends and family. Being out like this was the only thing they could do to ground themselves and remain sane.


    The scars the world had taken on after the Trial were barely stitched together, forcefully held together by the suppression of the government and the obfuscation of the Trial''s mysteries, but if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before everything boiled over.


    Was it a good thing that he had forced things to such a state so soon? If not for him, there would at least be a light of hope to trust in. But what did the government even have now? Just a bunch of soldiers that were marginally stronger than normal humans?


    What was the difference between that and just wielding a gun?


    Without sufficient power, the government would only be able to control this situation for so long. Too few had survived the Trial. Even with half the world''s poption gone, there were still billions of people who were slowly growing more disgruntled.


    They would have to do something fast.


    Once Ss entered the main campus, he walked confidently and with long strides. He was young enough to be a student here and most wouldn''t bat an eye toward his appearance.


    He smoothly entered the building, but this was where the trouble began.


    The university''s supeputer was obviously one of their most treasured facilities. He didn''t expect to be able to smoothly enter. It could be said that he was hopeful, but not expectant. He was running out of time, but he wouldn''t force the issue if he didn''t have to.


    At worst, he would just check on the situation a bit.


    The supeputer was something he had seen after taking a tour of the university. It was in theirputer science division and only a few had easy ess to it. At a given time, there were the PhDs, the Masters students, and any high-


    performing undergrads who happened to be in the right ce at the right time.


    Of those, the PhDs were the most consistently able to enter freely. The Masters students were more flimsy in this regard; usually, they barely had more ess than the undergrads, though there were times when they had as much freedom as the PhDs as well. It was really a crapshoot.


    Ss strolled into the building and made a beeline for the basement.

 Chapter 159 XXX

    <h4>Chapter 159 XXX</h4>


    [1650 GTs bonus]


    The temperature dropped fairly steeply before it began to ramp up.


    Anyrge supeputer required arge amount of cooling to work properly, so this wasn''t a surprise. What was a surprise was that Ss had yet to run into anyone.


    It was probably true that you could get away with almost anything just by acting confident enough, but he didn''t think that things would actually go so smoothly.


    He made it to the entrance of the supeputer and was even more stunned.


    The door, usually opened through a key lock, was open. Well, in part.


    There was a wooden stump at the foot of the door and a heat wave was leaking from the inside.


    ''It must be because the key lock isn''t reliable anymore. Convenient.''


    Ss pushed his way in.


    The first thing that hit him was the noise. He could already hear it in the hallway, but in here it made one very ufortable. He could practically feel his eardrums rupturing.


    It shouldn''t be this bad. The only exnation was that they had been forced to ramp things up because of the faulty tech.


    Ss didn''t actually need to stay here, he just needed the supeputer''s address. So long as he had it, he could even ess it remotely.


    Luckily, he knew exactly where to look.


    There was an office near the back of the densely packed rows of modules. Inside, there were a fewptops. Last time he was here, the keys and ess codes were pasted right onto a nearby wall.


    Ss walked toward it, but as he was about to open the door he came to a stop.


    Even amongst all this noise, he could pick up something.


    Someone was inside the room.


    **


    "How is it?" Mark asked. Bloom had been sitting there all day once again, but she still hadn''t said a single word about what she may or may not have heard.


    Bloom didn''t seem to hear him, but after a few seconds, she slowly took off her thick earphones.


    "We can try three days from now. There will be an opportunity."


    She spoke somewhat absentmindedly, seemingly looking off into the distance. But she was actually staring at something else.


    --


    [Ss Grimde (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Profession: XXX (Legendary)]


    [Favorability: 2/10]


    --


    Ss didn''t move immediately, trying to decide what the best option was.


    Since he was already in here, should he take a diplomatic approach? Or should he try for a more violent method?


    His interaction with Carter told him that the world wasn''t the same as the one he had known. If he wanted to get ahead, he couldn''t continue to follow the same rules. There was no telling if he''d get just as lucky this time around if he ended up wasting this opportunity.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss heard something odd. The more he focused, the more he realized it wasn''t just a normal level of noiseing from the room.


    ''Amotion?''


    Then he heard the shriek.


    ''Good opportunity,'' Ss'' gaze shed.


    He pulled his oxygen deprivation mask out of his pocket, ripping off the modifications just in case. Then he slipped it on, hiding half his face before bursting into the room.


    The scene was worse than what Ss expected. Honestly, he didn''te here to y hero; he just wanted to use ying hero as cover for why he might be here. By the time anyone realized that the fans were far too loud for him to have heard anything, he''d be long gone.


    But even he couldn''t help but frown.


    A woman was being pinned down to the ground, a man looming on top of her.


    Ss didn''t bother to register the state of half-dress the woman was in. His leg kicked out with a great amount of force, nailing the man in the side and feeling his rib deform around his shin.


    The man was caught off guard to begin with and didn''t have time to react before he found himself sting into the wall.


    However, the result made Ss even more surprised than the man.


    He hadn''t gone all out. By now, with his 100 Strength, it was enough to kill a normal man with a kick like that. But even if he held back, he should have at least broken the man''s rib. But Ss was certain he had failed to even do that.


    The woman scrambled backward, and Ss recognized her at a nce. She was Professor Fembroise and she had led him in the tour all those years ago.


    He found himself feeling a bit angry. This was a woman he knew, but even further than that, she was already married, and she had two boys she couldn''t stop talking about. She was thest person who should suffer something like that.


    Ss'' green irises locked onto the man who was grabbing at his chest and rushing to his feet.


    --


    [Rojan O''Connor (FF+)]


    [Level: 7]


    --


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat, not understanding what he was seeing, but that didn''t mean he would allow the man to get up without interference.


    He had already followed up. At the same time, he knew he didn''t have the luxury of hiding his Comprehension anymore, so he instantlyyered Madness with <Basic Scouting>.


    --


    [Rojan O''Connor (FF+)]


    [Level: 7]


    [Physical: 90]


    >[Strength: 122]


    >[Constitution: 62]


    >[Dexterity: 132]


    >[Speed: 45]


    [Mental: 77]


    >[Intelligence: 191]


    >[Wisdom: 12]


    >[Charisma: 27]


    [Will: 91]


    --


    Ss closed the distance and had already sent out another kick.


    Rojan hurriedly crossed his arms. He was off-bnce and hadn''t expected anyone to appear here, let alone someone so powerful.


    His back mmed into the wall again as a follow-up fist had already appeared before him.


    To Ss'' surprise, the man actually managed to dodge.


    ''High dexterity¡­''


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist mmed into the concrete walls. He had managed to pull back somewhat, but a spike of pain still shot through him.


    91 Constitution, even with the 10% boost of his Scorned Wraps, wasn''t nearly enough to ignore concrete. If they weren''t in a basement and were surrounded by dry wall instead, it would still be fine. But...

 Chapter 160 Not 100%

    <h4>Chapter 160 Not 100% </h4>


    It seemed he had to be more cautious now.


    The man countered swiftly, hisbat experience seemingly beyond Ss'' own.


    A solid fist connected with Ss'' liver and he felt his body almost shut downpletely.


    He coughed, his legs wobbling.


    Without Aether, it could only be a brutish brawl, but that was precisely why Ss thought he stood a good chance. Unfortunately, he was still ayman inbat.


    Ss caught the glint of a dagger out of the corner of his eye and Professor Fembroise''s screech only doubly confirmed it.


    Disoriented, and left without a choice, Ss could only pull at one of theptops off to the side with his telekinesis.


    Fueled with his Madness, his telekinesis could exhibit 121 Strength.


    The man was caught off guard once again. Theptop mmed into the side of his wrist squarely and a sickening crack resounded. With his poor Constitution, the man had no ability to hold up against such a blow.


    The dagger was sent flying out of his hand and scattering across the floor of the small office.


    Ss still hadn''t recovered from the liver blow, he had barely managed to squeeze down the pain with his high Will and manifest a visualization for his counter, but it wasn''t enough to stop the knee that hit his face.


    Stars flickered in Ss'' eyes. His nose was almost certainly broken and he hardly registered the curses of the man.


    Ss flew backward, sliding out of the open door and into the whirlwind of heat that was theputer room.


    "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Rojan held his broken wrist. He was a Level 7, how could he expect such a thing to happen?


    He rushed out after Ss, but his anger was far greater than his judgment.


    Ss was disoriented, but his visualization was still sharp. After the increase to his Luck, it had be akin to a sixth sense, and right now, it was locked onto the knife that had been sent sprawling out of the room.


    The moment Rojan rushed after him, Ss gripped onto it with his telekinesis and sent it flying into his back.


    Rojan sensed that something was wrong and tried to dodge, but while his Dexterity was high, his Speed was not. In a room that was so narrow, there wasn''t much space to maneuver in the first ce.


    The dagger ended up missing his spine to Ss'' disappointment, but it still lodged into Rojan''s back, cutting into his body with a great amount of force.


    Rojan stumbled forward, the sharp pain causing his eyes to widen. Without his Aether, he had no other recourse avable to himself. He had never thought that he would miss it so much.


    A groan left Ss'' lips as he tried to stand. When he noticed Rojan reaching for the dagger in his back, though, he realized he couldn''t let the man take control of the weapon again. It was likely that, for concealment''s sake, this was the only weapon Rojan had. Ss wanted to keep it that way.


    Unfortunately for Rojan, the dagger was lodged into the side of his back his injured hand was on. As he tried to reach across, he couldn''t quite make it and he could only let out a hissing breath as Ss'' telekinesis ripped it out.


    Rojan froze when he felt the tip of the de press into the back of his neck. For the first time, fear flickered in his eyes as he looked toward Ss.


    Finally, Ss managed to make it to his feet, pressing a hand onto one of the rows of hardware in this ce, he bnced himself.


    This was certainly a wake-up call, but it still filled him with confusion. Tenth ce on the Leveling Leaderboard was a woman named Hilda Silverden, and she was only Level 6¡­


    Where the hell did a Level 7e from?


    It couldn''t be that they were just progressing that fast, could it? It took even the three main families three months just for their best to reach Level 9. It had only been a couple of weeks since the Trial ended, and most of that time should have been spent in a location without Aether.


    So how could there be a Level 7?


    "Who are you?" Ss asked with a frown, looking into the man''s eyes. "I''m sure you know that if you don''t answer, you''ll die. Don''t try to move, or you''ll die. Don''t try to reach for the dagger, or you''ll die. Understand?"


    Rojan didn''t reply immediately, his body frozen stiff.


    Ss didn''t recognize him like he did Professor Fembroise. But it was still hard to tell if he was acquainted with the professor or not.


    Fembroise was in her forties, but she was a beautiful woman who stayed in shape. It wasn''t rare for her to have pursuers, and this man might be one of them.


    But even so, Ss had a hard time believing that for no other reason than he was a Level 7¡­ a Level 7 who just so happened to be at the location of one of the rare supeputers across Terranova¡­ that seemed¡­ unlikely.


    Ss felt that the odds that his goals weren''t too dissimr from his own were quite high, and it may even be the case that he was part of something muchrger that he wasn''t aware of.


    Ever since the betrayal of Lauren and Alex, Ss had been wondering about these matters. They were obviously in the same cohort, and someone had even gone out of their way to kill Alex likely in fear of what he might expose about their organization. Then there was this odd "informant" who seemed to be going around helping everyone out.


    Could this man and that situation be connected?


    If they were, it would all make sense. Those people were somehow able to hide their Level and Skills from the system, but then¡­ why was it that Ss could see this man''s Level clearly? That was why he wasn''t 100% sure.

 Chapter 161 Temperament

    <h4>Chapter 161 Temperament</h4>


    Ss was getting impatient due to theck of an answer and pushed the knife forward, causing it to draw blood.


    Rojan''s heart jumped and he grit his teeth.


    "I am Marcus¡ª"


    "Wrong answer," Ss pressed the knife in further. "Your name is Rojan O''Connor. This is thest time you lie to me, or else I''ll pierce more than skin.


    "Why are you here?"


    Rojan''s face paled. He hadn''t even noticed when Ss scanned him, but that was only natural. Most could only detect it when Aether was involved until their Mental was high enough. But was Ss'' Mental really so far above his own?


    "I¡­"


    "Don''t tell me you came here to assault an innocent woman, because then I''ll kill you not just for lying, but also because you''re scum of the earth."


    Rojan felt his heart constrict again. He felt a subtle hint of something pressing onto his mind and Ss felt muchrger than life in that moment.


    Charisma was defined as the stat that allowed you to affect change in the world with your will alone, and right now, with Madness'' boost, Ss'' Charisma was at an unfathomable 426 and his Will was at 545.


    This wasn''t a pressure Rojan could withstand, especially not without Aether. His mind was practically copsing.


    "I was sent here to retrieve a key to log into the supeputer''s cloud. I only saw the professor in passing and wanted to¡ª"


    "That''s enough." Ss didn''t need those sort of details. "Who sent you?"


    "I¡­ I¡­" The hesitation on Rojan''s face was clear, but Ss'' gaze seemed to be the scariest thing he had ever seen.


    He took a breath.


    "I was sent by Legacy."


    Ss frowned. "What is Legacy?"


    "With your strength, it''s impossible for them not to have contacted you. It''s more likely than not that you ignored it."


    "Enlighten me."


    "I do not know much¡ª"


    "You don''t know much as a Level 7?" Ss frowned, the dagger twisting slightly.


    "I really don''t, I really don''t!" Rojan panicked. "The power of these people can''t be measured by Level, most of them didn''t even enter the Trial!"


    Ss paused. He could feel that Rojan was telling the truth, but that made it all the more peculiar.


    "I''m not lying! All I know is that they are deeply entrenched in the education system."


    "Then why would they need you to sneak in here?"


    "Because the bastard that was supposed to be in control of this region ignored the rules and entered the Trial anyway. He ended up dying so this is a loose link in the chain now."


    Ss'' eyes lit up with recognition. Professor Fembroise was tenured, but she wasn''t the Head of the department; that was a much older man who was already in his sixties. It really was a bit foolish to enter the Trial at his age.


    ''Legacy¡­ education system¡­''


    "When you say the education system, tell me exactly what you mean by that?"


    "Like I said, I don''t know much. But I do know that they have a wholework of private and public schools, the best across the nation at the very least and likely across the world. They''ve nurtured their geniuses from young and hand-select them based on not only their talent but their temperament.


    "They''ve been building the perfect soldiers for years."


    "But they didn''t let them enter the Trial? Why?"


    "I have no idea, I can only specte."


    "Specte, then."


    Rojan hesitated again before he spoke. "¡­ The Trial is nothing but chaos, there''s a much higher chance of death because there are no safetys. Everything is much harder, there are no System Cities, and it''s easy for even someone who had a decent chance of survival to get dealt a bad deck of cards. But¡­"


    Ss nodded. If he had been randomly spawned into the middle of a tundra, would he even have survived? Most people that spawned in a frigid cold likely ended up dying; he was lucky just by virtue of the location he appeared in.


    "But?" Ss probed.


    "I can only specte, but I still think that that''s only part of the reason. With those added variables came added opportunities. It would also be easier to lose control of their charges if they took this route. But now, there''ll only be a trickle of Aether and portals will only appear here and there, it''s much more manageable and everyone will grow at their desired pace."


    "I see. How do you contact them?"


    "I have a device on me that works for that."


    Ss nodded, and just when Rojan rxed, the dagger pierced right through the back of his neck.


    Rojan''s eyes widened before his gaze dimmed. He really didn''t expect Ss to kill him so casually.


    Ss heard a sharp intake of breathe from inside the office. Professor Fembroise hadn''t been able to hear much of the conversation; she wasn''t superhuman like the two of them and the noise of the fans was much too great. But that didn''t stop her from seeing the man''s death.


    She could only look away, hoping that Ss wouldn''t target her next.


    Ss quickly stored Rojan away in his Madness Key before blood got everywhere and walked into the office.


    His mind was whirring with many thoughts¡­


    Awork of elite schools? Whether it was the private school he and Cassarae went to, or his university, both fit the bill. But he was never approached¡­


    Why?


    It might have been arrogant of him to think, but he was a pragmatic person who didn''t second guess himself over such things. He was no doubt elite enough to receive an invitation.


    That only left one exnation.


    ''Based on their talent and¡­ temperament.''


    They knew Ss couldn''t be controlled so they never bothered, much like the Browns were likely quickly finding out as well. If Ss was correct, albeit maybe a bit arrogant, these people had known about him for a long time... and they understood his personality quite well.


    Ss knew he didn''t have much time.

 Chapter 162 Sick

    <h4>Chapter 162 Sick </h4>


    Ss looked over toward Professor Fembroise. The professor had already mostly dressed herself, though a bit haphazardly, not that she was to me for such a thing. She had already given up, trying to hide her face and shuddering in the corner.


    Ss sighed and shook his head.


    "I know you recognize my voice, Professor Fembroise. There''s no need for this, I''m not going to kill you."


    He hadn''t known the woman for long, but he could describe her in three phrases.


    Obsessed with her boys.


    Sharp both of mind and tongue.


    And surprisingly quite quirky.


    She probably felt that her best chance at survival was pretending she didn''t recognize Ss, and against most people that was enough, but Ss knew better than to just leave things like this.


    After that man''s death, there would definitely be an investigation, and Professor Fembroise would fall right into the list of suspects.


    Of course, he wasn''t talking about the police; he doubted that anyone would im this man as missing any time soon. And even if they did, Ss was at the point where he didn''t give a damn about the rule ofw.


    He was thinking about Legacy.


    From Rojan''s words, he understood that Lone Star State was a target of Legacy, and they wouldn''t give up after just a single attempt. If even a Level 7 was out of the loop, then they likely had more of them than they knew what to do with.


    Either way, Professor Fembroise was now both an asset and a liability depending on how he looked at it.


    Shaking, the professor looked up, kind of worried to acknowledge Ss'' words, but also knowing she didn''t have much of a choice.


    The first thing she saw was Ss'' hand, the next thing she saw was the blood running down his chin and she almost recoiled again.


    In the end, she controlled the impulse and took his hand, slowly getting up.


    "I''m going to close the door because of the noise," Ss said.


    She nodded, a bit embarrassed that Ss had to confirm such a thing with her. She wasn''t a little girl anymore, she wasn''t going to look at every man like he might be her next assaulter.


    Ss shook his head inwardly when he saw the defiance in her eyes. He wouldn''t have med her no matter how she reacted, it was just that he wanted her to cooperate with him so making sure she wasfortable was the top priority.


    The noise died down to a buzz as the door closed and Ss motioned to a seat.


    "How much do you know about what just happened?"


    Professor Fembroise gave Ss a look.


    "What is it?" Ss asked.


    "Are you going to let the blood keep drizzling like that?"


    Ss looked down at himself then reached for his nose.


    ''It''s broken,'' he thought to himself.


    "Let me see it," the professor said, already leaning forward.


    Ss didn''t really have much of a choice, so he let the woman work.


    "I finished a year of residency before I became aputer science professor. The medical profession is not for me, but I guess¡ª"


    She paused, frowning. It was a clean enough break and should be simple enough to budge back into ce, but why was it that she couldn''t?


    "My body is sturdier than most. Is there anything I need to know?"


    "Well, it''s not best to do it here in the first ce, and there''s usually a special tool that goes into your nose after some numbing, but¡ª"


    CRACK.


    Ss snapped his nose in the direction the professor was going. Then, reaching for a cloth, he blew out hard. He could practically feel his nasal passages forcefully making way, and to the professor it probably sounded a lot like an elephant blowing its trunk.


    "Alright, now, my question?" Ss asked.


    The professor blinked then shook her head.


    "I don''t know anything about that man, he just randomly showed up today and when I said something snarky, he pinned me down. I''m honestly not even sure if he was even trying to assault me or if he was just trying to put me in my ce¡­"


    Her voice trailed off.


    Ss nodded, wiping the rest of the blood away. He got up, opened a first aid kit, then stuffed gauze up his nose.


    "Do you know what will happen from here?" Ss asked.


    "I assume they''re going to send more people."


    "Likely," Ss nodded. "There are two paths before you now. The first is to report this to the police. They will take a great interest in this region now and you''ll have round the clock security."


    "The second choice?"


    "To not say anything."


    "And how would that help me?"


    Ss gazed into her eyes deeply. "How is your family doing?"


    Professor Fembroise recoiled, her hands trembling a bit. She didn''t get the sense that Ss was threatening her, but it might as well have been that. The visceral reaction was as clear as day.


    "¡­ Nick¡­ my boy¡­"


    She didn''t seem to trust her voice anymore so she stopped talking, but it was enough for Ss to understand.


    One of her sons had died.


    From what Ss understood, children younger than 16 would not get the message for the trial. If his math was correct, the professor''s eldest son was 16 this year, while her youngest was only 14.


    Half the world''s poption might have vanished into a puff of smoke, but that didn''t mean that it was proportionate across all demographics.


    Young men between the ages of 16 and 25 had taken thergest hit because they were the most likely to click yes.


    Ss had known before he asked the question that the odds that the professor had already suffered a tragic loss were high.


    "This world is no longer the same as the one we once knew. The powers that be have a vested interest in making sure that the status quo remains the status quo, but whether or not that is possible is something you''ve seen for yourself."


    "And what are you asking me for exactly?" The professor managed to look up with red eyes. "Choose you over the government? Do you think I''m insane? Trying to use the fact that I''m grieving is sick, Ss."

 Chapter 163 Too Close

    <h4>Chapter 163 Too Close</h4>


    "It''s practical. If you were someone else, I wouldn''t have even brought it up. I would have only alluded to it and let you fall into the conclusion yourself."


    The professor scoffed out a sob. "What is practical about choosing vigntes?"


    "You heard him," Ss said. "There''s an organization that''s been recruiting people from elite schools. You''re smart, what do you think that means?"


    The professor froze. She looked up at Ss as though she didn''t want to admit the obvious conclusion.


    This time, she couldn''t hold back her tears at all.


    They knew.


    Those bastards knew.


    And they still let her son die, and for what? To hold onto a little more power?


    The professor practically folded herself into her chair, sinking in deep and burying her head into her legs. She didn''t care that Ss was here anymore. She just sat there, grieving out her soul.


    Ss didn''t say a word, nor did he try tofort her. The two of them didn''t have that sort of rtionship, and he knew enough about this woman to know that she was probably nursing grievances against him as well.


    Several minutes passed by before she managed to calm herself, her shoulders shuddering beneath the strain.


    The first thing she saw when she looked up was a tissue Ss handed to her.


    By this point, Ss'' nose had already stopped bleeding and he had taken the gauze out. Although there was a hint of swelling, even that seemed to be rapidly going down.


    It was such a simple thing, but now she had seen Ss throw something across a room and kill a man with his mind, and now he was healing from an injury that should have taken weeks of recovery right before her eyes.


    Was the world really changing?


    "What do you want me to do?" she asked, her voice having returned to an almost icy sort of calm.


    "Well first, I need your help. I came here today for a specific reason. But I also want to know exactly what that man asked of you before your ''snarky''ment."


    "He asked me to join their organization and he said something about bing superhuman. What do you need help with?"


    "I need to use the supeputer to analyze some data. It would take too much time on my own, and my current stats are low enough that I likely wouldn''t seed for now no matter how hard I try.


    "You don''t know much about the Trial and the Aether ne, but I will have to keep this brief. I have to go soon.


    "I have what they call a Profession. It allows me to contract snakes as my partners and exchange benefits between the two of us. I need the supeputer to analyze the genome of one of my snakes to help me better understand some things."


    "Snakes?"


    Ss said snakes, but Professor Fembroise heard something very different.


    She knew what Ss studied. Could it be that they could trante their skills from this world to this so-called ''Aether ne''?


    Was there more of a chance for her than she originally knew?


    She shook her head, focusing on the task.


    "But what kind of file do you have the genome in? How are you going to transfer it? Do they have USBs in that world?"


    Ss shook his head.


    This was an obvious problem that he had thought of as well, and his original method was going to be to brute force it.


    It was too difficult to analyze the genome, but what was DNA if not just a long string of alternating letters?


    So long as he had the time, with his current stats he could ze through it.


    Even before the Trial, his typing speed was around 120 words per minute, or two words a second. Even at that pace, he could write out probably 500+ of a DNA sequence a minute.


    Right now, his typing speed almost certainly dwarfed that; he just had to worry about the input speed of theptop. But ording to his calctions, the theoretical limit for that should be at least several thousand words per minute, and it''s unlikely that he would be able to hit that speed even with these stats.


    Even so, to type out the whole human genome at that speed would take years, and that''s if he never took a break. Normal technology didn''t even seem to have weeks left.


    What Ss actually wanted was just to analyze small portions and hopefullynd on something useful.


    "I just nned to type it out," he eventually replied.


    "Type it out? Where do you have it stored?" she asked in confusion.


    "It''s in the system interface, I¡ª"


    Ss stopped talking because he was seeing a look from Professor Fembroise now that he rarely saw in his life. In fact, he could remember every time he had.


    She looked like she was looking at an idiot.


    Professor Fembroise took a breath and bit her tongue. Thest time she had snapped at a man¡ª


    She shook her head.


    "Just say what you want to say. I''ve never been a fan of mincing words."


    Seeing that Ss didn''t seem to just be testing her obedience, the professor shook her head.


    "Do you really think this alien technology is so simple? How much research have you done into it? I thought you were smarter than this."


    "You have the system?" Ss asked in surprise.


    "Everyone does now. It appeared after the Trial."


    Ss'' brows raised in recognition. Now that he thought about it, he had been able to see the stats of the Bronze Cube even before the Trial began and certainly before there was any Aether. Why did he assume that one needed the other? Or maybe the system was radioing itself in from a ce with plenty of Aether.


    He should have known, but his family never talked about it so it was something he neglected. They had just been happy he came back alive, and other than the time they spent grilling into him, they entirely avoided the topic because it hit too close to home.

 Chapter 164 Try

    <h4>Chapter 164 Try </h4>


    [1850 GTs bonus]


    "I''ve done a bunch of tests on this system already. Just in the first day I realized that you could share information you were seeing with someone else¡­"


    Ss nodded, that was true. He had been able to share his screen with Cassarae. As for the mechanism? He had no idea. He was only able to do it after she showed him hers first; it was only then he knew that that was even possible.


    "¡­I was able to see my husband''s and my youngest''s, but I didn''t really understand how the data transfer was working. All things considered, it seemed like the system was projecting right from my brain, so I thought, ''why limit it?''


    "I tried transferring the data onto myptop with my¡­ intention, or will, I guess, and it worked just the same way.


    "If I''m correct, you don''t need to waste your time typing, just will it and it will probably happen.


    "As for whether the supeputer can actually analyze it or not, that''s a different matter entirely."


    Ss'' gaze flickered. This was, indeed, a game changer. He suddenly felt that he made the right decision speaking to her about this. In fact, the professor looked even more excited to try than he did.


    All this time, she had only been able to test out the simple stat screen, but she had nothing else. After the first few minutes, it was already boring.


    But this¡­


    "Come on, hurry up. Let''s try it."


    Professor Fembroise rushed Ss to theputer, but suddenly remembering something, she rushed out and locked the outside door beforeing back into the office once again.


    The door had only been kept open out of convenience, but it seemed that she couldn''t take anything for granted in this world. Caution had to be the name of the game from now on.


    She logged onto herputer and into the terminal.


    Ss just sat back and let her work, but it didn''t take more than a few seconds for her to point.


    "Let''s start with something simple. I have no way of knowing if the amount of data in the genome could overload theputer or not, so we''ll try for the most low-stakes option."


    On the screen, there was an open notepad app. Though his expression didn''t change, Ss felt that this matter was a bit amusing. What if he had gone through all this trouble just for the Gene Sequence to be something even a normalputer could analyze?


    It seemed there was only one way to find out.


    He did as the professor said and tapped into [One Kind For Me] before willing the Gene Sequence to paste itself into the notepad app.


    This time, it wasn''t just the professor who lit up, but Ss as well. He was a bit skeptical at first, but the moment he did so, a long string of letters began to appear one after another, but the app soon crashed.


    "Don''t worry, don''t worry," the professor waved a hand. "The default notepad barely allows a few dozen megabytes at a time, I expected this to happen.


    "The normal strand of DNA has what? A couple billion ''letters?'' Let''s say the average ''word'' is 5 letters long, that''s still 2 to 600 million words. Even a word doc would crash beneath that weight, let alone a notepad.


    "What''s more interesting to me is how the system is so clever. You noticed how it immediately changed the format of the Gene Sequence into something that could be easily recognized on the notepad app?"


    Ss nodded. He had noticed this as well.


    The Gene Sequence he saw in his mind was a three-


    dimensional image of what was a real double helix. In fact, that didn''t quite do theplexity of it justice.


    Not only was it a double helix, but he could zoom in and actually see down to the very atoms of the molecules and see how they interacted with one another. This was the main reason he had suddenly felt so overloaded.


    And yet, when he willed it into the notepad, it just became a normal text file of A, G, C, and T.


    These four letters were, of course, the four building blocks of all DNA strands, universal across the living organisms of Earth. Everyplex function the body underwent was encoded by these four strands in some way.


    "In that case¡­" Ss spoke before the professor could go on another spiel, pulling out a USB from his pocket.


    "What''s this?"


    "This is from my university. It has the program that I''ve used to analyze DNA."


    "So you are familiar with usingputers?" Professor Fembroise asked in such honest surprise that Ss wasn''t even quite sure how to respond for a small while.


    "¡­ I do know, I just didn''t have the luxury to explore the system as well as you have."


    Professor Fembroise smiled a bit cheekily. "Don''t be so defensive."


    Ss wanted to say that he wasn''t being defensive, and that he was just stating things as they were like he usually did. But he knew enough to know that that would probably only make him look worse.


    "I don''t believe that you usually use supeputers to analyze DNA, right? Normalputers should be enough."


    "Yes, normally we just use normalputers. The reason I went so far is that, one, I was barely able to get this software off of my workptop remotely after the Trial ended. I don''t have much information about what''s going on with technology, but I know that the more time passes, the stronger the original technology will need to be to stillplete the same tasks.


    "And two, it''s because I''m fairly certain that this isn''t a normal DNA sequence. This creature had some¡­ deep lore that''s difficult to ignore, and it''s unlikely a normalputer will be able to handle it, especially under these circumstances."


    Professor Fembroise nodded, no longer teasing Ss. He had overlooked something simple, but it wasn''t because he was stupid.


    She took the USB and uploaded it onto the terminal.

 Chapter 165 Dormant

    <h4>Chapter 165 Dormant</h4>


    [500 PSs bonus chapter]


    The software whirred to life and the professor looked at Ss. Clearly, this was his wheelhouse now.


    Ss used his intention to will the Gene Sequence into the software once again.


    The software he was using was known somewhat amusedly as CAD DNA. It had three simple functions.


    The first was the most important, and that was its predictive model. It could take an input, feed it into a DNA sequence, and output the result. This was why Ss was so familiar with it, because it was an invaluable tool in perfecting his venom vine.


    The second was itspare and contrast. It had a database of species within it, and it was easy to upload a Gene Sequence into it and point out the odd, out-of-ce mutations.


    The third was splicing. It was abination of the first two, and it could trigger mutations and changes in a DNA sequence and deduce the result.


    Unfortunately, after a few promising seconds, the program crashed once again.


    Ss sighed. This was exactly what he was worried about. Did he make a wasted trip?


    ''No. The professor is correct. I''ve been too rigid in my thinking. If intention is enough to get the system to interact with real-world technology, who''s to say that that''s the limit?''


    ''What if I restrict what portions of the Gene Sequence I want to upload? Wait, how far can I take my intention in the first ce? If I say I want just the important parts projected, would that be a loophole that forces the system to do some of the legwork for me?''


    As Ss thought, they booted up the program again.


    For the next five minutes or so, they tried several things and Ss learned quite a bit.


    First, it was possible to upload the Gene Sequence in bits and pieces.


    Second, it wasn''t possible to force the system to do the legwork for him by tweaking his intention. For example, he couldn''t just ask it to only send in the important parts because he needed an understanding of what those parts were, at least vaguely.


    Third, the Basilisk was most simr to the Titanoboa in terms of Gene Sequence, a creature that was extinct on Earth, but that Ss had seen once before in the Trial. This was mostly extraption, but it seemed about right.


    Fourth, the Basilisk King had what looked like several knots in its Gene Sequence, and they were the root of the mostplexity. When these knots were ignored, the upload went just fine. It seemed that whatever sequences were in these knots were in a permanent state of non-expression.


    Fifth was the most surprising.


    Ss felt that, less than the program analyzing the data for him, he seemed to be naturally understanding things as he went.


    And that was when it happened.


    ---


    [Path Quest <Document Contract Gene Sequence> Completed]


    [+250 Experience]


    ---


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 2]


    [Experience: 160/200]


    -


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv2; Insight Lv2]


    -


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <30%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <100%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <40%>]


    -


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    ---


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 2]


    [Experience: 50/400]


    -


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv2]


    -


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Common> Genes]


    ---


    Ss didn''t expect the easy upgrade, and he honestly didn''t expect that the scaling would be so good.


    Was this the strength of a Legendary Profession?


    Just from a single increase in Level, his Hibernation Realm gained an extra 100% to recovery speed, the speed of his Fusion with the Basilisk King had increased to 100% from 50%, and he could even buff the Basilisk King by an additional 20% on top of the already ridiculous 20% boost.


    The Basilisk King already had a ridiculous 111 Strength and 123 Constitution, what did it mean to boost that by 40%?


    But he was still most interested in Extricate from Taboo Bond.


    He still hadn''t had the opportunity to test it because before, it could only Extricate Fragmented Genes. Now that it was Level 2, it could Extricate Common Genes.


    All the creatures he hade across now had Common Genes, so he couldn''t even test it at all. Now¡­ he just might be able to.


    ''Hm, there was no change to the "Insight" skill of One Kind For Me, though. The others have numbers attached to them so it''s easy to see the changes, but¡­''


    Ss tried to pull up the Gene Sequence again, the first ability of Insight, and unsurprisingly, there were changes.


    For one, although he still felt overloaded, it wasn''t as exaggerated as in the past, where he was forced to close it immediately.


    Second, he felt that his innate understanding was actually a level deeper than it had been before.


    He could almost "see" what portions of the Gene Sequences decided Strength or Constitution, and he even found the knot that held the Basilisk King''s Dormant Gene Talent, Voice of a King.


    Not only could he tell which knot it was, but he could also tell that the other knots were unlike the King''s Gaze knot. While King''s Gaze had once been awakened, the others had never been, as though they were in a permanent state of Dormancy. The system didn''t even mention them.


    ''I see, so this should be the Basilisk King''s path to evolution. I just need to find methods of undoing those knots.''


    But that was easier said than done.


    There were three knots in total outside of King''s Gaze, but thest knot of the three was especially troublesome. That was because it looked to be a multiyered knot, one that looked as though someone had tied several simple knots into a long rope before wrapping them all into a single bow.


    Ss and the professor spent more time going through some things, but eventually Ss realized that he wasn''t getting much more out of it. There was only so much a program designed by humans of this world could do about a creature born in the Aether ne.


    "Looks like this is as far as we can go for now," Ss said.

 Chapter 166 Extricate (1)

    <h4>Chapter 166 Extricate (1) </h4>


    The Basilisk King wasn''t even one of their extinct creatures; it was a BOSS born in a Dungeon. It was probably most urately called an alien.


    "That''s enough for today," Ss said, standing up.


    "That''s it?" The professor blinked in surprise. It had barely been over ten minutes.


    "There are people supervising me, and I can''t be away for long without exnation. Plus, I''ve already gotten exactly what I need. This program can''t analyze anymore. I didn''t have many expectations to begin with."


    Professor Fembroise''s gaze flickered, but she nodded slowly.


    "And my situation? What are we going to do about that?"


    "First and foremost: stay home."


    Her eyes widened.


    "But¡ª"


    "Give me your address, and I wille tomorrow to give you something that can protect your family for the time being. It will also help us tomunicate. I don''t know much about Lone Star, but I remember that you live near the university, right?"


    "Ss, I¡ª"


    "I get it," Ss nodded. "Thest ce you want to be right now is home. You''ve always loved your work, and it probably feels terrible realizing that everything you''ve built your life around is crumbling.


    "I want to give you a new purpose. You''re intelligent, and your use is obvious. We will need people like you to quickly find methods of bringing Earth out of the dark ages we''re about to fall into.


    "But right now, you are frail. Even a Level 0 of the Trial could crush you, although you''ve probably noticed by now that your rtive Strength has increased in recent days."


    The professor nodded slowly. It wasn''t just her, but women across the world had noticed such a thing. It was the stat bncing of the system at work again.


    "Take your leave, you have all the right in the world. Grieve. Properly."


    Ss looked into her eyes.


    She let out a shuddering breath, then wrote out her address on a paper, along with a crude map outline.


    "I wille to see you tomorrow around this time," Ss said, turning away.


    Soon, he had disappeared, his thoughts on one word: Extricate.


    ...


    Ss left the campus swiftly. The sun had already begun to set.


    By now, he had been gone for around half an hour or so. It wasn''t to the point of being exaggerated yet, but he knew that he was likely skating on thin ice already.


    The problem he faced was the obvious: his Favorability.


    He knew that it would be a problem, and unlike Lauren and Alex, he didn''t know how to hide his own.


    He had asked the Madness Key about it, but it seemed he would need a special Profession, or he would need someone with a special Profession to help him.


    These were two things he obviously didn''t have ess to.


    Even so, he originally felt that it wouldn''t be much of a problem. That was because the Browns still hadn''t decided on their City Lord, so neither one of the three candidates should have ess to his Favorability.


    At least it seemed so¡­ because there was an exception to the rule.


    And that was, yet again, a special Profession.


    Ss had thought the odds of this were low until he saw something that gave him pause.


    Bloom and Mark had a registry ready for a car they picked up on the side of the road. How was that possible?


    The obvious answer was that they had prepared the car in advance, but then why did Bloom have to hotwire it? Shouldn''t they just have a key prepared?


    Ss'' interaction with Professor Fembroise gave him the answer.


    The system had the ability to interact with the real world; the separation wasn''t as perfect as he thought it was.


    So, what if Bloom had an administrative ability, one that not only allowed her to create car registries and licenses from thin air, but also allowed her to see his Favorability?


    When Ss drew a conclusion from these inferences, he came to understand that he wasn''t as clean right now as he thought he was. He was likely already being monitored in ways he didn''t fully understand, and his room to maneuver was much lesser.


    He was treading on a very fine line right now, and neither Bloom nor Mark''s strength was a joke. He hadn''t scanned any of them, but Bloom''s Flow of Battle should mean she had a Comprehension. She was the first person aside from himself that he had seen have such a thing.


    His only advantage was that Bloom knew his Favorability, but she didn''t know that he knew that she knew. It was a round robin of deductions, but the importance of the difference was the only thing keeping the bnce of the situation right now.


    He didn''t worry about himself. If it came to it, he could always just vanish. He had many methods of keeping himself safe, especially since there was no Aether on Earth just yet.


    However, he still had to keep his family in mind. They were in the Browns'' familypound. Until he had the strength to take them out safely, there was no other option but to keep the current status quo.


    By the time Ss found himself in the middle of the hiking trail, the sun had set.


    He changed directions and headed off the path. When he was deep into the forest and there was no one around, he took out Rojan''s corpse.


    ---


    [Rojan O''Connor]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (5) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (5) Dexterity (F); (8) Intelligence (F); (3) Will (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ---


    Ss memorized the screen just in case, then interfaced with his Legendary Profession.


    ''Extract.''


    He pulled with his intention, not sure how else to evoke it. Once again, it didn''t fail him.


    There was a mysterious tug that came from Ss'' fingers that almost felt like telekinesis but not. The difference was that the tug felt very real, while his telekinesis was almost more superficial in a way.

 Chapter 167 Extricate (2)

    <h4>Chapter 167 Extricate (2)</h4>


    He felt a vague sense of where the tug wasing from. Rojan, or rather his corpse, seemed to be fighting back against him.


    Ss felt that he could overwhelm this force easily, but the problem was that he was only pulling on a single Gene right now. Would he be able to pull on another afterward?


    ''It doesn''t matter,'' he thought to himself. ''My current Gene Stat is Rigid, so I can''t absorb any Genes. Even if I could, I''ve hit all my Stat Limits already.''


    He was being too cautious; he instead chose to approach it like an experiment and pulled enough to overwhelm the force fighting back against him.


    Something miraculous appeared.


    A bundle of energy floated out of Rojan''s corpse. It looked like a series of catalyzed fusions and expulsions were urring within it. It reminded Ss of what he had learned about the atom in high school, and yet from time to time, it would solidify and be a double helix, though iplete.


    Ss didn''t know where the thought came from, but he almost felt like he was staring right into the jaws of the beginning of the universe.


    ''What do I do with it?''


    Ss actually wasn''t sure. The ability was known as Extricate, but there didn''t seem to be any other function.


    He could tell this was a Gene from Rojan; he also knew that it was a Strength Gene as well, though he wasn''t sure where that intuition came from. But other than that¡­


    He brought the bundle of energy toward himself, and he surprisingly felt resistance immediately.


    He knew that he was in a Rigid Gene State, but he had never felt it so tangibly until now.


    What was interesting, though, was that this resistance felt simr to the tug, almost like he could overwhelm it just the same.


    ''Can I?''


    He pushed, bringing the Gene closer and closer to himself. But as he did so, the resistance increased exponentially until he felt that the Strength Gene was actually about to copse beneath the pressure.


    ''I do have¡­''


    Ss hadn''t taken them because there was no point, but he had umted a few lesser Gene State Elixirs. Maybe if he used one, the result would be different?


    An Inflexible Gene State Elixir appeared in Ss'' hand. It would allow him a 10% sess rate in absorbing Genes for the next three days.


    He swallowed the bitter Elixir, almost feeling as though it was packed with impurities, unlike the Soft Gene State Elixirs he had taken in the past.


    A feeling of release overwhelmed him, like his body had been bound off tight and only now got the chance to rx.


    This wasn''t a feeling that he had felt so clearly before; it was certainly because Extricate was active and he could feel the previous resistance of his body clearly.


    Once again, Ss brought the Gene close, but the resistance was still great. He kept pushing, but it looked as though the Gene was still about to shatter.


    ''Did I waste an Elixir?''


    Ss frowned. They were precious, too precious. Even an Inflexible Gene State Elixir shouldn''t be taken so lightly, which was why he had saved them. But this¡­


    Ss really wanted to ask the Madness Key for help, but the cost was beginning to get wild. He barely had the bandwidth to keep it from devouring him these days. He couldn''t afford to ask it things that he could figure out through trial and error.


    ---


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <2 Common> Genes.]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <15 Common> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <5 days> remaining until Hunger increases.]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped.]


    ---


    The only good news was that he had managed to umte a ton of beast corpses from the Portal, so he could sustain it for a while. The bad news was pretty much everything else.


    The exchange price for questions had doubled from one to two, and the Gene requirements had increased by 50% from 10 to 15.


    It was semi-good news that the Glutton Curse wasn''t doubling, but even at this rate, in five days it would be asking for Bronze Genes.


    His speed of progress wasn''t keeping up. And while he could use higher-quality Genes to make up for the lower-quality asks of the Madness Key, he couldn''t use Common Genes to cover for Bronze Genes, for example.


    If he couldn''t meet those requirements in five days, then¡­


    ''That''s exactly why I should ask my questions now. I have more than enough Genes for the next five days, but after that time, the Common Genes will be useless. It seems like a good idea, but¡­''


    Ss shook his head; he couldn''t risk it. It wasn''t worth it.


    Extricate was the ability of Taboo Bond. The fact he had only five days was bad enough, but what if he needed to find Bronze Genes right this moment because he asked the wrong question?


    Until he had some breathing room again, he couldn''t take such risks.


    ''Let''s push.''


    This was Ss'' final conclusion.


    If the Gene was going to break, let it break. He would observe what happened, then try it again.


    Right now, Extricate seemed useless. But Ss knew there had to be a point to it.


    He had already gotten a benefit, that being that he could now visualize his Gene State. After grasping it once, that ability hadn''t gone away. This wasn''t too useful now, but who was to say that it would remain so?


    The Strength Gene suddenly copsed under Ss'' pressure. As expected, it couldn''t make it through the barrier.


    Ss was ready to try again when something odd happened.


    The fibers of the remaining energy were pushed into his body and Ss suddenly felt another odd sense take shape.

 Chapter 168 Senses

    <h4>Chapter 168 Senses </h4>


    If he had to describe it, it was like a muscle-to-mind connection one might feel while lifting weights, but more ethereal in a sense.


    He wasn''t sensing a muscle but rather a type of ability.


    He could clearly feel the limits of Strength, as though he could pinpoint the exact amount of weight he could pick up down to the gram.


    That wasn''t all; he could see the Strength stat in a way he never had before. He could feel how it rted to Speed, how it made maximizing Dexterity harder, how it synergized with Constitution to be more effective.


    These things were more clear to him in this brief instant than they had ever been when he used Madness Control. In that brief instant, even without the Skill, he felt that his control over his body was on an entirely different level¡­


    And then it vanished.


    That magical feeling fluttered away from him like wisps of air and plumes of smoke. It somehow felt both close and so far away, almost addictive in a way.


    So Ss did it again.


    He was better at controlling it now, so he targeted a Strength Gene once more on purpose.


    He shattered the Gene against his body, and instead of giving up halfway like he had before, he kept pushing even after it broke apart.


    This time, the feeling was even more intense, and unlike an addictive drug, it didn''t wane or weaken.


    Ss subconsciously punched out, trying to move to see if he could put this new understanding to better use.


    His eyes lit up, and his blood pumped with excitement.


    When he punched out just now, he felt that he had an intimate understanding of exactly how to maximize his Strength. The position of his feet, the torque of his hips, the rotation of his shoulder down to his wrist, he could feel it all so clearly.


    The images reflected in his Visualization, and he realized that it was deeper than just controlling his body.


    It wasn''t that he could just control his body better, but he felt that in this state, he could truly maximize his training.


    He not only understood Strength more intimately, but he could train his Strength with far more efficiency.


    The feelingsted for much longer this time, around thirty seconds or so, before it faded.


    ''Fascinating. If I trust this feeling, increasing my Strength stat is more than about just lifting a lot of weight. It''s also about flexibility, and beyond weight lifting, there are static and dynamic stances that I can use. It could be said that weight training is the least effective method of using an excess of Strength Genes.''


    The findings were truly fascinating, but it made Ss wonder. If he could feel this magical state when he failed to absorb a Physical Gene, what about a Mental Gene?


    Would it show him the same world?


    Ss focused on Rojan''s corpse once again. This time, he focused on an Intelligence Gene.


    What would it teach him about controlling Aether?


    The Intelligence Gene pressed against Ss'' chest, and there was a great amount of resistance once more.


    Just when Ss thought that the Gene would shatter like all the others before it, it actually fused into his body.


    The feeling was somehow more miraculous than previously. Not only did the Gene fuse with Ss, but an explosion seemed to have echoed through his mind.


    He sensed the faint wisps of Aether in his surroundings so clearly that he even felt he could use it.


    Everyone on Earth was under the impression that Aether didn''t exist, but this wasn''t true. Well, it had been true before the Trial, but as time ticked by, Earth was integrating with the Aether ne more and more.


    It wasn''t that there was no Aether, but rather that it was so sparse that their current Intelligence couldn''t pick it up.


    The properties of Aether had never been so clear to Ss.


    He could "see" the newly formed cirction pathways in his body, a mysterious new organ system that had somehow always been there but had never been documented by humans until now.


    No, it wasn''t that it was a new organ system, but rather one that had always been there but hadyers to it that couldn''t be used until Aether was around.


    If his blood vessels were normally designed to carry blood, Aether was taking advantage of unexined, unobservable electrical conductances. Blood and Aether coexisted, and the feeling of thetter circting felt so clear only because it was so different from anything their bodies normally experienced.


    These electrical currents became akin to the circuit board of the universe,municating like a chip would to aputer and impressing its will onto the world.


    It was then Ss understood something else.


    Aether might not exist on Earth, but the Aether in his body was just fine. Of course, it would dissipate over time, but why was it that he immediately lost the ability to use Skills the instant he returned to Earth?


    The answer was obvious now.


    Casting Skills was a reciprocal rtionship between your body and the atmosphere. The body sent the signal, and the atmosphere responded. In exchange for a small bit of Aether from yourself, arge bit of Aether reacted.


    ''Fascinating, so when I use Basic Aetherflow, I''m using my telekinesis as a direct line ofmunication with the Aether in the atmosphere instead of my body. As such, when I use Basic Aetherflow and a Skill at the same time, the ultimate result is many times more powerful¡­''


    Ss connected so many dots in such a short time that he didn''t even realize how much time was passing.


    Gene Talents like Basic Aetherflow didn''t need to climb adder ofprehension like Skills did; they always started off at the equivalent of Legendary Mastery.


    The difference was that as you grew more familiar with a Gene Talent, you used up less stamina per use, and there might evene a point where you could use it as fluidly and as easily as breathing.

 Chapter 169 Read

    <h4>Chapter 169 Read</h4>


    At this moment, Ss'' Basic Aetherflow was progressing by leaps and bounds.


    Whereas a failed fusionsted just 30 seconds, a sessful fusion was not only deeper in benefits butsted a full three minutes.


    By the end of it, Ss realized one more important fact.


    By relying on himself rather than the system to absorb Genes, the benefits were like night and day.


    None of this was the special ability of Taboo Bond or Extricate. It was purely the benefit of absorbing Genes without the obfuscation of the system.


    And it was truly a game changer.


    There was no reason Ss could only use this on himself. He should be able to allow others to experience this just as easily.


    The best part was that while he wouldn''t seed with every Gene with his current poor Gene State, that didn''t matter as much as it should have.


    There was a benefit even for failure, and the best part was that with Extricate, he didn''t waste any Genes either.


    If he tried to use the system to absorb Genes, he would have lost 90% without a method of gaining them back. But with Extricate, even a failure had some positives.


    As thest of the feelings faded away, Ss checked his stats mostly out of habit. He had been training every day, and it was so convenient to take a look that he thought why not.


    What he didn''t expect was that there''d be a real change.


    ---


    **[Name: Ss Grimde]**


    - **[Species: Human (F)]**


    - **[Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]**


    - **[Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]**


    - **[Level: 0]**


    - **[Coins: 7294 (F)]**


    - **[Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]**


    ---


    **[Physical: 98]**


    - **[Strength: 101]**


    - **[Constitution: 91]**


    - **[Dexterity: 100]**


    - **[Speed: 100]**


    **[Mental: 136]**


    - **[Intelligence: 207]**


    - **[Wisdom: 62]**


    - **[Charisma: 142]**


    **[Will: 218]**


    **[Luck: 22]**


    ---


    **[Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+)]**


    **[Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]**


    ---


    **[Gene State: Inflexible]**


    - **[Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]**


    - **[Common Genes: (6) Speed (F); (6) Strength (F); (4) Constitution (F); (6) Dexterity (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (3) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]**


    - **[Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]**


    ---


    ''My Intelligence went up by two!''


    Assuming that he had gained one stat point before Skill Savant gave him a 100% boost, that meant that because he had seeded in absorbing one Gene, the benefits were enough to increase his Stat Limit.


    Ss was in shock. He hadn''t even felt a dull ache, let alone the usual shocking amount of pain.


    Quickly, Ss began to try again and again.


    Unfortunately, his Gene State was too poor. He only managed to seed one more time despite the fact Rojan had 23 total Gene Stats.


    The Gene he seeded with was a Dexterity Gene, but nothing at all happened to his stats. For now, Ss could only hypothesize that this "hack" was only avable for the Mental stats, but he had no way to confirm.


    That said, it wasn''t as though he gained nothing at all.


    The feeling of fusing with the Dexterity Gene sessfully was just as magical. He felt like he was observing his body as an outsider looking in.


    Thanks to this, his grasp of Sudden Burst had increased by arge margin as well. In the past, he could only use it once every few minutes, and even then, it was very hard on his body.


    But now he felt like twice or thrice a minute wasn''t a huge issue. The limit was no longer his body, per se, but rather whether his stamina could keep up. He at least didn''t have to worry about suddenly tearing something.


    Ss exhaled and let the final magical state float away. He picked up the man''s corpse and stored it away. Leaving it here would only be inviting trouble.


    ''Time to go.''


    ¡­


    Ss returned to Bloom and Mark''s home smoothly. The swelling in his nose had gone down considerably, but he still hid it with his mask. Since he had worn it while heading out, neither of the two seemed to react much to it.


    "We''ll be heading out tomorrow," Bloom suddenly said as Ss was heading up the stairs to shower and rest.


    "Oh? Where?" Ss asked.


    "We''ll be scouting out the metallurgypound we spoke about before. No issues, right?"


    Ss looked back. "Why would there be?"


    Bloom shrugged. "You''re smart, so I''m sure you''ve already found a lot of this to be weird."


    Their gazes met and neither one said anything for a while.


    "The world isn''t the same anymore. Quite frankly, I me the Grimdes for their selfishness in this regard, but I me the government more.


    "There are any number of reasons I can think of for why the Grimdes would be forced to hide this truth. Maybe they feared retaliation from the government, or maybe they just felt they had no obligation to, and you''d be correct.


    "The Grimdes have no obligation to the people of the world, but the governments certainly did and do, but they all decided to sit on their hands.


    "If you''re asking me if I feel ufortable about going after them, no, not really. If they had done right by the world, I wouldn''t have ended up on your side to begin with. They only have themselves to me."


    After saying this, Ss headed up the stairs as Mark peeked out of the kitchen.


    Therge, lovable brute didn''t expect the conversation to take such a turn, and when he looked at his sister, he found a contemtive expression on her face.


    Everything they knew about Ss said that he wasn''t scheming. He had snapped at the honeytrap Astrid sent at him when a scheming person would have more than likely pretended to fall for it. And now he was speaking so boldly about things that Bloom had nned to only touch upon at a surface level.


    He was¡­ very hard to read.

 Chapter 170 Farce

    <h4>Chapter 170 Farce </h4>


    [1000 PSs bonus chapter]


    The next day came swiftly. This time, Ss didn''t go out for a morning run in preparation for the event that was soon toe. Though this meant he couldn''t go and see Professor Fembroise, he could only hope that a day''s dy didn''t change things too significantly.


    The group left the residence together as the sun set. A silence pervaded the car, the shadows and warm colors of dusk rolling by their windows.


    Soon, Bloom pulled up into a warehouse. The inside waspletely bare, it didn''t seem to be in use for anything.


    "This ce is under our ownership. The target is near the city limits and there''s tight security as well, so we''ll need to go the rest of the way on foot.


    "I''ll brief you on the task. Our only job is to get close enough to use the system to analyze the metals they''re working on. Once we''ve confirmed, we can consider other things."


    Ss nodded. He still felt that this was a waste of a trip if that was all they wanted to do, but he wasn''t going to push his luck. Obviously, they didn''t want to tell him the real purpose.


    ''So it is possible to use the system to analyze normal things, huh?''


    "Won''t it be impossible to use the analysis Skills without Aether?" Ss asked.


    "You can trigger it first, and once we''re in an Aether-rich environment, the analysis will finish."


    Ss nodded and the trio left the car.


    By this point, the sun had already set. The warehouse was in the middle of a southern desert, thend was dried and cracked, and aside from the long stretch of asphalt that was the road, there were no other markers of society.


    It was hard to tell how they''d sneak in like this, they''d be seen from a mile away¡­ literally. But Ss soon got his answer.


    Bloom was being a bit too casual with their approach for a reason.


    This wasn''t a covert operation; they might as well have gone in guns zing.


    By the time Mark wasughing and Ss registered what happened, the sound of ring rms had already pierced their ears.


    Ss didn''t have the words to describe what was happening. What was the point of all the caution, all the radio-tapping, if this was what they were going to do anyway?


    He sent a nce toward Bloom to find that she had indifferently taken out her spear, rushing after Mark, who was going full tilt with his shield in hand.


    In the end, Ss could onlyfort himself with the hope that Bloom had chosen this day for a good reason.


    Three kunai appeared around him and he rushed after them,gging behind a bit.


    It seemed there was no escaping it. After this, he would be an enemy of the government, a fugitive on soil that had once been his home.


    Ss exhaled a breath and got ready for a ride, but he was immediately taken aback.


    The instant they entered the range of their target, waves of Aether bloomed in the surroundings almost as though they had just stepped back onto the Aether ne.


    A hint of relief calmed Ss'' heart. This should at least mean that they wouldn''t have to deal with guns.


    But on the other hand¡­


    [Lh Bell]


    [Level: 4]


    [Victor Curx]


    [Level: 5]


    [Be Murrow]


    [Level: 5]


    Just from a far-off distance away, Ss saw a wave of high-


    Leveled existences. The more he saw, the more incredulous he felt about the whole thing. Was the n really to just rush in like this?


    Was this a test? Were they testing his bottom line? Were they trying to thrust him into a dangerous situation just to see how he would react? Was it for the sake of his loyalty? Or to understand his stats?


    Ss could no longer hold back.


    [Mark Grimde (FF)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Bloom Grimde (FF+)]


    [Level: 9]


    Ss'' pupils constricted as both Mark and Bloom looked back toward him at the same time.


    Without Madness activated, this was all he could see. Even their stats were obscured to him. But he had a feeling that the two would assume that he couldn''t see anything at all.


    Ss met both of their gazes, not hiding the frown on his face at all.


    He refused to believe that there were more than a few dozen Level 9s. For these two to be ssified as FF and FF+ among them should mean that they were in the top half of skill even amongst Level 9s.


    Even if he was wrong and there were a few hundred at most. It was entirely different to Ss, who was a Level 0 among billions of Level 0s right now. It was simply too easy for him to be amongst the 99th percentile.


    "If the two of you are trying to y with my life, we can end this farce right here and now," Ss said calmly. If they expected him to rush in and risk himself without information, they were sorely mistaken.


    There was a flicker in Bloom''s eyes and it was only now she seemed to rx.


    Favorability seemed to be a cheat code, but the reality was that there were too many variables involved. Just having low Favorability didn''t mean that a person was going to betray you, and having high Favorability didn''t mean that things couldn''t just change on a dime.


    The reality was that among all the draftees, the average Favorability was around three or so. The highest wasn''t even at five.


    Intelligent and talented people didn''t trust others so easily, and all of them were smart enough to understand many of the shady dealings the Browns had been involved in.


    What they wanted to understand wasn''t whether Ss'' Favorability was high or not, that was meaningless. What they wanted to understand was whether his Favorability was low due to a healthy skepticism, or if he would stand opposed to the family no matter what.

 Chapter 171 Protect

    <h4>Chapter 171 Protect</h4>


    [1500 PSs bonus chapter]


    Until now, Ss had refrained from scanning them. If he continued to do so in a situation like this one, he would be more than a little suspicious. At that point, they would wonder about what he was hiding.


    The fact his scan had failed was enough for them to move him up a tier of confidence.


    Both siblings turned back towards the rapidly approachingpound, and Bloom spoke.


    "We will protect your safety."


    "How?" Ss asked,ing to a stop.


    The two continued to rush forward.


    "We are Level 9''s, no one here can threaten us. Let''s go."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. ''As expected, they don''t know I saw their Level already. It seems I made a good decision not using Madness.''


    After some hesitation, Ss continued to rush after them. Maintaining his skepticism, he kept his kunai close to his body. Usually, they would be surging ahead to protect the two, but since they were supposedly going to protect his safety, he left it up to them and observed.


    Bloom pulled her spear from her back and Mark''s shield erupted with a surging light.


    A group of special ops rushing out of the building were blown back by a shockwave.


    Bloom pressed a foot into the ground, her body bending almost like a bow before she erupted with more speed than Ss had ever seen from her.


    Right then, he felt her Comprehension more clearly than ever before. The spear became like an extension of her arm, its de controlled as deftly as her fingers.


    The special ops didn''t get the chance to stand from the ground. A single pierce struck their throats from afar, an odd, sharp, Aether energy curving through the skies like shooting stars beneath the night sky.


    The duo were a pair of wrecking balls. They passed the baton back and forth seamlessly, each one taking a chance at the vanguard. Mark disced the enemies, shattering their momentum, and Bloom dealt the killing blow every time.


    Ss really didn''t have to do a thing. He followed after them like a child being babysat. There wasn''t even the slightest fluctuation that managed to reach him. Other than the cool night breeze that blew through the blown-open, heavy metal doors, even his clothing wasn''t ruffled.


    It also made him realize something.


    The Quest he had gotten that required defeating an expert 15 Levels above him¡­ that was no joke at all.


    He had begun to take skipping Levels to do battle for granted. But just yesterday he had almost lost his life to a Level 7, and now he was seeing the strength of a pair of Level 9''s that weren''t even rated at the FFF- grade.


    Then there was the fact at Level 10, there was a qualitative change due to the addition of sses. Whatever he was seeing here was probably just the tip of the iceberg of what was possible.


    Ss'' thoughts shifted. ''¡­ I have to find a path for my Gene Crystal as soon as possible¡­''


    Whether it was to protect himself in the face of these powerhouses, to keep up with the Madness Key''s hunger, or to ensure the future of his family¡­


    He had to get stronger. Fast.


    The inside of thepound looked like a metal-work factory. It was littered with heavy machinery, and heat billowed out in waves, shing with the cold night air.


    The pair of siblings seemed to know exactly where they were going.


    The sun had already set, so the workers were long gone. But that was what was so odd. There were no workers, the factory looked like a normal factory as well¡­ so what were they guarding?


    The concentration of special ops was far higher on the perimeter. The further they traveled, the fewer of them there were.


    Bloom and Mark made it to a steel door, which thetter kicked down with a boot.


    A harsher wave of heat came at them and a steep set of metal stairs appeared in front of them.


    Mark took the vanguard and Bloom followed up after a nce toward Ss.


    The look seemed to say that this was where the real mission began, but one way or another, Ss could only follow.


    An ufortable sweat began to build on his body. Breathing in the air was bingborious and it must have been at least 50 degrees Celsius if not worse.


    ''There''s a glowing from them,'' Ss noticed.


    The sibling duo was covered in a hardly perceptible sheen of silvery blue.


    ''Aether?''


    They were using the Aether to protect themselves from the heat. Ss wasn''t sure if it was a Skill, or if it was something else. For now, he soldiered through.


    Marknded below and kicked out. The door he faced this time was several levels thicker and more reinforced. But Ss sensed the activation of a Skill and his foot was suddenly surrounded by a rush of Aether.


    BOOM!


    The door''s core mass caved in, crumpling like aluminum foil before it flew off its hinges.


    ''That''s right,'' Ss thought to himself, ''the sheen of Aether on them can''t be a Skill or else I would have sensed it interface with the surrounding Aether. It must be a special application of the energy¡­''


    He wouldn''t have noticed this if not for his Extricate experimentst night, but now he was certain.


    The heat suddenly became unbearable. If not for Ss'' 91 Constitution, he would have already begun to suffer burns. Right now it felt like he had brought his hand a little too close to the stove, except with his entire body.


    It was definitely over 60 degrees Celsius. Even the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was barely above 55. Whatever was going on here was on another level entirely.


    Ss had no choice but to try and mimic what Bloom and Mark were doing. Although he realized that this might be another test, he really had no other choice.

 Chapter 172 Battle

    <h4>Chapter 172 Battle </h4>


    [2000 PSs bonus chapter]


    He was forced to slow his steps, not quite used to it. But he picked up soon afterward. With his Wisdom, doing four things at once wasn''t an issue, which was why he could fight and wield three kunai at once.


    After an initial slowdown, this time he quickly managed to keep up.


    The Aether skin around him solidified, but he realized his own was much thicker than the pair of siblings''. This wasn''t because his Intelligence was definitely greater than theirs, but rather because he had used far more Aether than he needed.


    The good news was that the heat no longer bothered him. The bad news was that he had identally drained himself of half his Aether, and it seemed that he was correct about Bloom''s earlier look.


    It almost looked like they had stepped onto the top railing of a particr reactor. Down below, there was what looked like a spinning miniature sun, but somehow it was also a portal into another world.


    The portal they had run into in Paradise had a silvery blue to almost violet hue to it. But this one was a fierce red, and it looked to be because the other side was an active volcano. It was the most fantastical sight Ss had everid his eyes on.


    It suddenly made sense why there was Aether in this region. There was a portal here.


    But it didn''t seem like a normal portal at all. This one wasn''t expanding, nor was it nearly asrge as the one from Paradise. In fact, this one seemed to be controlled.


    There was a ton of scaffolding around it, and plenty ofnes and bridges for workers to move over and through this portal.


    ''They weren''t lying?''


    This was the first thought Ss had because the reality was that there was only one real exnation for all of this¡­


    This portal was being used for metalworking. More urately than that, it was likely being used for a form of metallurgy that was either not possible on Earth or was no longer possible due to the changes in the physicalws.


    Maybe it was a bit of both.


    There was sudden movement inside the portal. A group of warriors appeared, all covered in a sheen of Aether and rushing across theva as though it was tnd.


    [Bogdan Surhan]


    [Level: 8]


    [Elise Mellow]


    [Level: 9]


    [Petrard Vermo]


    [Level: 8]


    "We will stop them," Bloom said. "Beneath the portal, there''s a disk outlined by a few runes. You just have to take it for us. Once you''ve seeded, we''ll know and retreat. Got it?"


    Ss gave her a look but eventually nodded.


    "WAAAHOOOO!" Mark leapt from the metal bridge and dove down.


    Bloom shook her head and took the stairs.


    Ss watched all of this silently, feeling that he was still missing something and that this world was farrger than expected.


    Once they had all engaged, Ss began to make his way down cautiously, inching toward the disk below.


    The battle caused Ss'' expression to flicker. In part, due to the fact, his insight on Intelligence made him feel their auras much more sharply than he usually would, and another part because he still felt like he was missing something.


    Even so, he didn''t really have much of a choice.


    After feeling that there truly wasn''t anyone around, he sped up, leaping downward.


    Hended with nimble feet, but he found his skin of Aether was quickly being eaten away. Without much of a choice, he could only rush ahead.


    The battle was a three-on-two. At any moment, a slip might happen that put him in the direct line of danger.


    It took Ss a moment to find a way beneath the portal. Although it was hovering, there were arcs of mes that looked almost like sr resing out of it from time to time. He had a feeling that if any one of these touched him, even with how thick his Aether skin was, it wouldn''t survive.


    This wasn''t a defensive technique, after all. Well, now that Ss thought about it, it could likely be used like that in part. But still, it was weaker than his <Solidify> Skill.


    Ss rushed forward. Suddenly, he mmed on the brakes, leaping backward.


    Even with his constitution, a great amount of strain spiked through his knees.


    A whip of mes barely missed his nose as he reeled backward.


    ''This isn''t working.'' Ss thought with a cold and very real sweat matting his back. ''I need to brute force it.''


    First, he tested it. He targeted one of the sr res and then summoned a shield before it.


    <Solidify>.


    BANG!


    He sighed a breath of relief when the shield held up. It could only withstand 200 Strength worth of damage. If it shattered after just one exchange, he''d really be screwed. Especially since he only had half his Aether left.


    Ss rushed forward through a gap again. He visualized his surroundings as though he was wielding his flying kunai. Everything was reflected in his mind in clear, vivid colors.


    He pulled his Aether shield toward himself and blocked the path of another sr re.


    This time, it shattered immediately, but Ss had already rushed past, ready to conjure up another. With only half his Aether remaining, he could only cast <Solidify> 20 more times.


    He kept a count in his mind and paid close attention as he bobbed and weaved through theyers of wild mes.


    Soon, Ss could see the disk ahead.


    It was much smaller than he expected, but that was a relief. It was glowing a golden red, but he felt that that was more due to the heat than anything else.


    The speed at which his Aether skin was being eaten away was troublesome.


    ''It must be a difference in quality between my Aether and theirs. The Madness Key mentioned Pure Aether as a higher form of Aether when I asked about how to Level up¡­''


    Now¡­ the question was how he should take away a disk that looked a few ticks away from bing a molten pile of mush?

 Chapter 173 Change

    <h4>Chapter 173 Change</h4>


    If he used his hands, the result was obvious. He also didn''t exactly have tongs on him.


    ''Maybe that''s what they were thinking when they gave me this mission?''


    A thought popped up in Ss'' head and he reached out with his telekinesis.


    That was when something unexpected happened, something even Bloom had likely not thought of either.


    Ss''s method of applying his telekinesis was incredibly unique, he just didn''t know it.


    Rather than controlling a part of an item, he enveloped the entire thing with his Will. It gave him the greatest amount of control.


    In the past, he had tried to envision a hand wrapping around a weapon, but itcked stability so he had abandoned this path. This was also part of the reason he found weapons bnced for flight so much easier to control, because he wasn''t fighting against their natural instinct.


    This time, Ss acted no different. But when his telekinesis coated the disk like a second skin, it dove into several crevices, spreading out across a body covered in what looked likeplex runes.


    Ss felt like his mind had been instantly imprinted with every one of these characters.


    He didn''t know what they meant, but when his Will and Charisma ovepped with this visualization, his mind went nk.


    All at once, his focus hit rock bottom. It felt no different than when he used Madness for too long, like his mind had been drained.


    Fatigue hit him in waves as the world around him trembled.


    The portal distorted. In the air, a secondary domain seemed to sh with the original disk.


    Ss was moments from fainting, there was no way he had the mental capacity left to understand what was happening. But clearly he had inadvertently created a disruption to the disk, causing the portal to lose its shape.


    Before getting this far, Ss had already deduced the purpose of the portal. Just from his experience with Paradise, Ss knew that portals weren''t meant to stay nearly so stable, nor so small.


    The fact this fire-spitting portal had should be a result of this disk. Taking it would be killing two birds with one stone. First, it would destabilize the portal and make the government have to y catch-up to deal with a fire-spitting portal on the move to swallow half of one of their most important cities. And second, the disk would likely be useful to the Browns as well.


    However, through some unknown method, Ss had disrupted the stable output of the disk. And, rather than this just resulting in the portal beginning to grow and expand as normal, the worst case happened instead.


    The portal fluctuated, bing an amorphous blob that bent and twisted beneath its own might.


    Ss was just about to forcefully activate <Maddened Enlightenment> even at the risk of exposing it when the portal''s ripple swallowed him up.


    **


    The pain awoke Ss first. His body nudged at him, shing warning signs that he could very well die soon, being the only thing that snapped him awake.


    The first thing he saw was an endless red.


    The second thing he saw was the surrounding pools ofva he had fallen into.


    No matter how calm Ss usually was, his heart couldn''t help but skip a beat and fear threatened to grip and rule his mind.


    He should have been dead already. If not for his overly thick skin of Aether, he would have already been fried to charcoal.


    But that was also part of the problem.


    His mind was still foggy, but he could clearly feel that thest barrier between himself and thisva was only a few seconds from copsing. Over 90% of his thick Aether skin was gone.


    Ss tried to split his attention but got a splitting headache in return. Without a choice, he could only choose to deal with the most pressing problem first: strengthening his Aether Skin.


    Unfortunately, with his focus shaken, the process went terribly. The Aether skin was misshapen and lopsided. To make matters worse, even though he tried to reserve some of his Aether, he ended up sucking it dry.


    He wasn''t very familiar with the technique to begin with. But with his mind feeling like he was running on no sleep, his control was even worse than the first time.


    ''There''s not enough time.''


    Ss struggled to get up. At the pace his Aether skin was dissolving, he had half a minute at most to get to somewhere safer.


    Theva was denser than water, but it still wasn''tnd. Ss realized the only reason he was floating on top of it was because of his Aether skin. Even so, walking on it felt like trying to run across an incredibly soft mattress. He couldn''t get any traction and his bnce was constantly being thrown off.


    Ss looked around and found that the closest piece ofnd was about 200 meters away. With his current Physical, making it there should have been a breeze, but the wobble beneath his feet screamed otherwise.


    The beating of Ss'' heart was increasing. He wanted to think of a way, but his mind wasn''t cooperating.


    ''Aether, I need Aether.''


    He seemed to have forgotten about <Maddened Enlightenment>, or rather it had been pushed down his list of priorities. Even if he used <Maddened Enlightenment>, it would take more time than he had to set things right.


    So instead he pulled with his intention, trying to take out an Aether Rejuvenating Elixir.


    The good news? He seeded.


    The bad news? When he brought it to his mouth there was a pesky andically thick shield of Aether in the way.


    Ss stood frozen. If it wasn''t for the danger he was in, he might have stayed that way for a long while.


    He started running.


    It was the only option he had left.


    He ran and tried to trigger <Maddened Enlightenment> at the same time, but he soon realized that that was impossible.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> was ultimately a Skill. Although it could rapidly replenish Aether, doing so required a certain amount of Aether to already be present first in order to catalyze the start of the process. There was no Skill in the world that didn''t rely on Aether at least in part.


    And Ss had used all of his up.

 Chapter 174 Coward

    <h4>Chapter 174 Coward </h4>


    Ss continued to run, feeling the time ticking down as though there was a clock echoing in his head.


    But it felt futile. His Aether control was too poor to run on theva as though it was t ground. Every time he tried to run forward hard, he''d end up slipping back. Once, his calf even broke through the surface, sinking into theva for a moment and he was forced to pull himself out.


    There wasn''t even ten seconds left and he had only crossed 100 meters. There was still over half of the distance remaining, and he knew he couldn''t make it.


    This was the first time Ss truly felt the scent of death.


    He had been in dangerous situations before and survived them all, but this was a different sort of helplessness. Even his own mind had betrayed him for reasons he didn''t even understand yet.


    In that moment of life and death, Ss realized for the first time just how reckless he had been stepping into this world.


    He had felt the decision was correct, but it was ultimately selfish as well.


    There was too much he didn''t know, too many things that could catch him off guard, too many chances for even his sharp mind to make apse in judgment, let alone his current mind.


    If he had never entered the Trial, he would still be with his parents, little sister, and grandfather. He wouldn''t be in this ce, about to die an excruciating death.


    He felt the frailty of life so clearly in that moment, and he felt even more that he didn''t want to die.


    It was the most human he had felt maybe all his life. He could remember just how much he hated the monotony of Earth. Even as a tenured professor, he never truly felt like he had aplished much of anything.


    Now, he ironically wanted to go back to those days¡­ at least he wouldn''t die, at least he would live.


    It was the most pathetic thought he had ever had.


    No¡­ he had had a thought no less pathetic before.


    It was a memory he had buried deeply, so much so that he had re-contextualized it in his head. But weren''t these the sort of thoughts he had had when he broke up with Cassarae?


    Life was easy. He was born into a good family, he was smart, everything came simply to him.


    Did he reallye to this world because he was bored? Or was it because he thought he would be able to trample all over it just as easily as he did everything else?


    Did he ever truly see it as a risk? Or did he think he could out-think and outpete everyone?


    Was he actually a coward?


    Was it still bravery if your persistence was built on a foundation of ignorance?


    The question reverberated through Ss'' mind, and he didn''t seem to realize that his mind hade back into sharp focus.


    His Madness entered the Bronze Mastery and his mind seemed to expand for a moment.


    At that moment, Ss'' visualization snapped back into focus and he noticed something that he had missed before.


    It was easy to miss. It reflected and mirrored theva around it far too easily.


    The disk.


    It wasn''t just the disk alone, but it seemed to have formed a barrier around it that formed a smaller crater in theva, pushing the crimson gold liquid away from it.


    The reason why Ss hadn''t noticed it before was because the ind was a patch of obvious brown in the sea of red. In contrast, the disk and its forcefield were too inconspicuous.


    If you were too far away, the disk was too far beneath the surface to notice. The forcefield around it waspletely invisible as well, so it allowed the light from theva surrounding it to pass through unfiltered.


    Despite the thoughts ravaging his mind, Ss had never stopped running. At the very least, even if he was a coward in some sense, what cowards wanted to do most was protect their lives.


    It was just 20 meters away.


    Ss pivoted slightly, changing his angle and rushing toward it at the fastest speed he could muster.


    His Aether control increased just the smallest bit, and he felt a more solid foothold on theva, allowing him to cross the distance with just three seconds to spare.


    Hended on the forcefield heavily, but he didn''t rx.


    The beating of his heart echoed in his ears, thrumming wildly.


    Theva was one problem, but the heat it emitted wasn''t going to disappear. There was no way he could lower his Aether skin to swallow an elixir, so he was on his own.


    Could he even absorb Aether in this state?


    Ss forced himself to throw his existential crisis to the back of his mind. Since his mind was clear again, he had to take advantage.


    Beneath him, he could feel that his weight was causing the disk and its forcefield to sink into theva.


    At the same time, while his shield wasn''t being rebuffed by theva anymore, the heat alone was doing a number on it. He probably had a few minutes at best.


    Any intention he had of figuring out exactly how this happened was tossed away as well. That information was useless to him if he didn''t survive.


    Ss ran through several thoughts until hended on the uneven Aether skin around him.


    There was a particrlyrge bulge of silvery blue right over his mouth, and it was more obvious to him than his own nose.


    He needed Aether, but wasn''t this Aether? He didn''t need much to trigger <Maddened Enlightenment>. So long as he could get it to start working, he would recover his Aether swiftly and be able to make it to the ind.


    With a focused intention, Ss focused on pulling some of the Aether around his lips back. He didn''t know how much would be enough, so he pulled until it was even with the rest of the Aether around his head.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough.

 Chapter 175 Bronze

    <h4>Chapter 175 Bronze </h4>


    Ss could only try again, pulling at the uneven portions of his Aether skin bit by bit.


    As he did so, he found that his control was really being tested. If it was because he had used Extricate on the Intelligence Gene, he wouldn''t have felt it so clearly. But right now, it felt like he was slowly pushing a hidden muscle beyond its limit, no different than how he would lift a weight.


    It was taxing, but not to the point of copse.


    Finally, two minutester, and barely a couple of minutes before his Aether skin sumbed to the heat, <Maddened Enlightenment> responded to his call.


    Ss almost let out an audible sigh of relief. Aether rushed toward him, and it was dense to a level beyond what he had experienced before.


    He looked around the world he was in. This was the first time he was truly doing as much. Before, his mind was too foggy, and after that, he was too focused on survival.


    Without any context other than theva, he would have thought that he had ended up in an active volcano. But looking up, there was no obvious opening to the top.


    This wasn''t likely a volcano. Or, it was at least one that hadn''t erupted yet to force an opening on the surface.


    ''I guess it''s technically magma then¡­''


    The magma stretched out as far as Ss could see, but what he did notice were several inds. Embarrassingly enough, there was actually an ind much closer to his original location than the one he had initially been running toward.


    Ss shook his head. His mind had really not been on his side.


    That thought made him recall how this had happened to begin with. All he had done was wrap his Will around the disk he was standing on, then he passed out.


    ''This ce seems endless. There''s also no sign of everyone else, they likely got caught up in the violent change to the disk as well¡­ but where is the portal in that case?''


    The portal should appear on both sides, and without the disk, it should have expanded substantially.


    In addition, the beasts around here should be attracted to the portal as well. But the region was quiet and there were no obvious surges toward it.


    Unless there were no living creatures in this area at all?


    By normal Earth standards, this was the obvious conclusion. There was no creature in existence, extinct or otherwise, that could survive these temperatures.


    But the logic of this Aether ne was obviously not the same.


    ''Pick a direction and move.''


    This was Ss''s conclusion.


    But he couldn''t just leave the disk here, and he certainly couldn''t use his telekinesis on it again.


    Ss thought of the solution quite easily. This forcefield seemed to be permanently in ce. Why not take advantage?


    First, he adjusted his Aether skin. He was much more familiar with it now and he managed to even it out well and appropriately thicken it.


    He jumped down from the forcefield and tried to scoop it up. He failed to quite get under it, so he changed tactics and tested his telekinesis on the forcefield alone.


    The feeling was odd.


    Surprisingly, his visualization picked up on the forcefield quite well although his eyes wouldn''t be able to see it if not for its interaction with the magma around it.


    To Ss'' mind''s eye, though, it looked not much different from how Aether appeared to him. Clearly, this disk was a conduit through which Aether was filtered and forced to behave in this way.


    However, while this was the case, when his telekinesis tried to pick it up, it failed. Or, rather, Ss didn''t allow it to continue its attempt.


    When his telekinesis came into contact with the forcefield, rather than interacting with it like it did an object, it infiltrated it. It was like his telekinesis was trying to forcefully pull the Aether into his control rather than just pick up the object.


    Ss frowned.


    This was troublesome. He didn''t want to go all the way for fear of what his mind might experience again. Until he was in a safe ce, he couldn''t test this.


    Ss could only take the crude approach again, thickening the Aether skin around his arms and scooping into the magma to pick it up.


    The disk was rtively small, but the forcefield around it was about 2 meters in diameter. Luckily, it was incredibly light.


    Thest worry was that his Scorned Wraps might act up, but luckily that didn''t happen this time around.


    Ss made his way to the ind as quickly as possible. It was about time he got out of this endless flow of magma.


    The heat was no less here, and he had no doubt that if the soles of his feet touched this ground, he would probably lose them. Still, it didn''t attack his Aether nearly as forcefully. The rate slowed down by at least 50%.


    For the first time since he woke up, Ss could truly take a breath. The heat from the air seemed to be cooled by his Aether, leaving a warm, but manageable current.


    As much as he wanted to ignore it, he still remembered those thoughts.


    It was said that a person would be their truest self when they faced death. Although Ss never stopped trying to run to the ind, his mind had all but copsed in those moments.


    He had always been a person with strong willpower. The system seemed to have agreed, giving him 10 Will from the outset.


    But when Ss thought about it, much of his willpower came from setting guardrails that dictated his life. He was forcefully changing himself to conform to what he thought was the best for his life, even if it meant doing what he didn''t like.


    Was it annoying to walk to and from his university every day instead of just taking a car? It was, but he did it anyway.


    Did he like cheesecake and other sweets? Of course, he did, who didn''t. But he never ate sugar nheless.


    His own doctorate was chosen based on a casual interest because he felt he had toplete one. He was never chasing some higher purpose.


    Was he suppressing his real character with all of this discipline? Or was discipline part of his character? Where did the line start and finish?


    He didn''t know.


    Was he being too hard on himself? No one wanted to die, it was natural to fear it.


    But this was how Ss had always been. He didn''t like sensing imperfections within himself. He preferred to stamp it, chain it, and bring it under his control.


    The aura of Madness on Ss fluctuated.


    ---


    [Madness (F)] - Bronze


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+300% Charisma]


    [+200% Will]


    ---


    From +200% and +150%, his Charisma and Will boost, respectively, had increased by arge margin.


    With this sort of boost, his telekinesis would be able to exhibit 153 Physical. The leap was simply enormous.


    He had already been close to Bronze Mastery after consuming his reward from the Castle Main Quest. It seemed that life and death had allowed him to cross that threshold.


    This was the good news.


    The bad news was that he still didn''t know how he had ended up in this mess.


    He looked toward the disk. Something about imprinting his telekinesis into its runes had triggered all of this, but right now his telekinesis couldn''t even prate the forcefield to check again.


    Plus, considering how long it had survived in theva unscathed, Ss had no shot at breaking through this shield.


    ''After I recover, the only choice is to pick a direction and go.''


    Ss made his choice and settled down to meditate, activating <Maddened Enlightenment> to the greatest degree.


    He should have noticed this earlier, but with the improvement to Madness, the Skill derivative was even more potent. In not even ten minutes, not only was all of his Aether replenished, but his mind felt refreshed.


    Before, when his Intelligence was just 23, he could replenish his Aether in just five minutes. Though, this was while walking, so the Skill wasn''t as potent.


    This meant that it would have taken Ss 50 minutes to replenish his current Aether stores. Even if he meditated like this, before his Madness improved, it would have still taken 25 minutes to replenish.


    Now, that time had been cut by more than half. It was simply an enormous change.


    Ss looked up and stood. Taking the disk with him, he began to treadva.

 Chapter 176 View

    <h4>Chapter 176 View</h4>


    Every time Ss set out, he would pick an ind of rock and aim for it. Though his Aether was in a good ce, he didn''t want to becent.


    He had been kicked down enough by this new world to know that caution should be the name of the game.


    So, regardless of how effective <Maddened Enlightenment> was, he never took it for granted. And every time he felt his Aether might be running thin, he stopped for the less than ten minutes it took to replenish himself before setting out again.


    As time passed, the worries on Ss''s mind grew.


    In the Madness Key, he had more than enough beast carcasses to feed himself. He even had the spatial water bottle he had bought the first time he set off to the Basilisk Dungeon.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t use either.


    If he took out the beast carcasses, they would be fried to burnt ash in a few seconds. And even if he took it out in pieces, trying to eat in a window between burnt and raw, with his mouth covered by this Aether skin he couldn''t eat even if he wanted to.


    That led to the worse of the two problems.


    He couldst a few days, even weeks without food. But what about water?


    He was already feeling thirsty, and the heat was only making things worse.


    If he didn''t find a way out of this quickly, he would be facing death again. It was just that this time, it would be orders of magnitude worse.


    Without a choice, Ss could only push these thoughts down, moving forward as best he could. Worrying wasn''t going to change anything.


    He continuously scanned the region, trying to make sure that there wasn''t anything he''d miss.


    However, as the hours ticked by, and the thirst itching at his throat grew worse, the thought was quickly bing all-consuming.


    As he moved, he tried to think of a solution. Maybe there was a safe way to ingest something without burning himself to a crisp. Air could pass through, so why not water or food?


    The unfortunate part was that it was too difficult to test. Testing alone meant risking his body. A single hole in this Aether skin could mean the end of his life.


    He shelved the idea as he continued to move. He would leave it as ast resort. If he saw signs of his body shutting down, he would just have to try those ideas out.


    There was another idea that was also brewing in his mind as well, but it was no less of a risk. In fact, it was the far worse of the two.


    If he had to resort to that option, he''d definitely be on death''s door.


    ''This ce cannot be endless, that wouldn''t make sense. Everything I know about the Aether ne tells me that it''s a perfect one-to-one representation of Earth if no advanced civilizations took root. There shouldn''t be any geographical locations that bend thew of reason...''


    There was no other choice but tofort himself this way. But the fact he still hadn''t seen any signs of life, or the others, was greatly troubling.


    Over half a dayter, when Ss'' lips were already beginning to crack and peel, he finally spotted something.


    He rushed toward the oddity, but when he saw what it was his mood plummeted once again.


    [Eruption''s Landing (F+)]


    [Level Maximum: 10]


    [Entry Limit: 2]


    [Rmended: 130 Physical]


    [Description: The mes are all-consuming, the undisputed king of the elements. But it has a temper. Tread lightly]


    Ss wasn''t excited by this at all. Setting aside the fact the Dungeon didn''t seem very impressivepared to the others he had been to, there were several problems with its appearance.


    First, Dungeons attracted beasts. The fact this was free and clear was a worrying sign, because it meant that there were truly no creatures around here at all. This ce wasn''t amodating to life at all.


    Second, and probably most concerning to Ss, was its description.


    There was no escaping the mes and heat if he entered this Dungeon in all likelihood. He would probably end up in a not-


    too-dissimr situation to this one, except he would actually have to fight off danger. That would only dehydrate him faster and speed-run his death.


    Ss decisively turned and left. There was nothing to gain here.


    He was willing to take risks, but only if they were smart. This felt more foolish than anything else.


    The trek continued, long and monotonous, endless and without hope.


    It didn''t seem to matter how far he went, there wasn''t any sign that he was making progress. His eyes just continued to look off into what looked like an infinite distance.


    No walls, no ceiling, just endless gold and red.


    None of this made any sense at all. There wasn''t any natural phenomenon like this. The more he moved, the more certain Ss was.


    The worst part was that he didn''t really have any perfect way of orienting himself. He didn''t have apass, and even if he did it wouldn''t survive this heat. For all he knew, he was looping around in an enormous circle and was none the wiser.


    Ss came to a stop, his breathing a bit haggard as he stepped out onto an ind. His throat was dry, and his mouth didn''t seem capable of forming saliva anymore. If this continued, he really would die.


    It seemed that in the end, he had no choice but to take drastic measures. But first, he should at least try to adjust himself to optimal condition.


    Ss sat down again, ready to circte <Maddened Enlightenment>, when his heart suddenly shook.


    ''This view¡­''


    He scrambled to his feet, looking out into the distance. Then he looked down on the ind he was on and a BANG! went off in his mind.


    This ind¡­ he was certain.


    This was the very same ind he had stepped onto to save himself after he found the disk.

 Chapter 177 Circle

    <h4>Chapter 177 Circle </h4>


    [2050 GTs bonus]


    The shape of the ind was the same, he was certain. In the distance, there was the very same ind he had missed when his mind was in a fog. It had been closer to the location hended on, but he ended up targeting the ind he was standing on right now because it was the only one he noticed.


    His head shifted.


    And right there was the location he had picked up the disk from.


    Had he really just traveled in arge circle?


    The blow was heavier than Ss expected. But what were the odds that he had ended up right in the same location he started in? If this ce was really sorge that it took over half a day of traveling just to end up back here, how could he not have overshot or undershot this location?


    Ss closed his eyes.


    He stayed like that for a long while, pulling himself together and calming his thoughts.


    ''This ce has no walls, no ceiling¡­ if I dove down, would it even have a floor? I''ve been assuming this whole time that it''s just because my eyes can''t see far enough, but is that true?


    ''I have to start looking at this world as it is. This is right out of a fantasy novel, normal logic isn''t at y here.


    ''With the increase to my stats, how could I not see far enough?


    ''It''s possible even to see stars in the sky despite them being countless millions of miles away. Why? Because they''re big enough. Any ceiling or wall for a ce sorge should be visible to me. Even if I can''t see the walls because of the curvature of the Earth, how could I not see a ceiling?''


    There were no clouds, no smog, nothing to obscure his vision upward. So why did it just feel like he was looking at the sky? If the sky was red, that is.


    Then there was the fact he hadn''t met anyone this entire time, and the fact he couldn''t even see the portal that should have been enormous by now¡­


    Was this really a normal world? Or was he trapped in some unknown space? One that kept forcing him to return to the same exact location again and again?


    Ss opened his eyes and looked toward the disk he had been carrying with him this entire time.


    This disk was able to stabilize a portal, a spatial connection between two worlds. He had messed with it somehow and ended up in this situation.


    Could it be that it was because of that he was so lost?


    Did that mean he would never be able to get out? Would he be stuck here forever?


    Ss took another breath and his gaze turned frighteningly cold.


    He had felt the cowardice of death already. He absolutely refused to feel it again.


    Since he had wasted an entire half day somehow, the only option left was to take the risk.


    Ss pulled on his Aether and slowly began to expand his Aether skin.


    He had noticed something very important about the Aether skin: it always had to be connected to him. He couldn''t control the Aether outside of his body so freely.


    However, how much of it had to be connected to him?


    Forgetting the wastefulness of it all, he began to slowly disconnect the Aether skin from his actual skin, expanding it outward.


    He only did this for his right arm alone, keeping it connected to himself everywhere else.


    By this point, his clothing had already been fried to ash, so there was no obstruction in its way at all. The only things that remained were his Madness Key and his Scorned Wraps.


    Once he realized the Aether skin was able to remain stable, he slowly began to separate the Aether up his arm, to his shoulders, and eventually his chest.


    From an outsider''s perspective, it looked as though he had onerge arm and one much smaller arm. Well, at least the silhouette of such a form.


    Finally, Ss felt he could breathe a sigh of relief. It worked and his Aether wasn''t going to pop, at least not any time soon.


    He took the final step and began to form a bubble around his head as well. Finally, he summoned his water bottle to appear in the bubble around his chest. Then using his telekinesis, he had his first drops of water in hours.


    He greedily swallowed in a rareck of restraint. The cool liquid was the best thing he had tasted in his life.


    He didn''t know how long he drank for, but momentster he was able to finally calm down and return the bottle to his Madness Key.


    Unfortunately, this trick wouldn''t work for food. He needed the heat to cook the meat, but he wasn''t yet confident in moving things in and out of his Aether skin. He would wait until he couldn''t hold on any longer to take such a step.


    With one problem dealt with, Ss began to slowly return his Aether skin back to its original state. Even so, his mind was focused on just one thing¡­


    What should he do now?


    He looked toward the disk. If it was responsible for all of this, he had no choice but to study it regardless of the risk. He couldn''t just sit here.


    He had about half a month''s worth of water on him. Factoring in the heat, he probably had half that time.


    He needed a solution. Fast.


    Having made his decision, Ss put his full focus onto the disk. He poured his telekinesis into its forcefield once again.


    This time, he didn''t stop when he felt that his telekinesis was trying to fuse with the forcefield. However, he ran into a bottleneck in just a few seconds. No matter how hard he pushed, his telekinesis wouldn''t go any further.


    This stumped Ss. Was that it?


    No, it felt like there was something more to it, there had to be.


    His gaze shed. ''That''s right¡­ I haven''t used Madness yet. Would that help?''

 Chapter 178 Immediate

    <h4>Chapter 178 Immediate</h4>


    [2500 PSs bonus]


    Ss had been very cautious with his Madness since returning from the Trial. Cassarae told him that she had never seen anyone else with a Comprehension, but the moment he returned he sensed one from Bloom. So, he had chosen the conservative approach and hadn''t really been able to improve in thesest several weeks. It could be said that his sudden breakthrough was more sheer dumb luck than anything else.


    But now, it should help tremendously.


    Ss activated Madness, and his telekinesis began to move once again, encroaching onto the forcefield.


    The feeling was slowly getting more and more peculiar. It was like his telekinesis was an extension of his mind, and as it dipped in further, it felt like his brain was being soaked in the same mysterious feeling. He could practically feel a cool wind enveloping the inside of his skull where his blood-brain barrier should have been.


    ''This is¡­ interesting¡­''


    When Ss activated his Madness to improve his telekinesis, he always looked at it like just a boost in power. But this wasn''t true.


    Madness didn''t improve his telekinesis directly; it improved the stats that telekinesis relied on. This was a different matter entirely.


    This meant that it wasn''t just some artificial boost. The very foundation of his telekinesis was improving. It wasn''t just the strength increasing; it was an overall qualitative change.


    The reason Ss was thinking about this now was that what his telekinesis was doing didn''t seem to have anything to do with Strength or any other Physical stat. The entire force field and disk were barely a couple of pounds.


    Yet, he still needed Madness to make it this far.


    Why was that?


    He kept looking at telekinesis like it was just some external force he exerted, not much different from any Skill. But that wasn''t true.


    Telekinesis was what he conveniently called it, but it was actually the tangible representation of his Will. He was exerting force on the world with his thoughts, and that was very different from using a fist.


    It was a subtle but meaningful difference, and it was that subtle change in his thoughts that gave Ss an idea as to why the disk would have reacted like that to his telekinesis.


    He hadn''t just tried to pick up the disk; he had activated it by touching it with his Will.


    But didn''t that also mean that¡­ if he formed his "telekinesis" into those runes again, he could elicit a simr response?


    BANG!


    As Ss was lost in thought, the forcefield suddenly shattered.


    He quickly crossed his arms in front of his body, but the force field didn''t seem to touch him at all. Either that, or it had lost its potency.


    The disk ttered to the ground. It flickered as though it was trying to power up again, but then failed to do so.


    Ss'' gaze narrowed. What just happened?


    He wasn''t exactly trying to exert any strength just now; he was just trying to see what would happen if his telekinesis or Will fully saturated the force field. He hadn''t expected it would copse like that.


    Taking a step forward, Ss bent down by the disk. It looked fine, but considering its earlier reaction, that was unlikely to be true.


    He took a deeper look at the engraved runes on its surface, trying to find a clue. But there was nothing. None of the runes triggered any memories or anything of the sort in him. They werepletely foreign. He wasn''t even sure what sort of discipline it was from.


    Was it a secondary profession like his Vipermancy that created it? In that case, how did it work?


    Ss nudged the disk with his telekinesis, this time not enveloping it entirely. His only purpose was to flip it over.


    The back of the disk was perfectly smooth and unscathed. There were no runes to be seen at all.


    After some thought, Ss'' telekinesis moved again. This time, he only filled in one of the runes, just to see what would happen.


    He didn''t have many expectations, but to his surprise¡­


    There was a ripple, and then everything stabilized.


    Ss blinked.


    He tried again, moving to the next rune over and doing the same.


    This time, he didn''t feel a ripple, but it was as though something was trying to connect with him, like a bridge was being formed.


    He moved on to the next rune. The reaction was once again different. This time, it was like an explosion in his mind, and his telekinesis spilled over, almost pooling into the other runes.


    As Ss tested the runes one by one, he realized something shocking.


    Just by putting his Will into these runes, he could vaguely understand what they were meant to do, and likewise understand how they worked together.


    Whatever this oddnguage was, it seemed to be another method ofmunicating with Aether. Except instead of relying on the system to trigger the Skill for him, he could use these runes instead.


    However, Ss found that doing so was incredibly draining. As he had told Mark, he could keep his base telekinesis up for hours without issue. It was just like breathing to him. Did you need to think to exert your Will onto the world? Only when he used Madness would there be a limit, and that was because of the Comprehension itself, not his telekinesis.


    But after going around the disk and trying out all twelve inscribed runes, Ss felt like he really wanted to rest. His mind was exhausted.


    He was about to do exactly that when he had another thought.


    While testing out the runes, he didn''t use Madness because he was worried about the result. But what if he did?


    Ss tried again, this time with the most benign rune. The one that seemed to form connections.


    The change was immediate.


    The result was much more forceful, and Ss didn''t just feel a vague connection, but he rather felt like his mind had linked to the outside world.


    He realized at that moment that he was indeed trapped in an odd spatial warp zone.

 Chapter 179 Sand Scorpion

    <h4>Chapter 179 Sand Scorpion </h4>


    [3000 PSs bonus]


    In those few moments, Ss felt like he had gained a spatial awareness he never had before. Even from a distance, he could clearly feel where the dungeon he had passed by earlier was, and he also came to understand that, just like he spected, whatever he did to the disk resulted in this odd mirror world being created.


    At the same time, he felt that he finally knew exactly how to get out¡­ at least in theory.


    He wasn''t 100% certain, but he knew where the walls of this world were. And theoretically, if he was close to the wall, then used this connection rune along with a few others, he should be able to get out.


    This was all just spection on Ss'' part, but he was still quite sure.


    Seeing that there was a path to survival, Ss finally exhaled a breath.


    Since that was the case, shouldn''t he clear that dungeon? In his situation, even though the dungeon was a bitckluster, he couldn''t take it for granted. Who knew when the next time he''d get such a good excuse to enter a dungeon alone woulde?


    At the same time, there was another benefit that came with this cmity: he finally knew what to use as the foundation of his Gene Crystal. It would definitely be these Runes.


    He didn''t know what they were all about, and the Madness Key was still far too steep a price to pay¡­


    But luckily, if he was right about this dungeon, he''d soon have more than enough Genes to splurge with. If he was extra lucky, he could find some Bronze Genes that would be able to feed the Madness Key after this five-day period was up.


    ¡­


    Ss appeared before the dungeon once more.


    --


    [Eruption''s Landing (F+)]


    [Level Maximum: 10]


    [Entry Limit: 2]


    [Rmended: 130 Physical]


    [Description: The mes are all consuming, the undisputed king of the elements. But it has a temper. Tread lightly]


    --


    Double-checking that his Aether was stocked up, he took a step and entered.


    When his vision cleared, he was surprisingly not in a burning environment. Well, it was hot, but not nearly as much as one might have expected.


    Sand stretched for as far as the eye could see, the sun beamed down from above, but all things considered, this was actually an upgrade in Ss'' book.


    He tested it first, taking out a beast carcass. When it didn''t erupt into mes immediately, he felt a bout of gratefulness.


    Noting that there were no beasts around, at least not in the immediate vicinity, the first thing Ss did was eat to his heart''s content and hydrate himself back up to his peak.


    He found it a bit odd that no beasts came to harass him but happily took that for granted.


    Once he was done, he stood and set off.


    This time, Ss didn''t have a convenient map to lead him. But he was sure that this dungeon wouldn''t just let him wander around aimlessly without any pushback.


    He thought of the possibility that the sun was the challenge, but Ss shrugged it off. After the sea ofva, how could this shake him? It was practically a vacation, especially with his shield of Aether. It might as well have been a nice spring day.


    The more Ss walked, the more sure he was of his assessment. It seemed that the heat was part of the test.


    Soon, though, he saw something change up ahead. It was a forest, but the bark of the trees was ck, and the leaves were dancing mes.


    However, between it and himself, there was a BOSS.


    It was an enormous scorpion. It might have been at least three meters in length, with a shimmering bronze carapace covering its body that looked more like armor than its natural state. Its tail curved up menacingly, its tip flickering with a me that sometimes formed into a de.


    --


    [Sand Scorpion (F+)]


    [Level: 9]


    --


    [Physical: 131]


    >[Strength: 114]


    >[Constitution: 153]


    >[Dexterity: 147]


    >[Speed: 110]


    [Mental: 80]


    >[Intelligence: 120]


    >[Wisdom: 83]


    >[Charisma: 37]


    [Will: 53]


    --


    Three flying kunai appeared around Ss as the scorpion unleashed a screech. Its tail pierced out, and a ming arrow came from its tip, heading straight for Ss.


    Ss wasn''t quite expecting this, but he still reacted quickly.


    He cast <Solidify> and the arrow impacted against his shield. The mes scattered, dancing across the shield and then falling to the ground.


    Ss was about to follow up when his shield actually copsed.


    ''What?''


    The change was sudden, but Ss grasped the crux of it quickly. When this elemental Aether was being used, the damage wasn''t all dealt out at once. The mes continued to burn, so the damage was continuous. It must be a special ability of the scorpion.


    In that case, even if it didn''t cross 200 Physical immediately, it would over time.


    The mes and the pieces of Ss'' shield both copsed to the ground, and the scorpion had already scurried up.


    Its Speed stat was already beyond Ss'', and on top of that, it didn''t seem to face the same debuff Ss did in the sand. It moved as though it was walking on t ground, its six legs moving like scythes before two of them chopped at Ss'' neck.


    Ss'' expression became serious. It wasn''t just the legs that were the problem, but its tail was clearly gearing up for another attack.


    Quickly, he cast <Solidify> again.


    Both legsnded on it at once, only pausing for a moment before sting through.


    Ss took advantage of the lull. Just as the scorpion was about to follow through, he cast <Astral Bind>. This time, he didn''t hold back in the slightest, and the scorpion fell forward.


    All its momentum was in its follow-through, and now that it was frozen, how could it stop itself from falling?


    Ss'' kunai moved all at once, shing with a deathly momentum as they ripped through the carapace of the scorpion, glowing with a green light.

 Chapter 180 Mournful

    <h4>Chapter 180 Mournful</h4>


    The Will and Charisma of the scorpion were so low that had Ss used <Astral Bind> from the start, he would have won immediately. Its average was only 45, while Ss'' was 180. That meant that Ss could freeze it for a full half minute with just 0.5 Aether Units expended. If he chose to splurge on Aether, he could have kept it frozen in ce for minutes with ease. The only way out for the scorpion would be to have a skill that countered his binding, something it clearly hadn''t had.


    But Ss wasn''t happy.


    ''Stupid on my part. I saw its stats, so I should have taken advantage of the weakness. If it had a Skill to counter, it would be better to find out sooner rather thanter.''


    He had wasted Aether on <Solidify> when if he cast <Astral Bind> first, it would have all been over almost instantly.


    He had to refine his battle style not just in hand-to-handbat, but also in tactics. Approaching battle like it was a chess game was ideal. If not, he could end up making a fatal mistake.


    In just this short time, he had made several mortal mistakes that had gotten him killed. Those were things mostly out of his control, so it was fine. But it was uneptable if he made a mistake that could have been prevented.


    He had to be better in the future.


    [You have yed Sand Scorpion]


    [Rewards]


    [>Fragmented Fire Crystal (Consumable)]


    [>Inflexible Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    Surprisingly, Ss recognized what the Fragmented Fire Crystal was. It was a method of changing your matured Aether into the fire element. This would allow you to use fire-type Skills and things of the like. Obviously, it could only be used if one was at least Level 1. But what interested Ss more was the fact it was just Fragmented.


    He wondered what that meant. Was Aether divided into more tiers than he knew? If you absorbed a Bronze Fire Crystal, would your Aether be even more powerful?


    Ss put both rewards away into the Madness Key and then ced a hand on the BOSS creature. He wouldn''t be Level 1 anytime soon and even then he wasn''t sure if he''d be interested in this element by then. It was probably best that he try to sell it in an exchange. Maybe it was worth something.


    He still hadn''t used his Bronze voucher from the Castle Main Quest rewards. As time passed, he felt that it was probably better if he did that sooner rather thanter.


    [Sand Scorpion]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (7) Constitution (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss rejected and tossed the scorpion into the Madness Key. There was no need to make an attempt at something he knew would fail.


    What he did do, though, was take the Basilisk King out. He didn''t consider it before, but technically, couldn''t the Basilisk King absorb the Fire Crystal?


    Ss didn''t take that step because it wouldn''t necessarily help the Basilisk King. But he did think that since he still had an active Quest to get the creature its confidence back, he might as well try to spend some more time with it instead of letting it rot in the Hibernation world for days on end.


    As expected, the Basilisk King was unbothered by the heat. Its Constitution was 123, so it was more than equipped for this.


    Together, the man-beast pair entered the forest of ming trees.


    The heat increased, as did the pressure.


    Ss noticed that the Basilisk King was beginning to feel ufortable. While it shrugged off the heat in the desert easily, it had clearly kicked up a notch here. Ultimately, the rmended Physical for this ce was 130, and it was almost 20 stat points below that in terms of Constitution. Overall, it only had 80 Physical, so it was an entire 50 points short.


    Ss thought about putting it back in, but when he remembered the Quest, he decided to just watch for the moment.


    [Quest Received]


    [Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Fragmented)]


    [A King without a Kingdom. The Basilisk is a fallen creature; from where? No one knows. Maybe even They have forgotten Their former glory. You have met a Basilisk whose pride has been shattered and whose Will has been torn asunder. Remind this Basilisk King of who He is.]


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Awaken the Pride of the Basilisk King]


    After his session with the Professor, he had a deeper understanding of the Basilisk King''s path of progression. It could be said that so long as its mind was in such a poor state, it would never improve even a single measure no matter what Ss fed it.


    Ss slowed his pace and continued to walk forward. He could feel the Basilisk King looking at him from time to time, and he could just as easily feel its thoughts.


    It was uneasy. It wondered if Ss was torturing or punishing it, but when it saw the ease with which Ss was walking, it felt rage.


    Was Ss looking down on it? Humiliating it?


    It wanted tosh out and rip Ss'' head off, but when it had this thought, Ss only gave it a simple nce and then looked away.


    It shuddered, the fear that had formed in the depths of its heart roaring back.


    Its eyes began to sting beneath the heat and it felt as though its blood was boiling even with the help of its ckened scales. The moment it cowered, those feelings all became worse.


    Ss didn''t try to help orfort the Basilisk King. In his opinion, pride had to be self-administered. It wasn''t something someone else could give you. If you didn''t have self-belief, then you would never be prideful no matter how you were coddled.


    So, even as the Basilisk King continued to slow down, panting, Ss maintained his same original speed, almost like a metric for how much more pathetic it was bing.


    A mournful hiss came from the creature.

 Chapter 181 Pride

    <h4>Chapter 181 Pride </h4>


    Ss didn''t look back as he pressed forward. It was only as his back was about to leave the Basilisk King''s sight that he slowed down. He wanted to pressure the creature, but he didn''t want it to actually die.


    The Basilisk King was still an excellent trump card. So long as he fused with it, he would gain 50% of its stats. That could save his life one day.


    But as he progressed, if the Basilisk King stayed the same, it would quickly be useless.


    There was a deeper reason as well¡­


    The Basilisk King was just a beast¡­ but it seemed to carry intelligence no worse than a human child. It wasn''t just an animal, and it was because of that Ss expected more from it.


    Just by virtue of having pride, it wasn''t a normal beast. An animal couldn''t have such a vice.


    But there were downsides to emotions as well. This beast wouldn''t just charge blindly and unconditionally listen to Ss'' orders due to this, and that was a problem.


    That meant for his own safety, Ss needed the beast to get better. If not, it might be better to ignore it entirely.


    The journey forward was much slower due to the Basilisk King. Through their connection, Ss could tell that it was slowly getting more and more injured beneath the suffocating heat, but he continued to walk.


    Soon, he saw the second BOSS. It stood menacingly in the distance, a ck dog with a pair of mes for irises. Saliva dripped from its maw and it looked like Rottweiler. Well¡­ if Rottweilers grew to two meters tall.


    [Fire Hound (F+)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 138]


    >[Strength: 121]


    >[Constitution: 160]


    >[Dexterity: 154]


    >[Speed: 117]


    [Mental: 95]


    >[Intelligence: 135]


    >[Wisdom: 98]


    >[Charisma: 52]


    [Will: 61]


    Ss sent a casual nce back toward the Basilisk King that was still slithering forward. It was hard to tell if it was by instinct or something else entirely.


    Their gazes met for a moment and Ss raised a hand.


    Just as the Fire Hound released a roar and began to bound forward, knocking trees out of its way, Ss cast <Astral Bind>.


    It froze, its body skidding forward and scrapping against the ground.


    Ss could have used his Kunai again, but he didn''t. He wanted to show the Basilisk something.


    Power.


    Basic Aetherflow suddenly activated and Ss punched out.


    BANG!


    The nose of the beast was deformed instantly, a fist aura shooting over from the distance and shattering its front row of teeth.


    After Madness'' progression, Basic Aetherflow also got a huge power boost.


    He took another step forward and sent out a second punch.


    BANG!


    Half the Fire Hound''s skull copsed, one of its eyes exploding into a rain of gore and mes.


    The creature couldn''t even make a sound. Under <Astral Bind>, it couldn''t even breathe, let alone control its vocal cords. It could onlyy there on the ground, frozen beneath Ss'' might.


    Ss took ast step forward. His Scorned Wraps glowed with a green color and shimmered beneath the red of the forest.


    BANG!


    His fist shot forward with a sonic wave that was more re than substance. He was nowhere near shattering the sound barrier, but re was exactly what he needed right now.


    The skull of the BOSS shattered.


    <Astral Bind> ended and its body went entirely limp, its pool of blood dancing with mes.


    At that moment, the Basilisk King barely managed to catch up. Its slit eyes constricted as it looked at the scene before it. When its gaze shifted to Ss, it shook visibly.


    That ability, it was the same one that Ss had used against it.


    Ss gaze the Basilisk King a nce before stepping forward.


    [You have yed Fire Hound]


    [Rewards]


    [>Fragmented Fire Crystal (Consumable)]


    [>Inflexible Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    ''Another Fragmented one, huh? Does that mean you can absorb more than one of them at a time? Is it because this Dungeon is designed for two people? Maybe it''s only Fragmented ones that are like this?''


    Ss wasn''t sure but he stored it away regardless.


    He checked the Genes of the creature once again and it was, again, arge amount of Constitution.


    He was used to BOSS creatures only giving one type of Gene regardless of their other stats. After everything he had learned, he was even more certain that this was another ploy to force them to fight amongst themselves.


    Why kill beasts when humans gave you so many more Genes?


    Ss still had many he had yet to take advantage of. There was still Alex and his Bronze Genes, there were the corpses of the others of Rakk Smith''s group as well.


    It was just sad that things were leading to this.


    He put the rest of the corpse away.


    Up ahead, there was a sea of red. But it wasn''tva at all. Instead, it was an endlessnd of red crystals. There was no doubt that the heat further ahead was on another level.


    Without looking back, Ss walked into it.


    Behind him, the Basilisk King, beaten and haggard, inched forward mostly out of instinct. It felt that Ss was the only one that could stay alive. But if it crossed into the sea of red¡­ how could it still live?


    It watched as Ss continued into the distance, not even looking back at it.


    Its tongue slithered and the stench of blood assaulted its senses. It remembered every strike visibly, it was the kind of power it wanted, for no other reason than to get revenge on the human that had humiliated it.


    But now it was actually relying on that human for survival¡­


    How pathetic.


    Ss continued to get further away, and this time, he vanished entirely into the distance not slowing down even once.


    The Basilisk King slithered up to the border weakly.


    Maybe it would be so bad to stay here. If it used thest of its strength, it could still make it back to the sand. So what if it had to remain in the desert Dungeon for the rest of its life? It was more interesting than that maze anyway¡­


    That maze¡­


    How had it gotten there? What was it life before that?


    It couldn''t remember.


    Its fangs bared, a sudden unwillingnessing from the depths of long forgotten memories.


    The Basilisk King moved before it understood what was happening, crossing the barrier to the red crystal world and almost immediately being lit on fire.


    Its shrieks filled the skies.

 Chapter 182 Chance

    <h4>Chapter 182 Chance </h4>


    Ss suddenly appeared by the side of the shrieking Basilisk King. The beast had been swallowed by mes, its scales providing not even the slightest hint of protection.


    With a thought, Ss pulled it into the Hibernation Realm. He hadn''t thought that this would happen, but to save the Basilisk King, he had to take the risk.


    Luckily, it didn''t harm him in the slightest. And the moment the Basilisk King entered, it was already slowly being healed, the mes having been snuffed out.


    ---


    [Quest "Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Fragmented)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Fragmented]


    [Rewards]


    [>Voice of a King (Passive)]


    ---


    Ss hadn''t expected to clear the Quest so suddenly, but then again, it was a Fragmented Quest. Maybe it wasn''t meant to be difficult. The Bronze Casstle Main Quest had certainly been far more difficult. He had almost lost his life several times.


    The rewards were also surprising. He had never seen the "Passive" tag on a reward before. He wasn''t sure what it was.


    And he didn''t get to find out before another notification popped up.


    ---


    [Quest Received]


    [Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Common)]


    ---


    [A King without a Kingdom. The Basilisk is a fallen creature; from where? No one knows. Maybe even They have forgotten Their former glory. You have met a Basilisk whose pride has been shattered and whose Will has been torn asunder. Remind this Basilisk King of who He is.]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Awaken the Pride of the Basilisk King]


    ---


    Ss blinked. It was the exact same from start to finish. The only difference was that it had swapped "Fragmented" for "Common." Could it be he had to awaken the Basilisk King''s pride in stages? Had he only passed the first threshold? How was any of this even measured?


    He put this to the side for now and turned his attention back to the Voice of a King reward. There was no item to take, and there didn''t seem to be a notification either. In the end, Ss could only go through his stats to see what might have changed, and what he saw caught him off guard.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 7294 (F)]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 98]


    >[Strength: 101]


    >[Constitution: 91]


    >[Dexterity: 100]


    >[Speed: 100]


    [Mental: 136]


    >[Intelligence: 207]


    >[Wisdom: 62]


    >[Charisma: 142]


    [Will: 218]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Inflexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (6) Speed (F); (6) Strength (F); (4) Constitution (F); (6) Dexterity (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (3) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]


    ---


    Everything was the exact same until he got to his Fragmented Genes. Right there, Voice of a King sat. He had somehow gotten a Gene Talent without realizing it.


    Usually, he would at least feel something when a Gene Talent was assimted. But this time there was truly nothing at all.


    Curious, Ss activated Voice of a King to see what would happen.


    At first, he felt nothing at all. His body was the same, there was no boost to his strength, and it was all almost too normal.


    Until he picked up on something.


    ''My Charisma increased.''


    Suddenly, Ss understood why he felt nothing at all. He had grown used to his Madness increasing his Will and Charisma by several hundred percentage points. The small bump he got from Voice of a King couldn''t have been more than 10%, if that. It was no wonder he felt nothing.


    Plus, with how flexible his Charisma and Will were after his Genes were altered by the existence of Madness, it was no wonder he didn''t feel he was undergoing a metamorphosis when Voice of a King activated.


    Disappointing.


    That was the word Ss would use to describe the end result of all of this. There was no other way to do so.


    He had essentially gotten a far worse version of his Madness, and it didn''t even give a boost to Will either. It seemed that overbearing names didn''t trante to power in this world.


    Still, Ss looked toward the Common Quest he had just received. If the Quest was just an upgrade, would that trante to the reward as well?


    Even if that was the case, he wasn''t sure that he cared. Unless Voice of a King and Madness could stack?


    Ss tried it out but it was too difficult to tell. The boost from Voice of a King was so small that he couldn''t see any meaningful difference in the strength of his telekinesis.


    He shook his head. Even if Voice of a King ended up being useless, what he got out of strengthening the Basilisk King should be enough.


    With that thought, he continued his trek forward.


    The red crystals were quite curious to Ss. He tried analyzing a few with <Basic Scouting>, but he got nothing back.


    None of them were loose enough to pick at and take away either. He used his new over 150 Physical telekinesis to try and chip away at them, but he once again came up empty-handed.


    In the end, he could only walk to the end of it all and run into the beast he assumed must be thest of this Dungeon.


    His gaze couldn''t help but sparkle when he saw it. This Dungeon had been easy up until this point, but he didn''t expect even the final BOSS to be like this. In fact, it would be the easiest of them all.


    ---


    [Red Crystal Python (F+)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Physical: 152]


    >[Strength: 132]


    >[Constitution: 181]


    >[Dexterity: 165]


    >[Speed: 130]


    [Mental: 125]


    >[Intelligence: 165]


    >[Wisdom: 121]


    >[Charisma: 89]


    [Will: 74]


    ---


    The python roared, spittle flying and air rushing forth with such force that it blew Ss'' hair back.


    But he stood there calmly.


    It seemed he would finally have a chance to test out his Beast Totem.

 Chapter 183 Voice of a King

    <h4>Chapter 183 Voice of a King</h4>


    ---


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv2; Insight Lv2]


    ---


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <30%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <100%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <40%>]


    ---


    Ss took a breath, and just as the python was about to attack, it trembled.


    To Ss'' back, a pair of slit eyes slowly took shape. They wererge, each one being at least half the size of his body. They exuded a gorgeous golden color and seemed to contain the explosion of equally as golden stars within. Their pupils were the only darkness about them, looking like a long and narrow fissure of space in the depths of reality.


    The moment the BOSS saw these eyes, it froze. Ss could almost feel its spirit sinking and the fear pooling out from its eyes.


    At this stage, his Beast Totem could only suppress, and it couldn''tpletely incapacitate. But it seemed that its sudden appearance was still enough to freeze the creature for just a moment.


    Ss capitalized.


    He had already reprimanded himself once before for not ending a battle as quickly as he was capable; he wouldn''t make that mistake again.


    His kunai zipped out, appearing before the python BOSS before it could snap out of its fear-induced state. With its stats suppressed by 30%, its once 181 Constitution was now barely 120. It couldn''t stand up to the 154 Physical of Ss'' telekinesis at all.


    Its eyes were torn into and its brain was torn apart.


    Ss exhaled a breath. That should be the end of this Dungeon.


    ---


    [The Flow of Battle (Silver) (Quest)]


    [The Laws have sensed your Flow of Battle more than once. However, suppressed by a Comprehension much deeper and more profound, it has been unable to shine its way through.]


    [The Pugilists, Warriors, and Berserkers of the pastment this tragedy and seek to give you an opportunity.]


    [Find your Flow of Battle and conquer it.]


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 1 Level above you (Complete)]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 5 Levels above you (Complete)]


    [Bronze Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 10 Levels above you (Complete)]


    [Silver Reward Requirements]


    [>Defeat an enemy 15 Levels above you]


    ---


    The notification that he had finished now three of four of his Quest objectives popped up, and Ss nodded to himself. What he didn''t expect was for another to pop up quickly afterward.


    ---


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: BOSS yer]


    [Creatures that others fear, you crush. It is not you who should fear them, but rather they who should fear you.]


    [+10% ALL stats when facing an opponent 10 Levels or more above you]


    ---


    ''Interesting¡­ this is the first time I''ve seen a Title like this. It has conditions, and it also doesn''t seem to be an immediate boost.''


    Ss had been expecting pain the moment he saw the Title notification pop up, but it seemed that he had escaped this time around.


    However, when he looked into his stat window again, he found that much like A Flexible Will, System Breaker, and Legendary Tamer, BOSS yer didn''t have a grade by its side.


    This made him curious. Was there more room to grow? Something else, maybe?


    ---


    [You have yed Red Crystal Python]


    [Rewards]


    [>Common Fire Crystal (Consumable)]


    [>Brittle Gene Elixir (Consumable)]


    [>Red Crystal Fragment (Resource)]


    ---


    Ss collected his rewards and looked at thest one curiously. Wasn''t this the same crystal that covered thend he just walked through?


    He looked between the two, and it really did feel identical. It just felt like a bit of a sham that there was a forest of this stuff behind him, but the reward was just a small piece.


    ---


    [Red Crystal Fragment (Resource)]


    [A staple in weapon forging and a treat for upgradeable items. cksmiths would pay a pretty penny for such an easy quality boost]


    ---


    ''Upgradeable items?''


    Ss'' first thought was, of course, his kunai. They were able to evolve, even absorbing Genes to strengthen themselves. Did this fall under the same category?


    He brought out a kunai and gave it a try.


    ---


    [Flying Kunai(Bronze)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Ability: Pierce; Evolve; me Damage]


    [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <1.5%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <6 Common> Genes]


    [Damage increased by 5%]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    He was only able to upgrade one of his kunai like this since there was just one fragment. And the boost was a bitckluster. But when it was stacked with Pierce, it wasn''t so bad.


    Plus, he had to keep reminding himself that this was only an F+ Dungeon to begin with. It was unlikely that the items given out would be so great.


    What he was more curious about was what it meant by "Damage." Was it a measure of all Physical stats? Did it just refer to Strength? Or was it something else?


    There were too many variables in this world, and it annoyed him that he couldn''t grasp them all.


    Ss walked toward the python''s corpse and ced a hand on it. Once again, it provided arge amount of Constitution.


    Just as he was about to put it away, he paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing.


    He looked into the Hibernation Realm and spotted the Basilisk King. It was still heavily injured, but the mes had disappeared and its body was quickly healing.


    ---


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv2; Insight Lv2]


    ---


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    ---


    It seemed that he got to test out both of these Path Talents today because he could see a clear path for the Basilisk King''s evolution right here.


    Though it was injured, Ss still brought the Basilisk King out. But this time, he used the Beast Totem to boost its stats by 40% and stabilize its situation. This way, it didn''t burn to death immediately.


    "Go on," Ss nodded toward the corpse. "This is your chance."


    The Basilisk King weakly looked at Ss. Even so, this time, Ss could see that there was a smoldering ember in its eyes. It might have been in pain, but its spirit was brighter for having survived.


    Now, Ss was giving it another chance.


    The Basilisk King wasrge, and yet still much smaller than the Red Crystal Python. So, it didn''t hesitate and dove right into the open wound in thetter''s head.


    Time ticked, and soon Ss received another notification.


    ---


    [Quest "Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Common)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Common]


    [Rewards]


    [>Voice of a King (Passive)]


    ---

 Chapter 184 Leave

    <h4>Chapter 184 Leave </h4>


    [Quest "Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Common)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Common]


    [Rewards]


    [>Voice of a King (Passive)]


    ---


    This time, Ss felt an odd emotion rushing through him.


    That was right, it was an emotion. A sense of superiority, as though he was looking down on the world from above. It felt like a cool-pack was pressed against the folds of his brain, filling it with a chilling but soothing liquid. His mind calmed, and all his worries seemed to be stripped from him.


    The feelingsted for a long while until it faded. No, it didn''t fade. Instead, it felt like he had¡­ gotten used to it? It was a permanent state? His mind just felt so¡­ fresh and clear.


    That was when it hit Ss.


    Passive.


    In a video game context, "passive" had always meant that it was an ability that was always on. It was an ability that he shouldn''t have to "activate" like he had been trying to do previously.


    In that case, could it be that he had been using Voice of a King wrong this entire time? Maybe that boost to Charisma was just a byproduct and not the main purpose of the ability to begin with.


    At least right now, he felt surprisingly calm.


    Coming from Ss, this meant a great deal, especially since he was quite used to being level-headed in most situations. But right now, it was on another level. He found it incredibly easy to focus, and his thoughts ran smoothly.


    He took a breath and exhaled, and that was when something else surprising urred. He could feel theplex folds of his lungs expanding, his diaphragmpressing, his throat flexing. He could even feel the cool wind slowly warm as it descended into his body.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder what it could feel like to use Extricate in this state. Would he feel those feelings even more clearly?


    At that moment, the Basilisk King suddenly ripped a path out of the other end of the Red Crystal Python.


    ROAR!


    The roar echoed for a long distance, beating against Ss'' eardrum. It was filled with a fanaticism and fervor Ss hadn''t heard from the Basilisk King since the day he first fought him. In fact, the Basilisk King''s horns and golden runes had returned, and it seemed to have gone back to its previous state.


    Ss thought it was over and the Quest was finally finished when¡­


    ---


    [Quest Received]


    [Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Bronze)]


    ---


    [A King without a Kingdom. The Basilisk is a fallen creature; from where? No one knows. Maybe even They have forgotten Their former glory. You have met a Basilisk whose pride has been shattered and whose Will has been torn asunder. Remind this Basilisk King of who He is.]


    ---


    [Bronze Reward Requirements]


    [>Awaken the Pride of the Basilisk King]


    ---


    His gaze flickered. The Basilisk King had returned to its former state, and it likewise should have regained control over the Skills that it had lost contact with. But it seemed that it wasn''t over.


    That was when Ss remembered the original description of the Basilisk King Dungeon. It spoke of the might of the Basilisk King, how it was undisputed.


    But there seemed to be something off about it.


    Why was the Dungeon of such a powerful creature only FF+?


    Ss checked the stats of the Basilisk King to see if anything had changed.


    ---


    [Basilisk King (FF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Physical: 80]


    >[Strength: 111]


    >[Constitution: 123]


    >[Dexterity: 42]


    >[Speed: 45]


    [Mental: 72]


    >[Intelligence: 99]


    >[Wisdom: 19]


    >[Charisma: 97]


    >[Will: 91]


    ---


    It was identical. Even throughpleting two Quests, none of the numbers had changed, and this left Ss confused. The Basilisk King had certainly improved, so how were its stats the same? Unless it was the case that only its Effectiveness has shifted?


    Ss assumed that it should just be a Skill issue, wherein the Basilisk King''s Skills were sealed until it returned to this state. But shouldn''t its Skills have been incorporated into its FF+ grade? But that hadn''t changed either.


    After some thought, Ss checked something.


    ---


    [Basilisk King (FF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    ---


    [Skills: King''s Bind (FF-); King''s Shift (FF-); King''s Shield (FF-); Voice of a King (FF+)]


    ---


    [Common Genes: Voice of a King (F); ¡­]


    ---


    Not only were all of its Skills at a higher grade than Ss'' own despite sharing the same name, but it had <Voice of a King> as both a Skill and a Passive.


    ---


    [Voice of a King (FF+) (Skill)]


    [No Law can bind the King. Limits? The Basilisk King has none. It shatters them with its Will alone.]


    [When facing an enemy of weaker Will, you suppress them. Over the course of the battle, depending on the disparity, your stats increase.]


    ---


    [Voice of a King (Gene Talent)]


    [A Gene Talent capable of cooling the mind and increasing the Effectiveness of Will and Charisma. Your Charisma activates Passively and those around you with weaker Will are pulled into your orbit. Your Skills and stats are more Effective.]


    ---


    Finally, Ss understood exactly what was happening.


    Because of the anomaly in the Basilisk Dungeon, he hadn''t been granted the rewards he assumed would have included the upgraded version of his current Skills and the <Voice of a King> Skill.


    At the same time, he never noticed that the Basilisk King had this Skill during their battle because his Will was far beyond its own. It never had a chance due to this alone.


    He couldn''t help but wonder just what kind of scaling the ability had. And by suppress, did it mean that he was stealing stats from the enemy? Or was it apletely different function from the increase to his own stats?


    Unfortunately, there was no enemy to test it out here, and even with Madness, <Basic Scouting> didn''t give him any more information.


    Ss looked over and found that after roaring, the Basilisk King had fallen into a slumber. It seemed it wasn''t finished evolving yet. Maybe something else woulde of that.


    He ced it in the Hibernation Realm where it would certainly evolve faster. Then, he looked to leave. It was a shame to leave the red crystals, but there was nothing he could do about it.


    ''It''s time to leave this ce.''

 Chapter 185 Snail

    <h4>Chapter 185 Snail</h4>


    Ss stood before a barrier. It didn''t feel like one, and staring at it felt to him like he was staring into the far-off distance. However, he trusted the feeling he was getting from the rune.


    That was because while making his way here, Ss had aplished something else.


    The runes and their interaction with his telekinesis were far too interesting to pass up. So after some thought, he changed his mind and chose to use them as the foundation for his Gene Crystal. And the result had given him quite a bit of information.


    ---


    [Spellbound Ventriloquist]


    [Your words give life. Infuse your Will and project with your Charisma, giving your voice power others couldn''t fathom.]


    [+7 Will; +7 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+14 Will; + 14 Charisma (Common)]


    [+28 Will; + 28 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(7) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(15) Charisma]


    [(20) Will]


    ---


    [Will Schr]


    [Will exists in all things. The written word and the voice are all things, whether others realize it or not, that are infused with the Will and projected with Charisma. See through the truth and lies in people''s words, trantenguages you''ve never seen before,prehend ancient runes of long-forgotten disciplines. The world is an open book to you.]


    [+7 Will; +7 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+14 Will; + 14 Charisma (Common)]


    [+28 Will; + 28 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(7) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(15) Charisma]


    [(20) Will]


    ---


    [Enchanted Scribe]


    [You can sense the Laws of the world and read itsnguage. The runes call out to you. At first sight, your Will can reach out and pluck them from the jaws of the world, making them your power.]


    [+7 Will; +7 Charisma (Fragmented)]


    [+14 Will; + 14 Charisma (Common)]


    [+28 Will; + 28 Charisma (Bronze)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Bronze)]


    [(7) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(15) Charisma]


    [(20) Will]


    ---


    It was hard for Ss to choose this time once again. It was a familiar feeling from thest time he had used a Gene Crystal. Still, it opened up a new world to him. It taught him a lot about this world and what kind of secrets it might still hold.


    He would also have a good opportunity to use the troll and human corpses he had been keeping ever since the battle at Casstle Main.


    The trouble was that he had no idea which one to pick. They all sounded good.


    He was leaning toward Enchanted Scribe. This was because he could feel the kind of power these runes held. He wouldn''t even be in this situation to begin with if not for these runes. Trapping someone in a mirror world like this¡­ just what kind of power was that?


    But then again, Will Schr was very enticing, especially to a person like him. There was so much about this world that he didn''t understand. If he could understandnguage and see through lies using his Will, how much of a benefit would that be?


    For example, back when he was in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, there were all sorts of runes and engravings he couldn''t even begin to understand. If he had had this Gene Talent, couldn''t he have seen through what was happening a step ahead?


    Now that he thought about it, there were runes everywhere he went. In the Basilisk King Dungeon, there were green markings and runes that covered all of the walls. He had ignored them because he couldn''t read them. In fact, he had even thought that they were just pretty designs.


    But was that really the case?


    Then there was Spellbound Ventriloquist. It was probably the one that would give thergest and most immediate impact to hisbat strength. It scaled directly with his Will and Charisma, so it would synergize perfectly with Madness. If he could speak words into Skills, would there be very many who could defeat him? At the very least, he had yet to see anyone with a Will as strong as his own just in base, let alone when Madness was applied.


    Ss'' indecision was great, and though he didn''t want to admit it, part of the fear was due to how many things just slipped out of his control in this world.


    Had he even made the right decisionst time? When was the next time he would end up trapped in a world like this one? And would he even be lucky enough to escape when it next happened?


    In the end, Ss couldn''t calm the voices of doubt in his mind. He never hesitated when he had already made a decision, but what about when he hadn''t?


    He truly didn''t know.


    So, he decided to wait. Since he already had all the Genes he needed in his Madness Key, soon enough, he would either run into a situation where the answer was forced upon him, or one that made the other two options meaningless.


    For the time being¡­ he would take the cautious approach.


    With a deep breath, Ss flooded a rune on the disk with his telekinesis and pushed at the barrier in front of him.


    As expected, it immediately shattered.


    What he didn''t expect was to immediately hear the sounds of battle on the other side.


    It had been almost an entire day now since he had been trapped in this ce. Could it be that he was locked in time as well? Or was it something else?


    Was manipting time really so cheap? First, he had lost three months in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, now this?


    Soon, Ss realized that the issue wasn''t time at all. In fact, he was probably a bit screwed given the situation.


    ---


    [Bogdan Surhan]


    [Level: 8]


    ---


    [Elise Mellow]


    [Level: 9]


    ---


    [Petrard Vermo]


    [Level: 8]


    ---


    There was a familiar trio up ahead, and they were all battling the same beast. Bloom and Mark were nowhere in sight, and the portal that he had been looking for this entire time was loomingrge in the distance.


    The trio was clearly doing their best to hold the beasts here at bay, stopping them from entering the portal and wreaking havoc on Lone Star.


    And now Ss was caught in the middle of it.


    His gazended on a looming creature with a shell of bright red.


    ---


    [Sphincteroch Snail (FFF-)]


    [Level: 10]


    ---


    [Physical: 112]


    >[Strength: 64]


    >[Constitution: 302]


    >[Dexterity: 51]


    >[Speed: 67]


    [Mental: 321]


    >[Intelligence: 357]


    >[Wisdom: 387]


    >[Charisma: 219]


    [Will: 131]

 Chapter 186 Rottweiler

    <h4>Chapter 186 Rottweiler </h4>


    [2250 GTs chapter bonus]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. This creature was simply far too powerful. The only saving grace was that it was quite slow all things considered. But given its other stats, did it matter?


    Could they even break its defenses with Constitution that powerful? And with Intelligence that high, how powerful were its Skills?


    The snail was unlike any Ss had ever seen before. Its shell made it two meters tall, and it reflected with a ruby light. Its body was a transparent red that radiated with a silver-blue hue from within that could have only been its Aether.


    Right now, it wasn''t doing anything. Yet Ss felt clear spikes of danger every time he thought of acting himself.


    ''Is it controlling those beasts?''


    Ss had hardly thought the question before he suddenly found a horde rushing toward him. He still couldn''t confirm with 100% certainty, but it was hard to believe that they''d be so coordinated otherwise.


    Creatures that looked not much different from the ming Hound of the Dungeon he had just left. Their palms burst with mes as they raced across theva, their tongues swinging about wildly as though he was their next meal.


    ---


    [Rottweiler (F+)]


    [Level: 7]


    [Physical: 83]


    [Mental: 69]


    [Will: 54]


    ---


    Three of them were bounding toward Ss with a great amount of Speed.


    Several thoughts ran through Ss'' mind at once. His top priority was obviously to leave this ce, but he was entirely alone. There were certainly more government officials outside, and even if they hadn''t noticed that he had the disk, they wouldn''t let him leave regardless.


    If he ended this battle too quickly, not only would he expose the true extent of his strength to them, but the snail might focus more on him as well.


    But if he didn''t end it quickly enough, he would end up wasting a lot of strength meaninglessly. He wasn''t skilled inbat to the point that he could afford to extend the battle on purpose without facing any consequences.


    ''Run.''


    This was what Ss wanted to do. If he was fast enough, he could enter the portal first and then take things from there.


    But then he thought of another problem: theva.


    If his experience had taught him anything, he was absolutely terrible at running onva. Though he had improved in thest day, it wasn''t nearly enough.


    Comparatively speaking, these fire hounds were clearlyfortable. Even if his Speed was greater than theirs, his Effective Speed in this environment was likely even lower. He couldn''t let them get close.


    Ss vaguely noticed that his thoughts were running faster before he ced the disk in the Madness Key and then pulled out his kunai.


    He spotted the nearest ind and rushed toward it.


    ''My steps are smoother.''


    His gaze sharpened. He could only deduce that it was rted to Voice of a King. His Speed still wasn''t as fast as it was onnd, but it was still more than 90% of the way there now.


    It was enough to outpace the hounds.


    With a leap, hended on the solid ground and spun around, scanning the region.


    As expected, without the odd mirror world trapping him, everything made much more sense.


    They were in the middle of a volcano. High above, there was a hole to the skies. The volcano itself was enormous, being what must have been at least five kilometers in diameter.


    From the hole above, some creatures could be seen curiously peeking in. But many who couldn''t handle the heat left.


    The sound of the hounds reaching the ind reached his ears, and Ss'' gaze turned to face them.


    Three fireballs suddenly shot in his direction, but he swiftly dodged them.


    The Skills rebounded against the ground, beginning to spread around as the hounds lunged toward him.


    ''The portal is still about half a kilometer from me. The snail is about 200 meters from me, and the trio of government agents is securing the perimeter around the portal. It''s way too difficult for me to make it this far like this.''


    Ss took a breath.


    His kunai zipped through the air, attacking the paw of a hound that was just about to leap at him. He repeated the same action for a second, stalling the jumps of two.


    The third shed its teeth, lunging itself through the air and biting at his throat with mes nipping at its lips.


    Ss coldly stared it down, executing a sharp punch to its face.


    His fist collided perfectly. He could feel that the skull of the hound would have ruptured if he hadn''t held back somewhat.


    It fell to the ground, and he kicked it away, sending it back into theva before bearing down on the other two.


    Using abination of distraction with his kunai and his personal Physical, he overwhelmed the hounds.


    They came again and again, even as they were beaten, but the situation was only bing worse.


    As more creatures descended into the volcano, seemingly pulled in by the Aether of the portal, the snail seemed to only be gaining more and more troops.


    ''It must have onlye recently. If not for this, the portal would have been overwhelmed long ago. Either that, or the government would have sent more powerful warriors too. These three can''t be all they have.''


    Ss took a breath, making a decision.


    He couldn''t continue to sit here, wasting time in hopes that the situation would change.


    If he was correct and the snail had only appeared recently, this likely also meant that the trio of government agents had called for help and much more powerful backup was on its way.


    At that point, how would he even have the chance to survive?


    ''I have to go all out¡­''


    Ss took a breath and closed his eyes as he sted the hounds away once more.


    When he opened his eyes again, they had turned a blinding shade of gold, and his pupils had be slits.


    His skin bristled and goosebumps raised across his body.


    ''The Fusion will take two and a half minutes toplete and willst 30 seconds once it does. Nothing left but to push it to the limits.''


    Ss burst into action as Madness bloomed.

 Chapter 187 Speed

    <h4>Chapter 187 Speed</h4>


    [500 PSs chapter bonus]


    SSS! SSS! SSS!


    The kunai zipped through the air, piercing through the skulls of the hounds in quick session.


    Ss had already rushed forward across the magma, leaving a trail of heavy stomps in his wake as he leapt into the air again and again, minimizing his contact with the crimson liquid.


    At that moment, Ss'' hair stood on end. He felt a powerful sense wash over him, a sense more powerful than anything he had ever sensed before. He was absolutely certain that it was the snail.


    A pressure pressed against his mind, but it instantly shattered, unable to rattle his Will.


    The snail reeled back slightly, disoriented. At the same time, the beasts that were under its control seemed to have broken free for a moment.


    Ss didn''t expect this to happen, but that didn''t stop him from capitalizing.


    His kunai were like death scythes streaking through the air. 153 Physical wasn''t something the majority here could withstand. They were too fast, too flexible, too strong. He didn''t even have to use a drop of Aether.


    In just a handful of seconds, Ss had entered the most dangerous region, crossing by where the snail was, and likewise thergest concentration of beasts.


    The snail had obviously kept most of its puppet beasts around itself, not wanting to risk being harmed. It was odd given its overwhelming stats, but maybe it was feigning weakness, assuming that most didn''t have high enough Mental to see them. Given its high Wisdom, it was certainly intelligent enough to make deductions like this.


    Unfortunately for Ss, it was at precisely this moment that the snail broke free of the state of bacsh it had been in. And this time, Ss seemed to have its full attention.


    Ss'' jaw set.


    Before the snail could do anything, he activated <Maddened Enlightenment> and <Madness Control> at the same time. Then, he cast <Astral Bind>.


    With the boost of Madness, the average of his Will and Charisma was 611, while the average for the snail was only a little over 200. If things went right, he would be able to freeze it for practically as long as he wanted.


    But his hopes were low.


    And soon he was proved correct.


    The Skill was broken by the snail instantly, and it only bought Ss a fraction of a second. By then, he was being swarmed from all sides. It felt like the beasts were forming an imprable tide.


    <Astral Bind> was only an F+ Skill; it almost certainly had an upper limit of Will and Charisma it could handle. At the same time, Ss'' Aether was immature.


    This snail was simply on an entirely different level.


    Ss'' gaze sharpened, and his kunai shed again and again. He focused entirely on killing the beasts as swiftly as possible using the most efficient movements.


    With the clear visualization his Luck allowed, and the help of <Madness Control>, everything in his twenty-meter vicinity seemed to be under his control.


    Unfortunately, not only was the snail outside of this range, it wasn''t something he could control whether he wanted to or not.


    The antenna of the snail suddenly moved, and a whirlwind of Aether formed between them. It formed ance that suddenly shattered the air around it, soaring toward Ss.


    Bogdan, Elise, and Petard were taken aback, not just by the power of the attack, but the fact the snail had attacked at all. All this time, they had assumed that it couldn''t.


    Ss'' appearance had taken a great deal of pressure off of them as the snail turned its attention toward him.


    Ss didn''t have time for such casual thoughts. With beasts surrounding him and a sniper taking aim from afar, it could be said that this was the most pressure he had ever been under.


    Thankfully, his Wisdom was high enough to split his mind a fifth and sixth direction.


    He quickly cast <Solidify> to block. Feeling that it wasn''t enough, he cast it again.


    His mastery of the Skill had reached the peak the moment he got it. Thanks to that, his casting was near instant and without the slightest dy.


    BANG!


    The first shield shattered as though it wasn''t even there.


    The second appeared behind it, but it too was shattered.


    BANG!


    Ss'' pupils constricted. That was 400 points of damage, and it was stilling.


    ''There''s no time.''


    Instant was still rtive. He knew the Skill simply wouldn''t form again. Would he just have to tank it? It couldn''t possibly have much Strength left.


    Ss found himself surprisingly calm. The cool liquid flowing through his brain was like the call of a siren, and though he couldn''t see it right now, the snail certainly could¡­ it could see that regal gaze staring right back at it.


    The memories of forcing his Will into the force field and shattering it reyed in Ss'' mind, and his telekinesis split into a fourth stream, gripping onto what was left of thence of Aether and ripping it to shreds.


    The government agent trio and the snail all seemed taken aback by this. They had simply never seen such a thing.


    But Ss was even more surprised because he noticed something else.


    The Aether was now his.


    He used it instantly, converting it into several more <Solidify> casts and forming a line of shields in the direction of the snail.


    At the same time, he continued to rip apart the beasts before him.


    A hound had its head split in two. A hawk with ming eyes tried to w down on Ss'' head, but a single punch shredded its frail body and hollow bones apart. A wolf preparing a fireball found a kunai running right up through the bottom of its jaw, causing the ball to explode in its body before its head ruptured.


    Ss was focused on just one thing the entire time.


    Speed.


    Speed.


    Speed.


    He knew he had a little under two minutes left until the Fusion wasplete, but he would have preferred not to use it at all. And if he had to expose himself in this way regardless, he wanted it to be in thest leg of his escape.


    A rumble echoed at the edge of Ss'' visualization dome.


    The snail was getting serious.


    Pools of Aether rushed toward it from all directions.

 Chapter 188 Second Time

    <h4>Chapter 188 Second Time </h4>


    Ss'' hair stood on end. He felt a greater threat now than he ever had in his life.


    He looked up into the skies, and it seemed as though dozens of portals were opening up one after another. The air rippled and reality bent,nces of silver-blue formed by swirling Aether peeking out from within.


    For a moment, Ss was stunned into a limbo.


    He had been in this world of what felt like fantasy for a long while. He had experienced so much, brushed with death tens of times. But right now, he truly felt like he was entirely out of his depth.


    There was no movie, no book, no strokes of imagination that could have prepared him for this very moment.


    Staring into the jaws of death, he found himself standing at a crossroads once more.


    On the left was a path of cowardice.


    On the right was a path of bravery. True bravery. Not one built off the back of arrogance or self-overestimation. But one that looked toward the reaper with a cool gaze.


    He could feel that his body wanted to move to the left. He was a professor, a schr. He had spent all his life reading books and standing in ab. While he did keep himself active, it was entirely for the sake of discipline, and he was the furthest thing from lethal.


    However, as those thoughts shed through his head, he remembered that feeling when he thought he''d die. He remembered the disgust he felt to his deepest depths, and he bit his tongue hard.


    At a moment like this one, what would cowardice give him but a swifter death?


    Back when he first entered this world, he stared at his Will stat and scoffed. How could a mere system possibly tell him how great or poor his Will was meant to be?


    But soon after, he was humbled, broken down and shattered, only to barely be able to build himself back up afterward.


    Staring at the attack in the skies that could probably wipe out a row of homes, Ss felt a cool sensation rush through the folds of his brain once more, and his trembling pupils solidified.


    BANG!


    The portals erupted at once, curving through the air and aiming toward Ss. It was clear that the snail didn''t care about its foot soldiers. It wanted nothing else than to wipe Ss from the map.


    Just one of thosences had broken through two of his shields. Even if he used his telekinesis to tear them apart, Ss had no way of knowing if it would even work on ance that hadn''t been weakened, and even if it did, he could only split his mind about six ways now. How could he deal with two dozennces?


    However, Ss'' mind was churning with a different sort of thought process.


    How had the snail cast so many at once? That was impossible.


    Even with its pool of Aether, conjuring up more than two dozen attacks like this should have taken up more than half.


    An attack of this caliber, capable of dealing more than 400 points of damage, would cost at least one unit of Aether, and that was if he was being generous.


    357 Intelligence was worth just under 36 units. Between thences and the sheer number of beasts that the snail was controlling¡­


    How did it still have Aether left?


    Was it a Skill like <Maddened Enlightenment>?


    It was possible, but why didn''t Ss sense Aether rushing toward it? In fact, the only time he had sensed Aether moving simr to how it would under such a Skill was when it first activated thence Skill¡­


    Ss'' mind sharpened, and he suddenly grasped something.


    With a surge of his telekinesis, hepletely ignored the oingnces. Instead, he grasped onto what looked like an intangible and invisible string connecting them and then pressed down hard.


    BANG!


    The snail reeled back, and thences that had just been on a perfect trajectory went haywire.


    Ss moved, leaping out of the way of onence and conjuring two more shields to deal with another two.


    He rushed away, dashing at his fastest possible Speed toward the three government agents.


    Ss had realized during the force field fiasco that his visualization could pick up on more than his eyes could. It could "see" the force field even when his eyes could not.


    This time, when thences had approached a 20-meter radius, Ss noticed something else.


    One of thences was acting as the main attack, while the others seemed to just be followers, almost like a sieve leading water.


    If he was correct, the snail only had to cast thence Skill just once, and after, everynce formed following needed far less Aether to conjure up.


    He didn''t know what that Skill was, or how it would end up in the hands of such an overpowered creature, but he was certain that it was the reason it could control so many beasts and cast so many attacks at once.


    In which case, he just needed to find the "main" beast here and shatter its connection to the snail as well. As he did so, he continued to rush toward the portal, weaving in and out of a crowd of beasts as the snail slowly regained its bearings.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Thences fell randomly to Ss'' back, unleashing a wave of destruction through the sea of beasts.


    Bogdan, Elise, and Petrard were once again taken aback by Ss'' ability to survive. Just how had he done it?


    The snail shook itself awake and looked toward Ss'' slowly retreating back. It felt rage.


    That was the second time. The second time this human¡ª


    It shook.


    Ss suddenly changed directions, leaping high into the air as he spotted a ck-furred bear with ws of ming crimson.


    His kunai shed as he punched out with an Aetherflow-filled fist.


    ---


    [ck Bear (FF)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 193]


    [Mental: 169]


    [Will: 154]

 Chapter 189 Pressure

    <h4>Chapter 189 Pressure</h4>


    The shriek of the snail filled the skies. It sounded like a kraken rising up from the seas, its billow sending shivers down the spines of all who heard it.


    At that moment, the beastspletely abandoned their battle with the government agents and rushed for Ss.


    The shock of the agents grew. Was this really necessary? Between Ss and them, hadn''t they caused the snail far more harm?


    Ss had already expected this to happen, but he chose this route nheless.


    The ck bear suddenly swiped out at him, its w raking across the air and forming three lines of me scythes. The attack appeared before him in the blink of an eye, but it was then that Ss activated <Momentum Shift>.


    From high in the air, he suddenly plummeted down.


    He crashed into theva, sending a wave of it in all directions. It seemed that he would be swallowed up by it all, but that was when the fist he sent out early split it in two. From the beginning, it wasn''t aimed at the ck bear.


    Ss burst forward, losing some of his forward momentum backward due to the unstableva. But he cast <Momentum Shift> on himself again.


    Every use of <Momentum Shift> on his whole body cost twice as much and put a great deal of g-force on his inner organs. But right now, he couldn''t afford the luxury of considering these matters.


    He appeared before the ck bear as the other beasts closed in, but his mind was so focused he didn''t seem to notice anything else.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    He erupted with three fist attacks, his kunai swarming the beast.


    It felt like he had collided with a concrete wall, and the bear only took a single step back. Even his kunai reflected off its tough fur, sending sparks flying.


    The ck bear roared, standing on its hind legs and stomping down. Its paws became like twin meteors mming toward Ss'' head.


    It was right then that Ss activated <Astral Bind>.


    He had to do it now when the bear had alreadymitted to an attack. He wasn''t sure if it would have a Skill to dispel it or not, but if it didn''t, with Madness activated, it would be suppressed for several seconds.


    The beast lost control of its meteor Skill as its body went limp.


    Ss'' gaze glowed fiercely as he suddenly poured a great amount of Aether into his fire crystal upgraded kunai.


    BANG!


    The head of the ck bear exploded.


    He had poured an entire five Aether Units, boosting the Effectiveness of his 153 Strength by 75%. With the boost of the fire attribute, he gained another 5% on top of that.


    The instant the ck bear fell, the enraged call of the snail only grew more feverish. But there was nothing that it could do butsh, dozens morences forming in the air as its beasts were stripped from its control.


    Ss immediately turned and rushed away. There were still several beasts swarming him, but the moment the connection broke they were stunned into a state of confusion, unsure of what was happening.


    He took precisely this opportunity to burst free of the encirclement, closing in the distance toward the government agents.


    When the beasts recovered, their instincts took over. Sensing the dense Aether around the portal, they rushed ahead. It almost looked for a moment that Ss was controlling them all.


    They were far more interested in the portal than they were in Ss himself, even as thences fell from the distance and the snail unleashed its absolute carnage.


    Beasts didn''t have any ingrained hatred against humans; at least they didn''t have any more hostility than they might toward their fellow beasts. So, to them, running alongside Ss or another creature was absolutely no different.


    They only had extra incentive to run as they feared the strength of the snail as well.


    However, in the eyes of the agents, it looked as though Ss had managed to strip the snail of its control and now he was in control of all of these beasts.


    Their pupils trembled, and their fear only became fiercer when Ss suddenly released the reins on Madness.


    The entire region became soaked in a mental attack and the gazes of the beasts all turned red.


    When they met Ss'' slit gaze, their assumptions only set in further.


    This man was a demon.


    "Retreat!" Elise barked out an order. "We need numbers!"


    She rushed backward, pulling out a walkie-talkie.


    Ss'' gaze flickered. This was exactly what he had expected would happen.


    He elerated, pushing his Speed as far as he could.


    When he burst through the portal, finally smelling Earth''s air once more, he felt the need to roar to the skies. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the luxury of rxing.


    The entire region was filled with ck, military-armored humans, each of whom were wielding guns and weapons of their own. Even with a quick nce, the weakest of them was Level 3, and the strongest were at least Level 6 or 7. Though thetter was by far the minority, Ss still felt his heart constrict.


    Still, he had expected this as well.


    If the government didn''t secure this perimeter, they would be subjecting the entire city to a massacre. The heat in the region had already increased by several orders of magnitude. This was bad enough for public psyche without there also being a beast tide to deal with.


    Feeling so many trained eyesnd on him, it was still enough to make a child out of a man. But the surge of beasts that came afterward made it far easier on him in an instant.


    What he didn''t like was what he saw in the distance.


    As expected, the government agents had certainly called for help, and it showed.


    ---


    [Joel Sen]


    [Level: 10]


    ---


    [Mordicai Zhen]


    [Level: 10]


    ---


    [Linzie Han]


    [Level: 11]


    ---


    The trio rushed forward in a coordinated group, and even from afar, Ss could already feel a great deal of pressure.

 Chapter 190 From the Skies

    <h4>Chapter 190 From the Skies </h4>


    Ss let out a long breath. His body was being constantly pushed to the limit, especially with <Madness Control> active, and his mind was being pressed to the same extent.


    Seeing this level of threat approaching from the distance, he knew that this time he was well and truly in a pinch.


    He looked back toward the portal.


    Right now, he needed more than just this. If he wanted to escape this sort of situation, it would be more difficult than just running away.


    They were in the deserts of Lone Star right now. It was nothing but t stretches ofnd for practically as far as the eye could see.


    If he wanted to run away, he would be unlikely to do it on foot.


    Ss looked toward where he saw a few helicopters but immediately tossed the idea away. Not to mention the fact he had no idea how to fly one, they were probably scrap metal by now underneath all this Aether.


    Just as Ss was lost in thought, he was forced to duck and roll.


    An arrow missed him by a short margin, and though it tried to curve in the air, his telekinesis severed its connection with the Skill powering it in an instant.


    The beasts around him suddenly pounced. Beneath the effects of Madness, they had no sense of camaraderie or control. Some were even fighting amongst themselves at this point.


    Ss had no choice but to release Madness. Its purpose had been fulfilled, and he had managed to make it out of the portal. Now he just needed a way out.


    He dodged the swipe of a paw after popping to his feet, gripping onto the wolf''s wrist hard and pulling it toward a vicious punch that shattered its head.


    He tossed the corpse to the side and realized that he couldn''t just stand around these beasts. No matter what, he had to make a break for it.


    Forgetting everything else, he broke out into a sprint, picking the opposite direction of the trio of elites.


    There was a clear encirclement in his way, but better to deal with a group of Level 3 to 5''s than have to deal with experts far more powerful than anything he could handle now.


    Defeating the Red Crystal Snake didn''t fill Ss with any delusions.


    From the power he had seen Bloom disy, although he had no way of knowing if these three were as powerful, he couldn''t take the risk.


    What he did know was that despite their power, Bloom and Mark had fought the three previous government agents and those three were still alive and well. Yet, those very same three agents had been forced to call these new three for help.


    If that didn''t paint the picture of the kind of trouble he was in, nothing would.


    "I''ll go stop him!" Elise shouted. "Hold the line!"


    Ss heard the voice of the Level 9 but didn''t turn back.


    He moved forward at the fastest speed the horde of beasts and the avnche of attacks from the encirclement allowed.


    He was barely over 20 meters from the first line of the encirclement when he sensed waves of dangering toward him.


    He came to an abrupt halt as shards of ice collided before him.


    They exploded, and the earth suddenly bloomed with crystalline spikes of blue that shot toward his chest.


    Ss hurried to conjure a shield, which the spikes quickly burst through, but that still gave him enough time to get out of range.


    Unfortunately, it was also enough time for Elise to not only clear out the nearby beasts but to also block his path.


    A heaviness set in on Ss'' heart.


    There was such a wave of new information hitting him every moment, he didn''t even know how to process it all.


    But a cooling sensation ran through his mind and he noticed something.


    How could she use ice in this kind of heat? Was it truly indifferent?


    He didn''t get a chance to linger on this thought for long, a sword of white appearing at his chest with every intention of skewering him through.


    DENG! DENG! DENG!


    The three kunai bombarded the side of the sword all at once, parrying it to the side as Ss punched out.


    Elise took a step back expecting to still be out of range when a green glow caught her off guard.


    Basic Aetherflow took hold once again, and Elise was sent flying back, a solid fist aura mming into her shoulder.


    She tried to dodge at thest moment but just barely failed.


    Her reaction speed was so great that it was frightening.


    Ss looked toward his own shoulder, feeling a frosty aura eating into his Aether Skin.


    His gaze flickered, feeling that this could be bad if it wasn''t dealt with.


    But he also wasn''t even sure if that was possible in this situation.


    Without hesitation, he burst toward another direction.


    What he didn''t expect was that the biting cold he was hoping to deal withter had already turned his lips blue.


    Even with all the hot blood pumping through him and the adrenaline, Ss suddenly felt ice cold.


    He looked at his shoulder again only to find that it had already eaten through his Aether shield andtched onto his skin.


    Ss'' clothes had already been entirely burned through. And unlike others, he couldn''t wear armor thanks to these useless wraps he couldn''t take off.


    So, he had not the slightest hint of protection.


    In a rare moment, Ss cursed.


    He hardly had the Aether control to form his Aether skin in the first ce. He didn''t even know the first thing about dealing with this sort of attack.


    He felt himself slowing down as his Effective Speed plummeted.


    He tried to push his way through it, but it just wasn''t working.


    He sensed an arrowing from afar, and thought he had time to dodge it, but¡ª


    THWACK!


    It rebounded against his Aether skin, shattering.


    But it sent him stumbling backward.


    BANG!


    Ss barely registered somethingnding before him.


    [Joel Sen]


    [Level: 10]

 Chapter 191 BOSS

    <h4>Chapter 191 BOSS </h4>


    His eyes were starting to have problems adjusting to the situation and even his neck was beginning to move too slowly for his liking. He couldn''t even register that the reason this Level 10 was forced toe was because the punch hended on Elise earlier had left her incapacitated.


    He had been right. She couldn''t use her ice Aether without paying a price, and that price was her protective measures. She hadn''t expected to be suddenly hit like that, and so she had paid for it.


    Now, Joel stood before Ss, but he was a bit confused.


    Nothing about Ss made any sense. How could someone both be so powerful and so inept?


    When he tried to see through Ss'' stats, he was brick-walled so hard that had he not cut off his senses, he would have been sent reeling back.


    Such powerful Mental and yet he couldn''t deal with a little ice?


    Despite his confusion and the caution that birthed from it, Joel knew that he didn''t have the time to dawdle.


    He reached out with a palm. It was shrouded by a shadowy energy, pressing down with such power that the space seemed to be sealed. The palm expanded to the point it seemed that it could grab Ss'' entire body.


    Joel was ready for some sort of resistance, but what he didn''t expect was that he wouldn''t get any.


    Hisrge shadowy palm grabbed Ss and picked him up as though he weighed as light as a feather.


    The Level 10 couldn''t help but stand there in shock. Beasts tried to attack him, but tendrils of darkness darted out from his back, piercing them through like spider legs.


    Unable to understand what was happening, Joel returned to the back of the encirclement.


    "I will watch over him," he called out.


    The other two nodded while Bogdan and Petrard rescued Elise from the swarm of beasts.


    With the addition of a Level 10 and Level 11, the beast tide began to be swiftly wiped out. They didn''t seem to stand a single chance against this hoard.


    There seemed to be a clear dividing line between Level 9 and Level 10, one that was likely categorized by sses.


    Joelnded after arge leap through the air, looking at Ss who was still trapped in his shadow hand. By this point, Ss was almost entirely blue, his eyes tightly shut, his body shivering in itsst-ditch effort to remain warm.


    "Who are you?" Joel questioned.


    The walls were bearing down around Ss. He was trapped in the hands of a man far more powerful than himself, the threat of the beasts was being too swiftly dealt with for him to take advantage of anymore, and it was simply impossible to imagine that he''d find any way to escape.


    Joel''s frown deepened, realizing that he likely wasn''t going to get an answer out of Ss while he was in this state.


    Right at that moment, the snail suddenly appeared out of the portal, but Joel only gave it a nce. It was a powerful creature, to be sure. But Mordicai and Linzi were more than prepared to deal with it.


    Joel began to search Ss'' body. The disk was highly important and it had vanished. Maybe there was a chance that it was in Ss'' hand.


    They had yet to be able to confirm such a thing with the other three, but they were sure that Bloom and Mark weren''t able to leave with it.


    Seeing that Ss'' Aether skin was in the way, Joel directly shattered it without much effort at all. But he was once again stunned that it was actually so simple. How could Ss'' Aether be so weak?


    He was so surprised that he ended up hurting Ss more than he expected.


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood, several of his ribs shattering beneath the impact.


    In the end, Joel just shook his head. It didn''t matter if Ss was a little roughed up so long as he didn''t die.


    "No spatial device?" Joel frowned and looked at the ne around Ss'' neck. He grabbed the Madness Key and tried to pull it off but it didn''t budge. "Huh?"


    BANG!


    Ss'' eyes suddenly snapped open.


    In a sudden change, his skin was flooded with ck, reflective scales.


    The ice shards that had bloomed across his body shattered.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Physical: 139]


    >[Strength: 157]


    >[Constitution: 153]


    >[Dexterity: 121]


    >[Speed: 123]


    [Mental: 173]


    >[Intelligence: 257]


    >[Wisdom: 72]


    >[Charisma: 191]


    [Will: 264]


    [Luck: 39]


    Then, his BOSS yer Title bloomed, adding a +10% boost to everything.


    Shards of Joel''s shadow palm fell along with the sparkling motes of ice like a dance of light and dark.


    Ss fell to the ground, a tail pping down heavily behind him.


    At that moment, the three kunai surged out from Ss'' Madness Key. The only thing he had managed to do before he was captured was store them away, and at that moment, they erupted with 195 Physical as they exploded toward Joel in a line.


    Danger signs red up in Joel''s mind and he hurriedly exploded into a retreat. Just when the kunai were about to skewer him through, he vanished in a puff of ck smoke.


    However, what he didn''t notice was that the instant he tried to teleport, Ss'' telekinesis squeezed down like a vicious viper.


    Ss had never seen the Basilisk'' Luck stat before, but feeling the sudden boost to having it felt like everything within 40 meters was clearly reflected in his mind. Nothing Joel could do could slip away from his attention.


    He could have sent a kunai after Joel instantly, but he didn''t choose to do so.


    Instead, he cut off the Skillpletely.


    Joel stood shocked as three kunai ran through his chest in quick session, each one leaving arger andrger hole than thest before it seemed he would be shattered into a rain of blood.


    Power pooled out of Ss'' body and it felt like he could take on the world. There were even hints of his rationality that seemed that it might be stripped away, but his Will was simply too high.


    Taking Joel''s body, he rushed off into the distance, moving at the fastest speed he could muster.

 Chapter 192 Jeep

    <h4>Chapter 192 Jeep</h4>


    [1000 PSs chapter bonus]


    Ss bolted, practically leaving a streak of ck in his wake.


    His body seemed to instinctively react. He leaned forward, using his tail as a bnce as he elerated more and more.


    He pulled on <Madness Control> and his newly minted Bronze Mastery Madness Comprehension. With both working in tandem, he not only quickly grasped the best ways to use this new body, but his running efficiency reached a new realm in an instant.


    In not even half a second, he hit his top Speed.


    The feeling of 123 Speed whipped against his scales, gliding off.


    With his tail as a bnce, he was several times more aerodynamic.


    He didn''t worry about anything else. Just move faster, faster, faster¡­


    His mind was its own clock. He counted down the remainder of his 30 seconds, feeling that the time wasn''t enough, but there was nothing else he could do about it.


    To his back, Ss could already feel that there were several figures rushing after him. Only one of them was truly a threat. However, Ss didn''t turn back to find out who it was. His mind was entirely focused on increasing his Speed. If he turned back, his Efficiency would plummet and he would waste precious seconds.


    Then, he saw what he was looking for in the distance. His slit eyes flickered.


    It was a military jeep located outside the range of the portal. He knew that Joel, Mordicai, and Linzie had to havee here with some sort of transportation, and he had correctly deduced that the reason they were walking in from the distance was because they didn''t want it to be destroyed by the Aether as all technology seemed to be.


    However, it was still a gamble. That was because he had no idea what the vehicle would be; it might very well be one he couldn''t drive. And even though he was lucky that this turned out to be a military jeep, would there be a key?


    Even from 200 meters away, Ss knew that this jeep wasn''t on, which means the likelihood that the key was in the ignition was low.


    Could he hot-wire it? He wasn''t sure. He had only seen Bloom do it once before, and he had no idea how to do it himself other than copying and pasting what he had seen and hoping for the best.


    His gaze sharpened as an arrow entered his visualization range.


    With a stomp, he slid to the side.


    He didn''t have much time to figure this out, but he had an idea he got courtesy of the professor.


    The system could be used on things that weren''t of the Aether ne.


    In which case¡­


    <Basic Scouting>.


    Almost instantly, Ss'' mind was flooded with information about the military jeep. It was so detailed that it felt like a shbang had gone off in his head.


    He still had Madness activated, so <Basic Scouting> was disying far more prowess than it normally would, and in an instant, Ss'' mind had been downloaded with more information than even a veteran mechanic would have.


    BANG!


    Ss leapt into the air. He soared over ten meters high, crashing down and through the front windshield. He didn''t waste any time at all. Going around and using the door would take too long.


    He broke the back of the front seat, forcing it to push back far more than it was ready. At the same time, he had conveniently made room for his long, ck-scaled tail.


    With a twist of his waist, he slid into the broken chair and shattered the bottom panel of the wheel box.


    From start to finish, he didn''t even look up. His hands moved in a blur, and when he sensed that another arrow wasing even at the expense of the jeep, his telekinesis reached out and ripped apart the Skill leading it. Then, he rotated it in the air, sending it back toward the archer with even faster Speed.


    The engine turned over and Ss mmed the gas, forcing the jeep into reverse.


    For the first time since he began his escape, he looked up.


    ---


    [Linzie Han]


    [Level: 11]


    ---


    His gaze narrowed as the car continued to elerate backward. Level 11 or not, she was still no match for the Speed of a car.


    However, Ss didn''t take his eyes off of her, nor did he turn the car around. He continued to drive in reverse, relying on his visualization to show him what was to his back rather than taking his gaze off of her.


    It took three whole seconds for Linzie''s expression to change. Realizing that she was about to lose her opportunity, she took action, a javelin appearing in her hand as all of her momentum came to a stop with a single stomp.


    The ground shook and with his newly sharpened gaze, Ss could see the muscles in her nt leg practically double in size, veins bulging across it.


    BANG!


    The javelin shot out of her hand like a cannon. A violent ripple of Wind Aether surged and the sound made Ss'' heart shudder. He didn''t have the time to realize that it wasn''t that it broke the sound barrier, but was instead an illusion Linzie had formed on purpose.


    A harsh whistling filled the air and Ss'' hair stood on end.


    Ss'' hands shifted, mming the brakes and pulling the wheel hard. He felt that there was no time or possibility to swerve out of the way of this attack, but he did this purely so he could stand while using his tail to press on the gas.


    He circted Basic Aetherflow to his greatest abilities and unleashed a roar that sounded more beast than man.


    In that moment, his aurapletely changed, a violent green swirl appearing around him.


    If he pushed as hard as he wanted to, he would shatter the bottom of the jeep and his getaway vehicle would be ruined. That meant that he had to approach this with his Efficiency hitting near rock bottom.


    He gathered up his telekinesis and focused on his fist, doing everything but driving his power through his legs.


    Then, he pushed out, and the world seemed to be enveloped by a fist of illusory green.

 Chapter 193 Choice

    Chapter 193 Choice


    [1500 PSs chapter bonus]


    Linzie''s gaze narrowed when she saw the fist. It was so powerful that she couldn''t help but wonder how strong it would be if Ss was on solid ground instead.


    Normally, when Ss used normal Aetherflow without activating the Gene itself, his telekinesis-fueled fists became an average of his Physical and telekinesis, plus a small boost based on the skill. Because his skill was stillcking, this boost was only 5% or so.


    However, when Basic Aetherflow was used, the boost wasn''t so simple.


    In a state where his telekinesis could exhibit 195 Strength, and his Physical was 139, it felt like a p of thunder had erupted so close to the ground.


    BANG!


    Fist and javelin met.


    But Ss realized immediately that his own was crumbling. The javelin spun through it, its power beyond Ss'' expectations.


    No, it wasn''t just that it was so much more powerful, it was a difference in strength concentration. His Physical was spread over an entire fist, and the javelin focused everything into a single de.


    However¡­


    There was just one javelin.


    Ss erupted with three more fists as quickly as he could.


    The javelin was quickly closing the distance, but by this point, it had not only slowed considerably, but the car had hit a great speed.


    Cars could move much faster forward than they could in reverse. The only reason Ss hadn''t reversed it before was because he knew that Linzie would definitely attack and he needed eyes on her when she did. If he waited for it to enter the range of his visualization first, it would likely be toote for him to do anything.


    That was why Linzie was so surprised. She was definitely waiting for him to turn the car around before she attacked as well. But when she saw he wouldn''t fall for it, she immediately attacked.


    Unfortunately, this only ended up benefiting Ss as it gave him more time to expand the distance, which in turn made her strike less effective.


    Ss stretched out a hand as the javelin entered range. A green glow coated his hand as he mmed downward.


    A fist formed in the air and grabbed the javelin out of the air.


    Without a word, Ss tossed it into the back seat and turned around. He took a seat, pressing on the gas with his foot as he sped off into the distance.


    ---


    Linzie slowly came to a stop, her brows furrowed.


    They had lost the disk, Lone Star was now in turmoil, and they had even lost a Level 10. There was no way she''d be able to escape trouble for this, and the problem was even more pressing than just that alone.


    ''Was this nned? No, that''s impossible.''


    The sound of battle reached Linzie''s ears and she realized that she couldn''t just stand here any longer.


    "You," she called out to one of the men following her to chase after Ss, "report this. Don''t miss a single detail."


    After she said this, she bolted back to the battlefield, swearing things would turn out differently if she came across Ss again.


    She had no time toment the loss of her javelin.


    ---


    [Wind Reaper Javelin (FF)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Ability: Swallow (Wind)]


    [This treasure swallows Wind Aether proportional to the Speed it travels at. For every 50 kpm, Piercing power increases by 100%]


    [Durability: 16/20]


    ---


    Ss couldn''t help but give the treasure a quick nce as he sped away. The result made his pupils constrict.


    This javelin was incredibly light. Even to a person who hadn''tpleted the Trial, it was no heavier than maybe two or three baseballs.


    Even if he was conservative, it was incredibly easy for Linzie to throw it at least 150 kilometers an hour.


    Professional baseball yers could hit that Speed with ease. Someone with Linzie''s stats would surely be able to even if the javelin was just a bit heavier than a normal baseball.


    Three times the Piercing power? What did that mean¡­ wasn''t that rted to Pierce?


    Meaning, Strength was 300% more efficient when Linzie used this javelin, even if he was being extremely conservative.


    It was no wonder just one of his fists hadn''t been able to stop it. If he hadn''t been ready and sent out several more fists, he would have really been in trouble.


    But that was also the weakness of this javelin as well. The moment it slowed down, its Effectiveness also plummeted.


    Still, one could imagine the devastation if this treasure moved forward unhindered andnded before anything could be done about it.


    Ss stored it away.


    Before he returned to the city, he got rid of the military jeep, leaving it behind without a care.


    By now, his transformation had already faded. His body felt a bit weak as though he had just undergone a great workout, but other than that, his situation could have been much worse.


    He looked toward his shoulder with a solemn expression. This was the same shoulder he had almost lost due to the frosty Aether that invaded his body.


    Thankfully, his Constitution reached a high enough level after the transformation to dispel it forcefully. But that experience was unnerving¡­


    And it was also the experience that forced him to make a decision.


    ---


    [Enchanted Scribe]


    [You can sense the Laws of the world and read itsnguage. The runes call out to you. At first sight, your Will can reach out and pluck them from the jaws of the world, making them your power]


    ---


    Ss realized that this was the best choice for him. There was too much about this world he didn''t understand. Being able to see through the uniqueness of things by using his telekinesis, understanding them like he had with the jeep and his <Basic Scouting>¡­ even if he ran into something in battle that caught him off guard, he wouldn''t il the same way.


    It wasn''t just this, but this was also the only one of the three options that was an immediate and direct boost to his power¡­ Because with Enchanted Scribe, maybe he would be able to use the runes of the disk directly in battle.

 Chapter 194 Destiny

    194 Destiny


    [One-time bonus thanks to RySalt <3 1/3]


    ---


    ---


    [Enchanted Scribe]


    [You can sense the Laws of the world and read itsnguage. The runes call out to you. At first sight, your Will can reach out and pluck them from the jaws of the world, making them your power]


    ---


    Ss already had enough Genes to trade for this. Of course, the problem was that his Gene State was far too low. If he tried now, he would almost certainly fail.


    However, Ss had so many Genes to y with that he didn''t hesitate to try, especially since he knew that he could use the Gene Crystal several times so long as he didn''t sacrifice it for a boost to his sess.


    Of course, a Gene Crystal would still have a limit and it seemed a waste to even try without giving it its best chance. But Ss had a cheat code.


    *Extricate.*


    Even if he couldn''t seed on the first few tries, he would get a deep understanding.


    "Wait."


    Ss thought for a moment and then sent his senses into the Madness Key.


    First, Ss took Joel''s clothing and fitted it onto himself. He wore the ck military pants and boots, plus the simple grey t-shirt he had worn beneath his jacket.


    Then, he took out the spatial treasure that Joel had and looked inside.


    His eyes lit up.


    As expected, Joel did have Gene State Elixirs. In fact, he had two Brittle Gene State Elixirs, both of which wouldst for three days. But to Ss'' surprise, he also had one Flexible Gene State Elixir.


    A Brittle Gene State allowed a 30% chance to absorb a Gene. The best Gene State that Ss had ever had was Soft, which allowed a 50% chance. But a Flexible Gene State allowed a whole 65% chance!


    However, this Flexible Gene State Elixir was odd. After Ss scanned it, he realized why.


    Rather than working on a timer like the other, it seemed that it would only allow Ss three attempts to use. Meaning, if he drank it now, so long as he consumed Genes within one week, he would have three attempts to use this Gene State.


    What was interesting was that even if he drank it, he could decide when it activated and when it did.


    As a secondary effect, he would have a passive Quasi Brittle State active for the entirety of the week, which would allow him a 20% chance to sessfully take on a Gene rather than the usual 30%.


    Reading thisplex list of rules, Ss slowly understood why Joel had yet to use it. You would have to save a Gene State like this one for a special asion.


    But what asion would be better than this one for Ss? At least there wouldn''t be a better opportunity for the foreseeable future, and with the Madness Key''s needs bearing down his neck, he didn''t have much of a choice but to keep pressing forward. It would only be another four days before it started asking for Bronze Genes.


    That wasn''t all that was in Joel''s possession. There were two more things that Ss took interest in, one of which was in his spatial treasure, and the second was on his person.


    ---


    [Stabilizing Bracelet (Bronze)]


    [Level: 8]


    [Ability: Store; Evolve]


    [Store three Skills to be deployed at any time to a Bronze Mastery plus a <1%> boost per Level]


    [Skills Charged]


    [Shadow Warp: Teleport <54> meters in any location you cany eyes on]


    [Shadow Warp: Teleport <54> meters in any location you cany eyes on]


    [ ¡ª ]


    [Charge: 2/3]


    [Level Up Requirement: <9 Common> Genes]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    When Ss saw this, he suddenly understood how it was Joel had suddenly appeared before him. If it hadn''t been for the suddenness of Ss'' attack, and likely also how unwilling he was to use a second of his three charges on the same person, Joel would have been able to survive. By then, Ss'' situation would have be terrible. In fact, had it not been to save hispanion''s life, Joel wouldn''t have used up a charge at all.


    What was unfortunate was that Ss obviously didn''t have the <Shadow Warp> Skill, so he couldn''t recharge these Skills.


    If he was correct, Joel likely had gained a special ss that allowed him to unlock this ability. But unfortunately, it likely took too long to Cast this Skill in battle, so he used this treasure to store the Skill instead so he could deploy it instantly.


    Ss sped this bracelet on his wrist. Even though it only had two charges left and he couldn''t replenish it, how could he leave such a valuable chance to save his life alone? Had he had this bracelet, it would have been far easier to escape.


    As for the second item that caught his attention¡­


    ---


    [Dark Crystal Fragment (Resource)]


    ---


    Without hesitation, Ss fed it to his second kunai.


    ---


    [Flying Kunai (Bronze)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Ability: Pierce; Evolve; Dark Damage]


    [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <1.5%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <6 Common> Genes]


    [Damage increased by 5%; Damage increased by 10% in the night]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    ---


    Now, two of his three kunai had been upgraded. Ss wasn''t sure if this was a smart thing to do, but ultimately he would just try to inch forward and gain as many benefits as he could for now. If he made a mistake in the future, let it be.


    Ss was about to check Joel''s Genes to see just what level his stats had reached, but then he froze.


    ''A notification? Right, I tuned out everything¡­''


    Ss had gotten used to doing this in battle. The system could easily distract you at the wrong moment and cost you your life. So ever since his time in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, he had started to do this.


    However, when Ss saw what the notification was for, his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    ---

 Chapter 195 Seed

    <h4>Chapter 195 Seed</h4>


    [One-time bonus thanks to RySalt <3 2/3]


    Ss couldn''t believe it, not because of what was being said, but because the notification came not from the system alone, but rather a joint announcement made with the Madness Key in conjunction with the system. In fact, it seemed that the only reason this was possible was because of the Madness Key.


    This wasn''t all either.


    There was a list of warnings and potential rewards. The rewards themselves weren''t very clear except for one line:


    ---


    [Madness Key Gluttony will go into dormancy for <14> days. Hunger will be reduced by 100% permanently.]


    ---


    However, if he epted and he failed to snatch Joel''s Destiny:


    ---


    [Madness Key Gluttony will double. Timer for Hunger will reduce by 100% for <28> days.]


    ---


    Ss couldn''t help but frown when he saw this. That was because the punishment was too great. This meant that if he failed, not only would the time for every increase in Hunger go from seven days to barely over three, but the penalty every time it did would be double.


    For it tost 28 days meant that the Madness Key would be able to increase its Hunger exactly eight times.


    By the end of such a time, Ss would probably be dealing with Gold Genes. If he couldn''t feed the Madness Key, what would happen to him? He really didn''t want to find out.


    Although the rewards were good, the risks were actually so high.


    He also wasn''t so free to just take on Quests, and he had no way of knowing what the Quest even was.


    Just as Ss was thinking this, the Madness Key actually showed him what this Destiny of Joel''s was:


    ---


    [Path of the Mancer (Fragmented) (Quest)]


    [You have disyed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy, following your own is much more difficult.]


    [The word Mancer has a storied history, deeper than you know. There are manyplex definitions but it can be boiled down to a single word: Control.]


    [Open up the Path of the Mancer or die trying.]


    ---


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Kill a Level 10 creature with the Path of the Mancer]


    ---


    A flood of information came to Ss. It wasn''t just the first leg of the Quest, but he could also see how far Joel had gotten.


    It seemed that Joel had already cleared the first Quest and he had chosen a creature with control over Darkness Aether. As a result, he gained a ss rted to it as a reward.


    That was right, it seemed that the reward for clearing the Fragmented Quest was a Fragmented ss.


    But if that was true, then it should mean that you could continue to improve this ss every step you cleared.


    However, Ss still hesitated.


    What if this "Chain Quest" only went as far as Common or Bronze? He was unwilling to settle for such a low Grade ss, especially when he knew that there were many levels above it.


    Ss knew that he couldn''t just stick topeting with the humans around him. If he wanted to protect himself and his family, he had to aim for whatever theoretical limits he could.


    If not for this, he could have started Leveling long ago.


    To Ss'' surprise, even this answer came to him:


    ---


    [Fragmented -> Common -> Bronze -> Silver -> Gold -> Legendary]


    ---


    Although he couldn''t see the details, the system clearly told him exactly how far the Chain Quest would go.


    In fact, Ss had a feeling that it would give him the details if not for the fact the Quest would change depending on the path he picked.


    If he was correct, the reason "Path of the Mancer" was so vague was because you could pick whichever path you wanted. Joel just so happened to be Dark Aether, but that didn''t mean that Ss had to.


    That should mean that the only reason the other Quests weren''t loading was because they hadn''t been set yet. Ss would be the one to decide.


    ''The Madness Key is usually never this detailed. In fact, the system alone is never usually this detailed either. It seems that it''s because they''re working together that they''re being so clear and concise about everything¡­''


    ''The Madness Key is usually never this detailed. In fact, the system alone is never usually this detailed either. It seems that Ss felt that he had just stumbled into something very important, but it was only a feeling.


    Quickly, he asked as many questions as he could and he learned a great deal quickly.


    First, there was a time limit. He had exactly nine months. In fact, he even learned why there was this timer. It seemed that Joel had originally had a year, but he had already used up three months.


    Second, the Madness Key would only give a reward or punish after this nine month period. Despite the fact Joel had onlypleted the Fragmented level of the Quest, the Madness Key felt that the entire Chain Quest was his Destiny, not just a small piece of it.


    Third was rted to his Vipermancer Profession.


    He already had a Mancer title, technically speaking. Though it wasn''t a ss, Ss wanted to know how it would sh, or if there would be synergy, or if he would suddenly instantly clear all the Quests because of its existence.


    Ss was quite used to just suddenly jumping to the Legendary Grade. This happened every time he mastered a Skill rted to his Madness Comprehension.


    But this time, it wasn''t the same. In fact, the clear answers even became a bit vague this time.


    It did make it clear that sses and Professions weren''t the same thing, but it left the door open for a potential synergistic effect. But it would depend on the path he chose to take.


    After knowing all of this, Ss chose to bite the bullet and ept Joel''s Destiny.


    It was a huge risk, he knew it. Too much could happen in nine months, or he could end up stalling like everyone else.


    Plus, the Hunger of the Madness Key would be worlds apart from what it was right now by the time those days came around. At that point, the penalty would hit many times harder.


    However, this was the path he chose to take.


    ---


    [Destiny has been Swallowed]


    [Your Hunger Increases]


    [Gluttony Seed Formed]

 Chapter 196 Subterfuge

    <h4>Chapter 196 Subterfuge </h4>


    [One-time bonus thanks to RySalt <3 3/3]


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat. He felt an odd darkish red energy swirl around him and forcefully enter his mouth. But then it disappeared as though it had never been there.


    His hand shot up to his chest and he felt a gloominess overwhelm him. He had asked so many questions, trying to cover all the bases he could, and yet something unexpected had still happened.


    What was a Gluttony Seed? Would he have to feed himself with Destiny now, much like he had fed Genes to the Madness Key?


    Ss took a breath and closed his eyes. He didn''t dare to ask the Madness Key about it, at least not yet. Sometimes he wasn''t certain if he was dealing with the Taboo, but this time he was 100% certain.


    This Gluttony Seed was definitely something that existed outside the purview of the system.


    When he opened his eyes, he had already calmed down.


    How many unexpected things had this world already thrown at him? If he copsed every time this happened, it would be too much.


    Ss had no choice but to press those feelings down and turn his focus toward Enchanted Scribe.


    ''Seven Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, and Wisdom. Fifteen Charisma¡­ twenty Will Common Genes. There''ll be a +28 to my Will and Charisma, and my Gene Limit will go from 20 Common and 1 Bronze, to 2 Bronze Genes¡­''


    Now that Ss could use Extricate, gathering the Genes he needed was far easier. He still had several Troll corpses, along with the bodies of the powerhouses that attacked Castle Main back then. Between them, he had more than enough.


    He had been saving them because his Gene State was too low, and he also knew that the Madness Key would need a lot of support in the future. But there was no better chance to use them than now.


    Soon, the Gene Crystal had been filled.


    Ss tilted his head back and swallowed the Flexible Gene State Elixir. He would have three chances at 65% odds, so the probability was in his favor.


    He had enough Genes in his Madness Key for four attempts. Although he would have many extra Genes left over, the limiting factor was unfortunately the Charisma and Will Genes he needed, especially Charisma.


    It seemed that the Human Race had trouble raising their Charisma.


    ''Before this, I wouldn''t be able to use Extricate on a Bronze Gene, but¡­''


    ---


    [Path Quest <Rekindle Basilisk King''s Pride> Completed]


    [+1000 Experience]


    ---


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 3]


    [Experience: 650/800]


    ---


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv3]


    ---


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Bronze> Genes]


    ---


    ---


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 4]


    [Experience: 560/800]


    ---


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv4; Insight Lv4]


    ---


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <50%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <800%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <400%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <80%>]


    ---


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    ---


    ---


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 4]


    [Experience: 300/800]


    ---


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv3]


    ---


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <80%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <2 minutes> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <120 seconds>]


    ---


    Ss shook his head when he saw this. He had simply forgotten to clear the Quest, so the Experience never kicked in, and he didn''t gain the benefit of the bonuses they gave.


    Such a foolish mistake, and it had made his attempt to save his life that much more difficult.


    Suddenly, Ss had more respect for those professional gamers that could remember every little detail of their favorite games and take into ount every variable. Sometimes, the difference between yers, especially in strategy games, wasn''t obvious to ayman. Only those who were experts could feel the difference clearly, especially when it came to multi-


    tasking and things of the like.


    Ss had never really been a gamer; he sought after discipline, so he avoided such indulgence. He never thought that there''d be a day when he regretted such a decision.


    With a breath, he shook it off and began his first attempt. Slowly, he pulled at the Gene Crystal.


    The first attempt failed. However¡­


    A shing echoed through Ss'' mind.


    He didn''t try to absorb the Enchanted Scribe Gene the normal way. Instead, he used Extricate.


    The orb of light was muchrger and much moreplex than the others, and even when he failed, the broken insights felt like a rush of information into his mind.


    With a burst, it felt like the sides had suddenly been painted by runes. They were vague and illusory, and he was certain that if he tried to reach out and grasp them, they would slip through his fingers.


    However, when he looked back toward where the portal must have been, they seemed to explode in number as though they could only thrive in Aether.


    Ss subconsciously reached out with his telekinesis and solidified the flickering runes. They condensed beneath his might and suddenly bloomed in the world.


    ''Huh?''


    Just as Ss noticed something weird, the feeling vanished into the void. His grasp on the runes also vanished.


    Ss blinked, feeling a sense of loss.


    He returned to that feeling in his memories, and he felt that in those moments, it was like his Charisma had changed in type, rather than increasing in quality or something like that.


    The reason he felt that so clearly was because this was the same feeling that Voice of a King had given him. It was just that he hadn''t felt it anywhere near so clearly until he used Extricate on Enchanted Scribe.


    ''Charisma has types? Does choosing one cut off the path to another?''


    Ss couldn''t help but feel curious. Still, he had to make it back to Bloom and Mark''s home soon and he couldn''t just waste time standing around like this.


    He immediately re-upped the Gene Crystal and tried again.


    This time, Ss could almost feel the sess before it happened.


    The orb was pushed into his body and the explosion that echoed through his mind was several times more violent.


    Then came the rush and he saw exactly what he had missed before¡­


    The runes of Earth were covered in subterfuge.

 Chapter 197 Mutated

    <h4>Chapter 197 Mutated </h4>


    The runes were chained in some ces, traced in others, warped beyond reason in yet more ces. Even though this was the first time he was seeing them so clearly, he was certain that this was the case.


    They called out to him, whining and shuddering beneath the foreign interference. And for some reason¡­


    Ss felt angry.


    He knew now that someone tweaked Earth''s physicalws every time they failed a Summoning, practically thrusting them back into the Stone Age. It was just that now he was seeing the physical manifestation of that interference.


    Even if they passed this Summoning, either now or in the future, would Earth''sws ever be the same again? Or would they be permanently crippled?


    Ss reached out with a shaking hand and cupped a rune in his palm. He could clearly feel what it was about. It embodied the flexibility and flow of wind, not the wind itself, but the simplews that dictated its movement.


    Fluid dynamics.


    He had taken such a physics ss before¡ªonly at the lowest levels, but his memory had always been excellent. He could see thoseplex equations reflecting in his mind now, and he could almost feel how the constants that he was used to¡­


    Weren''t exactly right anymore.


    As Ss was lost in the feeling, he suddenly felt a mind-splitting headache.


    The feeling of mncholy and rage, not to mention the vision of fluttering runes, vanished.


    Ss grabbed his head, stopping himself from roaring out while he took deep breaths.


    Quickly, he began to circte <Maddened Enlightenment>. Only then did the pain slowly subside.


    He realized then that it was a great pull on his mental sharpness to observe runes like this. If he hadn''t been so enamored, he would have realized this much earlier.


    In the end, he pressed down those unwanted feelings and looked toward his gains.


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 13263 (F)]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; BOSS yer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 113]


    >[Strength: 120]


    >[Constitution: 91]


    >[Dexterity: 120]


    >[Speed: 120]


    [Mental: 146]


    >[Intelligence: 207]


    >[Wisdom: 62]


    >[Charisma: 170]


    [Will: 246]


    [Luck: 22]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Flexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]


    [Common Genes: (6) Speed (F); (6) Strength (F); (4) Constitution (F); (6) Dexterity (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (3) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    ---


    Ss took a breath and realized that his status screen was aplete mess.


    His Stat Limits had been increased to 140, and now several of his dormant stats had kicked in.


    ''Now, I have one more attempt to use the Flexible Gene State¡­''


    Ss decisively took out Joel''s corpse.


    Extricate was good, but it had a drawback, that being that he could only use one Gene at a time. That meant with a number-limited Elixir like the one he had just taken, he would be likewise limited in how much he could take advantage of it.


    However, if he went through the system, he could use thisst attempt on an entire body, and that was game-changing.


    [Joel Sen]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Common Gene: (9) Strength (F); (9) Constitution (F); (10) Speed (F); (12) Wisdom (F); (4) Charisma (F); (6) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Gene: Intelligence (F); Dexterity (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss knew that his Gene Limit on Bronzes was two, and he already had both of them filled. So he would definitely be wasting both.


    ''Maybe¡­''


    After some thought, he chose to take the risk and pulled the Intelligence Bronze Gene out of Joel''s body and put it into the Gene Crystal.


    The Gene Crystal shook, as though it was over capacity and might shatter at any time, so Ss worked quickly. He gave up on the Dexterity Bronze Gene and clicked [Yes] on the system message.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t just put the Genes into himself, or he would use up hisst 65%-sess attempt.


    [Genes Sessfully Assimted]


    [Common Gene: (5) Strength (F); (6) Constitution (F); (5) Speed (F); (10) Wisdom (F); (0) Charisma (F); (2) Will (F)]


    [Genes Failed Assimtion]


    [Common Gene: (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (5) Speed (F); (2) Wisdom (F); (4) Charisma (F); (4) Will (F)]


    ---


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 13263 (F)]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; BOSS yer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ---


    [Physical: 135]


    >[Strength: 140]


    >[Constitution: 140]


    >[Dexterity: 120]


    >[Speed: 140]


    [Mental: 146]


    >[Intelligence: 207]


    >[Wisdom: 62]


    >[Charisma: 170]


    [Will: 319]


    [Luck: 22]


    ---


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ---


    [Gene State: Quasi Brittle]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)


    ¡ª]


    [Common Genes: (11) Strength (F); (10) Constitution (F); (6) Dexterity (F); (11) Speed (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (13) Wisdom (F); (3) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    ---


    Ss exhaled a breath, feeling his body changing greatly.


    He looked toward the Gene Crystal that was about to burst and quickly took the Bronze Intelligence Gene out. However, he realized something curious after he did so.


    ''A Gene Crystal shouldn''t be capable of being used indefinitely, but why does this one show no signs of wear and tear after two attempts? It only began to shake after I put in a Gene it couldn''t withstand¡­ Could it be?''


    Ss'' gaze glowed brightly.


    Could it be that if he used Extricate instead of using the Gene Crystal directly, he could extend the life of his Gene Crystals? Maybe even indefinitely?


    He shook his head. ''It shouldn''t be indefinitely. But with Extricate, I should be able to take a Gene Crystal that would onlyst two or three attempts, and make itst five or six¡­''


    Gene Crystals weren''t only rare, but they were limited-use items. Ss had just been lucky to have a 100% sess rate the first time around, and this time he had been forced to hold onto this Gene Crystal until he finally found a Flexible Gene State Elixir.


    Of course, he had still already reached his Bronze Gene Limit, so he''d need a stronger Gene Crystal to make another attempt. But this was still huge.


    The possibilities for what he could do with this were endless.


    He could sell it, he could use it to test hypotheses, he could use it to help the Basilisk King evolve, potentially, he could even use it to help his family.


    With a solemn expression, he put the Gene Crystal away and turned to the Bronze Intelligence Gene.


    Until now, his control over Aether was still far too limited. This just might enlighten him to many things he was missing.


    With that thought, he began to press it into his body.


    But that was when another unexpected change urred and his expression changed.

 Chapter 198 Pathways

    <h4>Chapter 198 Pathways</h4>


    Ss'' Gene State was Quasi Brittle right now, allowing him a 20% chance of sess in absorbing Genes for the next week. What he didn''t expect was that he would seed with that 20% chance.


    The problem was that his Bronze Gene Limit had already been reached. So the moment Extricate pressed through with sess, it met another restriction that made Ss'' body convulse.


    His body copsed and his bones rattled. It felt like a hidden organ system within himself was being shredded apart, but it simultaneously felt clearer to him now than ever before.


    A battlefield suddenly began raging through Ss'' body. Blood leaked from his ears and eyes, and Ss realized that the Gene was slowly failing to be pushed out of his body.


    Ss immediately thought of a solution. If he used Extricate on himself, he could reverse this situation.


    But when he sensed the state of his mind, he felt reluctant.


    He was like a man observing the secrets of the universe for the very first time. The pain was inconceivable, but the result was that the process of sensing the Intelligence Gene was prolonged as well.


    The damage to his body was slowing as though it had reached a cap, but the pain was only increasing again and again.


    Just as Ss was going to follow through on his n, he grit his teeth and closed his eyes, curling himself into a ball.


    The memories of what happened in the world ofva were still rolling around in his mind. He seemed to have forgotten, but he certainly had not. He was just forced to press it down.


    No one had been there but himself, but he remembered the humiliation of that moment so very clearly. It was the greatest moment of weakness he had ever had in his entire life.


    And he refused to experience it again.


    They say you only knew a person when they faced unimaginable benefits or unimaginable horrors. Ss had faced death and didn''t like the person he saw looking back at him.


    So now, curling up here and remembering that moment, his gaze shed with coldness.


    He activated <Maddened Enlightenment> and his mind became unprecedentedly focused. The mysteries of Aether opened up to him. He could sense its flow even clearer than he could the Runes earlier.


    Finally, he could sense the Aether organ system in his body. His visualization extended and he could finally see it moving around in his organs rather than just having a vague feeling.


    At that moment, controlling his Aether felt like forcing yourself to burp, which is what Ss would have described it like before, to instead feeling more like taking a breath.


    The difference was like night and day and Ss focused on that difference. He knew that once the Bronze Gene was forced out of his body, he wouldn''t feel it nearly so clearly, so he had to imprint the feeling into his mind right here and now.


    Ironically, the pain helped him. Everywhere his body hurt was like another stamp and reminder. He could feel the cycle all throughout his body.


    Slowly, a new change began to ur.


    Ss could feel the runes of the outside world and how they interacted with Aether.


    He remembered how there were so many more runes where there was Aether, almost like the Aether needed anotheryer ofplexws to exist and interact with the world.


    Ss felt a unique connection between the two, and how those oddws could be interacted with, how he could use his telekinesis tomunicate with the two¡­


    Then Ss remembered how he had felt that there were different types of Charisma¡­ was there really different types of Charisma? Or was there Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence?


    Suddenly, by understanding Intelligence so deeply, Ss came to grasp something else.


    Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, these three were like three sides of the same coin. They were all types of senses.


    The Intelligence stat might incorporate how much Aether he had, but it was likewise a measurement of control. It was simr to how Speed might incorporate Strength as well. After all, wasn''t mass and eleration the definition of power?


    Ss had already realized that stats were moreplex than it seemed, which was why <Madness Control>, which allowed him to forcefully increase his Efficiency, was so important.


    But now, he was starting to gain a different understanding of Efficiency as well. It wasn''t just about maximizing individual stats, but allowing them to feed off of one another properly.


    Ss felt a tug and caught a faint trace of the Flow of Battle once again. But once again, his Comprehension ran into a barrier. Recalling the Quest that he had yet to finish, Ss didn''t mind it. Now was not the time anyway. He waspletely focused on his Aether and how to maximize it.


    As the pain began to recede from his body, his calmness was slowly bing unprecedented.


    Soon, the cool sensation of Voice of a King became clear to him once again and the final leg of hisprehensionpleted.


    If Intelligence was part sensing Aether, Wisdom should be rted to Voice of a King, the calming sensation that helped him to focus. And, of course, Charisma should be rted to Will.


    The threeyered atop one another and were difficult to parse apart, but all three could work together nheless.


    He could fuse his Charisma and Intelligence to send out fists of telekinesis powered by Aether.


    He could use his Wisdom to supply his Charisma withnes of activity, allowing him to split his Will into several pieces to be used at the same time.


    He felt that there were other secrets as well, but because he was only focusing on the Intelligence Gene right now, they were still far from him.


    But as the pain finally subsided, hisprehension solidified.


    Finally, Ss'' body rxed. However, the burning pain in his body didn''t disappear.


    In return for thisprehension, it felt like he had ruined his Aether pathways.

 Chapter 199 Timer

    <h4>Chapter 199 Timer </h4>


    Shakily, Ss pushed himself up and pulled out a Healing Elixir from Joel''s items and downed it. He had quite a few of these, and they were designed to be used by Level 8''s to 10''s, so it couldn''t be too bad.


    A soothing feeling rushed through his body, and Ss felt that his body was quickly repairing itself, but it would still take several hours. Unfortunately, it seemed that even these Elixirs weren''t designed to be instant heals. Much like the others, they scaled with Constitution and only increased his natural healing rate.


    Luckily, his Constitution had had a great improvement recently.


    Ss tried to fuse with the Basilisk King to improve it further and try again, but unfortunately, it seemed that he was too injured to do it. The situation seemed to be the same as back when the Basilisk King was too injured to fuse with him.


    ''It would be hard to use this as a trump card in battle if a severe injury can hinder it¡­''


    Ss shook his head.


    Since he was injured, he chose to keep a low profile.


    At the moment, he was still in the deserts of Lone Star, and the sun had not yet risen. It was a few hours from dawn.


    The government officials were still upied by the portal, trying to stop the beasts from overrunning the city, but it was hard to tell if they would call for help or not. If helicopters began scouring the region, he would be quickly found out.


    He had taken the risk to improve out here in the middle of nowhere because he didn''t really have a safe haven to go to.


    On the one hand, the government was after him, and on the other, he couldn''t fully trust Bloom and her brother.


    ''I should start making my way back¡­''


    Ss stood and began to walk. He had kept his wits about him, so he knew exactly where to go. He wasn''t worried about going the wrong way anymore.


    ''I should also already be in Lone Star, so the likelihood of running into a roadblock is low. But considering the breakout of the portal, maybe I shouldn''t bank on that.''


    His body felt a bit weak, but he found that the more he moved, the better it got.


    Soon, he saw that it wasn''t because his healing was going by so much faster, but rather because his Aether was subconsciously moving on its own.


    ''Oh?''


    His Aether was supplementing his inner organs by supporting them and stopping them from rattling around, lessening the pain.


    Realizing this, Ss understood that he had benefited greatly. It was impossible for him to run into a situation where his Aether control was so poor again, and even if he did, he felt that he would be able to adjust quickly.


    Ss made his way forward, sprinting at his best Speed once he got the hang of it.


    He couldn''t help but wonder why it was his Aether couldn''t do more. Like, why couldn''t he use his Aether to run faster?


    But any attempt he made didn''t end well.


    ''I see. Normally, Aether is kind of like oxygen. Alone, it can''t do much. It''s all the other supplementary existences in the body that allow it to be so important.


    ''If I want Aether to do something more, I would need a Skill. Or¡­''


    Ss tapped into Enchanted Schr and began to scan the runes before him. He suddenly found something interesting andtched onto it. He solidified the rune with his telekinesis, and then he poured Aether into it.


    In that moment, the wind resistance around him plummeted and his Speed increased.


    No, his Speed remained the same; it was just that it could exert more of its abilities.


    ''It seems that the Speed value might be a calction based on running in a void, or maybe some other arbitrary constant. If you change those constants, your stats would likewise change.''


    Unfortunately, Ss couldn''t keep it up. He felt the mental fatigue setting in already, and though he could have likely pushed it for several more minutes, he didn''t.


    He was out of the range of the portal now, so all the Aether he had came from within him and was already starting to fail to work properly. Once he got too far away, it would all crumble apart. But now he had an inkling of how to use this new ability of his.


    It also seemed that he might be able to use it without Aether around as well, at least somewhat. He could only seem to activate the runes with Aether, but he had only been experimenting for a small while. Who was to say that there wasn''t another way?


    ''A blockade.''


    Before Ss could investigate further, he picked up something in the distance.


    It wasn''t exactly a blockade like he initially thought, which was a relief. But it was still a patrolling unit. It seemed that they were trying to keep order.


    But the sight was a bitical.


    They were policemen and women, but their uniforms were unbuttoned and they were wearing shorts like it was the middle of summer and not the dead of night.


    That was when Ss remembered. The portal was connected to the middle of a volcano; the heat it was emitting must be excruciating.


    He had been in the dead of that heat for almost an entire day, so to him, the outside world gave him a relieving cooling sensation. But to everyone else, it must be that the city was hitting record temperatures.


    ''This is going to stress the poption for sure. This will be difficult for the government to handle. I wonder if this was their intention all along¡­''


    Ss acted normal and even took out his jogging mask. The policemen looked at him as though he was some sort of freak, but they ultimately didn''t stop him. Instead, they just documented his appearance.


    This made Ss frown inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about it.


    However, this definitely put a timer on his movements.

 Chapter 200 Everything

    <h4>Chapter 200 Everything</h4>


    Knowing that he didn''t have much room to maneuver, Ss bolted to his full Speed again after leaving the range of the police officers. He elerated down the streets he had already memorized.


    From here to Bloom and Mark''s home was about a 30-mile distance. By car, because they had to follow the streets, it took 45 minutes to get to their destination.


    Ss cut through all of this, taking shortcuts where he could and quickly making his way forward. At his current Speed, especially thanks to the nimbleness of the human body versus a car, he was able to make it back to a familiar neighborhood in just half an hour.


    However, when Ss climbed a tree to check on the house from a distance, the worst oue wasid out before him.


    It waspletely surrounded.


    At first nce, everything looked fine. But¡­


    ''There''s one, two, three, four¡­ seven vehicles that I don''t recognize in this region. And, the lights are on in the dead of night. If it was just one or two lights, that would be fine. But all of them?''


    Ss had also been here for several days. He had gotten used to seeing the same cars in the neighborhood and he had taken note of them. How could he not? They were essentially fugitives in the middle of a city run by the government. He had forced himself to remain aware of any suspicious ongoing activity.


    Plus, he wasn''t exactly someone special. In a suburban neighborhood like this, which probably had its own neighborhood watch, even a middle-aged housewife would raise an eyebrow when she suddenly saw the movement of unknown people and vehicles.


    What stood out even more about these cars was that many of them were wide body, with off-roading tires, and heavily tinted windows. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the street lights were a saving grace.


    Ss knew immediately that he couldn''t return, but he wasn''t exactly sure of what to do either.


    After some thought, his eyes narrowed and he looked toward where he had seen Carter disappear all those days ago. He was sure that the youth would likely know something.


    ¡­


    Ss walked down an unknown street. He hadn''t actually seen exactly which house Carter entered, but he wasn''t worried either. That was because he had his visualization.


    Even now, he wasn''t sure where this visualization came from. But what he did know was that it existed in some rudimentary form when he first started to grasp his telekinesis, but after his Luck skyrocketed to its current value, it became like a burst of colors in his mind.


    So long as there was no Aether or barriers formed by Aether involved, seeing everything clearly within 20 meters wasn''t a problem.


    So, as he walked down the street, he stuck to the side that Carter had walked on and began to scan the homes one by one.


    After a while, he felt a bit weird about it since it was just a bunch of people sleeping; it was the middle of the night, after all. But he ignored those feelings and pressed on.


    He got to the end of the street and still hadn''t seen Carter.


    ''Did he walk down the wrong street on purpose?''


    That was very much possible. The kid was sharp enough to take advantage of his stats immediately to make off with quite a fortune. If he used it right, he would probably be set for a long while.


    Then again, if he lived in this neighborhood, he was already set. He was definitely more of an angsty teen looking to rebel than anything else.


    Ss remained patient and began walking down the streets one by one.


    Eventually, three blocks over, at the end of a cul-de-sac, he found Carter, sleeping alone amidst piles of junk food.


    However, after scanning the rest of the home, Ss realized that the kid was literally the only one there.


    Ss had wondered how he was going to deal with the situation if there were other people involved and Carter kicked up a fuss, but it seemed that he had wasted unnecessary time worrying about it.


    With casual movements, Ss walked up to the front door like he owned the ce. Using his visualization and telekinesis, he unlocked the door from the inside and strode in from the outside.


    The door swung open with a smooth motion, and he slipped inside.


    Almost instantly, Carter shot up, an almost demonic glint in his eyes.


    Ss saw it despite the fact thetter was in the basement and he was still on the first floor. But he wasn''t surprised.


    He had learned long ago that Carter was sharp. He had survived in the Trial all alone for months. If he could be caught off guard just because he was sleeping, he would have died long ago.


    "It''s me."


    Ss spoke out loud enough for Carter to hear him from below.


    "I know you''re awake, so juste up here and let''s have a chat. I would like to ask you some questions."


    ¡­


    Soon, the duo was sitting across from one another on a dirty granite kitchen ind. The home was probably worth millions, but Carter was single-handedly running it into the dumps.


    Ss didn''t ask about his situation or why such a young kid was living alone in such a big house. Considering the world they were living in now, it was only natural that many had lost people, and he wasn''t here to dig up Carter''s traumatic events or anything of the like.


    "How much do you know about the undercover ops in the neighborhood?"


    Carter was startled. "You''ve seen them, too?!"


    "So you have noticed them."


    "Shit, I thought they were here for me. But from what you''re saying, it sounds like that''s not the case."


    Carter sighed a breath of relief. He had really been on pins and needles these past few days. Part of why he had been so sharp when he woke up was because he thought the government had finally found him.


    "Tell me everything you know."

 Chapter 201 House

    <h4>Chapter 201 House </h4>


    [2000 PSs bonus chapter]


    Carter knew far more than even Ss expected, but it probably made sense since he had thought that they were after him.


    They had appeared in the evening, not even four or five hours ago, and they were all extremely inconspicuous, or so they thought.


    They surrounded the house and entered through covert means, and honestly, Carter thought that meant they were after more people than just him. He wasn''t naive enough to believe that he was the only one who had passed the Trial in this ce, especially after meeting Ss.


    However, ording to Carter, they hadn''t found anything. It was as though no one had ever lived there. The house was wiped clean.


    Interestingly enough, they were still staying around the house, trying to see if they could catch someone else, or at least that''s what Carter thought. He just didn''t know how right he was.


    Only Bloom and Mark should have escaped that night, which meant that Ss, as the third, was the only one missing in action. If he didn''t know better and returned directly to the house, they could certainly catch him.


    But this was far from the most interesting thing that Carter mentioned.


    It turned out that just two or so hours ago, a fight broke out.


    It was incredibly quick and it didn''t even cause much of a disturbance, but it seemed like there were two arms of the government shing.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed when he heard this.


    ''Two arms of the government? Unlikely. Maybe Legacy was making another move. This disk¡­''


    He felt the heft of the Madness Key around his neck.


    Bloom had stayed up for three days straight listening to radio frequencies and tapping in on conversations just to finally get an inkling on where this disk was.


    Now, it was on him.


    Ss stood. He couldn''t stay here.


    "You¡­ where are you going?"


    "Not here," Ss replied.


    Carter was speechless. Suddenly, he felt like a cheaply used one-night stand being kicked out of the house¡­ even though Ss was the one leaving.


    Just as Ss was going to leave, he paused.


    "I have a job for you."


    Carter frowned, but in the end, he stifled his displeasure. There wasn''t much he could do since Ss had a hold of his weakness, while he knew absolutely nothing about him but his face.


    The problem was that now that technology was so finicky, knowing Ss'' face was worthless unless he wanted to make like the Wild West and start posting wanted posters for him everywhere. And even then, he''d have to draw the man first.


    All in all, he was fairly screwed.


    But now Ss knew him, knew his name, knew where he lived, and what he had done. Ultimately, all the cards were in Ss'' hands.


    "There''s a family that I will likely have to use you to protect. I can''t stay around here, and they''re vulnerable because Legacy is targeting them."


    "Are you crazy? Do you really think I have the strength to go against those people?"


    "How much progress have you made since you''ve been back?" Ss suddenly asked.


    Carter froze and clenched his teeth.


    The answer was obvious: none.


    Maybe it was because of Voice of a King, or his Charisma, or both, but Ss had a pretty good understanding of Carter by now.


    The young man was sharp and ruthless, the perfect warrior. But he also didn''t have a bad heart. It was still a gamble, but it was ultimately one that Ss was willing to take.


    Surviving the Trial alone, and without backing, already made him a cut above the rest.


    [Carter Prince (F+)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 62]


    [Mental: 49]


    [Will: 33]


    His stats also weren''t bad, though they also weren''t great.


    Since Ss was going to take a gamble, he chose to go all the way. With little hesitation, he pulled out the Gene Crystal.


    **


    Ss ran with swift steps, cutting right through a familiar forest. In the darkness, the shadows shed with an eeriness that tingled the spine, the call of crickets, and the rustle of leaves raising one''s hairs.


    But to Ss, it might as well have been broad daylight. His visualization saw it all in a bright array of colors, streaking across his mind.


    The family he wanted Carter to protect obviously wasn''t his own. Taking them away from the Grimdes now would only be putting them in more danger. Right now, deep in the Appchians, they were probably on one of the safestpounds on Earth. The only way that would change was if a portal suddenly opened up right above them, and the odds of that were low.


    No. The family Ss was speaking of was the Professor''s.


    He was a dayte to their scheduled time, so he could only hope that nothing had happened in the meantime.


    Once he was done here, he would have to return to Paradise.


    Although he thought of using this chance to break free of the Grimdes, he ultimately thought against it.


    He refused to allow his family to think that he was dead, and even if he wanted to, it was unlikely to be possible. Although the Grimdes shouldn''t be able to read his exact situation until after their City was established, Ss'' interaction with Bloom had told him there were plenty of other ways to expose him.


    If he wanted to overturn his situation, he would have to stay close to the belly of the beast for now while slowly curating his own power.


    He hadn''t forgotten about Casstle Main and its other endeavors. But though he couldn''t see Cassarae for now, he could help shore up their little army in other ways.


    Fighters like Carter would be important, and scientists like the professor might be even more so.


    Ss shot out of the forest and saw the university ahead. The professor lived nearby and had already given him her address, so it wasn''t long before he had it in his sights.


    But who would have thought that he''d run into the exact same situation he had at Bloom and Mark''s house?

 Chapter 202 Bad

    <h4>Chapter 202 Bad</h4>


    [2500 PSs bonus chapter]


    ''This is bad.''


    Despite this thought, Ss moved without hesitation. He had made a promise. After Professor Fembroise learned that her son had died because the government had refused to inform the public, her reaction was to be expected.


    Unfortunately, the mission he went on with Bloom and her brother had dyed his arrival by a day, so there was no choice.


    The Professor was important enough to be targeted by Legacy, and now the government. There had to be a reason for that.


    He burst forward, appearing within a 20-meter radius of the house. Three kunai hung in the band of his pants, but a sharp pain awakened him from his thoughts.


    Ss gritted his teeth, and blood seeped through them. It seemed that his injuries still hadn''t healed yet, but this was fine. He diverted all of his Aether to support his Aether channels.


    Aether couldn''t be used in this world regardless; he wouldn''t lose anything by taking such a step back.


    In that moment, his visualization swallowed the whole of Professor Fembroise''s home.


    At the moment, her second son was still sleeping in his room. She and her husband were in their nightwear, sitting across from a man and woman wearing ck suits.


    On the outside, there were several individuals scouting the region.


    Without a word, his kunai spread out, zooming through the air.


    In the dead of the night, several individuals were silently killed without a word. There was nothing they could do.


    However, just as Ss was about to kill a seventh individual, they reacted more quickly than he expected, mming out with a briefcase that knocked the kunai away.


    ''Not good.''


    Ss frowned. There were still four others, and the loud noise in the dead of night had already caught their attention.


    His expression flickered, and he made a quick decision. His kunai vanished into the night, sneaking beneath cars and soaring low across tall grass. He controlled them deftly as he leapt into the backyard.


    Ss hadn''t thought that he would need to act personally, so he had already begun finding a way into the home. As such, when he was found out, he slipped away without a word.


    The government agent who managed to save himself stumbled back and didn''t even notice where the kunai fell to. Just as he was about to roar out, he realized that he couldn''t. They were in the middle of the suburbs, and the unrest in the world was already great enough.


    They had been given explicit orders not to kick up amotion, especially since the target was just a normal professor. The only reason they had even sent so many was because they had gotten information that Legacy was also after the Professor.


    Now, it seemed that that was true.


    ¡­


    Ss slipped around the back of the house. The experts back here had already been killed by him, so he slipped in without a word.


    Finding a window, he opened it from the inside with his telekinesis and slipped into the basement.


    He moved with fluid steps and activated Madness before his steps came to a stop and looked straight up at the ceiling.


    ''They''re right above me. It''s just plywood and tile between myself and them. So long as I avoid the studs¡­''


    Ss'' gaze sharpened, and two kunai shot upward.


    Even without Madness, his telekinesis now had 61 Physical when it acted. But with Madness, it was over 200 Physical.


    This amount of Strength sted through the floor like an arrow piercing rotten wood.


    Up above, the two government officials were taken off guard. However, both of them reacted extremely quickly.


    The woman was still a step slower. She tilted her chair back and fell, but the kunai still managed to rip through her chest and cause her to cough up a mouthful of blood. The pain made her react poorly, and her head tilted forward, right in line with the kunai that ripped up through her jaw.


    The man reacted the same way, pushing his chair back, but he didn''t suffer the same fate.


    Wood and broken tiles sprang out every which way. Professor Fembroise and her husband let out shouts as they fell out of their chairs, and the carnage practically blinded them.


    By this point, Ss had stopped trying to hide his presence and rushed up the stairs and into the living room just in time to see the man trying to scramble to his feet to check on hispanion. But when the man in the ck suit saw that Ss had appeared, he could only abandon that idea, reaching for the gun on his hip.


    The odds that the gun would misfire weren''t a non-zero chance with the current state of the world. But Ss couldn''t take a risk on that, and he didn''t believe his Constitution was high enough to ignore guns yet, at least not without Aether skin.


    So the moment the suit made a move, Ss used his telekinesis and pulled on the safety and trigger for him.


    The sound of a gunshot rang, and the man was startled, stumbling to the side. He didn''t understand why his weapon had suddenly fired, but before he could, Ss was already upon him.


    ---


    [Ethan Cross (FF)]


    [Level: 7]


    ---


    [Physical: 88]


    >[Strength: 120]


    >[Constitution: 59]


    >[Dexterity: 42]


    >[Speed: 131]


    [Mental: 70]


    >[Intelligence: 183]


    >[Wisdom: 16]


    >[Charisma: 11]


    [Will: 101]


    ---


    Ss took in the stats and reacted instantly. Seeing the man''s poor Constitution, he unhesitatingly sent a furious punch to the man''s head.


    He tried to dodge, but his reactions were too slow.


    BANG!


    His skull cracked, and his nose sunk into his head, its shards splintering his brain.


    He copsed to the ground.


    Ss didn''t pause. His kunai had soared into the ceiling. Without <Momentum Shift>, he couldn''t easily change the direction, so they had ended up piercing into the ceiling of the first floor.


    Now, Ss finally had time to rip the both of them down and pierce them into the female suit''s body.

 Chapter 203 Better

    <h4>Chapter 203 Better</h4>


    [2450 GTs bonus chapter]


    Professor Fembroise''s eyes opened wide, but Sspletely ignored the middle-aged couple, rushing toward the door.


    At that moment, his visualization had already picked up on several agents rushing toward it. But there was a reason he had only used two kunai until now.


    Just as one agent was kicking down the door with valiant momentum, Ss'' third kunai shot out from a nter. It had been hiding right behind a small tree in a grey pot, and instantly, it took the life of another agent.


    Ss yanked the door open with his telekinesis, just out of the range of its swing. Behind him, two guns hovered over each one of his shoulders.


    BANG!


    They opened fire.


    One misfired, but the second shot a bullet right through the head of another agent.


    The final two agents reached for their waists to pull out their guns, but by this point, Ss had already sent the gun that misfired flying at one of them with over 200 Physical. It soared through the air so quickly that the man saw nothing but stars as his nose shattered beneath the impact.


    The gun behind Ss fired again, but thest female agent had already rolled and ducked for cover. She pulled her gun from her hip, ready to attack when an opportunity presented itself.


    But that was when she froze.


    She looked down at her chest, only to find a bloody hole running through her. Her eyes dimmed, and she slumped to the ground. Unfortunately for her, she hadn''t been able to see the kunai that killed her firstpanion clearly. She was so worried about the gun that she didn''t have time to deal with it.


    At this point, the whole neighborhood had already been woken up, but Ss just turned off the porch lights and closed the door behind him. Only then did he look toward Professor Fembroise and her husband.


    At that moment, Mr. Fembroise stood before his wife, protecting her with a wary expression. Unfortunately, their son had the worst timing and had juste barreling down the stairs. It seemed the 14-year-old had little fear.


    "Professor," Ss nodded, "sorry I''mte."


    Mr. Fembroise frowned, seeing that the young man knew his wife. But right now, the Professor was still quite shaken. This wasn''t the first time Ss had killed in front of her, but all things considered, there was a difference between killing her attempted rapist and two government agents who had, for all intents and purposes, been quite nice to them.


    However, she was still a smart woman.


    No matter how nice they had been, they hade in the dead of night. The conversation had started cordially¡­ but what if things changed afterward?


    She knew coercion when she saw it.


    They knew where she lived, who her husband was, and how much her son meant to her.


    This was the reality of it all.


    "You''ve already packed, right?" Ss asked.


    She had hidden it from the government officials, but Ss could see with a nce that everything upstairs was orderly and prepared for movement.


    The Professor was sharp, so she knew that the moment Ss said he woulde to her, it would likely only end one way.


    "¡­ Yes¡­" she said after taking a breath.


    "Good, thene with me."


    Mr. Fembroise frowned, but Ss spoke first.


    "You can alle, including your son. I won''t be moving you far either; the location is only a less than 10-minute car ride away. I also have someone who''s willing to protect you as well."


    "You¡­"


    "Honey." Professor Fembroise pulled on her husband''s hand, looking him in the eye.


    In the end, her husband closed his eyes and exhaled a breath.


    It was clear to Ss that they had already had this conversation. Maybeing a dayter wasn''t too bad after all.


    Quickly, the family of three followed Ss out.


    Ss noticed that the Professor''s son kept looking at him as though he had questions he wanted to ask, but he ultimately held back.


    ¡­


    Soon, Ss had brought them to Carter''s home. It was a simple matter. He just stole one of the government vehicles.


    He had a guess that these government officials had been on an extremely top-secret mission. So long as these license tes were run, nothing woulde back.


    Only very few would know what they were up to because the optics of the government "abducting" scientists wouldn''t go over very well at all.


    Carter was a bit taken aback that he suddenly had to take care of an entire family, but he took it in stride. He had already epted the benefits that Ss had given him, so there was no going back already.


    Thanks to Carter and his low Gene State, Ss had already used up all the Genes he had left but the Trolls'' and Alex''s corpses. And, even then, they only had their Bronze Genes left.


    Ss didn''t stay for long. He only remained long enough to make sure that they were acquainted, then he said that he would have toe back in a week to go over their next ns.


    As Ss left, his mind shed with several thoughts.


    He needed a n to not only organize them better than he had but also link up with Cassarae and the others again.


    But first, he needed to return to Paradise, so right now, his main goal should be getting through the barricade at the edge of the city. Leaving this ce would be even more difficult now than ever before.


    Although he had this government vehicle and a few new tricks up his sleeve, it was hard to tell if he''d be able to make it.


    But what he did know was that he would have to do it fast. He had wasted too much time.


    It was time to return to the Grimdes. When Ss approached the edge of the city, though, he couldn''t help butment his bad luck. He had taken a different exit on purpose after studying a map that the Professor had given him.


    But how had he managed to run into the same officer as he had when he entered?


    ---


    [Kyle Brunson (FF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 81]


    [Mental: 68]


    [Will: 75]


    ---


    And it seemed his stats had gotten even better.

 Chapter 204 Step Out!

    <h4>Chapter 204 Step Out! </h4>


    [Kyle Brunson (FF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 81]


    [Mental: 68]


    [Will: 75]


    Ss frowned. His expression was unlikely to be seen through the heavily tinted windows, so he began to scan the region, looking for a way out. The barricade was solid. Over thesest few days, they had be even stronger, likely for the sake of protecting against beastsing from the direction of Paradise.


    In all likelihood, if Ss hadn''t left the volcano portal so soon, there would have been a barrier waiting for him there as well. Luckily, they still hadn''t dealt with the beast situation, or else his escape would have been even more difficult.


    But here, there was a clear line of defense formed from blocks of concrete. The good news was that it was a great distance from the edge of the city, likely not to bring panic to the citizens. The bad news was that the walls were five meters tall and there were only gates through every few kilometers.


    The cars were lined up in single file, and the worst part was that it seemed that most of the existences leaving the city now were government officials. The number of government ID tes and heavily tinted windows ahead was quite a number.


    Ss took a breath. The more he observed, the more he felt that it was impossible to get out under normal means. He would have to do something drastic.


    ''No.'' His eyes glowed. He could do it, it would just take a sacrifice.


    ...


    The cars continued to move forward slowly and Kyle never stopped being diligent. He went through his list of questions, double and triple-checked everyone, and then let them go one by one.


    It seemed that the situation with Ss, Bloom, and Mark had made him more anal. He had always been diligent, but now he had taken it up several notches.


    Ss took deep breaths and was calm. There wasn''t even the slightest flicker in his green irises. Soon, there was only one car ahead of him. From time to time, Kyle would send a nce at him, but it was impossible to see anything through the tint.


    Kyle focused his attention on the car before him and eventually let them pass through. Then, Ss rolled forward.


    With a step, Kyle moved up to the window and knocked, frowning. He already felt like something was wrong and immediately went on high alert. That was because usually, the front left window would already be down by now. Only someone with something to hide would neglect this.


    He put up his guard and knocked again.


    "Roll down the window, then put your hands on the wheel," he said in amanding voice. But there was still no response.


    Kyle didn''t hesitate. He pulled out a ss breaker on his hip and pressed it against the window.


    BANG!


    The window hardly shook.


    ''Bulletproof!'' Kyle realized immediately. He elerated backward and then checked that the barrier was already up. Not only was there already a barrier, but there were spikes on the ground that came up after the previous SUV drove off.


    Kyle pulled out his gun and pointed it toward the car with both hands. His feet were shoulder-width apart and his gaze was sharp.


    "STEP OUT OF THE CAR!"


    Kyle had already called for backup and soon the entire barrier was lit up with harsh, bright lights. In the dead of night, it felt like it might as well have been midday.


    PPPSSSSSS


    Spikes shot over and deted all the car tires and several officers surrounded the vehicle. They were all cautious because no one foolish would dare to do this kind of thing, especially when this person had a high-ss, government-


    issued vehicle.


    Tear gas canisters were thrown over and rolled beneath the car. At the same time, a crew wearing gas masks rushed over with slim jims, prepared to rip the doors open by force.


    It was clear that they were all trained for a situation exactly like this one, even to the point that they aimed for the backseats and passenger seat first, as though they all had a tacit understanding to avoid the driver for now.


    The sound of clicking resounded and the doors were flung open.


    Several more tear gas canisters were thrown directly into the car and the violent rain of trained procedures fell one after another like an avnche.


    Kyle frowned when the driver still didn''te out after all this time. His gun was still trained forward and he hadn''t wavered even a single time.


    "STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE!"


    He roared again, his frown deepening with each passing second.


    At that moment, a squad of three, all wielding rifles, rushed up.


    Kyle backed away for them and they trained their rifles onto the same location on the bulletproof ss. Bulletproof ss was more so just bullet-resistant. If the caliber was high enough, none of this would matter. Even if two misfired, it was likely that even just one of the bullets at this caliber would be enough to st through.


    Everything they did focused on minimizing risk and casualties. They had to show theirpetency to the general poption, and for that, losses were uneptable. They had been trained again and again, drilled again and again. Since this person didn''t want to keep their life, they wouldn''t be polite with them.


    "Fire!"


    The three rifles shot all at once, not a single one misfiring.


    The three bullets intertwined in the air and hit locations within two inches of one another.


    The bulletproof ss ironically shattered like ss, the bullets bulldozing their way through.


    Another squad in heavy SWAT armor rushed over and ripped the door open, reaching through the window and pulling it open from the inside.


    The tear gas slowly cleared and everyone stood ready to see who it was that had done something so foolish¡­


    Only to be stunned silly.


    The car was actuallypletely empty. Even after searching for a while, there was no one to be found.

 Chapter 205 Great Service

    <h4>Chapter 205 Great Service </h4>


    In a car already a long distance away, two kunai hovered in the air, pressing against the throats of both the front passenger and driver.


    "No sudden movements, and there will be no need to kill you. Focus on the road and don''t look into the mirror."


    Ss'' cool green eyes stared forward without another word, his gaze sharp. Just then, he chose to make a sacrifice. Although he only had two chances to use this Skill, he didn''t hesitate. Of course, that Skill was Shadow Warp.


    Ss hadn''t actually been sure if it would work because they were nowhere near a portal right now. But the Skills in the Stabilizing Bracelet seemed to be self-contained. The reason Skills didn''t work when the Aether in the atmosphere was too diluted was because activating a Skill meant using the Aether inside of you tomunicate with the Aether in the environment. The cirction pattern of a Skill was like a code telling the world what you wanted to do.


    However, the Stabilizing Bracelet directly stored the Skill, having already gathered all the Aether it needed, both inside and outside. As such, it could be activated whether there was enough Aether in the environment or not.


    Just as the car in front of him moved past the barrier and his own rolled up to it, Ss activated Shadow Warp and shed into their backseat.


    There were probably very few that could have aplished what Ss had. That was because ording to the description of the technique, you had to have eyes on where you wanted to end up in order to teleport there, and Ss couldn''t actually see the backseat. As such, he could only rely on his visualization abilities.


    At the same time, that meant that rather than a distance of 54 meters, he could only use it within 20 meters. This was quite a decent distance, but in the situation, it was a bit tight nheless.


    If he had looked too eager back then, he could have been exposed. But if he wasn''t eager enough, he could have let them slip out of range of his visualization.


    Obviously, he had ended up seeding in the end.


    Although he could have just teleported across the barrier, this would have been a foolish decision for many reasons, the main of which being that his legs couldn''t outrun a vehicle.


    The moment he appeared on the other side, he would have immediately been hunted down, and at that point, he might as well not use a Shadow Warp at all and just burst his way through.


    Luckily, everything had worked out.


    Ss directed the driver down the path he wanted to go, keeping his eyes locked on both of them.


    When he felt that he was a far enough distance away, he told them to get out of the car and he took over before zooming off.


    Ss didn''t bother to actually kill them; it would make little to no difference.


    He drove as far as he could toward the direction of Paradise, unsure of what the situation over there would be like. If there was a blockade here, so far away from it, what would the situation be like over there?


    However, Ss pressed down his worries. The odds that the Grimdes would allow that were slim to none.


    Soon, he felt that he was approaching familiar territory. This was more familiar to him because they had walked this distance by foot after touching down. So Ss had had far more time to take a personal look at everything. He could tell things apart even in the dark.


    Suddenly, he felt something shoot through his visualization, but he was toote to do much other than rip the wheel to the side.


    That extra second bought him just enough time, but to his amusement and slight speechlessness, the arrow just reflected off the bulletproof ss, leaving not much more than a small scratch.


    The SUV teetered to the side and flipped over.


    Ss felt as though his world had turned upside down and the rattling of the car shook along with the meat in his skull. He felt disoriented and his injuries red up again.


    As the car flipped again, Ss couldn''t help but feel that this was really too ridiculous. If not for his visualization, he wouldn''t have even reacted to the arrow and wouldn''t be in this situation.


    ''This world¡­''


    Ss sighed, but his reaction wasn''t slow.


    He unclipped his seatbelt with his telekinesis and kicked his door open, jumping out of it even as it continued to flip. There was no choice but to take the risk of being ttened to do it now because if he left when the car stopped, it would be too easy for him to get targeted again.


    However, just as he was ready for a fight, a surprised voice echoed.


    "Ss?"


    Only when Ss heard this did he rx somewhat. It seemed that the arrow was from a Grimde. He had really gotten into too many battles thesest few hours.


    However, he could feel that.


    ¡­


    "You''ve done a great service, Ss."


    Lucius stood from his desk and looked down at the disk Ss brought back with burning eyes.


    After Bloom and Mark returned, and without Ss no less, there were only really two options for what might have happened. Bloom should have been able to tell that Ss was still alive, but for some odd reason, his status was in limbo, so they could only conclude that he had died.


    There were too many things that even an ancient family like the Grimdes wouldn''t understand. Ultimately, their greatest treasure was just a Bronze City Stele, so how much of this world could they have seen?


    Of course, a Bronze City Stele was far more valuable than even most Gold Treasures. The worth of a City was that heavy. But the point still stood.


    However, Lucius was still curious.


    "Just what did you experience?" Lucius looked into Ss'' eyes.


    At that moment, Ss felt Lucius'' strength clearly. He couldn''t see any stats, but he was certain that he was already far more fearsome than the snail in the volcano.

 Chapter 206 Sweep

    <h4>Chapter 206 Sweep</h4>


    Ss was inwardly shocked by his conclusion, trying to understand why he was so certain without being able to see his stats. But in the end, he could only chalk it up to his new perception.


    Right now, they were in the city that Lucius had set up within the Paradise Portal.


    The situation around the portal itself was quite distorted and odd. That was because by now, it had already consumed thend and swallowed up the entirety of Paradise.


    If Ss had to guess, the government may have never stepped foot here at all. Considering how much trouble the Grimdes went through to get this disk, it had to be exceptionally rare. If he put himself in the position of the government, it was obviously far more important to protect the main cities as opposed to small towns like this one.


    To make room for the portal, many things had been expelled and rearranged, and the townsfolk were essentially forcefully conscripted to Lucius'' efforts.


    Though, as one of the three candidates hand-selected by the Grimdes, these conscripted citizens were likely far more in awe and very thankful for Lucius'' intervention. They had no idea they were being used as pawns and rather felt that they were lucky to survive.


    Of course, that wouldn''t be the case for everyone, but Ss had only been away for less than a week, and yet everything was already running smoothly.


    This was all to say that there was more than enough Aether around now for Ss to finally feel the full brunt of his new Enchanted Scribe ability.


    It seemed that being able to see, feel, and innately understand the runes of the world came with more benefits than he thought. Although it was vague, he could see some of the runes that made up Lucius'' strength, and they were enough to make him supremely serious.


    Ss had a feeling that the Level 9 strength of an existence like Lucius wasn''t normal by any stretch of the imagination. If he was correct, it was likely that whether it was Lucius, Astrid, or Mchi, or any one of the other monsters from those hidden families, they had probably spent quite a long time at Level 0 as well.


    Ultimately, he had inexplicably lost three months of time. Who knew what they could aplish in that time?


    "I''m not sure," Ss eventually replied. "There was an odd distortion and I was trapped in a world ofva. I only managed to escape after finding the disk."


    Lucius'' gaze flickered, but eventually he nodded. "I understand. Have a good rest, then. There will be other problems to deal with soon and it seems like you''ve been through a lot."


    Ss nodded and turned to leave, finding amodations prepared just for him.


    ...


    "What do you think?" Lucius spoke a long while after Ss left.


    Bloom appeared and looked toward where Ss had left, confusion coloring her eyes as well.


    "I''m not sure. He doesn''t seem to be lying, and his Favorability hasn''t changed or fluctuated in thesest few days, so he''s never wavered. But he''s unlikely to be telling the whole truth either, and considering he managed to make it back on his own while the city was likely on full alert is its own shocking matter.


    "Either his strength is far greater than what he''s shown, or his means are more mysterious. There doesn''t seem to be another exnation. The government isn''t so ipetent."


    "Find out what happened."


    Bloom nodded as though it wasn''t much of an issue to find such high-ss information.


    "Also¡­ what of the other matter?" Lucius asked before Bloom could leave.


    Bloom took a breath. "The System City isn''t an easy ce to investigate. We''ve sent three, and all three have died. I don''t believe there would be much of a difference if I went personally."


    Lucius sneered. "These people really treat our world like it''s their own personal backyard. I swear I''ll raze that city to the ground."


    Bloom fell into silence as Lucius'' gaze shed with fury. But soon, the heir candidate had calmed, sitting back down behind his desk.


    "In that case, we''ll y their games. If we control all of the cities in this region and stifle ess to this System City, I wonder how they''ll react.


    "They''re limited by the system even more than we are. They are limited in what they can do. They want to benefit under my nose? Over my dead body."


    He spoke these words calmly and without the slightest fluctuation.


    Bloom hesitated, wanting to say something, but ultimately sighed.


    These thoughts were the same that many had had before. But how could it be possible to control so many people without outright tyranny?


    And if you told the people why they should mistrust the System Cities, those as smart as Ss would begin to wonder why you knew this and soon put two and two together.


    Didn''t all of this knowledgee from gatekeeping the truth of the world from others for hundreds of years?


    Still, Bloom understood why the government, Legacy, and the families had all made the same decision.


    The thoughts of the people were hard to control. Who knew how many organizations and hidden factions had popped up just thanks to the Trial, how many more would have appeared if they had been open with all of their knowledge?


    But was it truly the right path?


    Bloom didn''t know. It could only be said that there were downsides to both, and because so many unknown variables had appeared this time, even ending the Trial early, all of their carefullyid out ns had to be thrown out of the window.


    Maybe no one would know the answer to this question until the Seventh Summoning came to an end.


    "Start the sweep. I want to know about every portal to appear in this region. We will take control of them all.


    "Not a single drop of water will be allowed through."

 Chapter 207 Scouting

    Chapter 207 Scouting


    Ss fell into a deep sleep. He wasn''t sure how long he was out, but he was hit with wave upon wave of fatigue before the river of dreams was able to take him away.


    He dreamt of runes fluttering in the skies like butterflies,ing together to form the most miraculous living creatures, and even soaring above to form the stars themselves.


    He woke up many times during this sleep, but every time it was for no more than a few seconds before he copsed again, unable to withstand the bacsh of his own fatigue.


    By the time he woke up, the sun was high in the skies, peeking through the wooden boards of his cabin.


    Slowly, he pushed himself up, happy to find that his injuries seemed to have been healed. However, when he checked the system for the date and time, he was taken aback.


    He was out for three days?


    Shock ran through his heart and he immediately looked toward the Madness Key.


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <3 Common> Genes]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <20 Common> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <7 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    Seeing this, Ss exhaled a breath of relief. It seemed that the Madness Key had automatically taken what it needed from the Genes that were already inside. Another bit of good news was that it asked for 20 Common Genes instead of a Bronze Gene. From what Ss knew, you could exchange 20 Common Genes for one Bronze Gene, which was why his first Gene Crystal had been able to give him a limit of 20 Common Genes and a single Bronze Gene. But collecting 20 Common Genes was certainly easier than collecting a Bronze Gene. This made things far easier on him.


    ''Wait¡­''


    Ss'' heart sank again as he checked. As expected, the Madness Key waspletely empty. The remainder of the powerful corpses he had had were all gone, including the troll corpses. The Madness Key had fed itself, but it had no sense of propriety. Instead of taking the individual Genes it needed, it swallowed the entire corpse and didn''t even regurgitate what it didn''t.


    The good news was that the Bronze Genes had helped the Madness Key to expand again, and it wasrger than even arge estate now. But the bad news was even worse. There was already more space inside than he could even use. What would he even do with all this¡ª?


    That was when Ss recalled something. The Madness Key didn''t just add space when it expanded like this; it also helped concentrate the essence of Madness on him, allowing him to meditate on it. Before, he couldn''t bear to use Bronze Genes to help it elevate again, but now¡­ couldn''t he? N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss sat down and focused his mind on the Madness Key. In a bout of inspiration, he changed his method a few seconds afterward and set his visualization onto it, concentrating his entire mind on its form.


    Almost instantly, there was a shudder that went through his mind.


    Quickly, Ss stopped, realizing that something would happen if he continued. The Madness aura would definitely leak, and if he was focused on the Key, he wouldn''t be able to stop it.


    Ss shook his head. There were so many things that were inconvenient when he was under the roof of someone else. He felt frustrated and agitated, but he clenched his teeth, forcing himself to calm down.


    He had only touched on the Madness for a short while, but he felt that part of himself so clearly. The part that hated to be controlled. The part that hated it so much he dictated every aspect of his life with the strictest discipline.


    Ss shook his head and stood to his feet. With a step, he had already appeared at his door and opened it. A chilly wind rushed in, and fluttering snowkes fell from the skies. However, it actually felt quitefortable against his skin. This level of cold was more like a spring breeze to him now with his current Constitution.


    "Ss?"


    Ss looked up and found a teenager waiting for him in a bundle of heavy fur. He looked almost adorable, with only a bit of his reddened nose and eyes visible.


    "Yes?"


    "The Mayor asked me to wait here for you in case you woke up. I''m in charge of your food! Pleasee with me."


    Ss blinked in surprise but then nodded. His stomach was practically doing knots in his body; he was truly starving.


    What he didn''t expect was that his food would be an enormous spread. And what he expected even less was that he would be capable of eating it all on his own.


    He had finished off an entire family of eight''s Thanksgiving feast, and he felt like he still had room.


    The teenage boy watched all of this with wide eyes. At first, he thought it was far too wasteful to prepare so much food for just one person, and yet reality proved him wrong.


    Well, it wasn''t like they werecking for food, anyway. The Mayor treated them very well.


    The boy didn''t know that Ss saw something much different when he saw this spread of food. This was clearly another method of testing his bottom line. There was no way even the best professional eaters could finish this much food; only someone with elevated stats could do so.


    Despite knowing this, Ss knew that hiding how much he could really eat would only make it seem like he was trying to stand opposed to Lucius.


    Just as he was about to leave, Mark came.


    "Ss, it''s good that you''re alive," he pped his shoulder. "You sure can sleep, an entire three days."


    Ss gave some perfunctory replies until Mark spoke of what he came here for.


    "We have a mission for you. Though technically, it''s the same mission everyone has received. We need to do some scouting work and find any potential portals in the vicinity. We''re low on manpower, so you''ll have to go alone."


    ---


    Let me know if there''s anything else you''d like to adjust or if you have more text for me to proofread!

 Chapter 208 Ridiculous

    Chapter 208 Ridiculous


    Ss didn''t have much resistance to the mission at all. In fact, he couldn''t ask for anything better. It was just that he also knew that this matter would be quite dangerous.


    Any portal in the surroundings would certainly have the eye of the government on it. And even if he ignored that, there would be waves of beasts in the surroundings.


    The good news was that he was only meant to document their appearance, so it shouldn''t be too dangerous if he was cautious.


    After epting his task and a section of the map that he was responsible for, Ss set out.


    This region was known as the Ice Ring Forest. It was just short of the true hellscapes of snow and ice on the Aether ne, but it had its own frigid regions.


    The ce was filled with tall, evergreen pine trees. They were so tall that it was hard to see their peaks looking straight up. Much of their trunks were bare, and it wasn''t until dozens of meters up that their first branches and leaves began to appear.


    These were certainly trees that weren''t easy to climb, and the soil they rooted themselves in was as tough as tightly packed ice.


    It could be said that this was a truly ufortable region to live in, and there would certainly be no farming. It seemed that it was northern enough that there was a perpetual cold year-round. For this reason alone, the cards Lucius had drawn were pretty bad, but he was making do.


    Ss had many of these thoughts as he made his way toward his piece of the map, but then a thought struck him.


    ''Why are there no beasts?''


    His eyes couldn''t help but narrow. He wasn''t aware of anything that could stop beasts from surging toward portals, but Lucius seemed to have such a treasure.


    It was somewhat disappointing, though also somewhat of a relief.


    He had been looking forward to battling beasts not for the challenge, but rather because he needed to quickly gather up more Genes for the Madness Key.


    This close call had taught him a valuable lesson. He definitely had to keep an excess of Genes on him just in case, or else who knew the next time he''d fall into a deep sleep, only to wake up to the Madness Key devouring him?


    It wasn''t until he traveled at least 10 kilometers that Ss finally starteding across beasts. They were mostly weak, but he still tossed them all into the Madness Key.


    He certainly didn''t have to worry about space issues anymore, and he hoped that by having an excess ofmon beasts, the Madness Key would choose to consume them instead.


    After having this thought, Ss almostughed at himself.


    The Madness Key was literally inflicted with a Gluttony Curse. It would probably trip over itself to ignore the less significant corpses for a bite at the stronger ones if he continued to let it reign free.


    ''I wonder¡­ The Gluttony Curse, the Gluttony Seed¡­ Are they rted?''


    The Madness Key was always talking about Hunger this, and Gluttony that. Now that he was stuck with a Gluttony Seed he didn''t understand and didn''t dare to ask about, would he end up the same way in the future? N?v(el)B\\jnn


    What was the rtion between a Gluttony Seed and the Madness Key? Was he always meant to form one?


    Ss shook his head, regaining his focus.


    He was moving deeper into the forest now, and danger would lurk from all sides.


    While he was in the Amazonian Wilds, he had always skirted around the outside. But from his understanding, the truly horrific beasts tended to be closer to the center of territories.


    He didn''t know why, but maybe it was just a protective mechanism to give them a chance. If he had to face off against a dinosaur the moment he stepped foot into those Amazonian Wilds, he would certainly not be here today.


    He hadn''t forgotten that it wasn''t just themon creatures of Earth brought back, the strongest predators of their entire history had all been resurrected.


    Since he had a duty to scout out the more core regions of his forest, it was inevitable that he run into some of those creatures, creatures that even Lucius would likely not take lightly.


    ''Still about 50 kilometers to go¡­ Let''s pick up the pace.''


    Ss'' mind focused and he chose to use this as a chance to train.


    Not only was he stacking up his reserves for feeding the Madness Key, but he was also taking advantage of his Quasi Brittle State and Extricate.


    He wanted to return himself to a State of Wealth where he had excess Genes to work with. He also found that he recovered more quickly when he did so as well.


    By the time he was just 10 kilometers from his destination, despite the fact he only had a 20% sess rate in absorbing Genes, he had killed so many that it didn''t matter.


    ¡ª


    [Gene State: Quasi Brittle]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)¡ª]


    [Common Genes: (20) Strength (F); (20) Constitution (F); (20) Dexterity (F); (20) Speed (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (13) Wisdom (F); (3) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    ¡ª


    It was far harder to find non-Physical Genes, but at the very least, he had raised all four of his Physical stats to their Gene Limit.


    Unfortunately, though his Bronze Gene Limit had increased from one to two, his Common Gene Limit stayed at 20. It felt like this was a hard cap, though Ss wasn''t very certain just yet.


    Regardless, this also raised his Dexterity from 120 to 140 points as well.


    14:46


    Soon, though, Ss had reached near the region he was meant to scout, and he was surprised to find that he had already run into the very creatures he thought he might.


    ¡ª


    [Woolly Mammoth (FFF+)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Physical: 210]


    [Mental: 57]


    [Will: 131]


    ¡ª


    Ss was stunned. Why did a Level 3 have such ridiculous stats?

 Chapter 209 Mammoth

    Chapter 209 Mammoth


    The beast didn''t even seem fully grown. It was only about two meters tall, whereas a fully grown woolly mammoth could be up to twice that height, and its overall stature was smaller as well. Even its tusks weren''t as overbearing and mighty as they should have been, though they still jutted out about two feet or so. It seemed like it was just a youth.


    But when Ss saw its stats, even without using Madness to see the details, he felt his heart skip a beat.


    This was exactly what he worried about. This mammoth''s Strength and Physical abilities were likely off the charts. At Level 0, it had far higher potential in these categories than any human.


    Even the best human athletes would have reached their cap around 30 Physical stat points or so. The only way to break that limit was to have a Gene like Grimde''s passed down to you, or to make use of a Gene Crystal.


    But an animal like this would likely have a Stat Limit that was double or even triple that, in some rare cases. When they began to absorb Aether and progress, how exaggerated would their stats be?


    Ss'' gaze shed with gloominess.


    Until now, he had felt that his Flow of Battle Quest was almost too easy. He had even already defeated a Level 10. But now he realized that he was actually quite lucky to run into such weak opponents at that Level.


    What chance would he stand against a Level 10 from an extinct creature this powerful? 210 Physical at Level 3¡­ wouldn''t it have stats upward of 400 by the time it got to Level 10? 500 if a ss boost was factored in?


    Ss took a breath and calmed himself. As amazing as this creature was for a Level 3, it was frankly too weak against him for now. Its Speed was too slow. But its Constitution was over 300, as was its Strength. It wouldn''t be easy to break those defenses.


    Ss reached out a palm and began to pour Aether into his kunai when he suddenly froze. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Hm?''


    A magical feeling flooded his mind and he felt as though he saw some sort of path being paved out before him.


    ---


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 4]


    [Experience: 560/800]


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv4; Insight Lv4]


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    ---


    ''Sense Evolution Triggers¡­ This mammoth¡­ no, its kind presents an opportunity for the Basilisk King¡­ I see¡­''


    Constitution had always been the strong point of the Basilisk King; it was its highest overall stat, not just among its Physical stats, but evenpared to its Mental stats. Suddenly having gained another incentive, Ss poured in even more Aether. For three Units of Aether, he could increase the Effectiveness of his Strength by 90%. With Madness activated, he could disy 205 Strength.


    Together with the kunai, that gave him what was Effectively 388 Strength. Even with how high its Constitution was, the mammoth was instantly overwhelmed and didn''t even get to let out a mournful cry before its skull was pierced right through.


    ---


    The kunai came right back to Ss and he let the Basilisk King out. The ck snake shivered in the cold, and Ss took note of this. He knew that snakes were cold-blooded; he would have wasted all his years of research if he didn''t know that. A cold environment like this one didn''t do them any good. But at the same time, a Basilisk was supposed to be a legendary creature¡­ would it really be stopped by a little cold?


    He didn''t say much as the Basilisk King seemed to understand his intention and lunged at the corpse. It struggled, unable to bite through the tough Constitution of the death mammoth, so Ss had no choice but to help it, eventually taking out its Gene Core. The Basilisk King swallowed it whole.


    Ss felt another odd emotion stir him and he began to guide the Basilisk King along with that feeling. Instead of allowing it to absorb the mature Aether in the normal way, he took a different route and began to temper its body.


    Soon, the energy of the Gene Core had been all used up, and though the Basilisk King seemed happy, there were no drastic changes. In fact, its Level and stats were the exact same. That said, Ss was still sure he had made the right decision. At the very least, the Basilisk King wasn''t shivering anymore.


    He put it away and ended up storing the corpse as well.


    ---


    The only animals he had an intimate understanding of were venomous snakes. The patterns of the others were just broken tidbits of trivia to him. He wasn''t sure if mammoths moved in packs or not, but it was doubtful that such a young mammoth would truly be alone.


    Leaving its corpse lying around like that just might bring him trouble if he wasn''t careful, and it also made him vignt of the possibility of other mammoths, or even two, being nearby.


    ---


    However, he found something far more dangerous first. The number of beasts in the region took a sharp spike upward.


    His eyes narrowed and he took out a treasure that Mark had given him before he left. It was a telescope with a rusted bronze look.


    ---


    [Sharp-Eyed Telescope (F+)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Creation of Jon Grimde]


    [Ability: Sharp Eye]


    [Ignore all objects between you and any chosen target within 500 meters. See through walls and past barriers.]


    [Durability: 5/5]


    ---


    He extended it and looked into the distance. The trees couldn''t obstruct his vision at all. It took some getting used to, quickly changing his targets as he inched forward. Soon, heid eyes on exactly what he thought was ahead.


    A portal. It seemed that there really was one here.


    But that wasn''t the main issue at all.


    Both issues were here; one being the government officials, and the other being the horde of beasts. But his only job was to document what was happening and nothing else, however¡­


    ''There are several mammoth corpses over there, still untouched with their Gene Cores intact. But in order to take down such powerful creatures¡­''


    Ss cringed. For the first time, he had failed to scan the stats of someone else¡­ even with Madness activated.

 Chapter 210 Kings

    Chapter 210 King''s


    Ss felt his heart skip a beat when the man turned and looked right in his direction. However, he didn''t put the telescope down.


    As expected, the man frowned when he didn''t see anything. There were too many trees between the two of them, and though the man was strong, he obviously wasn''t omnipotent. That said, he would certainly be on high alert now.


    ording to Ss'' mission, the base requirement was to find the location of the portal. He would receive bonuses for finding where the portal went.


    The Grimdes didn''t just order him around, but were also willing to pay him in coins for missions hepleted, and the remuneration wasn''t bad at all. Finding the location of a portal was worth 500 coins, which was already a decent 5% of his current wealth. However, he could receive 1000 coins for finding what the portal was connected to.


    This told Ss one very important thing: there wasn''t a direct one-to-one rtionship between thendscape of the Aether ne and Earth. For all he knew, this portal wasn''t connected to The United Coalition of Terranova at all, but rather one of the other continents.


    There was no doubt that this would throw the world into chaos, especially if they began connecting. But it was also an opportunity, especially now that technology was quickly falling.


    Who would dare to get into an airne these days? Even steamboats wouldn''t be reliable at a certain level. In that case, the only way to connect the world would be the Aether ne.


    Ss took a breath. He didn''t have time toze around or wait for the opportunity to be safe.


    He had a nine-month timer looming over his head, and the pressure Lucius had given him was like a guillotine all to itself. The only way to make up for the three months of time he had lost was by taking risks.


    With that thought, Ss moved, dashing forward and weaving in and out of the trees.


    He wasn''t being foolish. He had several things that were to his advantage.


    For one, the man could not move freely, while he could. His task was to protect the portal from the wave of beasts, while Ss only wanted to snatch some corpses, and if he was lucky, get a good guess at what city was on the other side.


    Second, the man couldn''t easily call for help.


    While he seemed to be alone, Ss was smart enough to know that he definitely had backup. It was just that they were likely to be on the other side of the portal and located at different cardinal points with the forest to defend the portal from all sides.


    The man was strong, and that made Ss apprehensive. But it was precisely because he was so strong that he was holding down the fort alone.


    The third was the most important point. Ss had no intention of shing with him directly.


    At that moment, Ss'' body was suddenly covered in ck scales and a tail extended from his back. His speed skyrocketed, and he became a ck blur weaving through the trees.


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 18433 (F)]


    [Titles: A Flexible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; BOSS yer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)] N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ¡ª


    [Physical: 204]


    >[Strength: 229]


    >[Constitution: 238]


    >[Dexterity: 174]


    >[Speed: 176]


    [Mental: 146]


    >[Intelligence: 286]


    >[Wisdom: 77]


    >[Charisma: 248]


    [Will: 392]


    [Luck: 22]


    ¡ª


    His fusion process now only took two minutes, but Beast Totem increased that speed by 400%. That meant that now, he couldplete his fusion in 24 seconds.


    On top of that, he also gained 80% of the Basilisk King''s stats now instead of just 50%, and instead of just maintaining it for 30 seconds, he could maintain it for an entire two minutes.


    That was enough time.


    BANG!


    Ss rocketed through the clearing.


    The man''s gaze sharpened as he noticed Ss in the first moment. He looked like a club bouncer, wearing a ck dress shirt and sleek ck cks. Even his shoes were dress shoes.


    However, none of this seemed to impede him in the slightest.


    A golden chain rattled on his neck as he held out a palm toward Ss, but the instant it took shape, Ss'' telekinesis rammed into the quickly forming Skill.


    He didn''t manage to dispel it entirely, but it dyed the deployment, giving him more time to react.


    Before the man could finish casting his Skill, Ss'' hand had already pressed down on a mammoth corpse and sucked it into the Madness Key. It was at least 50%rger than the youth he had killed before, but there was no time to check its stats.


    The bouncer''s eyes widened.


    Who in this world had a spatial devicerge enough to amodate such a huge beast? If he had had such a thing, how could he just let it lie there?


    His expression flickered and his Skill finallypleted.


    A purple spear took shape in the air, pulsing with veins of green as it bolted forward.


    Ss felt his hair stand on end and he knew immediately that his normal shield could not block this.


    But right now, he didn''t just have ess to his own Skills, but that of the Basilisk King as well.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk King]


    [Status: Heavily Injured; Mentally Fragile]


    [Loyalty: 1/10]


    ¡ª


    [Skills]


    [>King''s Bind]


    [>King''s Shift]


    [>King''s Shield]


    [>Voice of a King]


    ¡ª


    [Gene Talents]


    [>Voice of a King (Dormant)]


    ¡ª


    [King''s Bind (FF+) (Skill)]


    [The gaze of a Basilisk King is supreme. Freeze, mere mortal]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    ¡ª


    [King''s Shift (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Laws of the world do not bind the Basilisk King. Bend to my whims, be suppressed beneath my Will]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit]


    [Limit: 400 Physical]


    ¡ª


    [King''s Shield (FF+) (Skill)]


    [You are unworthy to even touch the Basilisk King. My defenses are unmatched]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit]


    [Defense: 400]


    ¡ª


    ''King''s Shield,'' Ss thought.

 Chapter 211 Back Then...

    Chapter 211 Back Then...


    At that moment, a sh of ck gold appeared and a smooth disk appeared before the flying spear.


    BANG!


    Ss'' gaze deepened. The spear actually broke right through, but even worse than that, sparks of a greenish fog were beginning to spread.


    His gaze flickered and the runes that the green gas emitted told Ss one very important thing.


    He did not want it to get anywhere near him.


    Although it was a bit of a surprise that the spear was able to break through a shield with 400 Defense, Ss was still exceptionally calm.


    At that moment, <King''s Shield> broke through from Fragmentd Master to Bronze Mastery in a single bond, raising its Defense to 600.


    He cast it once again before the spear could close in the rest of the distance, relying on his shield to slow it down.


    At the same time, he activated his Basic Aetherflow and de Aura Gene Talents, striking out with two heavy palms. His hands suddenly formed illusory green palms in the air, shuttling forward and swiping at the air. Arge gust of wind blew the fog approaching him in the other direction. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    All the while, Ss never stopped moving. He reached a second mammoth corpse and stored it away.


    The bouncer-like man wanted to send out another attack toward him, but the infuriated mammoth beast before him didn''t give him such a chance. It rose onto its hind legs, its long, powerful tusks radiating with a silver-blue light as it stomped downward.


    The gathering runes reflected in Ss'' eyes and his expression changed. Almost instantly, he activated <King''s Shift> on his body and his sideways momentum became backward momentum.


    THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!


    His three kunai bolted themselves against the trees'' trunk, and the same moment the mammoth beast stomped downward, his toes had already firmly pressed against the lowest.


    His thighs flexed and he bolted himself upward.


    BOOM!


    The ground violently trembled and a wave of earth spread out in all directions. Ss'' second foot managed to reach the second kunai just before the wave reached his tree.


    It rocked him.


    The tree swayed to the side under the strong impact and was almost ripped up from the ground. However, Ss was unprecedentedly focused. Having gathered up momentum, he had already soared up several meters, grabbing onto the thickest branch that he could.


    His visualization was still locked on the battle below, and his frown couldn''t be concealed. The mammoth suddenly toppled over, a green venom pulsing in itsrge eyes.


    He had already had worries after seeing that the man used poison. He couldn''t help but recall the Rotten Wolves that attacked Casstle Main. Would the Basilisk King be able to take advantage of these corpses?


    However, Ss realized something else.


    The man had disappeared into the portal, having been partly blown back, and another part retreating to escape the range of the mammoth''s final desperate strike.


    When Ss saw this, he dropped down from his branch,nding on the third kunai and pushing forward with all his strength.


    He soared over the wave of earth and the plumes of poison gas, falling over the dead mammoth and stretching out a hand. This was clearly the strongest creature here, and though he hadn''t had time to check its stats, it was no doubt the greatest prize.


    Poisoned to death or not, he would take it now and check the situationter.


    However, as Ss was falling through the skies, the man suddenly came back through the portal, seemingly having weathered the storm.


    His gaze turned malevolent as he saw Ss falling through the air and reacted quickly.


    But Ss was already ready. The moment the man deployed another poison spear Skill, Ss activated <King''s Shift>.


    Just as it seemed that he was falling through the air, he did a double jump. Then, as he was about to soar over his target, he activated <King''s Shift> once again, plummeting like a meteor through the air.


    BANG!


    Hended heavily on the back of therge mammoth and it instantly vanished into his Madness Key.


    At that moment, the gazes of Ss and the bouncer met. Danger signs red through Ss'' mind, not just from the man, but from the beasts that were recovering from the mammoth''sst ditch effort.


    The portal was still a fatal attraction; how could they give up on it.


    But right now, the man seemed to be entirely focused on Ss.


    Time slowed.


    Suddenly, Ss felt his stats boost by another 10% as BOSS yer activated in the background.


    At the same time, Voice of a King thrummed. As powerful as the man was, it seemed that his Will was still weaker than Ss'', and that only made sense. With Madness activated, Ss'' Will was 1176.


    Realizing this, Ss didn''t hesitate. He pumped one Aether Unit into <King''s Bind> and then turned and ran without hesitation.


    He did this for a very clear reason. Bind Skills were powerful, but they had counters. He had no idea if this man would have a counter, but he wouldn''t risk it.


    He was willing to put his life on the line for benefits, but he knew when to cut his losses.


    Ss'' visualization almost instantly picked up that the man was circting a counter; he seemed to have sensed Ss'' attempt ahead of time. But this was within Ss'' expectations as well.


    He touched the Stabilization Bracelet, ready to activate it at any moment.


    However, to his surprise, the man''s counter failed.


    Ss still didn''t turn back. In just two seconds, he was already over 20 meters away and the man slipped out of the range of his visualization. If he turned back now, he might fall into a trap.


    "STOP RIGHT THERE!"


    The roar came and Ss'' gaze flickered. The man had a second countering Skill even more powerful than the first, and it had managed to break <King''s Bind>, but it was clear that this technique took longer to cast, giving Ss another two seconds to slip over 50 meters away.


    He shed forward at his fastest speed, weaving out of the way of beasts. He used his kunai as footholds, leaping up and then soaring through the trees step by step.


    ''That dialect¡­ he should be from the Africor Continent. That at least gives me a potential vague location¡­''


    Although everyone on Earth spoke the samenguage, their dialects were bound to be different. From a single shout, Ss had already analyzed it all.


    What Ss didn''t know was that the man wasn''t just from Africor. In fact, he had seen his name once before on a familiar leaderboard.


    Back then, it had read¡­


    [8. Ragnar Ravenw - Level 8]


    Clearly, he had far surpassed that Level now.

 Chapter 212 Seed (1)

    Chapter 212 Seed (1)


    Ss stopped a long distance away, huffing for breath.


    Using his fusion ability took a lot out of him. Although he felt that he could activate it again, if he did so, it was likely that the hit to his stamina wouldn''t be as simple as just gasping for breath. His heart might even directly explode.


    He felt those feelings even more now that he could take on 80% of the Basilisk King''s stats.


    That told him one very important thing.


    His Legendary Profession was well beyond his abilities to fully control, and it quickly increasing in Levels might be more of a detriment to him than anything else. He would have to seriously think about slowing down if he could.


    All things considered, the Basilisk King was far weaker than the current Ss back then, let alone now. Yet, fusing with it put so much pressure on him, and it seemed to have increased exponentially with the length of time he remained fused with it for.


    This was a problem he couldn''t ignore, and the only exnation seemed to be that while he had a Legendary Profession¡­ he didn''t have a Legendary profession to back it.


    Clearing thest requirement of his Flow of Battle Quest should be rtively easy so long as he found a Serpentes beast. His Beast Totem would allow him to suppress it by 50%, and he had even had thoughts of finding information about such creatures just so that he could have more powerful Contracts to fuse with than just the Basilisk King.


    But after this experience, he threw that idea away entirely.


    If he reacted like this to a mere Basilisk King, how would his body withstand a far more powerful creature? Would he directly implode?


    He would have to increase his foundational stats if he wanted to take such a path, or else his own talents would rip him apart.


    After having these thoughts, though, Ss felt very satisfied. An odd feeling to be sure, but one that was warranted nheless.


    That was because he could feel that his natural understanding of the world was deeper now thanks to Enchanted Scribe.


    He understood implicitly what the bouncer was doing during their short interaction, and had even managed to stop one of his Skills ahead of time without even activating the Gene Talent.


    He just¡­ saw the world differently now, as though it was speaking to him.


    In the past, he would have likely had to ask the Madness Key before he understood why his body felt so crappy right now. But this time, he had figured it out on his own, and he was quite confident in his deductions.


    After a breath, and feeling that he was far enough away, Ss used his kunai to leap up a tree again.


    This was truly a convenient way of travel, he might have to try it again.


    He had yet to run into flying beasts, though he was sure they existed. Regardless, being high up like this would likely help him to avoid creatures he couldn''t afford to fight in the future.


    After he settled down, he began to slowly wait for his body to recover. He took deep breaths, and then chose to take the time to also meditate on the Madness Key. It would be impossible for him to get a better chance than now.


    ''I''ll have to use the Bronze Nexus Ticket I received soon. I have almost as many coins now as Cassarae''s whole vige did. The longer I wait, the less valuable what I can get from it will be¡­''


    Thinking of this, Ss remembered that he also had a second objective during this scouting mission, and that was to potentially find the location of any spawned viges.


    He remembered the gains he got from the gnoll vige. He could monopolize such a spawned vige on his own, the benefits would be immense. But that would depend on whether their strength was low enough for him to handle on his own.


    By now, since Lucius had established a vige already and the training wheels were off, a few should have definitely spawned.


    Ss tossed away the distracting thoughts and focused on the ring once again.


    His breathing became slow and even, and he activated <Maddened Enlightenment>.


    He seemed to be one with nature, but it wasn''t just because of the Skill, but also because of a subtle nudge from Voice of the King and Enchanted Scribe, thetter of which was carrying the most water.


    Suddenly, Ss could see the dancing runes far more clearly.


    It was only now he realized that the dancing snakes of those illusions were actuallyplicated runes, far moreplex than anything he could even begin to understand now.


    But at the same time, realizing this made his Madness Comprehension seem more¡­ tangible.


    From the beginning, his Comprehension was only dictated by vague emotions and trance-like states he could hardly remember.


    It felt like his Comprehension was more of a fever dream than anything else, and it made it hard for him to properly grasp.


    But now, he seemed to understand it more.


    The three aspects of Madness¡­


    Those scenes had depicted battle, sex, and unwilling fury.


    It felt disjointed¡­ iplete.


    But it reminded Ss of something else.


    His Gluttony Seed.


    It seemed intertwined with his Comprehension, this Madness¡­


    And now that he thought about it, the seven sins seemed to ovep a lot.


    Pride, Envy, and Wrath¡­ Depending on the situation, all three could be triggered as a single state.


    Gluttony and Greed were the same way, you could probably even give both the same definition if you twisted words enough.


    Lust and Sloth¡­ These two were probably the ones that Ss had the hardest time connecting with, not only because they were the furthest things from him and his usual state of mind, but also because they didn''t seem to ovep as easily as the others.


    But he thought of those snakes, lying down and intertwining with one another in an almostzy, endless cycle of love-making. As though they''d rather waste their time away doing this than anything else¡­


    Could it be that he had confused the images? Seeing only three things, when in reality it was projecting seven?


    Suddenly, Ss felt a stirring deep within him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 213 Seed (2)

    Chapter 213 Seed (2)


    The feeling was so vague that had <Maddened Enlightenment> not been active, Ss would have entirely missed it.


    But it was then he felt his Comprehension and this mysterious, hidden existence intertwine.


    And then Ss realized what it was.


    The Gluttony Seed.


    It was buried deep within his heart. When it interacted with his Madness, it seemed to be nurtured, but it didn''t grow, as though the food wasn''t enough.


    Ss stopped, not even sure if growing such a thing was something he would even want. However, as he did so, he felt something peculiar.


    His control over Madness seemed to have been heightened.


    That was when Ss was hit by a realization.


    He hade across so many people, many of whom had far higher Will and Charisma than himself.


    So why did none of them use an ability as useful as telekinesis?


    That was when Ss recalled that his telekinesis didn''t awaken until after he entered the Slithering Madness Dungeon. Back then, he had been able to push back a tide of water in a somewhat crude fashion.


    No¡­ more importantly than that, he didn''t manage to use telekinesis the first time until he Comprehended Madness.


    He had asked the Madness Key about it, but it had only said that some people had the talent for it and some didn''t, so he had left it at that.


    But could it be that his question wasn''t specific enough for the Madness Key to answer him the way he wanted? Or maybe even too specific?


    The aspect of control seemed to be rted to taking from the world. Could it be that the Gluttony Seed works to help him with this?


    When Ss tried it, his expression changed.


    That was because the limits on his telekinesis seemed to have been lifted.


    If before he could only lift 30 pounds or so before his Physical started plummeting, when hemunicated with the Gluttony Seed, it was like his telekinesis was a true extension of himself, as though he was really picking something up with his hands.


    ''No¡­'' Ss felt a wave of fatigue hit his mind, which shocked him because he had <Maddened Enlightenment> activated. It should have been adding to his mind''s stamina, so why did he feel like he had just rushed into a brick wall?


    He shook his head furiously to clear it, stopping hismunication with the Gluttony Seed.


    ''I see¡­ It isn''t as good as my real body, but it''s still far better than before. I probably wouldn''t have a drop-off in Physical even if the object was as heavy as a hundred pounds now, so long as Imunicate with the Gluttony Seed.''


    Ss'' gaze glowed.


    He could only use this briefly, barely ten seconds from what he could see. But what kind of concept would it be to throw something over a hundred pounds heavy with the force of over 200 Physical?


    Would even the bouncer from earlier manage to survive such a thing?


    Then again, why had he never done such a thing with 30 pounds? The devastation would be less, and with everyone growing in strength, it would likely also mean less. But the path had potential. He would have to see if he could get some truly heavy weapons¡­ or maybe a steel ball or three.


    Ss exhaled, finding that his mind was exhausted, but his body had ironically recovered.


    However, when he looked around, he was surprised to find that the sun had already set and there was a dense darkness around him that made it difficult to even see the snow fluttering before him, let alone into the distance.


    ''Hm?'' As Ss looked around, he spotted mes dancing in the distance. It was just a faint halo of orange that must have been several kilometers away. Had he not been almost two dozen meters into the air, with how thick this forest was, he would have never seen it. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''A vige?'' It seemed he was quite lucky.


    Ss focused on replenishing his mind first. Then, for the first time in a long while, he asked the Madness Key a question.


    [Will my Basilisk King suffer from absorbing the Gene Core of these poisoned beasts?]


    [Yes.]


    The question was hyper-specific, so the answer followed suit. Unfortunately, there wasn''t more information. Ss sighed when he saw this. He had expected it, but it was still unfortunate. He was a bit unwilling to see such a good path of evolution be wasted like this. He wouldn''t be able to hunt creatures this powerful himself for a while.


    After some hesitation, he chose to ask another question. He was already gathering so many excess Genes, so he might as well make use of it.


    [Is there any way to make it safe?]


    [There are three methods. The first is to evolve your Contract down a path of poison thates with natural immunity. The second is to purify the corpses using an antidote or a Purifying Elixir of high enough caliber. The third is to be a poison master yourself, extracting the poison.]


    Ss nodded to himself. Of these methods, the Purifying Elixir seemed to be the best path. It seemed that he would be using his Bronze Nexus Ticket reward soon enough.


    But first, he would have to gather as much money as he could. Since there was a vige waiting for him in the distance, why not take advantage?


    He hopped down from the tree, falling dozens of meters. Even with his current Physical, this would certainly hurt him¡­


    But then Ss pulled on the Gluttony Seed with his Will, and his telekinesis increased in strength. There was an upward force of just over a hundred pounds just before he hit the ground, and his descent slowed considerably.


    Ss'' eyes glowed.


    He had only wanted to test it out casually, but it seemed he was correct.


    If one day his telekinesis became strong enough¡­ Didn''t that mean he would be able to fly through the skies?

 Chapter 214 Ballista

    Chapter 214 Ballista


    Ss leapt from tree to tree, using his kunai as footholds.


    It was seamless, the three silver kunai rushing through the air in weaving patterns. By the time Ss had jumped from one tree, there were already two more footholds waiting for him ahead.


    He skipped over all the beasts swiftly, and because of that, he traveled even faster than usual, closing in on the vige in the distance in less than a minute and with hardly a sound other than the THWACKs of his kunai piercing into the trees. But beneath the howling and chilling winds of the night, this hardly left an imprint on the world.


    Soon, he came to a stop, looming high in a tree that was just about 50 or so meters from the vige. He wrapped an arm around the thinning bark of the tree, bncing on a single foot as two kunai hovered behind him. Both he and the tree swayed in the cool wind, stoic and unabashed.


    The vige was much more substantial than what Ss had seen from the gnoll vige, so much so that he thought that he was looking at a human-led vige at first.


    This wouldn''t be quite what he was looking for, and would be quite disappointing. Even if there were benefits, he''d have no intention of massacring a vige of humans; that was beyond his bottom line.


    The walls were formed of a thick, tripleyer of logs that left their surfaces thick enough to walk around. There were four outposts facing four different directions, protected by what looked likerge crossbows: ballista. The vige''s depths were quiterge; it must have been at least 100 meters from end to end.


    It was by no means small, and unless he was wrong and the system had begun to spawn monstrous viges as soon as the Trial ended, then it was unlikely that this vige was anywhere near new.


    Ss pulled out his map and double-checked something.


    In order to scour the region, he had chosen a weave method that would take him about three or four trips toplete. He thought he''d be able to finish in a day, but the sudden hard-fought battle had dyed him.


    This vige was outside the range of his first weave zone, so that exined why he hadn''t run into them. But what wasn''t understandable was this vige''s reaction to such things.


    This vige was still rtively close to the Africor Continent portal. They should have noticed a change in the behavior of the animals they caught for food and sustenance.


    So why did this vige lookpletely normal without any changes to its behavioral patterns?


    That was when Ss remembered something.


    ''Cassarae was sent home like the rest of us after the Trial ended. She said that her vige would go into a bit of a dormant state until she returned, though this dormancy would onlyst for a short while. If she left it without a care for the timer, then there would be consequences.


    ''Is this what they call a dormant state? Where everything just functions as though nothing at all has happened? In that case, doesn''t that mean that I have no ability to conquer it?''


    Ss was having these thoughts when one of the patrolling guards crossed by one of the lit torches. When Ss got a good look at the humanoid figure, his gaze couldn''t help but narrow.


    It was hard to see in the darkness, and even if there was a full moon, there was no way to tell. It seemed to perpetually snow in this region, so the skies were always cloudy, obscuring much of the light.


    However, Ss was still able to tell thanks to the torch that this was no human.


    It was arge, burly, pig-like thing, with pale leather-like skin and a snout that seemed coughed in snot and dried blood.


    There was what Ss could only describe as a serrated meat cleaver on its back, and as it marched across the thick log walls, it carried around a crossbow that was ready to fire three arrows at any time.


    ¡ª


    [Grunthor (FF-)]


    [Level: 7]


    [Physical: 84]


    [Mental: 72]


    [Will: 87]


    ¡ª


    ''A Level 7 acting as a patrol? How deep do these waters run?''


    Ss decided to take the slow approach. He circled around the pig demon vige from 50 meters out, staying out of range of their lines of sight and traveling high in the trees even above their wall lines.


    In the end, he could only conclude that this vige was nothing to be trifled with.


    Just patrolling the walls alone, there were four Level 7''s. After checking the crossbows that hung from their outposts, the ones muchrger than the ones they carried around in their hands, he realized that they were devastating treasures.


    They took a while to load and took the hands of two at that, but when they fired, they could easily st a 1000 Damage-resistant shield to ash, let alone the fact Ss'' <King''s Shield> could only withstand 600 right now, and that was if he took the risk to fuse with the Basilisk King again. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to ess the Skill.


    On that note, there were even more guards in those outposts. He couldn''t see clearly at first, but after using his night vision goggles, he realized that there were actually two Level 8s apiece in all four outposts.


    This sort of lineup just to guard the vige painted apletely different image.


    One ofplete confidence.


    The good news was that they were all FF-''s. But since they were just guarding the vige, something told Ss that there were even stronger monsters on the inside.


    ''We could always take this one step at a time.''


    Ss'' mind began to churn. He had already made up his mind. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He was going to have to take another risk.


    A cooling sensation ran through his mind, his eyes floating like two green orbs of death in the night.

 Chapter 215 Ballista (2)

    Chapter 215 Ballista (2)


    A kunai shed in the night and a torch was suddenly snuffed out. It whistled by without a sound, cutting the torch down and sending it falling over the side of the wall.


    The guard had just reached the furthest point from this particr torch and didn''t notice anything immediately. All things considered, the torch was very light as well, so it didn''t make much noise when it hit the ground on the inside of the vige either.


    Ss continued to move. With one part of the wall covered in shadows, the next steps were even easier.


    He rushed forward and pressed his back against the vige walls. From this vantage point, even if a pig demon was right above him, it would be hard to see him unless they peeked all the way over.


    Taking advantage of this, and using his visualization to perfect his timing, he knocked one torch over the wall after another.


    "Hey! What the hell happened to the torches!"


    The gruff voice of a Level 8 came from inside one of the outposts, and Ss realized immediately that he wouldn''t have the chance to knock down the rest of the torches. But that was fine, he had already knocked off a fourth of them, shrouding a quarter of the walls in darkness.


    At the same time, while he wasn''t trying to set the vige on fire, it was inevitable that some carnage would be triggered.


    Before anyone could respond, the head of a pig demon was lopped off by a kunai as Ss used a second to leap up and onto a dark section of the walls.


    He grabbed the body of the pig demon and stored it away before rushing to the side.


    He didn''t leap over the wall just yet. He had no idea what was going on in the vige and didn''t want to trap himself unnecessarily.


    If all he could do was kill a few guards, that would still be fine. Then he would retreat and see what kind of response there would be.


    The head of a second Level 7 was thrown into the air, and he stored away this corpse as well.


    At this moment, the Level 8 pig demon walked to the window of the outpost, looking out with a frown. A whiff of wind caught theirrge nostrils, and their eyes widened.


    "ENEMY ATTACK!"


    Ss was caught off guard by this and immediately concluded that these pig demons had an exceptional sense of smell.


    He remembered that the gnolls had as well. It seemed he was unlucky to continuously run into humanoid beasts like this.


    The question was whether it had caught onto his scent or had noticed the fragrance of blood in the air.


    Ss bolted forward as the pig demon reached back into the outpost to pull out a pair of night vision binocrs. Just as it was going to raise it to its head, its nose twitched again and it immediately looked in Ss'' direction.


    The reaction of the pig demon was quick and it had a crossbow at the ready. It wasn''t a crossbow asrge as the one that was mounted to the outpost. That one was far too big to ready in such short order, but this one was lethal in its own right.


    It aimed toward where it sensed Ss and fired.


    Ss wasn''t going to make it.


    The outpost was inside the vige walls, and was about five or meters from the wall itself. Just to get to the closest section of the wall to it, Ss would have to run another 10 or so meters and then leap across the air and hope his stats were enough to cross a five-meter distance.


    The only option seemed to be to fall from the city walls and try again another time.


    But that wasn''t the decision he made. In fact, his gaze was frighteningly sharp at that moment and almost seemed to emit their own glow.


    He was still a distance away, but he wasn''t racing to kill the Level 8, he was racing to enter a 20-meter range so that his visualization could lock onto everything.


    And he was already in range.


    The pig demon clicked and fired, a bolt streaming across the air.


    And yet, just when it seemed it would pierce Ss, he flicked a finger and the bolt was deflected high into the skies. Before it could spiral out of control, it stopped in the air, aimed toward the pig demon, and fired.


    The pig demon, who had been waiting to hear shots of pain and was prepared to celebrate his victory, had his throat ripped through in the next instant.


    The bolt was powerful¡­ but not more powerful than Ss'' telekinesis.


    A light weapon, only good for its speed, wasn''t able to stop Ss now unless it could exert more Physical than he could.


    But a purely mechanical weapon like this one had no ability to do so, especially not in the hands of a pig demon like this one.


    Ss crossed thest ten-meter distance and stomped on the edge of the wall hard.


    The second Level 8 was slow to react, and at that moment, a crossbow appeared out of Ss'' Madness Key.


    With a pinch of his telekinesis, it fired.


    Blood spurted and the second Level 8 died before it could even understand the situation. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss quickly fell through the air and managed to catch onto the edge of the outpost before quickly pulling himself up.


    His figure was seen for a brief instant thanks to the flickering torches rolling around on the ground inside the wall and all of the pig demons seemed to roar to life.


    But Ss was entirely focused on something else.


    ''How heavy is this thing?''


    He looked to the side and found baskets filled with thick crossbow bolts that must have been at least two meters in length. There were easily about a hundred of them in this outpost alone.


    Ss stored them all away, then without hesitation, he levied a forceful kick against the mounted crossbow, knocking it off the outpost and sweeping down toward it as the vige roared to life.

 Chapter 216 Control

    Chapter 216 Control


    Ss moved swiftly, sweeping down from the skies.


    The crossbow bolt was definitely well over a hundred pounds, and it needed far more force than just this to wind up. However, much like old crossbow bolts, they relied on physics to make the output lower than necessary.


    As such, after a cursory nce, Ss was confident that he could wind it up if he used six sets of telekinesis, each working on its wind-up handles.


    However, that would eat up all the capacity of his Wisdom, or at the very least, almost all of it. So he wouldn''t be able to focus on anything else. Not even his visualization.


    Luckily, therge crossbow was already loaded once. As for its bolts, they would be more than useful.


    Each one was over 20 pounds heavy, and the kind of devastation that Ss could unleash with them¡­


    Ss'' kunai slipped into his waistband as he stored therge ballista away.


    He pressed a foot into the soft soil and dodged out of the way of an arrow he slightly diverted the path of.


    He soared up,nding on the city walls.


    Around him, four ballista bolts appeared. Each one was over a meter long, their bolt tips glistening in the night as a light snow fell.


    Ss locked onto several targets at once and then sent them soaring out like rockets.


    He controlled them perfectly until he reached the end of his 20-meter range, and then let them fly on their own.


    He realized immediately that his uracy suffered when he did this. Aiming without the help of precise control and his visualization was difficult.


    However, one ballista bolt still rang true, piercing into the skull of a pig demon with such force that its skull burst into a rain of blood, flesh, and bone.


    These bolts were meant to deter and attackrge siege weapons. Who had ever seen them used against people? Or in this case¡­ demons?


    The other three bolts missed, but they still deterred as expected. This allowed Ss the chance to quickly close the distance between him and a pig demon.


    In a panic, it raised its own crossbow, ready to fire.


    Ss ducked and rolled the moment his visualization felt the trigger being pulled. At the same time, he used his telekinesis to rip the bolt upward, causing thepensation in aim of the pig demon to be worthless.


    The bolt soared over his shoulder and he popped to his feet, his fist streaking through the air.


    His green eyes seemed to leave streaks in the air as he moved, their eerie emerald marking the night sky.


    Every muscle in his body thrummed to life.


    In these days, hisprehension of the Physical stats had reached an unprecedented level, and as such, so too did his control over his own body.


    He might still not have much fighting experience, but in terms of reading, reacting, and countering in a life-and-death situation¡­


    He had gained quite a deal of confidence.


    And as a result¡­


    ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has deepened]


    [<Madness Control> has reached Silver Mastery]


    ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension]


    [<Madness Control> has temporarily reached Gold Mastery]


    ¡ª


    [Madness Control (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own]


    [+1.0 (+0.6) Effectiveness]


    ¡ª


    BANG!


    Ss felt every inch of the pig demon''s face crumbling beneath his fist. He seemed to want to run his entire arm through its face, his adrenaline spiraling through his body like moltenva.


    As he breathed, a foggy whiteness painted the night. Every one of his movements seemed to superheat the air.


    He moved without thinking, his body swaying out of the way and grabbing a bolt just before it entered his shoulder.


    The bolt crumbled to ash and Ss didn''t slow in the slightest, another four ballista bolts appearing around him as he was suddenly surrounded.


    The pig demons hadn''t been able to see what happened before because of the darkness, and certainly didn''t expect this to suddenly happen.


    And this time, they were too close to dodge.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Four died in quick session and Ss knew that he had already cleared all the Level 7s. Only the Level 8s remained, but he kept sending nces toward the direction of the core of the vige.


    He could feel movement, and he was ready to escape at any moment. No matter what, he would only take as much risk as necessary and not a single ounce more.


    The movement of the Level 8s snapped him back to attention.


    By this point he had already moved to the second outpost, wiping out another quarter of the torches and eyeing a second ballista.


    But this time, both Level 8s were at full attention.


    The gleam of a crossbow locked onto Ss from the distance. However, much likest time, he had more than enough time to react.


    His telekinesis surged and ripped the bolt out of the air, sending it flying back with just as much speed, but this time from above.


    To Ss'' surprise, the Level 8 managed to react. Or, rather, his partner did, holding up a shield and casting a Skill that covered them both.


    Ss'' pupils constricted. He had been acting fast until now, killing before the pig demons could react. But he wasn''t the only one with means outside just the Physical.


    What was even more fearsome was that at this point, the Level 8s had already pointed a new pair of crossbows at him, firing both at once.


    Ss was too close now to react with the same approach, and they would also be ready for his telekinesis.


    Without a choice, he too cast a shield Skill. <Solidify> activated and stood in front of the twin bolts. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Despite the fact they hit in unison, the shield continued to stand tall. That was the good news.


    The bad news was that a shimmering silver-blue Skill was activated, and now Ss'' position was as clear as day.

 Chapter 217 Azrael

    Chapter 217 Azrael


    Ss wasn''t slow. He analyzed the situation quickly and knew that it was likely time to leave. He wouldn''t be taking down this vige today. However, he would be taking down this outpost.


    His telekinesis flourished, and he was about to press down forcefully to dispel the Skill when he had another thought. Enchanted Scribe activated, and the orb of silver-blue that protected the two pig demons reflected in his eyes almost like an array of numbers and symbols.


    He found a weak point, and immediately understood that the pig demon had only grasped this Skill to Common Mastery. He suppressed the thought and focused his telekinesis, ripping into the weak point. The shield popped like a balloon, and he quickly dispelled Enchanted Schr, activating Basic Aetherflow in the next instant.


    His body churned, and he sent out two fists. Fists of emerald green soared through the air, colliding against the heads of the pig demons and sending them flying. All the while, Ss never stopped moving. The sole of his foot pivoted and pressed hard against the edge of the log wall. He soared forward in a parabolic arc, grabbing onto the outpost and pulling himself up, ready for a fight. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, he found that both Level 8s were already dead. He took their corpses and snatched the ballistic bolts. With swift steps, he returned to the edge of the outpost and kicked it down just like he had the other.


    However, it was at that moment he sensed something that rocked his senses. The harsh whistling came first, and then it entered his visualization, appearing like a bolt of ck lightning in his senses. But Ss knew what it was before it entered that range. There was only one thing that it could be. They had fired a ballista at him, uncaring about the lives and deaths of theirpanions.


    The moment Ss had this thought, the bolt ripped through the thin wooden walls of the outpost. The size of the outpost was too small. It was just enough for two people, and you would be hard-pressed to find enough space for ten to stand shoulder to shoulder. Most of that space was even taken up by the baskets of ballista bolts that Ss had already put away. It could be said that this wasn''t afortable job at all. Just by aiming in the middle, Ss felt like he had nowhere to dodge.


    All the hairs on Ss'' body stood on end. In that moment, his mind split six ways, and his potential was bursting at the seams. He cast two <Solidify>s in quick session, reaching forward with two hands for his third action, and then forming another pair of hands for his fourth and fifth.


    The ballista bolt ripped through his pair of shields as though they were nothing more than tissue paper. The moment they ripped through, Ss'' hands mped down on its body, trying to keep it away from his chest. At the same time, his secondary pair of illusory hands gripped the body of the bolt, pulling with all the force it could muster.


    Ss'' eyes bulged as it felt like all of it still wasn''t enough. Time seemed to slow as the bolt pierced through the side of his chest. He realized in that moment that saving hisst split mind to dispel a technique had been worthless. It was all pure mechanical power, there was nothing to disperse.


    However, that was when his nose erupted with a rain of blood. <Momentum Shift>! Since there was no technique attached to it, there was nothing stopping him. His Aether roared, but the problem was that the Physical of the ballista bolt was far beyond 200 Physical which was the limit of <Momentum Shift>. Trying to change its direction now, especially in the opposite direction, was a fool''s dream.


    However, when it all came together, Ss felt his ribs crack and then the Scorned Wraps activated, burning the bolt to ash. Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling that his Aether was running on empty thanks to his stupid use of <Momentum Shift>, and his mind felt like it was screaming, having given it everything it had.


    However, he knew that he had to go. BANG! The sound echoed through the night and Ss knew a second bolt wasing. His heart leapt to his throat, but this time, he was much luckier¡­ somewhat.


    The good news was that the bolt didn''t strike as true this time. It still hit the outpost, but skewed enough that it wasn''t directly aimed at Ss, likely as an attempt to corner him in case the first missed.


    The bad news was exactly that¡­ it hit the outpost. The outposts could be considered the bare minimum. The moment they were hit by two ballistas, its foundations crumbled. Ss felt the roof above his head copsing, and the outpost swayed, falling over.


    He coughed again, feeling spikes of pain roaring through him. He pulled on his Madness hard, trying to focus his mind. The pain dulled, and his mind seemed to truly focus for a moment.


    Taking advantage, he leapt through the open box windows. Falling to the ground even faster than the slowly tilting outpost.


    ''Dammit, it''sing toward me.'' The situation felt like it was going from bad to worse. No matter how shabbily built it was, Ss couldn''t afford to let the outpost fall him.


    He quickly put the ballista from earlier into the Madness Key and rushed toward the wall, ignoring the stabbing pain in his chest. He could feel the Effectiveness of his stats plummeting even more clearly now, and he didn''t have the Aether to counter it.


    In that moment, Ss decisively chose to start a Fusion. But who knew that it would fail because he was considered too injured? It was only then he remembered that when he first contracted the Basilisk King, there was a period of time he couldn''t use it because he had injured it too severely.


    Ss'' gaze turned grave. He knew that the situation was bad. BOOM! He managed to get out of the way of the outpost.


    ''My mind is the only thing I have left, and barely at that.'' Making a decision, Ss picked up the torches that were beginning to burn the ground and threw them full force into the vige behind him.


    However, it was then he felt something spine-tingling. He couldn''t help but look back to see a man approaching from the far-off distance. For some reason, he was glowing in the darkness, following along a line of torches¡­ making his skin look blue.


    [Azrael Orciulius (???)]


    [Level 15]

 Chapter 218 Pressure

    Chapter 218 Pressure


    Ss became unprecedentedly serious. He could feel the spine-tingling danger, but he had already made a decision in the volcano that day.


    He turned back and leapt up the wall using his kunai. He knew that this night was destined not to be a short one.


    His mind was already surging with thoughts, wondering if he should be making a break for Lucius'' City or not.


    It was quite a distance away, and even if he was at 100% and truly desperate, it would take him over half an hour.


    Considering how casual that man was being, he was definitely confident in catching Ss long before that. And Ss had already felt the probe on his mind. While he couldn''t even see the man''s Grade, it was likely that all of his stats had been seen through, maybe even in detail.


    The only surprises he would have in store were his Skills and potentially his Madness. He truly had no idea if he could hold out.


    However, the more he thought about it, the colder his gaze became.


    A lot of people said they wanted to change after making a mistake, but very few could actually follow through.


    How lucky of him to get an opportunity to do just that dayster?


    Something stirred in Ss, but he was much too focused to notice. He leapt over the other side of the wall, rushing away into the night at his fastest speed given his injured state. He knew that there was a true monster on his tail.


    At the same time, he knew that he had stumbled into something odd.


    Why would there be a human in a pig demon vige? It seemed that his skin was blue, but Ss had already realized that this was only because his Aether was actually thrumming with life, likely because of a Skill he activated that Ss couldn''t see through.


    Something was going on.


    Ss pulled out an Elixir and downed it. Ignoring the ramifications, he took out a second healing Elixir in quick session, chugging it as well.


    A violent warmth rippled through his body.


    He knew he wouldn''t have enough time to heal to the point of being able to use Fusion. He could only hope to get his body back in shape just the slightest bit.


    And since he knew trying to hide his tracks was likely equally as worthless, he activated <Maddened Enlightenment> to its fullest extent, greedily swallowing up the Aether in the surroundings and replenishing his mind.


    All the while, he never stopped sprinting forward at his fastest speed.


    ...


    Azrael leisurely walked forward, stopping by the fallen outpost before giving a nce toward where Ss had gone. He truly seemed unhurried and unbothered by it all.


    Pig demons rushed toward the location, but when they saw him, they all froze and then bowed in deference.


    Soon, he was given a report of what happened and some of Ss'' Skills. With a curt nod, he waved them away, then leapt over the walls with his hands sped behind his back.


    It seemed he would have to go hunting today.


    An interesting human to be sure.


    He glided forward, his ck and blue robes fluttering as he kicked off lightning,nding on a thin tree branch and then rushing forward. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ...


    Ss felt danger bearing down on his neck. He was already using his three kunai at full force, leaping from tree to tree to avoid any beasts he might encounter on the ground.


    The further he traveled, therger the feeling of danger was, and the calmer he became.


    He knew where these spikes of danger wereing from. Thest time he had felt it, he had had a feeling that Casstle Main was in trouble, and he had concluded that it was rted to his Luck.


    After some time, he hade to realize that it wasn''t that his Luck gave him anything, but that it amplified intangible senses and increased his intuition.


    It wasn''t to the point that he could see the future, but it sharpened his visualization to the point that he could see in vibrant colors even without his eyes. And when there was danger looming on the horizon like this¡­


    He could feel it as clear as day.


    And then it came.


    Azrael appeared at the edge of his visualization, appearing like a dazzling star of silver-blue.


    The instant he stepped into range, he cut the distance by half in another second.


    He raised his leg to take another step, and right then, Ss had the feeling that their figures were about to ovep. The sh was jarring and all the hair on his body seemed to stand at attention.


    As calm as he tried to force himself to be, when the moment came, it still felt like his heart was being mmed by a sledgehammer.


    The flickering green of his irises danced in the night before he suddenly plummeted from above, using up some of the Aether he barely managed to cobble together to use <Momentum Shift> downward.


    He crashed into the ground heavily and Azrael soared over his head. At the same time, his three kunai swarmed the man that looked like a beacon of Aether in the night.


    Basic Aetherflow rumbled through his body and he punched out at the same time.


    The timing was perfect, so much so that it almost looked like an ambush. Azrael overshot Ss, and was pincered from four directions at once, three kunai and a fist of green rumbling through the night sky.


    However, right at that moment, a sphere of Aether appeared around Azrael.


    PENG! PENG! PENG!


    BANG!


    Aether sshed across its surface and the sphere wavered only slightly.


    High in the trees, Azrael came to a stop, his back still to Ss. However, he likely didn''t know that Ss could see his every expression.


    There was no obvious surprise on his face, but at the same time, he still seemed to be taking a moment to gather himself.


    When he turned back, the pressure on Ss multiplied countless times over.

 Chapter 219 Forgot

    Chapter 219 Forgot


    Azrael didn''t say anything, but Ss could almost read him. He felt that the man was in shock that he had to use such a Skill the moment their battle began. It seemed like fury was billowing deep within him, but his expression was as calm as the surface of ake.


    The sphere flickered and vanished. A ck de appeared in Azrael''s palm, and he took a step forward. He fell from the sides, and his body became as swift as a swallow. Ss almost saw the arc of ck before it descended, sealing off his paths of retreat.


    Even with his mind, Ss simply couldn''t find an easy method through this. Even if he had been at his peak state, this battle would have been nigh impossible. This man felt even more powerful to him than the poison bouncer he fought earlier in the day, but the worst part was that this Azrael didn''t even seem to be trying very hard.


    Ss could only retreat. Relying on his visualization, he locked onto the trajectory of the de before itnded, sidestepping it. However, his mind was still on full alert, using his three kunai to swarm the man from all sides. He didn''t know if Azrael had a method like <Momentum Shift> or not.


    Azrael was shocked once again that Ss managed to dodge such a straightforward attack from him, but his response was still calm. His body was the most fluid that Ss had ever seen. He dodged the kunai as though they weren''t even there, almost like he was dancing rather than stuck in battle. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Every single one of his stats overwhelmed Ss, and thetter couldn''t help but think that if this man started to use Skills, or even a Comprehension, would he even still be alive right now? Without his visualization, he would have already been dead. There was no way topensate for this man''s Speed and Dexterity outside of acting two or three steps early.


    The feeling was growing more and more suffocating, and it felt like the despair he had tried to push down was surging up again.


    It wasn''t enough. Nothing was enough.


    Just wanting to change hadn''t done anything. His mind was being suppressed by his own thoughts, and it seemed like he might fall back into an endless cycle of self-doubt and fear once again.


    It made him angry.


    He had already made his decision, why would his body not listen?


    It had always done so before.


    When he wanted to get up at 5 a.m., he would do so without fail. When he wanted to give up on sugar and eat a healthier diet, he had done so without missing a beat.


    He couldn''t stand the weakness; he couldn''t stand theck of control. It was absolutely suffocating.


    He just wanted his mind to listen to him. He just wanted his body to be molded by his hands and that of no one else.


    Ss'' eyes reddened, and his Madness seemed to spiral somewhat out of control. For the first time in a long time, it even began impacting his own state. But rather than increasing the strength of his Madness, it dissipated it.


    His kunai, which had been able to disy over 200 Physical in power, lost at least 20% of their strength.


    His control over his body faltered, and he slipped up. An arc of ck cut into him and almost took his entire right arm off. The spike of pain alerted him to a change, and he was shocked away. He hurriedly retreated again and again, not bothering to use <Solidify> because he knew that there was no way the shield could block the Physical of this man.


    However, that moment of alertness seemed tost for only a moment before the fury came back.


    He was actually being so pathetic again.


    ''Calm down.''


    The roar came from Ss'' own mind. Almost in a maddening sort of rationality, he came to understand that fury would do him no favors in this situation. In fact, it might be even better if he could feel nothing at all.


    He pulled on <Maddened Enlightenment> harder and harder, focusing not on Aether, but his state of mind.


    Arcs of ck light roared through the air, leaving splintering wind in its wake. Sometimes this wind alone was so sharp that more and more wounds began to appear around his body.


    With every wound that Ss suffered, another spike of pain woulde with it, but he seemed to use it like a tempering. Every sh was another reminder to wake up, and every spike of pain was something he had to fight against to maintain his focus.


    He wanted more control, more calmness.


    He wanted his Will to be forged through iron and tempered with the blood of the heart if he had to.


    BANG!


    Azrael suddenly kicked out, catching Ss off guard. The powerful stroke forced Ss to use <Solidify> even if he didn''t want to. But it shattered his shield with spine-tingling swiftness, and then the sole of his footnded squarely on Ss'' chest, forcing a clean break on his already fractured ribs.


    Ss was blown back and he mmed into a tree. Its leaves rustled violently, and blood flew from his mouth.


    The shock of pain hit him in a whirlwind, yet his eyes remained unprecedentedly focused as though nothing at all could shake him.


    Then he felt it.


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has deepened]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Common Mastery]


    ---


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has temporarily reached Bronze Mastery]


    ---


    The rush of Aethering toward Ss exploded, but the change to his mind was even greater. It was almost as though he had changed the path of <Maddened Enlightenment> down apletely different route.


    The glow in green irises, mostly just a facade in normal times, became more real and tangible as though his eyes had truly be their own light.


    He forgot everything.


    He forgot fear.


    He forgot despair.


    He forgot pain.


    His mind was entirely focused on finding a method to kill the opponent before him.

 Chapter 220 Stable

    Chapter 220 Stable


    Aether pooled toward Ss in a torrent. His vision seemed to explode forth with colors, and suddenly, the night of darkness was practically as clear as day.


    The pain was thrown to the back of his mind, and he rolled to the side, his focus unprecedented as he weaved his way out of the path of another sword strike.


    He could feel every fiber of his body being flexed to an extreme.


    In that moment, he entered an unprecedented state of focus where his mind and his body truly seemed to be one. It wasn''t that his mind was controlling himself so perfectly any longer, but rather that everymand was executed with the most perfect of precision, making it feel as though his limbs were being controlled by separate minds.


    And right then, they were.


    He abandoned his kunai and split his attention. Every movement he made, he focused on bringing it to the pinnacle of what perfection meant to him in his thoughts and his aspirations. Every angle, every slight twitch was expanded until it was at the forefront of his mind, and right then, it looked as though his body was being puppeted by six different streams of thought that all shared just a single mind in the end.


    His arms twisted and contorted, his hips spinning, and his legs sliding out of the way of attacks. Slices through the air that had ended up nicking him just minutes ago were just barely evaded by him, and the storm of desnded on nothing more than empty air.


    Streaks of green were left in the night as his gaze shifted and his body moved. He focused entirely on dodging, forgetting about everything else but the environment that surrounded them.


    Because Azrael had cut off his path of retreat before, Ss could tell that with every effort he made, he was being pushed back toward the vige he had just escaped. If things continued like this, it was likely that even the pig demons would soone to intercept his path.


    The pressure of death had never been so great, but he didn''t waver, focusing everything he had on the moment at hand.


    What came woulde no matter what. If he didn''t deal with this man first, there would be noing back from this.


    So he pushed, and when he thought he wouldn''t have anything more to give, he pushed even harder.


    His focus was draining faster than <Maddened Enlightenment> could keep up with, but even this thought was tossed away as fast as it came.


    More. Faster. Sharper.


    The swift des surrounded him in a cyclone, and soon the wind pressure alone was cutting into his track suit, ripping him up from head to toe, and yet still unable to prate his skin again.


    By this point, Azrael couldn''t help but frown, the first hint of true emotion that the man had shown. He found it hard to believe that this was happening. He had already taken out his de, and yet a weak Level 0 like Ss was still able to keep his life?


    Honestly, he had wanted to capture Ss alive, but he was starting to get irritated.


    Where had this persone from?


    "Fine."


    Azrael''s voice was shockingly charming. It had a deep cadence that could lull a baby to sleep and make women swoon. It was just a single word, but Ss felt a sh of danger alert him in the back of his mind.


    This man''s Charisma was off the charts and feltparable to Ss'' own even while he had Madness activated.


    His current Charisma was 680! With the 10% boost from his title, it was well over 700!


    However, it was precisely because of this feeling that Ss saw iting before it came. He activated Enchanted Schr, and the world was painted in runes, especially around Azrael, who looked as though he was being surrounded by fluttering silver-blue butterflies in the shape of ancient characters.


    The lingering word he had spoken took shape in the air almost like the focus words of a mage, and when he shed out, his de ran right through it.


    And yet, instead of cleaving the rune in two, the ckened sword was coated by it and a vicious scythe formed in the air, rushing toward Ss at a speed that was almost impossible to track with the naked eye.


    Ss had been in this world for long enough¡­ he knew the kind of shocking feats those that called this world their own could aplish.


    However, he had still always felt that modern technology was still superior, at least for now. At the very least, he would very much rather battle against the mammoths than a pistol, even if the former could cause tsunami waves of earth to assault him.


    For the first time, he changed his mind.


    This de was no less lethal, no less quick and sharp, no less hair-raising than a speeding bullet.


    His focus almost wavered, and his mind shook, but his Will mped down and his gaze shed with a fierce light.


    At that moment, the Stabilizing Bracelet glowed and a shield of ck and dark gold appeared.


    <King''s Shield>.


    With how troublesome it was toplete a fusion, Ss knew that he couldn''t take it for granted. As such, thest time he had used his fusion, he took the opportunity to load up the bracelet with two more Skills.


    He would have loved to have more <Shadow Warps>, but since that wasn''t possible, he could only abandon it and take the second-best options he had.


    BANG!


    Sword de and shield met, and a wild flurry of air surged out in all directions. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The shield cracked, but so too did the scythe-like de carving through the air in a sparkle of silver blue.


    By this point, Ss had already dashed to the side as the de cut through the shield, whistling by him before shattering into a rain.


    Azrael was caught off guard again. His expression became gloomier and his aura began to slowly strengthen.


    Since this Ss character wanted to be difficult, he would just have to bring out his true strength.

 Chapter 221 SHUUUU!

    221 SHUUUU!


    Ss sensed the change before it came. It was a sort of intuition, but his mind remained focused. This world was entirely too unpredictable for him to rx. Stats were only one part of the equation.


    There were still Skills, Comprehensions, Gene Talents, and even treasures to take ount of. This man had only just casually used a Skill just now, or what felt like a Skill-adjacent, and yet he had been forced to use one of his trump cards to counter it. If he got serious, Ss might truly be finished.


    Even so, he only became more calm as the runes continued to flutter and re out around him. Ss realized that this person likely had an ability not much different from his own Enchanted Schr. Not only could this help him see through what he might do in advance, but it might also help him out in the future.


    Focused and unperturbed, Ss watched as Azrael''s de began to glow with a fierce light and the air shuddered. The de seemed to multiply, illusory ghost forms of it separating from the main body and forming clones. When the man walked forward, the sword had already formed over a dozen shadows, each one looming with menace. Suddenly, they rushed toward Ss so quickly that it seemed like he couldn''t react.


    The man moved at the same time, thrusting out. The sword was oveid with a spiraling darkness that made it look morence than sword. Everything came crashing down at once, and it was impossible for Ss to react to them all. He would either be skewered by the illusory swords or impaled by thence-sword.


    His green irises shed as the Aether around him continued to umte. However, Azrael''s pupils couldn''t help but constrict when it seemed that Ss wasn''t going to make any attempt to dodge at all. Instead, it looked as though he was rushing toward the attacks like a moth to a me, without a care for his life or pain at all.


    He took a hard step to the side, sweeping into the illusory des, but it was clear that there was a hint of shock in Azrael''s eyes nheless, and it was soon proven why. The illusory des went right through Ss'' body as though they weren''t there at all, and he sidestepped out of the way of theingnce.


    From the very beginning, he had already seen through the fact that there was nothing to worry about. The swords were nothing more than illusions in an attempt to get him to overextend himself or trade injury for survival.


    Unfortunately for Azrael, Ss had already seen through it the moment the runes took shape.


    BANG!


    Thence tore into the tree that had been right behind Ss, and Azrael felt that his wrist was shaken, and he couldn''t help but be taken aback. What? The power of his strike should have been far more than this, so why did it feel like he had lost some edge?


    Azrael had no idea that when Ss activated <King''s Shield>, he had already likewise activated the second of the two Skills he had stored away.


    [Voice of a King (FF+) (Skill)]


    [No Law can bind the King. Limits? The Basilisk King has none. It shatters them with its Will alone]


    [When facing an enemy of weaker Will, you suppress them. Over the course of the battle, depending on the disparity, your stats increase]


    An extremely powerful Skill that not only suppressed an enemy and weakened their stats, but increased yours as well. Why was Ss so focused on dodging and keeping his life? It was because he could feel <Voice of a King> working. The effect of Azrael''s Charisma was plummeting, and the Speed of his des was likewise only bing easier and easier for Ss to track.


    Azrael''s expression darkened. This time, he was truly enraged. How had such a Skill been used on him without him even noticing? The only exnation was that the opponent''s Will was truly well beyond his own, but how could that be possible?


    Comprehension.


    It was the only exnation. But Comprehensions alone were rare. Ones that could target Mental stats were even rarer. Those that could impact Will were almost all at least FFF-. Just who was this Ss?!


    Aether red from Azrael''s body, but for the first time in this battle, Ss used a Skill of his own. He poured half the Aether he had into <Astral Bind>, freezing Azrael in ce as he pulled out an enormous ballista.


    Azrael''s expression changed, but it wasn''t to one of shock; it was to disdain and derision. He finally couldn''t hold back his inner thoughts at all. He let out a shout in anguage that Ss couldn''t understand at all, but he still memorized the sybles nheless.


    At that moment, a Skill emanated from Azrael''s body,yering into two and rising into the skies. All the shackles on him seemed to be shattered all at once as he cut down. It was too fast, far too fast. So fast that it became clear that Azrael had never taken any of this seriously from the very beginning, and likewise making it clear that he had given up on catching Ss alive; he just wanted him dead! There was no suspense.


    The de cut through everything in its path, slicing the ballista in half and sundering everything behind it. Azrael exhaled an annoyed breath and made a move to sheath his sword as his eyes adjusted to the bright strike he had just levied.


    However, it was right then that all his hair stood on end. He barely had time to turn around and notice that Ss had appeared behind him at some unknown time, and a second ballista was already being fired. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It was toote. He had just cast two Skills at the same time, and his Aether channels hadn''t even had time to settle down yet.


    SHUUUUU! BANG!


    The ballista bolt tore through his chest.

 Chapter 222 Complete

    222 Complete


    Ss exhaled a breath, and all at once, the surge of pain hit him in a wave. He swayed, and his body almost copsed, but he bit his tongue hard.


    He pulled the ballista back into his Madness Key and rushed forward, storing Azrael''s corpse away.


    He didn''t have the time to waste here because he knew that the pig demons were almost certainly on their way to this location as well.


    Slinking away into the darkness, his gaze shed with a green light. It wasn''t yet time to return to safety and lick his wounds. The moment he felt that he had a decent enough recovery, he had to go back and attack the vige as quickly as possible. He gave himself three hours at most.


    If others could read his thoughts, they would without a doubt think that Ss hadpletely lost his mind, but there was a very good reason he was making this decision. And greed wasn''t anywhere near the top of the list.


    During their battle, that man had spoken anguage he had simply never heard before. On a unified Earth, that was impossible. Everyone spoke a singlenguage.


    There were only two potential exnations for this. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The first was that this man was part of a secret society that purposely chose to speak a differentnguage for the purpose of differentiating themselves and drawing a line with the rest of Earth.


    The second was that this man wasn''t from Earth at all.


    The first possibility was so unlikely that Ss didn''t even give it a 20% chance. But he knew that there was a System City near here, and he knew that there were hidden dangers lurking within them.


    Was it possible for those aliens to make their way into the Aether ne already? Weren''t they restricted by the system? These were all things that Ss didn''t know the answers to.


    But what he did know was that that vige was the most powerful he had ever seen, and not far away was the location of Lucius'' city.


    Anything those aliens were nning to do with the pig demons would directly impact him in the future. And they were also an unwanted variable considering the fact there was likewise another portal near here, and one that wouldn''t be closing anytime soon.


    There would almost certainly be a battle between Lucius and the force on the other side of his portal. In that case, he had no choice but to eliminate a variable.


    If the System City was truly involved in this, something was telling him that it knew all of this.


    In that case¡­


    ...


    Ss escaped the range of the city, finding a sturdy and tall tree to perch himself in. Only then did he truly begin to gasp for breath.


    This had been too close.


    He thought that he had been cautious enough, but clearly not. Just when he had been nning to escape, something like this happened.


    However, there would only be more dangerous situations like this in the future. Even if he minimized them, it was impossible for him to eliminate them. In that case, he would just have to follow the Madness Key''s advice¡­


    How could he help Earth survive this Summoning?


    Be Strong.


    He turned his attention away from the notifications shing on the edge of his thoughts. Instead, the first thing he did was check Azrael''s belongings.


    What he was hoping for was something that could help him to heal his injuries quickly. And after a few seconds, he wasn''t disappointed. In fact, he found three of them.


    [Healing Elixir (F+) (Consumable)] [A sweet nectar pulled from Heavenly Dew. Drink this and heal yourself. For every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +100%. Effectsst a single day]


    Ss had seen a Simple Healing Elixir before, but this one had thrown away the "Simple" title. It had the same F+ Grade as the one he had seen before, but the healing capacity was several times more potent.


    He had 140 Constitution right now, meaning just one of these Elixirs would give him a +700% boost to healing speed. Meaning, an injury that would normally take two months to heal would take just a single week after taking this Elixir.


    Normally, healing broken ribs would take at least six weeks. Thecerations to his skin and flesh would take less than that.


    However, it also had to be noted that this was just for normal humans with a Constitution of less than 10.


    Ss already had an elevated healing factor because his Constitution was 14 times that of even the best humans before the Summoning. It would take him less than a week to heal from his current injuries normally.


    That ultimately meant that with this Healing Elixir, it should only take him less than a day at most to be back to 100%. Though¡­ he was only giving himself three hours.


    As far as Ss was concerned, this was enough. He didn''t need to be at 100%. What he most wanted was for his soft tissue to recover. So long as his muscles could push at their normal level, he was confident in clearing out the rest of the vige. As for pain¡­ he could ignore that.


    Ss chugged one of the three Healing Elixirs and then put the rest away. Once he was finished, instead of looking through the rest of Azrael''s belongings, he instead checked the notifications that he had been forcing himself to ignore.


    To his surprise¡­


    [Quest "The Flow of Battle (Silver)" Completed] [Clearance Level: Silver] [Rewards] [>Fusion Crystal]


    Ss was surprised for a very good reason. Using an external item like the ballista wasn''t something that he had thought would count. It felt a bit cheap. Maybe there was a threshold of some sort to meet, but it seemed that tricking experts to their death counted as well¡­


    However, now he was curious. What was a Fusion Crystal?

 Chapter 223 Fusion

    223 Fusion


    [What is a Fusion Crystal?]


    [Comprehensions require the body to be shaped and warped, only this way can it provide amplifications to one''s stats. As such, it is extremely difficult to Comprehend a second Comprehension after having already mastered one, because it will often require altering and changing the first.]


    [In order to avoid this, one must use a Fusion Crystal, a magical item capable of allowing the fusion of a second Comprehension.]


    [Feed a Fusion Crystal Genes and it will help you toplete the process and maybe even give you a pleasant surprise]


    Ss smiled a bit bitterly. It seemed that this wasn''t much of a reward at all. It was just a ticket to get him to do more work. It seemed he would have to gather up the Genes he needed once again. Another hunt would begin.


    ''Let''s see, then.''


    He epted the awards with his intention and soon a smooth crystal appeared in his hand. Instead of being a sphere like the other crystals he had seen, it was in the shape of an octahedron, reflecting all sorts of rainbow colors.


    Before Ss could even do anything, he felt a cool energy travel from the Fusion Crystal to his body.


    [Comprehension Detected: Madness (FFF)]


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (F)]


    [>Taekwondo (F-)]


    [>Muay Thai (F-)]


    [>¡­]


    The list was so long that Ss was taken aback. He thought that there was just one Comprehension, but it actually turned out that there were so many.


    He immediately had several questions.


    These names were all familiar to him and were reflective of Earth''s martial arts. Did these really exist across the universe? Or was it the case that the system adapted these Comprehensions based on what he thought them to be?


    Second, these rankings. It didn''t seem like they were giving an objective measure of how good these martial arts were. Rather, if he was a better boxer, maybe the Boxing Comprehension would have been F+ instead of F. The others were only F- because his skill in them was even weaker. Of course, he was just guessing, but logically, there was no reason for Boxing to be superior to any of the others¡­ other than the fact, of course, he used his fists the most frequently.


    10:55


    And the third question¡­ which should he choose?


    With how difficult it was to fuse just a second Comprehension, he couldn''t possibly choose casually, right? And if he was right about his second spection, then didn''t that mean that if he continued to work at it, he could make these Comprehensions more powerful before fusing with them first?


    Ss focused on boxing and to his surprise there seemed to be more hidden menus.


    [Boxing (F)]


    [Your hands are lethal weapons and their power induces fear. Sharp, fast, agile, and quick, they shatter bones and grind flesh to a pulp.]


    [+5% Constitution]


    [+10% Strength]


    Compared to Madness, there was truly a world of difference. At Fragmented Mastery, Madness could already give him +200% in stats, but Boxing could only give him 15%. This was clearly a disparity in grade. It also felt¡­ iplete. Was boxing really just about punching hard?


    However, there was actually more.


    [Suppressed Comprehensions]


    [Boxing (F-)]


    [Your hands are swift as flying daggers and streak through the air like shadows. Sharp, fast, agile, and quick, they hit the opponent when they least expect and retreat like the wind]


    [+5% Speed]


    [+10% Dexterity]


    [Boxing (F-)]


    [Your hands are hidden weapons, ready and waiting, prepared to strike at any time. Your defense takes precedent, and you leave no holes to take advantage of. Airtight and leak-proof.]


    [+5% Speed]


    [+10% Constitution]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. It seemed that there were other paths waiting in dormancy, but they were suppressed by his most powerful path.


    But to his shock, there was still yet more. Because when he focused on the list once again, he could almost feel parts of his body heating up as though he was clearly able to sense the exact type of flow of battle he was in when he sensed these particr Comprehensions.


    He was shocked. Was this normal?


    After some thought, he realized it certainly wasn''t. This feeling was simr to what he experienced when he used Extricate to absorb Genes rather than a natural ability of the Fusion Crystal. For most, they wouldn''t feel anything at all. But for Ss, this sixth sense of sorts had been awakened because of his repetitive usage of Extricate.


    He checked the Comprehensions one after another and realized that it was indeed as he expected. Thanks to his increased sensitivity, he could feel exactly the state of these Comprehensions without actually fusing with them.


    Comprehensions weren''t just boosts to stats, but they were also a change to a state of mind. If he activated Boxing in battle, it wouldn''t be as simple as a 15% increase to his stats, just like when he activated Madness it could affect everything from his telekinesis to even temporality boosting the Mastery of his stats.


    If he could sense these Comprehensions more and more clearly, did he need to rush to fuse with one of them? He could even use the Fusion Crystal to track his progress and maybe one day he could form another Comprehension as powerful as Madness.


    ''Is that possible? This Fusion Crystal should only be Silver Grade, so there''s likely a limit on how powerful a Comprehension it can fuse, right?''


    It would be a shame if one day he had formed a suppressed Comprehension too powerful for the Fusion Crystal to do anything about. If it worked anything like the Gene Crystal, then this was certainly a worry.


    After some hesitation, he felt that this was an important enough question to ask. Plus, he had more than enough Common Genes after a day of hunting anyway.


    That was when he learned that all Fusion Crystals above Bronze had no such limits. Instead, they were limited by the number of fusions. Essentially, a Silver Crystal could only work if you had one Comprehension and wanted to add one more. A Golden Crystal could help if you had two and wanted a third. Only a Legendary Crystal had no such limits, not to mention provided many more insights. But even then, the kind, type, and number of Genes you would need to collect to ignore those limits would only grow with every additional Comprehension.


    N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 224 To What?

    224 To What?


    Aftering to understand all of these things, Ss had alsoe to understand that the reward he had been given was no simple reward.


    Without such a Fusion Crystal,prehending more than one Comprehension was impossible¡ªas far as he knew. If you were unlucky enough to have grasped a mediocre Comprehension first, then you would truly be screwed.


    Though, maybe Ss was thinking too much. Like Cassarae had said, Comprehensions were rare to the point she hadn''t run into anyone with one. Ss hade across a few he thought might have one, but he never got the chance to confirm one way or another.


    Even if he felt the way hepleted this Quest was less than satisfactory, he couldn''t argue with the results.


    For now, he wouldn''t use the Crystal. His n was to see how much he could improve his Dormant Comprehensions first before he took action.


    Plus, there was far more to gain from Azrael''s body. He had mostly ignored them for the sake of getting to what he felt was most important, but nothing was holding him back now.


    There were a total of six more Elixirs in Azrael''s possession. Three were Aether Replenishment Elixirs and the other three were a type that Ss had never heard of before: Focus Replenishment Elixirs.


    It seemed that Focus Replenishment Elixirs were designed to help the mind recover after grueling activity. The use that Ss immediately thought of was his Comprehension.


    He often found his mind being greatly fatigued after using his Comprehension for an extended period of time, and that was even with <Maddened Enlightenment> as a support Skill. These seemed to be a shortcut.


    [Focus Replenishment (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A kiss of refreshing morning air. Drink this to help regain your mind''s focus. For every 20 points of Wisdom, boost mental recovery by 100%]


    [Aether Replenishment (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A helping hand from Mother Nature''s fairies. Drink this to replenish your life''s energy. For every 20 points of Intelligence, recover 5 Aether Units per second. Lasts 5 seconds]


    Ss put these away and stored them for when he would really need them. Though he knew that they could be useful to him now, he was also aware that any Elixirs he took could add to the load on his body. It was ill-advised to take too many Elixirs in quick session.


    Judging by all of their descriptions, Ss could understand why.


    Each Elixir scaled with your stats. So that meant it was relying just as much on your own body as it was on whatever mysterious herbs or spices made it up. Essentially, taking an Elixir was like overdrafting on your own potential.


    He wasn''t sure if there were truly miraculous Elixirs out there that could give without taking first, but he was sure that he had yet to run into any of them just yet. So, he would just have to take his time and not take them for granted.


    They should only be used in emergency situations.


    After seeing that there was nothing interesting left in Azrael''s spatial device aside from the device itself and some sets of clothing that seemed to have armor-like properties, Ss finally turned his attention to the dead man''s sword. Since he couldn''t use armor anyway, there was no point in looking at the rest unless he could actually sell them.


    [Illusory Shadow de (Common)]


    [Level: 17]


    [Ability: Pierce; Duplicate; Evolve]


    [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <8.5%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether]


    [Create <3> de illusions for every <0.1> Units of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <8 Common> Genes]


    [Durability: 16/20]


    Ss'' brows raised. Honestly, he had expected more out of this de. But then again, if it was any more powerful than this, would he even still be breathing right now? Maybe he should be counting his lucky stars that it was this weak.


    Also, Ss'' view of the world was a bit tinted. These sorts of Evolution Weapons weren''tmon. The far moremon kind were like the wind javelin he had gotten, ones that had set, strict levels and couldn''t evolve at all.


    Even so, the de was more than a little disappointing. The de illusions would only be useful a single time in battle. When your opponent realized they were fake, they''d just ignore them from then on. And if he met an opponent like himself, it might not even take a single sh for them to realize the problem.


    ''Unless¡­'' Ss'' gaze shed.


    Azrael wielded the sword in hand, so it was easy for Ss to always keep track of it. But if Ss even touched this de, it would burn to ash. If he wanted to use it, he would have to use his telekinesis. And that might actually help him. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    So what if an opponent knew most of the shadows were fake if they lost track of the real de in a sea of des? That way, he could always keep them on their toes.


    ''It''s a weak ability in the hands of most¡­ but in mine, so long as I don''t run into anyone who can see through it easily like I can, or someone with visualization abilities like mine that can always keep track of the sword no matter how it hides, then this could be a very useful battle tactic.''


    Ss nodded to himself and then slotted the sword away. He would keep this in mind for the future and bring it out in an ideal situation.


    Thest thing Ss found in Azrael''s belongings was a badge. However, no matter how he turned it and flipped it, he couldn''t see anything special about it. Still, he didn''t dare to touch it¡­ this badge seemed important.


    ''Wait.''


    Ss'' gaze shed, and he changed his tactic, using his telekinesis to feel across the surface. As expected, he could feel the grooves that his eyes couldn''t see in this darkness.


    Runes.


    ''These should be¡­ I see. So this badge is some sort of key. But to what?''

 Chapter 225 Leaderboards Once More

    225 Leaderboards Once More


    Ss wasn''t sure, but he stored it away after studying the runes. There was nothing more to gain from it for now, but what he did notice was that there was a very particr emblem on the badge.


    The badge itself was in the shape of a silver puck. It had some heft to it, and the engravings of the runes were small and around its circumference. Ss was sure that if he had just been looking at it normally, it would have been easy to ignore. That''s because the emblem he mentioned was the centerpiece and would likely draw all of his attention.


    It was a horsetail whisk and a tome with a crystal embedded into the center of it. It was just a simple image, but it filled him with an unknown sense of awe that he couldn''t quite ce.


    It was either this key opened up a very miraculous ce, or it was a secret to the identity of this Azrael character. Ss had a feeling that it was thetter. And after he tried to check Azrael''s Genes, he was even more certain.


    [Error. No Genes Detected.]


    Ss stared at this screen for a long while, his eyes narrowing. This was the first time he had seen such a thing. He had seen several types of Gene screens before, from corrupt Genes to normal Genes. But this was a first. This was also an oddity that he couldn''t ignore. It made Ss even more sure of his assertion. Could it really be that this man was from the System City? Was he the only one the System City had sent out? Or were there more of them?


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. He was unfortunate. He had been looking forward to looking at this man''s Genes, wondering if he would finally see his first Silver Gene or not. He had been salivating at the prospect of using Extricate on it in the future once it had improved to the point that he could. But it seemed that opportunity had slipped through his fingers before he could even reach out to grab it.


    He really wanted to ask the Madness Key about this matter, but he knew with absolute certainty that this would definitely be a Taboo question. If he couldn''t even ask it about the spawned humans in viges, he certainly couldn''t ask it about the System Cities and those that ran them.


    But what did it mean for the Genes to be inessible? Could the man have done something to his Genes toe here? It shouldn''t even be possible for there to be outside interference in this Summoning, no?


    Then again, hadn''t Ss broken the system''s rules before? He quite literally had a Title for doing just that, and it wasn''t the first time either. Like that moment he lost three months of time miraculously was one of them, and it was still something he couldn''t quite exin.


    It seemed that the situation of Earth was far, far worse than he knew.


    Ss shook his head and shrugged this matter off. He had already gained more than enough, and these matters were still too far beyond him.


    He had defeated this Level 15 this time, but if there was a next time, what would he do in that case? In fact, when he went back to the pig demon vige this time, he would have to be extra cautious in hopes that there wasn''t a second Level 15 lying in wait.


    Just as Ss was about to turn his attention away from Azraelpletely, though, he suddenly remembered something.


    ''Oh?''


    [Coins: 64223 (F)]


    Ss remembered something and checked his coin total, and he was truly floored.


    He knew that when he killed humanoid opponents, he would get coins out of it. When they were demons, he had to unearth their Gene Cores first. But when they were humans, he just directly took their funds by some mysterious method.


    When he remembered this, he thought to check his own coin total to see how much he had managed to gain from Azrael, and the result left him quite speechless. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''It seems that now I have no more excuses to not use the Bronze Nexus Ticket¡­''


    Not much time had passed at all, so Ss felt that he had the time he needed to check out the Nexus. Though, it would be a bit dangerous to do it here as his mind would be sucked into another world, he felt that it was still rtively safe.


    He pulled out his reward ticket and activated it. It floated before him, exuding a dim light before attaching itself to his forehead.


    Ss'' gaze became a bit dim and soon he found himself, once again, in a world of foggy white.


    The world zoomed around him and soon he found himself in a city once again.


    He looked up and his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    [Leveling Leaderboard] Astrid Grimde


    [1. Astrid Grimde - Level 19]


    [2. Kael Darkmane- Level 19]


    [3. Brakk Smith - Level 19]


    [4. Hilda Silverden - Level 19]


    [5. Lucius Grimde - Level 19]


    [6. Thorne Ravenw - Level 19]


    [7. Mchi Grimde - Level 19]


    [8. Draven Ravenw - Level 18]


    [9. Asher Darkmane - Level 18]


    [10. Ragnar Ravenw - Level 18]


    The ten names on the leaderboard were the exact same, but the changes were drastic, and the Levels¡­ ''Brakk Smith¡­ Hilda Silverden¡­ they were both 9th and 10th ce before, but now they''ve suddenly skyrocketed¡­ and they''re the only two that don''t share those ancient family names¡­''


    However, what Ss saw on the City Leaderboard


    [City Leaderboard]


    [1. Ironhold]


    [2. Darkfell]


    [3. ckwing]


    [4. Duskfort]


    [5. Ebonspire]


    [6. Stormcloud]


    [7. Eclipse Lock]


    [8. Nightfall]


    [9. Dusk Peak]


    [10. The Enve]


    Unlike the previous list, this one had beenpletely overhauled. Of the original list, only The Enve, which had once been third, remained¡­ And Casstle Main was nowhere to be seen.

 Chapter 226 Scaling with Time

    Chapter 226 Scaling with Time


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder how it could be possible for their Levels to increase so quickly, but soon he came to an understanding without the need for much deliberation.


    If the situation was anything like the Grimdes for the other families, then the Trial was nothing more than a test by their families to see which of them would have the right to wield their best City Stele.


    However, because of Ss, things came to an end earlier, and that was thrown to the wayside.


    That wasn''t what was important here, but rather it was the difference between the support they could receive inside the Trial versus now. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    In the Trial, they were randomly teleported across the Aether ne and had no one but themselves to rely upon. But now, they had the support of their entire families and had obviously already brought their factions together.


    Whether it was their ability to collect resources, scale their actions, or gather Genes, it was all now on another level.


    Ss wasn''t justpeting with individuals any longer. He waspeting with entire organizations.


    It took them three months to reach Level 9. Now, it had barely been a month since the Trial ended, and they had already more than doubled their Levels.


    If this worked anything like a video game did, that progress should also be exponentially more difficult at that. And yet, they had still managed to do it.


    The pressure Ss was feeling couldn''t help but increase. However, in the end, his gaze became focused.


    It was only more important now for him to take risks, then. He wanted to see how far he could push Level 0 before he was inevitably forced to take the next step. But now that things hade to this, he also realized that if he could help it, it would likely be best not to be stubborn.


    In all this time, he had yet to eveny eyes on a Silver Gene, let alone find a method of actually absorbing one.


    With how difficult it was to get a leg up on a Level 15 just now, if he was too obstinate, the Destiny Quest hanging over his head right now would be entirely unmanageable very soon.


    ''I''ll need to set a limit of some sort for myself. I can''t allow this Level 0 cap to hold me back for too long. If I can''t make enough progress, or I''m grinding my wheels, I''ll have to take that step. But for now¡­''


    His gaze shed and he turned his attention away from the Leaderboards, moving toward the shop.


    However, that was when something unexpected happened.


    [Would you like to register your Comprehension?]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Register his Comprehension? Why?


    [Registering your Comprehension will allow your name to appear on the Comprehension Rankings. Once ten names are noted, the ranking will be made public.]


    Ss frowned. Why would he want to do that?


    [Rankings provide a set number of coin rewards that scale with time, a system that began the moment the Trial ended]


    [First ce > 1000 coins a day] [Second ce > 900 coins a day] [Third ce > 800 coins a day] [Fourth ce > 500 coins a day] [Fifth ce > 400 coins a day] [Sixth ce > 300 coins a day] [Seventh ce > 150 coins a day] [Eighth ce > 100 coins a day] [Ninth ce > 50 coins a day] [Tenth ce > 25 coins a day]


    [Reward total will multiply by a factor of two next month] [Time to next reward increase: 2 Days]


    Ss was taken aback by this. ''But wait¡­ doesn''t that mean there are less than 10 people on Earth who have Comprehensions? Or is it just that less than 10 people are willing to appear? Or maybe that less than 10 people have had the opportunity to do this?''


    Ss shook his head. ''No, it can''t be that less than 10 have had the opportunity. Just the number of Grimdes, Ravenws, and Darkmanes should be enough to fill out this quota. ''In that case, there are only two possibilities. Either Comprehensions are even weaker than I thought they were, or even the likes of the Grimdes and their rivals don''t dare to reveal their Comprehensions so easily¡­''


    Ss lost himself in thought. If it was the first, he might take such a risk. It had taken him a lot of effort to umte the over 60k F Coins he had. But ording to this, in two days, if he happened to be first ce, then he could umte that in a month without having to do anything at all.


    But, if it was thetter, then he would be serving himself up.


    Of course, even if it was the first, it came with a risk as well. His name would show up as Ss Grimde, so others might feel that it was even more necessary to target him, and he might receive unwarranted attention from the Grimdes as well, making moving around all the more difficult.


    Ss took a breath. He needed more information to make such a decision. For one, it would be better if he found out just how useful being a tycoon could be.


    So, for now, he ignored the question and continued into the shop, beginning to look through an array of items.


    The first thing he noticed was that the selection in the Bronze Nexus was far better than what he had seen with Casstle Main. There were arger array of items, and the lists seemed endless. He couldn''t make heads or tails of it in a short time, and he was beginning to wonder if he had given himself enough time.


    [Time Left: 00:59:13]


    It seemed that one way or another, he was going to have to hurry it up. So, he arranged a list of priorities and started from the top.


    What did he need the most right now?


    Well, there were two things. The first was a method of breaking his Gene and Stat Limits. The second was a method of improving his Dormant Comprehensions.


    Ss didn''t think that he''d find a method to do the first, but he was surprised in the end.

 Chapter 227 Runes

    227 Runes


    Unfortunately, that excitement didn''tst very long.


    ---


    [Bronze Gene Crystal (F) (Treasure)] [One''s Gic Code is a universe within the universe. Endless and vast, the number of meandering paths it can take are uncountable. Use this Bronze Gene Crystal and begin to forge your own path] [Capacity: 51] [Cost: 100 000 (F) coins]


    ---


    This put two things into perspective for Ss.


    For one, Gene Crystals were shockingly valuable. He had only received his first out of a ridiculous Dungeon with 100 Physical requirement and a Level cap of 0. And he received his second out of a slot machine for the end of the grueling Trial.


    It had to be remembered that even the best athletes on Earth would have a cap at 30 or so at Level 0. Only those in the Grimdes and families of the like would have a cap at and over 50. But even then, it was hard to say if they had a Stat Limit that high at Level 0.


    Now, this Nexus was trying to sell him the weakest of Bronze Gene Crystals for almost double the money that he had. Even the one he had been disappointed in had a Capacity of 70. But this one was 19 worse than that and couldn''t possibly increase his current limits.


    Ss shook his head. He would be better off finding power Dungeons to clear and hope that one of them dropped one¡­


    When Ss had this thought, his gaze shed again. Couldn''t he buy Dungeon Maps?


    He had once gotten a Dungeon Map from Zurog, the head of Gnoll Vige 019. If it could be dropped, maybe buying one wasn''t impossible. Considering the danger involved, maybe they would be cheaper as well.


    However, when Ss pulled up the menu, what he saw was disappointing.


    There were no descriptions, just a list of them demarcated by price and price alone.


    The cheapest were only a few hundred coins, and the most expensive were several tens of thousands. The highest-priced one was 40 500 F Coins.


    However, as Ss had said, there was nothing else to differentiate them. Presumably, the more expensive ones were also more valuable, but there was nothing else to go off of. He didn''t even know if they were near him or not. For all he knew, they were months of journeying from his current location.


    Ss shook his head. He had no reference for how valuable Dungeon Maps were, so he had no way of knowing if the price was even worth it.


    If the 40 500 was a highly rated Dungeon that also happened to be within his capacity to handle, he would leap at the chance. But from this, he couldn''t even tell if it was a Level 0 Dungeon or a Level 100 Dungeon.


    It wasn''t worth it.


    Seeing that his path toward increasing his Gene and Stat Limits wasn''t doing so well, Ss changed gears again. This time, he focused instead on trying to find a method of solidifying his Comprehensions further.


    ''Maybe another Title Quest? Or maybe a Skill of some sort?''


    Ss wracked his brains, trying to think outside of the box. Sometimes the most useful things he found existed in ces he didn''t expect.


    This Nexus had a wider array of Titles Quests to choose from, but none of them were impressive, especially not inparison to Ss'' own.


    Ss remembered that he could also use Titles themselves to forcefully increase his limits at the price of pain, but there was nothing here that caught his interest.


    There were many Titles that gave +1 bonuses, but they weren''t worth the price. The best one he found was for a +5 boost to Constitution, but it was a masochistic method that required self-muttion.


    This wasn''t an exaggeration at all. The Title was known as Sacrificial Lamb. Ss couldn''t see the exact details, but judging by the introduction, he would likely need to carve himself up like some sort of sick self-cannibalism.


    The more he looked, the less likely it seemed that he would be able to find anything that he actually needed. Time continued to tick away, and Ss couldn''t help but frown.


    ''Alright. Let''s switch gears again, then. I need to find a Skill that helps me to maximize Enchanted Schr. That Level 15 seemed to have a simr ability and was able to use runes to directly attack, maybe I can find something simr¡­''


    Once again, Ss ran into a brick wall. There was no Skill of the sort, and he realized soon after that he was probably looking in the wrong ce.


    Skills were abilities that activated naturally with Aether. It circted on its own. It didn''t need the support of telekinesis or things of the like, so what he needed probably wouldn''t be found in such a straightforward manner. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss took a breath and settled his mind.


    This world was sorge, it was inevitable that the ideas he had for things would be unlikely to go smoothly. Panicking or wasting time being frustrated would only end up doing more harm than good.


    ''Let''s take a more¡­ roundabout approach, then.''


    By the time Ss found what he was looking for, he already had less than 30 minutes left on his timer. And as per usual, he found it in a location he least expected it.


    What he needed was actually found in a Profession shop, something that hadn''t been open to him before. But it seemed that now that he had a Profession, the system registered him as a person of this path. In fact, it also asked him if he would like to be listed on the Profession Leaderboard as well, something he likewise directly ignored.


    ---


    [Introduction to Rune, Rune Patterns, and Rune Geometry (Secrets)] [Limited ess: Rune Sight must be awakened] [Cost: 15 000 (F) coins]


    ---


    [World of Runes (Secrets)] [Limited ess: Rune Visualization must be awakened] [Cost: 30 000 (F) coins]-


    ---


    [Aether, Runes, and the Mind (Secrets)] [Limited ess: Rune Enlightenment must be awakened] [Cost: 100 000 (F) coins]

 Chapter 228 Clue

    228 Clue


    Ss'' eyes shone with a bright light when he saw these three listings. He was also taken aback by the ''Secrets'' tag on them. It was the first time he had seen such a thing.


    In the end, he chose to exchange for [Introduction to Runes, Rune Patterns and Rune Geometry]. Although he could afford to exchange for World of Runes as well, he still wasn''t sure if there was anything else he wanted to buy, and he also felt that though he was eager for improvement, biting off more than he could chew wasn''t worthwhile.


    Part of maximizing wealth was about not allowing it to sit idly. Ss wasn''t much of an economics major, but his parents ran a business, so he had soaked up a few things with his own almost obsessive attention to detail.


    The 30 000 coins he saved now by not exchanging for World of Runes just yet would help him to better maximize his funds. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take him to finish going through the Introduction? If it took months, then he would have wasted that 30 000 coins for nothing.


    Still, Ss was satisfied with this purchase. This would teach him a lot about using his new Gene Talent.


    What he didn''t expect was that the moment he exchanged for it, the small booklet would vanish into motes of light that surged into his body. It was directly imprinted into his mind, and when he tried to pull out the information, it was like he was staring at a long road of locked doors.


    That was when Ss understood.


    ''It''s like an online course¡­ Whenever I want to practice, I can call it up in my mind and it will take me to this world¡­ no wonder it''s so expensive¡­''


    After checking out a ton of items, Ss found that most things in the Bronze Nexus were two to three thousand coins at most, with the vast majority being a few hundred.


    Items that were more expensive than that were only in the top few percentile and not even all that easy to find.


    It felt like part of the challenge of using the Nexus was actually finding all the items you wanted first.


    Havinge to this conclusion, Ss changed gears. He looked through the rest of what he could find in the Professions, trying to see if he could maybe find something about telekinesis.


    He had been entirely self-taught until now, and it would be nice if he could find something about it. But in the end, there was nothing.


    ''I should have expected this, honestly. It seems that my telekinesis only awakened thanks to Madness, which is an FFF Comprehension. Things rted to it are unlikely to appear in a Bronze Nexus¡­''


    Still, Ss decided to give himself five more minutes of looking, and this time, he found something unexpected.


    In an offshoot section of the Professions shop, there was the Living Resource section. It sold things like beast pelts, bone, blood, and even bone, presumably to be used in conjunction with a Profession of some kind.


    That was when Ss remembered that Cassarae had been quite eager to gain full beast pelts because of Maya Sinir, an FF+ Seamstress that she had managed to exchange for.


    It seemed that it was possible to exchange for such things in the Nexus as well, though it was very expensive. Ss saw a few Level 10 beast pelts from rare, hard-to-find creatures being sold for over five figures.


    However, what caught Ss'' attention wasn''t this at all. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ---


    [Level 8 Arctic King Cobra Venom Pouch (Living Resource)] [The Arctic King Cobra is a vicious beast with venom that runs so hot it can no longer be ssified as a cold-blooded beast. Forced to migrate because it could no longer stand the heat, it now exists near the tundra line, looming like an almighty overlord. [This venom will both burn and corrode you; handle with caution. It has long surpassed the Realm of normal venom and has be an Aether type of its own, entering the Realm of Mancer. However, when used well, even those Level 10s with awakened sses will have to run in fear] [Cost: 6000 (F) coins]


    ---


    Ss stared at this description for a long while, his mind churning.


    Maybe it was a leap, but when he read this description, he couldn''t help but remember the bouncer he had fought and the poison he had used in his attack. Then he recalled the Destiny Quest he had and about how he had to defeat a Mancer creature.


    Every time he hade across poison users, there seemed to always be a reason for it.


    Like when he fought against the gnolls¡­ the reason they had poison-tipped arrows was because their vige head had the Dungeon Map. They had gone to try and clear the Zones, only to run into the Spitting Cobras. That was where they had gotten their paralysis poison from.


    Would it be that much of a surprise if the bouncer had gotten his poison through simr means?


    It also made perfect sense because the description mentioned the tundra, and his current location on the Aether ne was precisely near this location.


    In that case, the Mancer creature that he was looking for was actually nearby. In addition, it was a serpentes creature as well, which would make the load far easier on him.


    Ss made a mental note of this. When he got the chance, he would see if he could find these Arctic Spitting Cobras and take down the Fragmented Quest. Maybe if he was lucky, the chain Quest would allow him to take more advantage of these Spitting Cobras.


    As for whether he wanted to follow this Path of Mancy, he didn''t really care very much.


    If anything, using poison would only help him bridge the gap. Not only would it help immunize him¡­ but he would be able to take down enemies far stronger than himself very soon.

 Chapter 229 Psychedelic

    229 Psychedelic


    Still, Ss didn''t get ahead of himself. The Fragmented requirement for the Quest was already to defeat a Level 10. Who knew how much worse it would get from here on out? If he was correct, this was just the beginning. In the future, he would probably have to face off against not only powerful beasts, but alsoplete side quests and other requirements as well. it was doubtful that he would just need to defeat a beast and call it a day, though he hoped that would be the case. As such, he felt that he should take the easy way out when he could and consider other thingster. All things considered, poison wasn''t a bad path for him, especially since it would synergize well with his Vipermancer Profession, at least in part. Plus, poison was useful for many other things as well. It might be even more helpful in battling against those of a higher Level than himself thanks to its control and area of effect applications. Ss slotted this matter into the back of his mind and continued looking around. Now, it was best to focus on what was in front of him, especially since there was only so much time remaining. By this point, he had less than 20 minutes left, yet still almost 40,000 coins to spend.


    After some thought, he chose to abandon thoughts of everything else and just go to the Skill shop. Right now, he was already feeling that his Skills were a bit toockluster.


    ''Let''s arrange by Skills that can synergize with Madness. That way I can get a huge boost in Mastery without having to do much.''


    Having a Skill was one matter. But if its Mastery was too low, it wouldn''t be worth it. If Mastery was low, casting time would take a while. THis was why that government official that Ss took the Stabilizing Bracelet from needed to load <Shadow Warp> rather than using it freely in battle. Ultimately, the bracelet only had three slots, and Ss also needed to worry about its Durability. It was best if he used it as infrequently as possible. That said, Grade was obviously of great importance. For example, he had only mastered <King''s Shield> to Bronze, but it already had triple the defenses of his Legendary Mastery <Solidify>.


    Unfortunately, there were no FF+ Skills in this directory. Still, there were a few FF- Skills that met Ss'' requirements. And the expenses weren''t so bad, the most expensive still being less than five figures.


    [Mirror Step (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Illusive and hard to grasp, you move like the fleeting clouds and your actions are a mystery to all but yourself]


    [Create <1> mirror image of yourself for 1 Aether Unit]


    [Cost: 4500 (F) coins]


    It looked like an interesting skill, especially when he thought about the de. But its description was too vague.


    What happened to the mirror images after he formed them? Would he have to control them independently? Would that take up more of his Wisdom? Or¡­


    ''I see. Mirror image. They''re just going to do what I do¡­ That''s less useful.''


    Ss thought about it. The cost was high, an Aether Unit for just a single image. But it was also just reflective of the Fragmented Mastery, after all.


    He set the Skill aside for now and moved on to the next.


    [Stunning Spike (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Your mind is sharper than others, so much so that you strip them of even their own ability to think and reflect clearly]


    [Cost is 10 Units of Aether in exchange for 1 second of confusion. For every 10% gap in Will, Cost will decrease by 1 Unit, with the lowest cost being 0.1 Aether Units]


    [Cost: 9500 (F) Coins]


    Ss didn''t hesitate this time, buying up the Skill instantly. And as expected¡­


    [Your understanding of <Stunning Spike> has deepened]


    [<Stunning Spike> has reached Silver Mastery]


    Though it wasn''t an immediate leap to Legendary, Ss assumed that this was because there was quite a big gap between F+ Skills and FF- Skills. So long as he raised Madness up to Silver Mastery, <Stunning Spike> would certainly follow.


    This should also be the reason why <King''s Shield> was still only at Bronze Mastery because it was FF+.


    Even so, the results were good.


    [Stunning Spike (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Your mind is sharper than others, so much so that you strip them of even their own ability to think and reflect clearly]


    [Cost is 7 Units of Aether in exchange for 1 second of confusion. For every 10% gap in Will, Cost will decrease by 1 Unit, with the lowest cost being 0.1 Aether Units]


    Ss checked his remaining coin total.


    [Coins: 39,723 (F)]


    He had spent quite a bit, it seemed that he still had far more money to churn through. In that case, he would buy up the things that interested him.


    He didn''t know the next time he would get a Nexus Ticket, and money left behind here would end up being just as useless as buying something useless. So he might as well take a gamble.


    He bought the Mirror Step Skill and two others.


    [Astral Will Fission (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Your mind is more flexible than others can fathom. Using your strong Will and a calm state, you can project your mind into the far-off distance, undetectable to all but those with a stronger Will than your own]


    [Form Astral Will by severing some of your Will stat. Warning, the more of your Will you sever, the more drastic the consequences should your Astral Will be shattered]


    [For every 100 Will severed, 5 Aether Units toplete Astral Will Fission]


    [For every 100 Will severed, gain 1 minute of travel time. Otherwise, use 5 more Aether Units]


    [Within 100 meters, there will be no additional cost of Aether. For every 10 meters beyond, there will be an additional 0.1 Aether Units of cost for every 10 seconds the Astral Will is maintained]


    [Cost: 9500 (F) Coins]


    This Skill was one that Ss would have likely bought whether he was trying to spend money or not. It felt far too useful if he found the right situation.


    In addition, after his Madness got its hands on it¡­


    [Your understanding of <Astral Will Fission> has deepened]


    [<Astral Will Fission> has reached Silver Mastery]


    [Astral Will Fission (FF-) (Skill)]


    ¡­


    [For every 100 Will stat severed, 2 Aether Units toplete Astral Will Fission]


    [For every 100 Will severed, gain 2 minutes of travel time. Otherwise, use 2 more Aether Units]


    [Within 100 meters, there will be no additional cost of Aether. For every 20 meters beyond, there will be an additional 0.1 Aether Units of cost for every 20 seconds the Astral Will is maintained]


    This Skill would be endlessly useful in scouting out regions ahead of time, and if he had had it earlier, he might not have suffered so much at the hands of Azrael.


    Though, it also required a lot of risk assessment.


    An Astral Will formed by just 100 Will would be easy to detect by any somewhat powerful person. But if he used more Will than that to hide it better, then should it ever be found, the bacsh would be several times worse.


    He would have to choose very carefully.


    Then, there was thest Skill. This one wasn''t in line with his Madness, at least not entirely, but he felt that it was about time he had a true attacking Skill.


    [Psychedelic Punch (FF-) (Skill)]


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 230 Heros

    230 Hero''s


    [Psychedelic Punch (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Your fists are as mysterious as your mind. They disorient the senses and are shrouded in their own legend.]


    [Cost is 1 Aether Unit per use. Requires a Visualized Conception to be used]


    [Cost: 4000 (F) coins]


    ---


    What Ss found interesting was that this Skill was probably the cheapest of the FF- Skills avable, but its description was intriguing. This Visualized Conception was something he had never heard of, so he asked the Madness Key about it and got quite a vague answer.


    [What is a Visualized Conception?]


    [An abstract concept that can only be grasped by those with the firmest of Wills and sharpest of minds. It is a method of projecting a Visualization of the mind into the outside world and using it to influence the minds and states of being of others. When used to attack, it will not only gather more Aether than usual, but it can also lead to ag in response by an opponent.]


    What fascinated Ss the most about this Skill was that it didn''t seem to have an obvious limit. The cost was 1 Aether Unit no matter what, and it didn''t seem to scale. Everything hinged on this Visualized Conception that was mentioned. And after learning what it was, Ss had a very good idea about what to use. In fact, it could be said that he already had one.


    Still, it seemed that he would have to wait until he tested out this attack first before he understood how powerful it was. In the end, Ss was still left with over 21,000 coins, so he decided to take a look at the treasure section. It hadn''t been his first choice to check out because there were simply too few he could use.


    Right now, he could split his mind six ways, and he still needed to reserve one for the control of his actual body. Plus, he had also gotten into the habit of keeping one in reserve just in case he needed to suddenly take something out of his Madness Key. That meant that he could control four things at once now, and usually three of those were upied by his kunai. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, when he remembered how the ballista had saved his life, he realized that maybe there was more to using treasures like this than he thought. Ss had several advantages that most others didn''t.


    For one, his storage device was farrger than most, so he could afford to carry around such heavy artillery.


    Second, his telekinesis gave him flexibility in deploying these weapons from afar and from differing positions, whereas someone else would have to personally control and aim the ballista themselves.


    Third, his visualization made his aim very urate inparison to others. At least within 20 meters, missing was almost entirely impossible. The enemy would have to force him to miss by evasion or something of the sort, but even then it would be difficult for most.


    Fourth, his Madness Key seemed to work differently from other spatial devices. He could put things inside as long as they were within range of his telekinesis, and he could also deploy them in the same fashion. Though, the further the distance, the moreg there was.


    Ss hadn''t realized this fact until recently, and it happened to enlighten him the moment he was in a heated battle with Azrael.


    This all made it so if Ss wanted to be a one-man artillery unit¡­ he was probably uniquely suited to do so.


    So, when he entered the treasure store, the first thing Ss looked for wererge artillery units. But what he didn''t expect was for his eyes to begin to water at the prices almost instantly.


    It seemed that most of these treasures were specifically designed for cities, so while the highest prices he had seen until now were only 100,000, it wasn''t long before he saw prices double and even triple that.


    ''Interesting. It seems that the grade of an item is subjective to the kind of item it is. A pistol, for example, will always be less expensive than a mounted machine gun even if they are of the same exact grade.''


    It could be said that until now, Ss was only looking at pistols, but now he was looking at machine guns. Even if they were both under the purview of a Bronze rated Nexus, the prices of the two obviously couldn''t be the same.


    There weren''t just weapons like this, there were alsorge city-protecting formations that were very simr to the one that Cassarae had used to hold on until his arrival, and there were also city buffs and things of the like.


    In the past, Ss had thought Cassarae was rich. But seeing how expensive it was to buy city-rted things, he certainly couldn''t say that anymore.


    Plus, there was the fact that the incentive structure for ranking so high on the leaderboard didn''t appear until after the Trial. So she didn''t even reap any rewards for being number one, and now she was entirely off the list.


    In the end, Ss could only lower his standards and start looking at items worth 20,000 coins at most. But as one might expect, they were mostly disappointing until hended on one item.


    ---


    [Hero''s Heart Shield (FF-)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Ability: Bulwark; Final Stand; Restore]


    [Form a Hero Heart with your best warrior, use their Will to amplify the defenses of your troops. For every 100 points of Will, amplify Constitution of up to 20 warriors by 10%]


    [m the shield into the ground, and in exchange for 1 Unit of Aether, create a shockwave that deflects 400 points of Damage]


    [Durability: 100/100]


    [Cost: 20,000 (F) coins]


    ---


    Ss'' eyes lit up when he saw this shield. He had taken Brant''s shield, hoping to use it, but he hadn''t been able to. This shield, however, would fix the one ring weakness that was holding him back.

 Chapter 231 Totem

    Chapter 231 Totem


    Ss exchanged for the shield and didn''t look back.


    The problem he faced with trying to use Brant''s shield was the same reason he couldn''t use his telekinesis to fly through the skies. It was a matter of power output.


    The shield was light enough for him to control with his telekinesis, but if he was fighting against someone and they dealt a heavy blow against it, its weight would multiply several times over in that brief instant, causing him to suffer.


    Even if he tried just controlling the shield to parry, the issue would remain the same. He would still need to exert some power to be able to do that.


    But this shield, there was a shockwave. That meant that the attack and the shield didn''t need to actually collide with one another. In addition, its effect was double that of <Solidify>, and though weaker than <King''s Shield>, that was a Skill he could only use when fused with the Basilisk King anyway.


    In addition, this was just the first benefit. This shield was so expensive not because of this ability but rather its ability to bolster Constitution.


    If he had this shield deployed, his Constitution would be increased by 30%, from its current 140 to 182. With the Scorned Wraps, at least on his fist, he would be able to exert 200 points of Constitution.


    This was huge and it wasn''t something he could look down on.


    This was only a Level 10 FF- treasure, so it would almost certainly have some limit at some point. But for now, this was huge.


    Although he was wasting a lot of this treasure''s potential, he didn''t care.


    The first thing Ss saw when he opened his eyes again was the shield. It was a tall wooden tower shield with an outline of bolted steel across its edges. Right in the center of it, there was a faint painting of a zing sun that seemed to be peeling away.


    ''Heavy¡­''


    That was the first thought Ss had. The shield was at least 50 lbs. Luckily, the capacity of his telekinesis had increased. Even with an item this heavy, he could still exert at least 90% of his telekinesis'' physical capacity without issue.


    Ss took a breath and put the shield away after testing it out. It could indeed increase his Constitution, but he had to activate Basic Aetherflow first; only that way could he link the abilities of his shield to himself without actually touching it.


    ''Not a bad tradeoff. I can use Basic Aetherflow for a much longer period in battle now anyway.''


    Once he was finished with this, Ss began to familiarize himself with his new Skills. After upgrading to Silver Mastery beneath the strength Madness, <Mirror Step> was able to form five mirror images from a single unit of Aether.


    <Stunning Spike> was interesting because it seemed to be a Skill that could miss if he wasn''t careful. At the very least, while it was invisible to his eyes, the spike formed from his Will was clearly visible in his visualization. If he met an enemy that was ready for it, it would be difficult to hit them.


    <Astral Will Fission> was¡­ more painful than he thought it would be. It wasn''t quite as bad as one might think splitting a soul might be, but it was instead more existential.


    When he activated it, it felt like he was staring into an abyss of death that he could never pull himself out of. It was an assault on his mind unlike anything he had experienced before.


    But interestingly enough, Ss actually found his Will being tempered by it. If not for the fact his Will Genes were far from being in a State of Wealth, he might have actually seen some increase.


    The actual experience of having already formed an Astral Will, though, was very interesting. It was like he had gained another pair of eyes that funneled information to his mind, like his thoughts had a split screen in them and he could easily experience two things at once.


    After some deliberation, Ss decided to dismiss his first 100 Will Astral Will and form a 200 Will one instead. He felt that the number of people with 200 Will was very few, and forming a 300 Will one would be far too much considering he only had 319 Will right now.


    Then, he sent this invisible Astral Will to scout out the situation in the vige. Only then did he turn his attention to


    .


    The reason Ss was so confident in this Skill was because he felt he already had a Visualized Conception¡­ His Serpentes Beast Totem.


    What was that if not a Visualized Conception? Its appearance alone could cause the stats of Serpentes beasts to plummet, and those Serpentes beasts on his side to gain a boost to their strength.


    So when Ss saw this, he immediately thought of if he could use it with this Skill. He decided to test it out as he waited for feedback from his Astral Will.


    Hopping down from the tree, he walked in the direction of his Astral Will to keep the distance close enough that his Aether consumption wasn''t so great. He took a breath, visualized his Beast Totem, and then punched out.


    At that moment, the world turned silent.


    A pair of golden, slit eyes appeared behind Ss and the glow on his fist shifted. Ss felt his heart shake before the punch was even sent out. His body shook and the air quaked.


    BANG!


    The muscles in Ss'' arm threatened to tear apart as a violent fist imprint surged out. The air pressure rushed out and mmed against a tree. Though it dispersed, the sound was akin to a solid THOCK, almost as though a sledgehammer had just rammed against its body.


    Ss came to a stop, his gaze flickering.


    made no promises about exactly how powerful it would be, presumably because this would all be dependent on how good your Visualized Conception was, at least up to a certain point. But just now¡­ He felt like this punch carried at least 300 points of Strength, more than double his current Strength¡­


    This should have been entirely impossible for a mere FF- Skill.Diiscover new ??tories at n??ve/lbin(.)c/o??n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 232 Return

    Chapter 232 Return


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. Despite the power of the punch, he realized several issues immediately. For one, his arm was throbbing as though he had just put it through a rigorous workout. He was certain that if he punched out with this same arm again, there would certainly be problems. The second issue was that far more of his Aether was used up than what the technique denoted. It said that it should have cost just one Aether Unit, and yet he had used up as much as five just now, and it even felt like the technique wanted to take more, but he was just unable to sustain it.


    However, Ss had a feeling that even if he could give the technique more, he certainly shouldn''t do it. That''s because his body definitely couldn''t withstand it. It didn''t seem to be a matter of Constitution as the damage came from his Aether channels themselves. His Constitution alone couldn''t seem to protect it.


    While increasing his Constitution would save the aching in his arm a bit, if he ignored everything else and continuously used this technique, he would likely rip his Aether channels apart, and then he wouldn''t even be able to use Skills anymore.


    Ss shook his head. It seemed that there was a price to pay for having such a good Visualized Conception. In all likelihood, if this


    Skill had been FFF- instead of FF-, then maybe it could withstand the brunt of his Visualized Conception. But ultimately, the Skill was too poor in quality to withstand the full extent of his Beast Totem.


    ''I''ll have to save it as a trump card for now, and maybe find a new Visualized Conception that can be used with it when I''m not bringing out so much power.''


    As Ss was lost in thought, he found that he had already once again entered a 100-meter range of the vige, and the feedback his Astral Will was giving him was quite substantial. As expected, even when he barely tried to hide him, no one detected him, and that was despite the pig demon vige being on high alert after thest attack. Their Wills were too inferior to sense him.


    However, as Ss explored the vige more and more, his expression couldn''t help but be solemn. The waters were, indeed, deep. While there were no other Level 15''s just hiding around, this vige had a full militia of 50, of which the worst were Level 8 and the best were Level 10. In addition to this, they had a Level 12 vige head leading the charge.


    Ss checked each and every one of their Levels with ease, and it was shocking to say the least. If he was careless in his approach, he would end up suffering again. But there was also good news. There were two weak points, both of which happened toe from the very same two outposts that he had attacked. One was still missing an outpost that had yet to be rebuilt, while the second was missing a ballista. The pig demonspensated for this with more warriors in these regions, but because of this, the other outposts were more scarcely popted.


    ''There are about twenty militiamen patrolling the walls alone. The other thirty are in the vige, but are still on high alert, likely waiting for the Level 15''s return. I can''t get too close to the Level 12 because there''s a chance that it has Will stronger than 200, so it''s a bit difficult to tell what the center of the vige is hiding. But¡­ this should be enough for now. Let''s take the slow approach¡­''


    Ss slid through the night. It was impossible to approach the vige walls secretly now. Not only were there torches lighting up the night, but there were several assigned just to focus on the ground alone. Clearly, they were prepared this time.


    <Mirror Step>


    The Skill churned through Ss and he split into five versions of himself that suddenly rushed toward the wall all at once. The pig demons were taken aback, but their reactions weren''t slow. They readied their crossbows and fired, but Ss dodged, his mirror images moving in sync with him.


    The roars filled the night air once more and amotion broke out, but by this point, and before the pig demons could reload, Ss had already jumped to the top of the walls, him and his five mirror images attacking all at once. The pig demons were flustered, but what several of them didn''t realize was that the mirror images couldn''t harm them at all.


    Ss focused on his own opponent for a moment. He didn''t use his kunai because while his mirror images reflected his actions, their actual position had to be controlled by him. Right now, controlling five of them was already his limit, but he wasn''t worried. He slipped the attack of a Level 8, blocked a descending de with an elbow to its elbow, and then unleashed a second furious elbow strike right through its face.


    The moment Ss felt the satisfying crunch, he released his control over his mirror images and they began to act oddly. They were still mirroring his actions, but because he wasn''t controlling their positions, their movements looked ridiculous as though they were throwing themselves to their deaths.


    By the time the pig demons understood that they were fighting mirages, Ss'' kunai already shed into existence, killing them. In one fell swoop, Ss killed three pig demons and then disappeared into the night once more, not forgetting to wipe out all the torches in the region by throwing them high and into the vige.


    This time, he would truly torch everything.


    The pig demons rushed to the location on the wall, but Ss had already long disappeared. Just when they were feeling wary, thinking that they had to stay on their guard, Ss attacked much sooner than any of them expected.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 chapter 233 Wants

    233 Wants


    Ss swept through another region of the wall as the fires in the vige began to glow furious and bright. The tents and buildings began to catch on fire, and soon a section of the militiamen had to be diverted just to deal with this outbreak alone. Since it wasn''t broken, Ss had no intention of fixing it. He used the same exact tactic once more, making use of five of his mirages and himself to attack just three patrol units on the wall. This time, the reaction of the pig demons was even faster because arge number of them had already rushed to the walls. But unfortunately for them, Ss was even more relentless this time than he was thest, almost as though he was getting used to the mirror images. In fact, he found that if he focused more, rather than having them mirror his actions, he could actually change their actions by giving a portion of his mind to them. The Skill broke through and entered Gold Mastery, allowing him to form 10 mirror images, but he never bothered to create more. Instead, he swiftly beheaded another three pig demons and stored them away once again. Just as he was about to vanish into the night once more, he realized that his chance had slipped away. The pig demons, if nothing else, had truly reacted with some great speed. They converged from both sides of the wall and Ss could already sense that a ballista was being aimed toward him. However, he directly ignored thetter. Even if it came firing over, he would use the pig demons as a shield. In this sort of melee battle, it was bound to be useless. Madness surged through Ss'' body and a fourth weapon rushed out to join his kunai¡­ The Level 17 de left behind by Azrael. He poured one Aether Unit into it and its Strength output increased by 85%, giving it the sharpness of a de wielded by Strength approaching 300. Ss'' mirror images lost their minds and began to mirror his actions like mindless clones. However, in the darkness, it was difficult to tell what they were doing exactly, so the pig demons that were rushing over ended up sending many of their crossbow bolts at them. The bolts whizzed right through and hit nothing but empty air. This took a great deal of pressure off of Ss'' real body as only one bolt rushed toward him, which he easily picked out and dodged. Just as the pig demons got close, his kunai and the sword whizzed out in unison. Two shed with darkness, one with a fiery redness, and thest with a cool, silver hue. They pierced through the skies and a battle erupted. The pig demons fought valiantly, but unfortunately, that meant that they were too upied to deal with Ss himself, who whizzed out like a bolt from the blue. He moved wherever his senses found opportunity, and even when his punches didn''t reap lives, his des did. Ss found himself to be in a state of unprecedented focus. In fact, he found that the range of his visualization had grown from 20 meters to almost 30. The only exnation seemed to be his breakthrough in <Maddened Enlightenment>. He had learned to focus even in the face of death, not to waver even in the face of the greatest danger. Suddenly sensing something, Ss didn''t hesitate to jump down from the city walls and vanish, not forgetting to throw several more torches into the center of the vige. Smoke began to rise from the skies and Ss lurked in the dark, his green irises glowing in the night. He looked up to find that there was some daylight trying to peek out, but because of the dense clouds, it would likely take at least another two hours before dawn made itself known. The darkness would hang on for a while longer. By now, he had killed all of the troops on the walls and then some. Of the initial militiamen, there were just 35 or so remaining from the original 50, and many of them were upied with fighting the mes. They were rushing in a line from their wells with heavy buckets to douse the raging inferno, but the situation was quickly getting worse. Ss didn''t believe that this wouldst long. He had already seen the Nexus, and there were many things in it that could help a vige tide over a situation like this one. So, he didn''t n on waiting until the situation got worse. He would make a move. Now. The trouble was that the vige head seemed to also be reacting oddly. It didn''t seem to have any intention of going to the Nexus, and had instead gathered up a group of elites. Including itself, there were six total. Five Level 10s and one Level 12. ---


    [Cracken (FF-)] [Level: 10] [Physical: 152] [Mental: 121] [Will: 151] ---


    [Streak (FF+)] [Level: 12] [Physical: 172] [Mental: 181] [Will: 178] ---


    This time, he could see the Level 12''s stats clearly and he almost felt like¡­ it was too weak. The grading system of the system was far too casual. If even this was ssified as an FF+, it was too much of a shame. Or in another sense¡­ Humans were far too weak. Ss couldn''t help but wonder¡­ in the outside world, would this pig demon even be an F+? A fire burnt in Ss'' gut without him noticing. It was passion¡­ a feeling that he had probably never felt for anything in his life. And yet, in the first moment he felt it, he didn''t even notice because his adrenaline was pumping too hot. He wanted this victory. Ss surged into action, leaping over the unmanned city wall and heading right toward the squad of elites. Not only did he want this victory, but he wanted it swiftly. With a BANG! the Hero''s Heart tower shield mmed into the ground and rushed ahead of him. At the same time, his kunai manifested and his eyes glowed with a fiendish light. Basic Aetherflow. His fists glowed with a green fog and he suddenly punched out.


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 234 Assault

    234 Assault


    Ss'' actions were sharp and ruthless. He had alreadye to understand theyout and exact positions of the pig demons thanks to his Astral Will. So there wasn''t the slightest hesitation in his actions.


    With billowing mes as his backdrop and a massive tower shield standing before him, he sent out a rain of fists. Every time he struck out, fist shadows would magically appear on the other side of the tower shield as though they had all appeared on their own.


    <Madness Control> was in full effect. His telekinesis and Physical strengthyered on top of one another, forming an average Strength that was less than his usual Madness-boosted telekinesis at just around 170 or so, and yet far more flexible and lethal.


    Green fist shadows filled the skies as he emptied his Aether reserves like he was firing from his hip. Without missing a beat, an Aether Replenishment Elixir came out from his Madness Key and he chugged it using his telekinesis.


    Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and Streak, the pig demon elite, and the others to his back seemed a bit slow to react. None of them seemed to expect that Ss would hop out like this, and once again, they had been caught off guard. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They tried to block the green fist shadows, but the Strength was beyond their imaginations. It felt like they were facing off against towering mountains, and the only one who seemed capable of blocking steadily was Streak itself. However, what they expected even less was that the moment the fists were barely dealt with, kunai would surge in from the darkness.


    Ss sent them flying out like arrows and, at the same time, he activated <Mirror Step>. He let his kunai fly through pre-destined gaps, releasing them from his Madness and then controlling his Mirror Images to rush out from around his shield, catching them all off guard.


    Several of the Level 10s were so shocked by the scene that they didn''t register the appearance of the kunai at all. Seeing this, Ss released his control over his mirror images, letting them flounder about just as his kunai struck home.


    One pig demon had their throat ripped out. The second was pierced right through the chest. The third barely managed to use its crossbow to block at thest moment, realizing that something was wrong. But that still cost it several fingers.


    By this point, Ss felt that his Aether had already been topped up, a few seconds shing in the blink of an eye. Now, he had one injured pig demon, two dead, and three more living and breathing.


    It was then that he summoned the Shadow de, and as expected, it had the exact reaction he wanted. The fear on Streak''s expression was palpable. He recognized the de immediately. But the result was still far better than anything Ss could have expected. The pig demon elite actually turned and ran, not even trying to look back.


    It was then that Ss used Basic Aetherflow to pool his Aether into the hovering de. At that moment, his mirror images dispersedpletely and the skies were filled with de shadows. Fear crossed the faces of the other elites, but this only made their situation worse.


    Their minds were enraptured by the de shadows, so much so that they didn''t notice the kunai wrapping around their backs and reaping their lives. Thest pig demons had fallen, but Ss didn''t even look at them, his focus on the pig demon elite that was rushing into the distance. Ss could see that it was running not toward an exit or a gate, but the center of the vige where the Nexus was.


    mes billowed all about and the raging storm seemed to only be getting worse with every passing second. Soon, it seemed like the entire vige would be engulfed.


    Ss realized that he had to stop the pig demon elite. There were too many variables that could crop up. Not only could there be some sort of trump card in there, but even if there wasn''t, with enough time the acting City Lord could exchange for something from the Nexus, or even activate some sort of protective barrier.


    Making a quick decision, Ss put away the tower shield and elerated forward. He used Sudden Burst for the first time in a while, hitting his top Speed almost instantly. Though the pig demon''s Physical was beyond his, Speed and Dexterity were clearly not its strong suits. In just a few strides, Ss was already closing the distance and the pig demon seemed to sense something.


    It turned back with a panicked expression and haphazardly fired a crossbow bolt. Three shimmering bolts moved through the air swiftly, and it seemed to be a modified treasure of some sort. Even the bolts seemed to suddenly further elerate through the air, appearing before Ss in the blink of an eye.


    There wasn''t enough time to change their trajectories normally. Ss could only dig deep, touching upon the Gluttony Seed and exerting more force through his telekinesis. His Will surged out like a torrent and flicked the bolts away, veering them around himself.


    His gut plummeted and a wave of fatigue hit him, but he focused on <Maddened Enlightenment>, his mind hitting a state of unprecedented focus. Just as the pig demon elite was a step away from the core of the vige, Ss finally felt that he was in range.


    His gaze shed and he pulled back a hand. His feet skidded to a stop and his hips dropped in a powerful stance. At that moment, a pair of golden eyes appeared to his back and his momentum loomed mightily.


    .


    A roar shot through the skies, a fist shadow wreathed in greenish-gold shot through the skies just as Ss activated <Stunning Spike>. The pig demon froze, and then its mind was assaulted by the greatest fear it had ever experienced.

 Chapter 235 Olden English

    ?Chapter 235 Olden Englishn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss winced slightly, but the result was still within expectations. He had even used his other arm just in case, so the damage wasn''t bad.


    Without missing a beat, he rushed through the rest of the vige, splitting off a 100 Will Astral Will to make sure that he didn''t miss anything. It was overkill considering the fact his visualization now had 30 meters of range and could envelop an entire third of the vige''s diameter, but he felt that it was precisely in this sort of situation that he shouldn''t let his guard down.


    Just like this, he systematically wiped out the remainder of the pig demons. In fact, the chaos was so great that most didn''t even realize what was happening until it was far toote.


    However, when it was finished, Ss realized that he had put himself on his own ticking timer. Without the numbers to fight the fire, things were quickly getting out of hand.


    Without the time to waste, he rushed to the center of the vige and ripped his way into the City Lord''s abode. He was cautious, just in case there was a trap lying in wait. This was the one ce he hadn''t scouted out fully because he was worried about the pig demon elite having more than 200 Will.


    But there was luckily nothing of the sort. The heat was getting to be overbearing, so he shielded himself in ayer of Aether skin. Then, he nketed the region and quickly found the City Stele. However, he knew what kind ofmotion it would cause to conquer this city, so he didn''t start immediately, looking through everything else in the region to make sure that he hadn''t missed anything.


    But in the end, the City Stele was all there was. Unlike the gnoll vige, there didn''t seem to be anything special lying in wait.


    Suddenly, Ss'' head snapped in a certain direction. He walked forward and then mmed a leg down.


    With a BANG! a floorboard shattered to pieces. Ss reached down and grabbed, pulling what was down below up.


    All the while, his expression continued to flicker. He had actually not managed to see this before and had almost been out of luck entirely. The only reason he had was because his senses picked up the sound of breathing that was asymmetrical to his own. The moment he locked onto it, he realized there was a hollow spot in the floor.


    [Archibald Flowning (FFF-)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Profession: Master Tinker (Silver)]


    [Special Talent: Scrapyard (Upgradeable)]


    [One man''s trash is another man''s treasure. This ability allows a Tinkerer to find the value in cast-off items and make more with less.]


    [Tavorability: N/A]


    Ss'' expression flickered. This information... should have been hidden. It shouldn''t be possible, as far as he knew, to even see the Profession of someone else, let alone see the details of said Profession.


    The only exnation seemed to be that this man wasn''t actually a part of the city at all. Now that Ss thought about it, ever since he came here, he had had to deal with a lot of treasures, more than usual. Every pig demon was outfitted with crossbows, then there was the ballista that had almost taken his life.


    Could all of this be rted to this man?


    "Pray thee, spare my life! I am of service!" Ss was taken aback again. This man wasn''t like Azrael, or maybe he was smarter than Azrael. He was speaking in the universalnguage of Earth, but it sounded... old?


    It was almost like he was listening to someone from 50 years ago speak to him. This was the kind of dialect he would only hear in an advanced English Lit ss.


    "Who are you?" Ss suddenly asked. ''How did you end up here?"


    "I''m the engineer of this city!"


    "You aren''t a pig demon, though. So how did you end up here?"


    "I-uh." The man looked out of sorts.


    The more Ss looked at him, the more he felt that this man was simply too... stereotypical. He had a head of sparse greying hair, he worerge framed sses, one of the lenses of which was cracked, and he wore a dirty greyb coat that looked like it had seen far better days.


    "... I beg your pardon, sir. I truly cannot recollect. My memories stretch back only so far as this."


    "Who brought you here?"


    "Ah, this... I too cannot recall!"


    Ss looked into the man''s eyes, still holding him up by his cor, but not quite understanding what


    to do.


    An FFF- Profession, and especially of this sort of Profession in particr, was extremely useful. In fact, it could be said that what he wanted Professor Fembroise to be able to do in the future, this man was already capable of.


    The issue was that this problem was too troublesome.


    They were on the Aether ne now, where would he put this man? He couldn''t return to Paradise or Lonestar without going through the Paradise Portal, but how could he sneak a person into such a ce?


    Could he put the man into the Madness Key? He certainly had enough space, but he had no idea if there was air or not in there. If there was no air, that would be fine enough. But if it was a vacuum like that of space, the man would probably die from worse things than suffocation. At least suffocation wouldn''t be immediate and Ss would still have time to save him.


    "What was your n if you managed to escape detection here?"


    "n?" The man looked more confused. "I was instructed merely to conceal myself here in the event of battle, sir. Escaping was never my intention; I am far too feeble:


    Ss slowly nodded. It seemed that he wouldn''t have any fate with this person. There were only two optionsid out before him. Either he gives this man over to Lucius to benefit from, or he leaves the man here where he would certainly die.


    In the end, Ss had no choice but to choose the former. At least in this case, he might have a chance to reverse the situation in the future.

 Chapter 236 Conquer

    Chapter 236 Conquer


    Ss hauled Archibald over his shoulder, but his senses never left the man. This sort of Profession was exactly the kind that was easy to underestimate. He didn''t believe that Archibald truly had no method of protecting himself, and the oddity of his dialect, and appearing in this vige as seemingly the only human¡­ there were things about this that he simply could not ignore.


    He ced a hand on the City Stele.


    [View City Status]


    [Conquer City Stele?]


    [Enter Nexus]


    [Conquer City]


    [Yes]


    At that moment, a pir of light roared into the skies. In this region, even though it was the dead of night, it seemed as though it had be as bright as day. If the raging mes weren''t eye-catching enough, this pir was bound to be on an entirely different level.


    [Conquer Sequence Triggered]


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:59]


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. This was very troublesome. A minute felt short under most circumstances, but now it felt like far too much. This was the first time he was conquering a city on his own and not at the behest of someone else. Last time, he had been under the parameters of a Quest, so it wasn''t quite the same at all.


    He realized now that he wasn''t actually sure what would happen once it was concluded. As far as he was aware, from the limited knowledge his grandfather had given him, conquering other cities was the best way to promote your own. So, Ss assumed that Cassarae got all the benefits thest time.


    But what did it mean now that he was the one who was doing it on his own? Would it go to the Grimdes because of his Affiliation? Had it always gone to the Grimdes? But the Grimdes didn''t have an official city. Instead, it was separated into three factions led by Lucius, Mchi, and Astrid.


    But the potential benefits were probably the furthest thing from his mind right now. Near this vige, there were two portals, not to mention Azrael''s background being a wild card in all of this. That meant that there were at least three powers that could have eyes on this situation, and maybe more, depending. It might even attract beasts over here.


    So, as he watched the timer tick down, he felt that every slow second was another weight on his heart. However, his eyes remained sharp, and his senses primed. This gamble had almost worked out, but it could very easily go wrong if he took a wrong step. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    **


    Ragnar Ravenw tossed and turned in his sleep, not able to calm his mind. He knew that sleep was more important to him now than it had maybe ever been. But he couldn''t get today''s events out of his mind. Those mammoth corpses were valuable even to him, but he had lost them just like that. He might have even been able to finally see some progress in his Level.


    The only saving grace was that he had poisoned them. He knew that he was the only one that could absorb those Gene Cores without ruining his body. He hoped that that bastard died choking on his own greed.


    Suddenly, Ragnar''s eyes snapped open and he leapt out of bed. In a step, he had already reached his door and yanked it open. On the other side, an attendant was startled. They had just been about to inform Ragnar of a few things, but it seemed that they hade toote for it to matter.


    Ragnar squinted and looked into the distance through a window.


    ''City is being conquered? There are no reports of a city being so nearby¡­ Granted, we only came recently. There hasn''t been time to scout out the entire region just yet.''


    Ragnar cursed. He had just established this city and couldn''t easily leave its limits. He preferred to do things on his own, but it would be difficult to get any aplished with an official city. And it was precisely because he liked getting things done on his own that he didn''t entrust someone else to be the City Lord. Though, it was doubtful that any Heir would do this.


    The question was should he send someone? The distance was close enough. The conquering sequence had just started, and assuming the City Stele was still in the vige tiers, there would only be a minute to work with.


    In the end, Ragnar gave up on trying to benefit from the situation. But, he definitely needed to scout it out or else being in the dark in the future would cause problems. Somehow, another power had conquered a city, something that should have taken a substantial endeavor, right under his nose. That left him feeling uneasy. Matched with what happened earlier in the day with that mysterious snakeman, it was even more important for him to be on top of things.


    "Send out Poppy," he eventually said. "Tell her not to engage unless there is an opportunity. I want information, first and foremost."


    "Right away, sir!"


    **


    The System City was known as Orciulius City. At the moment, it was still quite vacant, but it had already begun showing signs of activity. Try as Lucius might, getting people to stop going into and supporting System Cities was far too difficult. Just in terms of the aura it exuded, and the sense of security it projected, it was on an entirely different level.


    Steel walls rose up 20 meters into the sky, skyscrapers loomed tall and imposing, and there was an order and conviction to the city that simply couldn''t be found in other ces. Plus, most importantly of all, there wasw.


    There were no indiscriminate killings allowed in the city, one could start up an entire life here, even be protected from beast tides and fellow humans alike. They were even safer locations than the capital cities of their so-called governments back on Earth.


    Deep in the core of this City, a man, too, woke up and looked toward the distance. When he saw the pir of light, he felt a rare fluctuation in his emotional state.

 Chapter 237 Free

    Chapter 237 Free


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:09]


    Ss watched the timer like a hawk, feeling like he was walking on a tightrope right now. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Time to Sess: 00:00:01]


    SHOOOM! A rush of air and golden light spread out, and Ss felt incredibly light all of a sudden.


    [City Conquered]


    [Do you want to disce city?] [Yes][No]


    Ss realized that he could just establish a new city right here. There were certainly penalties for discing the city, but he didn''t particrly care. He had no intention of starting up a city. He couldn''t afford to be locked down to a single area right now, and even if he could, it wasn''t yet time to shed pretenses with the Grimde family. When he moved his intention toward "yes," he received a pleasant surprise.


    [Yes Selected]


    [You are not a City Lord. Do you want to keep this Fragmented City Stele? Or would you like to sacrifice it for <???> Free Experience?]


    The system seemed to be calcting something, and it suddenly spit out a number. The question marks shifted and changed, being rearranged like fluttering runes until they solidified.


    <10,000>


    Ss suddenly understood. This Free Experience¡­ could he use it on his Vipermancer Profession? That was a huge amount of Experience. As far as he knew, the only missions that would allow him to collect that much was¡­


    [>Modify Hibernation Realm into Laboratory: 10,000 Experience]


    There were no other rewards that even came close to that total. And it seemed that because it was called Free Experience, he could arrange them as he saw fit. Realizing this, Ss immediately chose to sacrifice the City Stele. Keeping it would do him no good, and in all likelihood, if he did, he might have to hand it over to Lucius. Although he had already gained quite a bit, especially from the pig demon corpses he had yet to scavenge through, that didn''t mean he liked the idea of others benefiting from his struggle. He felt a swell rush through his body, then felt a change.


    [10,000 Free Experience Earned]


    ---


    Ss didn''t wait. He immediately began to allocate the experience as he rushed out with Archibald over his shoulder.


    ---


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 4]


    [Experience: 0/10,000]


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv4]


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Silver> Genes]


    ---


    First, he allocated 150 Experience to Taboo Bond just to check if the Free Experience worked as he expected. He also wanted to see if every Level up really did give him the right to go after stronger Genes. As expected, he could now Extricate Silver Genes. However, he was shocked to see the Leveling requirement to hit the next milestone. But in the end, he calmed down. He had yet to even see a Silver Gene. Even if he could upgrade to Extricating Gold Genes, it was worthless. However, the benefits of One Kind For Me and Were-for-the-Invincible would be more immediately useful.


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 5]


    [Experience: 0/1600]


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv5; Insight Lv5]


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <60%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <1600%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <500%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <100%>]


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    ---


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 5]


    [Experience: 0/1600]


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv5]


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <1 minute> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <240 seconds>]


    ---


    Ss'' gaze shed when he saw this. It seemed that the immediate benefits truly were more. He had only spent 890 Experience and had gained so much. So, he spent another 3200.


    ---


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 6]


    [Experience: 0/3200]


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv6; Insight Lv6]


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <70%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <3200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <600%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <120%>]


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 6]


    [Experience: 0/3200]


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv6]


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <30 seconds> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <8 minutes>]


    ---


    Now, with the synergy of these two talents, he could finish fusing with the Basilisk King in just five seconds. Now, he only had 5910 Free Experience left. It wasn''t enough to buff both of them, but only one.


    If he chose Were-for-the-Invincible, he would likely increase the Fusion period to 16 minutes and cut down the Fusion speed to as low as two to three seconds.


    ''Wait¡­ looking at this screen, there''s something I didn''t consider. Were-for-the-Invincible and One Kind For Me are two Paths that I picked specifically for their synergy. Until now, I''ve only used the synergy to speed up the Fusion. But looking at the Beast Totem''s ability¡­ When I fuse with the Basilisk King, could it be that I could use it to buff myself?''


    The fusion ability came from his Were ability, and the Beast Totem came from his One Kind For Me ability. In the past, he chose them purely for synergy, believing that they could build off one another, and he had been satisfied with the results until now. But had he been too conservative with his thoughts?


    In the end, Ss chose to buff One Kind For Me one more time for two reasons.


    First, the bacsh on his body thest time he fused made him realize that he couldn''t do it lightly. In addition, whenever he was heavily injured, it didn''t work and became a useless ability.


    Second, his next target was going to be the Arctic Cobras where having his Beast Totem would be endlessly useful. In addition, in case he was right about his Beast Totem working on himself after a sessful Fusion, then the benefits of a 140% buff would be off the charts for him, especially if it urred on top of the boost to his stats given through the fusion itself.


    The moment Ss made the decision, his visualization picked up on something that made hime to a grinding halt. Ignoring Archibald''s protests, he ducked and rolled, his reaction speed much faster now that his visualization range had hit 30 meters.


    BANG!


    The ground he had just been standing on exploded.

 Chapter 238 Burning

    Chapter 238 Burning


    Ss'' gaze shed with a cold light. It seemed that whenever he got into trouble, it came in endless waves. However, every time it happened, he seemed to be more and more used to it. His body, which had begun to cool down after the battle, suddenly began to heat up once again. As he rolled, he left Archibald behind a tree and the direction of the arrow had already been retraced through his mind. In an instant, he had already pulled out a ballista bolt. By the time he had popped back up to his feet, the bolt had appeared at the edge of his visualization range, and heunched it at full speed. The archer didn''t expect that an attack would suddenly appear dozens of meters from Ss'' location. They were so focused on Ss himself that they weren''t prepared. Still, they were incredibly skilled and reacted quickly. In fact, the moment they sent out the arrow, they had already begun to move. And, because of the dy, they had already made it a decent distance away. But Ss hadn''t expected to actually hit them. He just wanted them to know that he wasn''t an easy target. Sometimes, deterrence was the best sort of defense. Psychological warfare was no less important than realbat. Ss leaned to the side and grabbed out, pulling the back of Archibald''sb coat and hauling him over a shoulder again. In just a few blinks, he had already curved around several trees and continued to elerate. He checked his body state to see if he could use Fusion now but realized quickly that he was still injured. However, he had a vague understanding that he was actually quite close to being able to take this next step. ''The upgrades to my Paths should have also subtly made it easier to Fuse while also being injured¡­'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Carry this." Ss said coldly. Before Archibald could react, the Hero''s Heart tower shield appeared in his hands. The engineer lurched forward but still managed to hold on. Whether he had levels or not, he was still a grown man. Holding up 50 pounds was difficult, but if it meant protecting his life, he could still do it. "If you don''t want to die, keep holding it up."


    Having been hauled over Ss'' shoulder, Archibald''s position was awkward to say the least. He could only rely on his shoulders and biceps to hold the tower shield up, and with the speed Ss was moving at, the jostling around was making 50 pounds feel a lot more like double that. The only support Ss could give him was making sure he didn''t have to worry about falling off, but other than that, there was nothing else they could do. At that moment, another arrow came. Ss didn''t miss a beat, activating Basic Aetherflow. The shield mmed downward and was almost ripped out of the engineer''s control. But the rebound against the ground was quick and sharp, even lessening the burden on him for a small second. BANG!


    A shockwave rippled out, and a spherical shield appeared around them. The arrowing from the distance deflected, being sent spiraling into the distance. Ss caught it with his telekinesis and sent it flying back from where it came just as fast. He didn''t stop his steps even a single time, his pace increasing. His control over his body had reached an unprecedented level, but running with someone on his back had thrown his bnce off and plummeted his efficiency. Unless he was willing to use <Madness Control> now, it wasn''t easy to counter that loss in efficiency, so at best, he could output around 90 Speed or so. But the more he got used to it, the more he elerated, and the faster his pace became. Soon, he had surpassed 100 Speed, and then 110. He ended up reaching a cap at 120 despite the fact his real Speed was 140, but he didn''t seem to mind it at all. Not only was he injured, but he was now carrying over 200 pounds on his shoulder. To be able to hit this pace at all was a testament to his Constitution and Strength. At the same time, he strained his senses, paying attention to every little ripple in the surroundings. Suddenly, he felt a spike of danger. However, there was nothing detected in his visualization. Even so, he responded to his instinct, knowing that it had toe from his Luck. The shield mmed into the ground again, rippling outward. The moment the ripple of energy hit the energy shield, it appeared in Ss'' visualization, but that was also the exact same moment he noticed it break through. It exceeded 400 points of Damage. Ss'' expression flickered. Just who was chasing after him like this? He could feel his lungs screaming, his heart rate increasing. Veins bulged across his body, and he dug deep. There was nowhere to dodge. A roar came from Ss'' mouth, something that he truly never expected from himself. He rolled his shoulder forward and twisted his hips. In that instant of time, Archibald''s body twisted as well, and the shield in his arms spun. Ss used his telekinesis to lessen the load on the engineer''s joints and shoulders, pulling the shield right into the path of theing arrow. BANG!


    Archibald screamed, and Ss shook, his forward momentum having taken a hit due to his sudden movement and the impact of the arrow. Ss took a step back, and the soil beneath his feet sunk. His green irises shed in the night, but he felt something boiling inside of him. It was beyond adrenaline, beyond fear. For a moment, he seemed to strip away the mask that covered his face, and his Will zed. [Title Upgraded] [A Flexible Will > A Burning Will] [Your Will is truly one of a kind. While immature and still growing, it burns with a furious intent. Continue to forge it, young man] [+20 Will]

 Chapter 239 Passion

    Chapter 239 Passion


    Green mes seemed to erupt within Ss'' eyes and he suddenly punched out with his free arm. A fist of burning intent thrummed through the world and shot into the distance. A second fist appeared, then a third. Theyyered atop one another and then elerated as they grew in size. At the same time, an arrow that had spiraled into the distance was grasped by Ss and he sent it erupting forward. With the increase to his Will, his telekinesis was capable of disying 221 points of Strength. But now, with Basic Aetherflow, he could disy the might of a Fragmented F- Skill, boosting it by another 10%.


    At the same time, his fists carried 140 points of Strength. With a 10% boost, they were at 154. But whenyered three times over one another under the control of Ss'' mind being pushed to their absolute limits, they broke through their limits again. While it should have disyed 462 points of Strength, there was some loss, resulting in a power that was just under 400 and a Speed that was just as exaggerated. Ss'' telekinesis seemed to have reached a new level entirely. The archer in the distance felt their heart shake. Fists soared forward, and an arrow hidden in the shadows snuck in behind it. Ss didn''t wait to find out what happened. He used his nt foot, pushing against the ground hard. In one swift motion, he adjusted Archibald''s position on his shoulder again and shot off into the distance, not paying mind to anything else. He diverted some of his telekinesis to lighten the load on his shoulder and elerated further, hitting his true 140 Speed. Soon, he had vanished into the darkness. ¡­ A groan echoed as an archer grabbed onto her thigh. In it, an arrow had gone almost all the way through. But the damage around her was what was truly shocking. She leaned against a high tree, but there was a deep crater cut into one¡­ a crater that looked exactly like the fist of a giant had smashed right into it. Ironically, if not for this crater, she would have already fallen out of this tree. It was thanks to it that she had space to lean back¡­ but it was also thanks to it that she had been pierced through the leg by her own arrow. She hadn''t thought that Ss would be able to not only send out such an attack across 40 meters of distance, but even sneak a second attack in behind it. What was even more ridiculous was that she had been harmed by her own arrow. If others learned of this, she would truly be aughing stock. Just what kind of ability was that? Telekinesis? She had heard of it before in passing, but she had never seen telekinesis that was so powerful. ''Fuck. Ss Grimde¡­'' Her gaze shed with murder. She felt like it was too much of a joke. How could someone not on the rankings have such power?


    The worst part was that even with her advanced scouting ability, she could only see his name and nothing else. But knowing that it was a Grimde was all she needed. It seemed that their Ravenw family wasn''t the only one in this region. ¡­ Ss was surprised to find that he wasn''t attacked again. Had his attack worked out better than he thought? Unfortunately, the archer was outside the range of his visualization so he hadn''t been sure. But even if she had been, he wouldn''t have stuck around. He felt like that Archer was the least of his worries. If things really went south, and Azrael was from a System City like he spected, then he might be sieged much worse if hegged behind any longer. As far as Ss knew, System Cities should have far more restrictions. But since they had managed to send someone out to conquer a city, that meant that their restrictions weren''t nearly as great as he thought they were, or at the very least, they could ignore them for a price. He remembered that Azrael''s Genes were inessible to him. Maybe that was rted to the price that had been paid¡­ Yet, he was so powerful nheless, and that couldn''t help but leave Ss feeling solemn. Dozens of minutester, Ss saw Lucius'' city in the distance and he was suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue. He felt that his body was about to copse. It was only now he realized just how much his Will was holding him up. He also realized something very important as well¡­ He wasn''t eating nearly enough. By now, thest time he had eaten was already almost 24 hours ago. Although he had eaten a lot, if he wanted to support his body, he couldn''t do this. "Halt!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A sound came from an outpost, but Ss wasn''t surprised. If Lucius just let him stroll in with a random unknown person, then he would be too ipetent. Soon, though, Ss had checked in and Lucius was informed about the existence of Archibald. As for Ss, he chose to leave. He wanted to shower and to also eat, then rest. He would set out again tomorrow, going for the home of the Arctic King Cobra. Even if he had to break his body into pieces every day, that would be what he had to do. He felt like there was a guillotine hanging over his head, and he couldn''t stand to waste even a single time. But for the first time in his life¡­ he felt true excitement. Once he shed fear and started to take control of his life again, he found something hidden deeper within¡­ Passion. This was what he had been looking for his entire life. No amount of hours in theb, academic research, or flowery des could match up to this. So even with his body beaten and broken¡­ He suddenly wanted to go out and do it all over again. It was as he was furiously eating that something he expected came. Lucius entered his dining hall with a shining light in his eyes.

 Chapter 240 Reward

    Chapter 240 Reward


    [1000 PSs bonus chapter]


    Lucius sat across from Ss, not interrupting his eating. He didn''t say anything immediately, but neither did Ss.


    It wasn''t that Ss was so anti-social, it was more so they both knew that it was a bit rude of Lucius toe and interrupt Ss when he was trying to recover. But it was also clear that Lucius had done this more so out of appreciation for Ss than anything else.


    He simply sat there and sipped at what looked like water, and Ss inhaled food as though he hadn''t eaten in weeks.


    Soon, Ss had finished off thest of his food and looked up. The gazes of the two men met, and there seemed to be a sh of sorts¡­ but this was too crude of an exnation.


    There was a fire in Ss'' chest that had yet to wane, and because of that, it was hard for Ss to restrain his usual thoughts. So at the moment, every thought seemed to be reflected into the air, his Charisma, not to mention his Voice of a King Gene Talent, painting a visual that took Lucius aback.


    However, Lucius'' Will didn''t seem to be weak either. He met Ss'' gaze and watched as the green mes in his eyes slowly extinguished.


    Inwardly, Lucius couldn''t help but shake his head. He had meant every word he said back then. Free Wills like Ss were too difficult to control. Rather than leaving such variables lying around, it was better to just directly kill them. He couldn''t see things the same way Astrid or Mchi did.


    However, there was no denying how useful Ss was to him.


    Not only had he brought back the disk he thought had be a lost cause, but now he had brought back Archibald and information about an encampment of another powerful family. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    In terms of impact, Ss had proved himself more useful than his first pick. Though, it would take time for Nathan to disy his usefulness.


    The disk was a huge boon. Though it was damaged, it would help them to secure the region around Paradise and truly make it their own. This would make it far easier to advance and retreat.


    When Portals grew toorge, there would also be more area to cover and protect. It would also make it far easier for others to sneak into this region and learn the location of their city.


    But now, once the disk had been refined and fixed, they would have perfect control over this.


    Of course, this wouldn''tst forever. The disk was just a temporary measure and it couldn''t stop the Aether ne from fusing with Earth.


    But it would still buy them several months of time, and a lot could be done.


    Then there was Archibald. An upgradeable Profession was incredibly rare, but what was far more curious were Archibald''s origins. These sorts of secrets were enough to move those in the shadows of the Grimde family, and if Lucius reported this matter, then he would gain a huge advantage over Mchi and Astrid even if he didn''t get to keep Archibald himself.


    It could be said that aftergging behind, this one move by Ss had helped him to pull ahead of his two cousins. Soon, that would be reflected in both resources and his Level.


    That left Lucius in a dilemma.


    On the one hand, Ss was simply far too useful.


    On the other¡­ he was too useful.


    "You''ve done me a great service this time, Ss. I did not reward you nearly enough for your first helping hand, and before I could get such a chance, you handed me yet another gift.


    "This time, I can''t make the same mistake as the first time. I am willing to give you any Skill you desire up to the FFF- rank. I can also grant you 10 000 coins and a chance to use our city''s Nexus. If there''s anything else you need, feel free to let me know now."


    Ss'' gaze shed, and after a moment of thought, he spoke.


    "For the FFF- Skill, I would like the highest upgraded form of <Basic Scouting>. And instead of the 10 000 coins and ess to the Nexus, I need a method of transportation that''s more convenient. Maybe a mount of some sort. Preferably of the Serpentes lineage. But I would take anything with decent Speed and strong stamina."


    Lucius'' brows raised. The Serpentes? Why is that?


    Ss knew that this might give Lucius more information than he wanted to give, but he also didn''t mind it too much.


    This gave him a chance. He wanted to see the depths Lucius had. Would he really be capable of this? And if he was capable of it, what did that say about what the Grimde family was capable of?


    The mount was only really a secondary ask, he didn''t care about it much. Not having one wouldn''t be an issue because it would just give him a chance to strengthen his own stamina.


    What he really wanted was the scouting Skill. He had run out of money to trade for a good one before because his priorities were elsewhere. But now that he had an opportunity to shore up that weakness, he would take it.


    "Hm. I should be able to do both, but a snake mount is too rare. It will likely have to be a normal F- mount unfortunately."


    Lucius was very candid and didn''t hide anything.


    "Tell you what. I will give you both the mount and a method of holding them. Hopefully, that will make up for this folly. As for your Skill, you cane and pick it up tomorrow."


    Lucius gave Ss a nod and then stood. Soon, he had disappeared.


    Ss watched him leave. The calmer Lucius was, the less time he felt like he had.


    ¡­


    As expected, the next moment, he gained exactly what he wanted.


    [Master Scouting (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Basic of Beast Holding (F-) (Treasure)]


    Taking these two items, Ss left the city once more under the guise of continuing his scouting mission.

 Chapter 241 Master Scouting

    Chapter 241 Master Scouting


    [300 GTs bonus chapter]


    [Master Scouting (FFF-) (Skill)] [Requirement: 100 Mental; 100 Will] [Use this Skill to reveal Master Information on living and non-living targets. Scales with Mental and Will] [Basic Information: Species; Grade; Level; Stats; Abilities] [Advanced Information: Stat Breakdown]


    [Master Information: Skill Information; Comprehension Information]


    ---


    Ss was pleasantly surprised to see this. Although he would only be able to see this information after a Skill or Comprehension was used, this was still far greater than anything he had faced before. In the past, he could only sense that a Skill was being used and wait for the result. But with <Master Scouting>, he could get a breakdown of the Skill.


    But what was interesting was that Advanced Information, which should refer to <Advanced Scouting>, included a Stat Breakdown. But Ss was already able to see this by using Madness and <Basic Scouting> at the same time.


    In that case, if he used <Master Scouting> with Madness, would he be able to see <Grandmaster Scouting> information? Or at least something close to it?


    At least for now, Ss didn''t see a difference. But this would be very helpful in the future. Not only would it help him protect himself in battle, he would also be able to build an understanding of the mostmon Skills as well. It would make him sharper in battle and make him capable of taking the initiative instead of always having to wait for others to act first.


    [Basic of Beast Holding (F-) (Treasure)] [Small space capable of holding one Mount up to Level 10]


    It seemed that a Mount was a very specific kind of beast, and their abilities were quite unique at that. This was something Ss had learned after he took a look at the beast out.


    ---


    [Dire Wolf (F-) (Mount)] [Level: 10]


    [Attribute: (Empty)] [+40% Speed and Dexterity] [Limit: 200 Speed and Dexterity]


    ---


    It seemed that the stats of the Mount were entirely dependent on the one riding them. But in exchange for this, they were highly limited.


    Normal Mounts couldn''t be used inbat. If Ss tried to enter abat state while riding one, the subtle connection between the two would be broken and the Mount would begin to rely on its own stats which were far weaker.


    This was true of all Mounts regardless of Grade. If you wanted a Mount that could break these rules, you would need a Combat Mount. But by Grade, a Combat Mount was easily tens to hundreds of times more expensive than a normal Mount.


    Of course, Ss wasn''t interested in such things because while others would have to rely on Dens or the Nexus to trade for such things, his Profession would allow him to create his own Combat Mounts.


    The trouble, of course, was that he couldn''t seem to form this subtle connection that allowed him to use the beast more like a Treasure than a living being. For example, he couldn''t ride the Basilisk King and use it as a conduit to increase his Speed¡­


    But then again, he had never tried to do so either. Maybe there were hidden abilities to his Profession that he wasn''t aware of. Or maybe, there were certain Skills that he could learn externally to supplement it.


    After all, he had seen an entire shop of items that could only be bought by certain Professions, and many of them had been supplemental materials that taught one how to be more efficient and skillful in taking advantage of their Profession.


    His Profession had granted him the Legendary Tamer Title, and it alone was the first Legendary Item he had seen. Until now, he had never even seen a Silver Item, so its specialness couldn''t be underestimated.


    There was probably more potential within it that he had yet to realize.


    Ss hopped onto the back of the ck-furred Dire Wolf. It was quite a valiant creature, with fur so thick it almost seemed to have a mane, and tall enough to stand almost three meters tall.


    Ss could even cross his legs on its back if he really wanted to, but he had to be sharp and always ready for battle. Even if he had a mount, he wouldn''t allow himself to lower his guard. Or else, if he identally entered a battle state, he would die before he realized what happened.


    ¡­


    196 Speed and Dexterity felt great. Even the Dire Wolf seemed like it was enjoying itself a great deal.


    Despite the density of trees, it weaved in and out of the region with great ease and Ss himself felt that these sorts of stats were already approaching a level that only something with an engine could match.


    But unlike a car or something of the sort, the wolf was several times more agile. Even if he had a car avable to him in this ce, Ss would choose the wolf ten out of ten times.


    He had only casually asked for a mount, not even realizing that there was a special category of beast for this specific matter. But in the end, he had ended up being pleasantly surprised.


    This creature would make many things far more convenient.


    However, after the novelty wore off, Ss began to get more serious. That was because as he moved closer to his destination, he noticed that the number of Mammoths in the region was also increasing. But each one had power that still made him shudder.


    The deeper they went, and the denser the snow became, therger these mammoths became.


    Ss steered the Dire Wolf around them, going out of his way much of the time. The mammoths weren''t known for their Speed, and they didn''t seem to be aggressive creatures either, but he had no intention of taking any chances. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As night descended and the day waned, Ss had traveled so far that the trees began to grow sparse. The temperature dropped and the snow became harsher.


    The stamina of the Dire Wolf felt endless, but after a few hours, Ss realized that this "stamina" was actuallying from him. It was using up his Aether, though in small amounts. It only seemed to be about one Aether Unit per 15 minutes or so. Though¡­ he was probably one of the very few who would say that this was a small price.


    Now, though, his mind was upied by other things.


    He believed he was approaching the Arctic Circle, but now it was a matter of where exactly the Arctic King Cobras were.

 Chapter 242 Rune Sight

    Chapter 242 Rune Sight


    [600 GTs bonus chapter]


    [Flying Kunai (Bronze)]


    [Level: 10] [Ability: Pierce; Evolve] [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <2%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether] [Level Up Requirement: <1 Bronze> Genes]


    [Durability: 7/10] ¡ª


    [Flying Kunai (Bronze)]


    [Level: 10] [Ability: Pierce; Evolve; me Damage] [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <2%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether] [Level Up Requirement: <1 Bronze> Genes]


    [Damage increased by 5%]


    [Durability: 6/10] ¡ª


    [Flying Kunai (Bronze)]


    [Level: 10] [Ability: Pierce; Evolve; Dark Damage] [Increase Strength Effectiveness by <2%> for every <0.1> Units of Aether] [Level Up Requirement: <1 Bronze> Genes]


    [Damage increased by 5%; Damage increased by 10% in the night]


    [Durability: 6/10] ¡ª


    As Ss continued, he used the excess Common Genes he collected to upgrade his kunai. But the problem was the Durability.


    It seemed that for a long time, they had been at 10. But the moment they started to dip downward, they did so quickly. Ss still had no idea how to fix them other than rely on someone with a cksmithing Profession of some sort. But not just anyone could fix a weapon of the Legendary Path like this one.


    Once Durability dipped down to half, the Treasure''s stats would begin to take a hit as well. So it seemed that his kunai might notst for very long.


    He also noticed that the kunai with attributes added to them were worse off than the one without attributes. It seemed that maybe this was a double-edged sword that he needed to consider. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss hesitated, but in the end, he decided to only use his kunai if the situation warranted it. He had plenty of ballista bolts in his Madness Key, and they were designed for flight as well, so they were likewise easy to control.


    Of course, the problem with using them was that they weren''t nearly as agile as his kunai, so if he wanted to change their direction in the air, he would either need to use <Momentum Shift> or take a long, curved path.


    Unfortunately, his telekinesis could now exert more than 200 Physical, while the cap of <Momentum Shift> was only 200. So, there would definitely be some tradeoffs.


    Ss was a bit lost in thought as he moved. Since there was nothing around, once they got to the expanse of the Arctic Circle, Ss realized that he wasn''tpletely helpless in this situation.


    After some thought, he summoned the Basilisk King.


    It was a bit awkward, but after some adjustments, he wrapped the Basilisk King''s body around himself.


    The Basilisk King was quiterge, and had a body over five meters long. It had some heft to it as well, but since Ss could st it into a wall with a fist over a month ago, by now this weight wasn''t much to him.


    Plus, it was the Dire Wolf carrying most of the weight. He just had to keep himself bnced, something the Basilisk King would help him with.


    He began to slowlymunicate with the Basilisk King. He transmitted two things. The first was a search pattern he wanted the Basilisk King to use, not to mention an admonishment to remain cautious and avoid beasts where possible. And the second was to protect him.


    Ss realized that he had to get more used to relying on the Basilisk King for other things. Fusing wasn''t the only thing the Basilisk King was useful for. And, unless he let the Basilisk King out more often, how would he finish the pride Quest?


    With that, Ss'' mind turned inward and he began to look toward one of the rewards he had exchanged for in the Nexus.


    [Introduction to Rune, Rune Patterns, and Rune Geometry (Secrets)]


    The Basilisk King watched Ss enter a state of meditation, its slit eyes flickering as its tongue weaved in and out. Its impression of Ss by this point had changed somewhat, not due to the time they had spent together because that wasn''t much¡­ but because Ss had helped it to awaken to more of itself.


    At the very least, while it wasn''t chummy with this human, the urge to bite his head off wasn''t there anymore.


    [Favorability: 3/10]


    In the end, it rested its head on the top of Ss'', its golden gaze scanning the region with a murderous light.


    Why did this human have to always summon it in such cold ces? It didn''t like this weather at all.


    ¡­


    Ss'' mind appeared on a road. Ahead of him, there were several doors.


    After a quick look around, he decided that there wasn''t much to see here and he might as well just open the first door. As far as he could see, there were nine total. So he would just take this one step at a time.


    The moment he opened the door, a rush of information came to his mind.


    Rune Sight¡­


    The term was foreign to Ss, but he came to understand it soon thanks to this flood of information.


    Rune Sight was a state of being able to feel and see the Runes of the world. This actually didn''t refer to being able to see them all, but at least some of them. In fact, the threshold was just being able to see a single one.


    Runes were divided into Tiers, from Fragmented to Legendary. Of course, this was further divided into the F-Grade, the E-Grade, and beyond.


    This was the first that Ss had heard of the E-Grade, but this introductory course didn''t mention anything beyond it.


    Further, Runes were thenguage of the universe, and Aether was their fuel. Everything in the world was dictated through them. Skills, for example, were cirction methods that used Aether pathways as a recement for Runes. This allowedmunication with the Runes in the environment that elicited certain reactions.


    A lot of this fundamental information was stuffed into Ss'' mind and quickly digested. Much of it were things he had already personally deduced, but this information consolidated it and made it more tangible to his mind.


    Then, his vision cleared and a world appeared before him.

 Chapter 243 Stamp

    Chapter 243 Stamp


    The first thing Ss saw was a key and a lock. What was odd about the key was that it was a nk, and its body looked particrly narrow and thinpared to the bulkiness of the lock.


    Intuitively, Ss understood, and soon enough, the information he had assimted with confirmed it.


    The first step in this trial of sorts was to form a Rune that could unlock this lock and make it to the next one.


    Ss observed the lock, and then looked at the key. His visualization then swallowed up the lock and he began to analyze it.


    Soon, his expression became a bit weird¡­ because he felt that the solution was too easy.


    After some thought, he decided to follow through with it. It wasn''t like there was a penalty for being wrong. This world was his own personal tutor.


    However, quickly, he found a problem.


    ''How do I form a Rune?''


    Until now, he had only ever taken Runes from the world around him. The one time he hadn''t, the Rune hade from the disk. But here, there were no such things. Even when he activated Enchanted Schr, he couldn''t see the Rune he needed.


    He realized then that he had to form the Rune he needed, but he wasn''t sure exactly how to do that.


    ''Maybe?''


    Ss remembered the Visualized Conception of


    . Could it be a simr matter here?


    He tried it, and soon, he felt his Charisma and Will moving in an odd way. He had never felt it so tangibly before.


    Telekinesis was much more fluid and amorphous. But inparison, this felt like chiseling stone, as though he was forcing his Will into a fine point and carving out what he wanted in the world.


    He immediately felt a wave of fatigue, and he also realized that his Wisdom was actually holding him back. Usually, he could split his mind with ease. But right now, even if he wanted to, he couldn''t even look away from the Rune he was forming, let alone split his mind.


    It took him an entire half minute to seed, and the result left him cringing.


    Not only was his mind fatigued, but the Rune he formed looked like a child''s scribble.


    Earth''s Runes were broken and beaten, covered in chains and cracking. But they still had a majesty to them that felt so much greater than this. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This nameless Rune looked like a doodle rather than aw of the world.


    What was more curious about this was that he felt the Gluttony Seed had moved while he took action. It was all so very odd.


    Was this really meant to be so difficult?


    Ss took a breath and moved ahead, fusing the Rune to the key and trying to unlock the lock.


    It slipped in, but when he tried to turn the key, it jammed.


    Ss frowned. With his visualization, he could see that the Rune was correct, but it was too jagged and broken to fit in properly. It was like a misaligned pattern, and even though he had gotten the solution correct, he might as well have slipped in the wrong key regardless.


    After a moment, Ss chose to use <Maddened Enlightenment>. Taking advantage of his sitting form, his ability to replenish his mind was much greater.


    He had only used up about 30% of his stamina. But since he was in the wilderness, he couldn''t afford to be too willful.


    Once he had re-upped, he began to go again.


    This time, the Rune was close, but still not good enough. It wasn''t until the third time that the key turned properly, but got jammed after about an eighth of a turn.


    The fourth try, it spun properly. But just when it was about to unlock, Ss pulled out and entered a state of meditation again.


    He felt that he could have unlocked it that time, but he wasn''t satisfied. He could get it closer, more refined.


    As he made a fifth attempt, he was beginning to get into the flow of it. It only took about ten secondspared to his first 30-second attempt. And it only took up about 10% of his mental stamina as well.


    He tried again and again, and then again.


    As he did so, he even began to be capable of thinking of other things. It was odd¡­ why was being more familiar with the Rune the equivalent of making it easier to draw as well? It felt like he was missing something.


    Technically speaking, even if it took him longer to draw, it should take the same amount of Will to draw. Even if there was some change in the Wisdom it took up, it couldn''t be this drastic.


    As Ss focused, he realized what was happening.


    The number of strokes.


    The first time he drew the Rune, he had to press down, lift, correct, and then press down again and again. But by the fifth time, the number of times he had to "lift" and correct himself was fewer.


    It was almost like piercing into a veil, but every time he retreated, finding the exact spot to continue became harder and harder.


    In that case, rather than trying to form the Rune one step at a time, shouldn''t he instead think of it like a stamp? If he formed the Visualized Conception all at once, and then pressed it into reality, wouldn''t that be the fastest and most perfect method?


    The trouble was that that was difficult. There was a reason that it wasn''t Ss'' first choice, and he instead took this path of slow and steady instead.


    If Runes were two-dimensional, it would be fine. But because they were three-dimensional, it was far more difficult. It was like memorizing a three-dimensional puzzle all at once and replicating it in a single instant.


    But as he drew the Rune again and again, he became familiar with it enough that this was quickly bing a more feasible option.


    And then, on his eighth attempt, his Will suddenly pressed down like an envelope stamp, pressing down its intention into the world.

 Chapter 244 Street Sign

    Chapter 244 Street Sign


    Ss felt a rush plow through his mind. It felt like a silver bell had just gone off. It was a resonant feeling as though he was listening to the song of the universe. Thest time he had felt this way was when he had lost his mind to the barrier in the Slithering Madness Dungeon.


    Now, though, it felt like it was much more under his control.


    However, that was when something that left Ss speechless happened.


    He missed.


    The Rune flew through the air and missed the fusion point with the key. It shot past and hit the lock, forcing it to open.


    With a clean *click*, the lock opened and Ss felt a sort of bittersweet feeling.


    He had focused so much onpleting the Rune that his control in the end was stillcking. Interestingly enough, he didn''t need the key.


    When he looked through the memories that he had received, he understood something.


    Usually, you needed a medium to use Runes like this, almost like a mage''s wand or staff. In this situation, the medium was the key, while the target of the medium was obviously the lock.


    But Ss had missed it, and by coincidence, he noticed that he didn''t need a medium. Or rather, was it¡­?


    ''The Gluttony Seed¡­ I felt it act before, and a small portion of it moved this time as well. I thought it was meaningless, but it seemed that it''s far more useful than I thought. It made my telekinesis feel more¡­ real, more tangible, and that''s what allows it to not need a medium. Interesting¡­''


    Still, Ss admonished himself. Putting in all the effort to miss in the end wasn''t a good thing. Though he had learned something important from this excursion, he had to remember to keep more focus in the future.


    Just as Ss was about to continue to the next step, he was pushed out of the door.


    The door faded away as he appeared back on the road. To Ss'' surprise, it seemed that he had already passed.


    That was odd. He was pretty sure that there were dozens more challenges in that door alone. But now it was gone.


    Ss thought for a moment if he had been scammed, but in the end, he shook his head. That shouldn''t be the case.


    Just as he was about to see what the second door held, though, his expression changed. He felt a spike of pain and immediately realized that it could have onlye from his real body.


    With a thought, he exited the world.


    The first thing Ss saw when stepping out was a whirlwind of snow. It seemed far denser here and even seemed to have a hint of a blue glow.


    Ss was shocked because he even noticed that his skin was frighteningly pale right now, even the tips of his fingers were starting to gain a deathly color.


    He hurriedly covered himself in ayer of Aether skin, realizing that much like the volcano, this wasn''t a normal environment. This cold was being bolstered by Aether.


    The second thing Ss noticed was that there was an uptick of beasts in the region. It was hard to spot them at first because of their white fur and the backdrop of this world, but Ss felt his hair stand on end when he did.


    The third thing he noticed was that all of these beasts were headed in the same direction, even ignoring the Basilisk King that hadn''t noticed them immediately as well.


    The pain he had felt earlier should havee from the bad state his body was in. He had been careless and almost suffered from frostbite. Luckily, the fact that there was pain was actually a good sign. What he should fear was if he had felt numb.


    Ss felt his body quickly heating up and he grew serious.


    There was only one thing that could make so many beasts move in unison like this: a high concentration of Aether.


    It had to either be a Dungeon or a Portal. Getting closer would be dangerous, but he still urged the Dire Wolf forward.


    He remembered his experience in the volcano. Had it not been for the snail, the beasts would have mostly ignored him.


    If it was a Dungeon, when he got close, the beasts would begin to turn their attention to him.


    But if it was a Portal, then they would likely keep rushing ahead while ignoring him.


    Beasts couldn''t enter Dungeons, so they usually just settled around it to benefit from the increased Aether.


    But with Portals, they would often be tricked into going to the other side even though Earth''s Aether was thinner than the Aether of the Aether ne.


    Judging based on the situation, Ss might be able to tell which it was without approaching too closely.


    Still, he had to be cautious. This region had exceptionally powerful beasts, and fighting against just one of them might put his life on the line, let alone if several of them came at him at once.


    However, he had a trump card, that being his fusion with the Basilisk King. With how quickly he could do it now, it wouldn''t be toote to activate the process once something went wrong.


    The Dire Wolf continued to rush forward and Ss didn''t slow its speed by more than 50% or so. The density of beasts was quickly increasing and soon Ss saw what they were all rushing toward.


    A Portal.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He wondered what part of Earth this was aimed toward, but something else steered his thoughts away a momentter.


    All the Portals he had seen until now were manned by the government or its opposers. But this one¡­


    It looked as though the beasts were just freely crossing over to the other side. There wasn''t anyone fighting against them at all.


    ''This situation doesn''t look good.''


    Although Ss said this, he was quite indifferent. He didn''t n on sticking his neck out, especially not when these beasts were so dangerous.


    But that was when he saw a sign sticking out of the store. It was a street sign with a blue background and bright white words. But by now, it was so covered in snow that it was easy to overlook.


    Below the street name, there was a range of house numbers.


    Looking at thebination of the two, Ss'' pupils couldn''t help but constrict.


    He had seen that street name and those numbers a million times in the past. That was definitely the street Cassarae''s parents lived on.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 245 People

    Chapter 245 People


    As far as he was aware, Cassarae had moved away from home after high school. But her parents hadn''t. In fact, they often came over to Ss'' home to spend time with his parents. Their families were close enough that he could call them aunt and uncle if he had a different personality. It was just that Cassarae had nevere with them in all these years, and neither did Ss go over when his parents went to visit.


    Ss hesitated for a moment, but he knew that he had already made a decision. The objective truth was that he was making this decision based on emotion, but that didn''t mean that there wouldn''t be other benefits.


    This Portal was here, and yet there was no sign of the government. Much like Paradise, this was an open region without influence. And unlike Paradise¡­ there was much greater potential here.


    Paradise was a small city, but Alderon was more of a mid-sized city, though it was close to York City, arge cosmopolitan not much unlike Lone Star.


    Veridian University was located in Alderon, and Alderon was a city that pretty much surrounded the existence of the top one university. It could be said that Alderon was more like a gatedmunity. It''s just that it had grown sorge because the university had its hands in too many pots.


    While this city wasn''t nearly asrge as Lone Star, it was a suburban utopia with a high concentration of elites. The prestige of the number one university in the world wasn''t something that could be exined in a few words.


    But that was also why there was a nagging thought in the back of Ss'' mind.


    How could the government allow such an important ce to be overrun?


    It made sense in Paradise''s case because it was so insignificant in the grand scheme¡­ but could they really be so short-handed here?


    ''Let''s go.''


    Ss'' gaze became sharp and he adjusted himself to a peak. Before he understood if the government truly wasn''t here, he would have to check to see what was on the other side of his portal.


    The Dire Wolf rushed forward and Ss'' visualization remained sharp. He paid attention to every slight change as he ced the Basilisk King back into the Hibernation Realm.


    Surprisingly, he got to the other side with great ease. The beasts didn''t mind him at all, and he felt himself rx slightly. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Technically speaking, there was no reason for the beasts to target him more than any one of the other beasts around him.


    Usually, they reacted so poorly because he was entering their territory. This was a simr reason to why they would stop him from entering Dungeons as well. After all, they would settle down around the region and call it home.


    In this case, they all had the same goal and he wasn''t obstructing any of them, so there was likewise no reason for them to target him in specific.


    ''Now that I think about it, the aggressiveness of the beasts seems to all be artificially crafted¡­''


    The Dire Wolf dove through the Portal and the sights on the other side made Ss'' expression flicker.


    There really was no government presence in this region as he thought, and as a result, what had once been a suburban paradise had been turned into¡­


    Well, it couldn''t exactly be called a hell. Much of the damage was caused by Portals alone, not the beasts. They had yet to grow powerful enough to do things like plowing buildings down or cracking paved roads¡­ Well, at least not most of them, and certainly not casually.


    However, windows were knocked out, doors copsed, beasts roamed in and out of homes as though they were the true owners and many more left into the distance, spreading out as though in search of something more.


    Ss was taken aback.


    None of this made any sense. There didn''t even seem to be real signs of a struggle. It was as though the government had just directly given up on this ce.


    ''There has to be a reason for this.''


    After having this thought, Ss urged the Dire Wolf forward. Before he did anything, he had to check Cassarae''s family home.


    It didn''t take long to reach there at all. The street sign had already been swallowed and spit out, so the portal wasn''t far from their region to begin with.


    Ss'' worry was that the Portal had already swallowed even their home up as well, but the street was a long one and the Portal wasn''trge enough just yet for things to get to that point. In fact, he made it to the house in just a few seconds.


    Without entering, his visualization swept through first. On his way over here, he had done the same but he had yet to find any people. It was likely that the area had long been evacuated.


    ''Maybe the government knew this would happen and decided to concentrate all their resources on York City. Lucius had been able to guess where a Portal would appear, so who is to say that the government can''t do the same? If they knew it would happen here in advance, then maybe they already vacated the region¡­''


    After some thought, Ss decided to enter the home. Maybe there were some clues that he could pick up on.


    His visualization gave him a clear understanding of everything in a 30-minute range, but the issue was that it was like looking at a screen. No human could take in everything on a screen at once, more things were bound to be in the periphery.


    Ultimately, he was still more used to scanning things with his own eyes.


    He walked by the broken gate and entered the home. There were some beasts scurrying around, scavenging food from the refrigerator and building dens in the carpet. But these seemed to just be small creatures that didn''t bother with Ss, and even outright avoided him.


    Ss didn''t find anything immediately, so after some hesitation, he went upstairs.


    What he wanted to know was where he could find them.


    Now that he knew that Cassarae''s parents weren''t necessarily in danger, he could rx. So his intentions had turned to another task.


    If he could link up with Cassarae, that would make many things much easier. Then, they could start on the next phase of their n.


    But he needed to know where she was.


    He didn''t find anything in her parents'' bedroom and was about to leave when his feet paused. His head turned toward a door with a "FUCK OFF" sign hanging on it.


    Obviously, only Cassarae could have such a thing.


    His hand reached forward and he was about to open the door when his gaze flickered.


    His visualization caught something near its edges.


    People.

 Chapter 246 York

    Chapter 246 York


    Ss didn''t move and focused on that region. This experience of having to enter Cassarae''s childhood home and risk himself taught him that there was definitely much more he needed to learn about controlling his visualization. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it.


    "¡­ Can''t give this up without doing anything!"


    "Calm down. There are some extremely powerful animals on the other side of that gate. If we''re too casual about it, we can die. The organization isn''t going to allow that sort of thing. Our top priority is¡ª."


    The man stopped talking, shaking his head. He couldn''t say something like that out loud no matter how safe the situation seemed.


    "Let''s finish putting up the defensive perimeter and call it a day."


    The group moved, carrying battering rams with them. They stood before a house, aimed it toward a corner of its foundation, and then rammed it forward.


    Ss'' expression flickered. The entire house crumbled as though they had set up an on-site detonation.


    ''How is that possible?''


    He had seen a lot of stuff in this world already. But much like he had said earlier, he had yet to see anything capable of this level of destruction. Was the battering ram they carried really so powerful? Or was there something that he was missing?


    If such power hit him, he wouldn''t even have a corpse left.


    The only saving grace was that all four of them had to use it together, they had to synchronize their movements, and it wasborious to move from ce to ce. They often took breaks in between, and considering what Ss assumed about their stats, that battering ram had to be at least 500 pounds or more for the four of them to struggle like this.


    What he was most disappointed in was their caution. After the first near slip up, they hadn''t said anything else interesting. But they wereing closer.


    ''They''ll be knocking down this house after this one. I don''t have much time¡­''


    Ss stopped hesitating and entered Cassarae''s room. He didn''t stalk around; he had too much pride for that. Instead, he focusedpletely on finding the clues he needed.


    Whether subconsciously or not, he had avoided news about Cassarae. He had no idea what she was doing in her life, and he was thest type of person to have social media so he didn''t keep tabs on her there either.


    But, he had been in her room before, and it seemed that nothing much had changed. The only difference was that instead of metal rock boy bands being copied and pasted into every corner, she had toned down a bit.


    The room was quite elegant and clean, though definitely more so thanks to Cassarae''s mother than her, that was for sure. Unless Cassarae had changed, he bet whichever room she lived in now had a pile of used underwear in one corner at the very least.


    One might expect this pile of underwear to at least be girlish, but nope. Thest time Ss had been here there had been ten boxer briefs for every one set of panties.


    Ss found himself smiling beside himself.


    It wasn''t that Cassarae didn''t like to dress like a woman. She certainly did. It was just that she only put in that effort on very rare asions. Otherwise, she might as well have been a boy poorly cosying as a beautiful woman. She certainly had the beautiful part down, but she wascking in the¡­ womanly aspects.


    Surprisingly, Ss found what he needed after a few seconds.


    On a pin-up board over her bed, there was an eptance letter to York University. It was a bit odd because the eptance letter had a dagger through it rather than the usual push pin. But that was quite like Cassarae.


    ''York University, huh¡­?''


    York University might not have been Veridian, but it was still a top 30 university in the country, and top 200 in the world. One could certainly get an excellent education from there and Ss had once guest lectured on their campus as well.


    ''She should have graduated already. It''s doubtful she had the patience to get a Masters¡­ but the odds that she would have settled down in a ce near there is high. Cassarae should also be quite focused on recruiting as well, and there''s no better ce to do so than her old stomping grounds. There will certainly be elites in York University.


    ''If her parents were evacuated earlier, then they would meet up with her there as well.''


    Ss made his deductions and chose to leave.


    It was hard to tell how much advanced notice the family had, especially since the carnage the beasts that had snuck in had left. Ss wasn''t a tracking expert, so he had no method of judging exactly what happened. But there was only one car in their garage and that was a good sign.


    If they had only evacuated after the Portal descended, there was no way that their car would still work with how close by it was.


    ''Time to go.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The group had already finished with the second house and were on their way here. Ss still wasn''t sure about exactly what they were doing, but he knew that he would need to do something about it.


    If he wanted to freely use this portal, then whatever these people were up to was definitely a detriment to him. And the information they had was even more important to him.


    He just had to strike when they were the most tired.


    Cassarae''s room''s window faced the backyard. He slid it open and grabbed above him, scaling to the roof.


    The house was quiterge, so this particr mini-mansion had three peaks and several valleys on the roof alone. They were more than enough for him to hide from sight.


    Ss crept forward until he was as close to the group of four as he could be.


    His gaze sharpened the moment they began to swing their battering ram.

 Chapter 247 Armor

    Chapter 247 Armor


    [Christina Sage (F+)] [Level: 7] [Sean O''Connor (FF-)] [Level: 7] [Brian Fun (F+)] [Level: 8] [Lucas Shean (FF-)] [Level: 9] Looking at their Levels, Ss was partially stunned. When he saw their stats, his expression became even weirder. Had he be too used to fighting it out with behemoths? He shook his head. Not everyone could be a Level 15 monster capable of taking his life with a thought if hegged for but a moment. Even so, that didn''t mean he nned on letting his guard down. Just as the four moved with a n to swing, his gaze shed. <Astral Bind>. In that moment, he cast it four times over, using quite arge amount of his Aether for just these four. However, he felt that it was worth it. Of the group, only Lucas managed to break free of it, but Ss was already prepared for that as one of his kunai was already falling, while Lucas wasn''t even aware of where the enemy was just yet. BANG! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The battering ram relied on its momentum to m into the foundation of the home. Ss felt his feet slip out from under him, but he was already ready for this. A fall from a few meters wasn''t enough to do anything to him with his current stats. Because the battering ram''s trajectory was thrown off by their freeze, they couldn''t control it properly and the entire weight fell into Lucas to bear. By the time he realized it was best if he let go and cut his losses, Ss was already right above his head. He didn''t even end up needing to use his kunai, his fist colliding with Lucas'' face. Teeth flew and blood spurted. Ss held back just enough to not kill Lucas in a single blow just in case, but that didn''t stop him from driving a foot into Lucas'' hip and shattering it much like he had done with a certain shieldman in the past. Hended on the ground nimbly as the house copsed around him. His visualization immediately picked up several bits of debris that could fall toward him. He flicked aside those light enough to be targeted by his visualization, but he quickly realized that this was too troublesome. He realized now why it was he wasn''t able to casually take in everything within the range of his visualization. While his range was 30 meters, there was only so much his Wisdom could allow him to focus on at most. If he wanted to gaze at the entire region, it would likely be impossible unless he had a Wisdom in the several thousands. Maybe even that was being too conservative. He changed his approach and acted quickly. With a touch, the battering ram burst into a rain of ash. Then, he pped out with two palms, pushing two more away from the falling debris before turning a fist toward the skies. BANG!


    A flying piece of wood was sent tumbling away by him. Then, in a swift motion, he picked Lucius up by his ankle and abandoned thest of the four, diving out of the way. Ss rolled as Lucas screamed out in pain. His body was in terrible condition already after Ss'' actions. Now, his situation was even worse. However, Ss didn''t have the time to mind him. He stripped all of them naked. Before, he had no choice but to destroy the battering ram because the group was frozen, including their muscles. As such, they were still holding onto the treasure. If he didn''t find a way to force them to let go, then he would have to move their weight along with it, and that was beyond him right now. As for why he was stripping them naked, it was because he had no way of knowing if they had any other trump cards on their person. After he killed Azrael, he hade to understand that raw power and stats weren''t everything in this world. He should know considering how many times he had almost died not because of stupidity, but due to being entirely unable to ount for every single variable there was. There were too many Skills, too many treasures, too many potential trump cards and changes that could happen in battle. Christina''s pupils constricted in fear when she saw Ss stripping them down. There seemed to only be one reason a man would do this to a woman, but Ss didn''t even seem to notice her gender at all. Compared to her emotions, Lucas was in the worst situation. Having your pants forcefully taken off with a shattered hip was something he never wanted to experience again. In fact, he directly passed out from the pain. Once he had all of their clothes and their items, Ss looked around. Somehow, these four were able to force houses to copse and never suffered a beast attack for it. One would have thought that at least once by now, the noise alone would bring over curious animals, which would inevitably lead to battles. But Ss found out quite quickly why that was. [Basic Beast Ward (F) (Treasure)] [Level: 10] [Be a part of nature, a passing breeze, or a fluttering leaf. Beasts with Wisdom beneath 100 cannot sense you outside of 10 meters]. ''It can mess with the senses to that extent?''


    With the snail being an exception, from what he had seen, beasts tended to have pretty low Wisdom even if their Intelligence was high. Even the Basilisk King''s Wisdom wasn''t even 20. ''This is very, very useful.''


    Ss immediately put one around his neck, only for it to shatter. His lip twitched. Out of habit, he always picked up treasures with his telekinesis just in case. He couldn''t trust his Scorned Wrap to keep anything intact if it could get away with destroying it. What he didn''t expect was that even this auxiliary item would count as one that he wasn''t allowed to have. It seemed that it counted as armor¡­

 Chapter 248 Coincidence

    Chapter 248 Coincidence


    [900 GTs bonus]


    Ss shook his head and put the other two Beast Ward nes away. He was already used to being screwed over by these things, so it was fine even if he didn''t gain such a benefit.


    Luckily, they had knocked down the house while still having them on, so the noise still hadn''t attracted many beasts over. But it was a matter of time before they started roaming in this area.


    Ss crouched down and looked them all in the eye.


    "I know that you can move now, but I would advise that you don''t," he spoke casually to Christina and Sean. He didn''t bother with Lucius because he knew that he was the most injured of them. Even if Ss paid him, Lucius would be unwilling to make a move right now.


    As for Christina and Sean, they were a bit injured from his attack to get them out of range, but not to the point of not being able to do anything.


    However, when two kunai appeared at their necks, they didn''t dare to move so casually anymore. They had no idea how Ss had done it, but he destroyed that battering ram with a single touch. How could they know about the Curse of the Scorned Wraps? To them, Ss was just a monster.


    With Ss'' words, thest thoughts they had of rebellion flew out of their minds.


    "Now. Are you from Legacy or the government?"


    They froze, but eventually, piece by piece, and even with some Madness coercion, they were forced to answer.


    Soon, Ss got a picture of what was happening here.


    He hadn''t saved two of them out of the kindness of his heart. He only needed several to corroborate what was happening.


    He was educated enough to know that torture wasn''t the best method of getting information out of people. Often, it could breed false confessions, or someone with just enough presence of mind could lie to you under duress and then you would be screwed to act properly.


    Instead, Ss found that the best way was to force them to tell the same story, separating them so that they couldn''tmunicate. That way, they wouldn''t dare to lie because it would mean their lives. If theirpanions didn''t lie the same exact way, then wouldn''t they be exposing themselves?


    This aside, it turned out that Ss was correct. There was a sh nned here between the government and Legacy. However, things went awry because there seemed to also be a third party involved.


    These three didn''t know who the third party was, but the government ended up evacuating this area over half a month ago, before this portal even appeared. In the end, this region became a stalemated one, while the real battlegrounds were in the shadows of York City. While things seemed peaceful over there, there were many undercurrents that took ce in the depths of the night and away from the public eye.


    This left one question, though. If so much was triggered by the appearance of this Portal, then why were they so free to act here alone without anything else happening?


    The answer to that was pretty simple: more Portals had appeared.


    There was one that appeared in the heart of York City, and the government had obviously been ready for this because they immediately sealed it.


    There was a second one that appeared in the heart of Veridian, and that was immediately taken over by Legacy, leading to a stalemate in the region as both had control over valuable resources in the region.


    But as though that wasn''t enough chaos, there was a third Portal that appeared aside from this one. It was said, though, that this portal wasn''t opened naturally, but was rather the effect of a City Lord establishing a connection with the Aether ne.


    What was troublesome about this Portal was that it was on an ind, so it was difficult to get to, and there was too much going on for others to pay attention to it.


    But then, yet another Portal appeared in the water itself. This led to an odd phenomenon that caused the waters to be especially turbid. Even if the most modern of boats was used, the death rate would be over 70%, and that wasn''t considering the beasts that were flooding the region.


    Then, one also had to consider the fact that modern boats no longer worked normally. The only way to cross the ocean now was by either using an oaring boat or finding two portals that were nearby.


    And in this case, it was precisely because there were so many portals around that their usual boats didn''t work.


    This inevitably led to chaos. Now, there was an ind in the heart of York City that was being controlled by an unknown City Lord that no one could get to, a portal in another borough of York City that was under the control of the government, a third portal in Veridian under the control of Legacy, and in the end, the Portal in this small town was practically forgotten. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    There were no resources in this portal, just an endless tundra. On top of that, the beasts were far too powerful and dangerous, whether it were the mammoths or the Arctic King Cobras.


    It was only natural that this was the one portal that had ended up being neglected. There were far too many Portals popping up everywhere on Earth, and it could be said that the vast majority of them ended up abandoned and ignored. The end of the Trial had simplye too soon for everyone to be prepared.


    In the end, Legacy just ended up sending some of their weakerckeys over to see if they could form a basic perimeter. It was a casual effort on their part and they didn''t even really expect to get much out of it.


    If they seeded, then good. If they failed, they didn''t care much either.


    All of this said, Ss couldn''t help but worry.


    A City Lord had forcefully opened a connection to the Aether ne¡­ was it a coincidence that this was also the region Cassarae called home?

 Chapter 249 Basic Barrier Chains

    Chapter 249 Basic Barrier Chains


    When Ss heard that so many Portals had appeared in this small region, he wasn''t sure what to think. But he knew that he at least had to go and check the region out.


    However, going now, considering the situation, wouldn''t be smart. Going now versus goingter wouldn''t make arge difference. If Cassarae was truly already on the verge of dying, his current self couldn''t change much of that.


    She had survived three months on her own before she found him, and she had survived this long without him, she would be able to hold on now.


    He hade here for one specific thing: the Arctic King Cobra, and he had yet to find it. Only after he yed this beast andpleted the prerequisite he needed to clear his Quest would he continue onward.


    As for the rest, these three gave him some assurance. At the very least, this portal wouldn''t be actively pursued by any one group anytime soon. At least not seriously.


    After these four failed, it was unlikely that Legacy would send anyone in the short term. And it was likely that the government would be just as casual about the matter as they were.


    In fact, if Ss was correct, it was more likely that the government wouldn''t send anyone. That was becausepared to Legacy, their situation was much more dire.


    They were in control of York City, and they had two Portals not under their control, both of which they couldn''t even get to.


    Ss put the odds of theming to near zero.


    After he reached this point in his thoughts, he killed the trio before they could even understand what was happening.


    It might have been cruel, but it was necessary. He didn''t want them going back and reporting his existence because someone intelligent would certainly be able to deduce that he hade from the other side of the Portal. If they guessed that, then in the future, rather than two enemies, Lucius'' encampment would have to face three or potentially four.


    Right now, Ss needed Lucius'' situation to remain as stable as possible. That was the only way for him to continue to take advantage of this situation.


    As for these few corpses, he would toss them to the beasts to devour.


    Ss quickly pulled the fourth corpse out from under the rubble and then threw all of their bodies into a pack of snow wolves. After this, he left the region.


    ...


    Ss was still going around somewhat like a headless chicken. Even as the sun began to set, he had yet to find any of the Arctic King Cobras he was looking for.


    He had mostlye to this region based on a tip from that introduction he read in the Nexus, so he didn''t have any precise information about them other than their general location. He even wondered if he should return to the tundra now that he knew there was nothing to worry about on this side. Maybe it would be easier to find them there.


    ''One step at a time¡­''


    As Ss rode on the back of the Dire Wolf, he checked the storage devices of the group he had killed. As expected, he mostly found some Aether Replenishment and healing Elixirs. But what intrigued him the most was what they had prepared to form their barrier.


    It was a linked chain that ran several kilometers from end to end. It looked quite flimsy, so much so that Ss felt that he could use it as a whip if he so desired. But it had two important functions.


    The first was that it stopped the flow of Aether from expanding outward. That would make the Portal far harder to detect for beasts that had already left its range. Of course, that would only work on this side of the Portal, so beasts would still be attracted from the other side.


    The second ability was that over time, he could use this Aether that it absorbed to form a barrier.


    What was beautiful about this treasure was that because the chains were so small and unassuming, they were easy to ignore. So they could passively absorb Aether over a long period of time while still letting beasts through.


    Once it reached an appropriate threshold, it could form a Dome that would keep all of the beasts sealed inside.


    This saturating period would take about three days.


    ---


    [Basic Barrier Chains (F+) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Surround a Portal on the non-Aether ne side with these chains and bury them into the ground. In three days, it will form a Barrier]


    [Defense: 10,000,000]


    [Replenishment Rate: 2,000,000/hr]


    --- n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss remembered seeing the Barrier Cassarae paid for and it had double the Defense, but half the Replenishment Rate. It seemed that this barrier traded upfront strength for faster recovery. And more importantly than that, it was capable of replenishing itself with the help of the Aether being pumped from the barrier.


    That left a question, though. Why set up the Barrier on this side and not in the tundra instead? It seemed that it would be more convenient the other way around. But the description clearly specified that it had to be on this side.


    It made Ss wonder why...


    Ss felt his heart tremble and he looked to the side immediately. He sensed something, an evolution opportunity for the Basilisk King.


    By this point, he had traveled out of the suburbanmunity. This direction was in the opposite way to Veridian, and away from York City as well. Though there was a suburban paradise, there was also a long stretch of ocean waters and cabins in this region. Often, in the summer months, families would travel up here to bask in nature.


    As such, there wasn''t much difference between this region here and the wilderness of the Aether ne.


    Ss chose this direction because it was both away from those powers and because he felt that beasts would be most likely to settle here.


    He had only nned on traveling a few more kilometers before turning back, but it seemed that he might not have to.


    ---


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF)]


    [Level: 7]


    [Physical: 220]


    [Mental: 291]


    [Will: 253]

 Chapter 250 Domain

    Chapter 250 Domain


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF)]


    [Level: 7] N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [Physical: 220] [Mental: 291] [Will: 253] The creature was truly beautiful. It had alternating scales of pearly white and blue, and steely, slit sapphire eyes. When its hood opened up, a pattern of embroidery could be seen as if it had been branded with a sky-blue Rune. Ss was quite familiar with the hobby of snake breeding. Opening batches of eggs and checking what unique patterns you could get from selective breeding was something that he also liked to do. Though he mostly chose function over form, trying to research venom, he was familiar with the process nheless. This mutated cobra race, though, was on another level. He had truly never seen a snake so beautiful, but it was also hard to match this level of beauty when this snake was quite literally emitting motes of light. Its power was also truly exceptional. It was only Level 7, but those stats were off the chart. Just standing here, Ss felt a great deal of pressure. This beast was clearly on the same level as the mammoth race and the snail he had seen before. But they also seemed to have an extra aura, a hidden strength that Ss couldn''t quite grasp. Was that the Path of the Mancer? It felt like this beast was more dangerous than even its already outrageous stats seemed to suggest. If not for Madness, he wouldn''t even have the right to sense its stats at all with how high its Mental was. Without hesitation, Ss jumped off the back of the Dire Wolf and activated his Beast Totem in an instant. This was only a Level 7 Arctic King Cobra and wasn''t enough to clear his Quest, but it was a good foundation. Now that he had <Master Scouting>, it was even more worthwhile than normal to take his time and feel out this race of creatures. The Arctic King Cobra hissed before it suddenly trembled. A pair of slit, golden eyes appeared behind Ss and the hood of the cobra mmed closed as it backed away. However, realizing that it wouldn''t be able to make much of an escape in this situation, it put on a brave front. Then, as though it had been provoked by something, itshed out. Its tail whipped and a scythe of crystalline blue took shape. Immediately, Ss saw through several things. One, because of the distance between this location and the Portal, the Aether was concentrated enough for Skills to work, but not concentrated enough for Skills to disy their usual level of power. And, second¡­ [Chilling Scythe (F+) (Skill)] (Weakened) [Damage: 100 (-80%)] [Special Damage: 20/sec for 5 seconds] [Attribute: Ice-Poison] Ss saw this screen in his periphery the moment the Aether circted, and he realized that <Master Scouting> didn''t just allow him to document Skills after they had been cast, but at least with the influence of Madness, he could analyze a Skill the moment it was triggered instead of after it was already cast. This was huge. So long as he had the reaction speed to take this into consideration, this could very well save his life at a critical moment. He activated <Solidify> with a thought. He wasn''t in a rush to kill this beast, he wanted to feel out all of its trump cards to get a solid understanding. The scythe collided with his shield and it immediately spread in a wide of ice. Blue runes lit up like a curse mark of sorts and he could sense that his shield was now experiencing more damage every second. ''Attribute Ice-Poison¡­ There''s strong, lingering damage as a result¡­'' Only after the five seconds were up did the runes fade away, but in that time, the cobra had already sent out another three Chilling Scythes. This was clearly its most confident base attack. However, it seemed shocked to see that it wasn''t working at all. Ss'' Beast Totem weakened even its Skills. As such, what should have been 100 Damage plus an additional 100 Damage spread over five seconds had instead be 30 Damage. While his Beast Totem didn''t seem to affect the Ice-Poison Damage, this was still huge. Even after four consecutive attacks, it wasn''t until several more seconds passed that the corrosive Damage of the Ice-Poison finally caused <Solidify> to crumble. ''This is very convenient, but I can also see how it could be a crutch¡­'' Ss didn''t think that this was apletely positive thing. If one day his scouting didn''t work, or if he couldn''t calcte fast enough, then he might end up screwing himself over. However, he couldn''t deny that now that he didn''t have to just cross his fingers and hope for the best that things were far easier to handle. ''I''ll have to press it a bit. I won''t learn anything if it just uses the same attack again and again.'' Three ballista bolts appeared high in the skies and suddenly drilled down toward the cobra in three separate directions. At the same time, Ss summoned another Solidify, watching sharply. The Arctic King Cobra roared and a pair of ice-covered fangs shed. At that moment, a cone of frosty poison surged out from it forming a dome of blue runes. The moment the ballista bolts came in contact with them, they froze over and the sky-blue curse marks began to ripple over their bodies. The arrows continued forward, but their speed was quickly plummeting. Just as they were about to get within range to pierce the cobra''s body, they crumbled into a rain of blue ash. It was also in that very instant that the cursed blue Runes hadpletely saturated their bodies. [Arctic Howl (FF-) (Skill)] [Defense: 600 (-80%)] [Attribute: Ice-Poison] Ss continued to fight with the cobra, weaving in and out and pulling out its trump cards one after another. There didn''t seem to be anything to worry about, just as he truly got the intention to kill it¡­


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)] Ss'' hair stood on end as a violent whirlwind of Aether poured in from the surroundings.

 Chapter 251 Dissecting

    Chapter 251 Dissecting


    Blue runes raced across the ground and in that moment, the soft soil cracked as though it hadpletely frosted over. Over the course of this battle, Ss had realized that the methods of this cobra weren''t truly like ice at all. Instead, it was like the ice had truly be a poison. The way it interacted with things was beyond just the use of cold, but rather more so like the cold had be a virus that could permeate through the body and even treasures alike. In this way, it was more fearsome than the ice attribute that Ss had faced after escaping the volcano, albeit also less flexible. The pure attacks that the cobra had werecking and were often only made potent by continuous, recurring Damage. However, its ability to control the area, defend itself, and break down attacks that came for it, was truly special. And now, this seemed to be its strongest ability. Ss hurried to get out of the range of the blue runes approaching him. At the same time, he tried to digest what this Skill was capable of. Until now, he was only reading stripped down versions of the Skills. He didn''t want their descriptions or any of their fancy lore, he just wanted their Damage and Defense, plus what they actually did. But now, this one didn''t seem to be nearly so straightforward. [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [The unfurling of a King''s hood should be the sign of great danger. However, in the case that these pitiful worms do not understand your might, show them what it truly means to be a King]


    [Form a Domain of Ice Poison that Damages your enemy and strengthens yourself. For every additional meter of range, use 1 Aether Unit. Can be maintained for 60 seconds]


    [Special Damage: 30/second]


    [Special Buff: +50% to all Ice-Poison Skills used]


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat. Could be maintained for 60 seconds and it did 30 Damage a second? Didn''t that mean 1800 Damage from just a single cast? Worse than that, even if the cobra failed to trap him in its Domain, it still had a personal buff that it could use that would cancel out a lot of Ss'' own debuff to it.


    However, as Ss elerated backward, staying out of the range of the swarm of blue runes being etched across the ground, he realized that the cobra was quickly overdrawing itself. By the time Ss had left a 10-meter range, the cobra swayed and then copsed. Its Domain flickered and then vanished slowly afterward.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. ''It ran out of Aether¡­''


    Indeed, he had pushed the cobra quite far and brought out several of its Skills. Even with such high Intelligence and Mental, it couldn''t possibly go on forever. Even the weakest Skills required at least 0.5 Aether Units to activate.


    This cobra had around 300 Intelligence, and most of its Skills cost 1 Aether Unit. So that was only about 30 casts total.


    The fact it could expand its Domain to almost 10 meters before it fell short was already impressive enough.


    ''And this is only Level 7¡­ if it wasn''t suppressed by my Beast Totem, then I don''t even know if I would be able to defeat it on my own¡­ at least not without blitzing it¡­''


    Ss had learned long ago to not y with his food. If he could defeat an enemy quickly, that was what he should do. But this time, he had purposely extended the battle to make more note of the cobra''s ability, and he had almost suffered for it despite having the clear upper hand.


    After a while, the Domainpletely vanished. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now that the dust had settled, he understood what was going on.


    The tip that had allowed him toe here was one that he read in the Nexus. That tip was about the venom pouch of the King Cobra and how it could be used as a weapon.


    That one had been for a Level 8 Arctic King Cobra, so if that beast had been anywhere near this one, the person who killed it had to be an elite expert.


    Ss could only slot this thought into the back of his mind; he couldn''t think about it for now. What he was far more concerned about was the pouch itself.


    With Insight having reached Level 7, he could feel the path forward for the Basilisk King with far more rity.


    The venom pouches of the Arctic King Cobra weren''t meant for the Basilisk King to swallow. The path of venom wasn''t meant for the Basilisk King.


    Instead, what he could do was use these pouches to suppress and remove the poison that marred the corpses of the mammoths. Then, he could use them to help the Basilisk King evolve.


    It was a bit tricky, and it required Rune control, apparently.


    The venom of the Arctic King Cobra was very special as itbined three principles. Those three were cold, poison, and a simr kingly aura to the one the Basilisk King had.


    When their venom was used, it would forcefully invade its target, dominating it and flooding it with its cold. Whereas normal cold would start from the outside, in, slowly spreading, this cold acted far more like poison, piercing as deeply as possible and then working outward.


    The kingly aura of this path of poison was what Ss needed. That was because he could use it to suppress other poisons and control them.


    If he couldprehend the special runes of the venom pouch, then he would be able toy out a clear path of progression for the Basilisk King. And much the same way, he would be able to help himself.


    Of course, he would have to be cautious, but¡­ if there was anything in this world that he was confident in¡­


    It was dissecting snakes.


    A ballista bolt fell from the skies and pierced through the head of the unconscious cobra. Then, Ss brought it into the Madness Key.


    He would have to see if he could find that Level 10 target now¡­

 Chapter 252 Cycle

    Chapter 252 Cycle


    The intuition that came from his Legendary Path Skill was quite shocking to Ss, but it was also a bit ufortable. As he continued to look around for more Arctic King Cobras, he couldn''t help but feel slightly unsettled. It was a lot like how he felt about his Will state. It felt ufortable that the system could impact even such a thing, and now it seemed like it could rewire even his brain, making him understand things that he had never understood before. There was no reason for him to understand how to make use of Runes like this. His skill in this regard was still infantile. Everything about this world left him feeling like this somewhat. The reconstructed clones of extinct beasts, the spawned workers of viges, and now this¡­ It was hard to not feel as though everything was being manipted behind the scenes to make a person feel as though little was actually in their control. Ignorance was bliss. You could only grasp everything through absolute power¡­ but what if you were stuck in the middle of the two? Were you just supposed to wallow in despair? And how long would it take to get there if your goal was to finally grasp everything in your hands? Would you even be able to get there at all? Ss continued to look around, but he found absolutely nothing. It seemed as though this cobra was either the only one that hade or it was the only one in this region. After some thought, Ss found a cabin, cleared it out, and then locked himself in its cer. Once this was done, he took out the cobra''s corpse after lighting the firece. He sat near it and then slowly began to use a dagger he had found in a Legacy member''s spatial device to begin carving into the creature. As expected, the Constitution of this beast was exceptional. As he slowly worked, carving into its body, he began to wonder about something. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [What separates a strong Mancer affinity from a weak one?]


    [The affinity of a Mancer is often decided by their ss, their Comprehension, and their Race.]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. This wasn''t exactly the answer he was looking for, but it was an answer nheless. When he thought of Mancers, he thought of fire, water, earth, or maybe more shocking elements like darkness or lightning. He had more thoughts than he cared to admit about thetter two and those that fell into their categories. The only reason that he had ultimately chosen the Arctic King Cobra could be summarized in a single word: time.


    He didn''t have the time to wait around, hoping to find the very best Mancer Path to follow. So, the moment he found a beast that was a Mancer, he pounced on it. In truth, Ss didn''t know just how right he was to make this choice. The difficulty of his Quest wasn''t just in how hard it would be to kill these beasts, but how hard they were to find. Not just any creature could be considered a Mancer. Even those that had special elemental Aether might not be. It was a special categorization. Of course, another reason he was so eager to take this route was likewise because of his Beast Totem. Not only was the Arctic King Cobra the first Mancer he had found, but it was also the creature he could most easily defeat as well. And after fighting it, he realized just how right he was.


    If all Mancers were this powerful, the current him had no right to fight them, especially not if the first leg of the Chain Quest required him to kill a Level 10.


    [How does Ice-Poison stack up to other Mancer Paths?]


    [All Mancer Paths are created equal]


    Ss took a breath and shook his head. He had already seen that this was the case based on the first answer, but he had ended up wasting the necessary Genes this time anyway. That was a bit disappointing, but at least now he knew for sure instead of just guessing around.


    Like it had said, the Mancer Path wasn''t important. It was what you used to supplement it that was.


    His Comprehension, his Race, his ss¡­ all of these would be important cogs to the wheel.


    Seeing how defensively powerful the Ice-Poison Mancer Path was, though, Ss felt that it was perfect for him. What hecked the most in right now was defense. Unlike others, he couldn''t wear fancy armors or statden robes and such. He had to rely on his own flesh and blood.


    Aside from maybe Earth itself, Ss probably couldn''t end up with a better path forward.


    Ss sucked in a cold breath as the temperature suddenly plummeted. He had finally gotten down to the venom sack of the cobra, peeling throughyers of thick, meaty, and extraordinarily fatty flesh.


    The moment he saw the slightly blue-tinted flesh sack, he felt as though someone had reached out and grabbed his throat.


    He activated Enchanted Scribe, and he saw all sorts of blue Runes floating in the air. Theytched onto the heat and suffocated it, smothering it from all sides. Even the fire of the firece seemed to be slowly tinging blue, but what was odd was that the mes weren''t going out. Instead, the embers were doing something odd.


    Every time the embers separated from the main body, they would burst apart and be a rain of blue fairy dust. But Ss knew that if he touched this dust, he would be truly screwed over. Just a single wisp could infect him with those blue Runes.


    Even so, watching it like this felt particrly magical.


    When the sparkling blue fairy dust hit the wooden floorboards, ice spread like cracked cobwebs, racing across the ground before the energy gave out and another speck followed it.


    It felt like Ss was experiencing a cycle of life, one of ice, poison, and decay¡­

 Chapter 253 Pouch

    Chapter 253 Pouch


    [3000 PSs bonus]


    Ss didn''t bother cutting the entire sack. If the effect was so potent now, who was to say what would happen when the rest of it came out to y? Instead, he felt around slowly, observing the Runes, watching how they interacted with others, and piecing together how it was that he might be able to help the Basilisk King.


    He sat there in silence for hours. Every time his stamina ran out, he would run <Maddened Enlightenment> in perfect stillness for a few minutes before going back at it again.


    The Ice-Poison Rune was extraordinarilyplicated. In this particr case, it seemed to be formed of 12 parts.


    The first part was cold, the second was rigidity, the third was piercing, the fourth was needling, the fifth was cancer, the sixth was fragmentation, the seventh was surrounding, the eighth was fearlessness, the ninth was sublimation, the tenth was suppression, the eleventh was separation, and the twelfth was oppression.


    These 12 names were probably meaningless to everyone but Ss. And even for Ss, they barely had subtle differences that differentiated them.


    For example, piercing and needling were two that he had thought were the same thing when he first started. So were fearlessness and oppression, and so was surrounding and cancer.


    However, the more he observed, the more he felt that there were subtle differences that had to be outlined.


    Piercing was deep and singr, while needling was numerous and shallow. Cancer fed on the energy of an item and used it to grow, while surrounding was a deployment of how that stolen energy was used. Fearlessness reversed an energy''s tendency to go from areas of low concentration to high, instead forcing the Runes to do the opposite, while oppression was an act against that concentration of energy itself.


    Because of this, Ss had gone from thinking that there were just two or three runes that made up the Ice-Poison Rune, to thinking that it was five, then seven, all the way to his current estimates.


    It wasn''t until several hours passed without him deciphering any more that he fullyprehended it all.


    Finally, he understood.


    If he wanted to help extract the poison from the body of the mammoth, he needed to first decide which of the runes that he would need, then he would need to replicate them.


    ''I think I will need¡­ suppression, separation, oppression, and sublimation¡­''


    Suppression would stop the poison from fighting back, separation would allow him to break it down into pieces without it acting like a single whole, oppression would make that process easier, while sublimation would move it into the easiest phase to extricate it.


    Now¡­ he just needed a method of how¡­


    After some thought, Ss used <Maddened Enlightenment> again and returned to his peak strength. He wanted to attack this with the very best that he had.


    Once his state was adjusted to his peak, he took out the mammoth corpse.


    It was in the same exact state that it had been in back then. The good thing about the Madness Key, although he couldn''t put living things into it, was that it kept everything perfectly preserved. He had ended up testing this out on a small animal after he left Archibald to Lucius.


    That aside, the reason this was important now was because it meant that the poison inside of the mammoth hadn''t had a chance to spread more than it already had, leaving its corpse in the same state it had been when he had initially taken it out.


    Ss knew how dangerous this matter would be, but focused himself. He had already decided from the moment that he attacked the pig demon vige that there was no going back now. The only way was forward, and if he wanted a piece of this world to call his own, he could only take risks.


    He formed the Rune in the air. After analyzing it for so long, he was able to form it with a single stamp just like he had learned through the trial. It was thanks to his confidence that he took out the mammoth now instead of waiting.


    The Rune reflected a delicate green light, different from the harsh blue that the full Ice-Poison Rune was capable of.


    Ss had alreadye to realize that whenever his Will was involved, his Aether would be tinged with green. He didn''t know if it was a coincidence or not, but the shade seemed to be identical to his own eyes.


    With a breath, Ss pressed the Rune into the open wound of the mammoth. He was starting with one of the smaller ones, and his target was the very same wound that had allowed the poison to infiltrate its body to begin with. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Quickly, Ss'' eyes brightened.


    It worked, it really did.


    A part of him wasn''t certain because all of these ideas came from a vague intuition of sorts that came from his Legendary Path. But now, he couldn''t deny it at all.


    With Enchanted Scribe activated, he could see the changes to his Rune, and he could see the purple-green poison begin to sublimate out of the wound. It bubbled up, diffusing throughyers of flesh and being pulled into the Rune.


    Thanks to the suppression and oppression aspects, the poison was bottled up inside the rune, causing it to slowly change color. When Ss felt that it had reached its limits, he stopped.


    He put the mammoth back into the Madness Key so that the poison wouldn''t spread any further, and then he turned to the window to throw it out.


    However, just as he was going to, he paused.


    His gaze shed over to the Arctic King Cobra''s venom pouch. Runes danced across its surface and he saw something special within.


    Part of the runes he had grown so familiar with were swimming within it. The moment Ss saw it, he knew what to do.


    Instead of throwing his infected Rune out of the window, he pressed it into the Arctic King Cobra''s venom pouch. Then, after recovering, he pulled the mammoth out once more to repeat the process again and again.

 Chapter 254 Go On

    Chapter 254 Go On


    It took Ss until the next day to finish. He believed that the reason it was so difficult was for two main reasons. The first were his Runes. They were small and unimpressivepared to the vastness of the mammoth that he was dealing with. He believed that he could make themrger and carry a greater capacity if he were to use more Aether and more effort, but he felt that the return wasn''t worth it, especially since he was technically still in a dangerous situation. It was in his best interest to stay as close to 100% as possible. The second reason was the reference he used to make the Runes in the first ce. He had learned a lot about the fundamentals of runes, and one of those teachings was about the different categories and grades of them. Runes weren''t as straightforward as Levels and had three main facets to them. The first was Grade. All Runes that Ss could even think about using for now were F-grade. By the same token, all of the Runes that made up the Laws of Earth were likewise F Grade. The second was Aether. Mature versus Immature Aether, as well as one''s Level, yed a role in how powerful the Rune was. Ss'' Aether was still Immature because he was still Level 0 and still in the process of trying to excavate all of the potential he could from within himself. The third facet was a vague concept known asplexity. All F-grade Runes were created equal, but they could bebined and used together. For example, the Ice-Poison Rune had 12 F-grade Runesbined to form it. The poison extraction Rune that Ss had just created was made up of a third of the Ice-Poison Rune. Ss hadn''t learned if there was an upper limit or not, but he was sure that there was likely a limit at some point or another. Regardless, 12 certainly wasn''t that limit. All things considered, a Rune with 12 parts was still considered to be lower ss. There was a reason that a Level 7 like the Arctic King Cobra could use it. But then again, what the cobra was doing and what Ss was doing were two different things entirely. The cobra was relying on an innate ability that came as naturally as a Gene Talent. Ss, on the other hand, was forming the Runes himself. The two weren''t even on the same. While the Arctic King Cobra had a far easier time than Ss did, Ss could scale and had a far longer path to follow. This was all to say that Ss had small tools right now, but the poison he was trying to deal with came from a Level 18. Though he wasn''t quite aware of this just yet, he knew that the man he had fought was a true powerhouse. Regardless, after so long, he had managed to seed, and now he had not only to manage to cleanse all of the mammoth corpses, but...


    Ss looked toward the cobra''s corpse. Its venom pouch, which had been radiating an icy steel blue color, was now tainted by veins of green and purple. Even so, the air that it gave off was several times more lethal than it had been in the past. It even looked as though the venom pouch was struggling to keep it all contained. By the time Ss had finished with the first mammoth, it had already been reaching its limit. It could only handle the poison in one and a half. Ss wasn''t yet sure how he would make use of this poison sack, but he already knew that at a critical moment, it could very well save his life. Now that he was more familiar with the Runes, he was also confident enough to cut the rest of the venom pouch out of the cobra''s body and store it away separately. Then, he called the Basilisk King out. "Go on," Ss said, pointing toward the mammoth. The Basilisk King slithered forward. It was no longer anywhere near as shaken when it was around Ss. Ss still wasn''t sure what it meant, but in the end, he had cleared two trials for the Basilisk King. So much of its pride had returned. The Basilisk King dove forward, its jaws opening wide as it bit down. Its teeth seemed much more substantial than normal snakes. Even the Arctic King Cobra had fragile, translucent teeth. But the Basilisk King looked like a true predator. Even so, it ran into a wall immediately. The Constitution of the mammoth, even in death, was exceptional. However, Ss didn''t show any signs of helping. He just stood there, his arms crossed, and his gaze cool. The Basilisk King seemed to have had its pride provoked. Its golden slit eyes shed, and it dove in again and again, relentless in its forward pursuit. Minutester, it finally got down to the bone, but that was its next challenge. How should it break through this skull to reach the Gene Core it wanted? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It had to be remembered that the Gene Core was the source of energy a beast had. It was where one could take its Genes, and it was also what could be sacrificed to mature one''s Aether and Level up. Of course, Ss always chose to take the Genes instead, and now, the Basilisk King would have to get to it on its own. With a bloody maw, the Basilisk looked back at Ss as though to check if he would be helping it. But when it saw Ss'' stance, it felt a hint of embarrassment and then another hint of rage. It was the mighty Basilisk King. When had it ever needed to keel over and ask a human for help? It growled, and a hiss that made one''s blood curdle echoed. The battle cry of the Basilisk King could make one''s soul flee. Its tail rose high into the air, and itshed out.

 Chapter 255 Clearance

    Chapter 255 Clearance


    BANG! BANG! BANG! Ss didn''t know how long the Basilisk King spent pounding the mammoth''s skull, but it was enough that its scales began to fall off and blood seeped through their gaps. Soon, it was difficult to tell whether the blood came from the mammoth or the Basilisk King. However, its efforts were soon returned with blessings.


    CRACK. The Basilisk King unleashed a howl, its maw opening as wide as Ss'' head as it bit down, shattering the cracked skull. In a single gulp, it swallowed the Gene Core.


    Ss'' gaze glowed. He had begun to grow a bit worried. The Basilisk King was truly hurting itself, but after the first nce back, it didn''t look again. He knew that this was the Basilisk King''s own personal effort, he couldn''t interfere.


    In the end, it had worked out. And now¡­ Ss'' eyes narrowed. He felt a shuddering auraing from the Basilisk King, but there also didn''t seem to be much change.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk King (FF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Physical: 80]


    >[Strength: 111]


    >[Constitution: 123]


    >[Dexterity: 42]


    >[Speed: 45]


    [Mental: 72]


    >[Intelligence: 99]


    >[Wisdom: 19]


    >[Charisma: 97]


    [Will: 91]


    ¡ª


    There was indeed no change.


    Now that Ss thought about it, he had given the Basilisk a lot to eat since he had had him. Many of those meals included Gene Cores as well. Logically speaking, if a beast progressed like humans did, then it should have long since grown beyond Level 5. And yet, it hadn''t. Clearly, that meant that it required something else to improve.


    But what he questioned was whether he was correct about the reason. After all, the Basilisk King wasn''t a normal creature, it was a beast from a Dungeon. It didn''te from Earth''s extinct creatures either, but it was instead its own mythology. In that case, when dealing with it, it was likely that there were many things that he couldn''t urately predict.


    Even so, he had thought that by following this intuition of his, he would be able to help it. But why didn''t it¡­?


    Ss didn''t hesitate to take out a second mammoth.


    "Again," he said calmly.


    The Basilisk King''s gaze shed with a hint of despair when it saw a new mammoth rece the first. But soon, the mes inside of it were stoked again. It refused to allow Ss to see its weakness. These prey were already dead; if it didn''t even dare to collect what was before it, how could it be a King?


    The Basilisk King raised a bloodied tail to start once more.


    ''Hm¡­?'' Ss'' eyes narrowed. ''Its injuries have healed somewhat. At least by 50%¡­ Good.''


    Ss nodded and watched the Basilisk King begin another relentless pursuit, but he remained calm.


    Time and time again, the Basilisk King thought the nightmare was over, only for it to start again.


    That was when the strongest of the mammoths came out. This was the very same one that the bouncer look-alike had been fighting when Ss arrived, and it was thest one that Ss managed to snatch. It also happened to be the one that was the most difficult to clear of its poison. Even in death, the Basilisk King felt a great amount of pressure facing it, as did Ss. Ss felt that even if he helped, they two of them together might not be able to do anything to this corpse. The mammoth was sorge that it barely fit in the basement at all. If not for the fact that this was a particrlyrge cottage, then there wouldn''t be room to even stand in here with it, let alone attack it.


    This time, Ss didn''t urge the Basilisk King. He could feel that it was storing up something deep within its body, gathering up its courage. And then, it burst like a dam. The Basilisk King felt all sorts of feelings of inferiority while staring at this mammoth.


    Ss never learned the Level of this mammoth because the situation had been too chaotic back then, but the Basilisk King could tell.


    It was a Level 10. An FFF+ monster. Not only was the Basilisk King only a Level 5, but it wasn''t even in the triple F''s in terms of Grade.


    There was a huge dividing line between F+ and FF-, not to mention FF+ and FFF-. On top of that, between FFF-, FFF, and FFF+, there wererge chasms between each and every one.


    Facing this suppression, a beast felt it more intimately than a human ever could. Beaten and bloodied, the Basilisk King could only hear the sound of its own hissing breath. Staring at the mammoth corpse, it felt a deep unwillingness inside of it. It unleashed a hiss that sounded like the howl of a steam engine. Ss would have covered his ears had he not been so focused on the moment. He could feel that something wasing.


    The Basilisk King elerated forward and raised its tail up high. It twisted its body and shed down with everything it had.


    BOOM!


    CRACK.


    Ss'' pupils constricted.


    For every other mammoth, it took the Basilisk King several moments of effort before the first cracks appeared. But this time¡­


    The Basilisk King roared, raising its tail again. Dull gold light came from the crevices of its ck scales, and it looked as though it was ready to destroy the world.


    However, its momentum suddenly died.


    The gold vanished, and its body swayed, copsing to the ground.


    Ss rushed forward and caught the Basilisk King, but he felt relieved when he saw that it was only exhausted. That said¡­


    [Quest "Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Bronze)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Bronze]


    [Rewards]


    [>¡­]


    Ss was confused by the reward for a moment until he saw it.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk King (FFF-)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Physical: 125]


    >[Strength: 176]


    >[Constitution: 197]


    >[Dexterity: 62]


    >[Speed: 65]


    [Mental: 113]


    >[Intelligence: 151]


    >[Wisdom: 41]


    >[Charisma: 147]


    [Will: 271]


    ¡ª n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss'' gaze sharpened when he saw the change to the Basilisk King''s stats.


    Could it be that the Gene Core was never the key, but it was rather a conduit to awaken this monster''s pride?


    No, that wasn''t all.


    There was something else.

 Chapter 256 Awakened

    Chapter 256 Awakened


    [1200 GTs bonus]


    ...


    [Basilisk King] [Status: Healthy; Subtle Mentality] [Loyalty: 3/10] ¡ª


    [King''s Bind (FFF-) (Skill)] [The gaze of a Basilisk King is supreme. Freeze, mere mortal] [Cost: 5 Aether Unit per second] [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in the average of Will and Charisma] ¡ª


    [King''s Shift (FFF-) (Skill)] [Laws of the world do not bind the Basilisk King. Bend to my whims, be suppressed beneath my Will] [Cost: 5 Aether Unit] [Limit: 1000 Physical] ¡ª


    [King''s Shield (FFF-) (Skill)] [You are unworthy to even touch the Basilisk King. My defenses are unmatched] [Cost: 5 Aether Unit] [Defense: 1000] ¡ª


    The changes were quite shocking. It seemed that the Basilisk King''s Skills had changed along with its Grade, each one more than doubling in strength. But the cost was that each one of these Skills now cost five times more to cast just a single time. The only one that hadn''t seemed to change at all was <King''s Bind>. Or, rather, it almost seemed to have regressed. It gave in return the exact same limits, but now it cost five times more. However, Ss didn''t dismiss it off-hand. He had been in several battles now where his <Astral Bind> was dismissed by others. In fact, in his battle with Azrael, even <King''s Bind> had been outright dismissed. If he was correct, then it should be the case that this higher Grade of Skill was more capable of outright ignoring binding Skill counters. Maybe, if he used this version of <King''s Bind> against Azrael, he wouldn''t be able to counter it. Another shocking matter was that these Skills were considered to be at the Fragmented Mastery stage. That meant that they still had a lot of room to grow. Ss remembered that the FF+ version of <King''s Shield> only had 400 Defense, but after he increased his Mastery over it, it increased to 600. But now it started at 1000 for Fragmented Mastery. If he increased its Mastery now, it would be even more exaggerated. Now this was definitely a life-saving trump card, but he was also aware that he likely couldn''t use it so freely in battle. The more Aether a Skill cost, and the lower the Mastery, the more time it would take to sessfully cast. As such, Ss'' best bet was to save abination that he wasfortable with in the Stabilizing Bracelet.


    ''I hope that the Stabilizing Bracelet can handle it¡­'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The bracelet was only a Bronze item. Now that Ss thought about it, that should mean that it had a limit to the kind of Skills that it could handle. It definitely wasn''t without limits.


    ---


    [Stabilizing Bracelet (Bronze)] [Level: 8] [Ability: Store; Evolve] [Store three Skills to be deployed at any time to a Bronze Mastery plus a <1%> boost per Level] [Limit: XXX] [Skills Charged] >[ ¡ª ] >[ ¡ª ] >[ ¡ª ] [Charge: 0/3] [Level Up Requirement: <9 Common> Genes] [Durability: 9/10] ---


    ''Hm?''


    Ss tried using his new scouting Skill on the bracelet to see if he could get new information, and he could indeed see that there was a new line. But he couldn''t see exactly what it was. After some thought, he fused Madness into the Skill and tried again.


    [Limit: XXX]


    It remained the same.


    Ss was taken aback. He couldn''t help but wonder what about this limit had to be hidden. This limit should refer to what the bracelet was capable of withstanding, but he couldn''t quite understand why his scouting Skill wasn''t able to unearth those secrets. And unfortunately, the Basilisk King was in a dormant state, so he couldn''t test to see whether the Skills would work. Just when he was nning on packing up and leaving, he thought of something else.


    ''No, I''ll wait. With the Hibernation Realm, the recovery of the Basilisk King is improved by 6400%, an insane amount. That means injuries that would normally take two months to recover would not even take a single day.''


    This, of course, wasn''t just for injuries; it should mean mental recovery, and also refer to this slumber as well. That meant that in just a few hours at most, the Basilisk King should be back to 100%.


    Ss didn''t know it now, but in the future, of all the abilities of his Legendary Path, the Hibernation Realm would without a doubt be the absolute most useful. What level of Beast Taming could one reach when what should have taken months to years of evolution could be shortened to just a few days?


    ¡­


    As expected, it didn''t even take the Basilisk King an hour. In half an hour, Ss sensed that it was awake once more. So, he summoned it. The Basilisk King was still smallpared to the other BOSS creatures that Ss had ever seen. It was five meters from end to end, and when it raised its head to face the world, it stood at about eye level with Ss. Its eyes had a deeper golden hue than before, and though the golden glow between its scales had vanished, its ck scales had a more beautiful, healthy, and shiny luster to them. Staring into its eyes, Ss felt a pressure and dignitying from it. He realized then that it should be the case that the Basilisk King''s Voice of a King Gene Talent had grown more powerful as well.


    ---


    [Voice of a King (Gene Talent)] [A Gene Talent capable of cooling the mind and increasing the Effectiveness of Will and Charisma. Your Charisma activates Passively, and those around you with weaker Will are pulled into your orbit. Your Skills and stats are more Effective]


    ---


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder why it was that the Basilisk King''s Level didn''t increase, but for now, he wouldn''t worry about it. So long as it could improve¡­ that was the most important part. Plus, he had a pretty good idea of how to help it improve further.


    ---


    [Quest Received] [Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Silver)]


    [A King without a Kingdom. The Basilisk is a fallen creature; from where? No one knows. Maybe even They have forgotten Their former glory. You have met a Basilisk whose pride has been shattered and whose Will has been torn asunder. Remind this Basilisk King of who He is.]


    [Silver Reward Requirements] [>Awaken the Pride of the Basilisk King]

 Chapter 257 Quicktime

    Chapter 257 Quicktime


    Ss walked out of the cabin with the Basilisk King by his side. Now that its stats had improved to this extent, it could keep up, and it had its value as apanion outside of their fusion. Plus, it was clear that the way to help the Basilisk King fully awaken its pride was throughbat. So, he let the Basilisk King take the vanguard as they walked back toward the Portal. In the meantime, he took out an orb. This orb was the final mammoth''s Gene Core. The Basilisk King hadn''t ended up swallowing it, and even if it did, judging by how things were going, it wouldn''t level up regardless. There was definitely a special condition needed to help the Basilisk King level up, but for now, maybe it was best to wait on raising its Grade to FFF+ first. He took out another orb, and this one was the Gene Core of the Arctic King Cobra. Both of them exuded quite sharp auras, one being heavy in the hand, and the other being frosty. Each one also had a Bronze Gene in them as well, so their value wasn''t small. After looking for a bit, Ss put them away. He was right that there were, indeed, Runes floating around, but they were tooplicated for him to even begin to organize, let alone learn from. It seemed that he still had a long way to go. As for the Stabilizing Bracelet, it didn''t struggle to ept the Basilisk King''s new Skills at all; it did it with ease. It made him all the more curious about just what those ''XXX'' marks meant. Ss looked up as a battle erupted. The Basilisk King fought against a groundhog-like creature. It wasrger than a normal groundhog, but it was still only about 0.75 meters tall. The Basilisk King''s greatest weakness was its Dexterity and Speed,cking greatly in both. Against such a small creature, it was having its own fair share of problems. Usually, it could make up for this by using <King''s Shift>, the upgraded version of <Momentum Shift> that allowed it to suddenly change the entire momentum of its attack with a thought. But now, <King''s Shift> cost five Aether Units, not to mention a great deal of concentration to cast on top of that. It couldn''t be used in battle at all. On the one hand, it was good that the Basilisk King didn''t need to worry about umting more Skills and could just upgrade its own. But on the other, this was a very clear downside. In the end, the groundhog creature ended up running away. But as it turned its back, the Basilisk King''s frustration boiled over and it cast <King''s Bind>. Ss felt a pressure rush toward him as well, and he was surprised to find that <King''s Bind>, though still a single-target Skill, still had some area-of-effect properties as well. He felt himself dull and slow by a small measure, though he shrugged it off quickly. The groundhog obviously couldn''t fight back against this and found itself crushed with a single swipe of the Basilisk King''s tail. With a wide maw, the Basilisk King swallowed it up in a single bite, not even chewing. The groundhog barely caused a bulge in its stomach. A bit embarrassed, the Basilisk King looked back toward Ss, but thetter still wore the same unreadable expression. Somehow, though, this made the Basilisk King far more rxed. The two continued forward like this. Since they hade with the Dire Wolf, the journey back was much slower, but it did give the Basilisk King ample time to fight. Ss realized over time that while the Basilisk King was slow in body, its mind was quite sharp. It got used to its new stats, and Ss found that its Effectiveness was increasing. This was likely rted to its Gene Talent. It didn''t have Speed, so it made use of its environment. It didn''t have Dexterity, so it was careful with when it chose to attack, but it also knew when to rely on its high Constitution to tank when it needed to and its high Strength to deal an immediate death blow. At first, its win rate was low. Well, it didn''t necessarily lose, but the creatures it faced more than once managed to run away and keep their lives. But by the fifth battle, it was a sure win every time. It learned to restrain its aura so that other beasts weren''t scared away, and by the time Ss could see the portal in the distance, the Basilisk King had fought its twelfth battle, and it managed to still retain half its Aether, having managed to win every battle except a few with its Physical stats alone. Ss nodded. ''This creature is intelligent, it''s not a normal animal. In fact¡­ its intelligence is almost frightening. I shouldn''t measure how smart a creature is based on whether it can talk or not. This Basilisk King is smarter than most humans, at least inbat¡­.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss felt his heart tremble as he looked up. He ced a hand to his chest, and his pupils couldn''t help but constrict. Thest time he had had this feeling¡­


    ''My Luck again?''


    "Come back," Ss called. The Basilisk King obeyed, and quickly it and Ss shifted to the side, returning to a region of thick shrubbery as they looked toward the pulsing Portal in the distance. Because of the suburban neighborhood that was in the way, Ss had to climb a tree just to see over the homes, and that was when what his heart had sensed happened. It was an army of them. There must have been at least 50 Arctic King Cobras that appeared simultaneously, but they weren''t the ones that Ss was paying such close attention to. Following in behind them, a gorgeous Arctic King Cobra appeared. Its body was majestic, and it contained the very same golden glow that the Basilisk King couldn''t maintain. ---


    [Quicktime Event Triggered] [Wrath of the Arctic Emperor Cobra] [Level Rmended: 20] [Description: The son of the Arctic Emperor Cobra has died, stoking the mes of fury in his father] [Event Type: Two Path] [Clear Requirements] >[Kill Arctic Emperor Cobra] OR >[Kill his son''s murderer] ---


    Ss'' eyes widened. He understood immediately who this was targeting. He made a decision instantly: Run. Unfortunately, he didn''t get the chance. A pir of golden light descended, and a beacon solidified above his head.

 Chapter 258 Going

    Chapter 258 Going


    Ss looked up into the skies. His gaze was frighteningly cold at the moment, and truthfully, rather than fear, he feltpletely infuriated. At that moment, he realized something profound about this world.


    When he entered the Slithering Madness Dungeon and ended up losing three months of improvement time, he med himself. When he entered the Basilisk King''s Dungeon and lost consciousness after a breakthrough and a Title was granted to him, he med himself. When he got stuck in the volcano and lost consciousness once again because of the disk, he med himself. But what had he done wrong this time? He just happened to kill the wrong beast? And now a practically sure-death Quicktime Event was triggered with him as the main character? How could you even avoid this? By digging a hole for yourself, jumping inside, and nevering out? And then what? Would you just never improve? Would you just watch as the world you were born and raised in was razed to the ground and taken over by greedy otherworlders? The more Ss thought about it, the more furious he became. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Right then, he understood what the Madness Key meant more than ever. [How do Iplete the Summoned Ascension?] [Be strong] Be Strong. There was no other exnation, no amount of nning, no amount of caution, and apparently no amount of Luck that would help him. What had his Luck done but let him know a few seconds earlier that something wasing? Even it couldn''t stop this. The only path forward was to be so strong, so in control of everything, that it didn''t matter what was thrown at you. In the end, there would only be one path out. Victory.


    A fiery light burned in Ss'' eyes, and the Basilisk King felt shaken for a moment. When it looked at Ss, it was as though his entire body was covered in raging green mes.


    Ss reached out a hand and touched the Basilisk King. It was quickly sent into the Hibernation Realm. Then, he turned around and shot toward the deeper parts of the forest. There was still a beacon above his head, but it was fading. In the end, there was nothing but a faint aura and a golden badge hanging over his head. However, the Arctic Emperor Cobra had already spotted the pir. As though it instinctively knew what it had to do, it released a menacing roar. As Ss ran, he felt his hair stand on end. It was the kind of roar he had only ever heard in movie theaters, the kind of roar that could only be released by an ancient, slumbering beast that had been truly infuriated to its limits. The army of Arctic King Cobras surged toward the forest.


    While this was happening, notifications of the Quicktime Event were sent all over the region. Anyone within a few hours was given this very same notification. Chaos broke out because it wasn''t just those that hit the Level Requirement that were given ess. In fact, there had yet to be a single Level 20 on Earth as far as the Leaderboards were concerned. This was the first time a Quest notification was spread to so many people at once, and many of those that felt that they had missed out by not entering the Trial were already beginning to grow antsy. The government immediately activated a trained protocol, increasing security. However, it was inevitable that some would slip through the cracks. Unfortunately, the government didn''t have time to mind them because if this notification was true, then this was thergest opportunity to appear since the start of the Summoned Ascension. A Level 20 rmendation was bound toe with unfathomable rewards.


    "You three will go as the hidden force. The rest will be the vanguard to temperature check the situation. That region is much closer to their territory, so do not expose yourselves too easily or there may be a trap lying in wait."


    [Shacarri Edison] [Level: 17]


    [Osrius Flemming] [Level: 17] [Enjigba Mowen] [Level: 17] The three figures nodded. Wearing ck military garb, and even having rifles strapped to their backs, they looked forward coldly, their posture impable and their Aether swirling in the depths of their eyes. Soon, they left the office only to be surrounded by at least a hundred other government members, each one ready for battle. If the rmended Level was so high, the only way for them to make up for it was with numbers. The good thing about these Quicktime Events was precisely that there were no such limits.


    "Head out!"


    A fakemander gave out his orders, but the three men and women followed as though they were just one of the crew without the slightest reluctance.


    Veridian University.


    The college had an ancient feel to it, one that made it look more like a lost school of magic than it did a ce of modern education. The bricks were wreathed in vines, moss, and aged browns, the buildings were tall, but not too much so, and there seemed to be hidden underground passages dotted across the campus.


    Of course, these underground passages were just meant to make traveling from ss to ss in the dead of winter far more convenient, but without this context, it really did feel like something mysterious was going on. At that moment, in one of these underground passages, a simr meeting was going on, but all of their faces were shrouded by mystery.


    "The vanguard has already set out. You alone will be going this time."


    "Damn, no support? What am I supposed to do alone, boss? Where''s the justice?"


    The man seemed used to the young man''s antics and didn''t react very strongly to this matter at all. "During thest operation, you lost us several Bronze Genes¡ª"


    "Hey! That wasn''t my fault! Didn''t we seed?! Plus, that guy was¡ª"


    The man held up a hand. "The government will expect us to send a lot of elites, but our thoughts are elsewhere. This will be your chance to redeem yourself, and if you can im this victory, you will be rewarded."


    "Alright, alright, I''m going."


    The young man waved a hand and headed out, still mumbling to himself.


    "I wonder which poor bastard got this hat ced on his head."


    If Ss had been there, he would recognize this young man immediately.


    Alex Reynolds.

 Chapter 259 ( — )

    Chapter 259 ( ¡ª )


    Ss'' gaze was sharp as he ran. He had taken in quite a lot about the environment on his way here.


    The system wasn''t allowing him to summon the Dire Wolf right now. He assumed that he would be in a perpetualbat state until the Quicktime Event came to an end, though once again, he felt that it was unfair.


    Still, crying about it wasn''t going to change anything.


    His Luck had mostly been useless in this situation, but had he not listened to it, he would have been several times closer to the portal than he was now. At the very least, this time, there was at least a kilometer between himself and them.


    What he needed was a ce that he could take advantage of to secure a quick victory.


    In the past, it used to take him an hour to walk from the university home. If he ran that distance instead, doing it in about 16 to 17 minutes wasn''t an issue. With the stats of people now, taking less than 10 minutes was practically a given. In fact, if they used mounts as well, he could expect that within five minutes, he would be surrounded from all sides.


    His best chance was to take down the Arctic Emperor Cobra as quickly as possible, but there were several issues.


    First, and most obviously, it was surrounded by 50 others. He had had to be cautious when fighting against just a single Level 7 Cobra, but who knew how many Level 7s there were in that army of 50. In fact, Level 7 might just be a minimum requirement to even join their emperor in this crusade.


    Second, the Arctic Emperor Cobra was powerful in its own right. Even with his Beast Totem, he wasn''t sure if he could defeat it, and he had yet to even test out if his Beast Totem was effective against more than one target at once.


    He was too far from the cobra to get an exact reading on its stats, so he had no choice but to n for the absolute worst, and that was the possibility that this Arctic Emperor Cobra might very well be a Level 20 in its own right.


    ''There.''


    Keeping a cool head, Ss knew that what he needed was a method that could both end this battle quickly and save him from being surrounded from all sides.


    He burst into the region of the cottages once again.


    It was a smallmunity of expensive cottages, some of which were built right into the hillside. The cottages surrounded theke and river, and there were trees and forests galore.


    The cottages were constructed so that their backyards faced the water, while their front faces looked into dense forestry.


    Ss had already decided that this would be his battleground. It had the bestbination of open and dense that he needed. Depending on the situation, he could adapt if necessary. At the same time, a Rolodex of the Arctic King Cobra abilities filled his mind and he was already prepared to make contingencies for them all.


    But first, he rushed up the side of a cottage. As he passed by, he kicked the small yacht''s anchor up, sending it gliding into the waters.


    After finding a rtively t surface, he set up a ballista, then moved on to another house and repeated.


    By the time he set up his third ballista, he could already feel the temperature plummeting. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Arctic King Cobras moved as though they were a Domain in their own right.


    Ss slipped down the backside of a cottage and rushed forward.


    The beacon above his head whirred and it seemed that as those targeting him came closer, he would be easier to spot.


    However, it was a double-edged sword. That was because Ss realized that he could sense them as well, and with his visualization, he didn''t just feel a vague location, but rather felt an exact whereabouts, to the point that he could see their faces and expressions reflected in his mind.


    Ultimately, army or not, the Arctic King Cobras didn''t have discipline. They slithered through the forest with menacing hisses, and there was no order to their formation at all. They were clearly out for blood and blood alone.


    That was the good news.


    The bad news was that Ss had been right before. Even the weakest of them was Level 7, and amongst them, there were actually five Level 10s.


    In that case, just what Level was the Arctic Emperor Cobra?


    And that was when it entered the range of Ss'' senses as well.


    Ss had already known it was big. He had personally seen it back then, but he was so shocked by the sudden Quicktime Event that he didn''t get a good look at it.


    But now it was practically searing its image into his mind.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra had a body that was at least 25 meters in length. When it rose up, it towered at over 10 meters, and its open hood seemed like it could blot out the sun in the sky.


    It was still an impossibly gorgeous creature, even inparison to the others of its kind that Ss had seen. Every one of its scales was a polished white, but unlike its son, it looked as though there were hidden worlds of fluttering blue Runes dancing within as though each scale was its own snow globe.


    On its head, hovering like a halo, there was a dull light that was hard to spot properly, but it was enough to make its aura all the more imposing.


    It seemed to be the slowest of the cobras around it, but Ss knew that that was nothing more than an illusion. It was being restricted by the system in all likelihood. Ss could see the Runes wrapping around it, slowing its progress down.


    However, once those training wheels fell¡­ Ss would be in for the danger of a lifetime.


    Even though that danger had yet toe, he could already feel it.


    [Arctic Emperor Cobra ( ¡ª )]


    [Level: 12]


    Even with his Madness on full st, even with his new scouting Skill, this was all he could see.


    His heart shuddered.


    Something told him that those dashes in ce of its Grade were very, very different from Azrael''s question marks.


    This creature could p the mammoth he ran away from to death with a single swipe.

 Chapter 260 Hibernation

    Chapter 260 Hibernation


    Ss took a breath, and his gaze sharpened. His Aether thrummed within him, and he felt his intent zing.


    He summoned the Basilisk King, and his Beast Totem appeared behind him. In that moment, the Basilisk King surged with power, and its golden eyes seemed to only be deeper.


    After just a few minutes in the Hibernation Realm, it had already returned to a 100% state. In fact, Ss was sure that even if it waspletely drained, just 20 or 30 seconds would be enough.


    However, its recovery ability wasn''t the only thing that it could rely on.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk King (FFF-)]


    [Level: 5]


    -


    [Physical: 300]


    >[Strength: 422]


    >[Constitution: 473]


    >[Dexterity: 149]


    >[Speed: 156]


    [Mental: 271]


    >[Intelligence: 362]


    >[Wisdom: 98]


    >[Charisma: 353]


    [Will: 650]


    ¡ª


    The Basilisk King unleashed an almost manic howl. Its body expanded, and a set of golden eyes appeared to its back. At the same time, Ss realized that the oppression of his Beast Totem had been transferred over to the Basilisk King in part.


    The Basilisk King shot out from behind the house, its momentum lethal as its body ripped out the grass. Its abdominal muscles slithered and writhed, each powerful stroke leaving deep lines in the soft soil.


    Ss rushed in behind it, three ballista bolts appearing high in the air behind him. One of his minds was upied by maintaining his Beast Totem, another was used to scan his visualization area, and a third was used to control his body itself. As for the rest, he poured it all into controlling these ballista bolts. He trailed exactly 20 meters behind the Basilisk King.


    Hisses suddenly filled the air, and a dense cold spread.


    They entered the dense forest, and carnage was unleashed.


    ¡ª


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF-)]


    [Level: 8] n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Physical: 189]


    [Mental: 221]


    [Will: 154]


    ¡ª


    Three Level 8''s appeared all at once.


    The Basilisk King rose up, prepared to attack. It got into a rhythmic stance, ready to continue along with its usual cadence of movement, but that was when Ss'' voice rang out.


    "Don''t conserve anything. Give it everything you''ve got. Tank everything they have. They cannot break your defenses. You are a King. Act like it."


    The ring of violence appeared in the Basilisk King''s slit irises as though it had been provoked. It heard Ss''mand and then acted on it.


    Its maw opened wide, and suddenly the Arctic King Cobras looked small and insignificant.


    The Basilisk King ripped into the throat of one as the two others attacked it from the sides. But as though it hadn''t seen them at all, itpletely ignored them.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    The two cobras tried to sink their teeth into the body of the Basilisk King, only for their fangs to shatter.


    Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ssunched two bolts that ripped through their bloodied maws. They copsed without even the ability to resist.


    By this point, five more cobras had appeared. They swarmed over from all sides, and though Ss knew that there were only 50 of them, it felt like he was facing an endless torrent.


    The Beast Totem rose high into the air, a pair of golden slit eyes suffocating everything within a 50-meter range.


    At the same time, five pairs of <Chilling Scythe>''s appeared, shing through the forest. But they were too far away; Ss directly told the Basilisk King to ignore them.


    As expected, the steel blue scythes collided with the trees, exploding with a chilling aura, but never managed to make it to them.


    "Retreat," Ssmanded, and the two slipped backward. His eyes continued to dart around as the five cobras swiftly closed in. But at the same time, he could feel that more wereing.


    The air was only bing chillier. The Portal alone was a heavy influence, the fact that winter was on its way was another, but right here, right now, the cobras were definitely thergest culprits.


    Ss could feel a looming gazeing toward him from the distance, and it made his hair stand on end. However, it was precisely this that spurned him on.


    ''Come on.''


    Ss barely registered the thought. It came on its own ord, but he felt fed up with everything in this world already. A Maddened glint lit in his eyes, and the Gluttony Seed churned.


    Five cobras shot toward them, and because they were retreating backward, they caught up in barely a few seconds. But that much was fine; Ss was already expecting this.


    Five <Chilling Scythe>''s appeared again, but this time they didn''t seem dodgeable.


    "Tank it," Ss called out while summoning a <Solidify> for himself. He rushed toward two of the Cobras.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Two of the scythesnded on his shield, and threended on the Basilisk King''s body. But aside from a small crackle of ice, nothing more came. Ss'' understanding of these techniques was already deep. He knew that in the Basilisk King''s current state, it would take much more to harm it.


    The two moved in opposite directions, and Ss'' Scorned Wraps shed.


    Three ballista bolts targeted a single cobra, and Ss descended onto the other with a vicious fist.


    He sensed the <Arctic Howl> even before it came. He cast <Momentum Shift> on one of his ballista bolts, and his fist reeled back in a perfect feint.


    Both Arctic King Cobras cast the defensive Skill at the same time, but they mistimed it.


    Ss activated Tail Whip for the first time in a long while and drove a leg right through the head of the cobra.


    At the same time, two ballista bolts rebounded off the body of the second cobra, only for the third to wait out the duration of its Skill and suddenly drill through its eye socket.


    Ss didn''t even wait for them to hit the ground, turning back with a fiery light in his eyes.


    Three cobras had leapt onto the body of the Basilisk King while one hung from its maw.


    More Arctic King Cobras slithered toward them through the trees, and right behind them, a menacing presence loomed.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra and five of its Level 10 elites.

 Chapter 261 Stronger

    Chapter 261 Stronger


    [Bonus for 1200 GTs] The first time Ss truly faced the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s gaze, it felt like all of his blood had frozen cold. He realized that even if he could see the cobra''s stats, it wouldn''t give him the full picture. If anything, it would just give him a false impression of what he was facing.


    For the first time, he was seeing a creature that could actually faintly resist his Beast Totem. Of course, it failed in the end. The Talent of a Legendary Path Profession couldn''t be ignored by just any beast. But it told Ss something else¡­


    Maybe out there, somewhere, there was a beast of the Serpentes that really could ignore his Beast Totem''s effects.


    After a moment of shock, it felt as though something within Ss had been provoked.


    The mental pressure on him vanished, and he had the Basilisk King activate <Voice of a King> right then and there despite the fact it was being besieged.


    [Title: Legendary Tamer]


    [You have subdued the pride of a Legendary Beast, your skill knows no bounds] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [+100% Wisdom]


    [+100% Will]


    [Title: BOSS yer]


    [Creatures that others fear, you crush. It is not you who should fear them, but rather they who should fear you.]


    [+10% ALL stats when facing an opponent 10 Levels or more above you]


    Ss made it to the Basilisk King''s side in the next instant. Three ballista bolts appeared and twisted down.


    The cobras were caught off guard, almost as though they only realized now that their target was Ss.


    Ss picked one up by its tail and smashed it against a tree with all his might. He could feel the fibers of his torso stretching taut as though they might rip apart at any moment.


    BANG!


    Its head exploded into a rain of gore.


    The Basilisk King''s tail whipped it the moment it got some breathing room, shattering another one into a rain of blood and flesh.


    By this point, the Arctic Emperor Cobra was no more than 20 meters away. Ss could feel the full brunt of its presence in his visualization. It appeared more like a zing bonfire than a creature, seeming amorphous and hard to spot until his actual eyesnded on it.


    Now, the restrictions around it were even more obvious to Ss'' eyes, and with Enchanted Scribe, he could understand what was happening faintly.


    It seemed that the system wasn''t as unreasonable as he thought. The restrictions were in ce to give him a chance.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra had epted a deal in order to have a chance to avenge its son, while Ss was forced into the situation but had the chance to deal with the Arctic King Cobras in waves instead.


    First the minions, then the elites, and only then would the Arctic Emperor Cobra be able to attack personally. Unless, of course, he broke the rules of the contract and attacked it directly.


    Ss'' gaze flickered. He had known that his Enchanted Scribe ability woulde in clutch for moments exactly like this one. Without it, he might have made the mistake ofing at it directly.


    In that case¡­


    Ss moved forward like lightning. This time, he took the vanguard, and the Basilisk King trailed behind him, keeping up pace quite easily now that its Speed was actually beyond Ss'' own.


    "Now," Ssmanded coldly.


    The Basilisk King, which had been storing up <King''s Bind>, reacted swiftly.


    When it was on its own, these Skills took too much time to cast. But now, the situation was different.


    The Skill hit one of the elite Level 10''s, but the ripple outward urred exactly as Ss had expected, stunning several of the Level 8''s for a moment. The other Level 10''s shrugged it off as though nothing at all had happened, but the Level 8''s weren''t nearly so lucky, and this was precisely what Ss capitalized on.


    Three of them couldn''t even react before their heads were sted to pieces.


    Rage shed in the eyes of the Arctic Emperor Cobra, but it still couldn''t do anything to change the situation. Not yet¡­


    Ss took a breath, and his Beast Totem trembled. He could feel the drain on his mind, and his psyche was beginning to be pulled past the point of normal fatigue. Maintaining a Visualization like this was no easy task, but the burning me of his Will only burned brighter as <Maddened Enlightenment> activated.


    .


    Ss felt the roar of his fist echo through the wind. A fist imprint soared through the air, burning with a green hue as it appeared before the frozen Level 10 elite.


    BANG!


    Ss felt the muscles in his arm practically tear apart, but in the same instant, Basic Aetherflow, his Skill, and his fist fused into one, shattering the body of the elite cobra.


    He knew that he had to kill at least one of them in this exchange. There was no telling if he would get another chance that came as easily. Even if it used up one of his two allowed


    ''s, it was worth it.


    Ssnded, and he let the Basilisk King soar by him. Two more ballista bolts appeared in the skies as he exhaled a breath.


    DOOM.


    At the same time, a heavy shield appeared.


    ---


    [Hero''s Heart Shield (FF-)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Ability: Bulwark; Final Stand; Restore]


    [Form a Hero Heart with your best warrior, use their Will to amplify the defenses of your troops. For every 100 points of Will, amplify Constitution of up to 20 warriors by 10%]


    ---


    [Will: 1089]


    ---


    In that moment, both Ss'' and the Basilisk King''s Constitution increased by 100%. The Basilisk King alone almost hit quadruple digits, and a zing golden aura began to pulse from it.


    "Go."


    Ss had only just spoken when the Basilisk King dove in headfirst. It knew no fear as it unleashed a rain of carnage.


    But that was when the situation changed.


    Ss felt it before he even saw it.


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 50/second]


    [Special Buff: +80% to all Ice-Poison Skills used]


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra unleashed a Skill, and it was far stronger than when his son had used it.

 Chapter 262 Neglect

    Chapter 262 Neglect


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 50/second]


    [Special Buff: +80% to all Ice-Poison Skills used] N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ---


    The Domain spread so fast that Ss couldn''t even get out of the way. Whether it was himself or the Basilisk King, they were all enveloped in an instant.


    This was clearly a difference in Mastery. The Arctic Emperor Cobra''s son could only expand the Domain slowly, but its father could instantly deploy it,yering arge region in the blink of an eye. In that moment, everything within 100 meters was covered, and all of the Arctic King Cobras had their Skills boosted, basically erasing all of the impact Ss'' own Beast Totem had on them.


    To make matters worse, Ss immediately felt a frosty cold. He hadn''t had any idea what 50 Damage meant when it was applied to a person. How were his own Defenses calcted? Was it based on his Constitution or something else?


    After seeing this technique in action, Ss had obviously prepared for this, so he asked the Madness Key. His Constitution did directly corrte to his Defense. It was a one-to-one return.


    Normally, this wouldn''t be seen because his Defenses epassed his entire body, while most attacks were concentrated into small areas. Essentially, even if his Defenses were 140, it wouldn''t mean a single thing. An Attack of 100 could still pierce through him because it was focused on a single region. des, arrows, explosives, they were all far too dangerous for him to tank.


    However, with a Skill like this one, things were different. His entire body was being targeted, so it spread.


    To make aplicated matter simple, 50 Damage per second meant that Ss could withstand this Domain for only two seconds in his foundational state before he died in the third second.


    Even with the 100% buff he received thanks to the Hero''s Shield, that would only give him three additional seconds. He had five seconds before his death was permanent.


    His mind churned, but there was really no other way. He didn''t have a method of countering this Domain. The only path was to run. He needed to leave this 100-meter diameter as quickly as possible.


    As though all of this wasn''t bad enough, even while he was tanking this Damage, the frost was already invading his body. He felt his movements slow and his veins began to turn blue. His vision swam and it felt as though he could see fluttering silver-blue snow in his vision¡­ but rather than being beautiful, this snow was like the call of a reaper¡­ beautiful to the soul and chilling to the mind.


    Those fluttering snowkes touched Ss'' body and cracking ice began to leap across his body. He could feel his life slipping away already.


    His mind churned, but there was really no other way. He didn''t have a method of countering this Domain. The only path was to run. He needed to leave this 100-meter diameter as quickly as possible.


    "Come!"


    Ss roared to the Basilisk King and they both turned tail at the same time, rushing across the quickly freezing grass and soil in an attempt to make it to the other end.


    However, the Arctic King Cobras weren''t slow. In fact, the four elites were the first to react, only to be buffeted and supported by the other Arctic King Cobras.


    <Chilling Scythes> flew through the air in a torrent, and the 100 Damage of the non-elites paled inparison to therge, smooth, 200 Damage scythes of the Level 10s.


    Ss felt his hair stand on end, but his body was slow to react and death breathed down his neck. His mind was still working, but his joints were freezing up and his muscles weren''t firing at their peak efficiency.


    Unfortunately, the frostiness of the scythes didn''t slow them down in the slightest. They weren''t the fastest attacks that Ss had ever seen, but that didn''t stop them from being much faster than the pace his feet could carry him at.


    At that moment, the wooden tower shield smashed into the ground with a dull boom. Waves spread and the frost umting along the ground shattered.


    A ripple spread out and the scythes that collided against it shattered one after another, but that was only able to stop two of the 200 Damage scythes before the rest bolted through.


    Ss abandoned the tower shield, not because it was moving too slowly, but because he needed more minds freed. He couldn''t afford to carry it.


    He made a swift decision and pulled out several more ballista bolts, sending them shuttling forward with the greatest strength he could muster.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The scythes shattered one after another, one of them sneaking by and appearing at the back of Ss'' neck.


    By this point, Ss was covered in so much ice that taking a single step feltborious. If not for his momentum shattering this ice building across him, he would have already copsed. Even his skin was beginning to turn frightening shades of purple after no more than two seconds.


    It felt ridiculous to him before that he could have possibly lost his life in just five seconds. He was still breathing, his heart was still pumping, how could he possibly die so soon?


    Maybe this was just how everyone felt when they were just about to die.


    And now, it felt impossible for him to dodge such a scythe.


    However, that was when thest strand of his mind reached out, mping down on the technique and churning through it.


    "Break!" He roared and the Gluttony Seed pulsed.


    BANG!


    The scythe shattered and shards of it pierced into Ss'' back and sent him sprawling forward.


    He activated <Madness Control> and felt his control over his body skyrocket. He adjusted himself in the air and rolled forward, ignoring the pain and the hot blood running down his back, he popped back up to his feet as the Basilisk King directly tanked one of the scythes.


    They should be close, they should be just another second from leaving the range of the Domain.


    But when Ss looked up, he felt his heart hit rock bottom.


    He had neglected one thing.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra could still move, and the moment it did¡­ A distance that should have been less than 40 meters away from them expanded, bing almost 50 meters away.

 Chapter 263 Control

    Chapter 263 Control


    When the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s son had used this Skill, it couldn''t move. It had been forced to stay in ce as it shrieked and hissed at Ss, so Ss had assumed that it was a final ditch effort, one that the cobra had only activated because it had no other choice in the matter. It also exined why it hadn''t just used this method earlier.


    But by the same token, it seemed that this was why the Arctic Emperor Cobra dared to use this Domain Skill so early. It was because it wasn''t restrained by the same weaknesses as its offspring.


    While Ss and the Basilisk King had been running for their lives, it just calmly closed the distance on them, and when they thought they were close to escaping, they ended up being further away. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss'' heart hit rock bottom.


    Death.


    It seemed as bright as bloody roses and yet carried the punch of sulfur. It loomed in his heart and consumed his soul.


    He had experienced this feeling more in thest few weeks of being in this world than he cared to admit. Again and again, it threw him into situations like this one.


    Was he going to die?


    Ss huffed out an icy breath. Icicles formed around his nose and his sweat became beads of crystalline ice. It coated his hair and threatened to seal his eyes. Everything felt out of reach and even life felt so very far away.


    But Ss just took in another cold breath and exhaled again.


    He could see that lighting toward him as though a train speeding down its tracks. There was no avoiding it.


    And yet, a cooling sensation filled his mind before a zing intent pumped through his heart.


    He suddenly reached out and touched the Basilisk King.


    Fusion.


    Even with all of his buffs, it would take a little less than two seconds to finish fusing with the Basilisk King. Not only could he die several times over in that time, by the end of it all, he wouldn''t even have a second left of life in him.


    A notification came in soon after.


    He was too injured toplete the fusion.


    Ss nodded slowly as though he was epting something.


    It made sense. By normal metric, he was three seconds away from dying. His body was already in such bad shape that he could barely muster the strength to move. If not for the fact he had the buff of the shield still intact, he would have copsed already, but even that was about to fade because he had abandoned it.


    There was no way out.


    Or so it seemed.


    ''I really hate this feeling¡­'' Ss thought. He had had this thought too many times in this world. However, it didn''t slow his movement.


    His Will moved and he pulled on the Gluttony Seed.


    He unleashed a roar, and suddenly a pulse of violent telekinesis rushed out of him toward all directions.


    The air rippled and shed.


    With a boom, the influence of the Domain shattered around him, the blue Runes that made it up being chased away.


    As quickly as they shattered, the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s expression turned malevolent, pouring more Aether into the technique to rece them. The Ice-Poison Runes began to rise across the ground toward Ss and the Basilisk King again, but at that moment, Ss was stamping the air with forged Runes again and again.


    As he did, he pulled out two Healing Elixirs and chugged them. At the same time, he not only expelled all the Ice-Poison from his body with the same pulse of Will, but he pressed <Maddened Enlightenment> into an all-out sprint.


    His body felt like it reached its limit in an instant, but he was already facing a life and death situation. If he didn''t go all out now regardless of the consequences, there would be no going back.


    He touched the Basilisk King and pulled it into the Hibernation Realm.


    ''10 seconds. That''s it.''


    At that moment, a of Runes had appeared around Ss. Every time the blue Runes crashed into them, they shattered apart. However, they still managed to dy theing Domain.


    Ss took a step forward and his fluttering Runes moved with him. They were crude, but he had studied the Ice-Poison Runes so much in thest day that he knew exactly how to counter them.


    All he did was replicate the Runes used on the Ice-Poison sacks of the Arctic King Cobras, and just like that, they were contained.


    Unfortunately, his Aether was far weaker than the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s. And every time he stamped down a Rune, not only did he use up at least 5% of his Aether stores, but he also used up a lot of mental stamina.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> was able to counter this somewhat, but it was ultimately only a Common Mastery FF+ Skill that he could use to Bronze Mastery only because of his Comprehension.


    But it was the moment he had this thought that a switch flipped again. As though acknowledging his calmness in the face of death, <Maddened Enlightenment> and <Madness Control> took another step forward.


    ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has deepened] [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Bronze Mastery]


    ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension] [<Maddened Enlightenment> has temporarily reached Silver Mastery] ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has deepened] [<Madness Control> has reached Gold Mastery]


    ¡ª


    [Your understanding of <Madness Control> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension] [<Madness Control> has temporarily reached Legendary Mastery]


    ¡ª


    Ss felt himself lighten and his body was pulled into his perfect control the instant he hit Gold Mastery in <Madness Control>. But then, when he felt the influence of Madness, it was like his body had begun to supersede its limits.


    What he hadn''t realized before was that there was a synergy between <Madness Control> and forging Runes. The moment they worked in tandem, the very same Runes that had taken up 5% of his Aether to forge only took up less than a single percent now.


    Everything seemed to happen in a single breath of time, and the moment Ss'' hair began to whip around in the air, dancing with the zing green of his Will, he had already been surrounded by the elite cobras.

 Chapter 264 Before and After

    Chapter 264 Before and After


    Ss'' Runes danced around him, keeping the Domain at bay. But what they didn''t do was stop theing cobras; they had no ability to do this. They were perfect counter to the Ice-Poison, not the beasts themselves.


    He hadpletelye toprehend the Ice-Poison Rune thanks to over a day of study, but he had nevere across something that would work against physical beings. Or rather, he could form the Ice-Poison Rune with some effort, but what use would it have against creatures that were immune to it? Ss didn''t even want to use poison in general against them because he knew that they were likely to be highly resistant.


    However, it didn''t matter. The moment they stepped into his small little Domain, they lost the support of the Arctic King Cobra''s Domain and their power plummeted once again.


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF-)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Physical: 273]


    [Mental: 345]


    [Will: 301]


    They were truly monstrous creatures. However, before Ss'' Beast Totem¡­


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF-)] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Level: 10]


    [Physical: 55]


    [Mental: 69]


    [Will: 60]


    And in such a situation, they might as well have been putty in his hands.


    BANG! BANG!


    Ss sent out two fists, and a rain of blood fell as the Arctic King Cobras were suppressed.


    Ss had longe to realize that the suppression wasn''t perfect. His fists, against a beast with these suppressed stats, would have directly killed them. But it felt like the Beast Totem was decreasing the Effectiveness of their stats rather than their overall stats. Otherwise, they should have been a mound of flesh by now.


    However, that didn''t change anything. The fact of the matter was that after just three punches, and six punches total, two elites had already fallen.


    <Chilling Scythe>''s came from the outside world, but they were directly countered by two casts of <Solidify>.


    Unfortunately, his Runes couldn''t weaken <Chilling Scythe>''s sent from outside of his small little Domain, but they were still only 100 Damage. His shields could easily tank two of them on their own.


    As he had realized in the first fight, Arctic King Cobras were mostly control and defensive types, their raw attack ability was limited.


    At that moment, the Arctic Emperor Cobra unleashed an infuriated howl. It had thought that Ss would be dead after it first took action, but things hadn''t worked out as it wanted, leaving it furious.


    A surge of chilling wind spread, and Ss felt his hair stand on end.


    [Arctic Howl (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Defense: 2000]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    Ss stumbled back, falling out of the range of his own Domain. The Arctic Emperor Cobra couldn''t attack, but it had just used a Defensive Skill to blow him back.


    He couldn''t help but cough up a mouthful of blood, his body rolling back. He barely managed to catch the faint edges of an attack assaulting him from all sides.


    That wall of wind was far more than he could handle. His bones rattled, and his blood ran cold. At the same time, he fell into the range of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Domain once again, leaving him suffering a series of harsh Damage against his Constitution again.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss made use of his improved Madness Control, throwing out a punch as he rolled. One of the scythesing toward him shattered, while another he barely managed to dodge still left a chilling cut in his shoulder.


    He rolled out of the way of thest assault as it cut across the ground, slicing a thin line through it.


    Popping to his feet, Ss stamped a foot on a tree and soared up. He pulled on his Gluttony Seed and slowed his downward arc just enough tond back inside of his small Domain. But by this point, it was teeming with cobras.


    He cast <Stunning Spike> on one. In its confusion, it couldn''t even react as Ss'' foot stamped down on its head, turning it into a blood mist.


    The others bit at him, but they seemed to have forgotten that he wasn''t just a close-range master. After securing hisnding spot, he summoned several ballista bolts. With a BANG!, their heads exploded.


    Ss looked up with bloodshot eyes. His focus seemed to have reached an unprecedented level. His body often moved without his thought, but when it did move with his intentions, it followed it with movement as fluid as water and as formless as the wind.


    He could emit 110% of his power, no matter the angle, no matter the circumstance. It was a state ofplete and absolute oneness with oneself.


    This time, when Ss visualized all those skilled fighters, he could mimic their movements one for one. When he felt that his body aligned with their movements, he would keep them. When he felt that they weren''t just right for him, he would discard them.


    One enemy came, so he killed one.


    If two came, he killed two.


    He stood like a towering mountain, ready to face anything.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra''s <Arctic Howl> had blown apart the forefront of his own small Domain. That was because the Skill was built on a foundation of Ice-Poison, so when it took action, it was countered by Ss'' own Runes.


    Thanks to that, Ss had managed to survive after just a small loss of blood and aches.


    But also thanks to that, his Domain had all but crumbled and he had to expend anotherrge amount of Aether stamping down Runes to build it up again. Thanks to that, the cobras continued to swarm him, tying him down and each one wanting to take a bite out of him.


    That was when he felt it.


    Ten seconds were up.


    Fusion.


    Ss felt a roaring heat rampage through his body and two secondster, a swarm of ck scales took shape on his. His muscles bulged, and he howled.


    Tail Whip.


    His ck tailshed out, and the head of an Arctic King Cobra was sted apart.


    Thest cobra elite had fallen, and suddenly, the Arctic Emperor Cobra moved as well, thest of its shackles being undone.

 Chapter 265 Obvious Choice

    Chapter 265 Obvious Choice


    Ss had smelt the scent of death before; he and death might as well have been called old friends by now. And yet, at this moment, he had never felt such a striking sense of inferiority in his life.


    [Name: Ss Grimde] [Species: Human (F)] [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage] [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)] [Level: 0] [Physical: 440] >[Strength: 662] >[Constitution: 613] >[Dexterity: 289] >[Speed: 306] [Mental: 317] >[Intelligence: 569] >[Wisdom: 160] >[Charisma: 523] [Will: 1013] [Luck: 22]


    Almost the instant he felt this, his body also erupted into a rain of blood. Pain the likes of which he had never felt before threatened to tear him apart.


    It was too much. The Basilisk King had grown too powerful.


    Ss fell to a knee, coughing up a mouthful of blood. ording to his upgraded Paths, he should be able to keep this transformation up for eight minutes, and yet, with things being like this, he wasn''t even sure if he couldst ten seconds.


    However, the Arctic Emperor Cobra was already upon him. It was so infuriated that it had directly crushed its remaining subordinates, not caring about their lives in the slightest, as it swiped a tail toward Ss.


    Even with his new stats, Ss somehow still felt as insignificant as an ant. This creature couldn''t be described with normalmon sense, and facing off against it felt more like he was facing off against an enemy of a lifetime, not a thing, but an entire world. All the Aether in the space seemed to mobilize toward the creature''s call, and a single swipe of its tail looked like an FFF- Skill in its own right despite the fact Ss knew for a fact that it hadn''t circted any technique whatsoever.


    A green me flickered deep in Ss'' eyes as he leapt back.


    BOOM!


    The ground split and crumbled as though a meteor had justnded.


    Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but widen. He had never seen such damage before, even with a Skill being activated, let alone without one being used.


    The hissing howl of the cobra.


    Ss directly ignored it, bringing out four ballista bolts and throwing them out with fierce momentum.


    They ripped forward with devastating Strength. In his state, they had almost 650 Physical.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    They echoed as they shattered against the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s body.


    Ss could see the power of them, and even the Arctic Emperor Cobra was forced to reel back. However, while it did, and some of its scales cracked, it might as well have been a papercut to it.


    Ss coughed up another mouthful of blood, his own body falling apart on him. But with gritted teeth and blood flowing down their crevices, he began to unleash a maddened assault.


    His fists, coated in green,unched violent punch after violent punch. At the same time, there was a rain of ballista bolts falling down all at the same time.


    Each attack hit the Arctic Emperor Cobra like an explosion of force, its body bing riddled with cracked skulls and leaking violet blood.


    However, Ss'' situation seemed to only be worse all the while.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra didn''t seem to be good at attacking either, and being forced back by Ss'' rain of assaults, it couldn''t close in for a tail whip.


    However, it didn''t seem to matter. If things continued like this, Ss wouldn''t even be able to stand on his own.


    Even so, the burning will in his eyes only seemed to grow more and more violent.


    He had long since cast <Voice of a King>,yering it on top of the <Voice of a King> that the Basilisk King had cast much earlier. And, his BOSS yer Title was in overdrive, boosting him by a further 10%.


    The green fist imprints rushing out from him in a torrent began to ze like fire, as did the ballista bolts raining down from the skies.


    For the first time, the Arctic Emperor Cobra actually began to smell hints of danger. It had been fiending for a chance to y Ss, but the bounds of the system had kept it in ce. But now that it actually had such a chance, this happened instead.


    In that moment, when it looked at the golden vertical slit eyes high above Ss'' head, it began to feel true fear. It was as though only in this moment did it realize that it was facing off against a Legendary Vipermancer.


    Ss suddenly coughed up another mouthful of blood. All the color from his face drained and he stumbled. His unerring momentum faltered and he fell to a knee again, feeling his vision swim.


    He coughed again, but the mad light in his eyes didn''t fade. He didn''t have another Healing Elixir, having used both of them up. But he still swallowed up three more Simple Healing Elixirs.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra howled again, and suddenly, something that was to Ss'' benefit happened.


    The Domain shattered.


    The cobra Emperor had summoned this Domain a long while ago. It couldn''t possibly be that its Aether was endless, especially since it was covering an entire 100-meter range. In fact, the only reason it hadsted this long to begin with was because the world seemed to be helping it. Ss didn''t know what was so special about this creature, but it seemed capable of exchanging a very small amount of Aether for exceptional results.


    But it clearly had its own limits, or else instead of attacking Ss with its tail earlier, it would have used another attack of some sort.


    Just when Ss wanted to think that his luck was finally turning for the better, he noticed something else that made his heart sink. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Arrows suddenly flew through the skies, cutting across the thick shrubbery of the trees, and all of them were aimed at Ss.


    Looking at these arrows, Ss understood what was happening. There were two ways to clear this Quicktime Event. One of them was killing the Level 12 beast whose Grade you couldn''t even see¡­


    And the other was killing the Level 0 who seemed to be on hisst legs.


    The choice was obvious.


    And it infuriated Ss.

 Chapter 266: Mirror

    Chapter 266: Mirror


    ?


    [1000 PSS bonus]


    Every single one of those arrows was reflected in Ss'' visualization. They moved as swiftly as the wind, but with his current Mental capacity, they might as well have been moving in slow motion. His mind separated into 15 different pieces, acting swiftly. With just a single touch, they deviated the arrows off of their current trajectory, causing them to m into one another.


    With just a single move, they nged in the skies, shifting to the sides of one another and being unable to maintain their flight. The arrows spun out of control and crashed to the ground, but Ss didn''t even send another nce toward them. Instead, his mind had already moved, and he activated <Mirror Step>.


    [Your understanding of <Mirror Step> has deepened]


    [<Mirror Step> has reached Gold Mastery]


    [Mirror Step (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Illusive and hard to grasp, you move like the fleeting clouds and your actions are a mystery to all but yourself]


    [Create <10> mirror images of yourself for 1 Aether Unit]


    Ss summoned 10 clones at the same time and controlled them all at once. Each one was identical to the next, even down to the blood flowing down from them. It was like he had perfectly copied and pasted himself ten times over. Then, eleven of him split off into different directions while three continued to kneel on the ground.


    A heart-pounding pain was ripping its way through Ss'' body, but it only seemed to focus him. His mind was like a hot piece of steel, a forging hammer falling onto it again and again, with the raging heating from his heart itself.


    A second volley of arrows came, but this time they were far more scattered. It was clear that the group didn''t know which clone to target, and without getting closer, it was likely impossible for them to ever know.


    Even the Arctic Emperor Cobra didn''t seem to know which one was the real Ss. Its eyes darted from side to side, and by the time it was going to just pick one, they came to a stop, forming a perfect circle around the cobra.


    For a moment, the Arctic Emperor Cobra shuddered. Obviously, it hadn''t been exposed just yet that these were just mirror images with no fighting power of their own. In the eyes of the cobra, they were all threats, and because the arrows never touched them, even the humans in the distance hadn''t realized this yet.


    What they didn''t know was that Ss had no choice but to do this because he couldn''t control these clones outside the range of his manifestation. This was the only path.


    ''That thing is clearly trying to find time to replenish its Aether. It foolishly used it all up. If I don''t kill it now, I''ll probably never get a chance.''


    The problem was that Ss'' own Aether was also running low. He had less than 20% left, and that was despite the Basilisk King giving him a huge boost. That barrage of attacks he had levied had taken a lot out of him. Every fist of Aetherflow he formed was like a skill on its own, but who would have thought that he would be interrupted by his own kind just when he was showing signs of taking the beast down?


    That fury bubbled up within him again.


    He had always thought himself to be a calm person, but he was finding it harder and harder to be.


    ''I have to take a risk.''


    Ss'' mind became sharp as he pressed his fury down. Being enraged because of people he couldn''t even see wasn''t going to help him, and staying here would only get him killed eventually. He had to force them out even if that meant putting himself in danger.


    He gritted his teeth, blood rolling down his chin as more ballista bolts appeared.


    He had been using them almost carelessly during this battle, but there were so many of them that he didn''t need to worry about quantity for now.


    He unleashed bolts at the Emperor and began to kite it. His body forced itself up from the ground, moving back slowly. And because he could summon the bolts from anywhere within his visualization range, it was still impossible to tell which of him was the real one.


    More volleys of arrows came from the distance, but Ss slowly pulled back. With the arrows scattered like this, and those lurking in the dark too scared to show themselves, they were far easier to dodge and deal with.


    ''Now.''


    Ss burst out of the line of trees. His mirror clones left the range of his visualization and began to act like carbon copies of him with no thought or reason. Luckily, since he was running in a single direction, they all just looked like they were running as well. Unluckily, because most of them were still in the thick forest, some of them ended up running right through trees, exposing them as fakes.


    However, Ss had already expected this. He didn''t mind anything else as he entered the line of cottages, dodged behind one of them, and then bolted across the river.


    His experience in theva came in handy. He was already fully prepared, using his Aether to coat his feet and shooting across.


    Ripples spread through the water and in threerge leaps, Ss had already made it to the other side.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra unleashed a howl as it rushed forward. It dove into the waters, unleashing a strong whip of its tail.


    BANG!


    A wave of water surged out of the cobra. It had already locked onto the real Ss.


    However, just as it was halfway through, a ballista bolt shot out.


    This time, it didn''te from Ss, but rather the ballistas themselves. It shuttled forward with even more force than Ss'' telekinesis, rocketing forward with a pace that shook the air around it and left a harsh whistle hanging in the air.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 267: Stunned

    Chapter 267: Stunned


    ?


    [2000 PSS bonus]


    The cobra''s body was forced deeper into the water, sinking rapidly.


    Ss was a snake expert. There were probably very few people in the world who understood better than him just how good cobras were at swimming. They were naturals, and their agility and ability to orient themselves in water would rank high among mostnd creatures.


    Trying to lure the cobra into the water to kill it seemed like a foolish task when this was taken into consideration. But there were two things missing in this analysis: context and rtivism.


    No matter how good the cobra was at swimming, would it be able to battle as effectively in the waters as it could onnd? And if it was forced to use its Aether to stay above water, then wouldn''t that ruin its chances at replenishing its reserves enough tounch a powerful attack?


    On top of this, Ss'' main goal was to make it across. That was because this river was now a dividing line between himself and the oing enemies. If they wanted to attack him again, not only would they have to cross this river, but even in the case that they weren''t, they would at least have to expose themselves first. And once they exposed themselves, he could kill them.


    Ss appeared high on the roof of a cottage. The first ballista bolt had already thrown the Arctic Emperor Cobra off, but it wasn''t nearly enough. Gritting his teeth, he unleashed another fist.


    A fiery green fist shot through the air and smashed down when the cobra was looking for air. Again and again. His visualization saw the cobra writhing. In its foolish rage, it had already taken up several mouthfuls of water.


    Ss'' gaze darted back toward the forest on the other side, and the sight he saw made his eyes redden. He could see several shadows moving through the forest, and their goals were all the same. They were collecting the corpses of the cobras that he had defeated, collecting the spoils that he had put his life on the line for.


    Ss found himself getting almost irrationally enraged. This wasn''t like him. He had already guessed that this would happen, and it was a sacrifice that he had already been willing to make. It was well within his calctions. But seeing this now, he was so infuriated that his muscles tensed and blood flew from his mouth.


    He circted <Madness Control> with a fiercer intent, and his fist drove forward with such strength that the roof beneath his feet shattered. He almost fell through, but his fist imprint was evenrger. He only sensed after the fact that it was because the Gluttony Seed had acted again, making the effectiveness of his telekinesis hit a new ceiling.


    BOOM!


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra was driven even more deeply into the water, and at that moment, Ss'' Aether surged through him like a roaring tide. One second. Two seconds. Three...


    <King''s Bind>.


    The skill finally activated as the Arctic Emperor Cobra writhed. Ss had chosen to take this chance. He already knew that the Emperor''s son had had a method of dispelling binds, but it could do nothing against the Basilisk King''s version of the skill. If it was still the former FF+ Skill, Ss wouldn''t have dared to try this at all. It cost too much, and the chance of it being rebuffed was too high.


    However, after <Voice of a King> had been active for so long, he could sense that the cobra Emperor was actively weakening. And from the very start, at least after hepleted his Fusion, his will was far beyond its own. And, even in the case that he was wrong, he would force the Arctic Emperor Cobra to utilize more Aether, which would stop it from casting skills. Ss'' senses werepletely focused on the cobra, and when time passed without him sensing it being rebuffed, he was pleasantly surprised. It had actually worked. The raging waters sloshed around, but the cobra didn''t show any signs of iting up.


    ''Cobras can spend over a dozen minutes without oxygen, but this one swallowed up several mouthfuls of water and is definitely in a panic right now.''


    At that moment, the shadows that were the source of Ss'' fury appeared. But this time, rather than targeting Ss, they seemed to have realized that there was a new weak link. They rushed toward the water, aiming their weapons and seemingly waiting for the cobra toe up.


    Ss didn''t do anything for a moment. Watching them, he seemed to sear this matter into his mind. If he wasn''t sure before, he was now. He hadn''t just joined the Trial because he was bored of his life and wanted excitement... he wanted control. He didn''t want to put his life in the hands of others, and he certainly didn''t like it when others seemed to think that he was someone to take advantage of.


    Quicktime Events had rewards that were distributed based on merits. The system would take a tally of who did what and in the end, create a ranking system. No matter how you sliced it, Ss had the highest contributions. Even if he just turned tail and ran now, he would still have the highest contributions. However, it was impossible that he would be allowed to do this because by now, these people were also aware of this. If he died, then first ce on the contributions list would no longer be his.


    The government. That was who they were, it was obvious just by their military garb and the rifles on their backs. They didn''t even realize that if not for him wringing his mind dry maintaining his Beast Totem, they wouldn''t even have the right to stand before this creature.


    Ss took deep breaths, taking a rare moment of reprieve. Fighting, fighting, and more fighting. It was all he seemed to do nowadays. He should have hated it, this pain coursing through his veins, these emotions that he had rarely experienced in the past, but instead... he found that he truly loved it.


    Suddenly, his hand reached back, and he caught the shaft of a spear. He twisted it out of the hands of the attacker and struck back with it. The attacker was taken aback and flinched in fear, only for the spear to suddenly burst into a rain of ash that shot into their eyes.


    BANG!


    Ss'' punch blew a hole right through that person''s skull, so perfectly controlled that it looked as though arge bullet had sped through instead.


    [Shacarri Edison]


    [Level: 17]


    [Osrius Flemming]


    [Level: 17]


    The two remaining Level 17s stood stunned.

 Chapter 268: Run

    Chapter 268: Run


    ?


    Ss felt like his body was on itsst legs, but even so, these Level 17s were as fragile as paper before him. It almost felt like a joke that they were targeting him at all. Even while in pain, with <Madness Control> activated, it was like everything was under his control.


    These three tried to sneak up on him despite the fact his visualization was still very much active, and the fact that he could still split his mind over ten ways. What they thought was sneaking up on him was just them bing moths to a me.


    Ss took another step and the two remaining Level 17s had their eyes widen in horror. They had already realized that Ss had to be strong, exceptionally so tost this long on his own. But they also had no way of knowing if he had other support in the region, or if there was a hidden trump card that he was using, so they had yet to confirm that it was his raw strength alone that caused this.


    In addition, they couldn''t see through his stats even if he hadn''t fused with the Basilisk King, let alone now that he had. With Madness activated on top of that, if they tried to sense his stats, not only would they fail, but they would even suffer a bacsh.


    In the end, they had decided to take a cautious approach, but that had ended with them suffering terribly in the end... no, suffering wasn''t enough to describe this.


    It was outright death.


    "Run!"


    Ss turned a deaf ear to their roars, a fiery rage being stoked in his body.


    Strength.


    He had never wanted it so badly.


    He had never wanted anything so badly in his life.


    He cast <Astral Bind> on one of them. Although it was almost immediately broken, because the gap in Will was sorge, the target was still stunned for a moment.


    At the same time, the second Level 17 who was turning to run found a ballista bolt suddenly appear in its path, whistling toward him with over 600 Attack.


    Tail Whip.


    Ss'' tailshed out toward the stunned Level 17 and her head exploded. The Gene Talent was only a weak F- one, but when it was matched with 662 Strength, it felt like a sledgehammer had just fallen from a skyscraper right onto her head.


    Blood sttered as a CLANG! echoed in the distance. Thest Level 17 just barely managed to block, but his wrists trembled and his forward momentum was entirely stopped. Just as he was feeling the horror, a second ballista bolt ripped through his back.


    He shook then froze. Looking down at therge bolting through his chest, he found a hard time believing that it was actually running through his body. It felt more like he was looking at his own life through a movie screen. This couldn''t possibly be real...


    But then his gaze dimmed and he fell over.


    At that moment, the government officials on the other side found their eyes widening.


    Those three had been on their own mission, and none of the other government officials knew how strong they were. In their eyes, they were just one of them. However, even so, that didn''t change how shocked they were.


    If Ss could kill three of them so easily, then what about the rest?


    The moment they took a step into this ce, they had already decided that all the benefits would be their own to benefit from. Although Ss was beaten and bloodied, and had done most of the work, they didn''t consider him to be a problem. Not only was he tired, but he was just a single person.


    Even if there was another existence hiding away, it wouldn''t make a difference.


    They were the government, how could any upstarts possibly manage to deal with them? But this...


    BOOM!


    The water surged and writhed, but it was actually a dense Ice-Poison that wasing out from it. It even looked like it was hurriedly freezing the river over... though failing miserably.


    ''There''s no way,'' Ss deduced immediately, ''the specific heat of water is far too high, let alone running water like this. There''s definitely no existence just yet that can aplish such a thing. What is it doing, then? Is it just too stupid?''


    To put this matter into context, sh freezing a river like this one was something that Ss would find far more impressive than having the strength to blow over a house in a single blow.


    It was easy to ignore in day-to-day matters, but it took a lot of energy to heat water up, and by that logic, it also took a lot of work to cool it down. This was even more difficult if the water was moving like in this case.


    There was simply no way the cobra could freeze this water, and even if it could, how would that benefit it?


    Even so, Ss was on high alert. <King''s Bind> could freeze the body, but it didn''t stop Aether flow or thoughts. If the cobra was desperate, then things were still fine, and it would also


    mean that things were still under his control.


    But in the case that it had an actual n....


    Ss was entirely focused on this matter, so much so that he didn''t spare another nce toward the government officials who couldn''t decide what it was that they wanted to do.


    Their targets were right in front of them, and yet, whether it was Ss or the Arctic Emperor Cobra, no one dared toe forward to deal with them. It could be said that this matter was truly too humiliating for the government.


    And that was precisely when a second group made their way over.


    Legacy!


    Ss noticed this immediately, and he felt that something was fishy.


    Logically, Legacy should have made it here first. Veridian was now their stronghold, so they


    were far closer.


    So why had they...


    Ss'' eyes widened.

 Chapter 269: Fast

    Chapter 269: Fast


    ?


    The answer was obvious the moment Ss thought of it. At that moment, he took a leap. BOOM!


    The location he had just been standing on exploded. Had he been just a second slower, he would have truly been screwed over.


    A howl ofughter came from behind Ss, and a figure with shadow-like speed appeared behind him in a blink.


    Ss twisted in the air, using the momentum to p at the dangering from his back. This person had actually managed to hide from his visualization, and the moment the dagger moved, it felt like death''s whisper hade to his door once again.


    However, Ss was frighteningly calm. Even when he recognized the face of Alex Renolds, he didn''t react in the slightest. It was as though he understood that even the slightest distraction had the possibility of ruining things for him, so he didn''t even give it a chance to do so.


    BANG!


    Alex was surprised the moment the tailnded because it actually felt like he was about to lose an arm. His shoulder almost popped from his socket, and he grunted, reeling back.


    It had to be remembered that he was in the air as well. For Ss to actually have the strength to blow him back despite the fact that both of their momentums were going in the opposite direction, it was a testament to just how strong he had grown.


    However, none of this stopped them from falling toward the water below.


    A chilling, howling wind came at the both of them, and the raging waters made it difficult to get a hold of their bnce. Walking acrossva had already been difficult, but walking on the less viscous water was several times more. However, taking that a step further and walking on raging waters that were constantly forming peaks and valleys...


    Both Ss and Alex almost slipped out.


    Even now, Alex didn''t seem to have recognized Ss. Although Ss'' face wasn''t covered in scales, he did have them on his cheeks and up his throat. At the same time, his eyes were different, and there was a difference in his demeanor that hadn''t been there before.


    Even if the real Ss and his current self were ced side by side, it would be difficult to align them. Though, it might be possible to say that they were rted.


    If Alex had better attention to detail, he might have drawn that line. But the memories that he could retrieve from his clone after its death were foggy at best. In addition...


    Had he ever been a details-oriented guy?


    He preferred action.


    Ss, though, recognized Alex instantly, and the first thing he noted wasn''t that he was somehow alive, but rather that he was using daggers rather than the axes Ss had known him for. It seemed that everything about the Alex he knew was nothing more than a facade.


    Even now, Ss couldn''t see through Alex''s stats. It was obvious to him that there was some sort of treasure that both he and Lauren had used to escape detection by the system, but that much was fine.


    What Ss really cared about wasn''t the sneak attack or Alex''s skill; he was more concerned about what they had done to the cobra Emperor. There was no doubt that whatever was happening down below was rted to them.


    But right now, Ss was locked in a battle with Alex, and there were also still the government military men and women on the other side of the shore that might interfere at any moment. This matter was bing more and more troublesome to deal with, but he was already nearing the end of his rope.


    Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t possibly escape this region. But even if he won in the end, would he still have the strength he needed to flee?


    The moment Ss had these thoughts, he threw them to the back of his mind. He was going back to his old ways of thinking, his old ways of thought.


    Nothing else mattered right now but taking another step forward. Nothing else mattered aside from crushing the enemies that were right in front of him.


    Alex''s betrayal could be said to be the first he had faced in this world, and it could have cost him his life had he been the slightest bit careless. Back then, Alex had obviously had the intention to continue staying in Castle Main. Had Ss not exposed him, he would probably still be there now, doing who knows what.


    But now that he was here, if Ss could capture him, he could finally get some real answers about what happened back then.


    There were too many secrets in this world, but he could only tackle them one at a time... Starting with why they needed Cassarae''s treasure so badly that they would actually go so far. A fast victory. He needed one that was quick, decisive, and left no room to maneuver. The moment he made this choice, he exploded forward. The water beneath him warped, and


    as a result, the effectiveness of his speed plummeted, but he seemed to have already expected


    it.


    Through the air, his Gluttony Seed and <Momentum Shift> activated at the same time, mitigating the loss.


    Alex was taken aback, not expecting such a decisive attack after they had just started probing each other, but his own reactions weren''t slow either.


    He cast a skill, but this time, his treasure couldn''t stop Ss from picking up on it. It was a defensive skill that could be used as an attack. It stored strength and then exploded with it as a counter. It relied on Dark Aether to work, and this could be considered the second time that Ss had run into such a thing.


    However, seeing through the method of attack, Ss was impossibly calm. The fist that he was nning on attacking with was retracted and hended on the water''s surface heavily.


    At the same time, his tail whipped out, pping against Alex''s side and sending him flying.

 Chapter 270: Cost

    Chapter 270: Cost


    ?


    Ss pressed down on the water, his aura surging as he appeared before the flying Alex. He unleashed a barrage of punches.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! CLANG!


    His fists met Alex''s daggers, but he didn''t seem to notice in the slightest. His Constitution seemed to put him on the same level as these des, so he faced them without the slightest fear.


    Alex was on his backfoot, finding it hard to even find a footing on the river in the first ce. It was like after he lost the initiative in the first ce, he had lost it permanently. Ss grasped every aspect, and the fire of his punches seemed to allow him to forget the pain his body was in.


    CRACK.


    The sickening sound of shattering bone echoed, and one of Alex''s arms wentpletely limp. A Tail Whip shed out, catching him off guard at the worst time and pping against the side of his body. He barely had the presence of mind to brace himself, only for his Constitution to fracture like fragile paper beneath it.


    Ss'' expression didn''t change. He took a step forward and caused ten ballista bolts to appear all around Alex''s soaring figure all at the same time.


    He released them in a single instant, a coldness shing in his golden slit eyes.


    Even before the attacknded, he had already moved forward as though he had already subconsciouslye to understand that even with this, Alex wouldn''t die so easily.


    Alex twisted in the air, tendrils of darknessing out of his body. Three of the tendrils wrapped around his broken arm, fortifying it. Then, he began to use his arms as though he wasn''t injured at all, spinning in the air like a cyclone.


    He activated another defensive skill, lines of darkness wrapping around him.


    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!


    Just as he deflected thest of the bolts, Ss had already appeared before him, striking out.


    At that moment, a violent sense of danger red warnings in Ss'' mind. However, when he used his visualization to check, he couldn''t find anything. Even so, he acted before he was certain of what was happening.


    The Stabilizing Bracelet activated, and he used up a <King''s Shield>.


    A spherical shield appeared around him just in time.


    BANG!


    The shield shuddered, and in the same instant, Ss never stopped his fist. The only difference was that this time, he activated Basic Aetherflow. He had been trying to reserve his Aether, but pressed into this situation, he couldn''t be bothered to any longer. He had already decided, and when he decided on something, he never hesitated.


    He would defeat Alex as swiftly as possible.


    A green, ming glow came from his fist and shot out through the other side of the barrier that appeared to protect him. Alex thought that he would get a small reprieve, only for an attack to appear on the other side of <King''s Shield> as though it had just manifested from thin air.


    BANG!


    Alex coughed up a mouthful of blood, his ribcage shattering as he was sent flying once again. At the same time, Ss saw what had attacked him. It was a crossbow that had been hidden within Alex''s sleeve. Not just that, but it was exceptionally powerful. It would have blown through a 200 Defense <Solidify> in an instant. In fact, even Ss'' former 600 Defense FF+ <King''s Bind> wouldn''t havested. This current version had 1000 Defense, and yet it had barely managed to hold up.


    This realization should have made Ss tremble with fear, but instead, his gaze only became frighteningly cold.


    Strength.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    He sent out three fists in quick session, feeling the small bit of Aether he had left quickly draining. He had only had 20% left before this battle began, but now he had already approached 10%.


    Unfortunately, Alex was ready this time and didn''t get caught off guard the same way. He also seemed to have grown severalfold more serious, his previous yful expression having disappeared.


    Ss didn''t mind it. This was all well within his expectations, he wasn''t the only one that could have powerful treasures. However, by the same token, if he was second guessing every one of his actions because he wasn''t sure what trump cards an expert might have, he would be the only one to suffer.


    There was only one way to deal with this.


    To have enough strength that none of this mattered.


    He dispelled the spherical <King''s Shield>, knowing that it was useless with less than 200 Defense remaining.


    His three fists descended onto Alex''s body, and he unleashed a roar.


    DENG! DENG! DENG!


    All at the same time, his daggers rushed forward, utilizing the first attack Skill that Ss had seen from him. He only attacked once, but Ss'' punches seemed to have all experienced three attacks in quick session almost as though several Alex''s had attacked at once.


    Everything that happened was taken note of by Ss, and he kept pressing forward with faster and faster Speeds.


    He appeared before him swiftly once again, his Speed not having dropped at all. By this point, they had already been forced onto the other side of the shore, the one opposing the government men and women.


    Ss had made sure not to allow Alex to go in that direction. Though the government was currently being upied by the people of Legacy, he didn''t want to deal with such variables.


    The moment Alex stepped onnd, he seemed to have gained new life. He noted that Ss was still on the water and immediately took advantage, his feet digging into the earth and shooting forward. He held his daggers before him in a cross and activated his second attack


    Skill.


    However, that was when something unexpected happened.


    Ss came to a stop. He had been so relentless until now that Alex expected him to continue doing as much.


    But he was wrong.


    And it would cost him his life.

 Chapter 271: Three

    Chapter 271: Three


    ?


    Because Ss'' forward momentum suddenly came to a stop, Alex''s counter was mis-timed. Before, his peak strength would have exploded right at their contact point. But with this current momentum, he would have to sh out before his des reached Ss.


    He realized the issue, but it was already toote. He immediately began to calcte what he could do to deal with the aftermath. What he didn''t expect was that Ss had his own ns. <King''s Bind>.


    The bracelet activated once again. It was an instant cast, something that Ss shouldn''t have been able to do with the space between them being so close. Despite the previous deployment of <King''s Shield>, it seemed as though Alex had yet to realize where that skill hade from. Ss'' relentless pursuit hadn''t allowed him the ability to think about anything else.


    However, Alex still snorted. A bind skill this powerful was rare, but he still had the ability to counter it. He didn''t hesitate to use his strongest Dispel Skill.


    But Ss'' timing was simply far too good.


    He activated <King''s Bind> just as Alex''s crossde attack Skill reached its climax. There was a sh of Aether that made Alex cough up blood, but he was still able to tank it. He was already prepared to activate yet another Defensive Skill, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a shine of the sun.


    He barely had time to register that it wasn''t the sun at all.


    The second ballista that Ss had set up fired. But this time, there wasn''t a normal ballista bolt on it, but rather the Wind Reaper Javelin.


    [Wind Reaper Javelin (FF)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Ability: Swallow (Wind)]


    [This treasure swallows Wind Aether proportional to the Speed it travels at. For every 50 kph, Piercing power increases by 100%]


    Even a ballista of ancient times had an exit velocity of upwards of 90 meters per second, which tranted to over 300 kilometers an hour. At such a close distance, and with such a powerful ballista created by Archibald the engineer, it would easily reach over 500 kilometers an hour, increasing Piercing power by 1000%.


    With such Piercing power, even if it was in the hands of a child, Alex''s Constitution would be nothing but wet tissue paper before it, let alone here and now.


    But what was maybe the most shocking to Alex was that not only had Ss triggered such a thing, but he had dared to do so when there was less than two meters between them.


    Alex had, of course, seen these ballista on the roof. But who would shoot a ballista at themselves? How confident did you have to be in your aim to dare to do such a thing? With how fast that javelin was...


    There simply was no room to dodge.


    Alex tried to twist out of the way, but the javelin drove right through his upper right chest, shattering his corbone. It was so fast that it exited the other side of his body before he could do anything at all.


    He was stunned for a moment, and then the pain hit him in waves.


    He coughed up a mouthful of blood and then copsed, his body shuddering.


    At that moment, Ss appeared before him, driving a powerful fist into Alex''s hip just as he keeled over.


    All the air in Alex''s body was forcefully ripped out in that moment. He could feel every inch of his hip shattering before his entire body shut down.


    With swift movements, three kunai came from Ss'' Madness Key and surrounded Alex, cutting his clothing into ribbons and then stripping everything off of his body.


    Quickly, Ss found exactly what it was that was causing the cobra to go so crazy.


    There was a ne hanging from Alex''s neck.


    [Beast Bewildering Amulet (Silver) (Treasure)] [Level: 20]


    [Target the mind of a beast and feed it illusions]


    [While the beast is Bewildered, +10% Physical]


    What took Ss off guard, though, was that the moment he took this ne off of Alex, it dimmed and the thrashing of the waters beneath them began to grow calmer. At the same time, he got a strong feeling of repulsion from the treasure, as though even if it wasn''t for the Scorned Wraps, he wouldn''t be able to use it.


    Ss realized that there was no time to waste. The hold that Alex had on the Emperor had vanished.


    But at the same time, he also knew that even if the Arctic Emperor Cobra managed to regain control of itself, it would be severely weakened. Just how much water had it swallowed up while it was thrashing about below the river?


    Ss looked down at his body and realized that he was in an absolute mess.


    He threw Alex onto the roof of a cottage, not having any better means to deal with him for now. Although he wanted to kill him, he also felt that Alex had far too much information that he would need. Even if Alex, by some miracle, managed to escape, he had taken all of his things so Ss still hadn''t lost out.


    He turned toward the river, hoping to find the javelin, but it was a pipe dream.


    The river was rtively smallpared to others, so the javelin was still within range of Ss'' visualization, only 10 meters or so beneath the surface.


    But the problem was that it was so deeply embedded that it was impossible for Ss to use his telekinesis to pull it out. The force he would need was too much.


    ''It''s still not up yet?''


    Ss turned his visualization to the Emperor cobra only to find it weakly trying to crawl its way up to the surface. It seemed that he had severely underestimated how weakened it was right now, even its Will had plummeted by several measures.


    However, it was crawling toward the wrong side of the shore. If it appeared in such a weak state over there, then the one to kill it would likely be a member of Legacy or the government.


    Ss grit his teeth.


    He refused to allow that. Not after everything he had been through.


    With a determined glint, he pressed his foot into the ground and shot forward again.


    ''Three minutes... I have three minutes left of Fusion...''


    Worse than that, he knew that even if he could hold on for that long, whether his body would still be in working condition afterward was up in the air.

 Chapter 272: Contribution

    Chapter 272: Contribution


    ?


    [1500 GTS bonus]


    Ss wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and shot forward, racing across the water. His thoughts were infused with the limitations of his body. It felt like any moment now, he could fall to the ground. However, deep inside him, he could feel a raging fire.


    His Will felt far more tangible to him now, and Ss faintly noticed that it was what was responsible for him still going right now. The green mes raced through his body, supporting his Aether and keeping his muscles fused.


    Suddenly, he appeared above the Arctic Emperor Cobra and drove a fist down.


    BANG!


    The water rippled as though someone had just cannon-balled right into its midst. Ss'' fist drove down into the head of the Arctic Emperor Cobra just as it was about to make it to the other side of the shore, driving it into the bank.


    He didn''t pause for even a moment, driving another fist down, and then another.


    The government officials and the members of the Legacy seemed to realize what was happening at that moment as well, so they took action in an attempt to stop Ss or maybe even take the opportunity to get a kill in on him as well.


    But that was when Azrael''s ck sword made an appearance.


    The skies were filled with the shadows of swords, and they pierced forward in a whirlwind.


    The officials and members of Legacy were taken aback. Their fear of Ss'' strength was deeply ingrained into their bodies by now, and while they had already taken note of the fact that Ss'' clones were fakes, they had never seen him use this sword before, so they had no way of knowing.


    None of them could have expected that even at this moment, Ss was bluffing.


    His mind was cool, calm, and collected. It was the feeling he enjoyed the most, of having everything in his grasp, whether that be his own emotions or the emotions of others.


    The dark thought shed through his mind, but Ss didn''t have the time to consider it. All he knew was that he was running out of time; all he knew was that he needed to kill this Emperor beast as quickly as possible.


    His fists came in waves, falling in a torrential downpour. The river waters were agitated so greatly that one would have thought that a storm had descended despite the fact that it was a rtively modest day despite the cold hanging in the air.


    Again and again, Ss drove his fist down, seemingly not knowing fatigue, not even knowing pain.


    It was then he felt the sickening crunch of bone beneath his fist and his gaze shed.


    The Constitution of the Arctic Emperor Cobra was otherworldly. If it wasn''t for the fact Ss had exhausted its Aether and Alex had bewildered it into a perpetual state of self-harm, it wouldn''t be possible for Ss to wail on it like this without suffering at least some sort of setback.


    Finally, under that relentless barrage, Ss felt it give way and a mournful cry echoed from the water in turbulent bubbles.


    At that moment, Ss retracted Azrael''s sword. He could only dy with this faking tactic for a few seconds at best before they realized that none of the swords were actually shing down and killing them.


    In that case, he might as well cut the farce short.


    Hisst waves of Aether poured into the de after he activated Basic Aetherflow. Then, he unleashed a roar, his chest expanding as he gave everything his body had left.


    He drove the sword down with his telekinesis, several green, fiery hands cing themselves onto its hilt to drive it down with even greater force.


    PCHU!


    Ss felt the flesh of the cobra give way and its skull was cracked the rest of the way by the sword.


    All at once, his body seemed to rx and he felt waves of pain echo through him.


    The emblem floating above his head suddenly pulsed and spread out in all directions. At the same time, the Arctic Emperor Cobra seemed to also emit a blinding glow.


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Wrath of the Arctic Emperor Cobra - Completed]


    [Contribution Leaderboard]


    [Ss Grimde - Bronze Contribution]


    [-Redacted- F+ Contribution]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. So there was a way to hide his name from the system. If he had had this method, he would have already entered the Leaderboards back in the Nexus, and he would already be umting coins.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t know what this method was, and even if he did, he didn''t have any Nexus Crystals to use to enter the Nexus either. So no matter how he looked at it, he wouldn''t be able to take advantage of this for a while.


    But maybe if he was lucky, he could find such a thing in Alex''s belongings.


    First, though... he had to escape from this region.


    His body looked up weakly to find that the members of Legacy and the government were still charging at him. Even though they knew the event was over, just how valuable was Ss now? The government couldn''t let such a powerful existence walk around freely, and Legacy felt much the same way. If they could, they would prefer to eliminate such apetitor.


    The fact that he was a Grimde only made this more serious. Which of them didn''t understand the significance of thisst name?


    Ss'' gaze shed coldly, but he ended up coughing up a mouthful of blood. His body was in too terrible a state. He needed to run.


    He reached a hand down through the waters and took the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s corpse. Even if he couldn''t have the others, these, at least, would be his own to have.


    Then, he grit his teeth. Realizing that he didn''t have much of a choice in the matter, he took out the venom sack that he had mutated from the Emperor''s son and threw it out.


    BANG!


    A poison mist filled the region and shrieks sounded.


    However, by then, Ss had already retreated.

 Chapter 273: Merits

    Chapter 273: Merits


    ?


    [3000 PSS Bonus]


    Ss escaped into the forest, going deeper and deeper until he was entering a true wilderness. During normal times, this region was a popr hunting area, so it was a true forest. However, by extension, that also meant that the likelihood Ss would run into some mutated beasts was high.


    At the moment, hanging from his shoulder, there was a grieving and half-unconscious Alex. Luckily, Alex hadn''t managed to escape the fate of being caught by Ss. More unfortunately, there were other problems.


    He had really lost too much in this battle.


    He lost his ballista, his wind javelin, his hero shield... he used up his trump card venom sack, and that didn''t even mention the sheer number of cobra corpses that he had lost out on.


    It could be said that though he had escaped with his life, it wasn''t without its consequences. And even worse than that, he knew that there was worse toe.


    He knew that the moment he expelled his Fusion state, the bacsh his body would face would be enough to make the strongest of men cry. That didn''t mention the sheer number of Elixirs that he had swallowed during that battle, so it was bound to make the bacsh even


    worse.


    As though that wasn''t bad enough, he was no doubt still being hunted and tracked. He didn''t have the time to rest as soon there was likely to be a nket over this region. He didn''t even have the luxury of checking his notifications to see if what he had gained could manage to offset the losses or not.


    He couldn''t afford to pass out, but he also didn''t know if his body could even hold on any longer. No matter how he looked at it, he was truly stuck between a rock and a hard ce.


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood again, but he grit his teeth, continuing to run.


    He soared through the trees, ignoring the durability of his kunai. He couldn''t afford to leave footprints on the ground, and he was hoping that no one would notice the faint cuts he left in the trees.


    He changed directions several times, leaving dummy cuts in the trees several times as he raced further and further away.


    When he felt that he had traveled quite far, he fell down from above and summoned the Dire Wolf. With his current stats, the Dire Wolf instantly hit its maximum of 200 Speed and Dexterity before surging forward.


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood once more and realized that it was simply impossible for him to continue holding on like this.


    He pulled the Basilisk King into the Hibernation Zone and the Fusion came to an end.


    The moment it did, it was as though millions of needles were pricking him from countless angles.


    He bit down on his tongue, doing his best not to scream out in horror. He barely managed to keep his grip, stopping Alex from falling away and keeping himself on the back of the Dire Wolf.


    The first thing he did when his mind was semi-clear was check on the Basilisk King. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the Basilisk King was just fine, but that much should have been expected.


    Their injuries hadn''t evene from their opponents, but rather their Fusion itself. Or, more urately, Ss'' injuries.


    The Basilisk King was just fine and the brunt of the pressure was withstood by Ss alone.


    It could be said that because his own stats were too weak, even though his Paths said that he could bring out 100% of the Basilisk King''s stats, it was probably more like 50 or 60% in practice.


    Of course, he still had ess to all of those stats, but he could only functionally bring it out from time to time. If not for <Madness Control>, it would be even worse.


    However, this still made Ss breathe out a sigh of relief.


    "Protect me..." he said weakly.


    Ss only had the strength to summon the Basilisk King one more time before he passed out.


    ...


    Ss had no idea what happened while he was out, but it could be said that in those days, this region of the world was lit on fire, and quite quickly after that, so too was the rest of the world.


    The appearance of the Quicktime Event wasn''t the problem, but it was the value.


    This was the first time a challenge rated for a Level 20 had appeared, and not only had it been triggered by a single person, but the Contribution Leaderboard was pretty much monopolized by Ss alone.


    That much would be enough for quite an uproar... but it was made even worse when a new leaderboard appeared in the Nexus the next hour.


    [Merit Leaderboard]


    [1. Ss Grimde - ?]


    It was a leaderboard with just one person''s name on it and with an even more ambiguous description.


    [The Hall of Merit]


    [A list reserved for those that contribute to the prosperity of Earth]


    No one knew what this was supposed to mean... except for those at the truest, upper echelons. This list had appeared before; it was just that this list was only supposed to appear in the distant future, when they were likely already years into the Summoning. For a Merit to have been gained so early on...


    It could only be said to mean that Ss had truly done something unprecedented.


    But while it was the case that most didn''t know or understand what the list meant, what they did understand were the rewards that came with it. Andpared to the other lists... they couldn''t even bepared.


    [First ce > 10000 coins a day; 1 three-day Flexible Elixir a month]


    [Second ce > 9000 coins a day; 1 two-day Flexible Elixir a month] [Third ce > 8000 coins a day; 1 one-day Flexible Elixir a month] [Fourth ce > 5000 coins a day; 1 three-day Soft Elixir a month] [Fifth ce > 4000 coins a day; 1 two-day Soft Elixir a month] [Sixth ce > 3000 coins a day; 1 one-day Soft Elixir a month] [Seventh ce > 1500 coins a day; 1 three-day Brittle Elixir a month] [Eighth ce> 1000 coins a day; 1 two-day Brittle Elixir a month]


    [Ninth ce > 500 coins a day; 1 one-day Brittle Elixir a month]


    [Tenth ce > 250 coins a day; 1 three-use Brittle Elixir a month]


    This reward list set the world on fire. ---Vol 2 End---

 Chapter 274: Who?

    Chapter 274: Who?


    ?


    Ss''s eyes snapped open. Without time to think, he immediately spun to his side just in time for his stomach to turn over.


    He heaved, a foul ck liquiding out of his mouth in continuous waves. Even when he thought that it was over, his throat ached and pulsed as his chest continued to heave. It was as though his stomach wouldn''t be satisfied until it turned inside out.


    His face turned sickly pale. When he thought it was over and had a sip of water, even that came heaving up.


    Coughing violently, he pushed himself up. He couldn''t drink water despite how parched he was, and he assumed he couldn''t have food either. Was this the consequence of having too many Elixirs? But wasn''t this too exaggerated? At this rate, he would die of thirst.


    Ss grit his teeth and took another swig of water. He ended up vomiting this as well. However, he continued. It took him three attempts before the water finally stayed down. He resisted the urge to chug a whole bottle. He didn''t know much about medicine, but he knew that considering how thirsty he was now, he had at least gone several days without hydration. And considering how sick he was, he had certainly sweated a lot in his sleep.


    If he suddenly flooded his body with water now, it would have the opposite effect. He might directly die as a result.


    In the end, he could only resign himself to a few sips.


    "You actually survived... But can you get me out of here, psycho Syl? You smell terrible."


    Alex''s voice made Ss narrow his eyes. He looked up with a sharp gaze, but he rxed when he saw that the Basilisk King was watching Alex like a hawk.


    There was a small bit of fatigue in the Basilisk King''s eyes as well. Clearly, it hadn''t slept. Unfortunately, considering his current state, there was no way that Ss could allow it to. Although Alex was severely injured, who knew what he was capable of?


    Ss had been aware enough to guess that the second-highest contribution was given to Alex. Well, he wasn''t sure, but he assumed that the only one capable of hiding his name from the system was Alex. Even now, Ss couldn''t see his real stats.


    If Alexmuned with the system and took out rewards while Ss was out cold, it was possible for him to have reversed the situation. Luckily, the Basilisk King seemed to have been paying attention the entire time, not giving him such a chance.


    Ss had to thank his lucky stars that the Basilisk King was an intelligent creature that could understand these things on its own. Otherwise, Ss would have likely suffered this time.


    He couldn''t help but sigh inwardly. This world was truly too dangerous, and he was far too far from being the kind of strong he needed to be to ignore everything else.


    Shaking his head and ignoring these thoughts, he looked down at himself. He realized that Alex was at least right about one thing. He stank.


    It wasn''t just the vomit, but his body seemed to have excreted a great deal of ck liquid. It only took him a moment to realize that it was the same liquid that he had just vomited up.


    His expression turned solemn, and he inwardly swore never to chug so many Elixirs at once again. He had thought that his greatest issue would be the injuries to his body, but he found that while his body ached, he had mostly recovered from that.


    This sickness, however, it was still lingering, and it made him feel incredibly weak. His body must have been working in overdrive in order to drive those impurities out, and even after several days, it had still notpletely seeded. If not for this, drinking water wouldn''t induce so much vomit.


    Ss had no idea how to remedy this, so he could only ask the Madness Key for its expertise.


    As expected, what he was experiencing now was indeed a sickness caused by excessive Elixir use. But he learned something interesting as well.


    Most Elixirs on the market had impurities at around the 60 to 70% mark. Normally, so long as you stayed within their limits, the body would naturally expel these over time. But when you overdid it like Ss had, the cumtive impurities would be so great that your body would enter a full rejection mode where it saw everything as poison.


    In the worst cases, these impurities could even clog up your arteries and lead to heart attacks and strokes, and of course, death.


    Ss couldn''t help but shake his head again. Dangers truly lurked around every corner in this world. Luckily, he had managed to live this time.


    "But if the market usually has such impure Elixirs, then that should probably mean that there are some Elixir makers out there who can get better ratios. Maybe there''s a Legendary Profession like mine out there that lets you formte an Elixir with zero impurities..."


    Ss still remembered that among the Legendary Paths he could have chosen, there was one that had allowed him to trade contracts with mythical beasts for various secondary Profession abilities. He wondered if that would have allowed him to do such a thing.


    Even though he thought this, he didn''t mind it very much. He was still confident in his choice. Even if he had chosen that path, where the hell was he going to find a phoenix to contract?


    "I''ll need to see if maybe I can rece the function of Elixirs with more impressive skills or maybe treasures... it would likely be harder to find treasures that fit that bill because the Scorned Wraps seem to reject everything..." Ss sighed again. The path ahead was truly difficult, but at the very least, he had made some gains this time.


    Ignoring Alex''s plight, he looked into the man''s eyes.


    "Who are you really? What is your rtionship with Lauren and Legacy?"

 Chapter 275: Priority Level

    Chapter 275: Priority Level


    ?


    Alex began tough. "I fucking knew it. No wonder you let me live, Psycho Syl. I knew you were a problem from the first moment I saw you, you know? You just randomly strolled in those loose linen pants and nothing else, three months into the Trial like it was nobody''s business."


    "Get to the point," Ss said coldly.


    Alex didn''t seem to mind, continuing his diatribe.


    "You know, the first thing I did when I got those snippets of memories from my clones was look you up. I didn''t believe for a second that those old hags and fogies didn''t have you on their radar, and what do you know? How could I have known that I was in the presence of royalty?


    "If you didn''t trick me with that disguise of yours, I would have hightailed it out of there the moment I saw your face."


    Ss frowned. What was Alex talking about? Royalty? Was he talking about the Grimdes? It didn''t seem like it. The government, Legacy, and the families might have mutual respect for one another, but it was doubtful that that respect bordered on the sheer fanaticism in Alex''s eyes right now.


    "Ah, you won''t get it. Just let me show you."


    Suddenly, Ss felt a press on his mind that he instinctually rejected. But the images still shed for a moment. After realizing what it was, he didn''t fight it and soon he saw what Alex was referring to.


    [Profile: Ss Brown]


    [Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral]


    [Moral Spin: Chaotic]


    [Priority Level: 5]


    [Feats]


    [Age 7: Completed Neural Cognitive Dreamscape in 7 minutes and 21 seconds, defeating the previous record by a full three minutes]


    ...


    [Age 9: Deciphered Ancient Ithkuil text andpleted puzzle. This has helped advance ourprehension of these matters by several fold. This child can no longer be tested by normal means]


    ...


    [Age 11: School shooter n has been put into effect, but was thwarted at step one. Ss picked out the shooter and covertly alerted a teacher before anything could happen. The insight of the boy is beyond measure]


    ...


    [Age 14: The boy has begun to show signs that he is too difficult to control. Despite having had the qualifications to graduate high school three years ago, he has chosen against going an extra credit route and has begun to take things slowly. However, during annual test, he once again received full marks, surpassing all previous records]


    ...


    [Age 15: Dummy programming ss was a sess. Ss managed to learn the abstruse andplex programmingnguage in just three days. Unfortunately, it does not seem like he has too much interest inputers. The final evaluation is that the boy cannot be controlled]


    ...


    [Age 16: Ss Brown has not been able to be tested properly in several years now. When he was young, it was easy toe up with methods, but it is clear now that if we continue, he will notice our presence. I have decided to simply observe him to see if there will be any changes to his personality. But for now, he is still unusable]


    ...


    [Age 17: I have made the decision that this will be thest year of monitoring. Ss Brown has a Lawful Neutral Moral Alignment, but he has a Chaotic Spin. He and his girlfriend seemed to have broken up, and dayster, he disyed his first signs of violence. I have not seen such ruthlessness in a boy who has yet to see a battlefield in all my days]


    ...


    [Final Evaluation: Steer clear of Ss Brown. It is impossible to tell what level this boy''s intellect has reached. I have watched him since he was young, and even I do not understand him. I rmend that the organization kill this boy while he has yet to grow, or else there will be untold consequences in the future]


    Ss read all of this with sharp eyes.


    These were many events that he remembered after his conversation with the first Legacy member that he had run into. However, he hadn''t remembered them in such detail. It could only be said that the person who was in charge of his evaluation was incredibly sharp. The moment they noticed that Ss had grown too much to test in even the most intricate ways, they immediately chose to take a hands-off approach... and they were correct to do so. Had they continued, Ss would have certainly realized that something was off. They could trick him and goad his pride into action when he was a toddler, but by the time he was in his teens, he was already confidently his own man.


    The only part that he didn''t remember clearly was the violence mentioned when he was 17 years old, but when he thought about it deeply, he remembered...


    ''That guy...''


    There was a time after Cassarae and he broke up that she went on a date with another guy. He didn''t mind it at the time, after all, who was he to control her? But then the guy began spreading rumors about her after the fact. Ss couldn''t remember losing control of his emotions like that before, and he wondered if that was part of the reason he didn''t care to remember so clearly.


    One way or another, he ended up beating the living hell out of that guy. Honestly, it wasn''t a very fair fight. Ss didn''t know much other than amateur boxing. But there was a difference between fighting in this world where everyone was a martial arts guru and beating up an insignificant school bully. He couldn''t remember even struggling in the fight.


    But what he did remember was that he had had no intentions of stopping at the time. Had a teacher not pulled him off, he might very well have killed him.


    Ss''s gaze regained its focus and he looked up at Alex who was still staring at him with fanaticism.


    "Do you have any idea what Priority 5 means? Let me tell you, Psycho Syl! The Priorities follow the same path from Fragmented to Legendary in the organization. So what does 5 mean, you ask? It''s actually a different tier altogether. It doesn''t refer to a tier at all, but


    instead five people.


    "In the thousands of years of history of Legacy, only four others than you have gained this level of evaluation!"


    Ss didn''t care about the praise; hetched onto something entirely different. He never did care about the praise of others. He had his own internal motivation. Instead...


    "Thousands of years?"

 Chapter 276: Extremes

    Chapter 276: Extremes


    ?


    "Yes, yes. Legacy has been around for thousands of years, at least that''s what I''ve cobbled together. It has to have been at least that long considering the kind of foundation they have. But they don''t have any solid documents about that sort of time, so I''m just spitballing honestly."


    Alex didn''t seem to have any intention of holding anything back, but the more he was like this, the more cautious Ss was.


    If he wasn''t lying, then the file he had shown Ss should have been a top-secret matter. How could just anyone ess Ss'' file like that? And why was Alex being so bold with the information he was handing out?


    Legacy didn''t seem like such a flimsy organization. Ss had had a handler follow him around for more than a decade and he wasn''t even aware of it. Such an organization wouldn''t have such obvious, leaking holes.


    Alex wasn''t the first Legacy member that Ss had interrogated, but he was the only one with so much information. Something about that was fishy.


    However, Ss didn''t choose to press on it. Instead, he wanted to see just how far Alex was willing to go.


    Ss didn''t believe that anyone could lie so perfectly. One way or another, they''d either make a mistake or let something real slip. The only way to assess if Alex was truly telling the truth or not was to ask him so many questions that he either stumbled over his words, or it was obvious that he was actually telling the truth.


    "You didn''t answer my first question," Ss suddenly said. "You and Lauren. Also, how do you have ess to such information? What is your ranking?"


    "Little ''ol me?" Alex chuckled. "I''m a Bronze."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Alex was so strong and only designated as a Bronze by the organization? His clone alone could have killed Ss back then had he not acted first. And his current self was capable of fighting against Ss fused with the Basilisk King. That was truly...


    ''No... ording to these rankings and the evaluations done, they''re not based on strength, but rather something like potential. Alex might be a Bronze, but that doesn''t necessarily mean that he''s not their strongest.''


    "As for Lauren, I don''t actually know much about her. When you''re in Legacy for a while, you''ll realize that they''re very... peculiar with how they do things. Sometimes they''ll give you a full te of information, and at other times they''ll just send you a location and you won''t even know who the leader is supposed to be.


    "All I know about that woman is that she''s a Gold. She''s very dangerous, and she''s also part of a muchrger n the organization has brewing. However, as for what that n is, I have no idea."


    "So you didn''t know that she hade to steal Cassarae''s ne?"


    "That''s what she came to do? Damn, that treasure must have been something quite amazing."


    "Is she the informant?" Ss asked.


    "Informant?" Alex tilted his head in confusion.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. While he was in the Amazonian Wilds, he had suffered several times at the hands of people who seemed to have more information than him.


    First, when he went to gather the City Stele from the gnoll vige, second when he entered the Basilisk King''s Dungeon, and third when there was a sudden attack on Castle Main while he was away by a group he still didn''t have an understanding about.


    All of these things weren''t coincidences, and Ss was particrly sensitive to such things. He tended to have an attention to detail that allowed him to avoid trouble before it ever came, which was also why being in this wild world where there was lurking danger everywhere was so absolutely frustrating to him.


    He was certain that there was an informant of some kind, but Alex didn''t seem to know about


    it.


    Whether he was lying or not... that was unknown.


    "Were you responsible for the attacks I suffered in the Amazonian Wilds?"


    "Nope." Alex shook his head.


    "What is the current mission of Legacy with Veridian?"


    Alex shrugged. "You''re asking for something too overarching. If I was going to give you an answer, it would just be that they want to use it as a stronghold. But I don''t think that''s the answer you want to hear. Those deeper ns aren''t something that I''m privy to."


    "Why are they so focused on academia?" Ss asked.


    "You might not have heard the saying before, there''s an opposite side of the coin to ''ignorance is bliss'', it''s ''knowledge is suffering''. At some point, when you gather enough intelligent people together, you either run the world into the ground, or you pierce through a ss ceiling and find out that you''re very small.


    "I''m sure you can guess that Earth is very much thetter case. So then you''re faced with another two choices, you either let everybody know or you hide it to avoid mass panic."


    "You''re saying that Legacy is the result of people who''ve reached the extremes in their fields?"


    "Basically. When you get to a deep enough understanding of any field, you''ll start to bite at the edges of the Summoning. And when you do, you''ll realize that our world is just a small corner. There''ve been many Renaissance men of the past that have found clues toward the Summoning all on their own, and pretty much every time they make the same decision."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed, but he didn''t say anything about this.


    Ultimately, maybe that was the decision all powerful people would make. Sometimes out of greed, sometimes out ofpassion.


    Ss had a lot to say about the decisions they had made, but what he never thought about was the decision that he would make in their situation.


    He felt that he already knew the answer to that question without having to think very much.


    He would probably make the same decision.

 Chapter 277: Eager

    Chapter 277: Eager


    ?


    Until now, Ss still didn''t feel like Alex had lied. But that didn''t make him feel at ease. "What is the rtionship between those hidden families, Legacy, and the government?" "Which government?"


    Ss took a breath when he heard this. As expected, it was easy for him to think of the "government" as a monolith when he was here, but there were still several countries in the world.


    The world seemed together, sharing the samenguage, being of one race, having simr enough cultures... but if they were truly together what was the point in separating themselves into countries in the first ce? Wouldn''t it have made more sense to just make the entirety of Earth a single nation?


    Now, Alex had pretty much confirmed that.


    From now on, it seemed he had to think of the "government" as the Terranova Government, because the United Coalition of Terranova was the only government he had interacted with until now. Who knew if they had the same goals as the other governments or not?


    "All of them."


    "Well, you could say that the reason the governments feign civility on the surface is because they fear the influence of Legacy which exists everywhere. As for the families, they are... unique wildcards. They have histories far shorter than Legacy, but they also represent the inevitability of every Summoning-that being heroes who rise up as wild cards, kinda like you, Psycho Syl.


    "The ancestors of those families were all elites of thest Summoning that managed to break free of the hold of the governments and Legacy, at least in part. Though, if I''m going to be honest, my analysis is that they just managed to reach a threshold of strength where it was no longer worthwhile for the big wigs to take action as the losses would outweigh the gains.


    "I guess right now there''s a delicate bnce. Everyone got screwed over with the sudden change to the Trial length so now they''re just hurrying to scrounge for resources and putting more effort into scouting out the Aether ne as there hadn''t been enough time to do so."


    Ss understood a lot, especially from thest leg of Alex''s words.


    If the Trial hadn''t ended early, these powerful organizations would have definitely mapped out the entire Aether ne. When the Trial came to an end, not only would they have far more powerful warriors, but they would immediately be able to target the most valuable regions of the Aether ne and likely use the abilities of a City Lord to open up worlds directly to those locations.


    However, the benefit of opening up a portal was only avable to those that founded cities while the Trial was ongoing. Now that they had lost this chance, a lot of their ns had been thrown askew.


    But more important than that...


    It was clear from Alex''s words that they had no idea that Ss was the one who was responsible for this change.


    "What caused the Trial to end so abruptly?" Ss asked as though he didn''t know the answer. Alex shrugged. "Fuck if I know. But if I had to guess, it''s probably trouble. System Cities have never appeared so early before, and now we have far less power to confront their machinations. If I had to bet, I''d say it had something to do with them, but it''s hard to tell... the system isn''t exactly an arbitrator of fairness, but it doesn''t allow people to skirt its rules so easily either..."


    Ss nodded slowly, then suddenly switched gears.


    "The Luck stat. What does it do?"


    Ss was very hesitant to ask the Madness Key pointed questions about the system because he felt that those things could very easily encroach on taboos. But Alex was probably the best to ask about this.


    "Luck?" Alex blinked. "Well, it''s hard to say. In the beginning, everyone thought that it was as it said. After all, so much of the system is based on percentage chances, random spawns and things of the like. But that doesn''t seem to be the case. Luck is hard to describe as anything other than a sixth sense that can sometimes manifest as better odds of sess, but not always."


    Ss nodded again. His Luck stat''s increase hade with a great number of vague feelings and it was also the reason his visualization was so sharp now.


    Although his visualization had always been there, especially after he began actively using it to bolster the effectiveness of his telekinesis, it wasn''t until his Luck became 22 that it burst with vibrant colors and began to act like an extra set of eyes.


    Before that, it wasn''t nearly so clear.


    "How do you hide your name from the system?" Ss asked.


    But to his surprise, this time, Alex burst into a fit ofughter. It wasn''t until he caught a particrly strong whiff of the foul stench in the cave that he began coughing instead.


    "Damn, that shit''s disgusting. We really should leave. I''m dying here."


    "Answer the question."


    "Fine, fine." Alex held up his hands. "I was onlyughing because your question is meaningless now. You were out so you probably don''t know but... hiding your name is definitely not a luxury you have anymore."


    Ss frowned, not understanding what that meant. But soon, Alex squeezed out the information through a fit ofughter.


    After learning what happened when he was out, Ss fell into silence. This... really was a problem. But it seemed that it was one that he couldn''t get out of regardless of what he did, so there was no point in worrying about it any longer.


    Alex watched Ss'' expression and seemed to find it only natural that he didn''t react much to this information. Most others would shit their pants when they found out that the entire world was looking for them, but Ss didn''t seem to give a damn.


    It was as though his reaction would be much the same regardless of what challenge he faced.


    After he had gotten over his fear of facing death...


    There truly wasn''t anything left that could move him from his baseline so easily.


    Ss looked up and met Alex''s gaze once more. This time, he couldn''t refrain from asking the question. Alex''s actions were too peculiar. This would be hisst question.


    "Why are you so eager to give me the answers I want?"

 Chapter 278: Some Doing...

    Chapter 278: Some Doing...


    ?


    [1500 GTs bonus]


    "Me?" Alex chuckled. "Because you''re cool, do I need to have another reason?"


    Ss looked at Alex deeply. The answer was so ridiculous that it was almost impossible not to believe it. However, by the same token, it was hard to know if Alex was just ying a character or not.


    Since Alex had caught the eye of Legacy, and had been denoted as a Bronze character in their eye, he was definitely an elite. His strength alone spoke for itself.


    The fact that he was so carefree and didn''t seem to care about anything else felt more like a red g than anything else... because this sort of personality was precisely the kind that was the hardest to get a read on. It felt like Alex was both capable of nothing and yet everything at the same time.


    If Ss had been Alex''s handler, and he watched him go through life like this... would it be possible for Alex to be as readable as Ss was?


    Ss was, supposedly, a character his handler couldn''t get a read on. But in the end, they had technically made the right decision.


    If Ss had been approached by Legacy back then, he wouldn''t have hesitated to join, just like he hadn''t hesitated to join the excursions of the Grimde family.


    However, his actions wouldn''t be rooted in any sort of loyalty at all. If it benefited him, in this sort of new world order, he wouldn''t hesitate to betray them when the time came, and he would certainly keep secrets of his own.


    Of course, his Lawful Neutral morality type was also true. He would definitely follow their orders strictly when it was right to do so. But that was also what made him so dangerous. They wouldn''t know that he opposed them until it was toote. If it wasn''t for Bloom''s unique Profession, allowing her to see Ss''s Favorability ahead of time, Lucius and his crew wouldn''t even be aware that Ss was a worry at all.


    But then there was Alex...


    To Ss, he felt even more difficult to read.


    Ss had been exposed as someone who was difficult to control because he never knew of Legacy''s existence and just continuously worked to return to his baseline. As such, he thwarted a lot of Legacy''s ns before they even came to fruition.


    Alex''s disposition, however, was very much different. He was so bright and cheery, always seeming to go with the flow no matter what it was, and because of that, he probably easily swayed with the wind Legacy blew....


    But that might have also been precisely why he was so difficult for them all to read.


    Ss had a feeling that Legacy might be aware of how special Alex was as well, at least in part. Or else would they really send a Bronze on a mission to support a Gold? That didn''t particrly make much sense.


    Maybe if it had been multiple Bronzes, Ss could ept it. But just one? Something about that was fishy, and Alex had probably seen that as well. So he was ready to make a different sort of pivot.


    Pulling the wool over the eyes of such an organization wasn''t an easy task at all.


    "So, what?" Ss asked with a pause. "You n to betray Legacy?"


    "Of course not. The benefits are too good."


    "Why do you say that like you think I won''t kill you?"


    "Ugh, Psycho Syl," Alex pressed a hand to his chest, but his body was so beaten and broken that he struggled even to do that. "I thought we had a mutual understanding."


    Ss looked at Alex and didn''t respond.


    Alex grumbled. "Do you really need to worry about your identity being exposed now? I already told you that it''s toote for that."


    Ss still didn''t respond.


    His identity was one thing, his family would be fine. But what about Cassarae''s vige? Only Alex would know that he was both Ss Grimde and had a rtionship with Cassarae''s vige.


    Of course, Lauren might piece that together potentially as well. But it was hard to say. After all, he wasn''t the only person who was named Ss in the world, and he had always said hisst name was Brown.


    That said, it was only because Lauren existed and was a potential leak that Ss didn''t act to kill Alex immediately. It was just that he was waiting for Alex to say the right thing.


    "Don''t be like that, Syl. Maybe in the future we can work together."


    "You''re still not saying the right thing. If you return now after being gone for so long, do you think that you''d still be of any use to me?"


    Alex sighed when he saw this. It seemed that Ss had seen through this as well. Indeed, Legacy was too meticulous to still ce the same trust in him after this matter. He would probably be treated like a real Bronze from now on, he might even be strictly monitored as well.


    "Fine, fine, fine. Protecting your name is useless to you at this point, but I''m sure you need something else, right?" Alex grinned.


    Ss''s eyes narrowed.


    "Man, you''re really gonna make me do all the talking, huh?" Alex chuckled. "Favorability is probably a problem that you''re gonna face the moment the Grimde family starts moving out in full force.


    "If your Favorability is too low, there''s no way you''ll get their support and they might even go out of their way to suppress you, or in the worst case, kill you. Even if they don''t go so far, I''m sure you have family that they could use against you to ensure that you follow their wishes.


    "Right now, they''re probably still duking it out to figure out who their next City Lord will be, so they''re far morex with how they''re doing things.


    "I can show you how to manipte your Favorability. But it''ll require some... doing. But something tells me that you''re up for it."

 Chapter 279: Puzzle

    Chapter 279: Puzzle


    ?


    [1800 GTs bonus]


    Ss'' gaze shed. Finally, Alex was giving him what he wanted.


    Without much thought, it was easy for Ss to deduce that if Alex had this information, it certainly wasn''t something that could be done with any sort of ease. It was probably one of Legacy''s most tightly held secrets.


    In exchange for this, Ss really would be willing to let Alex live, but only because after giving this information away, there was simply no going back for Alex. If Legacy found out that he had given such a thing away, he would most definitely be killed.


    This wasn''t a question that Ss could ask the Madness Key because it seemed to be rted to tricking the system, something that would certainly fall into the range of taboo. Although he couldn''t be certain about that, he had to be cautious around such things until he had no choice.


    But now, he wouldn''t have to worry about that any longer.


    "You can say that the method is both difficult and easy depending on how you look at it. You just need a broken City Stele that matches the grade of the city being used to analyze your stats and a few Genes to appease it. Of course, you''ll also need a Gene Crystal of the same grade, and a Temte."


    "What do you mean a temte?"


    "A Temte is a special treasure that allows those without a specific Profession toplete a task so long as they have the prerequisite materials. Essentially, it''s a nk te that allows a perfect concoction or treasure creation."


    "This is a treasure I have to wear?"


    The moment Ss heard this, his heart sank. With his luck, the Scorned Wraps wouldn''t allow it. If he went through all that trouble and even gave up something as valuable as a Gene Crystal and a Temte, only to be shit out of luck in the end, he wouldn''t even have the tears to shed.


    The moment he heard this, he realized that he probably didn''t have any fate with this thing unless he could find a way to take these Scorned Wraps off.


    If they didn''t even allow him to wear a Beast Ward, there was no way that it would allow him to wear something like this.


    "Not exactly... it''s supposed to corrupt the City Stele you''re targeting. You sneak it, attach it like a cancerous tumor, then hightail it out of there."


    Ss frowned. "And what if it''s a person you''re trying to trick and not a city?"


    Alex raised an eyebrow. "Hohoho, it sounds like you''ve really gotten yourself into a lot of trouble. Special Administration Profession?"


    Ss didn''t respond, but that already confirmed his spections.


    Back then, Bloom had manifested a license te from thin air. The moment Ss put two and two together, he realized that there had to be something special about it.


    Considering how important the disk was, it was only natural that Lucius would send someone with great capabilities to retrieve it. Who better than someone who could forge government documents?


    "In that case, it''s even easier. You just need a countering Skill. Well, not so simple actually. If you just get a normal counter skill, it would just raise suspicion. Well, not necessarily suspicion, but it would naturally not alleviate your suspicion. What you''d probably want to do is slowly elevate your Favorability over time.


    "You would need at least an FFF- countering Skill. Only those at that Grade level are capable of countering without others sensing it."


    Ss nodded in understanding. It seemed that he had gotten a two-for-one deal. He would have to prepare the first method for when the Grimdes established their city.


    "Okay. You can go." Ss nodded.


    "Haha!" Alexughed heartily. "You really are straightforward. You really saved my bacon this time, though you''re also the one who put me on the frying pan, but let''s not talk about that.... *Cough*"


    Alex suddenly coughed awkwardly when he tried to get up. His hip was still shattered, and though he had made great progress toward healing in thesest few days, he would facent before he could get anywhere in this state.


    Ss looked through Alex''s belongings then tossed him over an F+ Healing Elixir. It wasn''t the best in his spatial device, and Ss knew that Alex knew this, but he also didn''t care.


    Although Ss was aware, he didn''t say anything and just gave Alex his thanks, chugging it before slowly propping himself up.


    He began to weakly lean on the cave walls as he headed out.


    When he was almost out, he shed Ss a grin. "When we meet next, let''s be friends."


    Ss looked over at him, but didn''t reply.


    Friends?


    He had had a few in his life, all of them the pushy and aggressive type like Alex. Although he acted like this, he wasn''t aplete loner either. It was just that other than Cassarae, he never really went deeper than the surface level with those people. As for why, he wasn''t quite sure.


    Alex''s grin didn''t fade away despite Ss''ck of a response.


    "See you soon, Psycho Syl."


    With that, Alex limped away.


    Ss didn''t see him off. It seemed unlike him to let such a threat go, especially when Ss was likely still being hunted down, but he had his own thoughts about the matter.


    He had learned a lot more about the world, but his mind kept shing with one thing in particr.


    [Age 9: Deciphered Ancient Ithkuil text andpleted puzzle. This has helped advance ourprehension of these matters by severalfold. This child can no longer be tested by normal


    means.]


    Ancient Ithkuil? As far as he knew, Ithkuil was a modernnguage created by a philosopher. It was more of a thought experiment than a real thing.


    However, he could remember exactly what that text was. His memory wasn''t something that could be described by normal means.


    But when Ss recalled those words, he was shaken.


    Those letters... why did they look so much like Runes?


    As for what they had said...


    The Lost City of Gold Points Toward the Sea. The Mountains of Giza Point Toward the Stars.


    As for the puzzle...


    Ss'' gaze shed.

 Chapter 280: First Time

    Chapter 280: First Time


    ?


    The puzzle that Ss recalled was abstruse and hard to grasp. But thinking back to it now, he felt that his solution was actually incorrect.


    ''No, not incorrect. Notplete. I was looking at it like a two-dimensional puzzle when in reality it''s three-dimensional...''


    Ss'' intelligence had obviously matured, but it wasn''t just this. His Mental stats allowed his already great intelligence to bloom, exhibiting its truest strength in a way that it had never been able to before.


    ''It''s a map... but it''s not a map to a particr location, but rather is the map of a particr location.''


    Ss didn''t know what this ce was, but itsyout was impossiblyplex. It was a maze filled with danger.


    ''But who can distill such aplicated three-dimensional structure into a two-dimensional one?''


    The puzzle that Ss remembered was like a mass of cobwebsid out on a single ne. It waspletely unimpressive and looked like something a child could have scribbled onto a white piece of paper.


    Ss remembered that when he first saw this "puzzle" he didn''t know what he was supposed to do with it. He didn''t even get a prompt; the person he assumed must have been his handler, or maybe it was just a figurehead, just left him in a white room.


    However, this white room was quite special. It didn''t just have a desk and a table, but along a wall, there was a tall and long row of cubbies filled with all sorts of things. Some of the cubbies had toys, others had weird arts and crafts pieces like paints and crayons... at first nce, it lookedpletely like a child''s room.


    Ss, though, wasn''t a normal child. Even at nine years old, he didn''t have much interest in toys other than Legos. There had been Legos there, and he might have wasted away his time on them, but the problem was that they didn''t have anyplicated models to work on.


    Back then, Ss liked to spend hours putting together Lego puzzles with thousands of pieces, but this room only had normal Legos, and he didn''t find them nearly as fun.


    That was when his mentality changed.


    Ss stood in the white room, looking at the Legos. He wondered to himself why he should waste his time finishing the puzzles of everyone else. Wouldn''t it be far more fun to model something himself?


    The Lego pieces here had everything that he could ever need. There were blocks, gears, even technic pins and things of the like. These were all the pieces that would be used in an official model.


    ''What should I create?''


    Hisrge green eyes blinked. He had forgotten about the piece of paper already. He didn''t like wasting time on things that didn''t make sense or didn''t have a purpose.


    However, when Ss was reaching for the Legos, thinking that maybe he should start simple and recreate a perfect model of his house first, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.


    It was another cubby, but this one had some yarn in it.


    His head tilted to the side and he began to wonder why he was distracted by something like that. He might have been only nine years old, but he was very self-reflective and already obsessed with self-improvement... so long as it was something that interested him.


    A sh of inspiration suddenly hit him in waves.


    He took out a pinboard, a box of hundreds of sewing pins, and finally the yarn.


    He returned to the table and began to press the pins into the pinboard. Once he was finished, he took the yarn and then slowly began to connect the pins using it, wrapping around each of the pins once before continuing.


    However, after a certain point, he shook his head, pulled it back, and then started again.


    Ss didn''t know how long he spent on this, but as he began hisst attempt, he was already yawning. But he rubbed his eyes and had already shooed away the attendant that came in to try and get him to stop.


    Suddenly, his gaze shed as he wrapped thest line of yarn around thest pin. Then, he smiled.


    He had done it.


    Ss held up the pinboard and the paper of scribbles. As expected, they were identical. However, running a line through all the nodes and replicating this cobweb of scribbles was difficult, but it wasn''t worth being so proud over. Someone else might take pride in such a thing, but Ss felt indifferent to it all.


    No, the reason he was smiling was...


    Ss moved his hand.


    ording to logic, there were two locations on this pinboard where he could pull the line back in a single tug without it getting stuck. Well, if you ignored friction, that is. Those two points were the start of the yarn and the end of the yarn, that being the locations of the first pin and thest pin he attached it to.


    However, in order for this puzzle to bepleted...


    Ss suddenly took out a pair of scissors and cut a seemingly random piece in the middle.


    With all the friction between the pins and the yarn, this insignificant piece shouldn''t have done anything. And yet, two sides of the pinboard copsed against one another.


    Then, Ss put the scissors down and grabbed the two ends of the yarn, the starting and ending position, and pulled.


    What should have happened was the yarn being pulled away from both sides at the same time.


    And yet, what actually happened instead was astonishing.


    The patterns changed and suddenly Ss felt a strong tug back.


    One half took the shape of an eye. And that eye was staring right at what looked like a


    delicately sculpted pinecone.


    In a single tug, a tangled mess had be a beautiful picture, and in Ss'' young life, this was the first time he had ever felt true satisfaction.

 Chapter 281: Detoxification

    Chapter 281: Detoxification


    ?


    Ss'' gaze regained focus as those memories returned to him.


    ''An eye and a pinecone? Those are both ancient depictions of olden Egypt and their empire.


    But...''


    Ss closed his eyes and his visualization seemed to thrum with life. He returned to that day in his memories as though that very same pinboard was sitting right before him.


    This time, he didn''t just pull the strings horizontally, but also upward as well. Because this was only a memory and not real life, he was able to force the strings to stay in ce, and suddenly, the eye and the pinecone became a very recognizable shape.


    It was a bit blurry, and the edges weren''t very defined considering these were the pathways inside the structure and not the structure itself... But Ss was still certain.


    It was a pyramid.


    ''The Mountain of Giza? Was it referring to a pyramid?''


    What Ss didn''t know was that during the era of the Sixth Summoning, there was a pyramid known as the Pyramid of Giza. However, with the copse of governments as they were previously known, and with the attempt to wipe away all previous cultures and force Earth into a state of oneness and unity, such history was not passed down... at least not in such detail.


    If Ss had known this, he would have realized what these things were referring to.


    Unfortunately, he had not the slightest clue.


    The only reason he recognized the Udjat eye and the pinecone, which symbolized the Tree of Life, was because at least some lingering parts of this story remained. After all, Ss did know that the United Coalition of Terranova was once the United States of America, so there were some things about the old order that he did know.


    But this only made him more confused.


    Why was Legacy so obsessed with it?


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. It seemed that he would have to find the truth out in the future. Only this way would he be able to settle this down.


    They used him to further their ends? In that case, they shouldn''t me him for taking advantage of them as well.


    Back then, he was only nine years old and while he was intelligent, he didn''t have the maturity to match it.


    Now... he wasn''t so easy to take advantage of.


    However, he could do nothing in his current state.


    "Let''s go," Ss weakly called out to the Basilisk King. He tried to summon the Dire Wolf, but his expression sank when he failed.


    [Mount <Dire Wolf (F-)> is in critical condition. Cannot be summoned]


    It wasn''t long before Ss realized that this wasn''t because it was injured, but because he hadn''t fed it.


    There were two ways to feed mounts. The first was with Aether, and the second was with real food. Ss had been out for too many days and hadn''t done his duty.


    Though this world had a lot of video game mechanics, it most definitely wasn''t a video game. Every now and then, this world would give him a rude awakening that made that as clear as day.


    In the end, Ss had no choice but to try and circte his Aether, only to feel like thousands of knives were cutting him up.


    Ss let out a gasp of pain and copsed back onto the ground. Cold sweat covered him from head to toe and he realized now that he might have underestimated just how bad his situation


    was.


    Until now, he had been avoiding looking at his rewards because this wasn''t the best situation to ept them. He was still in danger, and from what he could collect from the Basilisk King''s memories, it had been forced to move his unconscious body several times already.


    Honestly speaking, Ss wasn''t very worried about Alex exposing him. But that didn''t mean that others couldn''t find him.


    Ss grit his teeth and decided to rely on the Madness Key. Maybe it could help him.


    [How do you cure yourself of Elixir poison?]


    [Elixir Toxicosis is a chronic disease that most will have to deal with their entire lives-]


    When Ss read this first part, he felt like his heart hit rock bottom. Even if he went back now, he knew that there was no other choice but to do what he had done. But was this really it for him?


    In this state, he couldn''t even exhibit 10% of his stats, and he couldn''t even circte his Aether without feeling as though needles were piercing into his inner organs.


    Ss shook his head and forced himself to read the rest. This was unlike him.


    [¡ªAnd it unfortunately has very few ways to deal with it]


    [The first method is to find a Detoxification Elixir with 100% Effectiveness]


    [The second is toplete an Evolution into the next Grade and evolve your Species]


    [The third is to have a higher Life Form purge your impurities with their higher Grade Aether] [The fourth is to undergo a metamorphosis-]


    Ss stopped reading, his brows furrowing. How was this ssified as "few" methods? However, he realized now that although there were many methods on this list, almost all of them required exceptional circumstances. Most couldn''t just breakthrough before they felt like it, and considering Ss had yet to even see an Elixir that was 60% pure, there was no way he was going to find one with 100% purity, let alone of this particr type.


    Under normal circumstances... Ss would be out of luck.


    Not only did he have no chance of finding such an Elixir, but he was nowhere near Evolving, and there shouldn''t be a higher Life Form on Earth unless one of those aliens had snuck in. That wasn''t impossible, but why would they help him? Especially after he was pretty sure that he had killed one of their own.


    But when it came to undergoing a metamorphosis... He was pretty sure he had a method.


    He hadpleted his ss Quest six times over. He had killed five Level 10 elites, plus the Level 12 Arctic Emperor Cobra on top of that.


    It seemed that it was about time he look at his rewards.

 Chapter 282: Steal

    Chapter 282: Steal


    ?


    [Path of the Mancer (Fragmented) (Quest)]


    [You have disyed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy, following your own is much more difficult.


    [The word Mancer has a storied history, deeper than you know. There are manyplex definitions, but it can be boiled down to a single word: Control.


    [Open up the Path of the Mancer or die trying.]


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Kill a Level 10 creature with the Path of the Mancer.]


    [Quest "Path of the Mancer (Fragmented)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Fragmented]


    [Rewards]


    [>Fragmented Mancer ss.]


    Ss wasn''t surprised to see this notification. This was what he was hunting the Arctic King Cobra for in the first ce. What did surprise him, though, was that he saw not just one clearance notification, but six of them.


    He was confused at first until he realized something. He hadn''t just killed one Level 10, he had killed five of them plus a Level 12 that was of dubious origins. He still hadn''t forgotten the oddity of the Level 12 Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Grade. There had just been a dashed line, which was peculiar considering it was usually question marks. Question marks were what appeared when he couldn''t read the Grade of an existence, but this time, that wasn''t the case.


    Of course, Ss had known that he hadpleted the requirements of this Quest several times over, but usually you could only clear a Quest one time. So when he had noted that he had done so, it was only perfunctorily. But it seemed the system didn''t feel that it was so perfunctory after all.


    Looking at the list of rewards, Ss realized that this Quest was like this so that he wouldn''t be locked into one creature should he identally kill one that he wasn''t a fan of. It gave him a wide array of choices. Essentially, he could kill as many Level 10 Mancer creatures as he wanted, and he would receive the same chance to use them as a foundation for his ss. In fact, they even let him preview his rewards before he picked them.


    In the end, Ss just started off with the first.


    [Arctic Guardian (Fragmented)]


    [The tundra is your calling and poison is your wine. Stoic as the endless white ne, and timeless as its bedrock of ice, nothing gets by you.]


    [+30 Constitution]


    [+30 Intelligence]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +10 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +5 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.1 Constitution; 0.1 Intelligence]


    Ss read through it carefully. It seemed like a defensive ss mostly. Would they all be the same?


    -


    [Arctic Reaper (Fragmented)]


    [The tundra is your calling and poison is your wine. Unavoidable as the endless white ne, and timeless as its bedrock of ice, your de strikes true.]


    [+15 Strength]


    [+15 Dexterity]


    [+30 Intelligence]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +10 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +5 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.05 Strength; 0.05 Dexterity; 0.1 Intelligence]


    ''Are these sses all based on their skills? It seems so. This Arctic Reaper ss might be rted to their scythe skill, and the first one is more in line with the nature of these creatures. They''re definitely more defensive in type. But I can''t really tell if one ss is better or not like this... On the one hand, it''s probably better to have more modifiers. But on the other, being a jack of all is probably not a good thing.''


    The only reason Ss'' stats were all pretty much equal now, at least in terms of his Physical, was because he was precisely that: a jack of all. However, sses obviously helped people to specialize. A Modifier was a special tag given to a ss that would allow certain stats to grow faster than others. A 0.1 Modifier meant that with both of these sses, Ss'' Intelligence would grow 10% faster than any of his other stats. Meaning, when he Leveled up and gained +10 to his Stat Limits, Intelligence would gain +11 every time instead. This was the same for Free Stats as well.


    The other three ss descriptions were pretty much the same. They all emphasized Intelligence as the Arctic King Cobras were more mage-like than not. Though that made sense considering they were Mancers. That was the entire point of his Chain Quest.


    There was only one left.


    -


    [Arctic Elite (Fragmented)]


    [The tundra is your Domain and poison adorns your chalice.]


    [+30 Wisdom]


    [+30 Charisma]


    [+30 Intelligence]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +10 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +5 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.1 Wisdom; 0.1 Charisma; 0.1 Intelligence]


    Ss'' gaze flickered when he saw this. This was no doubt the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s doing. Even though it was also a Fragmented ss, it was clearly on another levelpared to the others. Even the best ss among the first few only gave +70 stats at best, but this one gave +90. At the same time, it had a Modifier for three stats instead of just two. And there was no drop in percentage like there was with the others.


    The answer seemed very obvious. Even though some of the others were interesting, and he wanted to have improvements to his Physical as well, this was the only path he could take. Plus, there would be opportunities in the future to upgrade the ss further, presumably. Even if he was stuck on the path of the Arctic Royal now, that wasn''t so bad either. His battle style still heavily relied on his Mental regardless.


    He was very lucky this time. If he didn''t take down six of these beasts at once, he would have never known that there were multiple opportunities to be had. He would have to keep that in


    mind in the future.


    Just as Ss was about to ept this reward, his finger stopped. He felt an odd emotion, but he was used to it by now. It was his Luck again.


    When he checked his notifications once more, he was happy that he listened to it.


    [You have killed a beast in the process of evolving. Would you like to steal their Destiny?]

 Chapter 283: Determined

    Chapter 283: Determined


    ?


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Was this rted to the dash he had seen by the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s name?


    He hadn''t been able to see the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s actual stats, but he didn''t need to in order to understand just how much of a monster it was.


    For context, Ss had not only suppressed it by 80%, but he, himself, had then fused with the Basilisk King on top of that. And even then, if it wasn''t for the fact he had been lucky enough to learn how to counter Ice-Poison ahead of time, and also benefited from the Emperor using up all its Aether to cast a skill that covered an entire hundred-meter radius, he still wouldn''t have been able to defeat it.


    None of that even mentioned the fact that at the start, the Emperor Cobra had been restricted by the system, not allowing it to attack initially.


    No matter how you looked at it, the Arctic Emperor Cobra was the furthest thing from a normal Level 12. Azrael was nowhere near as powerful, and he was a Level 15.


    All signs pointed toward this creature being special, and this seemed to point it out to him. Without hesitation, Ss clicked yes. This time, there didn''t seem to be a list of drawbacks. Though that made him wary, he knew that taking risks like this was the only way forward.


    [Bronze Beast Destiny Consumed]


    [Gluttony Seed has strengthened]


    [Quest Rewards changed]


    ''Bronze Beast?''


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat, then he guessed something.


    Could it be that there was a Grade beyond FFF+? If that was the case, did that mean that from F- to FFF+, these were all ssified as Common Beasts, while only creatures above that threshold could be given the moniker of Bronze?


    But it didn''t even seem like the Arctic Emperor Cobra had sessfullypleted its evolution yet in the first ce. Just how powerful was a true Bronze Grade Beast?


    What Ss didn''t know was that such beasts weren''t designed to even be fought alone in the first ce. Across the universe, in order to hunt such existences, parties of anywhere from dozens to hundreds were the bare minimum requirement before even trying. And that was just a Bronze Beast.


    In the case that it was a Silver Beast or greater... well, at that point, you would be talking about something entire cities or even worlds would need to get involved in to deal with.


    But this was also precisely why Ss was ranked on the Merit Leaderboard.


    When a Bronze Beast was born, it would be a small overlord all on its own, taking up real territory and forming what was known as a Beast Domain, the equivalent of a city but for creatures.


    These Beast Domains would be spawn points of powerful underlings and the creatures would begin to reproduce inrger numbers.


    It could be said that if the System Cities were an underground, subtle threat that might spring on them when they least expected it, then Beast Domains could very well lead to the end of a world ahead of time.


    Such creatures were already beginning to appear as seedlings now, so one could imagine how much turmoil the sudden end of the Trial might cause to the world very soon.


    Right now, however, that wasn''t Ss'' problem. He was busy with his new screen.


    The six Quest passes had vanished, or more urately, they seem to have been fused into one.


    [Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [The tundra is your Domain and poison adorns your chalice]


    [+30 Mental]


    [+30 Constitution]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +12 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +6 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.12 Intelligence; 0.12 Wisdom; 0.12 Charisma; 0.12 Constitution]


    Ss took a breath and epted the ss. He already knew that this would be a painful one, whether it be for the sake of expelling the rest of the impurities from his body, or because of the activation of all of his Titles at once.


    But one way or another, he was determined to do so.


    Then it happened.


    Ss'' mind went nk, and for a moment, he thought that it might just be better to die. Had it been the Ss before the volcano incident that was lying here on this bed of rock, he might truly have given up in that very instant.


    His entire body seized and then a feeling that could only be described in the most vulgar of ways took hold. It felt to him like his body had just been tossed into a blender, countless tiny des tearing into him from all sides.


    Blood pooled out from his orifices and pores, tainted with ckened impurities. He could feel his bones creaking and splitting, whining beneath a shocking pressure.


    Ss didn''t dare to open his mouth. If he did, he would almost certainly end up biting his tongue off. Sweat pooled around him, but it was hard to tell what it was. Instead, it looked far more like droplets of mud and soil falling away from him.


    As bad as the smell was before, it only grew worse now.


    Ss stared at the ceiling of the cave, waiting for the pain to go away. If it wasn''t for the veins popping across his jaw, one wouldn''t be able to tell just how much pain he was in.


    There was something particrly cold about his current eyes. He reyed the scenes of the battle he had just fought, remembering them step by step and moment by moment, trying to figure out what he could have done better, and also hoping to be much stronger by the time he would need to act in this way again.


    As he was lost in these thoughts, the pain only became more excruciating. But when it began to ebb and he could finally feel a sense of rity once again, he also felt blood rushing to ces he didn''t want it to go.


    Ss shook his head inwardly, still not able to move the way he wanted. He could barely shift


    his eyes enough to see the tent pitching in his pants.


    He really hated this world...


    But his body and inner thoughts seemed to very clearly love it.

 Chapter 284: Rewards (1)

    Chapter 284: Rewards (1)


    ?


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 38278 (F)]


    [Titles: A Burning Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; BOSS yer; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 148]


    >[Strength: 140]


    >[Constitution: 170]


    >[Dexterity: 140]


    >[Speed: 140]


    [Mental: 196]


    >[Intelligence: 267]


    >[Wisdom: 122]


    >[Charisma: 200]


    [Will: 363]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Rigid]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: -]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    Ss knew that he didn''t have much time, so even before his body had perfectlypleted his evolution, he still checked his stats first. But before he could even enjoy the change, he noticed his coin count.


    There was no way it should be so high. Even though he had killed several, Azrael was definitely a special case. Those Level 17s were unlikely to be carrying around so many coins because their resources all came from trades with the government. That was part of how the government managed to keep things under their control.


    But then he remembered Alex''sughter and the list he mentioned.


    ''It seems that I ended up on a leaderboard anyway... Not only that, but where did all my Genes go?''


    His Common Genes had been wiped out, and so had his Fragmented Genes for that matter. The only Genes that remained were the unique ones, but all his Physical and Mental Genes had vanished into thin air.


    What was especially interesting about this was that despite the fact his Genes had vanished, his stats remained the same.


    ''Interesting. Could it be that the process of ss evolution forced all of those Genes to integrate with me? But the Stat Limits are still in effect... Was it just a sacrifice, then?''


    Regardless, Ss didn''t mind it because his stats didn''t drop. If the price to pay for undoing a chronic disease was just a few Common Genes, he was more than willing. With his current strength, it would be too easy to re-up.


    The only unfortunate thing was that his ss didn''t increase any of his Gene Limits. He still had a Limit of 20 Common Genes and two Bronze Genes. But he assumed that that was because it was just a Fragmented ss. If he upgraded to a Bronze ss, then it would likely allow him to have a far greater store of Genes. That way, he could begin working to break past his limits again.


    The changes to his stats, however, were only one aspect of sses. Another aspect was ss Skills. Much like the Profession Window Ss checked from time to time, there was also a ss Window.


    [ss: Arctic Royal]


    [Level: 0]


    -


    >[Basic Skills]


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 20/second]


    [Special Buff: +40% to all Ice-Poison Skills used]


    [Arctic Howl (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Defense: 400]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    -


    [Chilling Scythe (F+) (Skill)]


    [Damage: 100]


    [Special Damage: 20/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    -


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Ice (Bronze)]


    [Poison (Bronze)]


    [Ice-Poison (Common)]


    -


    >[Unlockables]


    [Level 20]


    ...


    Ss raised an eyebrow. The Unlockables portion caught his attention the most.


    sses weren''t set in stone from start to end; they could evolve along with one''s Level. Often, the better the ss, the more evolution hurdles you would have.


    The weaker Fragmented sses wouldn''t have unlockables until Level 50, but it was obvious that Ss'' Fragmented ss wasn''t a normal one and had an Unlockable at just Level 20. Maybe a Gold ss might have an Unlockable every five Levels.


    An Unlockable coulde in several forms. Sometimes it was a Stat Limit increase,


    sometimes it was an opportunity to upgrade your ss to a better version of itself, sometimes it would be a new skill, or even a Gene Limit increase, or maybe even a special Gene itself. It could be a direct reward or an opportunity. It was a roll of the dice depending on the ss, and it was also measured by how well one used their ss as well. Someone who had great feats with their ss would gain better Unlockables than someone that was mediocre. So, it could be said that Ss'' current Unlockables were the worst ones that had a chance to evolve with him in the future.


    For now, Ss wasn''t very interested in what his Unlockables were because he hadn''t yet reached a point where he felt the need to Level up, let alone feeling a need to have to hit Level


    20.


    He was still hoping toplete the Legendary leg of the Quest, so obsessing over improvements to a Fragmented ss wouldn''t do him much good.


    The second thing that caught his interest were the affinities. He wasn''t sure what they meant, what did they help him with. Did they change his Aether? Maybe they made it easier to sense certain Comprehensions? Made it faster to Master certain Skills?


    After asking the Madness Key, it seemed that the answer was all of the above.


    Ss'' Aether had yet to mature because he was still a Level o. However, when the Ice-Poison


    attribute was added to it, his Aether had not only gained a greater defensive character than it had had before, but it was also nowparable to most matured Aether. It seemed that while there was no Mancer Path greater than another, at least in terms of immediate help, having two Bronze affinities which matched together to form a Common helped him out a great deal. This also informed Ss that there were likely levels to matured Aether as well. The higher your affinity, the stronger your matured Aether.


    All of that just left one matter rted to his ss...


    [Quest Received]


    [Path of the Mancer (Common)]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Kill a Level 20 creature with the Ice-Poison Path of the Mancer]


    OR


    [>Kill Level 20 creature with Ice Path of the Mancer]


    [>Kill Level 20 creature with Poison Path of the Mancer]


    OR


    [>Kill Level 20 creature withpatible Path of the Mancer]


    [>Find Common Evolution Stone]

 Chapter 285: Rewards (2)

    Chapter 285: Rewards (2)


    ?


    ''Common Evolution Stone...'' Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    The flexibility of this point in the trial was good. The fact that it gave him so many options was beyond his expectations. But what worried him was what he had experienced after the first time.


    It was clear that for this Chain Quest, just passing didn''t mean you would gain the best results. There was a silent but ever-present grading system hidden.


    The question was... was it worth it to try and maximize every level? Or should he try to blitz his way to a Legendary ss and only do his utmost when he got to that point in the Chain Quest?


    Ss frowned, not quite liking the options. But in the end, he made a decision.


    He should definitely try to maximize every level.


    For one, because it was a Chain Quest, it was highly likely that every step built off another. If he mailed in his effort the first few times, then by the time he got to Legendary, he wouldn''t have much to build on.


    Second, these challenges would only get harder with time. In order to clear them within the time he had left, he had no choice but to grow as powerful as possible. And that, obviously, also meant that it was in his best interest to get the strongest sses possible.


    Now, what he needed was a better way to find Path of the Mancer creatures. Not only that, but if they were on the verge of evolution like the Arctic Emperor Cobra, that would obviously be for the best.


    Ss took a breath and stood all the way up. Although his body looked disgusting, his muscles were a bit atrophied, and he smelled like the umted scum at the bottom of a garbage can, he still felt an unprecedented state of power.


    When he looked into the Hibernation Realm, he realized that the Basilisk King was already back to 100% as well. The Hibernation Realm was truly his best trump card.


    What Ss didn''t know was that it would only be more useful in the future. Beasts could evolve and reach the status of existences like the Arctic Emperor Cobra, but they likewise took a very long time to evolve.


    While Ss'' 6400% speed advantage seemed like a lot now, in the future when the Basilisk King needed orders of thousands to even more years to reach its next stage, it would be invaluable.


    This was the strength of a Legendary Path.


    ...


    Ss didn''t check his rewards for the Quicktime Event just yet. He was more eager than anyone else, but he was also not under the impression that he was out of danger.


    From what he could tell from the Basilisk King, it usually moved him several times a day. But this time, he had been in this one location for far too long. He needed to move before others found him. And if he could find a ce to clean himself... he would like that even more.


    He didn''t fear anyone in his current state although he didn''t want to be cocky about it. What surprised Ss, though, was the fact that he could neither sense nor feel any danger. Soon, he had settled into a new ce and he hadn''t even run into anyone looking for him.


    Deep in the cave, he managed to find a hot spring and he rubbed himself clean more vigorously than he ever had before.


    When he pulled himself out, he felt so refreshed that he didn''t care about anything else anymore, pulled out several corpses and cooked them openly and boldly. He ate so much that it took him an entire day just to finish cooking to the point that he felt full.


    ''I''ll definitely have to find a more convenient way to cook... My appetite is too great, and preparing beast carcasses twice the size of my body over a single fire takes way too long...''


    Ss brushed this off and moved locations again. Then, he finally sat down with glowing eyes.


    He felt like he was back to 100%, he had fed the Dire Wolf, the Basilisk King had been in tip- top condition for a long while...


    There was nothing else holding him back now.


    It was time.


    ''The fact I haven''t been bothered until now should have something to do with Alex. I guess this can count as repaying a favor...'' Ss thought to himself as he scrolled to a particrlyrge notification.


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Wrath of the Arctic Emperor Cobra - Completed]


    [Contribution Leaderboard]


    [Ss Grimde - Bronze Contribution]


    [Bronze Contribution Reward Received]


    [Top Contributor Reward Received]


    [Perfect Clearance Reward Received]


    [Against All Odds Reward Received]


    [Merit Reward Received]


    A flood of notifications hit Ss and he was stunned. Were all of these rewards rted to the Quicktime Event? What was the separation between them?


    Ss shook his head. It didn''t matter. He would start with the first one.


    [Quicktime Event Bronze Rewards]


    [Choice Rewards]


    >[Bronze Gene Crystal - (Capacity: 150)]


    OR


    >[Bronze City Stele Quest Ticket]


    OR


    >[Flexible Gene Elixir - (Duration: 1 Month)]


    Ss'' brows rose slowly. These rewards could be very good, or mediocre depending on how you looked at it...


    The Bronze Gene Crystal was more than twice as good as the one that Ss received in the past. But because it was so good, it would definitely require him gathering Bronze Genes this time around at the very least. After all, hisst Bronze Gene Crystal only had a capacity of 70, which was why it could still take Common Genes. But that wouldn''t continue to be the case


    now.


    The Bronze City Stele Quest was likely one of the most valuable things on Earth right now, there was no doubt. But at the end of the day, it was still just a Quest opportunity and not the real thing. Ss had a feeling that whatever Quest it was would be even harder than this Quicktime Event, and the odds that his Beast Totem would be useful against it were...


    minimal.


    Finally, the Flexible Gene Elixir was great, but what good was it when you had a Gene Limit, and Stat Limits on top of that? Still, it wouldst an entire month and give Ss 65% chance


    to absorb all Genes during that duration. That was invaluable.


    Who knew how many times he could break his Limits in that time?


    ''Which should I choose...?''

 Chapter 286: Rewards (3)

    Chapter 286: Rewards (3)


    ?


    [Quicktime Event Bronze Rewards]


    [Choice Rewards]


    >[Bronze Gene Crystal - (Capacity: 150)]


    >[Bronze City Stele Quest Ticket]


    >[Flexible Gene Elixir - (Duration: 1 Month)]


    Ss stared at the list for a long time. But in the end, he couldn''t help himself.


    [Bronze City Stele Quest Ticket Selected]


    In the end, Ss'' thought process was simple. He had seen Gene Elixirs and Gene Crystals in many other ces. But this was the first time he had seen such a thing. Although the other things were great, they also had their weaknesses on top of this as well. Gathering 150 Bronze Genes would be a tall task and take him a great deal of time. During that moment, the Gene Crystal wouldn''t be able to give him any immediate benefits either.


    As for the Flexible Gene Elixir, there were only so many Genes that he could absorb. His cap for Common Genes was still 20 as far as he knew, and even if it wasn''t, it wouldn''t make much of a difference because his Bronze Gene Limit was still two. To maximize the Elixir, he would probably have to let it sit around for a while too.


    Byparison, he wouldn''t be able to use the Ticket immediately either, but its potential for use was much greater, whether that be as a pawn, for personal use, or even to be sold to the highest bidder.


    In the end, the rare option that he had never seen before felt the best to him. So, he took it. A bronze ticket that looked like a bronze leaf appeared before him. It was reflective and seemed both fragile and flexible, as though with a single intention, he could rip it in half. Yet, organizations around the world would likely fight bloody wars for this chance.


    If the Grimdes weren''t lying to him, even they weren''t willing to take a chance on this valuable ticket until it was clear that they were going to fail the Sixth Summoning. Only then did they use theirs and im a Bronze City Stele to prepare for the Seventh.


    Now, Ss had such a thing in his hand as well.


    After staring at it for a long while, he stored it in his Madness Key. He didn''t know when or even if he would use it at all. But he knew that one way or another, he would benefit from it in the future.


    [Quicktime Event Top Contributor Rewards]


    [Rewards]


    >[Bronze Slot Machine]


    >[Tickets: 339]


    Ss'' gaze shed. This was good.


    Last time he had a Slot Machine, he started off with a Fragmented one, but this one started from Bronze immediately, and he actually had so many Tickets.


    He still wasn''t sure how the Tickets were calcted, but it was likely rted to his


    Contributions. He just didn''t know what the conversion was.


    Either way, he immediately sacrificed 50 Tickets to upgrade to a Silver Slot Machine. He was about to sacrifice more when his lip twitched.


    ''I have to sacrifice 250 Tickets to gain a Gold Slot Machine...''


    If he did that, he would be left with just 39 Tickets left. Was it worth it?


    Ss took a breath and decided to go for it. Either way, he still had more rewards to go after this.


    The aura of a Gold Slot Machine was powerful. It made Ss feel insignificant, and at the same time, he was shocked that there was actually such a big gap between Gold and Silver.


    What he didn''t know was that Gold was effectively the peak of the world in many cases. The number that could have Legendary anything were so few that this was functionally the truth. In addition, it wasn''t just that the gap between Silver and Gold was sorge, but rather that the gap between each subsequent level was inevitably farrger. The runway through the Silver Grade was much longer and more arduous than the one through the Bronze Grade, so on and so forth.


    Ss took a breath and steadied himself, trying to shrug off the pressure to no avail.


    He slotted his first ticket in. Nothing.


    He slotted in his second. Nothing.


    Ss was beginning to feel wary. He zed through more than a dozen tickets, but he kept returning nothing at all. It seemed like the odds of getting anything plummeted after every upgrade. He should have factored that into his decision.


    He hoped that he would get something either way.


    21st... Nothing.


    27th... Nothing.


    32nd... Nothing.


    38th... Nothing.


    Ss was left speechless, looking at the Slot Machine that stared back with a stoicism that made it feel like it was looking down on him.


    He looked at hisst ticket and shook his head. He doubted that anything would change.


    He slid in thest ticket.


    The Slot Machine thrummed, and its dials turned. The first image snapped into ce. Although it didn''t look like anything but a bundle of Runes, Ss could vaguely feel what it was. So when the second dial snapped into ce, and he recognized the first, he felt a hint of


    anticipation.


    He looked toward thest dial, staring at it so intensely that he might have bored a hole through it. It seemed that in his agitation, he had forgotten just the kind of pressure the Gold Slot Machine was exuding.


    He felt a familiar aura as the dial began to slow.


    It was so close. Right there. If only...


    The Slot Machine dimmed as it locked into ce.


    Ss stared nkly. It was just two slots away from the rune he needed, but it had failed in


    the end.


    He had actually wasted 339 Tickets just like that.


    A sigh echoed, and he shook his head.


    As he was watching the Slot Machine, he vaguely began to learn some things. The Slot Machine could be forcefully upgraded, but not without a cost. From the Runes, he could see that the odds plummeted with every upgrade.


    If he had used it at the Bronze Grade, he would have had at least a 10% chance. By the time he upgraded it to Gold, he didn''t even have a single percent chance.


    The penalty was obviously also greater the higher Grade as well, or else he wouldn''t have benefited at all thest time he upgraded a Slot Machine.


    Ss shrugged it off and focused. He would just have to keep this in mind and hope the next Slot Machine he met started off at a higher Grade.

 Chapter 287: Rewards (4)

    Chapter 287: Rewards (4)


    ?


    [Quicktime Event Perfect Clearance Rewards]


    **[Choice Rewards]


    >[Silver Slot Machine]


    >[Silver Quest Temte]


    Ss frowned. He didn''t quite understand what it meant to receive another Slot Machine reward because this time, it didn''te with any tickets. Soon, however, he understood after looking at its description.


    [Silver Slot Machine (Temporary Treasure)]


    >[Does the Luck of the Gods shine down on you? Or are your hopes and dreams destined to be covered in shallow mud?]


    >[Time to Activation: 07:00:00]


    >[Tickets Earned: 0]


    It seemed that the Silver Slot Machine would follow him around and record his feats for a week-long period. Only then would it decide the number of Tickets he should be given.


    What interested Ss here wasn''t just the opportunity to get treasures, but it was also a chance to understand the merit system of the Slot Machines as well. That was enticing in its own right. He always had a fondness for gathering information. Ironically, it was gathering information ahead of time that allowed him to defeat the Quicktime Event... but it was gathering information that triggered the Event in the first ce as well.


    The Silver Quest Temte was interesting as well, though. In this case, it was simr to a Dungeon Map but far more free-flowing.


    Somewhat like a Gene Crystal, he would give the Silver Quest Temte something he wanted to do or aplish, and then it would give him an outline for how to do so and reward him for aplishing it.


    Thest time he got a Silver Quest perfectly tailored to him, he managed to make out with a Fusion Crystal that would be invaluable in refining his futurebat path. He just hadn''t had the opportunity or time to make use of it yet.


    However, this Silver Quest would be another chance for that.


    ''Hm...''


    After some thought, Ss ended up picking the Slot Machine. The nexting days would be hectic one way or another, so he might as well see what he could make of it.


    Plus, because it was a Silver Slot Machine, if he gathered enough Tickets in the end, he might be willing to upgrade it to Gold again and take another chance.


    [Quicktime Event Against All Odds Rewards]


    [Choice Rewards]


    >[Random Upgradeable Title] AND [Title Sequence]


    >[Against All Odds (Title) (Bronze)]


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    [Against All Odds (Title)]


    >[Pressure makes diamonds and apparently you as well. Others crumble beneath the pressure, but you push through and perform better Against All Odds]


    >[Title Devours BOSS yer]


    >[+20% ALL stats when facing 10 or more enemies 5 or more Levels above you]


    ''I see. But what''s a Title Sequence?''


    The moment Ss had the thought, he recalled something. The first time he entered a Nexus through Castle Main, he was able to find a method to unlock the Common Arts Enthusiast Title. It gave him a step-by-step guide on exactly what he had to do.


    A Title Sequence should be a formal way of saying that.


    Realizing this, Ss hesitated before choosing the first option.


    [Title Unlocked]


    >[Title: Shake of the Die (F+)]


    >[The Odds shift ever against you, but you''re more than willing to y them]


    >[Title Devours BOSS yer]


    >[+0%-5% boost in ALL stats randomly when facing ten or more enemies five or more Levels strong]


    [Progress to Upgrade]


    >[1/3 - Ten on One Melee Fight Completed]


    Ss nodded. He had expected the Title to be much worse than Against the Odds. But the fact that he had an upgrade path was interesting, especially considering the cement of Shake of the Die in his Title menu.


    **[Titles: A Burning Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Shake of the Die; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]**


    It had appeared right along with the other Titles that didn''t have ratings next to them despite the fact it clearly said that it was an F+ Title. Clearly, this was a hallmark of Titles that could be changed and upgraded. It was no wonder A Flexible Will had evolved to be A Burning


    Will.


    But unlike those other Titles, he knew exactly how to upgrade this one.


    The only shame was that he had lost BOSS yer which was much easier to activate than Against All Odds considering only one enemy needed to meet the requirements. But if it scaled properly, maybe this Title could be even more useful to him than BOSS yer had been.


    Feeling somewhat satisfied with his choice, Ss moved on to the next reward.


    Until now, he had gotten a lot of rewards... but they were mostly things that had to be dyed for one reason or another. He had yet to get anything that he could benefit from right here and


    now.


    Although he felt that he had made the right choices, anyone would feel a little bitter about this, especially since he had put his life on the line and missed out on so many corpses and


    their Genes.


    Ss still felt angry when he thought about this. He would definitely remember this "favor". The only saving grace was that he still had the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s corpse. Hopefully, its value would far outweigh the others.


    Well... that and he had one more reward to benefit from.


    [Quicktime Event Merit Rewards]


    [Choice Rewards]


    >[Bronze Gene Crystal - (Capacity: 200)]


    >[Destiny Quest Ticket]


    >[Flexible Gene Elixir - (Duration: 6 Months)]


    Ss stared at this screen for a long while. He felt conflicted. It was too difficult to decide.


    He had no idea what a Destiny Quest was, but after seeing what the Gluttony Seed could do for him, how could he not be interested? A Destiny Quest was surely a big deal. He could even feel that his Luck was circling it like a shark that smelled blood...


    The trouble was that it also felt this way for the other two.


    The Bronze Gene Crystal with 200 Capacity should be a perfect Bronze Gene Crystal. It would allow him to unlock his Limits to a ridiculous degree.


    A Common Gene was 10 Stat Points, but a single Bronze Gene was 200. If he could have a full te of 20 Bronze Genes, just what kind of changes would he undergo?


    But to have Flexible Genes for an entire half year... there was no way he could overlook such a thing, especially with Extricate at his beck and call.


    Ss was torn by indecision.


    It seemed that whatever choice he made, he wasn''t destined to have any immediate rewards. However... he would be able to forge himself into a monster.


    He closed his eyes, waiting in silence for a long while before he opened them sharply. He had made a decision.


    He was already on the Destiny Quest of another and stuck on a time crunch for it as well. If he got distracted by another Quest on top of that, the Madness Key might very well eat him alive. The Flexible Gene Elixir sounded great... but was one of his rewards for appearing on the Merit Leaderboard one as well? Although that one would onlyst a few days and not six entire months, Ss didn''t need such an Elixir tost for so long. Plus, what if he found a better Elixir in that time and wanted to use it? The period was handicapped by being too long.


    In the end, he chose the final one remaining.


    The Perfect Bronze Gene Crystal.


    It was about time Basic Aetherflow got an upgrade.

 Chapter 288: Flow (Bonus)

    Chapter 288: Flow (Bonus)


    ?


    **[Aetherflow (F)]**


    - [> Common Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 200 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Bronze Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 300 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Silver Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Bronze Genes of a kind or (1) Silver Gene of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 500 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    **[Rune Flow (F)]**


    - [> Common Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 200 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Bronze Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 300 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Silver Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Bronze Genes of a kind or (1) Silver Gene of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 500 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    **[Skill Flow (F)]**


    - [> Common Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (5) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 200 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Bronze Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (10) Bronze Genes of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 300 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    - [> Silver Gene]


    - [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Bronze Genes of a kind or (1) Silver Gene of a kind]


    - [Raise Stat Limit to 500 Rtive Stat Units]


    - [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    **[Aetherflow]**


    - [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others. You have now reached a new step of mastery]


    - [+20 Intelligence; +20 Charisma (Common)]


    - [+40 Intelligence; +40 Charisma (Bronze)]


    - [+80 Intelligence; +80 Charisma (Silver)]


    - [> Requirements to Unlock (Silver)]


    - [(22) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    -[(44) Charisma]


    - [(44) Intelligence]


    -[(1) Basic Aetherflow]


    - [(1) <Magecraft Title> (FFF+) (Title)]


    **[Rune Flow]**


    - [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside your body. The Runes of the world are your conduit and thews, abstruse and untouchable to others,e to you of their own volition]


    - [+20 Wisdom; +20 Charisma (Common)]


    - [+40 Wisdom; +40 Charisma (Bronze)]


    - [+80 Wisdom; +80 Charisma (Silver)]


    - [> Requirements to Unlock (Silver)]


    - [(22) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Intelligence]


    -[(44) Charisma]


    -[(44) Wisdom]


    - [(1) Basic Aetherflow]


    - [(1) Enchanted Scribe]


    **[Skill Flow]**


    - [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside your body. Layer your Skill, cast multiple at once, and even instant cast. The limitations of others do not apply to you]


    - [+20 Intelligence; +20 Wisdom (Common)]


    - [+40 Intelligence; +40 Wisdom (Bronze)]


    - [+80 Intelligence; +80 Wisdom (Silver)]


    - [> Requirements to Unlock (Silver)]


    - [(22) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Charisma]


    -[(44) Wisdom]


    - [(44) Intelligence]


    -[(1) Basic Aetherflow]


    -[(1) Skill Savant (Title)]


    When Ss input his own Gene Talent into his perfect Bronze Gene Crystal, he didn''t expect that this would be the result. Honestly speaking, he was just expecting one Gene Talent toe out the other end, but he ended up with three, all of which seemed to be enticing. Whether it was Aetherflow, Rune Flow, or skill Flow, they all had their enticing characters. Aetherflow spoke for itself. It was an upgrade to Basic Aetherflow, and it was exactly what he was looking for in this process. Rune Flow would be considered a perfect upgrade for both his Basic Aetherflow and his Enchanted Scribe Gene Talents. Skill Flow, inparison, was the one that deviated the most from his current path, but the power of Skills couldn''t be denied. The ability to cast multiple skills at the same time would be overwhelming in battle.


    It had to be remembered that even the likes of Azrael had died to Ss because he couldn''t cast a second skill fast enough. After Ss weathered the first storm, he had no choice but to stare down the barrel of the ballista and wait for his death.


    Even a Level 15 that was so powerful had fallen in front of just some good timing. That weakness was something that even Alex had fallen prey to just days earlier. However, just like every time he had been faced with this decision, Ss had no choice but to poke holes at their weaknesses.


    Skill Flow had the most obvious to him because it required sacrificing his Skill Savant Title. It


    had to be remembered that Skill Savant gave Ss a +100% boost every time he gained one point of Intelligence. Not only was it an easy cheat toward increasing his Mental, but it was also the easiest way for him to increase one of the most important things to him: his Aether


    stores.


    If he gave up that Title now, who knew when he''d be able to get another one that was even


    close to as good.


    As for Aetherflow, its weakness was twofold.


    First, he needed to earn a Title that he didn''t even currently have, and he didn''t have any


    immediate way of knowing if this Title was one imed during previous Summons or not. If it was, and he chose this path, he would just be wasting his time and one of the uses of the Gene


    Crystal.


    The second issue was more what itcked. After looking at Skill Flow and Rune Flow, it was hard to feel any fondness for Aetherflow because it just straightforwardly did what Basic Aetherflow already did, but on a higher level.


    Then there was Rune Flow... its greatest weakness wasn''t obvious, but Ss saw through it at a moment of thought. It was hard to exin in a few words, but if Ss had to, it would be


    like it had taken the intuition and talent out of Rune-making and forging. Enchanted Schr didn''t give Ss great power, but instead allowed him to see and understand Runes. Rune Flow, however, at the sacrifice of Enchanted Schr, turned the focus more toward Runes away from it and pushed it toward Aether.


    He would surely be more capable of using powerful Runes now, but at the cost of the intuitiveness of doing so.

 Chapter 289: Quadruple (Bonus)

    Chapter 289: Quadruple (Bonus)


    ?


    Looking at things this way, Ss found it difficult to choose. After some thought, he chose to take a different route. It had been a while since he tread a grey line with the Madness Key. Maybe it was time to take a risk again.


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    - [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <5 Common> Genes]


    - [Curse Status: Glutton. <1 Bronze> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <6 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    - [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    Ss took a breath. The Madness Key had finally crossed the Common Gene threshold, leaving it behind in favor of Bronze Genes. However, Ss was no longer as flustered or worried about this. That was because he had a trump card...


    Extricate.


    Although he had seen very few Bronze Genes in the wild until now, that didn''t matter. He could use his body to farm Common Genes and then fuse them into Bronze Genes. Then, he could use Extricate on himself to form the Bronze Gene he needed.


    Of course, there was a great weakness to this n.


    He had already reached the limit of Bronze Genes he was allowed at two, and both of them were Gene Talent-rted Bronze Genes so he couldn''t give them up.


    However, with this idea in mind, Ss knew that he would just need to find a way to increase his Bronze Gene Limit by one and he would be home free.


    In fact... it was possible that his Gene Limit had already increased thanks to his ss, though he had yet to confirm. The fact that his Genes had all suddenly disappeared like that, except for the special ones, was suspicious.


    **[What are the Magecraft Titles of the FFF + Grade that are avable to me right now?]**


    Ss decided to be bold and direct. If he touched upon a taboo, fine. But this decision was too important to not even make the attempt. In fact, he even wondered if it might be possible for him to use his Luck to sense if something was going to be a Taboo ahead of time.


    After his Luck helped him to perfect his ss, Ss realized that maybe he was using it too sparingly.


    So, as he asked the question, he focused his senses. He didn''t feel anything wrong with what he asked, so there was just one thing left...


    [FFF+ Magecraft Titles avable to you]


    - [Charismatic Enigma...]


    - [Mind Weaver...]


    - [Willful Magister...]


    - [The Meaning of Arch...]


    - [The Meaning of Sage...]


    - [Arcane Luminary...]


    - [Unyielding Schr...]


    - [...]


    Ss was surprised to find that there were actually so many. All of these Titles were avable to him and also FFF+ in rank.


    Taking a breath, Ss prepared himself. He had a feeling that this question would be fine. It was the next one that would be... troublesome. The one he had nned afterward was likely even more of a red g. But he was prepared for the risk.


    **[What is the description of the FFF + Title ''Charismatic Enigma''?]**


    As Ss moved his intention to ask the question, he didn''t feel anything going wrong, but his guard was still up. Even so, what happened surprised him.


    [Cost: 1 Bronze Gene]


    Ss was taken aback. This was the first time the Madness Key had ever changed the price on him. However, this was a good thing.


    Before he even attempted to pay it, though, he prepared to ask his third question first anyway. If what he was attempting wasn''t possible, then there was no point in wasting the Genes to begin with.


    [What is the Title Sequence for ''Charismatic Enigma''?]


    Ss watched with focused eyes, feeling a heavy weight on his chest.


    [Cost: 10 Bronze Genes]


    Ss released a visible sigh of relief. It seemed that even this was possible as well. That was great.


    Even if the cost was high, he didn''t care.


    ''This must be my fault. After I started running into Taboo questions, I stopped asking anything rted to the system, so I never ran into this possibility. It seems that there''s a no- man''snd between Taboo questions and normal questions where there''s an extra cost involved. It''s steep, but well worth it...''


    Ss wouldn''t necessarily find the Title Sequence he needed in a Nexus, but if he asked the


    Madness Key.


    ''Let''s see if I can find out how to improve my A Burning Will Title...''


    Ss wasn''t a fool, he had noticed a qualitative change after he unlocked A Burning Will. Even when he used Aetherflow, his Will seemed to have be flickering mes instead of its


    usual glow of Aether.


    On top of that, his telekinesis became able to move up to 50 pounds with greater ease, and his Aetherflow fists carried a greater punch as a result.


    If he could upgrade it further, wouldn''t that be helpful? But first, he wanted to see the cost.


    What Ss didn''t expect was that the moment he was going to, he felt a ring warning echo through his heart. He hurriedly stopped and exhaled a slow breath.


    No doubt... it was a Taboo.


    ''I see... Normal Graded Titles I can ask about just fine. But non-Graded, Upgradeable Titles are


    a no-go.''


    Ss noted this and epted it. This wasn''t a bad result either.


    There was just one thing he had to check before he truly left this ce behind.


    [Arctic Emperor Cobra]


    - [Genes Detected]


    - [Bronze Gene: (7) Intelligence (F); (7) Wisdom (F)]


    - [Attempt Assimtion?]


    - [Yes][No]


    ''Wow...''


    There was nothing else to say. If the Arctic Emperor Cobra was a human and not a beast, it would certainly have even more Genes to give. But Ss had already be used to creatures only giving some stats. The fact that the Arctic Emperor Cobra could give two of a kind instead of just one was a testament to how special it was.


    If a Bronze Gene gave 200 stat points... didn''t that mean that the Arctic Emperor Cobra had several stats in the quadruple digits?

 Chapter 290: There

    Chapter 290: There


    ?


    Ss shook his head. This wasn''t the real reason he had taken the Arctic Emperor Cobra out. His real goal was something more unfathomable.


    Its venom sack.


    Afterpleting his Arctic Royal ss, Ss felt that his sense of Ice-Poison had increased manifold, and there was a familiar energy running through him. His Aether had changed in constitution, and it was now purely Ice-Poison based as well.


    He wasn''t yet sure what this would do to his normal skills and if he would even be capable of still using them or not, but what he did know was that whether or not his other skills had be useless, this venom sack was a hack for him.


    This time, Ss didn''t need to be nearly as careful in cutting out the venom sack because he was confident in his immunity. However, the body of the Arctic Emperor Cobra was so tough andrge that he had no choice but to Fuse with the Basilisk King.


    After an hour or two of arduous and careful work, he had finally cut it up, preparing not just the venom sack but also a great deal of food for himself as well.


    Holding the venom sack in his hands, he felt very satisfied. The Runes on it were far moreplex than what he had seen from its son. Not only that, but he had a feeling that if he tried toplete these Runes, it would be far easier.


    Hisprehension of Ice-Poison deepened after just a few seconds, and he already felt the Skills he had yet to cast even a single time inch toward Common Mastery from Fragmented.


    "Good. Just as expected."


    Ss stood to his feet. It was time to go.


    As Ss moved through the forest, he realized just how good he felt. There was a slight chilling from his body, but it actually helped his body to stay cool, and he felt like his stamina got a nice boost because of it. Though, that might also be because his Constitution was now 170 rather than 140.


    "Is this the power of mature Aether?"


    His body was moving like a far more well-oiled machine, as though his stats meant... more, despite not having increased by much. Well, at least his Physical Stats hadn''t.


    Ss decided to casually make ayer of Aether skin for himself, and a beautiful radiance echoed across his body. Blue Runes flooded across and formed a thin film of what looked like blue ice. It seemed like just a single touch could cause it to crack apart, yet when Ss punched a tree... he actually managed to leave an indent this time.


    Not only did he manage to do such a thing, but he also didn''t feel much pain from his hand at all.


    "My Aetherskin is easily several times more powerful now. If before it only took 50 or so Damage to st through it, it would take at least 200 now."


    This shouldn''t be just because Ss had mature Aether now, but because Ice-Poison was heavily control- and defense-based. It seemed that even in its natural state, without the guidance of a skill, mature Aether had its own positives and quirks.


    "There''s still nothing around..."


    By this point, the Aether of the portal had spread so far that Ss could easily use his skills even here. There was no reason that there wouldn''t be beasts present here.


    Yet, there was nothing.


    "Is this still rted to Alex, or?"


    Ss was very confused at first. But as he closed in on the region where the battle had urred, he came to a sudden stop.


    The air looked perfectly fine, but there was something extra reflecting in Ss'' pupils.


    Runes.


    Poison Runes.


    Suddenly, Ss understood. He had underestimated just how potent the venom sack he had thrown out at thest minute was. The Basilisk King had worked itself to the bone escaping and moving locations from time to time, but it seemed that that had beenpletely unnecessary.


    The entire region had be a biohazard.


    After analyzing the Runes for a moment, Ss was confident that it wouldn''t be able to harm him at this concentration, so he made his way forward, still careful to pay attention to his body''s situation.


    Luckily, it seemed that he had overthought things once again because the poison couldn''t even prate his Aether skin. In fact, it seemed to have special immunity to poison in specific, suppressing and crushing it.


    "No, there''s something extra as well. It''s consuming the poison and using it to strengthen itself at the same time... I can even feel that the time limit of my Aether Skin is actually subtly


    increasing."


    This was a pleasant surprise for Ss. It seemed his Arctic Royal ss had more depth to it than it appeared.


    He changed directions a bit and chose to head to the very location he had originally thrown the sack down. The closer he got, the denser the poison in the air was.


    He was slowly testing the limits of his Ice-Poison, but as far as he could see, it didn''t seem to have any.


    By the time the poison in the air was so dense that he could see it even without Enchanted Schr, his Aether skin had absorbed so much that it exuded a faint violet glow as a backdrop to its icy blue.


    "There."


    Up ahead, Ss could see even the remains of the poison sack left behind.


    Aquatic creatures hade belly up to the surface of the river, the grass, trees, and vegetation in the region had copsed, even one of the nearby cottages looked as though an entire half of it had been eaten by termites and rotted from the inside out.


    Ss realized just how much he had underestimated the poison sack now. The bouncer look alike he had fought was more powerful than he knew. But now... he seemedpletely immune to his greatest strength.


    Not only that, but his own Ice-Poison seemed to be improving.


    Ss'' gaze shed as he noticed something else. A smile almost tugged at the corner of his lips.

 Chapter 291: Transformer

    Chapter 291: Transformer


    ?


    Ss jogged forward and appeared by the side of several corpses. These were the people who hadn''t managed to escape in time. Their faces were unrecognizable, and there was a sizeable number of them here to be sure.


    The indifference on Ss'' face didn''t change in the slightest as he poked around until he found what he wanted.


    He pulled out several storage devices, and when he looked inside, his gaze shed with a hidden brilliance.


    There they were. The corpses of the Arctic King Cobras.


    It wasn''t all of them, but between all the spatial devices Ss counted, he found 17 of them, and two of them were the Level 10 elites. From the 50 total he had had before, this was a far cry. But even so, this was more than he had expected.


    After checking all of the Genes, he came out with a total of 19 Bronze Intelligence Genes. He got two each from the elites, and one more from each of the rest.


    No matter which of the Bronze Gene Talents he chose, he would need 22 Bronze Intelligence Genes at best, and 44 at worst. So no matter how he looked at it, this was a huge boon.


    Plus, even if he hadn''t made his decision yet, this would help him satiate the Madness Key for a long while.


    Regardless, there was no rush. He needed to gather 198 Bronze Genes before he could even choose one of the paths to begin with.


    His focus right now should be either to find a method of increasing his Bronze Gene Limit to three so that he could farm Common Genes, or find where he could battle it out with more Bronze Gene creatures.


    But first...


    He needed to see what the situation over in York City was. It was the reason he hade here in the first ce.


    ...


    Ss left the region of the poison and soon found that the Aether was plummeting. He checked on his Dire Wolf and saw that it was feeling healthy again, so he summoned it and used it.


    The Dire Wolf relied on his Aether to sustain its stamina, so if the Aether concentration in the air dropped too much, it wouldn''t be usable anymore. But Ss had a feeling that since so many Portals had opened in this region, it wouldn''t be a problem.


    He summoned the Basilisk King once more and then entered his Rune training scape.


    The first door was still mysteriously gone. Ss could only conclude that this world felt that he had already mastered whatever was prepared for him behind it.


    Whatever the case was, he might as well continue onto the second door.


    He entered and found himself in a white space. There was a rune, however, before him, and three key slots hovering behind it.


    Ss looked from the Rune, then to the locks, and back again.


    "I see. They want me to find three keys within this one Rune. Isn''t this somewhat like what I had done with the Ice-Poison Rune?"


    Ss had taken the parts of the Ice-Poison Rune he needed, then used it to give himself a barrier of immunity. Of course, the main purpose back then had been to purge the mammoth of the poison that harmed it.


    This, though, felt way easier than that.


    Ss scanned the Rune for a moment, and soon a three-dimensional rendering of it appeared in his visualization. He felt he would be able to recognize it no matter how he turned and flipped it.


    "My Wisdom..."


    Ss realized that he could use Enchanted Scribe for longer and analyze Runes much more easily because Wisdom was basically double what it had used to be.


    In all likelihood, he could split his mind more ways now, control more things, and there was now a direct trantion to Runes and Rune Control. And thanks to that...


    TA. TA. TA.


    Three Runes were stamped in the air at the same time, perfect and whole.


    He pushed the Runes forward, and the three locks were undone at the same time. A resonant hum thrummed and the floor was cleared.


    Ss'' gaze shed, and once again, he found himself standing on a familiar path once again. It seemed that he had passed once more after just a single attempt.


    Ss shrugged his shoulders and entered the third door. He had quite some time because the distance between York City was not only decent, but he nned on going the long way around so as not to attract a lot of attention.


    Behind the third door, Ss found another floating rune. But this time, the lock was in pieces. "I have to make the lock this time."


    Ss was a bit stumped. He didn''t understand the purpose of this test, at least not immediately. Wasn''t he supposed to be Rune forging? Why did he have to consider...


    Enlightenment shed through his eyes.


    "I see. The first test is just about the basics of Rune forging. The second teaches Rune deconstruction and gives you the tools to analyze and learn from existing Runes. The third teaches you how to reverse engineer Runes..."


    By understanding a Rune enough toprehend the lock it could undo, you essentially understand the nuts and bolts of the Rune down to its very foundation.


    Anyone could drive a car, but how many could maintain one? How many could keep its engine oiled and its brakes in top condition? How many could piece its engine together?


    This room was teaching Ss true Rune construction.


    It was something that he had done in part with the Ice-Poison Rune, but ultimately, he was still heavily relying on the fact he knew that the Ice-Poison sack was good at dealing with and sealing poison.


    If he was just given a random assortment of Runes... would he be able to do the same?


    Ss'' eyes glowed, and he began to look at the Rune in earnest, having already memorized the pieces of the lock. Then, he moved, his visualization piecing it together like a transformer.

 Chapter 292: Proficiency

    Chapter 292: Proficiency


    ?


    Ss actually failed on his first attempt, something that he hadn''t expected. He thought that the moment he understood the purpose of the challenge, this would just be a simple matter ofpleting it.


    This time, it wasn''t a matter of control. The trial didn''t ask him toplete the lock, per se. It only asked him to deduce it. The pieces of the lock would then form on their own. So the only person that Ss could me was himself foring up with the wrong result.


    ''No... my answer should be correct, but I''m still missing something. What is it...?''


    Ss didn''t immediately try again. He watched as the pieces of the lock disassembled themselves, lost in his own thoughts.


    For some reason, his thoughts shed to the scene he had witnessed the first time heid eyes on Earth''s Runes. They were twisted, chained, and in some cases, they had cancer-like growths on them that looked unnatural. Even without having seen Runes before, Ss was still certain that there was nothing about what he was witnessing that was good.


    Ss shook his head. He didn''t feel like these things were rted, except for the fact that he had an innate desire to understand more about Runes if for no other reason than to understand what had been done to Earth.


    ''Done to...''


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    He thought of those cancerous growths and found them interesting.


    If someone messed with Earth''s Runes, it made sense for them to be chained, or even iplete, but the growths... that seemed odd. It was almost as though Earth''s Runes had been poisoned or had be diseased. It was like they were...


    ''Living?''


    A realization overcame Ss and he realized something. Had he been too precise?


    After some thought, Ss applied his solutions again, but this time, he increased the degree of freedom and loosened his precision.


    As expected, this time, the task was cleared. In fact, it wasn''t just the task, but the entire third door disappeared and Ss found himself back on the path once again.


    ''Interesting... I don''t actually think that that''s the lesson the door wanted to teach me...''


    The problem with Ss'' first answer was that it was too good. It didn''t allow for the Rune to "breathe" and treated it like a real key with precise dimensions that could only work for equally as precise locks.


    But he was treating Runes too mechanically. No two trees were identical, no two des of grass, no two creatures, no two rocks. Nature had patterns, but even within those patterns, there was a degree of variation.


    Runes were the same. No two Runes were perfectly identical, and even within a closed system of a single Rune, there would be variation as it interacted with the world.


    Ss felt that he had touched on something profound.


    ''If I create Runes with this in mind, the pressure on my mind will lessen considerably. My Rune construction doesn''t need to be perfect and stringent. It''s like writing. So long as it''s legible, it will work... within reason.''


    This within reason, of course, referred to the pieces that fit together to form the Rune. If Rune forging was like writing, then the form of writing it was had to be cursive. The letters linked together, and if one was too far bent out of shape, it wouldn''t be able to amodate the others.


    ''Truly fascinating...''


    Ss found himself bing endlessly interested in this world of Runes. If he was correct, and Runes were like aspects of nature, then wasn''t controlling them simr to controlling the building blocks of life? Just how far could you take such a thing?


    Too eager to dismiss those thoughts, Ss hurried forward and entered the fourth door. It had been a long while since something had caught his attention like this, and when he found something to be curious about, it was unlikely that he would stop until he had exhausted it to the greatest extent.


    With the foundationid, the fourth door began to truly train Ss. It taught him the mostmon building blocks of Runes and he began to learn their formal names.


    It turned out that his casual naming of the building blocks of the Ice-Poison Rune weren''t entirely off-base, but they weren''t entirely correct.


    He thought that the Ice-Poison Rune was formed by 12 Runes, when in reality, it was actually over 30. This wasn''t because Ss had missed some, but rather because he had grouped them together in groups that were toorge.


    The foundations of Runes were known as Strokes. These Strokes came together to form Foundations. And only these Foundations coulde together to form Runes.


    No matter the Rune Language, all Strokes were ubiquitous. However, there would be some variations in the Foundation. Still, if you understood the Strokes well enough, it was theoretically possible toprehend all Rune Languages.


    It was just that... there were far too many Strokes.


    Just this fourth door required Ss to memorize three dozen of them. And just when he thought he was finished, the fifth door had him memorize three sets of a hundred. Finally, the sixth door actually asked him to memorize three sets of a thousand.


    In the end, just this one alone taught him 3336 Strokes.


    That said, Ss wasn''t disheartened at all because the Strokes were truly fascinating in their


    own right.


    The Ice-Poison Rune was made up of 32 Foundations and 127 Strokes.


    What was interesting about Strokes was that they had power too. Not as much power as Runes, of course. But they were also far easier to use.


    However, Ss didn''t look into using Strokes in battle much. The ratio of the effort he would put in versus what he would get out certainly wasn''t worth it. At least not for now.


    Ss moved on and entered the seventh door.


    Whether it was the seventh, the eighth, or the ninth doors, they all did the same thing: test his proficiency.


    Seeing this, Ss immediately lost interest. There was nothing left to learn. It could be said that the moment he finished with the sixth door, he had gained everything there was to gain


    here.

 Chapter 293: A Long Way

    Chapter 293: A Long Way


    ?


    Ss woke up from his stupor, having cleared the ninth door in just a few seconds. The final three doors had been far too easy, but they had also taken the most time toplete. He spent more time on the seventh door than he had the previous six, and that pattern only continued. However, it was still invaluable for refining his memory and sharpening his Rune deployment.


    ''I''ll have to find a chance to use a Nexus again so that I can trade for the next¡ª''


    [You have pleased the system, System Breaker]


    [The system is watching you]


    [System Reward Received]


    Ss'' eyes became sharp. Thest time he had read a simr message was when he awakened System Breaker, his Title. Back then, he had also gotten a System Reward, and that should be part of the reason why he was able to have three Legendary Paths instead of just one like most people for his Profession.


    Now, he had received another System Reward, but to what end? He wasn''t awakening anything any time soon, as far as he knew. And, even when he tried to click on the reward, nothing came up. It was like it waspletely dormant.


    However, when Ss looked at his Slot Machine, his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    [Tickets: 212]


    He wasn''t sure if he should be happy or disappointed by that.


    On the one hand, he hadn''t even done much yet, but he had already gained so many tickets. But on the other, it felt like an acknowledgment of the system should probably be worth


    more.


    ''Regardless, the System Reward is still there. So, I''ve benefited twice over. That said... there''s something fishy about this. Why did the system suddenly reward me for doing something that I would have done anyway?''


    Ss could only specte, but if he had to guess...


    His mind shed to the images of Earth''s broken Runes.


    The system had its own rules, but those rules were certainly capable of being broken. The Slithering Madness Dungeon had certainly broken one or several of those rules. Then there was the event of the Basilisk King that was another such event. Then there was Azrael''s existence, and even the weird Archibald.


    There was a lot of rule-breaking going on everywhere... so the question was: what was the system''s opinion about all of this?


    It was hard to say. But, on the one hand, Ss was rewarded for breaking the rules with his System Breaker Title. But on the other, the Madness Key was a reminder that the system wasn''t willing to allow just anything to slide.


    Then there was Azrael who was clearly suppressed in every way, even to the point where Ss couldn''t even benefit from his Genes. There was definitely something odd about that as well.


    The system was hard to read. But it was clear that it wasn''t entirely happy with everything going on under its nose, and sometimes it would take action. Whether that action was to reward or punish, it was hard to say.


    But right now, the system seemed to be rewarding Ss for studying Runes, and if Ss was correct, that might very well be rted to the current state of Earth''sws.


    If the system was like an unbiased arbitrator, it would want new worlds to have the time to grow into their own instead of being messed with by their "big brothers," so to speak. It might very well want to help give Ss the tools to fight back against this.


    Ss cleared his mind and began to focus on the world around him. The Dire Wolf was currently sprinting adjacent to a long highway, diving through thick trees.


    Ss was familiar enough with the roads here to follow them to his destination, but not enough that he could find a path without them. So following them like this was the next best option although it was risky.


    These were the exact sort of paths that the government and Legacy would be paying close attention to. But he had mitigated that risk to some extent by taking a longer, meandering route.


    If the City Lord who imed an ind of York City was, indeed, Cassarae, then it would certainly be quite difficult to get to her. Setting aside the fact the waters around it had be turbulent due to the appearance of yet another Portal on the ocean''s floor, the ind in question would definitely be easily monitored. And unless Ss followed the river he had just left behind all the way up and through the raging waters, there was no way to cut around all the inevitable security.


    Of course, Ss would be willing to do this. But not without first confirming that it was actually Cassarae. As for the underwater Portal, he already had a method of dealing with it. It was just a matter of actuallyying eyes on it, which would certainly be easier said than done.


    Ss put the Basilisk King away and urged the Dire Wolf forward. For this final stretch, he needed to be on top of his game.


    His senses focused on every little detail within a 30-meter range. He found that with his Wisdom being higher, it was much easier to do this, though it was still quite a strain on the mind.


    By this point, they had already left a dead zone of Aether and the concentration was picking up again, letting him know that they were rapidly approaching York City.


    Soon, Ss began to see familiar roads and he was sure that the first barricade was up ahead. He slowed the Dire Wolf down to about half its top speed. But even that was over 100. When he was just about 300 meters away, Ss came to a full stop and put the Dire Wolf away. ''I''ll have to capture someone high enough up on the chain ofmand that they''ll have the information I need.''


    Having thought of this, Ss patiently sat and watched.


    He couldn''t help but recall the very first Title he had awakened, Patient Stalker. He had certainlye a long way since then...

 Chapter 294: Short

    Chapter 294: Short


    ?


    The blockade was stronger than anything Ss had seen in Lone Star, but that only made sense considering the state of this side of the world. They were probably prepared for the intervention of Legacy at any moment.


    But one way or another, Ss had to go.


    ...


    Sergeant Cherie looked out of a wide ss window. The location was a modernized outpost. Well, that was just a fancy way of saying it was a ss box stacked onto a steel pole. There was nothing special about it other than the fact there was only one way in and one way out.


    Being over 20 meters in the air, it also gave him a great vantage point to oversee everything and ensure that everyone was following their orders properly. Though, most days, he just ended up being a glorified extra scout.


    It was a calm job one way or another. He was probably in the safest location there was. Though such a ce might usually be cannon fodder for snipers, the ss was far thicker than one could imagine, and there also weren''t any vantage points a sniper could take advantage of in this region other than the other glorified outposts.


    For him and those like him, life after the Summons began wasn''t too different at all. He still followed the same orders, and though his tasks could err on the side of... weird from time to time, there was nothing toin about.


    All things considered, the odds of Legacy doing much of anything were too small. So his job could be considered to be quite cozy.


    Sergeant Cherie was just thinking these thoughts when the situation changed. He didn''t even see it personally. The forest was definitely a vulnerability, but the issue was that before their outpost, the forest had longe to a stop. There was nothing but paved roads and tnd between here and the first patch of sparse forest.


    And yet, the first sign of something wrong that Sergeant Cherie grasped was themotion.


    ...


    Ss knew that there was no way for him to sneak into the city. The government wasn''t ipetent no matter what biases he might have against them. In that case, the best course of action was to do the one thing they didn''t expect.


    While Sergeant Cherie was busy scanning vulnerable regions, Ss burst out into a dead sprint, shrouded in ck scales.


    Fused with the Basilisk King, he was so fast that he seemed to leave streaks of ck in his wake.


    He covered his face and hid his tail in a ck military uniform he stole. It made him look bloated and ridiculous, but Ss had never cared about such things. His only focus was getting in and getting out.


    At the same time, while he wanted to rely on his Fusion state, he didn''t want the government to suddenly be put on alert about his attack. So not only did he hide his tail, he hid his face and most of the changes triggered by his Fusion.


    The moment he crossed the distance he needed to, he dismissed the Fusion. His Speed plummeted, but his gaze only sharpened.


    He could feel a slight ache in his muscles already for just a few seconds of use, but it was still far better than it had been in the past. He no doubt had his extra 30 Constitution to thank for that. His current state was more than enough to deal with theing situation.


    "Enemy attack!"


    Ss seemed to hear the voices as though they were whispered in his ears. Some useless information naturally dulled in his mind while important things were amplified to an


    extreme.


    With this concentration of Aether, it was impossible for anyone to aim a gun at him. But that didn''t mean that they couldn''t aim arrows... and Ss wasn''t sure just yet which was more of a danger.


    Regardless of what it was, his steps didn''t close. The best way to deal with long-ranged units was to force them to hesitate.


    What would they do when he was running in the midst of their allies? Would they trust their aim to such an extent?


    Ss'' feet hit solid pavement and he scanned the enemies before him.


    He dodged out of the way of a swinging sword and drove a fist into the man''s gut. He didn''t even put much power into it, and yet he could feel the ripple through thetter''s body as they copsed like a sack of potatoes.


    He made a motion that looked as though he grabbed the sword, only to send it flying with his telekinesis to the side, piercing right through the leg of another oing agent.


    He weaved in and out of the swarm of government agents, and he felt more clearly now than ever that therger the gap in stats... the less actual skill mattered.


    He had yet to have the opportunity to benefit from the Fusion Crystal, at least not to a degree that he would be proud of. And yet, these people were like puddy in his hands.


    BANG!


    Ss mmed a palm against a woman''s chest and she was sent flying into the fortified wall. He rushed forward, using the dent he had created with her body to push himself up.


    ''It''s short...''


    The wall was a tall stack of concrete blocks, and though his stats were outrageous, he wasn''t yet to the point of being able to clear 10 meters in a single bound.


    Ss'' gaze shed and his fingers gripped at the spacing between the concrete blocks. He knew this wasn''t enough.... Not alone, anyway.


    His intention moved and he sensed the Gluttony Seed. Then, he pulled on himself with his telekinesis.


    His forearm flexed and he unleashed a grunt. Suddenly, Ss, who was over 200 pounds, felt more like less than 80 to his fingers and arm.


    He pulled himself up with all his force and soared over thest meter of distance,nding firmly on the wall.

 Chapter 295: Kidnapping

    Chapter 295: Kidnapping


    ?


    Ss had already seen what was on the other side of the wall with the help of his visualization, so he didn''t need to hesitate for even a single instant.


    There was nothing on the front-face of the wall that could be used to leap over it. However, they had no such qualms about the other side, and that was precisely to Ss'' advantage.


    Ss took a leap andnded on a military jeep that likely hadn''t moved from this location in weeks given the Aether situation. His feet moved like lightning, vanishing in the next instant. A trio of arrowsnded where he had just been, but it was like he hadn''t even noticed them. Ss was doing his best to not have too many stand-out features bepared to hisst appearance. That was why he wasn''t making use of his telekinesis. However, he was confident in making it through. He had yet to see a single Level 10 in this ce, and that only meant one thing... they were no match for him.


    Ss zed through their encampment and made it to the bottom of their modernized outpost in a single bound. This was definitely the most dangerous part of his excursion.


    The issue was that there was only one way up and one way down, which practically made him a live target. However, this was the only way. He needed to capture someone important, and he only had one shot at it.


    Ss grabbed onto the lowest rung of thedder, which hung high above his head, and pulled himself up with a strong yank. He scaled thedder faster than he had ever scaled anything before, but that was when the worrying change urred.


    The hatch above opened, and Sergeant Cherie appeared. He was a man with a somewhat delicate appearance and seemed to be more of a pencil pusher than a military man. But right now, the dagger in his hand was about as dangerous as it could be.


    Sergeant Cherie cocked his arm back and unleashed the dagger. It flew forward swiftly; whether by gravity or Sergeant Cherie''s strength alone, it appeared before Ss'' brows in the blink of an eye.


    Even if Sergeant Cherie wasn''t a great marksman, he didn''t have to be. There was only one ce that Ss could be, and there was only one ce he could go. To make matters worse, Ss was even elerating toward the dagger.


    Ss'' gaze shed and danger red warnings in his mind. Too fast.


    The trajectory of the dagger was painted in his mind in red. He could see where it started, where it would end up, and even the path it took in between them. But knowing was one thing, being fast enough and agile enough to do something about it was another.


    That was when Ss did somethingpletely unexpected.


    He hooked his knees into thedder, leaned back, and suddenly unleashed a furious punch. He was no longer the former Ss. Since these Scorned Wraps wouldn''t allow him to have weapons or armor, he would have to be his own weapon and armor.


    Be strong.


    BANG!


    A zing will lit up Ss'' fist and three projections of his fistyered onto his own. The echoes of four attacks reverberated in such quick session that they sounded like one. The dagger was sent spiraling back upward even faster than it hade, and that was exactly when Ss took the opportunity to stealthily use his telekinesis to send it right back at Sergeant Cherie.


    Fast.


    Sergeant Cherie stumbled backward in an attempt to dodge, and that was precisely what Ss wanted.


    He unhooked his knees in a fluid motion, nted the tips of his toes onto the rung of thedder, and sprang upward like a cheetah.


    He crossed the rest of the 20-meter distance with zing pace, appearing above the open hatch before Sergeant Cherie had even managed to stand to his feet again.


    DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!


    A rain of attacksnded on the bottom of the outpost, having just missed Ss. But once again, Ss ignored them as though they weren''t even there. He made a motion to catch the spinning dagger in the air, but in reality, he never touched it as he used his telekinesis to send it flying toward Sergeant Cherie.


    The baby-faced man was too caught off guard and thought he would just have to die when the de pierced right into his leg.


    Ss rushed over to the window of the outpost, knocking on it with a finger and then frowning. It seemed that there was no chance to break this window, it was far too thick.


    He turned back and knocked out the screaming Sergeant with a fist to the chin, hauled him over his back, then looked toward the hatch.


    With a leap, Ss jumped down, not even using thedder. His advantage was the suddenness of his attack, so he couldn''t afford to let them react now.


    Screams of horror echoed out. It seemed that most still weren''t used to the new world. A fall from 20 meters would be a guaranteed death on pre-Summoning Earth.


    But it was no longer pre-Summoning Earth.


    BANG!


    Ssnded on the ground heavily, bending his knees and wincing. It seemed that this was a heavy fall for him even with his Constitution, but now wasn''t the time to mind it.


    Using Sergeant Cherie like a shield, he swung him out when he needed to and elerated toward the wall. After his experience with Archibald, carrying a person and running was no longer an issue for him, his Speed didn''t even take a hit.


    He activated Sudden Burst and though it was no longer able to instantly get him to his top Speed, it was still able to give him the little boost he needed to slip out of the onught of a few bolder archers.


    Ss reached the wall, mming a foot on a trash can, onto the back of a tall immobile SUV, and then leaping over the wall in a single bound.


    Hended heavily on the other side, activated his Fusion, and then shed off into the distance with a Speed that the others simply couldn''t keep up with.

 Chapter 296: Marine (Bonus)

    Chapter 296: Marine (Bonus)


    ?


    "Oof."


    Coughs echoed out as Sergeant Cherie was startled awake after Ss tossed him against a tree. When his vision cleared, all he could see were a pair of cold green eyes staring back at him.


    The Sergeant was startled and tried to scramble back, only to realize that there was a tree in his way.


    "Don''t waste my time," Ss said coldly. "Do anything ridiculous and I''ll just kill you directly."


    A cold sweat permeated Sergeant Cherie''s back. He had just witnessed Ss'' strength firsthand. This man had parried a dagger with his fists alone. How could anyone even begin to match up to such a thing?


    Seeing that the Sergeant was obedient, Ss began asking his questions.


    "What is the current situation in York City?"


    "I... this..."


    The question was too broad. He didn''t even know how to start, let alone where to finish. "Take your time."


    Ss crossed his arms. Seated across from Sergeant Cherie in the damp soil, he looked so vulnerable and yet not at the same time. Every instinct the Sergeant had to attack was forcefully suppressed and ground to dust in a single instant. This man was too unfathomable.


    Without a choice, he could only begin to exin, talking about how three Portals had appeared in York City: one in the middle of the city, one on an ind opened by a City Lord, and the third on the ocean floor, protecting the City Lord from a direct confrontation with the government.


    Ss knew all of this already, but he didn''t interrupt. He assumed that there would at least be some difference between what a real high-ranked government official would know versus what a fewckeys of Legacy would know.


    All things considered, Sergeant Cherie was still a Level 9 and likely on the government''s docket for the next few they would help reach Level 10.


    As expected, Ss was quickly proved correct because the Sergeant let slip in his words that there was some conflict underlying all of this.


    "A York University professor? Why did you mention something like that?"


    Everything about Sergeant Cherie''s exnation seemed fine until he brought up something seemingly unrted. He only mentioned the professor in passing, saying that he was responsible for mapping out the ocean floor and was a part of the task force designated to figure out a way to clear the underwater Portal before things became bad. But the way he mentioned it just seemed out of ce.


    Normally, it was something that could be easily glossed over. But for Ss, it stood out like ring warning signs.


    "Uh, yes," the Sergeant panicked suddenly, wondering if he had said something that he shouldn''t have. However, seeing Ss'' gaze, he realized that he wasn''t going to be able to get away with it. "Professor Broussard is very important to the government, and it could be said that he''s the second in actingmand."


    Ss'' expression flickered. He had some understanding of this man. He was quite young as well, being 33 years old from what Ss recalled, and he was likewise a tenured professor. They had had some interaction in the past and had some coboration rted to aquatic serpents.


    Professor Broussard was a marine biologist and was especially interested in the changes to the ocean when it was so near a city asrge as York City. There was no doubt a great amount of pollution and things of the like that the ocean had to suffer thanks to their strive for modernism.


    Other than this, Ss didn''t know much about him. He never really wasted his time trying to understand people much. What he did understand came naturally.


    If he had to summarize his impression of Professor Broussard, it was...


    Fake.


    If there was one thing Ss was certain of, it was the fact that this man yed a character. As for what his true self was like, Ss didn''t know.


    But the fact that his position in the government was so high shocked Ss. He had remembered wondering in the past why the government of York City was subsidizing such fringe research all the time; he had overheard more than one jealous conversation between angsty academics about that very topic.


    ''Could it be that the government was heavily investing in ocean research from the very beginning?''


    Ss had hit the nail right on the head. What he didn''t know was that one of the main reasons the Sixth Summoning was lost was because the powers had neglected the oceans too much. There was no rule that said Portals could only appear onnd, and because of that, they were easily overrun from regions they least expected.


    By the time they realized that things had to change, it was toote to make asting impact. Professor Broussard was just one investment they had made toward correcting this wrong. "That still doesn''t exin why you mentioned him," Ss said coolly.


    This man couldn''t have be a Sergeant by being an outright moron. By Ss giving him such an open-ended question, his instinct should have been to pretend as though he was telling everything he could while actually hiding as much as he could get away with. He should have left the burden of unearthing the fact on Ss. But he hadn''t. That was odd.


    "This..."


    Sergeant Cherie looked into Ss'' eyes but saw nothing but an abyss staring back at him. He coughed, feeling a great pressure. He didn''t know what it was, but talking to Ss felt heavier on his heart than any General he had spoken to in his entire life.


    "These are just petty rumors; I have no confirmation," Sergeant Cherie spoke, kicking himself inwardly. His superiors had already told him to stop gossiping so much, but what else was there to do in the barracks besides talk shit and fuck? "But it''s said that Professor Broussard had a falling out with a fellow marine biologist, and that might be rted to the sudden appearance of the new City Lord."


    Ss'' gaze shed with a dangerous light.


    Cassarae''s mother was a marine biologist.

 Chapter 297: Storm (Bonus)

    Chapter 297: Storm (Bonus)


    ?


    "Was it a coincidence? Ss felt that that was unlikely.


    "What was their disagreement about?"


    "I really don''t know. All I''m aware of is the fact the government gave Professor Broussard too much power. He''s not the leading figure in his field, but no one knows more about this section of the ocean than he does, so in most cases, what he says, goes. I can only assume that there was some dissent in opinion about how to approach this matter, and he didn''t take kindly to it..."


    Now that the cat was out of the bag, the Sergeant could only be honest. But there was nothing else to say on the matter; this was everything he knew.


    "When does the government n to make a move?" Ss asked.


    Sergeant Cherie hesitated again, but this time, Ss understood without him even saying anything. It seemed that the government didn''t have a n, or rather, not having a n was the n.


    The two Portals were obviously in contention. No matter who the City Lord was, it was inevitable that they''d have to deal with a flood of beasts, not justing toward their city because of their own Portal, but even moreing from the underwater Portal.


    Why let either one take advantage of them when they were likely to destroy one another? Obviously, the Sergeant could guess at this too.


    Ss continued to ask the Sergeant questions about the city to the point where the man''s head spun. After he was satisfied, he knocked him out again and then vanished.


    This time, killing the man would do Ss no good, so he let him live. In fact, letting him live this time might actually benefit him more than harm him. That was because thest string of questions he had asked the Sergeant were nothing more than a misdirection. Even the Sergeant probably couldn''t have guessed that Ss got all the information he needed out of their first five minutes of interaction and only continued for another half hour to lead him down a different trail.


    ...


    Ss returned to the river.


    After this series of questions, he was about 90% sure that the City Lord was Cassarae. He still didn''t know what conflict led to Cassarae making such a reckless decision, but right now, Ss knew he had to make it there.


    The question was: How?


    Ss'' steps came to a stop in front of a small fishing boat. Compared to the small yachts that dotted the backyards of most of these cottages, it was quite minimalistic, but it was still sleek and quite modern, all things considered.


    ''Perfect.''


    Ss jumped in and then summoned the Basilisk King. Using the rope that had held the small fishing boat to the cottage, he tied the Basilisk King to the vessel.


    With a sway of its long, powerful body, the Basilisk King rocketed forward through the water, vanishing beneath the surface.


    No motor? No problem.


    ...


    The Basilisk King proved to be a strong swimmer.


    As far as Ss knew, his Dire Wolf mount could be used in the water as well. However, not only would it cost more Aether to sustain it, but it would also suffer a 50% hit to its top Speed. The hit would be even worse when the weight of the boat was taken into ount.


    Of course, there were aquatic mounts that didn''t have such problems. But it seemed that the Basilisk King was a better solution for this than he could have ever expected.


    Ss took a breath and focused. This trip could very quickly be dangerous.


    If he had really wanted to just use the ocean and river as a path, he could have made use of his Aether to walk on the water. But that wasn''t good enough for several reasons.


    First, his visualization was both distorted and far more limited when trying to sense things through water. If these were just normal waters, that would be fine. But these were waters where, presumably, there would be oceanic beastsing. He couldn''t afford a range as limited as five meters in this situation, so he had to rely on the eyes of the Basilisk King. Second, he needed some added flexibility. There would no doubt be battles toe, and if he couldn''t have a foothold when he needed it, his death wouldn''t be far away.


    This was the best he could do.


    Of course, this matter wasn''t just about saving Cassarae either. Just like he had said before, she had managed to survive so long on her own, she most likely didn''t need him to suddenly swoop in. Although her vige''sbat power wascking, Castle Main had once been ranked number one among cities. That meant something.


    Still, there were two main reasons Ss insisted on doing this.


    First, the next step of his ns was inextricably linked to Cassarae. He couldn''t have a vige himself because he couldn''t afford to be locked down to a single ce, so Cassarae was perfect for this. He needed to find a way to connect with her; he just didn''t expect that it would happen like this.


    ording to their original ns, they were supposed to find a path to the Amazonian Wilds on their own and then meet up. That, of course, included Ss, Morgan, and the others.


    And the second reason... well, what better way was there to gather merit for the Silver Slot Machine other than jumping into the thick of conflict?


    It took the Basilisk King a half hour of following the river before it made it out. Ss put it back into the Hibernation Realm for a time so that it could recover from any poisoning it might have suffered, then they continued minutester.


    Entering the ocean, Ss felt small. It was so impossibly vast that one could only feel that way. But when he thought about the power of those who messed with Earth''sws... he couldn''t help but wonder if he''d ever reach a point where even this vast blue expanse was like a drop in his own world.


    Ss looked into the skies, his mind wandering.


    ''It seems that it''s about to storm...''

 Chapter 298: Less

    Chapter 298: Less


    ?


    The timing couldn''t have been worse. At least those were Ss'' initial thoughts until he realized that this might actually help him more than hurt. He didn''t know much about marine life, but he did know that they tended to dive deeper into the water when storms hit. This


    could help him out.


    The storm was only just starting, and the creatures should have sensed it even before he had. So maybe he would get lucky andy eyes on the ind before they did.


    Ss didn''t often get so lucky, so he was hoping that maybe there really was a first time for everything. The boat swayed beneath him and the waves began to kick up as the skies darkened, but it was still more than manageable for the Basilisk King.


    As the storm over the horizon came closer, the swaying of the water became more evident and Ss'' expression had long since be serious. He wasn''t helpless in the middle of the water considering he could use his Aether to walk on it. But it definitely wouldn''t be ideal if his boat capsized right now.


    ''It''ll still take another several hours to follow the water like this and reach the ind. I''ll just have to take things one step at a time.''


    Ss let his patience win over his thoughts, but the storm didn''t seem to be nearly as patient with him. In fact, the situation was only growing worse. The good news was that no beasts hade to bother him. The bad news was that it wouldn''t matter if a current suddenly came and knocked him over and into their territory.


    Ss looked off to the side, locking eyes with the coast. He would say that they were about seven kilometers out at sea, and following the coast was how he had maintained his bearings all this time. Worsee to worst, he would just have to make a beeline toward it and deal with whatever came afterward.


    From here, he couldn''t see any obvious signs of patrols, and that wasn''t too surprising. After all, after the underwater portal appeared, the ocean was basically a no-go zone. If it hadn''t been, Cassarae, or whoever the City Lord was, would have already been overrun and captured, while their city would have be the property of the government.


    The boat suddenly rocked and shook, a wave of water rising over the sides and sshing Ss.


    ''Not good.''


    Getting wet was one thing, but the boat...


    Ss grabbed for a bucket nearby and began unloading the water that had just formed. The process was too slow, so he tried to use his telekinesis, but it was difficult. The first time he used his telekinesis was actually on water, he remembered that vividly. But those had been calm waters, and these waters... well, not only were they far more aggressive, but water inrge quantities could very easily be very heavy. There was only so much that he could do to stop it or unload it.


    However, after a few minutes, Ss got the hang of it. He separated the water into bowls of 30 pounds or so, which was as much as 13 to 14 liters at a time. When he got the hang of it, the amount he moved increased exponentially.


    Ss was able to keep the boat afloat just like this without slowing down the Basilisk King for another hour, and by this point, they had made great progress. But it unfortunately seemed like something would always go wrong when Ss was involved.


    ...


    The Basilisk King continued to move. Ss could no longer see it clearly through the waters, but through their connection, he could feel that it was doing just fine. It was near enough to the surface that it had to deal with the rampaging currents as well. But its stats were so robust that this was hardly an issue. It pierced through the waves like a de.


    A p of thunder rang through the skies after a sh of lightning. The skies had darkened considerably by now, but the sh made it feel as bright as day and the booming thunder nearly ruptured Ss'' eardrums.


    He couldn''t help but frown. Had thunder always been this loud? That didn''t seem to be the case. He had a fleeting thought about whether Aether might make the storms of Earth more dangerous and violent before his heart shook. Off in the distance toward his right, opposite the coastline he was following, a wave was beginning to form.


    Ss'' jaw clenched. He realized that there was no amount of telekinesis that was going to help him this time. He made a quick decision andmunicated with the Basilisk King. With a touch, he had already sent it into the Hibernation Realm.


    The boat tipped off to the side and Ss could already feel a harsh swayinging from it. He lost his footing and nearly fell off before he crouched down and stabilized himself. He grabbed the side of the boat and jumped off just as the wave was about to consume him. With just a second to spare, he managed to store the boat in the Madness Key before the wave, as tall as five meters, consumed him.


    Despite the situation, Ss didn''t panic. With his current Constitution, holding his breath for several minutes shouldn''t be an issue. It was just a question of if he was a strong enough swimmer to make it out.


    ''I weigh less in the water...''


    Ss immediately had this thought the moment that he was swallowed up. He stamped a foot and pushed with his telekinesis. He pulled on the gluttony seed at the same time and swam upward with a strong stroke.


    Almost immediately, Ss found himself piercing out of the water. In fact, he had pushed too hard, causing him to appear as much as two meters above the surface. Hended heavily on the surface of the water, his Aether keeping him upright.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t even get a chance to celebrate before a 20-meter tall wave appeared above him.

 Chapter 299: Shadow

    Chapter 299: Shadow


    ?


    There was no suspense. This time, Ss waspletely washed out and he couldn''t surface nearly as easily. It was impossible to rely on buoyancy when there was this much water crashing on him from above. The downward force would overwhelm whatever upward force he could benefit from.


    Ss found himself buried several meters beneath sea level, but he was still calm. So long as he could orient himself, it wasn''t a problem. He could still point out the direction of the coastline, he knew which way was up, and he knew which direction he was going.


    Rather than trying to fight against the current, he allowed it to carry him deeper, using abination of his telekinesis, Dexterity, Speed, and Strength to rush forward.


    With the help of all of these things, Ss actually found that he was faster in the water than he would have been onnd. Although his agility wascking, when it came to straight-line speed, he felt that he was close to the pace of the Dire Wolf.


    ''If it applies like this, can''t I use my telekinesis to bolster my body as well?''


    Ss felt that the whole path of telekinesis was... odd. There were too many questions about it and it was hard to follow.


    For example, he could split his mind several ways. The higher his Wisdom, the more ways he could split them. And, theoretically, each one of his split minds should have the same Strength.


    If one extrapted that to its logical conclusion, then if he split his minds, and each one could exert the same Strength, then if heyered them, why couldn''t they multiply their Strength?


    If one mind could lift 50 pounds, then two should lift a hundred, and four should lift double that.


    Ss had tried this out many times before, but it never worked as he thought it should. Although there was some boost, it wascklusterpared to what it should be, as though it was being nerfed or restrained by something.


    Over time, Ss hade to slowly understand that this was because his telekinesis wasn''t a force; it was a manifestation of his Will. It could act like a Force, but it wasn''t exactly that. That difference manifested most clearly when it was acting on an object.


    If Ss'' visualization range was a ne, then his telekinesis was almost like indents within that ne. If he made an indent in a certain location, adding a second indent to it took more effort as though he was trying to stretch out that ne further. Adding a third, a fourth, or even more, likewise took even more effort.


    There was also the matter of range to consider. This wasn''t in regard to his visualization, but rather the actual form his Will took.


    Sometimes he could make them into fists, sometimes he visualized his telekinesis in the form of gripping or pinching hands, sometimes he formed bowls or spheres to carry things, and sometimes he would just perfectly coat the item in question.


    There didn''t seem to be much of a difference between these things at all other than the fact the Physical of his telekinesis would either be applied over arge area or a small area.


    As though that wasn''t enough, there was also the fact that his telekinesis seemed to have weight limits. Someone with over 200 Physical could lift hundreds of pounds with ease, so why was it that even when his telekinesis could exert that sort of influence, it was limited to around 50 pounds?


    It was all too confusing, even for Ss. All of this didn''t even mention the greatest oddity of it all. In fact, Ss believed that unless this question was answered, he might never truly


    understand. And that question was...


    Where had his telekinesise from?


    Obviously, it wasn''t just a matter of having high enough Will and Charisma, or else everyone would have telekinesis. He arbitrarily guessed that it was rted to his Madness Comprehension, but that answer wasn''t good enough for him.


    What about Madness allowed him this?


    When Madness was activated, all it did was increase his Will and Charisma; its description didn''t note any other abilities. And like he had thought before, if Will and Charisma were all it took, then everyone would have telekinesis.


    These distracting thoughts almost made Ss forget that he was in the middle of a very dangerous situation. He felt that maybe using his telekinesis directly on his body to bolster his speed might be useful. If he felt 50 pounds lighter, for example, how much faster would he be?


    Truthfully, Ss was letting his thoughts roam like this because while the situation seemed helpless, it was actually very easy to manage. Even after half a minute, he felt no immediate urge to breathe, and he was still rushing forward with great speed.


    He should have already left the range of the tall wave, so there should be an opportunity to return to the surface too. Plus, this excursion had given him new ideas, so all in all, it was a win in his books.


    ''Still, such a tall wave is odd.''


    York City was known to suffer hurricanes from time to time, but they weren''t nearly as lethal as one might expect nearer the tropical regions of Earth. Plus, it was winter now, so they were already out of hurricane season.


    It made no sense for there to be such tall waves unless his previous guesses were correct.


    Had Aether already made Earth a more dangerous ce than they knew yet?


    As Ss was lost in thought again, analyzing everything he could, his gaze sharpened.


    He had used his <Basic Night Vision> Skill already because the waters were too turbulent and dark. This ended up helping him out somewhat. But the range of his visualization was still only five meters or so...


    So when he saw the shadow in the distance, he couldn''t help but cringe.


    The shadow was toorge.


    A whale?


    [Sperm Whale (FFF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 431]


    [Mental: 57]


    [Will: 75]

 Chapter 300: Howl [Bonus]

    Chapter 300: Howl [Bonus]


    ?


    [Sperm Whale (FFF+)]


    [Level: 4]


    [Physical: 431]


    [Mental: 57]


    [Will: 75]


    Ss'' jaw clenched. Seeing this creature confirmed something that he had been thinking about for a long time. If stats were scaled based on human biology, then how much stronger were the real predators of Earth? What about the extinct predators of Earth? If he ran into a Blue Whale, what kind of Physical stats would it have just by virtue of its sheer size?


    A Sperm whale wasn''t nearly asrge as a Blue Whale, and yet just staring at these stats...


    A true monster.


    Ss forced his heart to remain calm. He had to control himself even more in this situation because he was in another creature''s territory and oxygen wouldn''te easy in this situation. Wasting what stores he had would be inadvisable. This whale also wouldn''t necessarily attack him.


    The head of the sperm whale was enormous, and its eyes...


    DOOM.


    Ss heard the sound first and saw the streaks of water second. The sperm whale suddenly whipped its tail, leaving an echoing hum through the water before appearing before him in a sh. Weren''t whales supposed to be docile creatures?


    This was the only thought Ss had time for before he was forced to cross his arms and block. As powerful as the whale''s Physical was, it too was marred by the water. Its effectiveness was definitely not as high as its stats would suggest. However, none of that would matter if those teeth sank into him.


    Ss didn''t know much about whales. He was under the impression that they were all docile creatures and herbivores to boot. What he didn''t know was that the sperm whale ate sharks for lunch and happened to be thergest toothed predator in the world. It could only be said that he was truly unlucky, but his reactions weren''t slow.


    He formed a <Solidify> beneath his feet and pressed off of it hard. He pushed himself up and managed to dodge the open maw of the sperm whale, but in return, he was hit with the force of a battering ram. His body shook and trembled beneath the might and his bones felt like they would shatter at any moment. Had they been onnd, this blow would have certainly done at least that, if not much more. This creature weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, and for some reason, it wanted to use his body as a toothpick.


    The storm had already made Ss feel so insignificant and small, but this whale... It was like the period at the end of the paragraph, thest word at the end of a story. This was the gap between humans and the true predators of Earth. He had just been thinking today how far he hade, only to be smacked right back down to Earth hourster.


    However, it was in that darkness that Ss'' green eyes zed. The stormy, turbulent waters seemed to be the only points of light. The angle of the sperm whale''s headbutt sent him flying upward on an incline, just like he had calcted. He borrowed the momentum and soared up higher through the waters, instantly appearing meters from the surface.


    With the formation of another <Solidify>, he rushed through the rest of the distance. He had barelynded on the surface when he felt the danger signs hit him all at once. ring warnings came as the maw of the sperm whale opened up beneath him. The waters churned and a strong suction force was formed. Ss could only leap upward again with all his Strength, but the sperm whale was hot on his trail, and it could jump far higher than he could. The creature''s tail whipped and it soared out of the water, a menacing glint in its eyes. Ss was right in between its teeth. With a single chomp, he would be finished. There was no doubt that with its Physical, it would tear right through him even if he was fused with the Basilisk King, let alone now. However, Ss was still in an unprecedented state of calm. He had faced off against an army of Arctic King Cobras, stared down the barrel of the maw of an Arctic Emperor Cobra...


    What was this little sperm whalepared to that?


    Just as the teeth were about to bite Ss in half, his gaze shed with a deathly blue light. <Arctic Howl>.


    -


    [Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]


    [<Arctic Howl> has reached Common Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]


    [<Arctic Howl> has reached Bronze Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]


    [<Arctic Howl> has reached Silver Mastery]


    [Arctic Howl (FF-) (Skill)]


    [Defense: 550]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    A roar left Ss'' lips and an echo of blue fluttering Runes jetted out from him in all directions. The timing was perfect. Just as the sperm whale bit down, its teeth crashed against the violently expanding barrier. Astral Howl had high Defense for a mere FF- Skill. It was almost triple as effective as the Legendary Mastery <Solidify> despite only being one Grade above. But that was because it had a drawback. It was an instantaneous burst skill that only allowed a brief instant of Defense.


    But in Ss'' hands, he would always get the perfect timing. Plus, thanks to the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s venom sack, he was able to raise its Mastery so quickly. It would be an invaluable piece to his survival. The teeth of the sperm whale shattered against the barrier and a vicious Ice-Poison Aether began to spread through its maw.


    Ss raised up two hands and though they were des, they were still falling down toward the stomach of the pained sperm whale.


    <Chilling Scythe>.


    One of his hands swung down with a vicious momentum, activating Basic Aetherflow at the same time and bolstering the Skill. He drove the blue scythe right down the throat of the sperm whale and into its most vulnerable inner organs. Ice and poison began to rot the creature from the inside out as Ss fell into its mouth.

 Chapter 301: Sensitivity [Bonus]

    Chapter 301: Sensitivity [Bonus]


    ?


    DOOM.


    The ocean''s surface rocked.


    DOOM.


    A dull sound continuously echoed like a bass drum with a loose resonant head.


    DOOM.


    Then came the blood.


    Ss ripped his way out of the mouth of the floating sperm whale, his body covered in muck. His nose twisted with disgust, and he immediately dove into the ocean waters, preferring the salty streaks to whatever disgusting concoction this was.


    He reflected on the battle and realized something profound. These creatures were definitely powerful, but their Mental didn''t scale as fast as their Physical, leaving them without flexibility inbat. Even if the sperm whale had over 400 Strength, that was useless in the face of 550 Defense. It had beenpletely outdone by just a single skill. But that also meant that at higher Levels, when their Mental, and Intelligence especially, began to catch up... well, they''d be as shocking as the mage snail that Ss had met that day in the volcano portal.


    Ss plucked out the Gene Core of the sperm whale and used his Rune mastery to extricate the Ice-Poison from it, then tossed it into the Madness Key.


    He was about to leave the rest of the sperm whale behind when he shook his head. His Madness Key was enormous by now. Why leave such good food behind? He still hadn''t forgotten that he wanted to find a convenient way to cook a lot of food, but while he had yet to find those means, taking on such good meat wouldn''t be bad. The high Physical of the sperm whale would definitelye with great nutrients.


    There were a lot of things that Ss knew that he had to take more seriously. Sleep, hydration, nutrition... they were all just as important as they had been on Earth before the Summoning. He had to treat himself like a high-performance athlete, or else he would end up breaking his body down. The impurities sickness he had suffered was only just one aspect of that.


    "Hm?"


    Ss was about to reorient himself and continue on his way when he spotted something else. At first, he thought that he had run into yet another creature who needed to be taught a lesson. But then he saw it...


    The blood of the sperm whale was pooling around this ce oddly. It was hard to tell with the waters churning so much and the dark clouds above, but Ss'' sensitivity to Ice-Poison and his visualization had picked it up.


    With narrowed eyes, Ss dove into the waters, trying to sharpen his focus and night vision, looking around in the dark waters.


    ''Odd... is it really the blood?''


    Ss chose to follow it. Logically, he would think that the blood would spread out and dilute, especially with how agitated the waters were. But they ignored the currents and flowed along apletely different path. Ss followed silently and found himself sinking deeper into the ocean on a slow, declining path.


    ''Should I continue?''


    After over ten minutes had passed, Ss felt that it was too much of a danger for him to continue like this. If he dove too deep, let alone oxygen, he would have to worry about dpression sickness.


    Ss chose to do so; however, he slowed his decline. He could continue to sense the blood even outside the range of his visualization thanks to his Ice-Poison affinity. Since the blood was tainted by his poison, he could keep tabs on it from at least a hundred meters out.


    Time ticked by, and an entire hourter, Ss saw it before he even got close. It was a familiar glow, one that he recognized even more when it was in water. A Dungeon.


    That was when it struck him. It wasn''t the blood that was being attracted, but rather the Ice- Poison attached to it specifically. Dungeons pulled all the Aether in the surroundings toward itself.


    Usually, Ss wasn''t very sensitive to this. But after he gained a strong Ice-Poison affinity, he had be able to sense these slight changes. The warp door to the Dungeon was just standing in free-flowing space, but what was odd was that while Ss could see the vague outline of the Dungeon, he didn''t see any beasts around it. Why was that?


    ''Is that really a Dungeon? Or is it that it only recently formed and hasn''t had time to callrge numbers of creatures over?''


    Ss immediately dismissed the second thought. After all, it had taken him over an hour just to get here. That was more than enough time, especially since he had run into three more battles just to make it on top of having to take breaks to the surface just to breathe.


    Luckily, he eventually learned how to form a bubble around himself with his Aether, like an evolved Aether skin. But, that didn''t work if he went too deep because the pressure would shatter it.


    Ss'' expression changed. ''Wait...''


    With a kick, Ss suddenly elerated toward the "Dungeon," moving with pace. He hade to realize something after staring at it for a while. It, indeed, wasn''t a Dungeon after all. A Dungeon would be far more aggressive with how it pulled Aether. This was something different, and he felt that he had an idea as to what it was...


    When he got close enough, Ss realized that it wasn''t a warp gate he was looking at, but rather a bluish tablet with a delicate glowing light.


    [Den Detected]


    [Sperm Whale Den (FFF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    [Spawn Rate: 1]


    [Mutation Rate: 0.005]


    [Would you like to begin Den Establishment Challenge?]


    Ss'' brows raised. So this was how Dens were created...


    It was only a Level 5 Den, but did that matter when it spawned one sperm whale a day? They would, presumably, be even more powerful than the first one that Ss had defeated today, and that was huge. Plus, there was a 1 in 200 chance of a mutation. He wasn''t sure exactly what a mutation entailed, but his assumption was that it was a positive one that would likely form an even more powerful sperm whale.


    However, what was a Den Establishment Challenge?


    Soon, Ss found out. It seemed that this Den needed a few... sacrifices to activate. And they had toe in sperm whales that were at least Level 5. Or, more urately, he needed 10 Level 5 creatures of simr affinity and of FFF+ Grade.


    Ss frowned. This wasn''t a simple task at all. However, after a while, he chose to ept.

 Chapter 302: Guiz

    Chapter 302: Guiz


    ?


    [Den Establishment Challenge epted]


    [Time Allotted: 00:23:59]


    ''It seems that if I fail, the Den will be destroyed. I wonder if all Dens are established like this.''


    Ss reached out and took the Den. The moment he did, he felt a vague feeling tugging at him. The Den was telling him where the nearest target was.


    ''Convenient.''


    Ss wasn''t confident in finding so many targets in the vast ocean. He had had several run- ins now, but only one of them was against a sperm whale. This would make things easier on him. If Cassarae had survived this long, she could wait an extra day.


    ...


    Ss surfaced into churning waters. The storm above seemed to be getting only more violent, and there was an ufortable swirl in the clouds above that noted something more sinister was on the horizon.


    ''A hurricane in the middle of winter...''


    Luckily, the chilliness affected him even less with his new Ice-Poison affinity. With his high Constitution stacked on top of that, he wasn''t even shivering right now. Whether that would continue to be the case, though... only time would tell.


    With a push of his feet and a sparkle of Aether, Ss pulled himself to the surface and set off again.


    ...


    The location was an odd world. It seemed to be a forest, but there was a waterfall descending from the skies. The distinct, ocean-like smell feltpletely out of ce, overwhelming the usual earthiness. The salted waters descended onto the rainforest below in droves. By this point, the tall trees had already begun to wilt, and there was a push of mass migration elsewhere as creatures were disced.


    In the center of all of this, and seemingly unmoved, a System City stood tall. Such a heavily fortified city built onto such soft soil should have stood no chance. In a matter of a few years, it would sink and copse under its own weight. The fact this already soft soil was only being softened further by the influx of water made the situation considerably more dangerous.


    However, life in the System City continued unhindered. In fact, many had taken shelter in this majestic city. There were humans moving in and out of it. Often, they would hardly nce at the waterfall in the skies as though they were used to it. Not only did they ignore it, but they would steer clear of it. From time to time, beasts asrge as homes would flop around and end upnding on the forest floor.


    Luckily, these were oceanic creatures that were pretty helpless onnd. So long as you didn''t get close, and their Intelligence wasn''t high enough to cast powerful skills, they were rtively easy to deal with. Plus, it made the food in this region extraordinarily cheap despite the high quality.


    Suddenly, there was a dull but booming ssh that came from the waterfall and arge whale fell down from above.


    "Oh, therees another one."


    "They''re already heading out."


    Several armed men appeared, rushing out of the open city gates. They were armored in a steel blue and looked almost majestic. Even if one checked their Levels, it would be possible to see nothing but an array of question marks. It was like they were as powerful as they had to be.


    These were the City Guards and they were responsible for keeping order. System Cities didn''t have aundry list of rules, but they did have their ownws. There were the main staples, such as no killing and no stealing, but there were moreplex byws rted to residences and businesses alike. No matter the situation, if there was a dispute, the City Guards would be likely to take action.


    It gave this otherwise chaotic world structure, and the various adventurers of the human race found these System Cities and their rules to be invaluable. No matter what danger you were dealing with, it would be resolved in a System City. Plus, the City Guards even had jurisdiction over a certain radius outside the city, allowing them to act if there was an active threat to those entering and exiting. This was precisely one such case.


    The City Guards swiftly killed the whale, took the Gene Core, and left the meat behind. It was only then that merchants and businessmen alike scurried forward with their teams to divide up the rest of the spoils. No one seemed to react at all to the snatching of the Gene Core. After all, weren''t the City Guards the ones who killed it in the first ce?


    ...


    Deep within the System City, a pivotal conversation was urring.


    "... That should be enough."


    **[Plini Guiz]**


    **[Level: ???]**


    **[Licirius Guiz]**


    **[Level: ???]**


    Plini took the Gene Core that had just been handed to him and passed it to Licirius. Thetter took it with a casual re, then closed his eyes. In real time, Licirius'' aura began to plummet as the Gene Cores around him vanished.


    A long whileter, Licirius'' eyes opened. Plini looked plenty satisfied, but Licirius couldn''t hide his annoyance.


    "I have to put on this damned human skin and now all my power is gone. I hope you''re


    happy."


    Plini chuckled, looking down at his younger cousin.


    "This matter is important and you should take it as an opportunity. Now go. The Den shouldn''t be more than an hour or two away from the portal, go and get it."


    Licirius shook his head and stood to his feet.


    "A small little Level 5 Den isn''t going to make or break anything."


    "It''s an FFF+ Grade," Plini said inly.


    Licirius frowned when he heard this. It seemed that he couldn''t be so casual anymore. That


    was a game changer.


    After a while, he spoke.


    "They were stupid enough to ignore thergest segment of their before, but I doubt they would do it again. You''re right, it might be time for some more direct action."


    After saying this, Licirius vanished.


    Plini walked to arge, wide window that overlooked the city, his gaze focused on the


    distance.


    "Casstle Main..." he muttered.

 Chapter 303: Trust

    Chapter 303: Trust


    ?


    Cassarae sat at her desk with furrowed brows. It indeed wasn''t a coincidence that Casstle Main had plummeted out of the rankings. She could feel that she was being targeted, but it was hard to tell if it was by coincidence or not.


    The System City had appeared too close by, and on the one hand, that made it easy to pay adventurers to help them deal with some of their trouble. But on the other, it loosened the control they had over the resources in the region. Whether it was herself or her militiamen, their leveling speed had plummeted off a cliff... not that it was very fast to begin with.


    As though that wasn''t bad enough, the influx of salt water was making it impossible to grow anything, so she had to rely on the Nexus to buy food, further pressuring their coffers. Then, just today, she got a report that the well water was bing too salinated to drink. Now, even water had to be purchased through the Nexus. Everything felt like one step forward for ten back.


    "Rae, dear?"


    A familiar voice caused Cassarae to lift her head. The bags under her eyes told their own story, and hearing her mother should have made her feel a little better. But instead, she felt another wave of fatigue hit her.


    "Yes, mom. You cane in."


    A spry middle-aged woman walked in. She was quite short, only reaching her daughter''s shoulders, so it was clear that Cassarae didn''t receive her dominant genes from her mother. That credit was given to her father, who was almost seven feet tall.


    Geraldene sighed when she saw her daughter''s state. She was about to say something when Cassarae put a hand to her forehead.


    "Please, no more apologies. It''s killing me slowly. I would have cussed you out already if you weren''t my mother."


    An amused chuckle came from Geraldene. She was used to her daughter''s ways and had enough teenage angst memories in the bank to know that this was actually considered to be a more mature Cassarae.


    "Rae, you need to let your father and I help you."


    Cassarae sighed. "What can you help with?"


    Geraldene paused, not quite sure how to answer this immediately.


    "You''re a marine biologist, mom. There are no oceans here. At best I can show you to a little river, but what good would it do if even the smallest fish could rip your throat out?"


    "Your father''s a businessman, dear. At least let him manage the assets of the city. You know him. Sitting back and watching his daughter do all the work for him is killing him."


    Cassarae shook her head. "There''s no money to manage."


    "You already know your father has several ideas, dear. Don''t be like this."


    BANG!


    Cassarae suddenly stood up, her palms nearly ttening the desk. Her frustration boiled over in her eyes as she practically seethed.


    "You''re not getting it! Everything takes strength! Strength! And more strength! I''m not letting my parents go out to die, do you understand!?"


    Cassarae''s chest heaved before a wooziness hit her. She had stood up too fast, and the fatigue of thest several days hit her in waves.


    Her mother was a marine biologist, but what good was it when she couldn''t study creatures without risking her life?


    Her father was a businessman, but how would he do business without interacting with those vicious men and women who called themselves adventurers? The System City was close, but that was only rtively speaking. It would still take an hour on foot at least to get there. This wasn''t Earth, there were no paved roads, and any creature that was even still in this region at all had far too much power for a normal man to deal with.


    Geraldene sighed and helped her daughter find a seat on the couch.


    "Rae," Geraldene hesitated, but she eventually spoke even though she knew that it would make her daughter ufortable, "do you know what other creatures could kill me? How many times do you think I''ve been in a shark cage? How many times have I held jellyfish? How many times have I swum with whales and dolphins?"


    Geraldene chuckled and gave her daughter''s hand a squeeze.


    "You''ve grown so much that you''ve forgotten that you''re the child in this situation, little girl."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "I''m twenty-"


    "You''ll always be my little girl. Don''t think we haven''t noticed. You''re slowly losing control of this city of yours, and things are bing unmanageable.


    "Your father and I are proud of what you''ve aplished, but your friends have yet to manage to gather here once again, and if you insist on doing things on your own, it will only slip further and further out of your control."


    Cassarae grit her teeth. Ss had told her to be wary of Gregory, her Steward spawn, and she had been. But it still felt like everything was slipping out of her control.


    Cassarae didn''t believe herself to be intelligent, certainly not as intelligent as Ss, but she had always had an elite nose... she called it her Bullshit Detector.


    Gregory had done nothing untoward, but it somehow felt like everything ran through him before being filtered to her.


    Technically speaking, this made perfect sense. After all, he was her steward. But something smelt off about it, and Cassarae couldn''t put her finger on what exactly that was.


    The funniest part about all of this was the fact that Maya, her Armored Seamstress, had actually mellowed out considerably as well, giving her less to worry about.


    Even with all the chaos, the vige had been very peaceful. It could only be said that Gregory was excellent at his job. Too excellent... especially considering he was only a Common


    summon.


    The fact her parents had picked up on it told Cassarae everything she needed to know. Her parents, whether her mother with academic politics or her father with business politics, had their own elite Bullshit Detectors.


    After all... that was whatnded them in this situation.


    Cassarae took a breath and pressed down her anxiety.


    "Okay, mom. I''ll do it. I''ll help you and dad Level up. When dad is at Level 9, I''ll let him go to the System City."

 Chapter 304: Pace

    Chapter 304: Pace


    ?


    Waves rolled around in a violent tempest. It almost felt like the dark, storming waters were trying to form the des of a blender, rotating around Ss with a ferocity that made his hair stand on end.


    A familiar Fusion Crystal hovered in front of Ss as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.


    Since he was caught up in having to finish this mission in 24 hours, he thought it would be a good opportunity to actually train.


    Having been caught up going ce to ce without rest, Ss realized that the Fusion Crystal had just been sitting in his Madness Key for too long.


    After realizing how much improvement the Rune trials had given him, it was only logical to conclude that if he left too much of his chances to improve on the table, he would stagnate as well.


    However, he had kept trying to find the perfect time, when in reality... there was no such thing. He would probably never have a moment of peace until this Summoning had at least concluded. In that case, he had to make his own time.


    What he didn''t expect was to lift up a rock and drop it on his own foot, shattering his poor, sensitive toes.


    The problem wasn''t actually the training. In fact, Ss'' progress was shockingly fast, in one part due to his high Wisdom and another part due to <Madness Control> having reached Legendary Mastery thanks to Madness.


    The real issue was that it was taking up arge segment of his mind, and most importantly, to benefit the most, he couldn''t rely on his telekinesis to begin with. It wasn''t just his telekinesis that had to be ced on the sidelines either, but also his newly minted Skills.


    How could he train his martial arts if he was using flying dagger wizardry and Ice-Poison magic?


    All of this left Ss battling it out with creatures tens of timesrger than himself with nothing more than his fists and the support of Basic Aetherflow. It was tough going and it took him an entire hour before he finally killed the first one at the expense of a great deal of focus.


    Still...


    [Comprehension Detected: Madness (FFF)]


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (F+)]


    [>Taekwondo (F)]


    [>Muay Thai (F)]


    [>...]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (-)]


    [>...]


    With just one enemy defeated and in a single hour, his Dormant Comprehensions had gotten a great boost and a new Comprehension had appeared on the list: Mixed Martial Arts.


    It was just like his de Aura Gene Talent in that it didn''t have an official Grade but was instead only a dashed line. But the moment Ss saw it, he knew that it was likely the one that he wanted the most.


    ''Mixed Martial Arts should include grappling and things of the like. I haven''t even tried something like that yet...''


    Ss was a fan of staying as far from his enemies as possible because everyone else was armed to the teeth and he couldn''t even wear the simplest armors. At the very least, staying a distance away would give him time to react to anything unexpected. But he would likely not grow Mixed Martial Arts to a very high level without this aspect.


    ''Maybe I should wait for a special striker Comprehension instead. But it''s odd that Mixed Martial Arts would appear before one like that.''


    All of the Comprehensions followed the naming scheme of Earth''s martial arts, and Ss found that to be a bit odd. There were certainly martial arts from other worlds out there. But Ss wasn''t very sure of how to tap into them.


    ''Let''s go to the next target. At this pace, I can''t afford to ck at all.''


    ...


    Ss felt a resonant hum run through his body as he punched out.


    An infant sperm whale was sent flying away, digging arge trench in the waters that was quickly enveloped.


    Its mother wasn''t very happy, its tailshing out.


    Under this kind of strike, Ss would almost certainly dodge out of the way. This sperm whale had Strength likely approaching 500. It was already Level 5, and it even had the support of two Level 2 babies by its side. With his 170 Constitution, Ss had no right to confront it.


    But that was when his body shed with ck scales.


    His gaze sharpened as a tail grew from the small of his back. He stomped down a foot, causing ripples of water to flutter out in a manner that was almost too gentle considering the situation.


    His torso tensed, his hips torquing as his leg whipped out to meet the oing tail. There was a sh of green mes and his leg seemed to be enveloped by several shadows of the same attack all at once.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    It was a single blow, but there was a rapid-fire effect as though several hadnded. The feeling of smoothness andfort ran through Ss'' body. He didn''t even need to look to know that his Muay Thai had reached the FF- Grade.


    However, that didn''t change the pain that shook his leg and jolted up his thighs. He could feel that his groin was about to copse beneath the pressure and he was forced to retreat, coughing beneath the effort.


    Still, the sperm whale mother''s efforts were stopped.


    The ck scales receded from Ss'' body and he sent out a series of rapid-fire punches before the sperm whale could regain its bearings. Having been forced to turn its body to whip its tail out, and given itsrge size and the water around it, it simply didn''t have the Dexterity necessary to stop this.


    Ss unloaded on wounds he had already opened up, zing green fists rocking the air. Every time he punched, his mind oveid the warmth of the Fusion Crystal and the images of the best boxers he had ever seen in his life.


    More and more of the smallest muscles in his body were pulled into action until a resonant


    hum spread out.


    BANG!


    A fist shot out faster than the others, overwhelming the slower strikes from before, swallowing them up, and then sting a hole through the side of the sperm whale.

 Chapter 305: Eight More

    Chapter 305: Eight More


    ?


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (FF)]


    [>Taekwondo (FF-)]


    [>Muay Thai (FF-)]


    [>...]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (-)]


    [>...]


    [>zing Will (-)]


    Ss took a breath and looked at his fist. When he saw the new Comprehension on his list, he couldn''t help but frown.


    zing Will? That was the same as his Title. Was that a coincidence?


    Sometimes, Skills, Gene Talents, and even Genes themselves might share the same name. <Voice of a King> was one example of this, so it wasn''t the first time Ss had seen this sort of thing. But it still felt different.


    This was especially so considering thest things that happened.


    His fist had just suddenly enveloped and swallowed up the others. That was the closest that Ss had evere to truly fusing his telekinesis together to create a stronger effect.


    Well, he noticed that while the Physical of his strikes didn''t increase, what had increased was the... tangible nature of his fist.


    ''Interesting...''


    The weight capacity limit of Ss'' telekinesis was also active in battle. For example, he couldn''t pierce a knife into a person''s body and then control it to rip out their inner organs or disembowel them. The reason for this was twofold.


    For one, in such close connection with the affected party, their Will would take effect even if they didn''t have telekinesis. The impediment would stop his telekinesis from working properly. Ss had already noticed this before.


    But those that could overwhelm his Will like that, even in such close proximity, were very rare. Therger problem was actually the second.


    Weight capacity limit.


    This matter seemed unrted to the example, but it was very important. If Ss tried to draw a knife across a person''s body, he wasn''t just carrying the weight of the knife alone anymore, but also what force it would take to continue breaking their skin.


    The reason why Ss could pierce people''s bodies with his telekinesis now was the same reason there was a difference between static and kic friction. It took more effort to take a stationary target and make it move, than to continue moving an already moving target. If Ss took a one-pound dagger and tried to disembowel someone, it would begin to feel more like dozens of pounds. If the person''s Constitution was high, it would be even worse. This was why he preferred piercing weapons and why although he had Azrael''s sword, he rarely used it for much other than shocking others and confusing their minds.


    The only method that Ss had of mitigating this trouble was the Gluttony Seed. But it could only be used very sparingly right now, and it required Destiny to grow. He had managed to stumble into several forms of Destiny now, but he wasn''t foolish enough to believe that it was anything other than rare.


    However, just now, that had changed a bit.


    His fist showed signs of swallowing his Will and solidifying to another level.


    The same problem he would face trying to disembowel someone with a knife was the same problem his fists met.


    Every time he used Basic Aetherflow, it was like his enemy was receiving a full-on attack from someone who weighed 50 pounds. Although the Strength was high, the momentum wascking.


    If his Strength was high enough to st a hole right through a person and not meet any resistance, it was good. But if there was even the slightest pushback, the result would weaken considerably.


    However, that punch just now was the closest Ss had ever gotten to one of his Basic Aetherflow fistsnding like a real punch from him.


    That wasn''t all either.


    It had to be remembered that when Ss used Basic Aetherflow, he was also giving up portions of his Aether every time. As such, it acted a lot like a skill.


    In that past, Ss'' boxing skill was so poor that it didn''t even count as an F- Skill, so rather than the normal baseline 10% boost an F- Skill would give, his Basic Aetherflow only gave him a 5% boost.


    But right now, he was getting the floor of a Fragmented Mastery FF Grade Skill out of it. That was a full 35% boost! A seven times difference!


    The most shocking part was that while skills often cost more Aether the better it was, the cost of his Basic Aetherflow hadn''t changed at all. It was like he could fire off FF Grade Skills for the price of F- ones.


    It was only now that Ss realized how much potential he had been leaving on the floor.


    He only had 140 Strength. But with Basic Aetherflow, his fists flew like they had 189 Strength instead. On top of that, he could do so from a distance and really pack a punch while avoiding damage himself.


    None of this answered his questions about what zing Will meant in this context, but that was fine. He didn''t mind it at all considering the benefits.


    It would be a while before he showed any intention of fusing with the Crystal anyway. He might as well take things as theye and enjoy the process.


    Since he could improve like this even without taking it in, then why be bothered by it?


    ''Still, I have arge, ring weakness. If I can manage it, I''ll need to find a movement skill of some sort. I''m too stationary and it''s hard to tap into the strength of these Dormant Comprehensions when I''m on the move. The martial arts I know aren''t exactly meant to be


    used as you run...''


    Ss vaguely wondered if it would be possible to integrate movement of some sort into this, but he ultimately decided that a separate skill would be better. If he could get something as powerful as <Shadow Warp>, that would be excellent. But he wasn''t going to hold his breath


    on that front.


    ''This is the second... eight more to go.''


    Ss suddenly threw out a fist and the only rampaging baby sperm whale remaining was killed swiftly.


    This one had taken a full two hours instead of the one the first one had taken, but he had


    improved even more.

 Chapter 306: (-) [Bonus]

    Chapter 306: (-) [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss was absolutely relentless in his pursuit of power. As he improved rapidly, he vaguely began to understand that it wasn''t just a matter of <Madness Control> and his Wisdom. All things considered, his <Madness Control> wasn''t even an FFF- Skill, and his Wisdom was only 122. Neither of these things was particrly groundbreaking.


    The biggest reason for all of this was because of his Legendary Path.


    His sensitivity to Genes, their movements, what influences they had on his body, and how his body integrated with them... that sixth sense of sorts had alle from his experiences with Extricate.


    He had attempted a fusion with all of the Physical Genes several times more than he could even count, and it was in part due to these experiences that he had managed to improve <Madness Control> to Gold Mastery so quickly, allowing him to tap into Legendary Mastery with the help of his Madness Comprehension.


    Part of the reason Ss had held back on using the Fusion Crystal for so long wasn''t just because he didn''t have the time to "train," but he also felt that it would take a lot of effort and time.


    As a man of Earth, he was well-versed in the fact it took boxers and other martial artists years, decades even, to hone their craft.


    But he had neglected one important thing...


    This was no longer the normal world. There were shortcuts to be taken, and not taking advantage of them because of some assumptions about olden, outdated ideals...


    Having reached this point in his thoughts, Ss took out a Gene Core.


    His body couldn''t absorb any more Bronze Genes, but he had upgraded his Extricate talent, and now he could even use it on Silver Genes. Since he gained so much even by failing to fuse with Genes... what was the harm if he failed on purpose a few times?


    A part of him wanted to keep these Gene Cores because he needed 198 Bronze Genes no matter which of the three paths he took. But 198 was such arge number that hoarding them now might actually hinder him.


    If it was the rarer Mental Genes he had in his possession, then he might hesitate to use them so wantonly. But the sperm whales all had just one or two Strength Bronze Genes. The Arctic King Cobras were simr, only having one or two Constitution Genes.


    It was worth it.


    Ss'' mind went nk for a moment as he plucked out the Gene and pressed it into himself. The Runes of a Bronze Gene were far moreplete. Ss would have analyzed them, but even trying made his head hurt. It was clear that the gap between Runes of this caliber and ones that he had used in the past was far too vast. He would definitely need to upgrade Enchanted Schr if he wanted any chance at that.


    But that was a matter for another time.


    The moment the Gene burst apart, Ss began nipping at the edges. The insights flooded into his mind, and even though he had failed to take them in this time, he felt an overwhelming sense... as though his Wisdom was still too low to grasp it all.


    The gap between a Bronze Gene and a Common Gene was farrger than even he expected. But the good news was that he had six Bronze Strength Genes and more than a dozen Constitution Genes.


    Truthfully, he expected far more out of the Strength Genes. They didn''t just teach him how to increase his Strength, but more importantly, how to use it more efficiently. The more he caught these faint insights, the more he felt that there was so much more to learn about Strength control.


    By the time he had already "absorbed" all the Strength Genes he had, Ss thought through many of the bottlenecks that he had alreadye to reach.


    He punched out but shook his head a momentter.


    After adjusting himself, he tried again. This time, there was a strong force that came from his legs and one could almost see the power transferring from his lower body to his fist.


    The sound of whipping fabric echoed as his fist stopped in the air. Behind them, his eyes glowed as he seemed to have grasped something.


    ''I really want to see what the Speed and Dexterity Genes can bring me. They should be able to help greatly as well...''


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (FF+)]


    [>Taekwondo (FF)]


    [>Muay Thai (FF)]


    [>...]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (-)]


    [>...]


    [>zing Will (-)]


    After those six Strength Genes, he had improved again. He had noticed a noticeable decrease in improvement speed after he reached the double F Grades. But this blew right by that. Although he was a little less excited for what Constitution would bring him, Ss still felt that it was irresponsible to not at least try first.


    He had only been in this world for a short time, but he had already noticed that there were some great ovepping factors between different stats. It would be too stupid of him to not


    even try.


    The actual result, though... floored him.


    Ss pressed the Constitution Gene into his chest. It shattered apart in a rain of Runes and bronze lights.


    The insights came slowly before they started rumbling forward like an endless tide.


    Ss stood in a daze for a long while, a while thatsted even longer than it had for the Strength Genes. He felt like several things were consolidating and his thoughts were bing sharper and faster.


    When his eyes cleared up, an understanding dawned on him.


    Constitution wasn''t just rted to how hard a person''s skin and bone were, but it was an overall assessment of how well-oiled the body was.


    Flexibility actually fell mostly beneath the umbres of Constitution rather than Dexterity like one might think. If Strength decided how strong you were, Constitution decided how easily you could deploy that Strength, through what range of motions, and through what


    positions.


    The moment Ss absorbed a single one, everything copsed and his foundation was rebuilt, his insights being reshaped in real-time.

 Chapter 307: Surging Madness Control [Bonus]

    Chapter 307: Surging Madness Control [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss took a breath after seeing this. This wasn''t the first time that he had absorbed a Constitution Gene like this, but it was somehow like the others were child''s y in


    comparison, and the results were shocking, to say the least. He couldn''t help but wonder why


    there was such a big gap. It was like the Constitution Genes of the Common Grade were


    iplete, somehow.


    Boxing had reached FFF- already, and it had to be remembered that his own Madness Comprehension was only FFF. Though, this "only" was rtive.


    Ss ignored it for now, absorbing more Constitution.


    The impact wasn''t as great as the first time. If the first was like the first rush of water out of a broken dam, then the rest were just the drizzle that came afterward.


    Even so, it made the insight sharper in Ss'' mind.


    The range his shoulder was supposed to be able to rotate, whether he could press his hands to the ground while standing, the range of motion of his hips, the dexterity of his hamstrings... All of these insights flooded him. He realized now that his high Constitution didn''t just mean he was more impervious to damage, but it also meant that his muscles were more stic, his skin was more supple, and even his very eyesight was better because of it.


    He was still limiting his body by what he presumed its limits were, and that was doing him more harm than good. Maybe part of the reason


    hurt him so much was precisely because he had never truly trained his body to be powerful through all ranges of motion.


    Now that his Constitution had been recently upgraded, and his body had been practically reborn, there was no better time to do this. If he waited a few more days or weeks, his body would end up being just as rigid as it was in the past and he would fall back into the same cycles.


    Using his new insights, Ss began to move his body, rotating his shoulders, stretching out his back, and pushing his hips to the limit.


    He had also been a flexible person, mostly because he was diligent in his training. He had thought that that had been best reflected by his Dexterity, but it was only now that he understood that Dexterity yed maybe 20% of the role while Constitution took over the other 80%.


    Ss swung his arms, slowly bing more aggressive until he managed to p the back of his hands behind his back.


    He lifted up his leg, pulling a knee to his chest and then rotating it outward. This progressed until it hit a perfect 180 degrees in rtion to his other leg... and then he pushed it further.


    He could feel slight hints of pain, but he realized that his body adapted extraordinarily quickly.


    It should take years for anyone to gain this level of flexibility, but Ss felt that his body was adjusting in real time... because his stats already allowed him the capability!


    He rolled his neck, tested out the limits of his spin, and didn''t even let his wrists and ankles go.


    As he pushed his body to its flexibility limits, he felt that the insights from the Strength Genes wereing back as well. Things that he had neglected or not quite understood how they might apply became clear.


    Taking a breath, Ss took another step forward and swung out a fist.


    TA.


    The sound of his tendon echoed. It was a sound that only Ss could hear, and it was so soft that he almost missed it, but when he confirmed that that was truly what he had heard, he couldn''t help but feel a swell of something special in his heart.


    That was it.


    What he couldn''t quite grasp before, the first time he used the Strength Genes, was how to make the best use of his tendons.


    ''I see... I''ve always known this, but it''s basically impossible to really apply as a normal person...''


    The movement of the body was essentially just a series of pulls and levers. These levers were the tendons, and they were likely the most resilient part of the body.


    Controlling his muscles perfectly sounded great, but if he didn''t also have such strong control over his tendons themselves, he was missing out onrge parts of the puzzle.


    After forcing his body to adapt to its true range of motion, he had essentially unclogged and set free his tendons and ligaments to move as they were meant to. That was because they were no longer being restricted by the stiffness of his muscles.


    The snapping of his tendons was like the strings of a bow. Every TA sound was like a confirmation that he had done something correctly, and every time he did, he felt his tendons growing looser and more agile.


    At first, he needed to really focus to receive that perfect feedback. But by the dozenth exchange, it came as smooth as water and as casual as breathing.


    Suddenly, the sound of his tendons popping began to sound in a continuous rhythm. There was a sudden explosiveness to hisbat style that simply wasn''t there before.


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (FFF+)]


    [>Taekwondo (FFF+)]


    [>Muay Thai (FFF+)]


    [>...]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (F)]


    [>...]


    [>zing Will (-)]


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. The sudden change was entirely unexpected, but more than wee.


    He felt more control over himself now than he did even when he used Madness Control. No, that wasn''t quite urate. It was more so that he had unlocked more of himself to control, and now the impact of <Madness Control> would be even more potent.


    ''Hm?''


    [Quest Received]


    [Surging Madness Control (Common)]


    [Your Madness Control has reached the Legendary Mastery Realm all on its own, your Madness allowing you to peak toward an unprecedented Realm that exists beyond its normal Bounds. Grasp this chance to enhance yourself]


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF- <Madness Control> Skill]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF <Madness Control> Skill]

 Chapter 308: Pods

    Chapter 308: Pods


    ?


    [Quest Received]


    [Surging Madness Control (Common)]


    [Your Madness Control has reached the Legendary Mastery Realm all on its own, your


    Madness allowing you to peak toward an unprecedented Realm that exists beyond its normal Bounds. Grasp this chance to enhance yourself]


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF- <Madness Control> Skill]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF <Madness Control> Skill]


    Ss blinked. His first thought was... How was creating an FFF Skill supposed to be a Common Quest? He didn''t even have a single skill of that rank. That just felt like a ridiculous ask. His second thought was... How was he supposed to create a Skill?


    ''A Temte, maybe?''


    Ss'' mind drifted to a treasure-type that Alex had introduced him to. But he dismissed that. Unless there was a Profession known for creating skills, it was doubtful that a Temte would work.


    ''If I recall correctly, <Madness Control> was initially created through the fusion of several Skills. <Little Madness>, <Middle Madness>, and <Big Madness>... Do I need to fuse it again? How do I do that?''


    Ss stood lost in thought for a long while until he was struck with something else.


    ''The reason the Quest triggered should also be a clue...''


    This wasn''t just a matter of <Madness Control> reaching Legendary Mastery. It was also about why it had, and that was obviously rted to Ss controlling his body to a greater degree. Ss thought deeper and recalled several things.


    [Little Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone, however it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your power]


    [+200% Constitution]


    [+100% Strength]


    [Middle Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone, however it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your speed]


    [+200% Speed]


    [+100% Dexterity]


    [Big Madness (Skill)]


    [A little bit of Madness never hurt anyone, however it is nothing to you. Use the Madness to increase your strength]


    [+300% Strength]


    Now that he thought about it, the boosts he got from those three Madness Skills were absolutely insane. Comparatively speaking, <Madness Control> seemed to becking greatly. Unfortunately, he didn''t have <Basic Scouting> back then, so he had no idea what the Grades for these skills were supposed to be. But as far as he knew, even an FFF+ Skill should be hard- pressed to give a 100% to raw stats, let alone 300% like these skills did. Going back and recontextualizing everything, Ss couldn''t help but wonder...


    Had he gotten screwed over with the fusion? Or was this maybe the chance to remedy that?


    ''Still, these three should definitely be a clue...''


    Ss slotted this matter away. He would just have to take things one step at a time. However, he did already have an idea about how things would go.


    If the Arctic Emperor Cobra was any indication, then beyond FFF+, there should be Bronze. In that case, could it be that <Little Madness> and the other skills were actually above the FFF+ Grade?


    That was possible, and it made one wonder... just what kind of Dungeon was the Slithering Madness Dungeon to hand out such rewards, and how much potential did <Madness Control> have to need such powerful skills to fuse together to create it?


    ''Wait-.'' Ss'' eyes widened again. <Madness Control> wasn''t the only skill he got in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, he also got <Maddened Enlightenment>. In fact... hadn''t he "created" <Maddened Enlightenment> himself? He didn''t receive it from a reward, nor was it a fusion, he had...


    ''I grasped it from my Madness Comprehension...''


    That was when it all came together for Ss. The secret to all of this should be in elevating his Madness further. Clenching his fists, his gaze shed with understanding. Ss pulled out the Sperm Whale Den once again, locked onto his next target, and surged forward.


    ...


    Sspletely lost himself in battle. He didn''t seem to know fatigue at all. If he wasn''t fighting, then he was eating the pre-cooked meat he had made before setting out. His body, whether for food or battle, seemed to not know satiation.


    In truth, if he had to summarize the experience in just a word it would be...


    Fulfilling.


    He had never had so much fun before. At some unknown time, there was even a light smile that curled his lips. The more he enjoyed it, the faster his battles seemed to go. He should have been growing more tired, but instead, he became sharper, his body became more refined, and he could even feel himself growing in size.


    It had only been half a day by this point, but he seemed to have made the equivalent progress a dedicated newbie gym-goer could only make in three months. The power of his stats, the high-Level meat, and his deep understanding of his Physical stats all came to a head.


    Ss didn''t believe it would be an exaggeration to say that in this dedicated training period, hisbat effectiveness had grown by almost two times. By the time only half the day had passed, Ss had already defeated nine of his ten targets. He was currently locked inbat with the tenth and final one.


    This time, it wasn''t a Sperm Whale. But the Den said that the type and affinity was correct, so Ss jumped into battle without hesitation... But truthfully, most wouldn''t make such a


    decision.


    [Bottlenose Dolphin (FFF+)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Physical: 210]


    [Mental: 197]


    [Will: 131]


    The problem weren''t the stats, though, they were very powerful as well. The main issue was that Ss wasn''t a marine biologist, and he also wasn''t aware that dolphins were extremely social creatures that lived in pods of up to... 100.


    He hadn''t even been aware that dolphins could appear here. His target had been alone when


    the battle first began, but the moment it felt like things were going south, it let out a series of high-pitched clicking noises, and suddenly, Ss found himself drowned by water bullets


    from all directions.

 Chapter 309: Riding on a Wave

    Chapter 309: Riding on a Wave


    ?


    Ss didn''t panic. He realized immediately after a quick scan that the Level 6 FFF+ elite dolphin was an anomaly. The other dolphins were far weaker. Some had levels that were higher, but stats that were far inferior.


    This made sense. Even thergest bottlenose dolphins were only about 200 kilograms or so. If they werepared to the sperm whale that had weights that could only be counted in the thousands of kilograms, they would obviously fall short.


    The elite dolphin was clearly in a league of its own, being almost five meters long and easily weighing over a thousand pounds. But that was still not even a tenth the weight of a sperm whale.


    The true danger it posed was in its stats.


    Ss'' body moved as the rain of water bullets surged toward him. He dodged out of the way of many, mapping their trajectories in his visualization.


    With a sudden, forceful stop, the water beneath him churned as he sent out several punches. None of these used Basic Aetherflow, but he met the water bullets with his fists head-on.


    PA! PA! PA! PA! PA!


    He didn''t even feel the slightest stinging sensation. He ripped through them one after another, sending a rain of water into the distance that was swallowed up by the still ongoing


    storm.


    Suddenly, his Aether vanished from his feet and he slipped into the churning waters beneath him, just barely dodging the lunge of a dolphin.


    He was instantly attacked from down below, but his eyes shed with a dense, green light. He struck out with a vicious kick that cut through the water. His Aether skin formed a point that reduced the drag, his hips trembled with a built-up torque, and he unleashed all his strength on a single point.


    BANG!


    The head of the Level 3 dolphin exploded beneath the Strength.


    Ss stomped once and soared above water level once again only to find a long trench of water rushing right at him.


    He knew that this was a skill of the elite dolphin. It was a charge Skill that also allowed it to use the disced water in a frontal attack when it collided. It was definitely one of its most dangerous attacks.


    Clearly, it had anticipated Ss'' appearance and acted ordingly. They said that dolphins were among the most intelligent creatures in the animal kingdom, and now that they were steadily evolving, this was only bing more true.


    However, by this point in the battle, Ss had long be used to its intelligence, and that much allowed him toprehend one thing...


    It wasn''t nearly as intelligent as he was.


    Ss rushed at it. At the perfect moment, his mouth opened and he unleashed a roar.


    <Arctic Howl>.


    The dolphin''s charge Skill was a lot like his <Arctic Howl>. It required perfect timing and control to release everything in a single point of impact.


    Ss disrupted it not only by rushing ahead but also by deploying this expanding defensive skill.


    The trench of water copsed and the Level 6 was disoriented for a moment.


    Ss'' fist descended from above and he activated Basic Aetherflow for the first time in this battle. His Strength explosively increased by 60%, rising above 220 stat points in an instant. BANG!


    The Level 6 was driven into the water.


    ''Not good enough.''


    Ss realized it immediately. His Strength didn''t overwhelm the dolphin''s Constitution by enough points to kill it instantly, and because there was water all around, it cushioned the blow further.


    His control still wasn''t enough.


    The surrounding dolphins pounced at the same time. They had only dispersed to allow the Level 6 to cast its charge Skill, so the moment they saw their leader take such a hit, they were immediately enraged.


    Dozens caused the waters to be even more violent than what the storm above made possible. Waves rose and dark waters blocked his vision.


    Ss only took a calm breath, his torso flexing and his hips turning. His tendons popped and crackled as he unleashed a rain of fists. Like a torrential, pelting rain, the shadows exploded in the air as Ss sent out a half dozen in a breath.


    Six dolphins died on the spot, but a seventh managed to make it through.


    Ss didn''t panic, tilting his body to the side and grabbing out at its tail.


    The dolphin must have weighed over 300 pounds, but that didn''t stop Ss'' fingers from digging into its flesh and piercing right through. He grunted once and his body exploded with


    power.


    Right at that moment, the elite dolphin came back in a furious rage, a clear dent on its head. However, it was only in time to find itsrade being swung down right upon it.


    That was when something that struck even Ss with horror happened.


    He hit the dolphin with a savage boom, but right after, the dolphin he had used as a weapon let out a blood-curdling screech. Not once during this entire battle, no matter what carnage Ss had wrought, did a dolphin make such a sound. And soon... it became clear why.


    The dolphin exploded into a rain of ash.


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat.


    The Scorned Wraps were truly ruthless. They didn''t even allow such a loophole to exist. If he used a person as a weapon, this would be their fate.


    At the same time this happened, the head of the elite dolphin also exploded.


    Ss'' Strength was already exaggerated. Swinging a 150-kilogram weapon was like giving


    wings to a tiger. The moment it collided, the Effectiveness of his power was on another level


    entirely.


    The elite dolphin didn''t stand a single chance.


    The dolphins in the surroundings went into a wild frenzy, but there was clear fear in their eyes. With the improvement to their intelligence, they also valued their lives much more.


    Ss ignored them, bringing out the Den once more and diving into the water to bring up the


    mutted corpse of the Level 6.


    ''This should be thest...''


    Ss took a breath and exhaled.


    The Den thrummed and exuded a blue light that enveloped the dolphins, slowly absorbing it.


    [Den Establishment Challenge Complete]


    Just as Ss was about to read the rest of the notification, his gaze sharpened and he looked up. In the far-off distance, several kilometers away, there was a man riding on a tall wave.


    The feeling he gave off was far too familiar to Ss.


    ''Azrael?''

 Chapter 310: Licirius

    Chapter 310: Licirius


    ?


    Ss didn''t mean that it was literally Azrael, though he wouldn''t be surprised if it was. Considering Alex had e back from the dead," it would be hard to surprise Ss with such a thing anymore, especially considering Azrael, if Ss was correct, was a member of an alien


    race.


    ''Another one, huh?''


    Ss couldn''t see this person''s stats, but he wasn''t nearly as shaken as he had been in the past. He had an odd confidence about himself right now that was born through the battles that he had been through. Before, it had only been a small ember, but the more he fought, the fiercer it burned.


    Running in this environment was almost impossible, so why not take advantage of the distance to recover?


    <Maddened Enlightenment> activated and Aether rushed toward him. He then calmly took out several pieces of meat, eating them as though an enemy wasn''t on the way. The power of his Constitution shone through and fatigue fell off of him in waves.


    The dolphins realized that there was something wrong and immediately chose to escape, turning tail without looking back.


    At that moment, the Den finally finished absorbing the final dolphin and Ss calmly put it away without checking the rest of the notifications.


    By this point, he could finally see the man clearly.


    [Licirius Guiz (???)]


    [Level: 15]


    [Physical: 321]


    [Mental: 391]


    [Will: 387]


    ...


    Licirius had been trying to find the Den for hours already. For some reason, its aura would leak out for a short time before it blinked out. He hadn''t been able to lock onto it for long enough to find it, so he had had no choice but to try to triangte it, moving in the general direction of the aura and hoping that he''d eventually run into it.


    It was only when he saw Ss in the distance that he understood why this was. But once again, he was shocked.


    What Ss didn''t know was that no normal storage device would be capable of storing a Den. There were many powerful, high-grade items that would destroy a spatial device with even an attempt, and a Den, especially one of this caliber, certainly would.


    Of course, Licirius was making this deduction based on the treasures the humans at this point in the Summoning should have ess to. This was why he hadn''t even considered the fact that the reason the aura kept disappearing was a spatial device.


    When he saw that this human was also looking at him with a calm expression, his apprehension increased.


    To not only have such a powerful storage device but to not run upon seeing his stats... it seemed that he had run into a tough opponent.


    Licirius hesitated. Should he run?


    His pride didn''t want to allow him to, but he was much too suppressed in this world. Although much of his battle instincts remained, he had yet to even find any skills to use. His cousin had admonished him several times, reminding him that he should. But in the end, he felt that it would be too boring. If he had Skills, who would even be able to threaten him?


    The wave he rode reached its end and copsed, but he onlynded lightly on the ocean''s surface, the rush of water around him not bothering him in the slightest.


    "Level o?" Licirius finally decided to check Ss'' stats and instantly made a decision. Uneptable.


    ...


    Ss watched as the expression on Licirius'' face changed until he suddenly became resolute. There was a sh of light and then thetter took out a silver spear. He had yet to attack with it, but the rolling of the waves shifted.


    The next change was sudden.


    In one moment, they were standing as though just observing one another, and in the next, Licirius'' spear had already appeared before Ss'' throat.


    Ss was taken aback. The explosiveness was too fast. It made his own body control look like nothing more than a joke. He exploded to his optimal state in an instant, and didn''t even seem to have relied on a Gene Talent like Sudden Burst.


    There was no time to cast a skill. Ss could only lean back, tightening his core and curling away from the de.


    Licirius'' eyes narrowed. He had been over 80% certain that this strike would kill Ss, but he had actually managed to react.


    What he didn''t know was that just a day ago, that was truly what would have happened. But the Ss of now was no longer the same.


    Ss hit the water and dispersed his Aether. With a push of his telekinesis, he descended quickly, opening up a distance between the two. When he resurfaced, the two were already over five meters apart.


    There was a deep furrow between Ss'' brow and he realized that there was a big difference between Azrael and this Licirius.


    Licirius seemed more frivolous and careless than Azrael, but in action, it was the opposite. Azrael hadn''t taken him seriously until it was toote, but Licirius seemed to have the determination to use every ounce of his strength to kill him.


    Why was that? Was it because of the Den? It didn''t seem to be so...


    A re of Will sparked in Ss'' eyes. His fists clenched and unclenched, and then he suddenly


    elerated.


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist exploded through the air and the crackle of his tendons caused Licirius'' ears to twitch. Thetter couldn''t help but be surprised again, but this time, his spear was even more vicious. Before, he had sacrificed Strength for Speed, but now he disyed his real skill.


    It seemed like the same thrust, but Ss felt as though a mountain had appeared before him. For a moment, he thought that it was a Visualization Skill like


    .


    However, it was entirely unable to impact Ss'' mind, shocking Licirius again.


    Fist and de collided. The water beneath their feet shook and a reverberating Aether spread in all directions.

 Chapter 311: Warp

    Chapter 311: Warp


    ?


    A battle erupted between the two, and with every exchange, Licirius was shocked again and again.


    Ss seemed to have no care for the fact he was facing off against hard steel with his flesh and blood. He had noticed before that the Scorned Wraps might have a minor boost to his Constitution-just 10%-but it had two oddities.


    One, it seemed to be able to uphold its rules no matter the target. Even treasures that should be far beyond it in Grade were burnt to ash the moment Ss touched them.


    And two...


    They seemed to be indestructible. No matter how hard Ss punched, no matter how sharp the target, there wasn''t even the slightest nick on them.


    So long as Ss could withstand the pain, and his bones could withstand the impact...


    These Scorned Wraps might very well be the only armor he needed.


    Of course, the gap between his Constitution and Licirius'' Strength was too wide to be so boldly meeting it like this. However, not only did Ss have the support of his Aether skin, but he was also using Basic Aetherflow.


    His Aether skin could withstand 200 Damage on its own, weakening Licirius'' potent strikes by up to half before they even touched his fists. Then, his 170 Constitution was boosted to almost 190 by his Scorned Wraps before Basic Aetherflow boosted it by yet another 60%.


    His Aether flowed smoothly, recing the broken Aether skin with every strike, and every reverberating impact made Licirius'' wrists quake. It wasn''t yet to the point of pain, but Licirius could feel that, somehow, every strike was growing in power.


    To him, Ss was a decent fighter, but he was stillcking in several aspects. However, by the time they had exchanged dozens of moves, Ss had already begun to incorporate some of Licirius'' battle sense into his own movement.


    Licirius'' heart couldn''t help but shake. When did the humans gain such a person?


    ''Ss Grimde, that...''


    PA! PA! PA!


    Ss'' tendons exploded like a rain of firecrackers. He suddenly sidestepped Licirius'' spear, feinting a punch that Licirius overreacted to. Then, he ducked beneath Licirius'' spear and rolled to the other side, his steps moving with a deathly fluidity. He looked more like a boxer doing rope work than he did someone fighting out a battle of life and death.


    He vanished into Licirius'' blind spot, causing thetter to panic and swipe out wildly, but that only opened up his torso to Ss.


    Ss uncorked a violent uppercut right into Licirius'' liver. The spearman found all the air being forcefully ejected from his body as his ribs cracked and fractured.


    It was just a singlepse in judgment, yet Ss capitalized on it with the speed of a veteran in battle.


    Ss had been internalizing Licirius'' battle style from the very start, taking and learning from him what he could. What he hadn''t expected was that that process also allowed him to ease himself into an understanding of Licirius'' style. Before he knew it, he even felt like he knew what would happen before it did.


    Licirius coughed up a mouthful of blood, hurriedly using the momentum of Ss'' punch to retreat further.


    Ss didn''t seem to notice, punching out as though Licirius was still right before him.


    Unlike ignorant opponents, Licirius didn''t assume that Ss would miss. Instead, his hair stood on end.


    PENG!


    A fiery green fist suddenly appeared before Licirius'' face. Even though he had been ready, it still wasn''t enough.


    Licirius felt his nose crack and his face almost fracture. Any stronger and even his skull would have copsed beneath the strength.


    With a sudden roar, Licirius sent out a pulse of Aether in all directions.


    Ss punched out again, but to his shock, his telekinesis wasn''t working as well anymore. He had been able to allow the previous fist to appear right in front of Licirius, but this one only appeared a single foot from his real fist before shuttling forward like a ranged attack.


    Obviously, this time, Licirius was more than ready. He swung out his spear and shattered the fist, looking toward Ss with a malevolent look in his eyes. Blood flowed down his nose and down his chin, dripping into the water below.


    Then, taking Ss off guard, he actually turned and ran.


    Though Ss was surprised for a moment, he wasn''t slow to react. He rushed after Licirius, but found that thetter was too much faster than him.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed and hemunicated with the Basilisk King. He couldn''t possibly allow this man to run.


    Before, he could only settle for killing Azrael with a trick. But this time, since he had the strength to fight Licirius, how could he not capture him and question him?


    Of course, he knew that he had only managed to capitalize on a smallpse. Licirius certainly wouldn''t make such a mistake so easily again. And now, he was also prepared for his telekic Basic Aetherflow.


    However...


    What did that matter when Ss still had such a trump card he had yet to use? Scales suddenly erupted across Ss'' body and a tail formed from the small of his back.


    His Speed suddenly exploded.


    When Licirius looked back, his eyes couldn''t help but widen.


    There were many rules restricting those in System Cities, and for the most part, they were in the dark about the happenings in the outside world. At least outside of their own immediate territories, they weren''t able to y a game on asrge a scale as the human powers could. Before, Licirius didn''t think that this would matter much, and he was arrogant beyond belief before heid eyes on Ss. But now, he definitely wished that he would have had such an ability. If he had, he would have recognized the name Ss Grimde immediately.


    Licirius found their separation being cut in half in an instant of time, and in another blink, Ss would really catch him.


    Gritting his teeth, he realized that he had no choice.


    He put his spear away and brought out a badge of sorts. He crushed it and in the next instant,


    there was a wild fluctuation of space before he vanished.


    Ss came to a hurried stop, his brows furrowing.


    He had actually managed to escape.


    Just as Ss was about to see if there was anything he could do to remedy the situation, the region changed again. The fluctuations of space warped and Ss'' heart skipped a beat.

 Chapter 312: Spatial Storm [Bonus]

    Chapter 312: Spatial Storm [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss felt as though the spatial storm was trying to suck him in. He could sense a great amount of his Ice-Poison Aether being pulled into it as well, and though he knew that Licirius was likely on the other side, he had no intention of trying to cross over.


    He had no idea where Licirius had escaped to. It would be fine if it was just another location in the ocean, but what if it was to a city? Or even worse, a System City?


    If he was pulled in, he might die before he even understood the situation around him.


    The suction was strong, so much so that Ss even wondered if Licirius had nned this all along. Even with his current Physical, having fused with the Basilisk King, he could feel himself slipping.


    Just when he was about to lose his footing entirely, his thoughts shed and he recalled that pulse of Aether Licirius had sent out before, the very same one that had managed to stifle his telekinesis.


    Then, he recalled how he learned to use his telekinesis to interrupt and stop skills from being activated.


    Those two experiences linked onto one another and Ss dug deep, activating his Gluttony Seed and Basic Aetherflow. He thought of controlling his Aether skin, but there was no time to get it right. He had to change tactics.


    His mouth opened and he unleashed a roar.


    <Arctic Howl>.


    BOOM!


    His telekinesis and <Arctic Howl>yered on top of each other, forming a dispersing barrier of greenish blue that rippled out in all directions.


    The suction force of the spatial storm was forcefully dispersed and Ss faintly heard a grunt that sounded somewhat like Licirius on the other side.


    The spatial storm copsed and Ss stumbled backward, gasping for breath.


    He took two heaving breaths, feeling as though he had just survived another life and death moment. His intuition, or more urately, his Luck was telling him that he definitely didn''t want to be dragged into the other side. Luckily, he had managed in the end and seemed to have dealt Licirius a blow as well.


    The beating of Ss'' heart calmed and his body began to regte itself.


    ''That Skill...''


    Ss had used his Basic Aetherflow on Skills before, like when he used <Momentum Shift> on his kunai. But this was the first time he had just used it to boost a skill in general.


    It was unlikely that it would work on every Skill the same way, but <Arctic Howl> seemed perfect for it. When Basic Aetherflow was added, not only did it retain its defensive quality, but it also gained an Aether and Skill dispersing character. If it had 600 Defense at first, its Effective Defense was much higher now.


    This was to say that although its Defense remained the same, because Ss'' telekinesis could disperse skills it came into contact with, it would have to defend against a weaker attack overall.


    This was very useful if it was meeting a skill head-on, but if it was defending against a bite like against the first sperm whale he fought, it was far less useful.


    ''This is interesting... Why is it that fusing Basic Aetherflow doesn''t give it a direct boost in Strength like it does with my fists...''


    Ss regained his bearingspletely and stood firmly on the rolling waters.


    ''I have more experimenting to do. But now, I''ve wasted enough time on these waters. It''s time to go.''


    Ss had been getting closer to the ind all this time. At this point, he was no more than half an hour away. It was about time to see if this mysterious City Lord was truly Cassarae.


    **


    Licirius stumbled out of the spatial storm. Rather than appearing at the core of the System City like he had expected, Ss'' actions had disrupted the teleportation, sending him spiraling a distance away instead.


    He fell from almost 50 meters in the sky, crashing into the trees down below.


    He had already been injured by Ss'' strike to his liver. If not for his Constitution, that attack alone would have shut his entire body down. But now, his situation was even worse.


    Hitting the ground with a dull thud, he groaned, his body shaking as he tried to push himself up.


    His ribs were a shattered mess, and now he had even broken an arm. He couldn''t even properly wield his spear like this. A little human had actually forced him into this situation.


    Several secondster, he managed to pull himself up, gasping for breath. Then, with a slow trudge, he made it back to the city.


    ...


    "What the hell happened to you?" Plinli looked at Licirius with a deep frown. His cousin had only been gone for less than a day, how had he ended up like this?


    Licirius copsed onto a soft couch, dyeing the white fibers in red. But he didn''t seem to care and he spoke about everything.


    Plinli''s frown deepened when he realized that the Den was lost to a human, only to rx somewhat afterward. The likelihood that such a powerhouse was linked to Cassarae was next


    to zero.


    However, when Licirius mentioned that Ss was only Level o, his expression changedpletely.


    "That''s impossible. Earth doesn''t have any bloodlines that are so powerful."


    Licirius looked at Plinli with a mocking sort of anger. He was already in this state, and they were so close, was there a need to lie?


    "You idiot." Plinli spoke bluntly. "There are a million different ways that you could see Level o when it''s actually much higher. The Earthlings already have several Level 15''s and above. If there''s a slightly more talented one, you could end up being dealt with if you''re careless.


    "You went out without loading any skills and thought you were invincible even though I warned you. You deserve what happened."


    Licirius'' gaze flickered. Indeed... there were plenty of ways to fake Levels. Could he have been overthinking it?

 Chapter 313: Machinations in the Dark [Bonus]

    Chapter 313: Machinations in the Dark [Bonus]


    ?


    Licirius frowned, but in the end, he felt that the odds his cousin was correct were high. Still, he felt that there was something wrong.


    Sure, there were plenty of ways to hide one''s true Level. Ss himself had experienced such a thing due to Lauren and Alex. But, usually, such methods would pick something that made sense. Both Lauren and Alex had picked Levels that matched the situation, but picking Level o just seemed foolish. It wouldn''t fool anyone.


    There seemed to only be two exnations.


    Either Ss was truly Level o, or...


    He was just fond of snubbing his nose at other people.


    Licirius could easily imagine a world where a lone warrior like Ss wanted to go around with Level o hanging above his head just to show off.


    If it really was thetter case... Licirius couldn''t help but grit his teeth.


    Plinli let out augh. Heughed so hard that he grabbed his stomach.


    "I see. You probably thought of running, but didn''t because you thought he was a real Level o. What a saint."


    "Fuck you."


    Hearing this, Plinli onlyughed harder.


    Indeed, Licirius only fought after noticing Ss'' Level. That was because if Ss was truly a Level O... he was a top priority target to be killed.


    Having such strength at Level o was not normal. It demarcated an individual who was trying to excavate all of his potential before epting the baptism of the system.


    If this was a Summoned World, it would only be natural. Children all did this, only continuing on to Level 1 when they had unearthed the best foundation they could.


    However, in a world in the middle of its Summoning, this was several times scarier.


    Summoned Worlds had a set number of resources that were already mostly divided between various factions, and often those resources had to be used as tributes and taxes to evenrger overlords. Even if you had more potential to be excavated, such a thing would, in all likelihood, be wasted.


    In a world in the process of being Summoned, even though there was technically a potential cap as well, it was flexible depending on the situation.


    Earth was a decent world. It was capped at Bronze potential and could likely bloom a few Silver experts at best. This already put it slightly above average and that was why so many wanted a piece of it.


    However, if the system found something or someone that it was interested in, it might be willing to invest more. That was an uneptable oue.


    That was because if certain powers of Earth gained enough favor, and they seeded inpleting their Summoning, it might even be possible for them to qualify for an Ascension.


    If that happened, the powers that had invested so much into taking down Earth before it could bloom would be left with nothing at all.


    "Ss Grimde, you said his name was? We can try to monitor information about this, though it will be difficult with the restrictions-."


    "That''s easy enough," Licirius sneered. "They''re all nothing but fools. Just bring one in from the streets, offer them a few F coins and they''ll tell you everything you need to know."


    They weren''t allowed to ess Earth''s Nexus, so they didn''t know what the leaderboard situation was like. And they also couldn''t interact with Earthlings directly without the use of special methods. But that didn''t mean that they didn''t have their ways.


    "That''s tricky. I''m not ready to face a Taboo bacsh right now. This is a sensitive time. Plus, it''s something we have to save for if Casstle Main shows any signs of fighting back."


    "I still don''t know why you''re so obsessed with Casstle Main. If we pay a little, I could just go wipe it out myself."


    Plinli shook his head. "Stop taking the system so lightly."


    "I''m not taking it lightly. I know there''ll be a price to pay. But if you hold all your cards to your chest, you might miss the time to actually use them. I heard that Azrael is dead."


    Plinli''s gaze shed, but he didn''t reply. After a long while, he still shook his head.


    "There''s something fishy about Earth this time. We''ve nned meticulously, but things that are out of our control keep happening. This is a world with only Bronze potential, but they show far more tenacity than normal.


    "Every time we ruin theirws and shackle their Runes, they still somehow manage to return to technological dominance. Although that technology is still weaker than what they once had in the past, it shows that we cannot underestimate them in thisst leg.


    "If you can confirm for me that this Ss is truly a Level o, I would be willing to do what it takes. But as for now, focus on Casstle Main, they have to be dealt with.


    "Their City Lord was given a Destiny Quest, and though she''s only managed toplete the Fragmented level of it, the rewards were ample from our calctions. If we want to control this region, she''s a variable we can''t allow."


    Licirius grunted and pushed himself up. He shook his head and sneered.


    "Didn''t she already lose the Fragmented Reward of her Destiny Quest? She hasn''t even had the time to make headway into the Common leg. Still feels like you''re making a mountain out of a molehill."


    This time, Plinli didn''t respond. He knew his cousin well. He was the type to sneer andin, but then he would do something like he had today if he thought it was for the betterment of their goals. He wasn''t someone he had to worry about.


    "Go heal yourself."


    "When''s the Level cap going to increase beyond 15? I''m itching over here." Licirius grumbled.


    Plinli chuckled. "When that timees, maybe we''ll really be able to let loose. It''s a good


    thing that this happened to you this time. Maybe you''ll learn to stop underestimating people. Don''t forget to actually load in your skills this time."


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

 Chapter 314: Den Constitution

    Chapter 314: Den Constitution


    ?


    As Ss moved closer to the pair of portals in the distance, he pulled up the notifications that he had ignored previously.


    [Den Establishment Challenge Complete]


    [Den Constitution]


    >[7 Sperm Whales]


    >[1 Dusky Shark]


    >[2 Bottlenose Dolphins]


    [Genes Incorporated. Mutation Lottery Solidified]


    ''Interesting...'' Ss hadn''t expected that the animals he sacrificed to the Den would be used to decide what potential mutations might appear in the future. If he had known, he might have put more thought into which ones he targeted.


    After some thought, though, Ss shook his head. There really wasn''t enough time for him to do that. He was already quite fast, only picking the nearest target and focusing on them. And yet, it had still taken him more than half a day.


    If he wanted to take such an approach, he would either have to have a far smaller area to scout, or he would have to be far more powerful than the target creatures. Unfortunately, in this case, he had neither benefit.


    By the sixth target onward, the battles had be far easier, but there had still been too many variables to deal with. The dolphin pods were just one example. It was far from the only group battle that Ss had fought.


    Ss could only hope that the mutations didn''t weaken the overall product. All in all, he didn''t believe that it would be too bad. After all, they were all FFF + creatures. Regardless, the product would at least be at that level. The Den was sure to be invaluable.


    ''I should slow down a bit...'' Ss took a breath. He shouldn''t be far from being able to see the ind on the horizon, and that would also mean that he wasn''t far from more danger.


    The good news was that the government was unlikely to have patrols here. The bad news was that this was almost certainly because it was far too dangerous.


    With the existence of not just one, but two portals, there was definitely arge poption of beasts in the region. There was also the question of the underwater portal to consider as well.


    If there was a portal that had opened up at the bottom of the ocean, it would almost certainly lead to some violent current nearer the surface.


    Even if the portal wasrge, that ocean was so vast that it was impossible for it to be drained in a short time. The main issue, then, was what changes that might cause to the surface of the water.


    If the other side of the underwater portal was more water, then maybe an equilibrium could be reached depending on the size of the body of water on the other side. But...


    Just standing here, Ss could already feel the strong churning of the water. The storm above was already bad enough, but the waves definitely felt far worse here.


    Ss had spent all of thest day using up and replenishing his Aether. He wasn''t just physically fatigued, but mentally fatigued as well. He knew that he wasn''t in the best state to tackle this challenge, but there also wasn''t exactly somewhere he could go to rx in a situation like this one.


    With a breath, he stepped forward and then shot ahead. He was shrouded in scales by his third step and his Speed elerated.


    Since there was no easy way forward, he might as well take the blitz method.


    What Ss didn''t expect was that he wouldn''t run into any obstruction at all. Maybe he was too fast, maybe the beasts were scared off by his appearance or strength, but whatever the reason, he quickly found himself closing in on the shore.


    He didn''t allow his surprise to slow his steps. In fact, he became more alert just in case.


    But once again, nothing happened even as his feet finally touched down on the ground once again. Ss let out a light sigh. He hadn''t realized just how much he missed solid ground until this moment. Well... it was a mushy sort of grainy, rock-infested beach. But, it was far better than being rocked from side to side on the ocean all day.


    In a few moments, Ss also realized that his strength on realnd should be even greater than it had been on the ocean. If he made two points of improvement in the water, then it was


    three here.


    Ss exhaled.


    Though this was technically an "ind," in reality, it was an entire borough of York City. York City was sorge that even one of its five boroughs was enough topete with a medium- sized city.


    There was still a distance to go from this location to the portal, but the rest of the journey was exceptionally easy.


    Ss'' thoughts were proved correct. The city was basically empty.


    It should be the case that all the people had either been evacuated or incorporated into the


    City Lord''s city.


    As for theck of beasts, there should be two exnations.


    The first was that the city was dealing with the beast waves on their side. The second was that this borough was a metal forest. There might be a zoo or two, but other than that, there wouldn''t be many beasts here that could evolve under the influence of the Aether.


    Thanks to this, the rest of Ss'' journey was even easier. He could feel that the portal was getting closer, so he chose to have a rest.


    He had no way to confirm if it was really Cassarae, so going in while not being 100% was foolish.


    He randomly chose a skyscraper and broke in. Since there was no one to stop him, he chose a penthouse he certainly wouldn''t have been able to afford in the past and rxed.


    After filling his belly, showering in some contradictorily scalding cold water, he went to bed. The next morning, he was refreshed and ready. That was the best sleep he had had in a long while.


    He closed the distance on the portal, but before he could near it, a growl made his eyes


    narrow.

 Chapter 315: Frostiness

    Chapter 315: Frostiness


    ?


    ''Rotten Wolf.''


    When Ss saw the creature, hisst bits of apprehension vanished. There were only so many coincidences that could pile up.


    Not only was this City Lord from York City, they were rted to a marine biologist, and now they were using creatures from the Den that he had gotten for Casstle Main.


    There was no doubt about it.


    [Rotten Wolf (F-)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Physical: 59]


    [Mental: 0]


    [Will: 0]


    -


    Still, they were far too weak to do much of anything and far too unintelligent to tell friend from foe. This was likely why they were doing such a perfunctory job like guarding this side of the portal. In all likelihood, they were only here to let Cassarae know of an attack ahead of time.


    The Rotten Wolf lunged at Ss, but it was much too far away. It didn''t have the ability to close in on him before he could notice its existence. His visualization had long since pointed it out.


    With a casual sidestep, Ss dodged out of the way. He didn''t want to harm Cassarae''s assets.


    From what he remembered, the Den could only produce three Rotten Wolves a day. By now, the foul-mouthed City Lord should have quite a decent little army. But they were just too weak. The loss of even one would be a problem.


    Of course... only Ss would think like this.


    The Rotten Wolves could be considered a huge reason why Casstle Main was still standing despite the situation. Most people weren''t even Level 5 yet, let alone Level 6. And most people weren''t anywhere near the double F Grades.


    Ss could be considered unlucky. The opponents he faced, one after another, were all monsters. But the vast majority of the world was far more down to earth.


    ''This is odd though. The Rotten Wolves are difficult to control without the matching ss. The ss Stele that I gave to Cassarae should only have room for nine more; they wouldn''t be able to control so many Rotten Wolves.


    ''Having these zombie-like creatures walking around everywhere would also affect the morale of Cassarae''s city. She wouldn''t release them like this unless she had no choice...''


    Ss frowned. His thoughts ran as he dodged through an increasing number of Rotten Wolves. Soon, there were at least half a dozen on his tail, but he suddenly vanished into a building.


    They lost him through the stairs and he leapt out of a fifth-floor window.


    With a bend of his knees, hended near the portal, but just as he was about to enter, he heard the sound of rattling armor and a squadron suddenly appeared, weapons at the ready.


    Ss came to a stop.


    He didn''t recognize most of these people. He wasn''t sure at a nce if they were militiamen or not, but luckily, he spotted one that he did recognize.


    [Marcus Tanner (FF-)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Physical: 162]


    [Mental: 122]


    [Will: 91]


    Ss recognized this militiaman. Last time he saw him, he was just Level 2, but it seemed that Cassarae had noticed the weakness of her city was itsck ofbat power and she had begun investing far more in that.


    Plus, since she had the ss Stele, getting some of her trusted subordinates to Level 10 wasn''t an issue.


    Marcus seemed to recognize Ss as well, and held up a hand to stop everyone from attacking.


    "The City Lady has told us to watch out for citizens, and Sir Ss is one of us. Stand down." Ss watched this silently.


    "You cane with us, sir. We''ll take you to the City Lady right away," Marcus said politely. Ss nodded and followed along. But after stepping across the portal, he realized that things weren''t so simple at all.


    The first thing he noticed was that the portal hadn''t overwhelmed the city like it would be in most cases. Instead, it seemed to be extremely controlled much like it had been under the influence of the disk beneath the volcano portal before.


    After stepping across the portal, a basement floor appeared in Ss'' vision. There were guards all around, and the portal that should have beenrge and imposing was as minimalistic as a simple doorway.


    "Please wait a moment, I will call an escort."


    Ss only nodded again and silently observed everything. Minutester, it was Gregory that came down with Marcus and what Ss assumed were two other militiamen. There was a


    bright smile on his face as he gave Ss a polite bow.


    "Ah, it''s the hero of our little vige. Come,e. I hope you don''t mind a few formalities, Ss. There are a lot of bad characters targeting our vige from the outside and inside these days. There''s just some procedural stuff we have to aplish and then we''ll send you on your way."


    Ss looked him in the eye and nodded.


    Gregory proceeded to ask Ss a series of questions. They were all standard and felt no different from an airport interview.


    Ss gave him the casual answers he wanted, following the protocol. There wasn''t anything to nitpick about his attitude.


    "Great. Thest thing we have to do is a search. Do you have any spatial devices?" Gregory


    asked.


    "I do not." Ss replied.


    Gregory checked Ss'' hand and wrists with a nce. But there truly didn''t seem to be


    anything on him.


    "I see. No issues, then."


    Gregory was only spawned after the Rotten Wolf attack and the Madness Key didn''t look anything like the usual spatial devices.


    Just as Gregory was about to let Ss go, there was a slightmotion and another group came down to the basement. This time, it was led by a familiar valiant woman. Cassarae was still wearing a set of leather armor that clung tightly to her chest torso and waist. Her legs were long and every stride seemed to take two or more for others to keep up


    with.


    There was a frostiness about her that Ss quite recognized. It was the kind of expression she would have when she was pissed but was forcing herself to remain calm.

 Chapter 316: City Lady

    Chapter 316: City Lady


    ?


    There was an odd tension in the air. It would have likely made anyone else ufortable, but Ss stood in silence as though he hadn''t noticed anything at all.


    He had already felt that something was wrong long ago, he was incredibly sensitive to such things. Honestly, he didn''t need such confirmation.


    From the moment Gregory appeared, he had already warned Cassarae about him. But there were some things that couldn''t be avoided even if you were prepared.


    Plus, Ss still didn''t have a full understanding of the situation just yet. Maybe he was still overthinking things. After all, Cassarae wasn''t exactly a woman who would be overly cheery all the time.


    "Thank you for your hard work, everyone." Cassarae gave them all a curt nod. "Ss,e with me."


    She turned away and left after a swift inspection of things.


    ...


    Ss took a sit on Cassarae''s couch. Looking at the gloominess on her face, he found himself bing more amused. A small smirk quirked on the corner of his lips, so subtle that most wouldn''t notice it at all. But that seemed to be the greatest provocation to this lioness.


    "What the hell are youughing about?!"


    Ss rubbed his nose. It was really only Cassarae and his mother that would pick up on that. "Go ahead,ugh it up. Giggle until glitteres out your ass,e on!"


    "I warned you."


    "Thanks, Sherlock," she spoke with a huff, spinning around in her chair so that she wouldn''t have to look at Ss'' annoying face. "He was too useful. By the time I felt that something was wrong, it was already toote. Without him, the vige would have already copsed."


    "What happened?" Ss asked.


    After an annoyed huff, Cassarae exined the situation.


    It seemed that the salt water wasn''t the only problem, neither were the portals. It all boiled down to an honest mistake on her part, and something that Ss had seening before she spoke it.


    Spawns.


    The issue wasn''t actually Gregory and Gregory alone, but rather how Cassarae and Olivia had interacted with the spawns.


    It was a matter of philosophy and a contradiction of the mind. It was too difficult for them to take the spawns as the living beings that they should.


    Cassarae didn''t mention any of this in her exnation. She was able to pick up on a lot of the little details, like how no one approached her for a bonfire dance they held two weeks ago, or how most felt morefortable reporting things to Gregory instead of her... but she hadn''t been able to see the big picture.


    That was just how things were with Cassarae. She was more of a live-in-the-moment person than Ss was. As for Ss, it was difficult for him to not step out of the frame if he didn''t have to.


    "You know what the problem is?" Ss said after a long while.


    "It''s that damn annoying bastard." Cassarae said through gritted teeth.


    "Maybe, but that''s still too surface level."


    "Don''t patronize me, Ss, or else I''ll sic my dad on you."


    Ss suddenly coughed, sitting up as though he was afraid that he would choke. Seeing this, Cassarae couldn''t help but sputter withughter. Sheughed so hard she fell out of her chair.


    The problem wasn''t that Ss felt fear. Fear wasn''t something he experienced, father of an ex of his or not.


    The problem was something else entirely.


    Ss cleared his throat. He couldn''t remember thest time he had ended up in such a state, it was best he ignored it and moved on.


    "The problem is that you''re not treating them like they''re human."


    Cassarae slowly pulled herself up off the floor. cing her hands on the desk, she stared at Ss intently as though she was trying to see something. But after a while, she nodded.


    It really was too hard to treat these vigers like they were human when you literally watched them spawn from thin air. However, she had to admit that no matter how hard she had tried before, she wasn''t able to find any ws.


    They all had perfect back stories, each one had a distinct personality, there was no copying and pasting, nor were there any slip-ups in their "software". If there were, she certainly wasn''t smart enough to pick them out.


    But the issue was that all of this only made it creepier, made it feel as though human life was so cheap that this "system" could reproduce it in a product that was indistinguishable from the authentic version whenever it wanted.


    Then, probably as a subconscious result, she ended up letting Gregory take more and more control of things so that she wouldn''t have to face this problem herself. Then, before she knew it, it was already difficult to reverse things.


    The worst part about it all was that even if she knew the problem and could even return to the past for a redo, the situation would likely end up much the same. Well, maybe it wouldn''t be identical, but problems would arise nheless...


    That was because, even now that Ss had pointed out the crux of the matter, she wasn''t sure how to fix it. At least not immediately.


    She would probably not be able to treat these people like they were real any time soon, and even if she could start right now, it wouldn''te off as authentic.


    On top of that, she had problems being fake. It was the reason her mouth was so sharp in the first ce. She rarely filtered herself.


    "Don''t gloat." She said, giving Ss a re.


    "I didn''t say anything, City Lord."


    "City Lady."


    "Alright, City Lord. Are you going to tell me how you ended up in this situation? Why did you open up your portal here? And what did Professor Broussard do?"


    Ss saw the changes to Cassarae''s expression before she exploded. He let out a light sigh and then covered his ears a bit.

 Chapter 317: How Much Worse?

    Chapter 317: How Much Worse?


    ?


    "That insufferable! Limp dicked! Peewee brained!..."


    Ss watched all this in silence, not interrupting at all. That would just turn the fury onto him. He liked his peace when he could get it. He had no intention of interfering at all.


    "... His suit pants are wound up so tight you''d think he was wearing a thong! ..."


    Ss nodded, pulling out his water bottle treasure and taking a nice swig as he listened.


    "... Not the slightest hint of a print! He''s got a pussy down there and I bet his ass shaves it too!


    ...


    Ss reclined, pulling out a piece of meat as he continued to listen. His stomach was already rumbling despite the fact that he had eaten just half an hour ago at most.


    It seemed like when he wasn''t feeding his body properly, things were all fine. But the moment he started taking his nutrition more seriously, his body wanted more and more.


    "... God, he''s such a bitch! You know he wears colored contact lenses?! What the fuck kind of grown ass man does that?! It''s months after the damned apocalypse and he still has them in stock! How many did he fucking buy?!..."


    Ss continued to nod. It took a full ten minutes for Cassarae to finish her dressing down of this professor. The funniest part about it was that she had probably only met this man once or twice before, yet she had enough material for all of this.


    Eventually, she just stood there, huffing and puffing. Ss was convinced these were the first breaths she had taken in thest several minutes.


    Clearing his throat, he spoke. "Okay, so what actually happened this time?"


    "Fuck you," she said with a huff of breath. "He wanted to start an absolutely idiotic n. No, saying that isn''t enough, it was practically genocidal.


    "There was news that the underwater portal would appear-"


    "What?"


    Ss sat uppletely, the amusement in his eyes vanishing.


    "What? What''s wrong?" Cassarae asked. Her anger seemed to fade when she saw the seriousness in Ss'' expression as well.


    "This is a problem. A big problem."


    Ss stood up. He paced around, his eyes darting back and forth.


    From start to finish, Cassarae remained silent. Ss usually only got like this when he was thinking through something very important. But the problem was that usually, he was smart enough that he didn''t need to consider things for very long at all.


    The fact that he was pacing so hard now and seemed to have forgotten everything else could only mean that her words had inadvertently revealed something extremely important... even more so considering his stats should technically make him smarter now than he had ever been.


    "You''re sure that the portal was known about ahead of time?"


    "That''s what mom said."


    "Any more details than that?"


    Cassarae shook her head. "Mom was brought to a secret meeting where it was exined. It was only after that that all the problems started. The limp dick wanted to open up yet another portal. He apparently had one on standby to an extremely hot ce and wanted to disrupt the normal ecosystem.


    "The problem is that that progress wouldn''t be slow or gradual at all. He might as well have wanted to dump a whole bunch of toxic sewage into the ocean."


    Ss frowned. Something wasn''t adding up.


    Much the same way the portal beneath the ocean wasn''t draining itpletely in just a few days, neither could a portal to an extremely hot location change the situation instantly either.


    The specific heat of water was extremely high. It would take a lot of energy to raise the temperature of a small part of it.


    It was true that many fish were not good with warm waters, but this wouldn''t instantly change anything either. Still, this should be why Professor Broussard wanted to take this route. When the creatures sensed the warmer waters, they would definitely leave.


    ''Unless I''m underestimating this... draining the ocean is one thing, but superheating a small portion of it... that would be much easier. Plus, the warmer waters would...''


    Ss'' expression flickered again.


    He remembered the tall waves and the raging storm. Warmer weather definitely came with more violent storms on top of everything.


    Was it a coincidence?


    "Stop dragging me along here, what are you thinking?" Cassarae asked.


    "This Professor Broussard is a problem."


    "I already know that."


    Ss shook his head. "It''s worse than just his idea being stupid. He''s being purposely malicious."


    This time, it was Cassarae''s turn to frown.


    She already knew that the man was a dick. If not, things wouldn''t have gone so far over just a disagreement in philosophy.


    Her mother seemed docile, but when she was enraged, she was no less vtile than her father. The moment he brought up this n, she was fiercely opposed to it.


    Technically speaking, it sounded like the perfect n. The warmer waters would cause a lot of marine life to migrate away. When they were further away, they''d be less likely to sense the fluctuations of the portals and flee further.


    On top of that, the creatures that came from the hot portal would find themselves drowning at the bottom of the ocean if they ever appeared, while creaturesing from the first underwater portal would suffer the same fate.


    Cassarae''s mother was fiercely opposed to the n because they had no way of knowing if the migration patterns of creatures would stay the same with the addition of Aether. Plus, in this "experiment" of finding out, arge number of marine animals would certainly die.


    This wasn''t just about being a bleeding heart, environmental activist. But with the supply chains of the world cut out, they had to support themselves for food. The ocean had be a key resource for them and there was still plenty of fish they could catch closer to the shores to feed what remained of their poption.


    If the weaker creatures that they could still easily capture suddenly died, it wouldn''t just be a genocide of animals... it would also be a genocide of humans.


    "How much worse?"


    "As bad as you think it would be for such a trusted member of the government to be working


    for a System City."


    Cassarae''s expression changed.

 Chapter 318: Depends

    Chapter 318: Depends


    ?


    "What? How is that possible?"


    Cassarae hated Professor Broussard. The issue wasn''t just that his actions would lead to the deaths of tens of thousands in all likelihood, but that he was also cruel enough to try and suppress her mother.


    The entire reason for why her hand was forced was because the government tried to arrest her mother. They might as well have been watching fascism y out in real time.


    However, even with this being the case, Cassarae hadn''t thought that the Professor was actually a traitor. All things considered, the government wasn''t stupid; how could they trust someone like that to be at such a high position?


    No, even further, when was there even time for Professor Broussard to be a traitor in the first ce? The System Cities weren''t present during the Trial and they had only just appeared. Also, someone like Professor Broussard was the brains of the operation, not the muscle. He wouldn''t be sent out to the field, so he wouldn''t even have time to interact with the System Cities after they had already appeared.


    Whether he entered the Trial or not, it didn''t seem like any of this would be possible. It was ridiculous.


    However... Cassarae had simply never seen Ss be wrong before. At the very least, he wouldn''t be wrong about something like this.


    She took a deep breath and calmed herself.


    "I don''t know. But I''m 80% sure," Ss replied.


    Ss could obviously think of the same things that Cassarae could, he saw all of the same problems with his theory. Another person would have dismissed the thought because of these alone. But Ss wouldn''t do such a thing.


    It couldn''t be said that he trusted his gut, but rather that he trusted his own intellect and what The saw with his eyes.


    "Exin."


    "There are several problems. First, have you realized that the portals here are in the same general proximity of one another as they are in the outside world?"


    Cassarae frowned, not understanding immediately until it dawned on her suddenly.


    Ss nodded. "Those are tall odds. Portals usually have vastly different destinations. I''ve seen three portals in close proximity before. One led to Lone Star, one led to the Africor Continent, and thest led to our home town near Veridian.


    "Portals are never so geographically consistent."


    "Yeah, but that still might be a coincidence," Cassarae rebutted. "My portal isn''t natural, remember? I just opened it up. It might be the case it''s like this because of me."


    "I thought of this as well, which was why I dismissed it at first. I even think that you''re probably right even now, that it''s nothing more than a coincidence."


    Cassarae only became more confused, but this time, she didn''t interrupt.


    "But, while I was out on the ocean, I ran into someone from a System City. It felt somewhat like a coincidence as well, but then I thought about it, I realized that in all likelihood, they were after the Den in my hands.


    "I thought, then, how they would know about the Den. There are a ton of things about this world that I still don''t understand, so I was mostly willing to ignore it in this case. Maybe they just had a treasure that I didn''t know about.


    "But then you said that the government predicted the appearance of this portal before it appeared as well. That''s already the third coincidence.


    "First, the portals appear side by side both on Earth and the Aether ne. Then the System City people knew about the existence of the Den when it had only just appeared. And third, the government knew about it ahead of time."


    Cassarae listened silently, but she still felt like this wasn''t enough.


    What if the System City located the Den only after the portal appeared? After all, it had been a while. There was no guarantee that they knew the Den would appear even before the portal did.


    "The fourth problem is that the underwater portal appears high in the skies. I''ve already seen several portals until now. Not a single one of them hangs in the air like that... at least not without some outside interference.


    "It feels very convenient for that to happen. It allows them to benefit from helpless creatures that fall out, and now you''re telling me that they''ve been benefiting from the Gene Cores with hardly any effort at all while simultaneously ruining all the ground around you." Cassarae''s heart skipped a beat. "Are you saying they''ve been targeting me the whole time?"


    Ss looked toward Cassarae with a hint of surprise, as though he didn''t expect her to suddenly leap to his conclusion before him.


    "What''s with that face? Don''t make me punch your nose into your gut!"


    Ss'' lip slightly quirked again.


    "Yes, I think they''ve been targeting you from the very beginning. It might not even be a coincidence that your mother was targeted. A System City would find it very difficult to deal with you on their own because there''s likely a very high price to pay."


    "But why?"


    Ss gave her a look. "That depends on where you got your ne from."


    Cassarae blinked, not knowing what to say for a moment.


    Ss had suddenly cut to the heart of the matter despite only having small tidbits of information. Maybe she shouldn''t have been surprised that he had a guess, but she couldn''t


    help it.


    In the end, Legacy had gone out of its way to target Cassarae, and now there seemed to be a continuousyering of plots and schemes against her this time as well.


    If Ss had to guess, it should surely be rted to the ne. And further than that, unless they didn''t know that Cassarae''s ne had already been stolen, then it should be the case that there was far more to how she had gotten the ne than she had told him.


    Cassarae hesitated for a moment. But then, Ss saw a screen sh in front of him.

 Chapter 319: The Rest

    Chapter 319: The Rest


    ?


    [Path of the Executioner (Common) (Quest)]


    [You have disyed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy, following your own is much more difficult.]


    [The Executioner is the Reaper of All. But wreathed in bad karma and a grant temper, their Luck also tends to be particrly bad. Taking up this mantle will put you in untold danger, and many more will chase you down for your arrogance.]


    [Open up the Path of the Executioner or die trying.]


    --


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Behead 1000 enemies 5 or more Levels above you]


    [>Extinguish a Common Evil Cult]


    Ss'' expression changed as he felt his Gluttony Seed move. Usually, the movement would stop before he could even lock onto it, but this time, it just continued to move, again and again, as though it wouldn''t be satisfied unless he paid attention to it.


    There was an ominous feeling that welled up in Ss'' heart, and then the notification disappeared before him.


    "I was warned when this Quest appeared that I shouldn''t show anyone because they would be Cursed by Destiny as well. But..."


    Cassarae still had some conflict in her eyes despite the fact she had already done it.


    In reality, the moment Ss guessed that she likely had a Quest, he was already infected by Destiny. Of course, what Cassarae didn''t know was so long as Ss didn''t know the exact details, he would be fine. But now that she had shown him the exact details, he was tied to the same boat she was.


    Cassarae sat in her chair with a bit of a dejected appearance, her eyes watering.


    It was definitely all her fault. The moment Ss wanted to see the stats of her ne, she should have said no. He had likely been infected all the way back then in her opinion.


    She should have said no firmly even if he made the wrong assumption and thought that it was because she didn''t trust him. But she didn''t have the temperament to do that. Her personality wasn''t patient, and she wasn''t good with others thinking ill of her... at least not when it was built off misunderstandings.


    But in the end, that decision back then had led to this moment. And now, there was truly no going back.


    "Ss, I..."


    "How long do you have?"


    Cassarae was trying to find the right words to break it to Ss, but she didn''t expect this question instead.


    "You know?" she asked with surprise.


    "I have a simr Quest."


    "Oh..." Cassarae''s eyes brightened somewhat before they dimmed again. "... The Quest says I have three years at most."


    Ss frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with Cassarae''s words. Now that he thought about it, the punishment he would receive if he failed his Destiny Quest was a penalty from the Madness Key. But Cassarae likely didn''t have a Madness Key...


    His own expression changed and he stood up once again.


    "What''s your punishment?"


    Cassarae looked up. Her expression was one part helpless and another part confused. If Ss had a simr Quest, shouldn''t he know?


    "What else?" she said bitterly. "Death."


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat and he suddenly became a bit angry.


    "Why the hell didn''t you tell me earlier?! How much time do you have left?"


    "I..."


    Still confused, Cassarae didn''t quite know how to react to all of this. Even with how familiar she was with Ss, it was very, very rare for him to get like this.


    "How much time?!"


    "I... There''s two years and about four or five months left. The Trial time didn''t count..."


    Ss'' gaze continued to flicker. "What do you need?"


    "Ss..."


    "None of the nonsense. What do you need?"


    Normally, if someone spoke to her like this, Cassarae would have already exploded, but right now... it felt just like that day back in high school, and those days back in the Trial.


    Cassarae took a breath. "Ss, I''ve got this."


    Ss frowned. "You''ve onlypleted the Fragmented Quest after more than half a year, and now you''re being targeted by so many people-no, it''s probably because you''re being targeted by so many people that things ended up like this. Do you expect to just go at it


    alone?"


    "Isn''t that what you do? You have your own Quest to consider."


    "I can do both." Ss replied.


    "That-"


    "I said enough."


    Ss'' green irises zed with a flickering emerald me. For a moment, in Cassarae''s vision,


    all of his facial features had vanished and all she could see were those eyes.


    "Tell me what you need."


    "... The problem isn''t the Quest. The problem is that I can''t even leave my vige."


    "What level are you at now? What level do you need to be to leave? What do you need to


    aplish to do it?"


    Ss listed off a rapid-fire list of questions.


    Seeing that Ss was only growing more annoyed with every passing second as though he was watching her life blink away, Cassarae had no choice but to answer.


    "The Territory Levels are Vige, Town, and City. Each one is separated into Rudimentary, Common, and Elite. And each of those is further separated into ten numbered Levels.


    "If I want to leave, my vige would have to be a Town, but even then I would need to check in at least a few times a month. But if I can get to Grade 1 Elite Vige, then I can at least move around a 50-kilometer distance around Casstle Main.


    "Right now, I''m stuck at the Grade 10 Rudimentary Vige level. If I want to take the next step to be a Grade 1 Common Vige, I still need about 100,000 F Coins in upgrades, I need to double the size of my current militia from 10 to 20, and they would all need to be Level 10. On top of that, I need at least one Subsidiary Vige along with a bunch of other smaller tasks rted to Favorability and Amenities..."


    She listed these things out as a way to make Ss back down, but he only nodded.


    "Okay. What about the rest?"


    "The rest?" Cassarae was confused.


    "I don''t need you to list out what you need to make it to Grade 1 Common Vige. What do you


    need to make it to Grade 1 Rudimentary Town?"


    Cassarae sat in stunned surprise.


    It was at that moment that there was some shifting at the door and a middle-aged couple


    identally stumbled in.

 Chapter 320: Mathilda-Rose

    Chapter 320: Mathilda-Rose


    ?


    Ss and Cassarae looked over at the same time. Ss'' reaction was just fine, but Cassarae found herself blushing for some reason, and she wasn''t even sure why.


    Geraldene was the first to recover, coughing, smoothing out her dress, and putting on a stern expression.


    "How could you not tell us something like this, Rae?"


    "You heard that?" Cassarae recovered, only to be left aghast. This matter wasn''t something that she nned on telling anyone. That included Olivia, who had been with her in this ce the longest. Her parents were thest people she wanted to know. All of this was bing a


    mess.


    Truthfully, Ss had noticed them at the door a long time ago thanks to his visualization, but he hadn''t said anything because they were Cassarae''s parents. He still didn''t understand what a Destiny Quest really meant, and honestly, he was still grappling with the reality.


    Ss couldn''t help but look down at the Madness Key hanging around his neck.


    Could it be that this cursed thing was even more beneficial than he knew? If he was correct, then the price for failure of his own stolen Destiny Quest should have also been death. But the Madness Key turned it into a punishment of Genes instead. Was this a hidden ability of this treasure that he didn''t understand before?


    "Geraldene, Paul." Ss greeted politely.


    Arge hand pped down on Ss'' shoulder and shook him around a bit.


    "How many times have I told you to call me unc or old man, kid?"


    Paul, Cassarae''s father, was a man with a bright bald spot in the middle of his head, but other than this slight imperfection, one would think that he had spent his life in the military and not behind an office desk. He had the forearms and wrists of a construction worker, the bronzed skin of a bodybuilder onpetition day, and he was almost a head taller than Ss. Ss himself was at least 6''4", but Paul was almost seven feet tall without shoes on. The difference between them was quite stark. With his eye, Ss could also tell that Paul would be quite an attractive man if he shaved the rest of his hair off. But for some reason, he insisted on leaving that moat in ce.


    Only a few people knew the reason, and Ss happened to be among them. There was a day a few years back when he had chosen to shave it off and Geraldene went crazy. He still remembered that argument like it was yesterday. The funny part was that she was mad that her husband was too handsome, saying something about annoying secretaries and teenagers looking for sugar daddies. Since then, the man had kept his hair no matter how sparse. The poor guy was even forced to clean-shave his beard every day, an action that shaved at least three manly points from him.


    As for his words... Ss didn''t know how to respond. He had heard these words before, of course. But every method he used to try and weasel out of it didn''t work. Intelligence was useless on shamelessness.


    He still remembered his first response to this. He had said that Paul wasn''t his real uncle, and calling him old man was disrespectful, especially considering he wasn''t even that old. Back then, Paul had responded with how they''d be family anyway if he married Cassarae, so he might as well start calling him father-inw, then.


    After that day, Ss learned not to try to argue with this man using methods that worked in academia. He would just end up on the losing end. What kind of man just casually sold off their daughter like that? The two of them hadn''t even been dating back then!


    Speaking of which, the way Cassarae''s parents learned that they had was another...


    embarrassing story. It wasn''t a lewd one, but it was one that made it difficult for Ss to look the man in the eye nheless.


    Ss cleared his throat. The only way tobat shamelessness was with more shamelessness.


    "Have you not been eating, Paul? Your pats seem to have gotten a little weaker."


    "Hm?" Paul blinked, looking at Ss'' shoulder. He tried to shake the kid around like he usually did, but Ss was practically an iron pole. After a while, Paul burst intoughter.


    "This is good, this is good. An old man like me is bound to lose his strength eventually. This way, you can be the head of the household and take care of things while I retire."


    Ss froze.


    How had this man turned it around on him again?


    Two stifled giggles came from the side and Ss couldn''t help but give Cassarae a look.


    "You still haven''t answered your mother''s question."


    At this point, it was Cassarae''s turn to freeze.


    "You-."


    "That''s right, Cassarae Mathilda-Rose Hale. How dare you keep this from us?!"


    Geraldene went from giggling to an enraged lioness in a matter of moments. As for Paul, he had no choice but to start dealing with this burning fire as well, while Ss took this opportunity to slip away.


    ...


    Ss vanished down the hallway and the amusement in his eyes faded toward coldness. The further he got away from the arguing family, the sharper his aura grew. He wouldn''t allow this world to kill those he didn''t want dead.


    Cassarae''s plights should all be rted to this Destiny Quest. On her own, she had managed to push Castle Main to number one, and considering how hard Ss'' own Fragmented Destiny Quest had been, he still had no idea how she had managed to clear her own. She was a fiercely independent woman, but it was to a fault. Right now, he didn''t really care what her opinion about it was; he would clear the path ahead.


    Faintly, Ss began to grasp a deeper understanding of himself. This time, he had epted this burden without much thought at all... and he didn''t particrly care what anyone else thought about it.


    The fresh air hit him as he walked out of the City Lord Residence.

 Chapter 321: A Shocking Question

    Chapter 321: A Shocking Question


    ?


    "Gregory." Ss called out.


    The steward wasn''t very far away. His residence was just nearby, and he had stepped out, seeing Maya the seamstress off.


    "Oh, Ss," he said with a smile. "I have another meeting soon, but I still have about 15 minutes until then. Is there anything that you need?"


    "Yes." Ss nodded. "Is there any news from Olivia and the others?"


    "Mm, yes. I believe that the City Lady mentioned that Olivia is stationed in Love City. It will likely be a while until she has the strength to make it over. We have also been researching portals that might be nearer to help facilitate this, but not much luck. As for the others, it''s even more difficult."


    Love City was smaller than York City, but it was only a single state away. By train, it wasn''t even a four-hour ride and there were many that frequented between the two cities in the past. But now, between the portals and theck of modern technology, that distance might as well have been a world apart. They now lived in a world where it might be more possible to identally fall into the next hemisphere than it was to visit a nearby state.


    "Got it." Ss nodded. "What reports do you have about threats in the vicinity? Any new spawned encampments? Any other settlements? New City Lords?"


    Gregory didn''t seem to have any reservations whatsoever and answered all of Ss'' questions calmly.


    "After the Trial ended, the sudden spawning has begun to slow down and many powers have settled. It can be said that our greatest threat right now is The Enve. They are a day''s journey away, but this distance is bing shorter and shorter as several powers are beginning to invest in roads with the support of the System City."


    "Support?"


    "Yes. Ah, right, sir probably doesn''t understand because you aren''t a City Lord or Lady, but it''s possible to form trading treaties with the System Cities. In exchange for the price of this contract, the System City will then send out workers to build a road between themselves and you. This makes things much more convenient, and also much more dangerous. Though, beasts don''t dare to get within ten meters of these trading routes, so that is its own positive.


    "The City Lady and I are working toward this goal as well, but unfortunately," Gregory sighed, "money is tight these days. We are doing our best."


    Ss nodded.


    "I can give you a map with our current understanding of the city. It might also be possible to find a better map in the System City. With your strength, making it there shouldn''t be a problem."


    "How is the vige doing with beast skins? I see that Maya just left?" Ss asked.


    "Ah," Gregory sighed once again, "this is another troublesome issue. Miss Maya just came by to say that she had run out. Unfortunately, many beasts are migrating away because of the saltednds. The militiamen have to travel further and further to hunt and oftene back heavily injured as a result, and it adds more cost to heal them."


    "Mm, I understand. Thank you for your time."


    After saying this, Ss nodded toward Gregory and headed toward the outside of the vige. Gregory smiled and saw him off.


    ...


    Ss didn''t mind ying a little game with Gregory. He still had yet to confirm just how malicious Gregory''s intentions were, but what he did know was that in a battle of wit, he certainly wouldn''t be the losing party.


    He only nced at the map Gregory gave him for a moment before he headed out. As for his target, it was one of the several viges in the region.


    When Gregory said that the spawns had slowed down, he was telling the truth, at least somewhat. The main difference, though, wasn''t the difference in spawn count, but rather how much effort they did or didn''t put into targeting Castle Main specifically.


    In the past, the spawns were tests for Castle Main, and they were close enough that there was only one logical vige to attack. But now, they were more spread out and might be found between two or more territories.


    As such, while Castle Main would still suffer attacks from time to time, it also shared the pressure with several other powers.


    With quick steps, Ss vanished into the forest, his mind flickering.


    Dealing with things on this side didn''t necessarily mean he would have to stall his progress. One way or another, battling would help him to improve, the beast skins that Cassarae needed were useless to him, and even the Gene Cores, unless they had Bronze Genes in them, were of no interest.


    This sort of pressure, rather than slowing him down, would more than likely help him improve faster.


    Ss brought out the Basilisk King and the two began shooting toward their first target with a focused look in their eyes.


    This time, Ss didn''t bring out the Dire Wolf because he knew that he had to be ready for battle at any given moment. Whether he would be able to deal with this matter properly or not would hinge on just how sharp he was.


    The fact that Cassarae''s Destiny Quest had a three-year timer didn''t make him rx, it only made him more anxious. His own was difficult enough... what did it mean for her to require three times the time?


    And what exactly did it mean to take down an Evil Cult?


    After some thought, Ss asked the Madness Key and was left speechless by the response.


    ''So overbearing...''


    To the Executioner, an Evil Cult was any power that had racked up enough sins... if this was just in general, that would be fine enough. But no. In this regard, it meant sins against the Executioner themselves.


    Meaning, to this Quest, the Executioner was the sole arbitrator of what was good and evil.


    But... the fact that it was graded was a worry. If the Silver Quest asked for a Silver Evil Cult... could that mean that it wanted Cassarae to wait until Silver Grade sins weremitted against her before they would count? What did that even mean?


    All these thoughts of conquering and destroying made Ss'' thoughts stray. After some more hesitation, he chose to ask the Madness Key, and to his surprise, it wasn''t considered Taboo. That was maybe the greatest shock to Ss.


    [How do you conquer a System City?]

 Chapter 322: Conquer [Bonus]

    Chapter 322: Conquer [Bonus]


    ?


    [How do you conquer a System City?]


    -


    [A System City can be conquered via three methods: Commerce Victory, Culture Victory, or Military Victory.


    [Commerce Victory requires controlling 60% of the flow of Coins in and out of a System City''s economy. This method is usually aplished with the help of Merchant Professions.


    [Culture Victories are separated into two paths: Favorability Victories or Prestige Victories. Favorability Victories can be done through the use of Religion or Entertainment, while Prestige Victories can be done through winning the hearts of the people by aplishing feats through the Parliamentary Noble System or the Military System.


    [Military Victories are the simplest and most straightforward. Overwhelm the power of a System City, destroy their defenses, kill their City Lord, and conquer their City Stele.]


    Ss had never expected such a response. In fact, in the history of Earth, this was information that he wouldn''t be surprised if no one was aware of. And even if some were aware, they might only be aware of one of these paths and certainly not all of them.


    Ss had never expected that such a thing would be possible. All this time, he believed that there was only one method of doing things like this, only to realize that the System Cities weren''t just ticking time bombs waiting to be exploited... but they were treasure troves.


    From his understanding of the ranking system of City Steles, System Cities were already ssified as Grade 1 Rudimentary Cities. Although they were just of Common Grade, given how difficult it was to upgrade a city to this level, just how beneficial would it be to conquer one?


    ''This is huge. Even if all I do is publish this information, how much pressure would the System Cities start feeling? They have to follow their own rules, and though there would presumably be some loopholes that they could take advantage of, it can''t possibly be many. ''The cream will always float to the top, and there will certainly be those thate close and even seed in taking over these System Cities. Although this will also mean morepetition, it might be better in the long run for our as a whole... the less outside interference we have to deal with, the better.''


    Ss'' mind was still churning before he asked another question.


    -


    [How powerful are System Cities?]


    This question seemed foolish, but Ss didn''t believe so. If he thought he would get a vague answer, he wouldn''t have wasted the Genes. If he was correct, there was a universal standard across System Cities.


    Until now, he had met two people that he suspected to be from System Cities, and both of them were exactly Level 15. While this could be a coincidence... Ss had been running into too many of those recently to just take anything at face value anymore.


    -


    [The power of System Cities is set by a metric of the average strength of a Summon World. [The City Lord will be capped at 10 levels above the highest level on the Summoned World, their 10 Generals will be 2 levels beneath them. There will be exactly 10,000 soldiers and guards who have varied levels between the highest level of the world and 5 levels beneath.


    [The strength that the City Lord can gather within the city is capped by the Grade of the world. A System City in a Bronze Potential world will be a Bronze Grade threat while within the System City.]


    -


    It was a lot of information, but Ss saw through the crux of it in an instant. Wasn''t the Arctic Emperor Cobra still in the process of evolving to be a Bronze Grade threat? But if Earth was a Bronze World, then did that mean that the City Lord was already not only far beyond the Arctic Emperor Cobra in level but also beyond it in talent and rtive strength?


    Ss'' next question was obviously what the potential of Earth was, and he once again received a solid answer.


    -


    [What is the Grade of Earth?]


    [Earth is rated as a Grade 10 Bronze World.]


    -


    Ss came to a stop and took a breath.


    He couldn''t defeat even a fake Bronze threat at Level 12. The City Lord of this System City would be at least Level 30, more than double the Level.


    The Military option was simply not the path. He didn''t have the patience for the Commerce option or the Favorability option. Was the only way the Military path?


    Of course, this was a different military path than what was mentioned at first. This one would fall beneath the Culture Victory path and it would require him to join the System City''s military rather than fight against it.


    But this path seemed to be extremely difficult as well. If the City Lord was so powerful, then how could he possibly gain enough military achievements to rise? And wasn''t a military filled with strict discipline andws? If he joined, would he be stuck in the city? That was uneptable to him.


    If that was the case, it might be best to just hold off on finding a way to deal with them for


    now.


    ''I make 10,000 F Coins a day now. How much cash flow could a System City have? How much would putting my own weight behind it shift things...?''


    In the end, Ss ended up putting his ns to raid viges on hold for the moment as he continued to ask the Madness Key questions, wasting more Genes on it today than he maybe ever had in a single sitting before.


    The more questions he asked, the brighter Ss'' gaze became. After a long while, he changed his direction and headed right to the System City.


    It wasn''t long before his feet were squishing around in the heavily watered soil of the Amazonian Wilds.


    There was a long line to enter the city, and as disheveled as he looked, Ss seemed to fit


    right in.


    But to the astonishment of everyone who had grown fully used to the strict, unbendable rules


    of the city...


    Ss actually broke one of them right away.

 Chapter 323: Merit [Bonus]

    Chapter 323: Merit [Bonus]


    ?


    "Hey!" a voice called out in an attempt to stop Ss. It didn''t seem to be malicious, but rather a friendly reminder instead. But Ss ended up directly ignoring this man.


    The guards at the entrance turned their nces over, and a great amount of pressure rose into the skies. But almost immediately, that pressure receded like the tide.


    Under a mysterious power, the gazes of the guards changed from stern to respectful, and they immediately crossed an arm over their chests and bowed.


    Many couldn''t help but be surprised by this oue, especially the kind middle-aged man who had called out to Ss before. But no matter how many times they double-checked and rubbed their eyes, the scene didn''t change at all.


    "Please enter, hero."


    The guards only spoke these words and then let Ss through.


    ...


    Ss stepped into the city, his expression indifferent but his mind flickering with thoughts.


    As expected, even if there were forces from alien powers acting in the System Cities, they couldn''t possibly control every aspect. In fact, the vast majority of the city guard should be under the direct administration of the system itself.


    What Ss had done just now was a rtively simple test, one that didn''t require himself to be ced in much danger. But the oue was enough proof for him to embark on testing the rest of his hypothesis.


    The reason the guards were so respectful was for no other reason than the fact Ss was on the Merit Leaderboard.


    The System Cities weren''t here to be breeding grounds for alien races to make more money. Their initial intended purpose was as a sanctuary for the Summoned poption.


    Of course, in the very distant past, System Cities were also used as an initial contact point between races to start rtions that could foster into something beneficial. But now, at least for Earth, they had be something far more sinister.


    This was all to say that the System Cities were treasures of Earth... so long as they could figure out how to thwart the greedy hands that had taken control of them and wrestle back the control they rightfully deserved.


    ''There''s likely not much time to move around freely. I will do a quick tour around first, then take the next step.''


    Ss walked fast, moving through the streets.


    The city was only about 20 or so kilometers in diameter, but was made even more impressive by the fact tall steel walls enveloped the whole of it.


    There could probably be up to a half million people who took up permanent residence here, but that would likely be pushing it. From what he could tell, affording permanent residency here was almost impossible, and even renting would bankrupt most.


    The cheapest home he could find was about 500 F Coins a week just to rent. If he wanted to buy it outright, it would cost a hundred times that.


    Still, that was exactly what Ss did.


    He had only just recently hit 50,000 F Coins, but the moment he found this little dingy apartment, he bought it up.


    The cost of homes in System Cities would only increase with time, so it would only be more expensive to do so in the future. This also told Ss that it would be a pipe dream to hope that he would be able to control the economy of a city with just 10,000 coins a day in cash flow.


    That said, he didn''t buy this home to have a ce to stay. The real reason was two key words: Permanent Residency.


    Only by having Permanent Residency could one begin citizenship qualification, and only by having citizenship would he have an easier path to the army.


    He could have joined the army immediately, but he would have been an infantryman and would have likewise had no freedom of movement.


    However, a citizen was only one step below a noble, and a noble would be able to start off as a captain at worst.


    Ss had prepared a lot for this, but he was still surprised by the oue. That was because his Merits were even more useful than he thought.


    First, the system took only 25,000 F Coins from him instead of the full 50,000, giving him an outright discount on his home. Then, in that moment, a city-wide system message echoed.


    [City-Wide Message]


    [The Noble Heir System has been unlocked. As the first Noble of Guiz City, Ss Grimde will be directly promoted from Noble Knight to Baron]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. The Noble System was fairly straightforward. It started with Noble Knight, upgraded to Baron, then progressed to Viscount, Earl, Marquess, Duke, Grand Duke, and then finally City Lord.


    Each stage came with its own benefits, but as a Baron, Ss was already capable of swinging his weight around in the city a bit, and it had also be impossible for the City Lord to get rid of him via any simple methods.


    ''The fact that this is only a City-Wide message means that there''s probably an opportunity to do this at every System City, and I may very well not be the first...''


    It was doubtful, but Ss didn''t dismiss the possibility. Of course, the reason it was doubtful was because the citizenship test was a headache. He had only been able to skip it because of his Merits, and as far as he knew, he was the only one on the list.


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Baron of Guiz]


    [You now have a stake in the territory of Guiz City, and your power should reflect that]


    [+20% to ALL stats while within 50 kilometers of Guiz City]


    [Affiliation Detected]


    [Would you like to transfer your Noble Title to the Grimdes?]


    Another pleasant surprise, but this time, it was followed up by confusion. What did it even


    mean to transfer his Title?


    Either way, he could only keep this matter slotted to the back of his mind and decline. This Title was too useful to him right now.


    It was time to join the military. This would make or break the next few months.

 Chapter 324: Heavy Handed

    Chapter 324: Heavy Handed


    ?


    The military encampment of System Cities was located within city limits, overlooked by the City Lord''s Tower-arge structure that could, quite frankly, overlook the entire city.


    It didn''t have the usual beats of an encampment even though it was named as such. The roads weren''t dusted and packed with coarse sand, there wasn''t the scent of blood and sweat in the air, and all things considered, it felt more like one was walking into a world of bureaucracy than it felt like one was about to conscript their life away.


    This encampment was, obviously, well-guarded as this region also doubled as the weapon''s treasury of the city as well. The facilities were robust, and with just a nce, Ss knew that it would be a pipe dream for anyone to hope for a Military Victory against this System City any time soon.


    The moment Ss appeared, the air changed, and there were suddenly a great number of people trying to please him. Without disying much of anything, most knew who he was. But it didn''t take him long to figure out that was because his Noble Title was disyed along with his name.


    [Baron Ss Grimde]


    This was what was disyed any time an official of the city tried to scan him, and they reacted with the fervor that only a Noble Title could deserve.


    It didn''t take more than an hour before Ss was processed, handed his standard military gear, and granted a military rank.


    The System City army only had one branch. There was no navy or air force equivalent, justnd units. This shouldn''t be a hard-set rule, but at least for Guiz City''s current standing, there were no such surprises.


    Ss was immediately granted the title of Captain, the lowest ranked official withmanding capacity. Above this were Colonels, whomanded 100 men, and Generals whomanded 1,000. Ss himself onlymanded 10, but this was also good enough for him for now.


    The army was exceptionally small, only having 10,000 men. So Ss was actually one of a thousand Captains.


    What made this so good was that System Cities, as he had said, were designed specifically for the poption of the Summoned World. That meant that Ss didn''t need to wait for Colonels to die or be aged out. So long as he gathered enough Military Points, he would be directly promoted.


    The fact that the military of the city was so simple and streamlined made things far easier for him.


    [City-Wide Message]


    [The Military Hero System has been unlocked. As the first Hero of Guiz City, Baron Ss Grimde will be directly given 100 Military Hero Points]


    Ss was less surprised this time and opened up his Military Hero System.


    [Military Title: Captain]


    [Hero Points: 100]


    [Achievements]


    [>First to be Captain]


    ...


    [Trade Hub]


    ...


    [>Viscount Promotion - 1,000 Hero Points]


    [>Colonel Promotion - 10,000 Hero Points]


    The Trade Hub was something that Ss had known about ahead of time. It could be used to purchasend, erase Demerits, influence legition, and, obviously, ept Promotion.


    With his 100 points, Ss could already do a great many things such as...


    [>One-day Leave of Absence - 10 Hero Points]


    [>Purchase Barony Lands - 100 Hero Points]


    [>Purchase Common Store Front - 100 Hero Points]


    [>Upgrade Standard Issue Armor to Common Grade - 100 Hero Points]


    There were quite a lot of other enticing things.


    The Standard Issue Armor, though, was obviously entirely useless to Ss, which was a shame because he had to have it on in order to activate his Captain Title.


    The Captain Title provided an even greater boost than his Baron of Guiz Title, a full 50%, in fact. And the best part was that it was attached to the armor and not a certain range. Unfortunately, that didn''t matter in the slightest with these Scorned Wraps doing their favorite ankle weight impression.


    Still, Ss had his eyes on several other things. But for now, they didn''t matter much to him.


    ...


    Ss called forth his small squadron of ten. All of them were Level 14 FF+ warriors. He would certainly be able to defeat one of them easily on his own, but if the ten of them worked together, unless he Fused with the Basilisk King, it would be troublesome.


    Still, these ten would be the foundation of his quick rise.


    He gave himself a time limit of one month to be a General. Only when he became a General would he be within striking distance of taking over the City Lord position.


    These ten were under Ss'' directmand, and he likewise had the ability to outfit them, upgrade them, and curate their loyalty as though he was running a city of his own.


    However, right now...


    [Favorability: 2/10]


    It was understandable that their Favorability was so low. This wasn''t a video game. Using shortcuts to rise to the rank of Captain so quickly would obviously dissatisfy these hardened warriors. It could be said that they were only standing here because they were strict in following military orders, not because they respected Ss.


    Ss could feel the oddity in the air even without checking their Favorability. The numbers only confirmed what he already knew, but he didn''t say anything about it directly. He only


    nodded.


    "Come with me."


    He turned and instead of walking out of the military encampment, he made his way deeper. "Steward, is the sparring arena open?" Ss called out casually.


    "Ah, Captain Grimde, yes, yes."


    An older man who had his well-dressed appearance somewhat marred by a hunched back stepped forward, eager to serve. He had been the one to help Ss expedite his military


    appointment.


    "Good. I''ll be sparring with my squad. Outfit them with any weapons and armor they ask for.


    They seem to be a bit dissatisfied with their Captain."


    The ten men were stunned, not expecting Ss to be such a tough nut.


    "Baron, this is unnecessary." Jean, one of the ten, stepped forward to advise against this.


    Ss gave him a nce and didn''t speak immediately. "... It seems I''ll have to be a bit more heavy-handedter."

 Chapter 325: Wits

    Chapter 325: Wits


    ?


    Jean found himself standing across from Ss, feeling a bit apprehensive. He had spoken his words without much thought, but they clearly revealed what his inner heart was thinking.


    He had called Ss "Baron" and not "Captain" like he should have. Whether he meant to or not, he was implying which title was more important to Ss, and which one actually got him here.


    Ss had no military achievements, no military background, and as far as Jean knew, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had never even seen blood before.


    Now, this man had reced their former Captain, kicking him down the ranks, and wanted tomand them as though nothing at all had happened. How could he possibly be satisfied with this current situation?


    The more Jean thought about it, the less bad he felt about his previous words and the angrier he got. Eventually, he coldly traded for a short de and amon military breastte. They weren''t particrly expensive, but they were still things that a mere Baron couldn''t buy in droves.


    However, when he did finally step onto the arena, he felt his heart constrict.


    Ss casually tossed his official military gear to the side. His armor nged down below along with the sharp sword he had been given. He stood there in silence, his chest bare, his hands empty, and his stance bnced and even.


    He could have put his armor away in his Madness Key, but that wasn''t the effect he wanted. He wanted them to feel the gap between them.


    "Come," Ss said calmly.


    By this point, a few stragglers who had nothing better to do beganing around the base. When they heard that the new Captain was about to fight their subordinates, they rushed over at the first sign.


    Seeing Ss'' actions, they couldn''t decide if he was crazy or not. But the Barony title held too much weight. No one dared to be openly disrespectful.


    Jean took a breath. Since Ss insisted on being embarrassed, that wasn''t his problem. Cutting some hair from his head should be enough to demarcate the difference.


    Unleashing a stomp, Jean rocketed forward. He immediately used one of the three official military Skills, [Infantry Charge]. It worked simrly to Sudden Burst, except it also had an attack waiting at the end of it.


    Ss only took a light step forward, feeling his blood rumble as his stats increased by 20%.


    .


    Jean felt his entire body freeze over. The eyes of the Emperor of Serpentes looked down on him, those piercing gold irises and the slit akin to an abyss of hell piercing into his very soul. Basic Aetherflow.


    A roar echoed in Jean''s mind and the greenish-gold fist appeared before him in an instant. From start to finish, Ss hardly moved. His torso twisted, his feet drilled into the ground, and he punched out in a single motion. Yet, he didn''t need to take even a single step forward.


    BANG!


    The fist smashed into Jean''s chest, tearing through the defense of his Aether skin and caving it in.


    Just as he was about to be directly killed, Ss used his telekinesis to snuff out the rest of the attack, but that didn''t stop the man from flying off the arena as a string of coughed-up blood was left in his wake.


    Hended with a heavy thud, his body convulsing and his eyes rolling back.


    Ss only gave him a nce as he looked at the next one.


    "You,e up."


    This woman was known as Da. The System City army had a significant split of women in it, and Ss'' own squad had five. In this sort of situation, he had no intention of going easy on the fairer sex.


    He didn''t know much about leading troops, but what he did know was that obedience and discipline were of the utmost importance. If they always only reluctantly followed his orders, then there woulde a time where they mightg to do something that would cost them, and maybe even Ss, their lives.


    That was uneptable.


    However, Da fiercely shook her head and fell to a knee.


    "Captain, this subordinate apologizes for her earlier rudeness. Please punish me!"


    Seeing Da''s actions, the others acted in kind. Seeing this, Ss nodded. The result was good enough, and most of their Favorabilities ticked up to 5 or even 6 in three cases.


    This was good enough for his needs. Higher Favorability would need more time to curate, and soon enough, it would be easy to increase.


    With this farce concluded, Ss bought a Healing Potion for Jean, bought better equipment for his team, and then went to the hub to see what missions they could do.


    If he wanted to reach General within a month, then reaching Colonel had to be done in a matter of days to a week at most. In that case, whatever he chose would have to be extraordinarily dangerous. The more Hero Points he could gather in the least amount of time, the better.


    ...


    As Ss was headed to trade for his mission, news of his achievements began to spread. Of course, this wasn''t to the outside world, but rather within the noble circles of Guiz City. The Earthlings of Guiz had heard of Ss before, at least some of them had. But to be a human that frequented a System City, one had to be pretty much cut out of normal day-to-day life on Earth. These people had ended up here mostly by ident and there was no easy way for them


    to return.


    The only way for them to spread news about Ss was through a Nexus, but Ss himself knew how hard it was to get ess to a Nexus without being a City Lord. As such, it would be a while before his feats in Guiz City were disseminated to the rest of Earth.


    That said... This was a different matter entirely for the citizens of Guiz.


    A new Baron and Captain was huge news to them... Especially in the case of the Guiz family and their City Lord.


    When Licirius and Plinli heard the system announcement, they began their own plots and


    schemes.


    A battle of wits had begun.

 Chapter 326: Rules

    Chapter 326: Rules


    ?


    Ss scanned the list of missions.


    There weren''t many direct threats to a System City''s army in practice, so most often the members of the military were used to maintain order and do some cleanup work in the


    surrounding territory.


    These simple missions, though, were usually left to simple infantry soldiers. For Ss, who was a Captain, he had ess to a higher grade of missions, ones that were rted to the overall safety of the city or gave him a chance to participate in the betterment of the city overall.


    These missions might as well have been a cheat code toward essing all of the most valuable resources in the surroundings. Not just this, but he would have the support of ten men in doing so.


    As expected, some of the same spawned viges that had been on Gregory''s list were present here as well. Not only were they here, but they had breakdowns of the strength of these viges as well. Some even rmended that two or more Captain squads work together to fulfill them.


    The closest was about 20 kilometers away, and the furthest was easily over a hundred away. But that was just the start. On this list, there were also Dungeons, the location of strategic resources, and even escort missions rted to other human settlements and System Cities in some cases.


    Thest of these three seemed insignificant, but it was essentially giving Ss the exact location of Cassarae''s most fearsome opponents, on top of also giving him the chance to spread his influence across several System Cities.


    He wasn''t yet sure if it was possible to be a noble in multiple cities, but when he had firmly established himself here, there would be nothing stopping him.


    Ss calmly memorized every mission that was here before he epted one and then turned away.


    [Hobgoblin Vige 182]


    [Reward: 1,200 Hero Points]


    [Evaluation: 50 warriors of a Level 12 average. There are 10 elites at the Level 15 stage, and their Leader is Level 17. Hobgoblin 182 is ssified as a high-ss threat. It is rmended for a Colonel to head this mission. However, there is a case where several Captains can tackle it alone.


    [The Hobgoblins are very organized, and as such, their schedule is very rigid and easy to follow. This can be taken advantage of if swift action is taken. Fair warning, the Hobgoblins are far more intelligent than their Goblin Race counterparts. As such, without solid nning or the help of a master strategist, this path can very easily backfire.]


    There were very few Colonel-level missions like this one that Ss could take on as a Captain, so he didn''t have a very great selection. Other than this one, there were only three others that wouldn''t be enough to get him to the 10,000 Hero Point mark he needed. This was especially so considering that he would also need to pay his subordinates in Hero Points as well based on their contribution.


    But he had his own ns. There was more to gain from these raids than just Hero Points alone. And... he also had his mind on something else.


    [Oceanic Chaos]


    [Reward: 235,000 Hero Points]


    [Evaluation: An underwater portal has appeared beneath the ocean and has begun to cause problems for the ecosystem. Large oceanic creatures fall from the skies from time to time, but the biggest issue is the continuous flow of salted waters.


    [Find a method to solve this problem and you will be handsomely rewarded.]


    This mission could only be epted by Colonels and above. It was clear that no one believed anyone weaker would be capable of doing it, and even further, giving Colonels a chance was already being quite generous.


    Ss couldn''tin about this even if he wanted. Dealing with this problem was a massive undertaking and most wouldn''t even know where to start.


    He, however... had a method. This method would be very dangerous nheless, but so long as he could manage to be a Colonel and seed, he would have a one-way pipeline to General.


    No one would be able to stop him.


    Like this, Ss left with his team.


    -


    "He''s left?" Plinli asked inly after Licirius returned.


    The Licirius of now looked to be back to 100% and was exuding a powerful and determined aura. There was a sharpness about him that seemed to be begging for battle.


    "Yes."


    "I really didn''t expect this. Is it a coincidence?"


    "There''s no reason for him to know."


    "You''re right, but then that means he''s almost certainly rted to Cassarae. There haven''t been any reports of a humaning out of the ocean portal, so he could have onlye from


    Cassarae."


    "I agree. How do we kill him?"


    Plinli looked back with a chuckle. "Oh? You aren''t going to ask to rush off and take his head yourself? When''d my little cousin be such a cowardly little mouse?"


    "Don''t test me, Plinli. What''s the n?"


    Plinli became serious when he realized Licirius wasn''t in a joking mood.


    "You said it yourself, he''s powerful, extremely so. That mutation ability he disyed at least tripled his strength, so even if you went now, you would likely die. Especially considering he now has the support of a ten-man squad.


    "If we wait until these pitiful little ants finally break through the Level 20 bottleneck, and our own restrictions loosen, he might have improved even more by then.


    "The System City gives him too many advantages. He''s going to be collecting resources that


    can improve himself at an rming rate."


    Licirius waved a hand. "Get to the point."


    "If we want to deal with him, we''ll have to strike with the very rules he''s taking advantage of now. Start with a few probes. See how he deals with a Court Martial."


    Licirius'' eyes brightened as he understood immediately.


    The duty of amanding officer included the lives of his subordinates. If Ss was too powerful, fine... what about the people under him?


    He just took a mission he wasn''t rated for. They''d have more than enough ammo to deal with


    him even if he came back unscathed.


    After hearing this, Licirius vanished.


    Plinli fell into his own thoughts. ''This likely won''t be enough considering he is also a Baron. I''ll have to prepare a few more things.''

 Chapter 327: Wondering

    Chapter 327: Wondering


    ?


    Ss jogged through the forest with his team behind him, his thoughts known only to him. From time to time, they woulde across beasts that would block them, and Ss would stand by and simply observe theirbat.


    The hobgoblin vige was over 50 kilometers away, so he wouldn''t be able to take advantage of the +20% boost of his Baron Title. As such, he would need to rely on these guys. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses would only help him.


    His squad had two archers, three shieldmen, and the remaining five were made up of abination of swordsmen and spearmen. All in all, the bnce wasn''t bad, but it wascking any sort of logistics. There was no one with the capability of healing, providing area control support, nor were there any scouts.


    They all had the most standard sses, and though they were of Common Grade and technically a step above Ss'' own, he had a hard time feeling that way when they all used the same threeckluster skills.


    Those skills were [Infantry Charge], [Infantry Reinforce], and [Infantry Sharpen]. The only real difference between them was how they made use of them.


    For example, the spearmen used [Infantry Charge] to attack, the shieldmen used it to shield bash, and the archers mostly used it to dodge at crucial moments.


    Still, there was some good. They worked together well and even though Ss wasn''tmanding them, they had a tacit understanding already ingrained into their bones. It was clear that they had been working together for a long while now.


    ''How would Imand them?'' Ss thought to himself.


    He had more split minds now, but if he focused onmanding, his efficiency would drop. Plus, even if he did, it wasn''t like they had his brain. He would need to call out everymand, which would slow things down considerably and might actually hinder how they fought instead.


    By the time he had watched them fight a half dozen battles, Ss hade to a decision.


    ''Avoiding verbalmands is probably for the best. I''ll use them as tools and support them as though they were treasures. I''ll act in the background to aid them rather than telling them exactly what to do.''


    From the seventh battle on, Ss began to take action. This wasn''t because he was needed, but more so to get them used to him covering for them. If they were in the middle of a battle and got support when it was unexpected, it could be just as bad as if he didn''t support them at all, potentially even worse.


    As expected, they were taken off guard at first, but they slowly adjusted to it while also beginning to feel hints of reverence as well.


    They had never seen a master of telekinesis, and Ss felt even more effective than their archers. His own physical power was shocking enough, but to think he would be able to range support himself at the same time.


    That alone was enough to make them respect Ss more, but when he began using his Madness to attack the minds of the beasts they faced off against, that respect turned to near


    reverence.


    By the time they approached their destination, Ss had already gained his first 8/10 Favorability rating.


    -


    "Where are they?" Licirius stood in the middle of the forest with a frown on his face.


    He had left soon after Ss and the others, and was obviously prepared to intercept them. A genius like Ss would likely have a scouting method of some sort, so he had taken a roundabout method to get here so he wouldn''t be detected ahead of time, then he went ahead andid out several traps.


    Since he was moving alone, the odds that he would be able to get here first was also very high. It was impossible that they would be able to get out ahead of him even if he took the long way.


    Even if Ss had the speed, his squadron certainly wouldn''t.


    So... where were they?


    ...


    At that moment, Ss and his team were crouched at the edge of a clearing. Up ahead, there was a troop of horses, but none of them were simple by any means.


    They had muscles popping out of their coats and their hooves and tails were covered in a cyclone of blue wind that sometimes looked like flickering mes.


    [Blue Cyclone Horse (F+) (Mount)]


    [Level: 12]


    [Attribute: Wind]


    [+50% Speed and Dexterity]


    [Limit: 308 Speed and Dexterity]


    This location was a spawn point for Mounts. Unlike creature Dens, Mounts had to be captured or hatched. Well, Ss wasn''t sure if this was always the case, but at least in this one, it was. This point had spawned a few dozen Blue Cyclone Horses, and if they wanted to capture them, they would need to subdue them without killing them.


    Normally, Ss'' Profession should have been perfect for this. After all, he was a Beast Tamer. It was just unfortunate that his Profession had now been 100% tailored to the Serpentes. He didn''t have any skills that could be used on other creatures...


    At least not on the surface.


    Telling his team to stay in ce, Ss suddenly shot out like a rocket. He was so fast that the horses didn''t notice him until he was already within ten meters of his target.


    Before they could react, he summoned his Totem and used <Stunning Spike>.


    The horse was taken aback and froze in ce. By the time it awoke, Ss was already on its back. But it couldn''t even buck before <Astral Bind> was cast and the full brunt of Ss'' Madness descended upon it.


    The Blue Cyclone Horse fell to its knees, shivering on the ground. Saliva foamed at its mouth and its tongue hung out limply. All this time, it couldn''t even begin to move beneath the effects of Madness and <Astral Bind>.


    In a single swift instance, Ss had subdued the leader of this band of horses, and the others didn''t know what to do as they too shook in fear.


    Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ss signaled the others and began to bind this new


    mount.


    Looking up to the skies, a hidden light flickered in Ss'' eyes.


    ''They should be wondering where I am right about now... but who said I could only go to the location of missions I ept?''

 Chapter 328: About Right [Bonus]

    Chapter 328: About Right [Bonus]


    ?


    The Blue Cyclone Horses practically soared through the forest. They were incredibly agile creatures, could withstand a tall load, and were exceptionally light on their feet. It was clear at a nce why the military would want such mounts. Although they still couldn''t be used in battle, just for making it from point A to point B, they were invaluable.


    Unfortunately, Ss hadn''t been able to find any Combat Mounts on the list. Either they were locked away to only be seen by Colonels or Generals, or they were far rarer than he understood


    now.


    Soon, Ss gave a signal for them to slow down. Up ahead was a vige, but it still wasn''t the Hobgoblin vige. Ss felt like they needed a trial to work out the kinks in their teamwork. Everyone put their mounts away in the pouches that Ss had bought for them. They were expensive, more than a thousand F Coins each, but Ss had already nned ahead for this expense. It would be worth it in the end.


    After everyone was prepared and in top condition, they attacked. The target was Gnoll Vige 087, and they were quite a bit sharper than thest gnolls that Ss had battled, though far less lucky. They didn''t have a Den and ss Stele like Gnoll Vige 019 had. It took the group just a bit over an hour to wipe them out and im the City Stele.


    Ss stored it away along with everything else, leaving his team shocked. They had never seen a storage device with so much space. In fact, they had never seen a storage device that could store a City Stele at all. Wouldn''t this make things far more convenient?


    "We will divide the spoilster," Ss began before he startedmenting on their teamwork. All things considered, it was fine enough for the task he wanted of them, but they just weren''t... elite enough. That was the main problem.


    For example, the archers, Mini and Tekk, were hesitant to fire when the target was too close to an ally because their archery skill wasn''t high enough. Often, they were sidelined while the tanks were engaged ahead. Ss, byparison, was easily able to provide support even in close quarters because his telekinesis was always exceptionally urate.


    Such things were hard to fix in a short time because it wasn''t a mental error, it was a physical limit, and maybe even a talent limit. There wasn''t much Ss could do about this, and he also wasn''t sure how much he wanted to invest in this team. This military position was just a stepping stone for him. So, he focused on fixing what he could, and when he was satisfied, they set off again.


    They hit two more semi-easy viges and quickly their wealth was growing a great deal.


    ...


    ''Three City Steles, this is good. This already leaves Cassarae with enough to reach the Town level.'' Established City Steles could swallow other City Steles for benefits. With these City Steles, Cassarae wouldn''t have to spend the 100,000 Coins she needed to finish her building upgrades. Instead, she could exchange the broken City Steles for them instead.


    Normally, most wouldn''t be willing to do this. But in a situation like this one, speed was more important than maximizing benefits.


    ''The time is about right now...''


    Ss allowed his team to rest. They had just been through three battles, and though most of the time between was spent on idle travel thanks to their new mounts, that could hardly be counted as rest. He, himself, was beginning to feel some hints of fatigue, so he could imagine how they felt. They settled down, ate, and replenished their Aether.


    The group set off once again afterward, but this time they all knew what their true target was.


    **


    Licirius had been waiting for hours, choosing patience over acting rashly. But that patience went out the window when he saw the first vige conquering pir from a distance. At first, it felt like a coincidence, but then two more came just hours apart.


    Could it really be Ss? Did he pick a mission as a decoy, never having the intention toplete it?


    Thinking to this point, Licirius'' expression became ugly, but that was only for a moment before it was reced by a sneer. In fact, he almostughed. Ss was digging his own grave. epting missions withoutpleting them was definitely a military crime as well. In fact, if they did some finagling, the fact that Ss was using the list of missions to line his own pockets could certainly be attacked as well.


    Maybe Ss had just given them an even better avenue of attack here.


    After wasting an entire day here, Licirius returned.


    **


    Ss held up a hand and everyone slowed. They were still three kilometers from their target, but this sort of caution was more than warranted for this particr vige.


    "You all remain here for a moment. I will return in a bit."


    Ss shot forward without waiting for their responses. He covered the remaining distance in not even five minutes.


    By now, the sun had gone down and he was far harder to spot, but a target as intelligent as the Hobgoblins would certainly have night vision capabilities, so he continued to be cautious.


    He scouted out the city from a distance.


    This time, this vige wasn''t surrounded by forest. Instead, they were almost half a dock. They had a few small ships that faced the flowing river and they used the water as a natural barrier and defense.


    ''No, there''s more... it looks like they have a few creatures under their control as well. If someone tried to use their Aether to cross over, they''ll end up in a battle that''ll surely alert


    everyone...''


    The rest of the vige was surrounded by a solid wall built not from logs but stone.


    After feeling he had a strong enough understanding, Ss rushed forward... Right toward the main gate.

 Chapter 329: Megapiranha [Bonus]

    Chapter 329: Megapiranha [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss took a deep breath in as he appeared before the gate in what looked like a shstep. His Aether whirled around him with a great sharpness, and suddenly ck scales erupted across his skin.


    .


    Basic Aetherflow rolled and rumbled.


    BOOM!


    The sudden attack rocked the night. The heavy gates trembled before they were suddenly blown off their hinges. Without the protection of a formation, the doors were just normal thick wood. Although it was impossible for Ss to destroy them with his current strength, if it was just a matter of forcing their mechanisms to snap and fail...


    He could do that ten times over.


    The ck scales vanished from Ss, and the Basilisk King suddenly appeared by his side. They rushed forward together and unleashed a ughter, killing five guards before they even knew what happened. Three more died simply due to the weight of the door falling on them from above.


    In what felt like a few blinks, the entire city was thrown into a state of absolute turmoil.


    ''Time to go,'' Ss thought.


    He took the Basilisk King away and rushed out into the night. But he didn''t forget to store away the tworge doors he had flung from their hinges. If he just left them here, it would be too easy for the Hobgoblins to put them back up. By then, what would have been the point of all of this?


    ''They don''t have as many sieging weapons as the pig demons had. As expected, Archibald and Azrael were two anomalies. Normal viges at this level won''t have so many defenses. That makes things far easier.''


    He hade here alone first to make the next assault easier, and second to double-check if they would have to deal with rapid-fire ballista units. Since they didn''t have to, the rest would be far more straightforward.


    [Kargan (FFF-)]


    [Level: 17]


    [Physical: 297]


    [Mental: 323]


    [Will: 288]


    Kargan woke up with a start and was immediately infuriated when he learned what happened. Who dared to attack his vige like this?!


    However, after having such thoughts, he calmed down. This person had attacked so swiftly, and they came from the front gate before retreating even more swiftly.


    Something was fishy about this. They were likely to be preparing for another attack.


    "Gather up the army! Prepare for an enemy attack!"


    Kargan did the opposite of what the enemy likely thought he would do. He didn''t chase. Instead, he gathered up his men and prepared them for battle.


    The hobgoblins were about 5''7" to 5''9" in height. They had fierce red skin that looked as though they had just been boiled alive, and their ears stood tall and sharp. When they were gathered together, wearing matching leather armor, it looked as though they were an army of demons that had just marched out from the gates of hell...


    But it was all useless.


    They waited for hours, but the army Kargan was expecting didn''te.


    The hobgoblin leader could only feel more and more humiliated as the time ticked on.


    ''Was it a one-time attack, or?''


    No, that was impossible. Kargan didn''t believe that this was the end of it. That meant that, more likely than not, this person was going to use hit-and-run tactics.


    ''If they''re using hit-and-run tactics, then their next attack shoulde at an optimal time and there''ll be no more optimal time than...''


    Kargan''s eyesnded on the broken gates, and he realized something. No wonder. This mysterious enemy wanted to attack again likely when they were focused on fixing their gates.


    ''In that case, I''ll leave a little trap for them.''


    Kargan sneered, feeling that he understood what the real n was now.


    The hobgoblins began to fix the gates, but from the outside, no one could tell that it was actually the elite guards of Kargan who were doing this manualbor. Not only that... but that was only just the firstyer of traps that Kargan hadid.


    ...


    Ss approached the vige again. As expected, they were focused on rebuilding the gate now after wasting an entire night. There was a cold indifference in his eyes as things continued to go to n.


    As the sun began to set, he prepared to attack again. When the first light of the moon shone, he bolted forward.


    However, while Kargan was expecting an attack on the workers fixing the gates, Ss approached from the river. He dove down below andid eyes on three protector beasts.


    [Megapiranha (FFF-)]


    [Level: 15]


    [Physical: 341]


    [Mental: 299]


    [Will: 273]


    It was an extinct breed of piranha. They were almost a meter long, and their ferociousness seemed to have been dialed up to an extreme.


    The moment they sensed Ss, they went rabid, and the water began to churn.


    ''Three of them...'' Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but narrow. Still, he was prepared.


    The Megapiranha were fast and their teeth were powerful, but their Constitution was


    definitely their weakest stat.


    The moment they appeared around Ss, he moved. He took out three Ice-Poison pouches and threw them into the open maws of the fish.


    The change wasn''t instantaneous, so they had already appeared before him. They bit down, looking to shred him apart from three different regions.


    Ss'' gaze shed and he unleashed a prepared Skill. <Astral Bound> collided with the piranha that gave him the most pressure, then he easily slipped out of the way of thest two.


    He moved and dodged smoothly, not attacking directly so that themotion in the water would be the weakest possible.


    As expected, by the third exchange, the piranhas began to move with far less speed. By the sixth, a chilling cold had begun toe from them, and by the tenth, ice was already


    crackling over their scales.


    Blue runes drilled through their bodies and eventually froze them all the way through.


    They stopped moving, falling to the bottom of the ocean silently.


    After double-checking that they were dead and storing them away, Ss'' eyes slowly peeked


    out of the water.

 Chapter 330: Kargan

    Chapter 330: Kargan


    ?


    During the battle, Ss had focused on dodging and made use of his telekinesis to keep the water turbulence from getting too great. After silently killing their guardians, there was no one to stand in his way, and there was also no one who had even noticed what was going on here.


    Kargan had focused all his elites at the front gate, and that gave Ss free rein.


    Before he hade, he used <Astral Will Fission>. Although he didn''t dare to get too close to most here, he had a good understanding of theyout, and he knew where to find his targets.


    He slipped onto the dock and killed the two guards in quick session. They were silently pulled into his Madness Key, and no one was the wiser.


    After this, he had an easy stroll into the vige.


    He moved from home to home, killing those he came across swiftly and silently. Even when there was a slight scuffle, the noise was within reasonable enough limits that it didn''t alert many at all.


    After a while, he had already killed as much as half the Hobgoblins in the vige. They appeared only in groups of two and three, and because they thought their elites were alreadyying the perfect trap, their guard was down.


    None of them would realize that they were being massacred one by one until it was far, far toote.


    Ss cast a nce toward Kargan''s abode, but after a while, he shook his head.


    ''No, this much is enough for now.''


    He retreated. It was time for a full frontal attack. But before that...


    Ss silently returned to the dock and cut away the small ships.


    These small battle ships were designed for five people at most. There were a half dozen of them; they were robust, and they had a single harpoon unit angled at the front. They were clearly designed to be more fast and agile than they were to be robust defensive vessels. Ss took them all, left a sudden noise, and then vanished into the night.


    ...


    When Kargan saw that his ships were gone, his fury practically rose to his head and exited his ears as steam. He couldn''t remember ever being sopletely infuriated in his life. But soon, it was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped onto his head. That was because he had finally noticed... that half his army had vanished right under his nose.


    At first, their vige was at least 60 strong. But now, they barely had over 20.


    Though they hadn''t lost a single elite, this sort of loss was something that was enough to make his organs ache.


    And it was right then that the sound of a battle''s precursor echoed in his ears.


    The enemies had suddenly begun their frontal assault.


    ...


    Tam, Rajon, and Bellen took the vanguard, roaring and bashing their shields as though they would be disappointed if the Hobgoblins didn''t know that they wereing.


    By this point, the hobgoblins had already stopped pretending to fix the gate and were resting and assessing their losses. But that didn''t mean that they were any less prepared for a battle.


    Until now, they still hadn''t gotten any eyes on those that were attacking them, so the moment they did, they saw red.


    Theirpanions and many of their vige mates had just vanished, and they were under no illusions. Their own had clearly been killed in droves, and they had been humiliated to the extent that they didn''t even know how it had happened.


    The hobgoblins unleashed a furious charge, ramming into the three tanks, and a battle erupted.


    The elites of the hobgoblins were Level 15 existences, a level above Ss'' team. When they were infuriated like this, they seemed to have unleashed a berserker Skill that increased their strength by an additional 30%.


    Ss, who was in the middle of their formation, noticed this immediately, but it didn''t faze him. However, the same couldn''t be said for Kargan.


    The hobgoblin leader was infuriated by the choice of his men. Their berserker Skill should only be used in the most pressing of situations. Using it at the start of battle like this...


    ''Comprehension!'' It suddenly dawned on the hobgoblin leader, but it was toote. Ss'' Madness had taken hold of his men, and all of them had erupted with their greatest strength at the very onset. Instead of making use of their intelligence and numbers'' advantage, they attacked like rabid, wild animals.


    Kargan wanted to hurry and support them, to at least crush the three shieldmen and take proper advantage of their berserk Skill. But at that moment, Ss took advantage of their one-track minds to slip past their periphery.


    He appeared in the depths of the vige again, blocking Kargan''s path forward. Ss'' team took a defensive approach, relying on their equipment to kite the rampaging hobgoblins while Ss stifled their leader''s ability to go and support them.


    He exchanged several blows with Kargan in an instant. Thetter didn''t have the chance to take out a weapon before he was sent stumbling back several steps.


    Ss was at a point where he could hold his own against the likes of Licirius in terms of skill alone. Although he wasn''t yet on Licirius'' level and still had a ways to go, against the likes of Kargan, a spawn demon who wasn''t even using his main weapon, he was too far beyond.


    "DAMMIT! ON ME, THE REST OF YOU!" Kargan roared.


    The rest of the hobgoblins rushed forward. Kargan realized he had to kill Ss as quickly as possible, or else everything would be finished.


    He waved a hand, and a scimitar appeared in his grip. His aura changed, and he swung a swift three strikes at Ss. Or so it seemed.


    Ss'' eyes saw three swords, but his visualization only saw one supported by two arcs of Aether.


    But unlike the illusions he used, these were real strikes.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.

 Chapter 331: 5000

    Chapter 331: 5000


    ?


    The three blows attacked him from three sides at once. Ss felt a hint of danger, making his hair stand on end. At the end of the day, Kargan was still a Level 17, and unlike Licirius, who hadn''t used Skills for one reason or another, this hobgoblin wouldn''t make such a mistake.


    It wasn''t just that either. Ss wasn''t the only one who could make use of treasures to bolster his skills. With the boosts Kargan was getting from his armor and scimitar, his stats might have read in the high 2008, but they were likely closer to 400 or so.


    For Ss, who didn''t have a single 200 Physical stat, he could easily be overwhelmed if he was careless.


    <Arctic Howl>.


    Ss roared, and a frosty sphere-shaped of blue runes echoed from him.


    DING. DING. DING.


    He immediately countered with a Basic Aetherflow-infused fist. It collided right with Kargan''s chest, forcing him to cough and take two steps back.


    ''This leather armor is strong.''


    Though Ss thought this, he wasn''t slow in his reaction time. The moment his skillnded, he took a breath and activated a little-known skill for the first time.


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 40/second]


    [Special Buff: +60% to all Ice-Poison Skills used]


    After studying the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Ice-Poison sack, he had already improved <Arctic Howl> and <Chilling Scythe> to Gold Mastery. As for <Arctic King''s Domain>, he had already improved it to Silver.


    The moment the hobgoblins Kargan called over started to get into range, they found a blue Domain rapidly expanding toward them.


    The soil beneath them became an icy blue, the crackling of ice echoing.


    Ss'' Aether continued to plummet as the Domain expanded, and he only stopped it after he had rushed it all the way to a ten-meter diameter. It took him an entire 10 Units of Aether to aplish this, and it would take another Unit of Aether to keep it going for one minute. But for 40 Damage a second, Kargan''s subordinates would be hard-pressed to survive five seconds, and Kargan himself would find it difficult to survive even twice that.


    However, the benefit of <Arctic King''s Domain> didn''t end there. Even while it was active, it made the Aether of his enemies run slower and their bodies turn stiff, something that Ss himself had experienced. And on top of that...


    His Ice-Poison Skills also increased by another +60% beneath its might. This was the power of an FFF- Skill.


    [Chilling Scythe (F+) (Skill)]


    [Damage: 140]


    [Special Damage: 40/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    And then there was a 60% boost to the Ice-Poison Special Damage... Ss drew his palm across the air in a slicing motion. Without a tail, this was the best he could do. The tradeoff was that the skill deployed with much less speed like this. But, when itnded...


    The result was no less devastating.


    A Chilling Scythe suddenly appeared before a hobgoblin. Dodging was futile, especially since unlike the Arctic King Cobra''s, Ss had Basic Aetherflow, which allowed him to control his Skills with his telekinesis.


    Their chest was mmed into without fanfare.


    They were sent tumbling back, but their life was still intact... for only a moment.


    The extra damage hit, and blue veins began to pulse up their necks and out from the corners of their eyes. Against their red skin, it looked particrly ghastly, especially when these veins glowed in the dark.


    They froze into a block of ice before cracking and shattering into blue dust that flew through the wind.


    The eerie sight froze many in ce. Even Ss'' team, who was only watching this from a distance, felt their blood run cold. This was the first time that Ss had disyed his ss Skills before them because he didn''t yet have enough Mastery of <Arctic King''s Domain> to avoid harming them while it was deployed.


    But this sight was practically ingrained into their very brains...


    Their Captain was strong!


    What good was the armor of these hobgoblins when this poison sunk into their very bones?


    ...


    What remained of the battle could be described simply. Separated from his team, Kargan couldn''t affect things the way he wanted to and eventually died an unwilling death beneath Ss'' Domain.


    The elites were dealt with by Ss'' team. All they had to do was form a strong enough front and outsmart the berserk hobgoblins. They had already set up several traps and kited them perfectly. When they had formed arge enough distance between themselves and the hobgoblins, they used their Blue Cyclone Horses to escape, and then used the boats Ss stole to rush to the other side of the river.


    The Skill of the hobgoblins ran dry, and by the time Ss was finished with Kargan and the stragglers, they were a single kunai swipe away from losing their heads.


    The only unfortunate thing was that after this, Ss realized that he truly couldn''t use his kunai in battle any longer. Otherwise, they would be destroyed. It seemed he would have to check the System City to see if he could find a cksmith to repair them.


    Without much suspense, they conquered the city. However, they didn''t return immediately.


    After resting for the night, Ss spent the next three days conquering various other viges in the surroundings. By the end of it, they had gathered over 230 demon corpses, all of which came with Coin and Gene Rewards.


    Ss had yet to check through everything, but given the variety, he should have around 12 to 1300 Common Physical Genes of each kind. Meaning, he had around 5000 total Genes of the Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, and Speed variety.


    Demons, unlike beasts in the wild, usually gave out two sets of Genes, and these guys were powerful enough to hand out around 10 or so of each kind.


    The biggest gains, though, were obviously from the hobgoblin vige. It was the only vige he got Bronze Genes from. Not only did he get Bronze Genes, but he got several Intelligence and Wisdom Genes. He got one each from the ten elites, and two Intelligence and one Wisdom from their leader. Thanks to that, he had 12 Intelligence and 11 Wisdom Bronze Genes now.


    On top of that, there would be an unknown number of treasures that manifested from their Gene Cores, on top of around 30,000 or so F Coins once everything was borne out. It could be said that the overall gains were tremendous.


    ''It''s time to return. By now, they should have had enough time to prepare their little trap...''

 Chapter 332: Hot

    Chapter 332: Hot


    ?


    The return to Guiz City was without much fanfare. Just like before, Ss was allowed to directly enter the city and made his way to the military encampment.


    There was a reason that most didn''t take his approach to things. Unless a mission was epted, the associated Hero Points couldn''t be exchanged for. This wasn''t a worthwhile tradeoff.


    This was why Licirius and Plinli didn''t think that Ss would take this route, along with the fact that, from their perspective, Ss shouldn''t have any idea that they were running the city.


    Now they felt that they had been given a convenient reason to target Ss, and that was exactly why, the moment Ss returned to the encampment, he found a group waiting to detain him.


    The man at the head was the very same Captain he had reced, a man who went by Captain Bas normally, but now could only be known as Bas.


    "Captain Ss, you have been court-martialed. ept your detainment."


    Bas stepped forward with a stern expression, but the glee hidden in the depths of his eyes couldn''t be hidden from Ss. To his surprise, however, not only did Ss casually hold his wrists out for capture, but it was his very own old team that stepped forward to say something.


    "Captain Bas, what is the meaning of this?" Jean spoke up. Though he didn''t dare to block the guards from arresting Ss, as that would also be against militaryw, he had to say something.


    They had been with Ss the whole time, and he had only just joined the military. So how could he have possibly done anything worthy of being court-martialed?


    Bas was taken aback. Jean was the most dissatisfied with Ss'' appointment; he expected that Jean would be thest to step out in an attempt to protect him. But this reality only made Bas more unhappy.


    "This has been ordered by the City Lord. Stand down."


    Jean was about to say something more when Ss spoke lightly.


    "Stand down. I''m sure the military proceedings will bear out the proper result."


    Bas'' expression became uglier when Jean became obedient. It had only been a day; what had Ss fed them to garner such obedience?


    Ss was dragged away, and themotion wasn''t small. A Captain court-martialed on day one of active duty? That had to be some sort of record.


    ...


    Ss was ced into a cell and made to wait. This part was probably the worst of what he would have to suffer, but his expression didn''t change at all. He knew that they could easily make him wait several days, but he also knew that the system would have a cap.


    These alien races didn''t have the capital to act as freely as they wanted, and there would be a limit to how much they could bend the rules. That was only further borne out by the fact they hadn''t taken anything from him. Though, it was hard to say if it was just the fact that the Madness Key couldn''t be taken away. After all, even Ss couldn''t take it off even if he tried.


    Realizing that they would likely make him wait in an attempt to break him, Ss took a different approach. This was as good a time as any to practice.


    There were two things on his mind. The first was his Comprehension and the second was <Madness Control>. Funny enough, both were along the same vein.


    Ss believed that his Comprehension was likely what he would need in order to upgrade <Madness Control> like he was expected to.


    ''I can upgrade the Madness Key further. I still have the three Megapiranha corpses...''


    He had realized long ago that he could increase the size of the Madness Key by allowing it to absorb excess Genes. But it wouldn''t just grow in size; it would also increase the sensory perception of Madness that Ss could get from it.


    After some thought, Ss ended up letting the Madness Key absorb three of the six Bronze Dexterity Genes that the Megapiranhas provided.


    The Madness Key reached a peak of 20 cubic meters after being loaded up with Common Genes-which was already ridiculouslyrge for a spatial device. However, after that, no matter how many more Common Genes he fed it, it neither grew nor did the concentration of Madness increase.


    By that point, it was obvious to him that it needed Bronze Genes, and this was easily proven correct.


    Each of the three Bronze Genes helped the Madness Key gain an additional 10 cubic meters for a total of 50 cubic meters. Most buildings wouldn''t even be that height. Ss could easily fit a dozen two-garage homes into this sort of space and still have space left over. He had already been able to easily fit those half a dozen boats along with over 200 corpses into his spatial device, and now it was even more exaggerated.


    ''It seems that it hasn''t reached a limit yet, but Intelligence and Wisdom Genes are too valuable to use on something like this. I''ll have to make a point to capture more Bronze Physical Genes when I get out of here. For now, let''s focus.''


    Ss began a silent meditation on Madness, forgetting the world around him. Ironically, this was the first time in a long while he had the safety and security to practice like this. Meditating on Madness disallowed him the ability to control it, so it would end up leaking out and affecting his surroundings. If he was in the wilderness, that would certainly bring him trouble.


    He surely had to thank Plinli and Licirius this time around.


    He sank further and further, and soon he ended up in another daze. He forgot that he was supposed to be meditating on Madness and began having shbacks of his life until hended on Cassarae again.


    His blood began to rush about, and his heartbeat quickened.


    ''She''s so hot...''


    If he was in his normal state of mind, he would have already snapped out of it. He had never described a woman like that in his life.

 Chapter 333: Bubbling Up

    Chapter 333: Bubbling Up


    ?


    Ss was a normal straight man. When he saw women that he thought were beautiful, it wasn''t as though he was blind to it, nor was he asexual.


    The difference between him and others was that he was also able to easily disce himself from that state of mind. What was below his waist didn''t dictate his actions.


    He had always known how beautiful Cassarae was. She was so beautiful that the boys of their high school were willing to wade through the hellish fires of that abusive mouth of hers just for a chance. Of course, too many failed. It wasn''t easy to feign confidence in front of a mouth like that.


    Still, Ss couldn''t help but wonder when she had be beautiful to him.


    Cassarae''s favorite choice of clothes growing up was a pair of loose pants with as many pockets as the design would fit and a shirt that was just as loose.


    He really didn''t look at her like a woman for much of his life, and it was quite easy to do considering the way she talked. But he did like her. In fact, he had liked her before he really saw her as beautiful in any way... her beauty, in a way, made him feel ufortable.


    Ss was suddenly stunned out of his thoughts. No matter how deep of a meditation he was in, the thought was too stunning. He broke out into a bit of a cold sweat.


    Touching his forehead, he found that it was quite hot, but when he looked down, he realized that it wasn''t because he was scared or fearful, but because he was literally in heat.


    Ss frowned.


    Every time he made arge breakthrough in Madness, it was always as a result of self- reflection. In fact, it was self-reflection about his own weaknesses that had saved his life back in the volcano.


    One could argue that that vulnerability was far worse than this one, but the thought he had just had... felt far too ridiculous.


    He was a man. Why wouldn''t he like a beautiful woman?


    Ss stared at the bars he was locked behind, and several memories that he seemed to have suppressed began toe up. His thoughts became a bit muddled, and shes of that figure wrapped in red ribbon bubbled up in his mind.


    He shook his head.


    In the end, he tried to ignore it, shifting his thoughts elsewhere. But when he tried to pivot, nothing was working. He kept returning to the same thoughts.


    He ended up shifting gears entirely and began to study the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Ice-Poison sack once again. The benefits he got from it were great, and he was even beginning to wonder if he would be able to use Ice-Poison more casually if he reached a certain level.


    He didn''t have a venom sack in him for obvious reasons, so he couldn''t just inject poison into an enemy through a bite or passively create it. But there was nothing that said that he couldn''t mimic the same result if he used his Aether.


    Ice-Poison Aether ran through his veins right this moment, and for now, he only seemed to be able to passively tap into its defense. This was seen most clearly when he used his Aether skin.


    He still recalled how Ice Aether had practically paralyzed him back then after his sh with a government woman. There was no reason that his own Aether shouldn''t be able to do the same things.


    He lost himself in his analysis, and the next day, he woke with a start and smiled somewhat bitterly.


    Looking at the sack most wouldn''t dare toe within several meters of resting in his palms, not to mention the frigid ice crawling across the ground and up the walls beside him, he realized that there was nothing more to learn. He had grasped everything.


    All of his Arctic Royal ss Skills were now at Legendary Mastery. He couldn''t help but wonder if it was truly meant to be so easy... but then again, he did have a shortcut.


    What Ss didn''t know was that the vast majority of Skills on Earth right this moment were stuck at Fragmented Mastery. People could already be ssified as elite for having Common Mastery in a Skill. But he was on a level all his own.


    ''Still noting, huh?''


    Ss looked around only to find that the guards had mostly retreated from his surroundings due to the cold, and there was clearly no oneing to get him any time soon.


    [Tickets: 401]


    ''They haven''t increased nearly as much as I thought they would have...''


    It had to be remembered that since he earned 212 Tickets, he had imed a Den, be a Baron, be a Captain, conquered several viges, imed a Mount... the number of feats seemed endless, but he hadn''t even doubled the initial reward.


    It seemed the difficulty of surpassing the feat of gaining the system''s acknowledgment was exceptionally high. He doubted anyone else would have gathered more than a handful of tickets.


    ''There''s a day and a half left... I guess we''ll just have to wait and see if I''ll be pulling my rewards from within a cell or not.''


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Shake of the Die (F+)]


    [The Odds shift ever against you, but you''re more than willing to y them]


    [Title Devours BOSS yer]


    [+0%-5% boost in ALL stats randomly when facing ten or more enemies five or more Levels


    strong]


    [Progress to Upgrade]


    [2/3 - Ten on One Melee Fight Completed]


    It also looked like he just had one more melee fight before his Title was upgraded. He hadn''t experienced many benefits from it at all, but maybe it wouldn''t be long before it was something far more shocking.


    It seemed, though, that the only fight it counted was the one he used his Arctic King Emperor Domain in. He had a few guesses as to why that was.


    Ss sighed. It seemed that there wasn''t anything else to waste his time on.


    This was truly the best environment he could ask for to meditate on Madness. If he didn''t take advantage of it because of apprehension, it would be the most foolish thing he could do.


    Once again, he slipped into a deep meditation and images of a body he couldn''t forget even if he tried began to bubble up from the depths of his mind.

 Chapter 334: Daze

    Chapter 334: Daze


    ?


    Ss was in aplete daze.


    It was easy to forget the caliber of woman Cassarae was, especially for Ss. But these


    memories made his mouth dry and his body began reacting in ways he had forgotten it could act in.


    He had left his teenage angst years far behind and was a grown man. But the emotions were so intense it was like he was put right back in that moment.


    His mind shook and seemed to overheat.


    He burst out of his state of meditation again, gasping for breath. He breathed in deeply, trying to regain control of himself, but his body wouldn''t listen to him.


    Looking down, he found something quite unsightly down below. He shook his head and thanked something unknown for the fact he had chilled his cell to such a degree before he entered another state of meditation, or else who knew how hot it would have gotten?


    Ss pressed his palms to his forehead. From the outside looking in, others must have thought that this seclusion was getting to him, but only he knew that he felt like he was losing his mind for an entirely different reason.


    Emotions he thought he had forgotten came bubbling back up. Humiliation... trepidation... possessiveness.


    It was thest one that really shook him to his very core.


    He remembered that day well although he had somehow hypnotized himself into forgetting. She told him that there was a surprise, and knowing Cassarae, he thought that it was some sort of prank. But he didn''t expect her toe out of her bedroom wearing that.


    He remembered every little detail. The blush that covered her from head to toe, the rare nervous smile on her face, he could even recall exactly how fast her heart was beating at the time. Its movement had been so rapid that he could see it through the slight sheen of sweat on her corbone. And...


    He also remembered his exact thoughts at that moment.


    ''She''s mine.''


    An almost violent glint and savage greed flickered in Ss'' eyes. It came with an almost primal desire for conquering, buffeted only by his greed to devour and consume.


    It was as though society had dulled his de and all of a sudden, on that day, it became unprecedentedly sharp. He didn''t care about anything other than pressing this beautiful woman beneath him until she couldn''t take it anymore.


    He remembered being shocked by his own thoughts, so lost in their world, so focused on trying to figure out where the hell they hade from, that he had forgotten entirely about the woman beneath him.


    He had flung her onto the bed and pressed her beneath him. He remembered the look in her eye, there was a bit of shock, a bit of fear, and a bit of anticipation and attraction. It was as though she had seen a side of him just now that she hadn''t seen before... a side she kind of liked.


    But he couldn''t feel that way at all.


    He could recall how she touched him, how her excitement faded to worry, and then self- me as though she was the problem. But the entire time, his mind was in a fog he couldn''t control.


    Just who was that Ss? Was it really Ss Brown? Or was it Ss Grimde?


    Even now, he didn''t particrly feel that the emotions were wrong, and maybe that in and of itself was wrong... maybe that was the scariest thing...


    He only felt that it was natural, only natural to take her as possession, only natural toy his mark, only natural to make her his in every bit the same sense he would any other object. No... his mind at least granted her the status of Treasure. But was that any better?


    His time in the world, trained by the standards of modern society, told him that it was wrong. But something deep inside of him just didn''t care, and that was unusual for him.


    He was someone who always followed the rules, always did the right thing even if it wasn''t something that he wanted to do. But in this case, he couldn''t seem to leap over that hurdle.


    Maybe it was because his teenage hormones had been raging too fiercely, but somewhere deep inside, he knew that it was something else.


    The rules of society didn''t have any obvious, hard line rules about sex. In fact, unless in the case of force or an age gap, there were no rules to speak of at all. If Cassarae consented and he made her his, he had technically done nothing wrong even if it was frowned upon morally...


    But he had never been a person that listened to the normal bounds of morality. He couldn''t care less...


    [Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral]


    [Moral Spin: Chaotic]


    Ss stared into the gaps of light between his fingers, recalling the alignment and spin Legacy had given him. Was this the perfect representation of that? Could Lawful Neutral mean that he was usually ready to follow thew, no matter what it may be... but chaotic referred to how he could easily slip off the rails if it truly suited him best...?


    But in that case, why did he care so much this time? If all he cared about was his own bottom line at the end of the day, why had he been so frozen that day?


    Ss'' mind was a clouded mess and he could hear the nging of doors and chains, but it was as though he couldn''t hear them at all. Even when his cell door was opened and he was violently pulled to his feet, he still didn''t react.


    The world was a vacant husk to him as a flickering green me danced in the depths of his eyes. If one could meet his gaze now, it would have felt almost like they were looking into the sockets of a walking dead skeleton.


    That was when it hit him.


    It was because he had actually cared then. The answer was so obvious.


    His own desires, and what he thought Cassarae''s might or might not be had shed.


    And this time, he actually gave a damn what the other party might think.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 335: But I Have

    Chapter 335: But I Have


    ?


    The guards holding Ss were blown away, a zing green me threatening to burn the dungeon to the ground. The chains on Ss'' wrists and ankles rattled so hard that one would have thought that they mightpletely shatter, but Ss himself stood in ce as though nothing at all had happened.


    His Will became sharper and more concentrated, so much so that his thoughts practically became tangible. He didn''t move, but the guards, who had already picked themselves up, found it difficult even to get close.


    It wasn''t a physical restraint, but it was like if they got any closer, their minds wouldpletely copse.


    He finally understood.


    [Your Comprehension of Madness has deepened]


    [Madness has reached Silver Mastery]


    [Madness (F) - Silver]


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+400% Charisma]


    [+250% Will]


    [Tickets: 451]


    He could feel his Gluttony Seed thrumming with life as though a mysterious force had suddenly begun to feed it. His aura became sharper, more savage. Though his expression remained indifferent, there was something more real about it... as though he was more assured in the man he was.


    It was the kind of confidence that couldn''t be faked, the kind of confidence that even the most ipetent ofymen could feel to the depths of their very souls.


    Ss exhaled a slow breath and shook his body. Shards of ice poison fell from him and the guards shivered.


    It was a long while before they finally collected themselves enough to escort Ss. However, the fear on their expressions never faded.


    ...


    Ss walked into a simple court before he was escorted to an odd banister of sorts. In reality, it was just a small enclosure in the middle of the court where everyone could look down toward him. He wasn''t exactly caged since there was no ceiling, but it was also clear that he wasn''t meant to move around freely... well, if the ankle and wrist chains weren''t enough. Looking up, Ss saw that there was a panel of five people, including a familiar Captain Bas. It seemed that this form of court martial wouldn''t be tried by a single judge, but rather by this panel of people.


    Ss couldn''t help if they were truly so ipetent that in these days, none of them had questioned his team about what had happened, or if they had made him wait for so long in order toe up with a different contingency n.


    If it was thetter, things could still get troublesome. But Ss was calm... something that surprised the panel.


    They had heard that Ss had been showing signs of losing his mind in thest few hours, and that was part of why they chose to convene now. Well, there was only one person who could decide the when... and that should be a certain City Lord who had yet to show his face.


    Outside of the panel, there were many more that Ss didn''t recognize. They should be military men and women, a lot of whom also should have Noble Titles as well. These people were essentially the elites of Guiz City, and they were the reason Ss dared to do this.


    A gavel was brought down and a man with a handlebar mustache cleared his throat.


    "Are you aware of your crimes?"


    "No." Ss replied.


    This question wasn''t a forceful one. The rules of the city were odd, at least for court martials. They could arrest one first and wouldn''t bother with due process. Normally, for a court martial to be triggered, something significant had to have happened, and the party in question would already understand what they were being tried for.


    Regardless, Ss'' answer had essentially decided that this trial would begin with a list of Ss'' crimes instead of jumping into a defense.


    Ss found this a bit odd, but sometimes he recalled that often the system was quite game- like even though it also liked to remind him that this was very much not a game. This process seemed a lot like skipping endless dialogue in a video game... instead, Ss decided not to skip at all.


    "You, Captain Ss Grimde of our Guiz Corps, have been used of mishandling resources, falsely iming missions, and abusing your status for personal gain. This trial will be overseen by a panel of your peers. I am Colonel Hulk, this is... and finally, here is Former Captain Bas.


    "Do you have any misgivings about the current selection?"


    "I do." Ss nodded.


    The audience shifted, but Ss'' expression didn''t change. He knew that his words would actually displease the neutral judges on the panel; that was because they tended to believe in the process. They were military men and women, after all. Asking for a change to the panel was written into thew, but it was practically a taboo to use it.


    "State them." Colonel Hulk replied indifferently.


    "Can I have more details about why I''m being used of such things first?"


    Colonel Hulk nodded and continued in a colder voice. The things he said weren''t too surprising to Ss at all... which in and of itself was a surprise.


    That was because Colonel Hulk only cited the fact that he had imed a mission he didn''tplete and that he had taken advantage of the list of missions to line his pockets. The only thing that was somewhat unexpected was him being used of slowing down the logistics of the army because several teams had attempted toplete missions he already had. Was this really all they prepared? In fact, if Ss was correct, they only left him in his cage for so long because they were waiting for teams to stumble onto his alreadypleted missions. But Ss felt like this was a joke. He hade prepared with so many contingency ns, and this was the best they had? Did they look down on him that much? Or did they just look down on Earth in general that much?


    Ss opened his mouth and began to speak. His first words sent the court into an uproar.


    "You are trying me for a mission I''m being used of notpleting? But I have."

 Chapter 336: Pathetic

    Chapter 336: Pathetic


    ?


    A silence fell in the court. Colonel Hulk frowned and looked to the side. Something like this had never happened before.


    "It''s very clear here that the mission has not been cleared."


    "That''s because I was arrested the moment I returned to the encampment. There was no time for me to trade in proof of missionpletion."


    Silence fell once again.


    ''There''s something off here.''


    Ss was just as calm and collected as usual, but he didn''t allow that to stop his mind from racing. He was still having a hard time believing that the City Lord was too stupid to even check such a thing.


    What Ss didn''t know was that Plinli was incredibly limited in the actions he could take. The City Lord couldn''t even check the Nexus of Earth to understand Ss'' position; he could only deduce things by observing from afar.


    When Licirius gave him the information, he immediately acted on it. Even waiting the days out had been solely because they could only passively allow things to y out. They hadn''t sent any groups to clear the missions that Ss had already cleared. Instead, they had to wait until these teams naturally stumbled onto these alreadypleted missions and then began to fileints.


    Only then was the case against Ss able to be brought forward with more robustness.


    Things like questioning his teammates werepletely out of the purview of the City Lord. Plinli couldn''t even easily walk out of his abode.


    The system wasn''t so easy to screw over. It could be said that many of those like Azrael, Licirius, and Plinli were mostly taking advantage of the ignorance of the people of Earth.


    Of course, there were still many things that they could do against those that had this knowledge... but the question was if they were willing to pay the price to do so.


    In Plinli''s views, Ss was likely unaware that a City Lord was plotting and scheming against him in the first ce. He had no reason to tie Licirius to their city. After all, Licirius looked no different from a human in his disguise, and unless Ss could boast knowing the face of every single human on Earth, it would be too much of a leap in logic to assume that Licirius was tied to the System City.


    The one loophole in this was that Licirius''st name was Guiz, named after the city. But the problem was that Guiz City was mostly referred to as a System City, and even when Ss became a noble and learned of the city''s true name, the odds that his mind would be nimble enough to backtrack and connect something he had only seen in passing were impossible for most.


    This didn''t even ount for the fact that Licirius'' protections should be too high for even the most elite of humans to see his name disyed by the system.


    When things wereid out in this way, it was clear that plinli was trying to scheme against Ss with blinders on, and the longer the trial went on for, the more Ss recognized this as well.


    This was what the people of Earth had been losing to this entire time...?


    Wasn''t that too pathetic?


    ...


    "It''s clear that Captain Ss Grimde has been falsely used."


    Captain Bas¡ªwho had been arguing that even if Ss cleared the hobgoblin vige, he was still liable for taking on the other missions-was stifled by this decision.


    It was simply too circumstantial. If Ss insisted that he only stumbled onto those missions by ident while scouting the region, who was to say that he hadn''t?


    Plus, the role of the military was to clear these threats out not just for the sake of rewards but out of a sense of duty. The fact that Ss made a pledge to donate the Hero Points to the affected teams sealed the fact that the former Captain wouldn''t be able to get his way today.


    However, before the gavel fell, Ss spoke again.


    "A moment, please."


    Colonel Hulk''s action froze. Heid the gavel down and looked toward Ss with a half- guilty, half-meaningful expression. It looked like he was quite fond of Ss now. All things considered, he was a young Captain who had done great merit and could easily rise through the ranks in the future.


    As expected, most of the System City''s poption was real and true to Earth. All things considered, in the future, when the System Cities were fully integrated, these people would be Earthlings as well. Their makeup was entirely built with the Genes of Earth in mind. So how could they not want to watch the people of Earth flourish?


    "If you have anything to say, feel free." Colonel Hulk nodded in encouragement.


    "Thank you, Colonel. I only feel that if I keep this matter hidden, it might leave troubles for the city in the future.


    "This matter is very odd to me. I only left the city for four days, well within the normal time frame for suchplicated missions. All things considered, even if I had taken up to a month, it wouldn''t be an issue of time. From my understanding, the Hobgoblin Vige 182 mission has been avable for even more than a month, and it''s only gotten more difficult over time." After Ss said this much, even the Colonel began to frown. Indeed, this was odd. How could Ss be used of such a thing when it had been such a short time since he epted the mission?


    "I believe the panel and everyone present is sharp enough to see the problem here. I feel that I was targeted."


    Murmurs began to spread through the courtroom, but many of them were affirmatives. When things wereid out like this, it was only too obvious that this must be the case.


    Captain Bas felt a cold sweat mat his back, thinking that Ss was about toe for revenge. But what Ss said next was even more baffling.


    "ording to thews of Guiz City, a court martial can only be directed and convened by a General, and it must be approved by the City Lord. Either it must be reported by the General and assented to by the City Lord, or the City Lord must pass down an order to the General.


    "May I please know which of these cases triggered my court martial, as it will inform my next words?"

 Chapter 337: General Aleen

    Chapter 337: General Aleen


    ?


    Silence fell once more and an eerie sort of cold swept by. It was clear and obvious that Ss was going to target either the General or the City Lord, and while this made sense...


    Bold.


    That was what it was. Truly bold.


    Somewhere in this chain, one or the other was lied to. Either the General submitted a false report to the City Lord, or the City Lord was pulling strings and lied to the General.


    The government of Guiz City, and System Cities in general, all had checks and bnces. The military was a check to the City Lord and the Nobles, while the Nobles were a check to the military.


    Ss had inadvertently... or maybe very purposely pressed down on this hot button issue.


    The way Ss was received after he used his Noble Title to be a Military Official said all that needed to be said. There were certainly shes between these two factions already.


    Suddenly, it became clear why Ss knew that the appearance of these people in the surroundings would only benefit him. He wasn''t just a Captain... he was a Baron. And it seemed that right now, the Military had just targeted a Baron for little to no reason, and without even the care to double-check their own work.


    It looked like outright corruption, and it was difficult for anyone to refute.


    Colonel Hulk''s expression became a bit dark as he spoke in a slow, gruff voice.


    "ording to the files, this was reported by General Aleen and approved by the City Lord."


    Ss hid the disappointment in his heart. It seemed that the City Lord had still covered their bases somewhat. If it had been directly ordered by the City Lord, then Ss would have been able to levy a challenge right at him.


    Of course, this challenge wouldn''t be in battle. This alone wasn''t enough for that. Plus, the City Lord was too powerful for Ss to deal with right now.


    Instead, this sort of report would have been a demerit on the City Lord''s position and would have allowed a Noble Challenge of sorts. So long as one was a Duke, you would be able to trigger an election for the City Lord position.


    Ss was obviously a long way from Duke. But just outing this current City Lord for one that was more likely to have been curated by the system would make things far easier.


    However, this was fine as well. Although it was the lesser option, he could arguably gain more from it.


    His first n was to oust the City Lord, but this one might allow him to be a General, directly skipping over the Colonel rank.


    "I see that General Aleen is not present, but I will say these words regardless. I don''t know if General Aleen was given false information, and I don''t im to know their heart, but what I do know is that someone who is so ipetent does not have the right to the title of General."


    There were audible gasps at these words.


    The military was a strict ce with hierarchy meant for life and death. A Captain badmouthing a General in such an open setting might lead to a court martial all on its own.


    However, it was impossible to refute Ss'' words nheless... especially when there werews in ce for this very matter.


    "General Aleen had me put in a cell for more than two days, used me of something without their due diligence, and spit in the face of the bnce of Military and Nobility in our noble Guiz City.


    "I demand the right to challenge General Aleen for their position. They are not fit to lead." Colonel Hulk''s pupils constricted, but his blood boiled and his heart thumped. Although he didn''t feel like Ss had a chance in a battle like this one, the hot blood of youth was something that only military men and women could appreciate.


    The voice of the crowd of nobles in the surroundings also seemed to very much support this. "This matter... cannot be decided by me." Colonel Hulk said after a long while.


    "The esteemed Colonel need not take responsibility for this."


    Ss turned 90 degrees and bowed toward a section of Dukes. It was an etiquette he wasn''t sure wasmon in Guiz City or not, but no matter what the culture, anyone would see a bow as a sign of respect so he didn''t believe that adding it in would harm him in any way. Guiz City had three Dukes, and it would only take two of them to approve this matter.


    Seeing how a majority of them were already fired up, Ss knew that he had one.


    "If the Dukes would allow me this chance to clear my name, this Baron would be eternally grateful."


    Those words sealed the deal.


    Colonel Hulk sighed when Ss called himself a Baron, but he already knew that this kid was angling for something greater.


    Whether Ss was taking advantage of a situation or not, it didn''t matter since he was certainly in the right. The fact that he was court-martialed for such a thing was the pinnacle of ridiculousness.


    "I approve!" Duke Kraga''s voice boomed. Not only was he a Duke, but he was also, like Ss, ying a role in the military as a General.


    "I also approve!" The charming voice of a middle-aged woman echoed next. She wasn''t a part of the military, but she had a doting eye in her gaze as she looked at Ss as though he was her own son.


    This was Duchess Ravene. Well-respected for her kindness and charitability, and also well- known as the top beauty of Guiz City despite her age.


    Thest Duke, a certain Duke Guiz, could only look on with a cold expression but was already unable to say anything.


    The matter was set, though informally.


    Soon, however, this informal approval moved through official channels.


    Mere hourster, City Lord Plinli had the challenge issue on his desk and his expression was as


    dark as ash.


    In three days'' time, Ss Grimde would fight a battle against General Aleen. The matter could no longer be changed.


    Plinli leaned back in his chair. How had things grown so out of control so quickly?

 Chapter 338: Thats Fine

    Chapter 338: That''s Fine


    ?


    Ss crossed through the wilderness. Soon, he could see Casstle Main in the distance, and the vige didn''t look much different than how he had left it, but that was to be expected as well. After all, he had just spent thest few days weeding out all the immediate threats in the region.


    Now, it was about time to deal with some at-home issues. Though... he would likely have to be delicate with how he went about it.


    Once again, Ss was subject to strict checks. It didn''t seem to matter how close he was to the City Lady, as they called her, or not. It was a very naked show of authority, but it also didn''t faze Ss in the slightest.


    Very soon, not much of this would matter.


    He was already capable of conquering Casstle Main on his own several times over. Well... Cassarae was a bit of a wild card because she would gain a boost as the City Lord and her path seemed to be particrly odd, but regardless, there shouldn''t be any suspense in a battle between him and her.


    The only thing that really needed to be managed was the people.


    ...


    Ss was eventually let in after lying about his spatial device once again. The more he observed the matter, the more he wondered if people could even see his Madness Key.


    ''No, it feels like they can see it, but for some reason, they dismiss it as something that might be important, almost as though they''re incapable of seeing through it at all.''


    When Ss was arrested, he remembered that none of his things were taken. He couldn''t help but wonder now if that was thanks to the Madness Key. If they had confiscated his spoils, how would he prove that he had aplished the mission?


    Shaking the thought off, Ss entered Cassarae''s office to find that there was a gloominess between her brows. He doubted that much had changed since he had left; it was just that the mood was different thest time around since he had been gone for so long. This time, he had been gone for less than a week, and the heaviness of her situation had settled in again.


    Still, it took Ss knocking on her desk before she finally looked up from whatever stat-filled paperwork she wasboring over.


    "Call the people you trust most here, we have stuff to do."


    Cassarae frowned. "... What''s wrong with you?"


    She only spoke after a long while, as though she was trying to feel Ss out. He felt different in a way that she couldn''t describe in a few words, and almost... foreign? But not so at the same time? It was hard to grasp.


    "We don''t have time to waste." Was Ss'' only reply.


    Taking a breath, Cassarae shook her head. "I don''t have anyone here that I trust other than my parents."


    "Then we''ll just have to start with them, then, no?"


    Cassarae gave Ss a look before shifting her gaze to the door.


    "You guys are probably already here. Come in."


    Paul and Geraldene cleared their throats and walked in as though they hadn''t been caught eavesdropping again.


    Ss greeted them and began to bring out the things that he had collected. While the middle- aged couple was confused about what they were seeing, Cassarae''s eyes had long since widened.


    "Syl... what... what the fuck did you do? Rob a bank? No way, you didn''t rob the System City, did you?"


    "No. I just used a convenient loophole to conquer a few of your greatest threats."


    Cassarae''s mouth went dry. Even when she sent her militiamen out on missions themselves, they wouldn''te back with even a small portion of them.


    There were so many beast skins, so many Gene Cores, so many Demon Cores... there was just... Too much. Way too much.


    There were thousands of Genes just from the Demon Cores alone, over 30,000 F Coins, and that didn''t mention the fact that Demon Cores often spawned extra treasures as well. Demon Cores were what one gained from killing Demons and iming their viges. Ss had already opened several. Back during the gnoll vige attack on Casstle Main, he had gained a few dozen F Coins and several Common Genes from the endeavor.


    But those Demon Cores and these ones were on an entirely different level, whether you were speaking about quantity or quality.


    The Gene Cores came from beasts, and they weren''t Ss'' main focus on the expedition. Mostly, these were just beasts that stood in the way of him and his team as they moved from vige to vige, and from target to target.


    Still, there were easily almost a hundred of them. These obviously represented even more Genes, but even more so than that, the beast skins were so invaluable...


    Maya had never been able to work with materials from such powerful beasts. She was already able to create magnificent creations with the inferior materials she had been given. So... what could she do now?


    Ss'' gains in these few days just showed the kind of power organizations and those hidden families had. He only had 10 people working under him, but they had gained this much in half a week. What kind of scale was the government working on? What about the Grimdes? It was no wonder their Levels increased so quickly.


    However, after all the shock, Cassarae doused a bucket of cold water over her own head.


    She sighed. "We don''t have any Gene Elixirs. This..."


    The feeling up inside of her was one she absolutely abhorred. It was the feeling of being useless. Ss had put in so much effort, only for her to cause them to fall t at the final


    stage.


    However, what she didn''t expect...


    "That''s fine." Ss replied, taking out a spatial device from the Madness Key. This spatial device was none other than Alex''s. He had never returned it.


    The Silver Grade treasure that Alex had could be said to be the most valuable thing on him. However, there were other things such as Healing Elixirs and... Gene Elixirs.

 Chapter 339: Because

    Chapter 339: Because


    ?


    In Alex''s spatial ring, there had been two three-day Brittle Gene State Elixirs. Ss had still never used them because he wasn''t in strong need of them. He knew that Gene Elixirs were rare, and unless he could find a method of getting a steady supply of them, he didn''t want to use them willfully. Plus, if he really needed one, he would just likely use his Merit Leaderboard reward Elixir.


    Now, it seemed that his choice was correct as he handed Cassarae''s mother and father one each.


    They looked at it curiously. They didn''t understand much about this world yet, so Ss had to break it down to them. It was only then that they understood what the Rigid denomination of the Gene State meant.


    With Ss waving down Cassarae''s next tirade, the middle-aged couple swallowed down the Elixir as though it was only natural. They didn''t seem to have as many misgivings as their daughter about Ss'' kindness.


    Part of that was likely because they still didn''t quite understand just how valuable the Elixirs were, and it was another part because they seemed to be far morefortable with Ss than their own daughter was.


    What happened afterward was even more of a surprise to Cassarae. That was because Ss began to use Extricate on her parents, and the very same shock and awe of insight he was familiar with began toe at them in waves.


    They had never experienced the normal absorption of Genes, so they had no idea just how amazing what they were experiencing was.


    The situation left Cassarae feeling confused. Since when was absorbing Genes such an out- of-body experience? If she didn''t know better, she would have thought that Ss had drugged her parents somehow.


    It wasn''t long before the middle-aged couple hit their Gene Limits. They could barely absorb five Common Genes, and they had long since reached their Stat Limits.


    Most of their Physical Stats had limits of around 25 or so. Paul was a bit different, actually having a Strength Stat Limit of 32, while his wife was more on the normal side, being about average for everything.


    For someone who didn''t have a special Gene Talent like the Grimdes did, Paul''s 32 Strength at Level o was nothing short of exceptional. All things considered, his basic Strength was probably near the pinnacle of what was possible for Humans.


    Had he trained in it properly, he probably would have had a ce in a strongmanpetition on Earth, but he instead chose to be a businessman.


    Knowing that Mental Stat Limits were overall rather than individual, Ss tested if either of the two had the talent for telekinesis, and realizing they didn''t, he just directly pumped everything they had into Intelligence. This would be the best for them starting out.


    Their Mental Stat Limit was 25, but what left Cassarae speechless was that thanks to Ss, her parents both ended up with Intelligence around 60 before they capped out.


    Of course, this meant that their Wisdom and Charisma were both below 10 points, but this could be fixed in the future when they decided what sort of path they wanted to take. But who would turn their nose up at having more Aether?


    Cassarae thought it was finished here... but then Ss actually took out a cracked Gene Crystal. She was entirely floored. How far was Ss nning on going today?


    Luckily, the Gene Crystal didn''t work because neither of her parents had a Catalyst. They had no Gene Talents, no Skills, no sses, or anything else of the sort to give the Gene Crystal a foundation to work with, so how could they benefit from it?


    Ss thought that maybe he could get something generic for them, something to at least help them break free of some of these Stat Limits, but it seemed that that wouldn''t be possible. Instead, he chose to help them start leveling up instead.


    The Madness Key had long since confirmed for Ss back when he first met Alex and the others that bringing out as much potential from his Level o state as he could would be the best for his future. But he couldn''t possibly give everyone else that same burden... nor did he want to take on such a burden.


    It was already so difficult for him toe so far. Although he was more than willing to give up these many resources, if he tried to help them take the same road he was, rather than helping himself, he would surely be harming himself and slowing things down too much.


    There were already many times that Ss himself wanted to level up. He wasn''t living in an environment where he could afford to take the perfect route. But at least for now, he had managed to hold on.


    As for this middle-aged couple... it was best they gain the ability to defend themselves as quickly as possible.


    Thanks to Extricate, they were probably already better than many semi-professional athletes and martial artists at controlling their bodies. All that was left was for them to have the power to back it up.


    Plus, he was curious about how the level-up process worked. He had never experienced it before in any capacity.


    Ss stood by the side and watched silently, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Cassarae was getting closer and closer to blowing her top.


    Finally, after her parents seemed to have bepletely lost in the intoxication of their bodies seemingly bing younger and healthier, Cassarae finally couldn''t hold it back


    anymore.


    BANG!


    She stood up with the ferocity of a lioness, her eyes bloodshot.


    "What the fuck, Ss?! Why are you ignoring me like I''m not even standing here?! Why are you doing this?! Why are you investing so much?! Do you not know how valuable these things are?! Do you not know that they can save your life at a crucial time?!"


    Ss looked at her with a deadpan expression and spoke his next words so casually and ndly that Cassarae almost thought she heard wrong.


    "Because you''re my woman."

 Chapter 340: Not So Easy [Bonus]

    Chapter 340: Not So Easy [Bonus]


    ?


    Paul and Geraldene''s mouths formed ''O''s''. They looked at one another, covered their lips, then started looking from Ss to Cassarae and then back again as though they were watching a reality TV show rather than their daughter''s love life.


    Cassarae didn''t know how to react. Her brain seemed tog for a full five seconds before her skull practically exploded with steam.


    "SYLAS BROWN! What the fuck did you just say to me?!"


    One would have thought that Ss had directly insulted her in the most vile of ways. But to a woman like Cassarae, there probably wasn''t much of a difference. If it wasn''t for herst bit of sanity reminding her that the strength they had in their hands in this day and age could truly kill people if they weren''t careful, she would have already lunged at Ss'' throat in an attempt to take a bite out of it.


    Ss looked at her calmly. He didn''t need to repeat himself; he was sure that she had already heard. There was a calmness in his eyes as though he had already decided on this matter for the both of them.


    "You..."


    Cassarae was so infuriated she didn''t know what to do with herself. She could only look at those deadpan eyes and grow more and more furious.


    At that moment, her own Will seemed to catch fire and a raging blue me flickered in her eyes.


    Ss took note of it, but not much more. It didn''t make much of a difference to him at all. However, to Cassarae, it seemed to have taken some of the edge off her fury. While she was very clearly still apoplectic with anger, at the very least, she could speak now.


    "Who the fuck do you think you are? Even my own dad doesn''t speak to me like that."


    "Only because you wouldn''t listen to him anyway," Ss replied finally.


    "At least you know, dick for brains. I''m not your own personal walking pocket pussy. You walked out of my life before, and now you think you can just stroll back in?! No, it''s even worse than that! You actually didn''t even try to have a conversation with me, you infuriating son of a bitch!"


    The eyes of Cassarae''s parents widened, and Paul leaned over toward his wife.


    "Walked out of her life? Were they together before?" Paul whispered. This was news to him.


    "I don''t know, I had some faint guesses, and the fallout was pretty obvious, don''t you think?" Geraldene rolled her eyes and whispered back.


    "Really? I guess that makes sense." Paul nodded. "How did you know, though?"


    "I found my lingerie missing one day. And then dayster it suddenly appeared again in the same spot, clean and smelling far too fresh. I thought you had stolen it for a mistress."


    "What the hell! Was that what caused the Mistress Gate situation?! You didn''t talk to me for months!"


    Geraldene looked up at the ceiling as though something interesting had appeared.


    "Oh look, the design of that ceiling fan is quite beautiful, don''t you think?"


    Paul snorted. "Are you sure Rae is the one who stole it?"


    "What''s that supposed to mean?" Geraldene reacted like a cat that had her tail stepped on.


    "Your ass is far too fat for our daughter to fit in your stuff. It''d wear more like a robe than lingerie." Paul chortled. "Maybe I did have a mistress or two I forgot about."


    "Paul Joseph Hale!" Geraldene snapped.


    Suddenly, both women werepletely infuriated and Paul looked over to Ss with several winks as though saying: ''watch how a master handles this.''


    However, Ss and Cassarae might as well have been lost in their own world. Or rather, Ss was lost in the storm of Cassarae''s fury.


    "Walked out of your life?" Ss said slowly. "I guess that is close enough to the truth. But the past no longer matters."


    "Close enough to the truth?! Fuck you, you insufferable prick!" Her sneer almost became vicious. "Since the past doesn''t matter so much, would you care to hear mine?"


    "Okay." Ss replied, his expression still not changing.


    Cassarae started to list off men that she had been with, and Ss didn''t say anything from start to finish. He carried the same indifference throughout it all.


    At some point, Cassarae started huffing for breath, having finally run out of lung capacity from cursing so much. Maybe only Ss could wait out such a thing without feeling his penis inverting into his body. This woman sure had a way of making people feel inferior.


    "Okay." Ss replied, still indifferent. None of this changed what he said. Even if she was telling the truth, they only had a chance with her because he allowed them to. Nothing more, nothing less.


    Now they would never have such a chance again.


    Cassarae huffed, her face sweating but her sneer remaining as sharp as ever.


    "What, you don''t believe me?"


    "Not particrly. But it also doesn''t matter even if every word was true."


    "Oh yeah?! Well, Zagrin had a fucking baby arm between his legs! I couldn''t walk for fucking weeks after! For our anniversary, he bought me a wheelchair, SYLAS BROWN. AND I PROMISE YOU I HAD TO FUCKING USE IT. AND I''LL DEFINITELY HAVE TO USE IT AGAIN!"


    "Not if he''s dead."


    The words caused a hushed silence to fill the room. Ss spoke them with just as much careless disregard as he had used the entire time, but this time... there was a chilling wind. Even Paul and Geraldene, who seemed to have been having a fight of their own, werepletely frozen.


    "I had a conversation with Lauren months ago," Ss continued without a drop to his cadence. "I told her not to let the changes to this world change what she chose to hold in high esteem and regard, namely her morality.


    "I''ve realized, though, that this world isn''t taking anything away from me. If anything, it''s making me acknowledge who I truly am more and more every day."


    Ss gave Cassarae a level nce. "This is no longer the Earth you once knew. The people


    who stand in my way now die."


    After saying these words, Ss turned and left.


    A silence fell once again. All they could hear were the heaving breaths that Cassarae was


    taking.


    Eventually, she sat in her seat and let out a screech. Her hands rubbed at her head and messed up her hair so wildly one would have thought she lost her mind.


    ''Why did I have to lie like that?!'' she screamed in her head. She would sooner cut Zagrin''s dick off with her own hands than it be inside of her. ''Fuck. I should have said a celebrity''s name or


    something.''


    This was like the day they broke up all over again.


    She knew Ss too well. He might not have reacted at all, but for him to say those words, he was truly pissed. And worst yet, he meant what he said. If he ever met Zagrin, he would kill


    him. Cassarae was certain.


    She had known all her life that there was anotheryer to Ss... and in the end, it seemed that she was the one who ended up bringing out the caged beast.


    ''Fuck you, Ss Brown. Why are you so fucking hot?''


    There was an almost feverish glint in her eyes that she unceremoniously suppressed.


    ''Hmph. This ass isn''t so easy to grab.''

 Chapter 341: Condoms [Bonus]

    Chapter 341: Condoms [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss wasn''t nearly as mad as Cassarae thought he was. That wasn''t because he was so sure that she was lying either. After all, he hadn''t been by Cassarae''s side in 10 years. In that time, she had finished off herst year of high school and gone off to campus. Who knew what happened or how she could have changed in that time? He wasn''t naive enough to be sure she had been some holy saintess the entire time.


    However, if Ss was going to make his decisions based on that, he would have never put his foot down in the first ce. These were simply things that he just didn''t give a damn about.


    There was a primal desire in him to be the first and the only, but... there was an even stronger primal desire in him to be the best and thest.


    Cassarae also represented something else to him, something that he wasn''t quite able to put into words. Maybe if he was able to do that, his Madness Comprehension would be Gold instead of Silver.


    Whatever it was, he would figure it out eventually. As for the rest, it could wait until he had dealt with other things.


    ...


    "Ugh."


    Cassarae eventually stood as if she was ready to leave and go and do something, only to find that her parents were still standing in the room.


    "What the hell? Why haven''t you two left yet?"


    Paul and Geraldene looked toward one another beforeughing. Their daughter had been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn''t even realize that they were still here. Didn''t that say everything that needed to be said?


    "You know, Cass, you shouldn''t be so stubborn," Geraldene said, nodding to herself.


    Cassarae''s lip twitched. Was this mother of hers, the most stubborn person she knew, about to lecture her about stubbornness? Was she their daughter? Or was Ss their son?


    "What are you talking about, Mom? I have business to handle; we can pick this upter."


    "You know what I''m talking about. You''re a grown woman; you should know how men are by now. There are two paths they take when they chase after something that''s hard to get. Either they eventually give up, or they finally taste it and then toss it away-."


    "Are you being serious right now?" Cassarae looked at her mother like she didn''t even recognize her.


    "I''m just saying, you''re getting a little on in the years department, don''t you think? You''re already 26-."


    "MOM!"


    "¡ªAnd who knows how many men you''ve been with by now. It''s a good thing that Little Syl is a very confident man and doesn''t care very much."


    "I''M A VIRGIN!"


    Paul and Geraldene blinked, then looked toward one another before bursting into a fit ofughter. Theyughed so hard that tears started streaming down their faces.


    "A 26-year-old virgin, I can''t breathe--!"


    Cassarae turned as red as an apple. She almost never showed such an embarrassed expression. Even when Ss had basically just confessed to her, she reacted with anger instead. But her parents had a problem... they loved pulling practical jokes too much. It felt like she was the one raising them instead of the other way around.


    Because of this, she never told her parents about her love life, and they honestly had no idea. There was only so far motherly intuition could take Geraldene when you were raising a teenager and now a grown woman.


    If anything, Geraldene could finally rest her heart at ease.


    With a daughter like hers, things could only really go one of two ways. Either she would disdain any man she came across, or she would hop on whatever ride looked the most fun at the time. With Cassarae''s personality, Geraldene wouldn''t be surprised to hear that her daughter was either one. That was why she had insisted Cassarae at least go to the same university she taught at.


    But now it seemed that she had worried for nothing. Although their daughter was already 26, when did parents ever stop worrying?


    That said, what Geraldene reallytched onto was the fact that Cassarae was in such a hurry to defend herself. Clearly that wasn''t for their sake.


    Her thoughts might as well have been an open book to them.


    "It seems we have to buy them some condoms, Paul," Geraldene said seriously. "Where do you get them in the apocalypse?"


    "Condoms? Why do they need that?" Paul replied just as seriously. "Let''s have the firecracker pop a few babies out, then he won''t be able to escape."


    Geraldene pondered this for a moment before nodding seriously. "You''re right; that really is the better n. Do you know how to track your fertility days, dear? Let Mom teach you."


    The more they spoke, the redder Cassarae became until she exploded.


    This time, it wasn''t in rage, though. She just hightailed it out of her own office, rushing away at her fastest possible speed.


    "Cass, dear. Wait!" Geraldene called after her. "Don''t you want to hear about my rmendations for lube? Talk to her, Paul."


    "My daughter is a ma; she doesn''t need advice on seduction, she needs advice on keeping a man."


    "Ah!" Geraldene pped her forehead. "I never taught her how to cook; she always refused!"


    "Forget you; you don''t know how to cook either. I''ll teach her how to cook. If she makes the kid my famous prime rib, he''ll be in love for life."


    "Paul Jos-!"


    ...


    Cassarae rushed out of her building and took deep, heaving breaths. Finally escaped.


    "City Lady."


    Cassarae looked up to see thest face she wanted to see right now. But when she saw that Gregory was actually a bit angry and flustered, she actually felt more rxed.


    "What''s the matter, Gregory?"


    "It''s like this..."


    Cassarae listened intently and eventually had to do her best to hold back her smile.


    "He''s done such a thing? That''s absolutely uneptable. When he returns, you''re under strict orders to escort him to my office. I will interrogate him personally. Is that understood?"


    Gregory''s expression flickered, but he had no choice but to nod.


    "Yes, City Lady. I will do as you instruct."


    "Good."


    Cassarae nodded before walking away. As for her destination, that was, of course, Maya''s workshop. Not only would she upgrade it now, but she hade bearing gifts. Gregory could only watch her walk away in silence. Inwardly, his heart was trembling. Why was the City Lady''s Will so much more powerful now? What happened in this short time?

 Chapter 342: B---- (1)

    Chapter 342: B---- (1)


    ?


    Ss stepped out of a portal and back into the abandoned borough of York City.


    The reason why Gregory was so infuriated could be imagined. He didn''t want free and


    unfettered ess to the portal, but Ss just appeared to use it, then went around him when he was blocked.


    As for why Ss wasing back out here, it was because he had a goal in mind, and that was to bring Olivia back.


    Olivia was currently in Love City. It was normally about an hour''s drive from York City, two hours if you were unlucky during rush hour. But that was obviously not much of a problem right now.


    On foot, Ss was pretty confident in making it in three to four hours tops. Faster if he cut down the time by angling across the highways instead of just following the path he was used to. After all, highway roads were the most efficient for cars, but wouldn''t necessarily be for someone who was on foot and could scale through forests.


    If he used his Blue Cyclone Horse, two hours would be all that it would take.


    As for why he was going out of his way to do this, it was for several reasons.


    The first and only one he needed was that Cassarae was his woman, and as such, he saw herfort as one of his priorities. But that was still not the only reason.


    The second was because Cassarae needed more support than just herself and her parents. Without someone she trusted with her life and death by her side, there would be problems.


    The third reason was because Olivia''s scouting ability was beyond even Ss''. He had noticed many times that she had an exceptional Skill for it. It was just unfortunate for her that Ss'' Madness couldn''t be broken past even for most with Mentals higher than his own, let alone Olivia who hadn''t even been close to that.


    She could be a valuable asset given the situation.


    The fourth and final reason was that the sooner they brought their team together, the better. Ss was only bringing Olivia back first because she was the easiest target. She was the closest and also would likely be the most useful in this situation. But if there was someone else from their original team, and he got a chance to bring them over, he would certainly take advantage.


    ...


    Ss set off on his journey.


    The Blue Cloud Horse was able to race across even the ocean''s waters with how light it was. It still lost about 20% of its Speed and Dexterity, but its ability to bolster Ss'' stats was so high to begin with that this hardly mattered.


    Ss realized that he would definitely have to keep an eye out for Mounts. If he could find a flying Mount, just how much easier would that make everything?


    ''Still, the most efficient would be having a map of Portals, where they appeared, and where they went to... If I couldbine a map like that with a fast Mount, there wouldn''t be anywhere on Earth I couldn''t get to with an hour or two at most...''


    Unfortunately, that was likely a pipe dream.


    ''Or is it? I bet the government is keeping close tabs on information like that. Not only would they know where portals of their own appear, but they should also know what other portals are nearby theirs in the Aether ne.''


    Lost in thought, Ss had already crossed a great distance and was approaching Love City. Love City wasn''t asrge as York City, but it was certainly quite a substantial municipality. And now that he was closing in on it, there was another troublesome issue to deal with: how should he go about finding Olivia?


    The n was always to return to Casstle Main, so there were no ns for a reverse search. Olivia would also have little way of knowing that a Casstle Main portal had appeared in York City, and unless she had Ss'' strength, even if she did know, there was no way that she would risk going.


    In all likelihood, then, Olivia would be scouting out nearby portals, seeing if there were any near or in the Amazonian Wilds. Then she would make a trek through the Aether ne and reach Casstle Main that way.


    There was a chance, then, that she wasn''t even here.


    One way or another, Ss didn''t mind it. That was because he was at a severe disadvantage in one important aspect: information.


    The government, Legacy, and those hidden families all had their methods of trading information andmunicating, but he did not. Unless he became a highly trusted member of the Grimdes, he never would.


    If he wanted to cover his back, at least understanding the several main cities around him was for the best.


    ''Another blockage is going to be ahead... Through the water again it is.''


    Ss put away his horse and then began to approach.


    ''Hm?''


    What Ss didn''t expect to see was someone he recognized almost immediately. Unfortunately, it wasn''t Olivia, but it also wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    It was none other than a certain shieldman, Brant.


    Back then, Brant and his team had snuck into the Basilisk King Dungeon, and Ss was very certain that someone had tipped them off to his location.


    He had ended up killing the woman Brant entered with and shattering Brant''s hip.


    It wasn''t that he had forgotten about Brant after the Casstle Main attack; it was instead that there was no point in holding him hostage anymore. Once the Trial ended, they would all be sent back and he had no control over ensuring Brant remained under his control. So not only did he not bother with him much, he didn''t even expect to get him on their team.


    What he expected even less was that Brant would actually be part of the military.


    Ss thought for a moment. After scanning the region, he decided on a different path forward.


    He stepped past a clearing boldly and approached the military barricade without hiding himself.

 Chapter 343: Brant (2)

    Chapter 343: Brant (2)


    ?


    The military men and women were instantly put on high alert. But despite the roars for him to stop and identify himself, he hardly acknowledged them at all, and when he did, it was


    nothing more than a casual nce.


    Brant was on high alert along with everyone else. He wasn''t sure at first, but the closer Ss got, the more certain he was...


    He knew this man.


    Suddenly, memories he had mostly repressed came back up. He remembered Ss beating the life out of a Dungeon monster with nothing more than his fists. Then, he watched Ss take on an entire team of elites and three Trolls, only toe out on top regardless.


    Until now, Brant still hadn''t seen a single person be anywhere near as powerful. It still somehow felt that Ss was in a league of his own.


    But that was only one aspect...


    He hadn''t been able to read Ss'' stats because his Mental was far too high. But he had heard his friends call him a very familiar name...


    Ss.


    Were there other people on Earth with that name? Maybe. The poption had just been cut down by 90+%, and most of them were young men far too eager for a new world of fantasy.


    Even so, the odds that there would be two Ss'' that were so powerful was next to nil because powerful people in general were all too rare.


    Ss... Ss Grimde...


    They were almost certainly the same person.


    "STAND DOWN!" Brant barked.


    The military officials were taken aback, but it was also clear that Brant had the highest authority here. He had fought side by side with them; it was hard for them not to implicitly trust him, even if the usual military order and hierarchy were ignored.


    What they didn''t know was that Brant really was helping them out. He knew that if he forced Ss to fight... it wouldn''t be Ss taking the loss today.


    This sort of situation was better to report and let the higher-ups deal with, or else they would lose too many good men and women today.


    ording to the reports, Ss had faced off against 50 FFF+ creatures and a Level 12 beast that seemed to be an even greater threat on top of that.


    As though that wasn''t enough, he had faced the siege of the government and Legacy, killing three Level 17s in the process. And that was just what was confirmed.


    It could be said that right now, Ss was a high-ss threat that the headquarters would have to directly respond to. There was no one here that could take him on unless they threw an obscene number of agents at him.


    However, as amander, how could Brant do this? He could also tell that Ss had been observing him the entire time. Clearly... he hade for him.


    Brant took a breath and leapt down from the city wall.


    "I will handle this."


    Clutching his shield, he closed the distance on Ss, seemingly with the intent to die if he had


    to.


    ...


    Ss observed Brant''s approach with a calm expression, and soon they stood three meters from one another.


    "Why have youe here?" Brant asked after a deep breath.


    "To find someone."


    Brant rxed somewhat after hearing this. "Who is it? I can help you find them."


    His intention was clear. He would prefer if Ss didn''t step into the city at all.


    Ss thought about it and felt that this might be viable. But not as things were now.


    "You are a member of the military?"


    Brant frowned. "Yes."


    "Is that so? It didn''t seem like it."


    "The entry into the Trial is random. There was no way to-.''


    "You''re not very good at lying, and even good liars would be hard-pressed to hide anything from me. When I met you, it was already more than three months into the Trial. I do not believe that the government had no way of gathering their officials together. You worked on your own because you wanted to, not because you had no other choice."


    Brant froze.


    There was a silent lull between the two that made Brant far more ufortable than it did Ss.


    "What do you want from me?"


    "Easy, really. I need a shieldman on my team. You clearly don''t want to be here. You should join me instead."


    "Join the Grimde family?" Brant sneered. "What is the difference between you all and the government?" Brant''s fury made him far less afraid than he had been before.


    "I am merely a coteral member of the Grimdes. You saw me working for Casstle Main. Am I not the same as you, forging my own path?"


    Brant''s gaze flickered. However, the moment Ss saw this, he knew that Brant had already made his decision.


    Taking a breath, Brant shook his head. "I can''t make such a decision."


    "You can, and you will. You''ve already made your decision, you only changed your mind because something is holding you back. Tell me what that is and I will fix it for you while you find me the person I need."


    Brant was taken aback once again. He looked at Ss with a hint of fear in his eyes. This man... why did it feel like he was constantly reading his mind?


    "... My family, I cannot leave them."


    Ss nodded. "How many?"


    "My wife and my three-year-old."


    "Okay. I will handle it."


    Brant hesitated, but still grit his teeth. He could see it in Ss'' eyes; if he chose to back out or showed that he was hesitating, he would just kill him.


    There was a certain coldness about Ss that was somewhat masked, but it was very much


    there.


    This was a fearsome man, one who only acted for his own interests. By all rights, he should be thest person Brant wanted to join. But...


    He had also watched Ss run back to protect a vige he had no obligation to protect all because he wanted to save someone.


    At the very least, Ss had a bottom line, and even if he didn''t... he was strong enough that it was unlikely that he would ever have to touch that bottom line at all.


    But there was a more important reason for all of this.


    Brant hadn''t been able to climb high enough in the military to reach the status he needed. He tried to change that in the Trial, but he ended up grinding his wheels and didn''t benefit as much as he would like. Ss'' appearance had brought him crashing back down to Earth when he thought that he had already grown quite powerful himself.


    Even if Ss was dangerous, he had to be by his side. That was because Ss was his chance of


    being part of an upper echelon, of truly having power to protect his family instead of hoping in the benevolence of others.


    Ss was the only one who could give him the power he couldn''t grasp himself.


    "Who do you need me to find?" Brant asked.


    "You know her already. Olivia."


    Brant''s expression flickered. "I already know where she is."


    Ss nodded. "Good."

 Chapter 344: Flirt (Bonus)

    Chapter 344: Flirt (Bonus)


    ?


    Ss returned to the Amazonian Wilds on the same day. His target this time was different. He needed a method to bring Brant''s family back, and that obviously entailed transportation and a n of action.


    The best n was to take them out separately. He would deal with Brant''s wife and child, along with Olivia, while Brant would leave via his own method.


    First, he went to catch more Blue Cyclone Horses. This was more difficult this time because there were no leaders left after he conquered their head. So, they had be more scattered and had broken into several factions.


    But it was an easy enough affair. It took Ss about three hours after scouting the general area they frequented to catch three more.


    He unfortunately had to spend more Coins to gather the coins he needed to store them easily, but this much was fine enough. If he could have had a device capable of storing people instead, it would have been even easier. At that point, he could just take them and leave on his own. But unfortunately, the storage devices only worked for Mounts for reasons he was uncertain of.


    Ss then bought a carriage that was meant to be used by merchants. But it would be good enough for his purposes. Then, before the day was even halfway through, he made the return journey to Love City.


    He waited for Brant to be on duty again and then was escorted into the city without issue.


    The two looked toward one another, and Ss just handed Brant a spatial pouch that held his Mount.


    "Leave whenever you get an opening. Leave the rest to me."


    Brant hesitated. He wanted to be there to help, but he knew that he would only slow Ss down.


    Taking a breath, he nodded.


    ...


    Ss entered the city without any issues. The problem he faced now was Olivia.


    Brant hadn''t been able to take her out because her situation was a bit special. In fact, her situation was the same as Brant''s family''s, which was why both things had to be handled by Ss.


    The government was observing Brant in secret. Obviously, he had been put on a watchlist of sorts. Although he came prepared with his reasons, the government wasn''t stupid enough to take everything he said at face value. As a result, his family had been put under some covert monitoring.


    The good news was that it still wasn''t yet to the point that it was excessive. It was mostly a precautionary measure, which was why Brant noticed that he was being monitored at all. Otherwise, if they had ced their higher-level agents, Brant might not have realized there was something wrong until it was far toote.


    The bad news was that any such movement would definitely be reacted to at the first instance.


    Brant wasn''t of high enough military rank to be given the true keys to anything, which was why he was willing to follow Ss in the first ce. But he still knew enough that the government wouldn''t allow him to go so easily. After all, he was one of the few who knew the Trial wasing ahead of time.


    By now, Olivia''s problem was obvious.


    The reason Brant knew where she was happened to be for the same exact reason. She was being heavily monitored.


    Not long after the Trial concluded, she was found out.


    All those who entered the Trial were seen as threats to the government and would be treated as such. Olivia wasn''t powerful enough to be on the same threat level as Ss, but she still had a handler.


    This whole ordeal made Ss realize that the government was slowly bing more organized. They had been caught off guard by the sudden conclusion of the Trial ahead of time, but some time soon, within half a year by this pace, they would regain their hold over the reins.


    --


    Ss drove through the city. Love City luckily didn''t have any active portals nearby, at least not yet, so this wasn''t an issue.


    There were a few outside of city limits, though, which was why Ss couldn''t just drive all the way back to York City. But this still made things far easier.


    He pulled up to a house and took a step out.


    "Miss Collin. I''m here to pick you and your daughter up."


    Miss Collin was a woman no less burly than her husband. It was clearly not just a matter of fat. She had strong shoulders and a barrel-shaped waist. Ss immediately pegged her as a powerlifter the moment he saw her, and given her size, she was certainly not bad.


    Behind her leg, a chubby little three-year-old boy stood. His mother''s leg was so thick that Ss almost didn''t notice him.


    Miss Collin shook her head. "I''ve told my husband many times that I don''t need such protection."


    Ss didn''t respond, maintaining his stoicism. Miss Collin, however, didn''t have a poor reaction to this. Instead, she found it only natural. She was married to a military man, so she knew what military men were like.


    Ss escorted them to the ck SUV and then began to drive.


    Things were going smoothly... for now.


    ...


    "Target is on the move. Nothing out of the ordinary, it just seems that the Major is taking extra precautions after thest excursion."


    "Understood."


    Two unknown voices slipped into the shadows, and they began a series of trade-offs. The city was too sparsely popted now; even an amateur would be able to notice that they were being followed by call. As such, the government had separated the city into bubbles and gave certain Aether-users jurisdiction over them. That way, high-profile targets would always have an eye on them from somewhere.


    This chain of trade-offs followed Ss and the mother-son duo all the way across therge city until Ss left them at a small amusement park.


    "Seems Major Collin has gone a bit senile. He actually hired such an unprofessional handler. He''s gone off to flirt with girls."

 Chapter 345: Show Me (Bonus)

    Chapter 345: Show Me (Bonus)


    ?


    Ss knocked on the door of a duplex.


    It wasn''t long before a woman with caramel skin came to the door. She looked more than a little bit sweaty, as though she had just been in the middle of a truly intense workout.


    But before she could react, the door was pushed in and something was pressed against her lips.


    Her eyes went wide, but her struggle was futile as she was toyed with in ways and touched in ces she hadn''t experienced in too long.


    Repressed lust was one thing, but being raped was another matter entirely. She had no desire to be treated this way, and her lust was easily overwhelmed by her anger, humiliation, and fear.


    Wasn''t she being monitored?! Where were those bastards now?!


    Ss kicked her door closed, and the despair seemed to set in for Olivia, only for the sensations to suddenly stoping in a wave.


    She was about to scream, but one hand was immediately ced firmly over her mouth and the other constricted her throat. What she thought would have been a high-pitched screech became nothing more than a stifled grunt and a bid for air.


    It was only now that Olivia finally got a good look at who her assant was. Toward Ss'' appearance, there was only more confusion and even greater anger on top of that.


    ''This bastard!''


    "Have you calmed down now? Good."


    He released Olivia''s mouth and throat, but before she could say anything, he spoke first.


    "If you don''t want to be choked again, don''t speak. I had to do that just now or else there would be trouble. Now, open your garage for me."


    Olivia''s anger finally became something closer to reason. She wasn''t exactly a genius, but it didn''t take one to understand Ss'' intentions.


    "Okay."


    The garage was opened, and Ss pulled the ck SUV into it.


    "Did you really have to pinch my ass like that?" Olivia asked through gritted teeth. Ss had only taken more advantage of her just now, and she truthfully didn''t know how to feel about it.


    Ss was definitely her type, at least in the looks department. But she had long since crossed him off her list because of Cassarae.


    It didn''t matter how long ago it was; you don''t just cry over things from ten years ago that you''ve supposedly gotten over. Olivia wasn''t a fool. If she wanted to stay friends with Cassarae, she wouldn''t touch Ss with a ten-foot pole.


    "I only did what was necessary. We''ll have to waste about another two hours now..." Ss quickly filled Olivia in on the n. The two hours they needed to kill was the time it would take for the mother-son duo to finish up at the amusement park.


    Olivia scoffed. "You want them to think that you''ve been railing me for a whole two hours? You''re overestimating your stamina, aren''t you?"


    Ss didn''t reply, moving into her kitchen and beginning to make himself something to eat. Olivia rolled her eyes. She remembered that Cassarae said that Ss might not show it, but he was the pettiest man in the world. Now, she was beginning to see that.


    All she did was scam him out of a little bit of money; was there a need for all of this?


    He had just stolen a kiss from her and felt up her ass. What more payment did he need?


    She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. She was more than a little annoyed, but there wasn''t much she could do about it.


    A glint lit in her eyes and she went upstairs.


    She put on a little show for her monitors, taking a shower, swapping out of her workout clothes, putting her hair into a bun, and slipping on her favorite set of red lingerie.


    Then, seemingly remembering something, she hurried to close the curtains.


    ''That should be enough to paint the picture,'' she thought to herself.


    After this, she went downstairs to find that Ss was still frying eggs. Her lip couldn''t help but twitch. There had been at least 18 eggs in her fridge, and now they were all gone.


    More infuriatingly, Ss only gave her lingerie a single nce, nodded, and then went back to cooking. It was as though he was acknowledging she did a good job, but didn''t care enough to say much more.


    Olivia could only sit on the counter, watching him eat her food.


    ''Does this guy have a bottomless stomach or something?''


    After a long while, Olivia realized that Ss had no intention of striking up a conversation with her. So, she spoke first.


    "So, you dated my bestie?"


    "Yes."


    Olivia was taken aback by the casual response. She had expected Ss to either ignore her or maybe be embarrassed. Sometimes stoic guys tended to have at least one button that she could push.


    "And how''d that end?"


    "It ended by mistake. It won''t happen again."


    "Again?!" Olivia almost stumbled out of her seat. How had she missed so much already? "You


    two are back together already?"


    "Already?" Ss raised an eyebrow.


    "Well, I assumed it would happen eventually. Old mes don''t go out that easily."


    "Mm." Ss nodded.


    Olivia blinked. Sometimes she really hated men. Where were the details? Where were the


    sparks? Where was the tea?!


    "Soooo? How''d it happen?"


    "I just told her that she would be mine."


    Olivia''s lip twitched.


    Depending on what Ss meant by that, it could either be super romantic or super rapey. She had no idea which one it was by his tone. It could have been the happiest day of their lives, and she still felt like he would describe it exactly like this.


    "Then tell me something. Why did you break up with her in the first ce?"


    "I was confused about something I''m not confused about anymore," Ss replied. He finished off thest of what was in her fridge, still feeling famished. He realized now that regr food wasn''t cutting it. He needed food from sources with high Aether content now. Standing up, he gestured with a hand. "Show me how you were working up a sweat even with


    your stats."


    He was curious. How could Olivia be sweating so much? He hade up with several ways to train, but none of them were satisfactory to him.


    Although she wasn''t very strongpared to him, she should already have too many stats to be satisfied with a normal at-home workout.

 Chapter 346: Body Control

    ?


    Olivia was a bit surprised that Ss would suddenly bring something like this up, especially dozens of minutes after the initial affair. His attention to detail was a bit frightening, but Cassarae had also told her about this.


    Eventually she nodded and brought him down to her basement. There was a great deal of gym equipment down there, but it wasn''t the usual.


    Aside from a squat rack by the side, everything else was far from the usual.


    There were a pair of gymnastic rings hanging from the ceiling, two differently shaped pullup bars drilled into the walls, the floor had an almost trampoline-like feel to it, and there was a bnce beam ced right in the middle of the room.


    Looking at how short Olivia was, especially inparison to himself and Cassarae, he seemed to realize something.


    She hid it well, but she was very clearly a gymnast.


    Usually, it would be easy to tell from their strong arms and legs, but Olivia''s body was much softer than one might expect. Ss couldn''t help but wonder if that was just her natural state, or if things had changed after the Trial.


    It was possible that she had never taken gymnastics seriously enough to reach that level of toned... but this gym seemed to tell a different story entirely.


    ''Now that I think about it, everything about her home makes it clear she lives alone. This part of Love City should be quite expensive, and she''s a young woman as well. Let alone how expensive owning such a gym would be, just the home alone would be very difficult to own or rent for someone of her age.''


    Things like the rings or the pull up bars weren''t very expensive. But there were Olympic grade weights by the squat rack, and this special flooring most certainly cost a pretty penny.


    "You''re a gymnast?" Ss asked.


    This was the first time he had taken the initiative to talk to her. Olivia couldn''t help but be surprised because she didn''t even know he was capable of that.


    "I am."


    "Olympics?" Ss asked again.


    Olivia blinked, a hidden light shing in her eyes. "... No."


    Ss nodded. He didn''t really pay attention to things. But he assumed that if Olivia really did represent their country in the Olympics, he would certainly know about it.


    The Olympics were different now that Earth only had seven countries. It was designed more like a tournament where you would win regionalpetitions and move your way up to the national stage. These would happen over the course of four years until the finalpetition was held for the world to see.


    As such, when Ss asked Olivia if she was an Olympic athlete, he wouldn''t be very surprised to hear her say yes. That was because there would be quite a number of people who could im such a title.


    Love City, for example, would probably have thousands of young womenpeting to represent their city on the state-wide stage.


    The fact she said no only made Ss more curious. Why not?


    All things considered, Olivia was almost in her mid-twenties, so this was already getting on in age for a gymnast. But if she had been one in the past, there was no reason for her to say no. "How do you train?" Ss asked.


    "Body control." Olivia replied simply, seemingly not as talkative as before. She seemed to havepletely forgotten that she was still wearing her lingerie as well.


    Ss, however, took her off guard once again and he stood like a statue, his mind running at a million miles a minute.


    "... I see..." he said eventually.


    Olivia frowned. "What-."


    She stopped talking as Ss walked to the pair of rings dangling from the ceiling and wrapped his hands around them.


    He hesitated for a moment as though trying to grasp something, then all the muscles in his body tensed at once. Slowly, he pulled his body up, performing a dip.


    The rings shook and he almost lost his bnce several times, but he forced himself to go slower even though it only made it more difficult.


    He flexed every fiber of his being until he reached the top position. Then, he began to slowly lower himself.


    An unknown amount of timeter, Ss came to a stop. He wasn''t breathing particrly hard, but there were still beads of sweat on his forehead.


    ''I should have realized it before. No matter how strong I be, I can always bring out that full strength by flexing as hard as possible. Lifting weight is just another form of flexing...


    ''If I want to change that isometric exercise to a true exercise of movement, all I need to do is slow things down, focus on every individual fiber, and add instability to the exercise.''


    Olivia was a genius. Or at the very least, she had a far better understanding of the human body than Ss did.


    Ss had been trying to oveplicate things. He was trying to run faster than he had to, use blood restriction, or any number of other forms of exercise, when in reality... the answer was actually so simple.


    Olivia just stood to the side, watching as Ss went back onto her rings. But this time, he didn''t stop at just a single rep at all.


    He continued to perform dips until she could practically see his blood vessels popping along his corbone.


    Just when she thought he was finished, he shifted into an ''L'' position, proceeding to shred his abs to the same degree.


    Then, still feeling that it wasn''t enough, he began to work out his back. Facing the ceiling, he held onto the rings and forced himself into a nk before slowly pulling himself up.


    He struggled with finding an exercise that would work just as effectively for his legs, so instead he ended up loading what must have been over a thousand pounds onto his back and began to test the limits of the bnce beam.


    He bnced himself on his toes and began to slowly lower himself into a deep squat.


    ''What the hell is wrong with this monster?'' Olivia''s lip twitched.

 Chapter 347: Transmutation

    ?


    Ss ended up spending an entire hour and a half in Olivia''s gym. However, in the end, he waspletely and utterly spent with hardly the strength to even lift a finger.


    Gasping for breath, he realized just how much potential this kind of workout would have.


    He didn''t just have to continuously load on the weight; there were other paths to take, and this one might arguably be the very best.


    He didn''t just need stronger muscles; he needed functional muscles. This was what he had learned after seeing the benefits of unleashing the potential of his flexibility and his tendons. Slowing down every minor action to such a degree enlightened ways to use his body that he had simply never seen before, even when he absorbed Genes through the use of Extricate. No... maybe it was more like this helped highlight what he had seen before already.


    He didn''t get much of a strength boost from all of that because he had yet to ce himself in a State of Wealth. But he knew that his control over his body had definitely increased once again.


    His list ofprehensions had increased.


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (FFF+)]


    [>Taekwondo (FFF+)]


    [>Muay Thai (FFF+)]


    [>...]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (F+)]


    [>...]


    [>zing Will (-)]


    Mixed Martial Arts had actually improved to F+, and that should be solely rted to the workout he had just done.


    "Great job, Einstein. Now how are we supposed to escape the city?"


    Ss looked over from his copsed position. He had pushed his body so hard that there were little pockets of burst blood exposed beneath his skin. One would have thought that he had absolutely ripped them all to shreds.


    If youbined such an intense workout with Ss'' level of Will, this was bound to be the result.


    Olivia was right in a sense. Considering the situation, he had truly pushed himself far too much.


    But he wasn''t worried, nor would he make such a seemingly stupid decision without contingencies.


    He could use the prepared meat in his Madness Key or use a Healing Potion. With his Constitution, recovering in another few dozen minutes wouldn''t be a problem.


    However... he had another n.


    [Silver Slot Machine (Temporary Treasure)]


    [Does the Luck of the Gods shine down on you? Or are your hopes and dreams destined to be covered in shallow mud?]


    [Time to Activation: 00:00:01]


    [Tickets Earned: 462]


    [DING!]


    [Silver Slot Machine Ready]


    Olivia''s eyes widened as a floating slot machine suddenly appeared above the seemingly half- dead Ss.


    This time, he wouldn''t make the same mistake. He would check to see what kind of Silver Grade treasures he could get first. Then, if he felt that he had gotten an adequate amount of gains... only then would he try to see what would happen if he upgraded to Gold.


    At times like this, it would have been nice to have the ne Cassarae lost, but this was fine enough.


    With his intention, he spun the wheel for the first time.


    He got nothing.


    He spun it a second time and got nothing once more. In fact, even after over 20 spins, he still received absolutely nothing.


    This was enough of a wake-up call to Ss. It seemed that benefitting from these high-tier slot machines wasn''t easy at all. But luckily, on his 27th spin, there was finally a change.


    The first thing he got in return made his eyes light up. Although he didn''t say as much to jinx it, even if this was the only reward he got from this slot machine, he wouldn''t even be angry about it.


    [Transmutation Beast Skin (Silver) (Permanent Temte)]


    [Exchange 10 Units of Aether or 1 Aether Stone to Transmute any single Silver Gene Beast into a Nutrition Pill. Aether or Aether Stone requirements increase with every Silver Gene added]


    [Cooldown: N/A]


    Ss was as ted as he could be given his personality. This was exactly what he was looking for, a convenient and easy way to feed his body.


    The slot machine shed and a beautiful beast skin appeared before Ss. It was absolutely massive, stretching for dozens of meters, or so Ss guessed. Olivia''s basement wasn''t nearlyrge enough to amodate its true size.


    Luckily, the Transmutation Beast Skin was able to shrink down. Ss assumed its enormous size, and its size-changing capabilities, were designed to amodate beasts of various


    shapes and sizes.


    Even more luckily than that, unlike the other Legendary Path treasures Ss had seen, this one didn''t require him to upgrade it. But that was probably because of the type of treasure it was, that being a Temte, or rather, a Permanent Temte.


    Like Alex had told Ss, a Temte was something used to aplish something only a Profession of a specific type should be capable of. In this case, a Permanent Temte should just be like any other Temte with the exception that it could be used continuously.


    This Transmutation Beast Skin had a cooldown, of course. But it was unlikely to be a big issue for now considering Ss would only use it for Bronze Genes at the moment... mostly because he had yet to see a single Silver Gene, and even if he had, the odds that he could defeat such a creature were slim to none.


    Ss didn''t wait to benefit from his new treasure. After all, his body needed to recover right here and now.


    He used his telekinesis toy it out, his body still too aching to move. Then, he brought out a few beasts he kept stored in his Madness Key and triggered the Transmutation.


    The result, however... was less than satisfactory.


    ''It''s good, but...'' Ss frowned after popping the earthy-toned pills into his mouth. ''... It fills


    me up somewhat, but this wasn''t what I was expecting.''


    That was when it hit Ss. He had targeted the Bronze Gene creatures first, but they were beasts he had long since extracted the Genes out of.


    The description of the treasure should have mentioned Genes on purpose. That was where the true power of the Transmutation Beast Skiny.


    Ss unfurled the beast skin once again. One side of it had a beautiful mat of silver-ck fur, but the other side was as smooth as well-moisturized skin. On thistter side, there was aplexwork of Runes drawn into it that looked almost like a medieval magic circle.


    cing down a Common Gene beast, Ss triggered the beast skin with his Aether again.


    The first activation didn''t even use up a single unit of Aether. This time, though, he actually used more than 10 Units. The beast skin didn''t stop until it had taken a full 22 Units of Aether from him, almost draining him dry.


    ''I see. It''s because there''s no Aether here, so it can''t supplement itself with the Aether in the environment. It would be much easier in an Aether-rich region... If I''m right, if I was in an Aether-rich environment, these Common Genes wouldn''t even take a fraction of an Aether


    Unit either...''


    The beast in the center burst into a rain of blood and flesh that was quickly further condensed until its red hue became a condensed array of Runes that covered the pill that remained. From a simple earthy brown pill, what was left instead was an aromatic pill that shimmered with the colored characteristics of the dead beast.


    And this time when Ss swallowed it, he almost released a moan of pleasure.


    It felt like his entire body was being massaged by the hands of countless Goddesses.

 Chapter 348: 78th [Bonus]

    Chapter 348: 78th [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss could practically feel his body healing, but that wasn''t all. His used-up Aether was replenishing as well, and as though all of that wasn''t enough, he also felt himself get stronger.


    It was as though he had just ingested a miracle drug capable of doing anything. But the underlying fact of the matter was quite simple.


    This Permanent Temte was able to take the essence of a beast and distill it all down into a single pill, all while keeping much of its strongest aspects.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss realized that there was something wrong and he immediately began to dispel the Aether that he was umting. This change dampened his mood a bit, but it also helped him to clear the fog of pleasure that was covering his mind.


    The Aether that was being replenished just now was of an attribute that wasn''tpatible with his Ice-Poison Aether. As such, after it reached a certain threshold, it actually began to make him feel more ufortable than not.


    The Aether he replenished wasn''t so convenient, unfortunately. It seemed that the attribute came from the beast in question.


    Ss could only sigh at this realization. His own Aether attribute should probably be quite rare. The odds of finding more Ice-Poison beasts to make use of were difficult.


    ''I should also check with the Madness Key to see if there are any ill effects of these pills as well. If they''re anything like Elixirs, it''ll be a problem.''


    It seemed that good news and bad news came in pairs.


    Although Ss wasn''t able to maximize the use of these beasts in particr, the Madness Key confirmed that there were no drawbacks to be aware of aside from consuming too many at once or consuming a beast that was too powerful.


    The power of these pills concentrated the entire essence of a beast, so if the current Ss absorbed a beast with a Silver Gene, he would probably explode.


    However, so long as the pill was within a certain range, he could benefit from healing and a stamina boost all at once. And, if the Aether waspatible with him, then he could even replenish his Aether at the same time.


    There were reasons why this wasn''t moremon, though.


    Firstly, the methods were far too rare. Not just the Permanent Temte, or even normal Temtes, but Professions capable of this as well.


    Second, they were perishable, much like the beasts they were formed from, unlike Elixirs. As such, selling them required the pills to be held in spatial devices. This made it more difficult to do on arge scale, especially since most people wouldn''t even have spatial devices to begin with.


    Third, what Ss hadn''t noticed because it had started toe naturally to him was that it took a level of control over your body that wasn''tmon.


    Such arge amount of energy entering your body all at once in such a readily avable form could easily overwhelm someone who wasn''t ready.


    When Ss had ingested his, he had subconsciously begun to control his body because of two reasons: his experience with Extricate and his focus on maximizing his body control.


    Extricate yed the farrger role in this case, and thatprehension of where his Genes were present in his body and how they spread allowed him to direct the energy of the pills without harming himself.


    However, without the experience that woulde from Silver Genes, if Ss tried the same -even if his body grew much more powerful-he would fail. There was a certain level of Gene Comprehension that was necessary in order to use these pills.


    This was especially so if you were absorbing a Transmutated pill that had an attribute other than your own. That was when it was of the utmost danger.


    That left the fourth and most important point: Time.


    The pills had a lot of readily avable energy, but that was part of the problem... there was a lot of readily avable energy. In battle, if you consumed one, your entire body would be upied with handling it. If you moved, tried to circte your Aether, or anything of the sort, then you would disrupt the process and potentially even lead yourself down a path of bacsh.


    Elixirs, byparison, were more easily consumable and gave far gentler effects over a longer period of time and wouldn''t necessarily impede you inbat.


    As such, Transmutated Pills were mostly used for training purposes or for a quick buff between battles. But Ss didn''t mind it. That was exactly what he needed it for as well.


    He was already having trouble keeping up with his nutrition and sleep properly. At the very least, this would fix one of his issues and help him to improve much faster.


    If he paired a State of Wealth with his intense body control training and sprinkled some of these Transmutated Pills on top, he would be able to quickly break free of his Stat Limits. This should also work for his Mental stats as well. It was just unfortunate that he didn''t yet have a method of training his mind as effectively, but he would be sure to find one as quickly as possible.


    This aside, Ss already felt that he was back up to more than 50% after ingesting one dud pill and one Common one.


    He injected the wasted Aether into a second round and finally managed to form a second Common Transmutated Pill. Only then was he back up to over 90%.


    Feeling that he had spent enough time on this, Ss began to spin again. But this time, it was even more worrying. He went over 50 spins, then over 60, then over 70, but he still didn''t get


    anything.


    It wasn''t until over 50 spins from hisst cash-in that he managed to get a roll of something.


    His 78th spin.


    [nar Convergence Gate (Silver) (Temte)]


    [Exchange 100 Units of Aether or 10 Aether Stones to open a Portal between your world and its Aether ne. Location will be a one-to-one trantion of space and time. Gate willst 10


    days upon opening.]


    [Uses Left: 3/3]

 Chapter 349: Fates Align [Bonus]

    Chapter 349: Fates Align [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' gaze flickered when he saw this.


    Honestly speaking, it was a little bit of a disappointment, mostly because he wasn''t sure what he would use this for, especially since the portal would only be temporary.


    In addition, he couldn''t choose the locations it opened to. The description says a one-to-one trantion of space and time, so he assumed that meant there was a coordinate system that aligned the Aether ne and Earth both, and this treasure would rely on it to act.


    The real question was if this coordinate system was as jumbled as it seemed, or if that was just...


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat.


    Could the random assortment of portals be the intention of the system? Or was that another bid of foul y by those alien races?


    On the surface, it seemed to make sense. With technology being ruined thanks to Aether, the random appearances of portals practically became the only real way to travel across the world.


    But...


    Ss'' mind spun, his thoughts flickering. He had only thought about how the randomness of portals helped him, but he never considered how much it harmed Earth.


    For example, if Earth had beenpletely isted across their continents, wouldn''t it have been much harder for them to butt heads during the Sixth Summoning?


    They would have grown isted on their plots ofnd, and by the time they gained enough treasures, Mounts, or fixed the technology issue, everyone would have already established themselves.


    Things wouldn''t be much different than they were now, with different governments working in semi-harmony.


    But instead... they were stuck in a scramble for resources between one another, not willing to let the other get a leg up, and that was what would lead to a ton of conflict.


    For now, the governments were mostly butting heads with those hidden families and Legacy, but as more Portals began to appear, and it became more natural for them to intersect... wasn''t conflict between governments inevitable?


    The more Ss thought about it, the more he felt that it was likely... and the more he realized just how deep these waters were.


    Be Strong.


    His gaze flickered as the words of the Madness Key came back to his mind. He would have to consider how best to maximize this nar Convergence Gateter.


    With that thought, he began to spin again. This time he got a new roll on his 101st. It seemed that thest few dozen were just him being extremely unlucky.


    [Stele Upgrade Crystal (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Sacrifice to trigger hidden upgrades in Dens, ss Steles, and City Steles]


    [Note: Grade of City Stele is impossible to improve. Grade of Den or ss Stele upgrade will depend on Luck]


    [Uses Left: 5/5]


    Ss'' eyes lit up again.


    His current only Den was the Sperm Whale Den, and though it was powerful, it was only Level 5. It seemed that it would be possible to use this treasure to upgrade it.


    However, the treasure itself was also a bit cryptic. What kind of Sacrifice? And if the Grade of a City Stele wasn''t going to be improved, then what was improving?


    Ss had already spent a lot of Genes on questions today, but it seemed that he wouldn''t be able to escape using more.


    After three, he managed to figure out most of the situation.


    The Sacrifice could be one of several things. It could be Genes, it could be like-Steles, and it could also be other treasures. Of course, like-Steles gave the best return. Meaning, Sacrificing Dens to upgrade the Den worked best.


    As for the City Stele situation, it was a bit of a double-edged sword.


    It was possible to use the Stele Upgrade Crystal to upgrade the level of a City. For example, from Grade 1 Rudimentary Vige to Grade 2 Rudimentary Vige.


    However, while this would increase the stats, and allow more spawns and vigers to appear, it wouldn''t increase the amenities avable. If you used the upgrade crystal for that purpose, you would end up causing a lot of dissatisfied vigers, and the benefits wouldn''t outweigh the losses.


    It was possible, though, to use it as a bit of a loophole, maybe to avoid having to upgrade or meet certain requirements. But it would alwayse at a cost.


    On top of this, it was necessary to sacrifice a lot to get these upgrades. Unless there was a very special situation at hand, it wasn''t worth it.


    The Dens and ss Steles, on the other hand... now that was more than worth it. He just had to be careful about how he used it and when.


    He also had to be cautious about upgrading Dens for other reasons as well. If he was too casual, he might end up with an extremely powerful Den that only produced one creature a year. That tradeoff also wouldn''t be worth it, especially if they needed to put it in the line of fire and risk it dying.


    With that thought, Ss began to spin again.


    It seemed that his previous luck was truly just that bad, because on the 123rd spin, hended on something again.


    [The Fates Align (Silver) (Secret)]


    Ss almost sat up when he read this title. He felt something inside of him churn the moment


    he saw it.


    [The Fates Align (Silver) (Secret)]


    [Your paths are converging but thepass spins chaotically. The system has seen your plight and chooses to send a beacon of light to illuminate your way]


    [Will you ept this guidance?]


    Ss hesitated for a moment. Was it a perfunctory question? Or would there be a reason for


    him to reject it?


    His first instinct was to ask the Madness Key, but he almost immediately felt a welling up of


    danger.


    ''A Taboo...''


    Ss hesitated.


    Something was telling him that this question existed for a reason. If he epted it...


    Ss took a breath and calmed himself, closing his eyes. Then, he did something most


    probably wouldn''t.


    He moved his intention and clicked [No].

 Chapter 350: Out

    Chapter 350: Out


    ?


    [The Fates Align (Silver) (Secret)]


    [Your paths are converging but thepass spins chaotically. The system has seen your plight and chooses to send a beacon of light to illuminate your way.]


    [Will you ept this guidance?]


    [No]


    The pressure on Ss'' chest disappeared all at once. And then, there was a strong suction force that came from his body.


    Before he could react, The Fates Align was sucked into his body and swallowed by his Gluttony Seed.


    Ss blinked in confusion for a moment before he felt a strong strengthing from his Seed. He even felt that because of this change, he might be able to use his telekinesis to levitate for a brief instant if he activated his Gluttony Seed at the same time.


    But even without going all out, the Effectiveness of his Gluttony Seed had increased greatly. He could probably easily wield something as heavy as 100 to 120 pounds with his Gluttony Seed for up to a few minutes. And now, even without his Gluttony Seed active, he could likely control around 70 pounds without issue.


    This was a great boon.


    A part of him was still curious about what The Fates Align wanted to tell him, but he was confident enough in himself to figure it out.


    This Secret should have been triggered by a certain factor in his life. That meant that the system had deduced it. And to Ss, if someone else could deduce something, even if it was a million-year-old alien technology, he was confident he could do the same.


    Ss continued to roll.


    This time, it wasn''t until precisely his 200th pull at the machine that he finally got something else.


    [Brittle Gene State Elixir (Silver) (Form)]


    [Concoction method of 3-use Brittle Gene State Elixir. 20% chance of forming 1-day Brittle Gene Elixir. 1% chance of forming 3-day Brittle Gene Elixir.]


    [Form can be learned by applicable Professions.]


    [Uses Left: 3/3]


    ''This is ssified as a Silver Form...?''


    Ss was left a hint disappointed again, but it seemed that Gene Elixirs were rare for a reason. The Form in his hands now was probably the most valuable Form in the world... he would just need someone of the alchemy Profession to make use of it, and it was also a question of how rare the materials would be as well.


    Most people would be stuck in a Rigid Gene State. This alone, with Stat and Gene Limits, was thergest reason for a person''s slow progress.


    If this could be mass-produced, or at least produced at a rate high enough to sustain a city, this would be a huge boon.


    He set aside his disappointment and continued to spin. Cassarae would have a few upgradesing soon, and each one woulde with a spawn chance. If she focused on a few Professions, it would be hugely beneficial.


    The tickets continued to be consumed until the slot machine came to a stop at the 247th.


    [Mancer''s Wand (Silver) (Treasure)]


    Ss sighed when he saw thise up. He knew that eventually his Luck would run out and something quite useless to him would appear. This sort of treasure was thest thing he wanted because it would be difficult for him to use unless it had a very specific kind of use


    case.


    The Hero Shield he had lost was a good example of this. He could only use it because it had an area-of-effect defensive skill attached to it. Without that, it would be useless. It was the same reason he couldn''t make use of swords very effectively either, and Azrael''s weapon, despite being so high-leveled, usually just ended up sitting in his Madness Key unused.


    However, as Ss was thinking this, he read the description and saw something that made his gaze flicker.


    [Mancer''s Wand (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Wand allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it, and how to improve it. How far you can see down this road will be decided by your own personal insight.]


    It was the oddest description of a treasure that Ss had ever seen. There were no stats, no requirements... in fact, it read more like the introduction to a Dungeon or a Quest. But it was exactly that which intrigued Ss.


    He carefully took the wand with his telekinesis. Then, he activated Basic Aetherflow with what small bits of Aether he had left just to see what would happen.


    His mind was suddenly swamped with an array of senses, but it felt blocked and even somewhat stuffy. He realized immediately that this was for two reasons.


    First, the Aether in the region was too sparse. And second, even if it was, it wasn''t of his particr element, so it was hard to sense the path he needed for it.


    But that aside, he realized that the wand, although looking like a normal wooden stick, had far more capability to absorb and gather surrounding Aether than he did.


    This ordinary appearance of the wand seemed to only remain so for a moment before its bark fell off to reveal a body of transparent blue crystal.


    ''It took on the characteristics of my Aether...'' Ss blinked, realizing the change immediately. ''Is this how it will help me fix my future path? Fascinating...''


    Ss made a mental note that he would need to take out this wand again when he was in a region morepatible with his Aether and see what happened. Then, he began to spin once


    more.


    This time, it wasn''t until his 312th spin that he got something.


    At this rate, Ss felt that it would be foolish of him to upgrade the slot machine again in hopes of getting a gold treasure. He might as well stick with what he had.


    ''Now, what is this...?''

 Chapter 351: Weakness

    Chapter 351: Weakness


    ?


    [Rune Enlightenment (Silver) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage


    epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.]


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this story''s heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment]


    [Fragmented Requirement]


    [>Gain right of entry into a System City''s Library]


    [Fragmented Requirement Cleared]


    [Common Requirement]


    [>Use entry into System City''s Library to find information about Lost Civilizations and clues about an Ancient Dungeon]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    This Quest was anything but simple. Aside from the fact that it was a bit different than the other Chain Quests in not giving him a reward with every step, there was definitely something ominous about it.


    The Quest was practically holding his hand all the way through, telling him exactly what to do. But it was exactly because of this that it was definitely far more difficult than it seemed.


    The System City''s Library entry, for example. That could only be done if you were an established citizen of a System City. That required buying property, and if you didn''t have Merit like Ss did, even the cheapest ce would cost 50,000 F Coins.


    That amount of money at this stage was astronomical.


    Forparison''s sake, Ss had killed over 200 demons and cleared out over a half dozen of their settlements only toe back with 30,000 Coins. On top of that, he wouldn''t have even been able to be so efficient if not for having a team of Level 14s to back him up. Most people on Earth weren''t even Level 1 right now; where would they find ten Level 14s, let alone ten Level 14s willing to follow their orders?


    And this was all just the Fragmented leg of this Quest.


    The Common leg sounded simple enough... but was it really? Ss had a feeling that finding this information would most definitely take a while.


    How many books were in that library? Would he have a reliable filtration method? And even if he did, how many of those books would he have to read?


    This could easily end up bing a several-day-long affair.


    Then there was still the Bronze and Silver legs of the Quest to consider.


    After some thought, Ss dismissed the notification. The description was intriguing enough. This Quest seemed rted to the history of Earth, and he couldn''t help but remember the oddity of Archibald and his old English.


    Were they rted?


    More curiously than that... why would the system give a Quest about old Earth?


    Lost in thought, Ss continued to spin. He realized that with the way things were going, it would be a surprise even if he only got a single treasure more, and he would be very lucky to get more than three, so this was the home stretch.


    This was technically still a part of his reward from the Arctic Emperor Cobra incident, so he could only say that danger really did pay.


    On his 367th roll.


    [Basilisk Skin Armor (Silver) (Treasure)]


    This time, Ss really was out of luck. There was no surprise reversal like with the Mancer''s Wand. It hurt him almost physically just to look at the stats.


    [Basilisk Skin Armor (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+600 Constitution]


    [Ability: Repel]


    [Reflect 50% of damage for every one point of Durability]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    It was enough to make a man weep. Ss had never seen a treasure with such strong stats. +600 Constitution was just its starting line. It would probably take a ridiculous number of Genes to upgrade, and Silver Genes at that, but even if he never upgraded it, this armor in its Level 1 state would probably be relevant even in the years toe.


    People would likely have to be around Level 50 on average before it truly became obsolete... and that was only if it stayed at Level 1!


    Even its Repel Ability was stronger than any Ss had ever seen. All the others had been around 10%, but this one was at 50%!


    ''A shame...''


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. He got over it quite quickly.


    He knew that if it wasn''t for these Scorned Wraps and the Madness Key around his neck, he would never be able to make it so far. Since they had their rules, he would follow them... for


    now.


    At the same time, he had to be cautious.


    For this treasure to appear for him meant that in due time, it might very well appear for someone else at some point or another. If people started walking around with treasures like this, it would be hard to take their stats at face value. He needed to get much stronger, much


    faster.


    Ss looked at the beautiful ck armor. It looked more like a skintight ck suit, but when one looked closer, there were scale-shaped barbs across its surface. It was incredibly


    lightweight.


    ''I''ll give it to Cassarae since I can''t wear it. Unfortunately, it''s clearly shaped for a human, so I can''t give it to the Basilisk King.''


    Ss continued to spin, and quite quickly he was at over 400 tickets used. He could feel the ending up, and it seemed like he really might end up being unlucky enough to not spin a single one in over a hundred tickets... but luckily, his Luck wasn''t that bad.


    On his 425th roll.


    [Gene Talent Crystal (Silver) (Treasure)]


    ''Oh?''


    Ss finally sat up from the ground.


    His Gene Talents right now were probably his greatest weakness. He used them from time to time, but as his stats increased, their poor grades began to show. Well, this referred to Sudden Burst, Tail Whip, and de Aura, of course. Not Aetherflow.


    Gene Talents were meant to grow with you, so technically even these weaker ones still had their uses. It was just that he usually had skills or treasures that were more worth using in a


    given situation.


    The main benefit of Gene Talents was that skills relied on Aether, but Gene Talents relied on your stats and personal stamina. It was like another reserve that could be used in battle. When he used a Gene Crystal, the Gene that formed came with a Gene Talent baked into it. But this Gene Talent Crystal seemed to allow him a chance to create his own Gene Talent. Ss already knew what he wanted to do.


    Ever since he saw Joel''s <Shadow Warp> Skill in the Stabilizing Bracelet, he had wanted a movement method that could at least beparable.


    Would this Gene Talent Crystal be his chance to shore up his weakness in movement?

 Chapter 352: Rune Breath (1) [Bonus]

    Chapter 352: Rune Breath (1) [Bonus]


    ?


    [Gene Talent Crystal (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Capacity: 450]


    Much like a Gene Crystal, this Gene Talent Crystal wanted him to load in a catalyst. It would then calcte the Genes that it would need to spit what he needed out.


    With a Capacity of 450, though, it would need 450 Genes... or more urately, 450 Silver Genes.


    Ss could only suck in a cold breath when he realized this. It would be a troublesome matter, indeed, to benefit from this Gene Talent Crystal.


    Even so, it was still technically less valuable than a Gene Crystal with the same capacity. That was because it wouldn''t give him any boosts to his stats, nor would it give him any increase to his Stat and Gene Limits. It would only give him a chance to unlock a Gene Talent. It could be ssified as a glorified Skill, even.


    There was another limiting factor as well. If the Gene Talent was too powerful, then he would likely end up storing a Gene Talent he couldn''t use without literally dying of exhaustion. His heart would explode from thebor.


    But then again, this was hardly a worry. By the time he could gather so many Silver Genes, his strength would definitely be far beyond what it was now.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat as he felt One King For Me activate. Or, more urately, he sensed the Insight Path Talent activate.


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    Insight was the only one of his Path Talents that didn''t have a specific number pegged to it. It was vague and came to him more as intuition than anything else.


    He had felt that the Arctic King Cobra was a chance for the Basilisk King to evolve, for example. But he didn''t realize until he was in the moment that this evolution had less to do with the Basilisk King absorbing something from the cobra and more to do with the Basilisk King using it as a means to assert its pride and dominance.


    Now, he had sensed another path for the Basilisk, and...


    Ss took out the Basilisk Skin Armor. Then he began to look back and forth between the Gene Talent Crystal.


    ''I''m still missing one thing... or is it two...''


    The feeling was too vague.


    Until the Gene Talent Crystal appeared, he thought that the Basilisk Skin Armor would just have to be handed over to Cassarae. This wasn''t necessarily a bad thing; it was just a waste since she would be spending most of her time in the city until they managed to upgrade it to a Rudimentary City.


    However, it seemed that there was another path.


    ''Interesting. Thebination of his armor and this Gene Talent Crystal is a chance for the Basilisk King to evolve. I wonder what''s missing.''


    Ss made a decision. If he didn''t find the third item he needed to catalyze the reaction any time soon, then he would leave the armor with Cassarae. As he saw things, she was his woman, so she should have some level of protection.


    When he found the third item he needed, he''d take it back. It would kill two birds with one stone.


    He had a feeling that whatever evolution the Basilisk King got from this wouldn''t be a simple one at all. He would have to continue growing his strength if he didn''t want to be shredded apart by their Fusion.


    With that, Ss began to casually use the rest of his tickets. He was quite satisfied with his gains, so he wasn''t really expecting much with the tickets he had left, but surprisingly he got something else when there were just three tickets left.


    [Unyielding Schr (Silver) (Title Sequence)]


    [Unyielding Schr (FFF+) (Title)]


    [Your mind is an embryo of chaos, dense in its unpredictability and lofty in its ambition. You are not only sharp, but your Wisdom is no less powerful than your Will]


    [Devours zing Will]


    [+200 Wisdom]


    [+200 Will]


    [+100% Wisdom]


    [Progress to Unlock]


    [>Comprehend Rune Breath]


    [>Discover Rune with 50 Foundations]


    ''Discover? Or does it mean create?''


    His reward wasn''t the Title; it was rather the Title Sequence of Unyielding Schr. This was actually not a bad boon because this Title had been on the list of FFF+ Titles he would need to unlock Aetherflow with his 200 Capacity Bronze Gene Crystal.


    He had been rewarded with it here, and that wasn''t bad considering asking the Madness Key would have cost a pretty penny. All things considered, it wasn''t a bad oue.


    It seemed that the world was pushing him toward unlocking Aetherflow. Between Aether Flow, Rune Flow, and Skill Flow, he had to admit that he was leaning toward the first as well.


    He wasn''t in a rush because gathering the 200 Genes he needed would take a very long time, so he hadn''te to a certain decision just yet. But it was good that such a thing had appeared


    now.


    Now he just had to figure out what Rune Breath was and what it meant by discover... could it mean just analyzing a 50 Foundation Rune? It couldn''t be that easy, right?


    He had already analyzed the 32 Foundation Ice-Poison Rune with hardly any effort at all. After all, back then he had very limited knowledge of Runes. He had yet to evenplete the nine-door training course all the way through.


    Now, if he had to analyze a 32 Foundation Rune again, it wouldn''t take nearly the same amount of time.


    He had a hard time believing that one of the tasks for unlocking such a Title was so easy.


    [How would someone just starting their path of Rune Mastery unlock Rune Breath?]


    -


    [Rune Breath is an upgrade of Rune Insight. Starting from Rune Sight, to Rune Visualization, to Rune Enlightenment, and finally to Rune Breath.


    [This state in particr refers to a state of oneness with Runes that allows their natural flow


    toward yourmand. This will severely decrease the amount of Wisdom it will take to


    aplish the same actions...]

 Chapter 353: Rune Breath (2) [Bonus]

    Chapter 353: Rune Breath (2) [Bonus]


    ?


    [Unlocking Rune Sight means to open one''s mind''s eye to allow the sight of Runes. Unlocking Rune Visualization means being capable of seeing not just the two-dimensional structure of Runes, but being able to experience its full 3D structure with a single nce. Rune


    Enlightenment represents a state of being able toprehend the likely ability of a Rune simply by feel.


    [To move through these first three stages usually required familiarity, time, and patience. Much like master chess yers who can rely on pattern recognition in crucial moments, so too must a Rune Master be capable of such things.


    [However, Rune Breath is a well-known dividing line. Manyymen can reach Rune Enlightenment given enough years and effort. However, Rune Breath is a chasm that separates the talented from the untalented.


    [If a new Rune Master just starting out would like to learn Rune Breath, the best advice is to hope and pray.]


    The Madness Key was known to be cheeky from time to time, and Ss could almost feel like it was being exactly that this time around.


    What amused Ss the most was that this cheekiness always appeared when he asked the most borderline of questions.


    For example, when he asked how toplete the Summoned Ascension, its only answer was: Be Strong. Now, when he asked a purposely broad question that would force it to describe five answers for the price of one, it reacted like this as well.


    It almost made him think the Madness Key was a bit sentient. That would probably exin its excessive greed and how it took advantage of him whenever it got the chance.


    But he didn''t pay much mind to it, at least not for now.


    ''Talent, huh...?''


    Ss closed his eyes and sat in meditation.


    By this point, Olivia was getting tired of holding her tongue. She had just sat here in awe while watching Ss pull out treasure after treasure.


    However, just when she was going to speak as that damned slot machine finally vanished, Ss actuallypletely ignored her again and began to meditate.


    There was an odd aura around him that seemed to slowly be building up momentum. And then...


    Ss'' eyes snapped open, a ze of green fire dancing in his eye. There was a sudden strong wind despite the fact they were in a basement, and for a moment, to Olivia''s gaze, Ss seemed farrger than life.


    Ss, however, felt something different. He could hear rattling chains, the sounds of cries and sobs of pain and mournful sadness... He could hear Earth.


    Ss unlocked Rune Sight the moment he absorbed Enchanted Scribe.


    He wasn''t actually sure if much of his talent was innate because he had also used Extricate back then. Thanks to that, he didn''t just gain Enchanted Scribe that day; he had also grasped all the feel and subtleties that came with it as well.


    Thanks to this, he was able to easily grasp Rune Visualization and Rune Enlightenment. When this was paired with his usual intelligence, he had zed through the first three stages of Rune Mastery without even being aware of it.


    However, Rune Breath was a bit different. Extricate could definitely bridge some of that gap for him, but the rest relied on himself. Essentially, Extricate had allowed him to take a peek at Rune Breath and what it might feel like, but if he didn''t have the talent for it, taking that next step would require using Extricate on a far stronger Rune-rted Gene for him to grasp it.


    And now, as expected, Rune Breathprehension was crossed off his list. Now he just needed to analyze a 50 Foundations Rune.


    If this was all the Title Sequence meant by discover, then this would be the easiest gain in stats he had had in a long time. He would have to see if the System City library had a Rune he could analyze there... if not, he would borrow Cassarae''s Nexus.


    Finally, Ss stood to his feet.


    The calls of the mourning Runes around him were slowly phased out.


    Soon enough, he would find a way to reverse this.


    If that was possible, Earth would certainly see a huge boon very quickly.


    It had to be remembered that every time their Runes were tampered with, they had to restart from square one and build up science all over again.


    But what if he healed Earth? Wouldn''t they then have the insights of several civilizations to build up something entirely new for themselves?


    "It''s time to go," Ss said to Olivia. "Get dressed and pack up what you need into the car. From now until the time we leave the city... well, it might get a bit bumpy."


    While Ss was working out and using the slot machine, he had also been observing their perimeter. It seemed that the government agents felt that something was off.


    Being unprofessional was possible, but being unprofessional to the extent that Ss was could only be considered overdoing it.


    Of course, they weren''t to the point of bursting in and ensuring Olivia and Ss really were having a romp, but the likelihood they would double-check the situation, or maybe even take a pass to visit Olivia after Ss left, was very high. They might even stop covert observations in favor of something more permanent...


    They would have to be ready for that.


    Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she shook her head. Maybe only a woman with a mouth like Cassarae could handle this man. She had about had enough after just


    a few hours.


    At the very least, he could get her out of this hellhole. Every day was just the same monotonous bullshit. They kept her in a figurative cage, and she was suffocating as their


    elites continued to improve.


    Now, she would finally get the chance to stretch out her wings again.


    She couldn''t help but feel that the more the government acted like this, the more people like


    her they would push away.


    The two got into the car.


    "... Do I really have to hide between your legs?"


    "Yes," Ss said.


    "I feel like you''re messing with me."


    "I''m not," Ss said without the slightest change to his expression. "You can''t hide in the obvious ces, and even though the windows are tinted, the fact they''re not being aggressive means they probably have a way to see through them if need be. This is definitely the best


    ce."


    Olivia grumbled. Inwardly she swore never to offend Ss again. He could be petty and yet sound reasonable while doing so.

 Chapter 354: Suicide

    Chapter 354: Suicide


    ?


    "This is not the way to our home."


    Miss Collin was sharp. It hadn''t even been five seconds since Ss took the wrong path. Until now, she hadn''t felt that anything was amiss other than the fact that their supposed bodyguard wasn''t doing his bodyguard duties.


    At first, she thought that Ss was just very good at concealing himself. But she, herself, wasn''t a pushover. After not catching the slightest whiff of Ss in an entire two hours, she realized that something must be the matter.


    However, that also made her feel odd. If Ss wanted to do something to them, why would he just vanish? And why let them go to the amusement park first?


    Miss Collin was on edge ever since that previous incident. In fact, it was this incident that allowed Ss to have such an easy time of it. She and her little boy had been attacked before, and Brant was almost toote to stop something terrible from happening.


    It was Legacy.


    The likes of Professor Fembroise weren''t the only ones that Legacy wanted to catch. Much like Ss could see through the fact that Brant had a great bit of value, so too could Legacy.


    However, they weren''t as familiar with Brant''s personality and background as Ss was, so they chose to use force rather than persuasion. Ultimately, the result was the failed attack.


    Thanks to this, Brant had a legitimate reason to get his wife and son a guard, allowing Ss to slip into that role perfectly.


    Ss didn''t ignore the woman, as that would make things bad very quickly.


    "Indeed, we aren''t going to your home. But, all you need to do is think about how you ended up here, and you will understand."


    Miss Collin''s eyes flickered. Indeed, from start to finish, everything was her husband''s idea. Even going to the amusement park today was something Brant had spent half an hour convincing her to do.


    When she had this thought, she rxed. In fact, she even smiled a bit.


    Ss looked in the rearview to see that she was calm and rxed.


    "Can Ie out now?" Olivia grumbled.


    Miss Collin was startled again. The SUV wasrge, and from her vantage point, she couldn''t see that there was someone between Ss'' legs. She wouldn''t even think to consider that something could fit down there to begin with.


    "Not yet," Ss replied. "Stay. Once we''ve been caught, then you can act."


    Ss looked back through the rearview again. "Protect your boy, but don''t make it too obvious just yet."


    Miss Collin nodded solemnly. Luckily, the toddler was all out of battery after their time in the amusement park, so he was in a deep sleep.


    She gently arranged his hair and took a deep breath to calm herself.


    ''This is for the better...''


    Time continued to tick by, and just when they were in a silent lull, Ss hit a sudden turn and floored it.


    ...


    "Suspect has made his move! I repeat, suspect has made his move!"


    A cascade of orders fell, and Ss could almost feel his skin prickle as several danger signs red from his Luck.


    The more time he spent with great Luck, the more he realized that it was far from just a measure of tipping the odds.


    As the greatest athletes always said... Luck only triggered when opportunity met preparedness. Luck didn''t just hand you things on a silver tter; it made you more alert, more ready, more keen to react.


    Opportunity and preparation.


    Ss'' gaze shed, and the wide-body car weaved through the streets with a deftness that shouldn''t have been possible. The SUV was like an extension of his body. He could feel when the tires were going to spin out and stay just beneath the threshold, but when they had to, he would use it to his advantage, drifting around corners and flooring it when he had to.


    By this point, Miss Collin had already covered her boy''s body with her own. As for Olivia, she was busy cursing in her mind because Ss had tricked her again. When was she going to have time to climb out in this situation? If she disrupted Ss now, they were all dead.


    She had half a mind to punch him in the dick.


    "Such a Cassarae thought," she mumbled to herself.


    "Get ready to jump with everything you have. Don''t think about it. When I give the signal, just


    jump."


    Ss'' words confused them, but they could only listen. Olivia moved into a more crouching position, grabbing Ss'' thighs to steady herself. At the same time, Miss Collin bundled her son, who had long since awakened, and leaned forward.


    The little boy sure had great courage because even now, he looked like he was just enjoying any other roller coaster.


    Ss'' gaze, however, waspletely focused on what was ahead. They were quickly approaching the oing barrier, and by now, the military men and women were certainly getting antsy. The odds that they would fire on him now were high, but they also likely didn''t believe that he would use the SUV as a battering ram. After all, if he did something like that, they would all die.


    But that was exactly what Ss was doing. Rather than slowing down, he was actually speeding up, heading toward the barricade.


    The SUV had already hit over 150 kilometers an hour, and its engine was practically whistling


    under the strain.


    "MOVE! MOVE!"


    Themanding officers threw out spikes, but Ss countered with his telekinesis, forcefully keeping the air pressure within the tires. In the end, they could onlymand everyone to scatter.


    Olivia couldn''t see what was happening, but she heard the gunshots that followed. As for Miss Collin, her face was as pale as a sheet of paper... why wasn''t Ss slowing down? Was he going to kill them all?


    Ss didn''t slow for even a second, and not once did his gaze even flicker as he rammed straight into the barrier.

 Chapter 355: JUMP

    Chapter 355: JUMP


    ?


    "JUMP!"


    Ss''mand came at that same instant, and they all leapt into the air.


    Miss Collin couldn''t help but close her eyes, feeling that the end hade. Had she been too naive? Maybe her husband fromst night wasn''t even her husband-who knew what sorts of weird abilities the people of this world had now. But why go through all this trouble just to kill her?


    However, after two seconds passed, she realized there was an issue...


    There was too much wind, there was no impact, and... why did it feel like she was soaring through the skies?


    She, Ss, Olivia, and her boy soared over the wall, and just as they were about toe crashing down, they were slowed considerably by a strange force.


    Thending was still heavy, but it was the kind of heft one might feel after jumping down two meters, not over 20 like what they had just experienced... not to mention the fact that they had just been flying at 150 kilometers an hour.


    Ss was the first to recover. He hadnded perfectly on his feet, and his body absorbed the impact with ease. Olivia was still rolling on the ground, and Miss Collin had fallen on her back like a sack of potatoes, protecting her boy. In the process, she had definitely fractured a bone or two and seemed to have rolled her ankle.


    But all of this was within Ss'' calctions.


    He hurried over and picked Olivia up. They were still only about 50 or so meters from the city walls, and it was likely that they could still be shot at.


    As expected, the rifle rounds came quickly, but the distance was too far. Ss wasn''t at the point that he could block bullets, but this rain of rifle rounds was too sporadic. It was clear that the changes to thews were affecting them heavily. In another month or two, no modern technology would work at all.


    To deal with them, Ss simply dodged. He and Olivia were still the main targets, and after he picked her up, they were one target. It was all too easy.


    His expression never changed as he summoned his Blue Cyclone Horse, putting Olivia onto it. "Keep them from falling. I''ll be right behind you."


    He hurried to the side of the mother-son pair as they struggled to stand. The boy wasn''t hurt in the slightest, and that was certainly its own relief.


    Ss helped them onto the back of the horse, unfortunately having to use a <King''s Shield> charge from his stability bracelet.


    The bullet tore right through it and into his shoulder, but it was a calcted injury. The bullet got stuck in his bone after losing much of its energy and couldn''t continue through.


    By the time he took this bullet, the horse had already soared off into the distance, leaving just Ss alone.


    He gave the city another nce, sweeping his eyes through the army. He didn''t even seem to have much killing intent, but they all felt their hearts plunge into an ice-cold cer. Then, dodging bullets, he shot after his steed.


    From start to finish, his expression never changed a single time. Everything was within his calctions.


    -


    "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"


    A furious voice bellowed.


    A man with a thick, greying mustache appeared to see the mess that was left behind. They had reacted quickly, and yet it still wasn''t quick enough.


    This man was one who held true power in the military, a man who went by General Psy.


    He had deep, sunken eyes that seemed to carry a ring of red around them. Although he was on the shorter side, he was almost wider than he was tall-not out of fat, but because he was a wall of muscle. He could have very well been a bodybuilder in his time, but it was clear that he had much more functional strength than aesthetic.


    When he heard the reports at first, he thought that someone was bullshitting them.


    They lost two high-profile targets in a single sitting because a car disappeared?


    "I want information! I want to know everything about that green-eyed bastard, and I want to know it yesterday!"


    ...


    Ss'' indifferent eyes shot through the forest. All the while, his heart rate was steady and unmoved. It seemed that these days, it would take far more action to get his blood flowing like it used to.


    As for how he had managed to get out of that situation, it was none other than thanks to these Scorned Wraps.


    Driving a car was fine, but the moment he tried to use the car as a weapon, it reacted violently, turning the entire car to ash just like it would any other weapon.


    Ss realized that his intention was just as important as what the treasure he was holding was. When he used the car to drive, it was fine. But if he used it as a weapon, then it was uneptable to the Scorned Wraps.


    This was exactly why that poor whale had turned to ash in his hands before. He had started to use it like a weapon.


    Knowing this, the rest was obvious.


    He told them to time their jump just before he intended to use the car as a weapon. As such, the SUV disappeared just before their heads hit the ceiling.


    At that point, they still carried 150 kilometers an hour of forward momentum and didn''t have nearly enough lift. So that was where Ss'' telekinesis came into y.


    He helped them soar over the tall walls, and the speed of the SUV gave them enough to get some nice distance between themselves and their enemies.


    Of course, he also slowed their downward descent, and that was all made possible by the improvements to his Gluttony Seed.


    In the end, the process was made a lot easier than he thought it would be. Though... he was likely the only one capable of seeing it this way.


    ''It''s time for me to challenge a General...''

 Chapter 356 Detainment [Bonus]

    356 Detainment [Bonus]


    Ss returned to Casstle Main only to be "detained." The situation was actually worse than it seemed, although he took it as mostly a joke. Gregory even had the likes of Brant''s toddler in shackles.


    On the way back, the group had met up with Brant, who was waiting anxiously. The man almost wept when he saw his wife and son, and when Ss saw this, he knew that he would likely not have to worry about Brant in the future.


    Brant had been practically grinning from ear to ear. He might have carried his wife and son on the way back himself if not for the fact they reminded him that they had prepared a horse and carriage.


    However, that fantasy came crashing down a momentter. He couldn''t help but look toward Ss, but Ss wasn''t the type of person to give reassuring nces. He just let Gregory do what he wanted until they were "escorted" to separate holding rooms for Cassarae to personally inspect.


    What Ss didn''t expect was to have to sit and wait there for an entire three hours, but he could see more than a third of the vige just with his visualization alone, so he knew exactly what was happening.


    Cassarae was taking her time. She had gone through the necessary hassle and released Olivia and two small families of three basically immediately. Then, she housed them in her City Lord abode, a ce that had actually grown since thest time Ss had seen it.


    The first time he saw the City Lord "mansion," it was just a small shack with a single room that housed the City Stele in a corner. The second time, it grew into a small cottage. This third time he appeared in it, there had actually been a spacious enough basement to house the portal and City Stele.


    Now, there were five semi-decently sized rooms, and it was much more like the mansion title in its namesake.


    Cassarae gave one room to the family, left one to her parents, and she actually started to share one with Olivia, although there was plenty more space. Obviously, she was thinking ahead for the future.


    As for why she was taking so long, it was obviously because she was still angry with Ss.


    Ss, however, didn''t mind. These chains could hold him, sure¡­ he wasn''t yet superhuman to the point of shattering them with his strength. Still, he didn''t care one way or another.


    He closed his eyes and began to sense Rune Breath.


    Because of the time crunch, he hadn''t really basked in the feeling. It was also much harder before considering there was no abundance of Aether where they had been.


    As for the wound to his shoulder, it had already healed on the way here. That sort of injury was only a scratch to the current Ss.


    He took a breath and felt Enchanted Schr stir within him. Almost immediately, the Runes in the air manifested and moved to his will.


    ''The description was correct. With Rune Breath, the pressure on my mind when using Runes has reduced considerably. It probably costs a tenth as much now¡­ Which means¡­'' N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Rune Breath felt a lot like how Skills felt. Skills use a minimal amount of Aether from within your body tomunicate with Aether in the atmosphere to trigger some sort of effect.


    Before, Ss was taking on the burden of Rune creation all by himself. But now, the atmosphere was listening to him as well, making things several times easier.


    Strokes began to gather, and Ss stamped down.


    Aplete Ice-Poison Rune formed, and guided by Ss'' Ice-Poison Aether, it drilled into the chains on his body.


    Ss felt a cold chill that quickly became warm.


    With a casual roll of his shoulders¡­


    SNAP.


    He opened his eyes to find the chains that had bound him in pieces. He actually didn''t care whether they were on him or not, but it was truly fascinating that he could do this at all. It hadn''t even taken a Skill.


    ''Interesting. If I tried using my Ice-Poison Aether alone to do that, it would have taken me several hours to break these chains. But the Ice-Poison Rune was like a sharpened de to my Aether''s hilt. It helped it pierce.


    ''The Rune alone could have aplished it. But with the boost my Aether gave it, it didn''t have to siphon what it needed from the atmosphere and it made the entire process much faster.''


    Ss found it all to be fascinating.


    Before, he hadn''t even been able to create the Ice-Poison Rune. He could only use segments of it because forming the entire thing took too much stamina. But now the cost to him wasn''t much worse than any other Skill might be.


    There was definitely a path to great strength hidden here. But he also realized that it could quickly get veryplicated.


    In the future, drawing the line of distinction between Runes, Aether, and Skills might be impossible. Unless heid a solid foundation now, when things became moreplex, he would be lost.


    ''The library.''


    Ss loosened himself up. He hadn''t minded sitting around because it was a good time to sharpen what he needed to sharpen. But now that he had done everything he needed to do, he wouldn''t just continue to sit here while Cassarae threw a temper tantrum. Every second counted now.


    However, just as he was about to leave to make his way to the System City, a familiar figure walked through his visualization and made her way to his door.


    Cassarae walked in, and her lip twitched slightly when she saw the broken shackles on the floor. She hid it quite well, though, looking into Ss'' eyes.


    "I hear you made Olivia ride between your legs."


    "¡­"


    Ss didn''t even know how to respond to this at first. It was technically true, but why would you summarize things like this?


    "You also kissed her and pinched her ass."


    Alright. That one was a bit harder to get out of.

 Chapter 357 Like? [Bonus]

    357 Like? [Bonus]


    Cassarae crossed her arms over her chest, her steely blue eyes practically boring holes into Ss'' own.


    "I guess that''s true," Ss eventually replied, standing to his full height.


    Cassarae couldn''t help but sneer. "What''s that? You have a little bit of power now and your balls finally dropped? You want the both of us, is that it?"


    Ss'' lip curled slightly. It was probably the closest thing to a smile that anyone would ever get, and to Cassarae, that small curl was practically Ssughing out loud. She remembered always getting a rise out of him doing that because it meant she had said something funny.


    Of course, she knew the real circumstances about what happened and wouldn''t be mad about such a thing. Rather, this anger was entirely due to theirst interaction.


    Since Ss had given her such a weakness to grab onto, why wouldn''t she take it?


    "Is that jealousy?"


    "It could be, if I cared enough," Cassarae sneered. "Instead, it''s mostly just pity. You haven''t even finished trying to get into my pants and you''ve already fumbled the bag this hard."


    "I wouldn''t summarize it like that," Ss said, still amused.


    "Oh? What are you going to do? Force yourself into my bed with that strength you''re so proud of?"


    "Is that why you''re sharing a room with Olivia now? Scared I''ll pounce on you? Shouldn''t you have brought your guards here, then?"


    "Fuck you, Ss," Cassarae hid a slightly embarrassed tinge on her cheek with a curse. That was indeed part of the reason, but it wasn''t her idea. It was Olivia''s insistence.


    However, Cassarae knew that Ss would never do such a thing, and though Olivia had known Ss for a much shorter time, she was probably aware of this as well.


    The real reason Olivia had done this was to y cockblock as payback. Ss had gotten her back good, and now the two were in a petty war. Right now, Olivia just might be up with this chess move.


    At some unknown time, Ss had already approached to within a foot of Cassarae, but her pride was far too great to take a step back. Plus, while she had a lot of emotions for Ss, none of them were embarrassment or fear.


    Ss'' eyes bounced back and forth between her own as though he was trying to see something. After a long while, he took something out.


    "Here. Try this on and let me see."


    Cassarae half thought it was going to be lingerie. But her eyes widened when she saw that it was armor, and widened even further when she saw its stats.


    She hurriedly pushed Ss into the room and mmed the door behind them, her breath slightly quick.


    She had just been about to reject because she had Maya''s armors to wear. But this¡­ this¡­


    Having already learned about the weakness of Ss'' Scorned Wraps, she knew why he was giving this to her. But it still made her heart race rapidly.


    In this apocalypse, this sort of gift was probably better than any flowers. Adding to that the fact that Cassarae never liked such a useless gift to begin with and her heart was practically doing cartwheels.


    "This is just a temporary gift. I will likely need to take it back in the future because I''ll need it for my battle pet''s evolution."


    Cassarae blinked. "You have a Combat Mount?"


    "Not exactly. But it''s probably not too far from the truth."


    Combat Mounts could not only be used in battle, but in addition to Speed and Dexterity stats, the mostmon of them scaled with your Strength and Constitution as well. As for the rarest of them, they could scale even with some Mental stats.


    Byparison, Ss'' "Combat Mount" didn''t scale with his own stats at all. But that actually only helped the Basilisk King.


    After her excitement faded, Cassarae rolled her eyes and gave Ss a look.


    "''Try this on and let me see,'' huh?" Cassarae clicked her tongue. "When''d you be so shameless."


    She held up what would certainly be a skin-tight armor, looking as though she wanted Ss to give her an exnation.


    "I''d like to see you in it," Ss replied honestly.


    Cassarae sneered. She had expected that response. Ss didn''t do embarrassment¡­ well, unless it was in front of her father. But somehow she doubted that that would work even now.


    But she surprisingly agreed.


    "Turn around."


    Ss acquiesced and didn''t n on using his visualization either. But what surprised him were Cassarae''s next words.


    "Oh? You aren''t using your senses to peek? How gentlemanly."


    Ss was confused at first, but then he remembered that Cassarae had a Luck value higher than one as well. She may have unlocked a visualization as well and was probably able to sense his own and block it somewhat.


    That meant that she had been well aware that he was watching her earlier and still took her sweet time.


    A troublesome woman indeed.


    "Okay, you can turn around now."


    Ss'' eyes flickered.


    A troublesome woman? Yes. In more ways than one.


    She stood there with a hand on her hips. As expected, the armor had shaped to fit her perfectly, hugging her curves. It pinched down on her slim waist and rounded her proud bust. If there had been any imperfections before¡ªsomething Ss doubted¡ªthe armor certainly hid them well.


    Cassarae walked to Ss and put a hand on his shoulder, her other hand still resting on her hip as she cocked it to one side.


    "Like what you see?"


    Ss looked her up and down as a fire lit within him. But he still calmly nodded.


    She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "You want a harem of me, don''t you?"


    "If I could clone you, why not?" Ss said with his half-smile.


    "Oh? You don''t want a horde of women following after you now that you''ve finally found your dick and balls? What happened to: ''those who stand in my way die''?"


    "I''d have to want something for it to be considered standing in my way."


    Cassarae was a bit surprised when she heard this. It didn''t make much sense. She had thought that Ss had just be an outright chauvinist¡­ or was he just saying that to say what she wanted to hear?


    No¡­ he doesn''t have that bone in his body.


    After a while, Cassarae chuckled. "Well, if you wanted a taste of this ass, you should have taken it when you had a chance. Now you don''t have it anymore."


    Cassarae gave Ss'' crotch a light pat, then stepped away to slip some more clothes on before vanishing down the corridor.


    It was a long while before Ss managed to calm the heat scorching through his veins.


    It seemed that Guiz City was about to have a bad time¡­ because he would need to vent this somewhere.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 358 Two Birds with One Stone

    358 Two Birds with One Stone


    There was still another day and a half until his battle with General Aleen was due to take ce, but Ss still chose to return to the System City¡ªthough apparently not before he ran into Gregory. Still, although the man gave him a look and the militiamen all red in unison, Ss only swept them a nce before vanishing into the distance.


    ¡­


    Entry into the System City was as easy as usual, and it wasn''t long before Ss found where the library was. When he returned, he nodded.


    ''As expected¡­''


    The library was enormous. It had three floors above ground and six more below. On the surface, it looked like any normal library, formed of aged brick and mortar and carrying a schrly feel. But the sheer number of books was simply mind-numbing.


    Each of the floors had five-meter-tall ceilings, and there were hardly any seating arrangements at all, as they used up most of the space to stack more bookshelves. From floor to ceiling, there were walls upon walls of books, and several rollingdders of various heights to amodate them all. He knew thatpleting his quest wouldn''t be so easy.


    ''There''s definitely an organization system of some sort. I will learn it first.''


    He walked to one of the few help desks and began asking questions. But after leaving, there was more confusion on his face than before.


    This wasn''t Earth, so there was no digital database to use. In the Veridian University library, for example, if Ss wanted to find a book, he would just look it up on one of the many database monitors. Then, right at his fingertips, he would have several potential names, summaries, and even the exact location of the books based on a numerical system.


    But here, things didn''t work that way. He had thought they might rely on the system, but it was moreplex than that.


    They used a Rune system. The library was separated into Rune Sections, which were further divided into Foundation Sections and even further into Stroke Sections.


    In higher-ss libraries, the section a book was in would be decided by its creator. That was because higher-ss knowledge would almost always elicit a reaction from thews of a world and form its own Runes.


    But¡­ this knowledge, or at least most of it, wasn''t ssified so highly. That ironically made everything several times more difficult. That was because rather than being assigned by something as fundamental as thews they described, the standard of this library was somewhat arbitrarily decided by the librarian.


    Sometimes this would work out well, but it could also go very wrong¡­ especially if there were several librarians or the head librarian was reced.


    The short of it was that even the librarians wouldn''t have read every book here. That meant that Ss had to wade through a tide of clickbait titles, schrly hack jobs, and the ipetence of the librarians themselves. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The majority of the library was actually arranged in alphabetical order, which was mind-numbingly stupid. The sheer number of books in the ''T'' section because of a book starting its title with "The" was enough to make a man weep.


    ''It isn''tpletely hopeless¡­ The bottom three levels are only avable to nobles for a reason. You even need to be a Duke or General to get liberal ess to the bottom floor. That means that there''s at least some separation of quality. But that might be a worse thing for me.''


    Ss took a breath and stood in a random location. He needed a better way to sort through all of these books to find the information on lost civilizations that he needed.


    "I guess the only way to do this¡­ is to just start."


    Ss'' visualization quickly covered a full 30-meter radius. Asrge as the library was, this was still enough to cover most of it with the exception of the bottom-most floors.


    ''Difficult¡­''


    Ss frowned.


    While he was able to cover a 30-meter radius, for a full 60 meters in total if it was measured from end to end, his Wisdom was still too low to grasp everything within that radius. He often found himself bouncing from one location to another.


    It was simr to eyesight in that way. There was a focus and then there was the periphery. Most of Ss'' visualization fell into the periphery, and he had to turn his intention toward it in order to grasp the detail of what he was seeing.


    When analyzing Runes, the details were the most important, so it was hard to get away with just a vague understanding.


    Byparison, in battle, the moment something odd moved he would be able to grasp it.


    ''No, I have to take a different approach¡­ maybe?''


    Ss had never tried before, but he forced himself to shrink down his visualization.


    Surprisingly, it was extremely easy. At first, it took a bit of focus, but then he could move it freely.


    He continued to shrink it until he could get a focused image of every little thing in that region.


    ''Hm. Six meters or so seems to be the spot. But that puts a lot of strain on my mind, and I can barely hold out for a few minutes. But, if I shrink it again to five meters, I canst probably a half hour. At four meters, two or so hours shouldn''t be an issue at all.''


    After some thought, Ss settled on five meters.


    The form of a sphere came to mind, and he realized that every meter he lost was actually quite arge volume byparison. Although he couldst longer if he went even shorter, it wasn''t worth it.


    Plus, this would be a good opportunity to raise the Mastery of <Maddened Enlightenment>. He would kill two birds with one stone.


    Ss didn''t end up finding what he needed in a day and a half, but he moved through the library like a madman, imprinting the organization structure to the point he likely knew it better than even the librarian himself.


    When he returned, he would be able to find what he needed within half a week.


    With that thought, he rested, preparing for his match.

 Chapter 359 Offer

    359 Offer


    The city was filled with hustle and bustle. News of a challenge to a General of the city had spread like wildfire, not just to the spawned citizens of the System City, but also to the people of Earth who frequented this ce. The system announcements of Ss'' feats had shocked them all to the point everyone was scrambling to learn how to replicate what he had done.


    Unfortunately, in these days, most hadn''t been able to find many clues at all. And those that were able to certainly wouldn''t share it. Instead, they kept their awe to themselves, wondering how Ss had managed to afford such a thing¡­ Until, that is, news of what happened in the Nexus appeared, and everyone began to put two and two together. If Ss was receiving 10,000 F Coins a day, a total that would only increase with time, then it was no wonder he had been able to do what they could not. Those that understood the path could only grit their teeth and start hoarding their coins. Little did they know that buying property only made you a true citizen, not a Noble. Their path ahead was long, and before they could even try to catch up with Ss, news of this battle began to spread.


    Even more unfortunately for them, because they weren''t citizens, most of them ended up locked outside, unable to witness the festivities.


    ¡­


    Ss calmly walked down a dark and cold corridor. There were faint sounds of crowd noise in the far-off distance, but it ironically only made one feel more isted, as though that crowd was just worlds away, and yet at the same time a scene that you didn''t want to see¡­ because seeing them would inevitably mean that you would have to put your life on the line. It was an interesting psychological tactic, one that didn''t work on Ss at all.


    Ss'' gaze shed as he noticed a figure ahead of him. He leaned on the wall and gave Ss a casual nce as though trying to see something. This man was none other than Licirius. Ss'' steps came to a calm stop. He was just about five meters or so from Licirius, and he didn''t seem to have any intention of getting any closer.


    He didn''t say anything, waiting for Licirius to speak.


    "Ah, so you''re that type," Licirius said with a silent chuckle, pushing himself off the wall. "Cold. Stoic. Logical, I think the word is. That makes things much easier, no? How about youe and work for us?"


    Ss looked at him for a long while.


    "Who are you?" Ss asked.


    Licirius smiled. "That''s not something I can tell you just yet."


    "But you want me to join you?"


    "Wouldn''t that be for the best? Your little world doesn''t have¡ª"


    Licirius looked up and then stopped talking. Ss could see him tense a bit before everything went back to normal.


    ''Interesting,'' Ss thought. It reminded him of the Taboos of the Madness Key.


    "What would I gain for doing something like that?"


    "I don''t want to threaten you because that sort of thing probably doesn''t work on people like you. But equally as true, you''re capable of understanding what''s implicit even without me saying it so boldly.


    "Instead, I''ll do this. If you join us, this System City and everything it produces will be yours from now until the end of the Summoning. Once this little has¡­ you know, we will take you out of here and you''ll live like a King with the resources you''ve gathered."


    Ss didn''t respond as he continued to look at Licirius. Was that a joke? How would he have any guarantee of protecting what he had? Everything would be controlled by these people.


    That said, he could theoretically mobilize the System City to pump up his own power as best as he could. But in that case¡­ why would he rely on these people? Soon enough, this city would be his. If this was the best they could offer right now, it was too pitiful.


    Licirius was waiting calmly when Ss suddenly continued to walk until he was by him.


    "Do you know how many System Cities there are on Earth right now?" Ss suddenly spoke, his back to Licirius as he continued to walk away. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Are you trying to say our offer is too pitiful¡ª"


    "I wonder. How many of them have been taken over by people like you? And are you all really friends?"


    Licirius froze before his eyes suddenly thrummed with murderous intent.


    "I have a feeling that there are probably multiple powers eyeing our little. Maybe you''re all under the same umbre, maybe you''re not¡­ but one thing I know for certain is that internal strife most definitely isn''t unique. Where there''s interest, where there''s greed¡­ Gluttony¡­ there''s selfishness."


    Ss didn''t say anything else because he didn''t need to. He had already seen through Licirius'' greatest weakness in a single exchange.


    Daring to promise him a System City only meant two things. First, this System City was just a springboard toward what they really wanted to do, and second¡­ it wasn''t valuable enough to tip the scales too far in his favor.


    It was doubtful that all of them were under the control of outside parties, but he would bet that there was a sizeable portion, and none of them seemed to be working together or capable of working together.


    08:08


    Thattter thought reminded Ss of something clear. How many System Cities were there on Earth right now? Thousands at the very least¡­ In fact, it was more than likely tens of thousands.


    It was doubtful that all of them were under the control of outside parties, but he would bet that there was a sizeable portion, and none of them seemed to be working together or capable of working together.


    Plinli couldn''t even perfectly control what happened in this City alone. And soon enough, he would be ousted by Ss.


    There was a rush of light, and the crowd noise hit Ss like torrential rain. Then, he locked eyes with his opponent and couldn''t help but narrow his eyes.


    He was an enormous man wearing crimson armor and riding on the back of a neighing steed. General Aleen''s horse wore simr crimson armor while its coat was a jet ck that glistened in the sun.


    ---


    [General Aleen (FFF+)]


    [Level: 27]


    [Physical: 777]


    >[Strength: 822]


    >[Constitution: 873]


    >[Dexterity: 707]


    >[Speed: 706]


    [Mental: 811]


    >[Intelligence: 1362]


    >[Wisdom: 871]


    >[Charisma: 200]


    [Will: 651]


    ---

 Chapter 360: A Battle for General (1)

    Chapter 360: A Battle for General (1)


    ?


    [General Aleen (FFF+)]


    [Level: 27]


    -


    [Physical: 777]


    >[Strength: 822]


    >[Constitution: 873]


    >[Dexterity: 707]


    >[Speed: 706]


    [Mental: 811]


    >[Intelligence: 1362]


    >[Wisdom: 871]


    >[Charisma: 200]


    [Will: 651]


    The stats alone were ridiculous enough. But the General was riding a steed and seemed to have no intention of getting off of it. With a ive in hand and what was clearly a Combat Mount beneath him, his power was even more exaggerated than what these stats entailed. This didn''t even count what was certainly an extra boost thanks to his armor.


    Ss walked forward calmly, taking a breath. The world stilled, and his mind seemed to filter out the noise.


    General Aleen had been ready to put a great deal of pressure on Ss. He could feel that Ss was inferior to him in every way, and yet... it was the sound of Ss'' footsteps that echoed in his ears.


    A zing green me danced in Ss'' eyes, and his Will seemed to form a towering monument.


    As Ss began to take steady steps onto the arena, ck scales began to appear across his body. By the time he took thest step, he was coated from head to toe.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 41387 (F)]


    [Titles: A Burning Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 448]


    >[Strength: 562]


    >[Constitution: 643]


    >[Dexterity: 289]


    >[Speed: 296]


    [Mental: 467]


    >[Intelligence: 629]


    >[Wisdom: 220]


    >[Charisma: 553]


    [Will: 1013]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Rigid]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: -]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Surge of the Die (FF+)]


    [The Odds shift ever against you, but you''re more than willing to y them and push them


    forward with your Will]


    [Title Devours Shake of the Die]


    [+10%-25% boost in ALL stats randomly when facing ten or more enemies five or more Levels


    strong]


    [-1 enemy necessary for every 100 Will points]


    [+25% Boost Applies]


    Ss'' Luck was too high inparison to the Grade of the Title. Almost every time he triggered it, he would gain a perfect effect. As for when he had upgraded Shake of the Die, it was none other than on his way to the System City over a day ago.


    His stats might still becking inparison to this General... but it was no longer so


    exaggerated.


    The clench of his fists caused his bones to crackle, echoing even over the sound of the crowd.


    BOOM!


    General Aleen suddenly moved, and Ss'' gaze shed with a bright blue color.


    -


    [Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-) (Skill)] (Gold Mastery)


    [Special Damage: 50/second]


    [Special Buff: +70% to all Ice-Poison Skills used]


    -


    In a single blink, the entire arena was enveloped, and there was nowhere for General Aleen to hide. To practically instant-cast a Domain Skill of thisplexity was unheard of, but it could only be said that Ss'' grasp of the Ice-Poison Runes was too deep.


    There was a divide between skills and Runes, but when they worked together, the result was heart-shuddering. That was especially so when Ss began to take control of the Runes that formed in his Arctic King''s Domain to target General Aleen''s steed directly.


    This turned what should have been a 50 Damage per second skill into one that was double


    that!


    By the time General Aleen had closed the distance, his horse was already beginning to snort out billows of ice-cold breath.


    A malevolent light glowed in General Aleen''s gaze as he smashed his ive down. Rather than aiming for Ss, its hilt mmed against the ground, activating a skill that disrupted the


    Domain.


    [Guiz General''s Aura (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Suppress the Skills of enemies by 50%. Disrupt Skills once every 10 seconds]


    A ridiculous Skill indeed.


    Unfortunately, useless.


    Ss'' visualization spread, and his telekinesis forcefully countered. He took control of the Runes of his skill at the same time, stabilizing them.


    General Aleen ended up wasting arge amount of Aether for little to nothing in return. Ss'' Domain only weakened for a slight moment before it solidified once again.


    The General was obviously taken aback by this. This was the first time he had ever seen his disruption Skill, well... disrupted. Ss'' nimbleness in disrupting skills was simply much greater, and he didn''t need to passively rely on the system to control his Skills any longer...


    Not ever since he awakened Rune Breath.


    The Beast Totem behind Ss'' eyes red.


    Speed. That was what he was thinking about. He needed to take either the General or his steed


    out before either realized what they were dealing with.


    So he went all out.


    .


    A piercing green aura was enveloped by several Runes of icy blue. They melded together, ovepped upon one another, and boosted one another even further.


    scaled with the power of Ss'' visualization, and it alone was able to


    give him over a +100% boost to his Strength. But then on top of that, his Boxing Comprehension had reached FFF+, giving him an additional 50% boost on top of that.


    The horse had already been stalled for three seconds with Ss targeting it. Even if it had Constitution at or over 1000, it had already lost a third of that.


    Normally, Ss'' blow would be unable to break its Defenses, but...


    562 Strength boosted by 100%...


    1124 Strength boosted by 60%...


    1798 Strength.


    Ss felt practically every ligament in his arm snap, and the tendons would have followed


    suit had he not worked on his flexibility so much.


    The fist shuttled through the air, riding Basic Aetherflow so quickly that most didn''t see what


    happened until after it was over.


    BANG!


    The head of the horse exploded, and General Aleen fell from its back.

 Chapter 361: A Battle for General (2)

    Chapter 361: A Battle for General (2)


    ?


    ''Four seconds...''


    Ss was counting the seconds in his mind, but he had already noticed that General Aleen''s armor was highly resistant to his poison. Before, he should have lost 50 Health every second, but instead, he had only lost 10.


    Still, the fact that he was suffering damage at all was a great shock to General Aleen. He knew well how powerful his armor was...


    Unfortunately for him, things only got worse once Ss'' focus turned to him.


    Directing the Ice-Poison Runes, they pierced through the General''s armor with more deftness, and soon he was suffering 30 Damage a second.


    Ss easily set three of his minds to this task while dodging the blows of the General.


    General Aleen had long since gotten up, and his Speed and Dexterity should have been far above Ss'' own. However, the Ice-Poison had already begun to sink into his body, and his movement stats had easily fallen by over 20% already.


    Speed and Dexterity were definitely Ss''rgest weaknesses in this form, but he was able tobat it with his senses and cleverly ced sheets of ice.


    Basic Aetherflow flooded into his legs,yering every kick to the ground and making him even faster.


    From start to finish, it seemed that Ss had the perfect initiative, and his Arctic Royal ss was disying his strength.


    Just like he had said when he received it, the Poison path was perfect for anyone intent on defeating those far more powerful than themselves.


    Even though everything was going smoothly, Ss didn''t lose his head. His eyes carried the same cold indifference, scanning every little thing and calcting several steps ahead.


    His left arm was useless right now, and if he cked and let General Aleen grasp an opening, it would be trouble.


    Suddenly, the change that he was wary of urred.


    General Aleen raised his head to the skies and unleashed a roar.


    [Guiz General''s War Cry (FFF+)]


    [+50% to ALL stats]


    [Dispel any active Status Effects. 100 Will temporarily lost for every minute of use.]


    Ss'' pupils constricted into pinholes.


    He sensed and analyzed the Skill before it even came, but he had no method of dispelling it. He cast<Stunning Spike> in the very next instant, but he was still a step slow.


    The Skill hit the General, and he was instantly frozen in ce.


    Ss erupted with a barrage of attacks, but they just pinged off of the General as though he was nothing more than a fly.


    ''This is a problem.''


    Right now, Ss'' Will was over 3500 thanks to his Silver Mastery of Madness. However...


    General Aleen broke free of the effects of Stunning Spike, overwhelming it with both his higher-quality Aether and Skill.


    Still, the brief pause gave Ss the time to make some more distance. What was unfortunate was the fact that there wasn''t much distance to be gained, not when an already monstrous opponent had suddenly strengthened by 50%.


    Ss found a iveing down on him from above a mere few breathster. Without a choice, he was forced to activate <King''s Shield> from the Stabilizing Bracelet, and knowing it wouldn''t be enough, he activated Arctic Howl himself.


    [Arctic Howl (FF-) (Skill)] (Legendary Mastery)


    [Defense: 700]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    Ss timed it perfectly.


    Unfortunately, it still wasn''t enough.


    General Aleen''s ive tore through his <King''s Shield>, and then right through <Arctic Howl>.


    Ss'' gaze shed, a great sense of danger overwhelming him. But instead of retreating, he took a step forward, crossing his arms and then pressing them up.


    His Aether skin shed, and his knees buckled as the ive mmed down. He managed to trap its polearm at his crossed forearms, but it still wasn''t enough to stop the depletely.


    His shoulder was pierced into, blood spurted, and he released a grunt.


    One of his arms fell limply, but this was his calcted risk. It was the very same arm he had used


    with, so he was already aware that this would happen.


    A malevolent light shed in Ss'' eyes. Madness surged and pierced right between General Aleen''s brows. At the same time, he activated <Mirror Step> and his figure separated into several reflective clones.


    He had already seen through the fact that General Aleen''s war cry Skill had taken a hit on his Will. It was essentially a berserker Skill. In that case, there was another path of victory that had opened up to him.


    General Aleen shook and shuddered, his eyes goingpletely red.


    Taking advantage of the moment, Ss mped down on the ive that had sliced into his body, kicking General Aleen''s chest at the same time.


    res of Basic Aetherflow rocked the air.


    Doom. Doom. Doom.


    It looked as though three consecutive Spartan kicks hadnded on General Aleen''s chest when in reality, Ss had only kicked out a single time.


    The General tanked the first, but the second sent him stumbling a step back before Ss'' real foot connected, ripping the ive out of his control for just a moment.


    BANG!


    The ive exploded into a rain of ash.


    The General managed to regain control of himself after retreating several meters. He looked up with a ferocious glint, looking for Ss to tear him apart. But... he ended up running toward a mirror image instead.


    Ss'' gaze shed, and all his mirror images moved in unison. The Ice-Poison in the air all focused their attention on the rampaging General Aleen.


    It was at that moment that Ss took out the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s venom sack. He had already studied it to the greatest extent possible, allowing him to push these skills to high Mastery so quickly. It was about time it became useful for other things.


    Ss pped his palms together, rupturing the sack. He took control of the Runes in the air and forced the poison to condense before wrapping it in his telekinesis and Basic Aetherflow.


    <Chilling Scythe>.


    General Aleen barreled through a mirror image, only to realize that it wasn''t real at all.


    Then, Ss'' attack descended upon his back, glowing with a beautiful blue-green light that danced with the ancient characters of Earth''sws.

 Chapter 362: Winner [Bonus]

    Chapter 362: Winner [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' de practically blinked across space, appearing before the back of the General''s neck in a sh. General Aleen hurried to turn around as he sensed something that snapped him out of his berserk state for just a moment. However, that was when Ss'' own gaze shed.


    The singr Skill was ripped apart, separating into several pieces under his control, and then assaulted the General from all sides.


    **PCHU! PCHU! PCHU!**


    *<Chilling Scythe>* was a skill, even at Legendary Mastery, that wasn''t even close to 200 Damage. It was far too weak, and it only got weaker after Ss split it apart like he did. But he didn''t need the skill to attack. He only needed it as a vessel to deliver his real killing blow.


    As expected, the des couldn''t even pierce through the General''s skin. Even though Ss controlled it to squeeze through the gaps in his armor and assault his weaknesses, it didn''t make a difference. However, this was already the result Ss was expecting.


    The poison within the *<Chilling Scythe>* exploded and coated the General''s skin. In that moment, the prating power of the Ice-Poison Runes all acted at once. If Ss had to do it himself, even with Rune Breath, it would be too great of a pull on his mind. He might pass out from the attempt alone.


    But what was the venom sack of the Arctic Emperor Cobra if not the strongest concentration of Ice-Poison Runes, maybe on Earth right now?


    The General''s speed instantly plummeted as he took hundreds of points of Damage in the blink of an eye. Ss didn''t rest on hisurels. He couldn''t allow the General to dispel the status effect again.


    His Madness bore down on the General''s mind with everything he had, interrupting the smoothness of his thoughts. At the same time, Ss and all of his mirror images rushed at him from all angles. And as though he wasn''t satisfied with this alone, Azrael''s sword made an appearance.


    The skies were filled with sword shadows, and General Aleen began to madly punch out at them all. Even after he had shattered several images, he still didn''t seem to notice that there was a problem.


    Ss circled to his back and unleashed a punch at his head.


    *


    .*


    It was a risk. He only had one good arm left, and if he used it like this, he would be helpless if the situation changed again. And yet, despite having already calcted that risk, there was a coolness in Ss'' eyes right now as though he didn''t understand how much danger he was putting himself in.


    **BANG!**


    Blood spurted, and Ss felt his wrist crack against the skull of the General. Strong. General Aleen was truly strong. Such a point-nk blow had only barely broken skin and sent his head snapping forward. He wasn''t anywhere close to having his head explode like his steed before him.


    But this was enough.


    His skull might be intact, but what about the brain rattling inside?


    A behind-the-head blow was one of the most dangerous things you could do in boxing. In fact, it was so dangerous that it was illegal. Points would be deducted for a mistake, and egregious examples could lead to outright disqualification. And obviously... those blows couldn''t break skulls either.


    General Aleen stumbled, his eyes losing focus, and his knees wobbling. The poison took hold even further, and the added sluggishness sent him to his knees. Azrael''s sword descended from the front, rebounding against his skull again and sending him teetering backward right into a Tail Whip that Ss unleashed with everything he had.


    Ss could practically feel his abdominal muscles creaking beneath the torque he put them under, but it was like he couldn''t feel pain at all. His shin smashed against the side of General Aleen''s skull, and the echo of another bone fracturing resonated.


    Ss hopped back on one foot, gingerly holding his other up in the air. Secretly, he used his tail to maintain his bnce so that to the outside viewer, it looked like there was nothing wrong with him at all. His cool, green eyes looked forward with indifference.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Slowly, the sound of the crowd faded back into his ears. However, the noise was much quieter than one would have expected. From start to finish, not even two minutes had passed. No one could seem to see the savage injuries that Ss had suffered. All they had seen was General Aleen facing loss after loss. Comparatively, there was only a single ghastly wound on Ss'' shoulder... as for General Aleen...


    He had lost his horse, his mind, and now he was bleeding from all seven orifices. His bloodshot eyes pooled with crimson tears that quickly iced over. Those crimson veins became icy blue, and thest thing anyone saw were Ice-Poison Runes dancing in the depths of his eyes before he frozepletely.


    **DOOM.**


    The General copsed to the ground, his armor remaining the only thing that stopped him from shattering into countless pieces.


    "WINNER! CAPTAIN SYLAS GRIMBLADE!"


    The crowd lost it, but it was those very few Earthlings who managed to find a method to sneak in that felt the most impact. General Aleen''s Level, to them, was nothing but a bunch of question marks; they didn''t even have the right to see his stats like Ss did. In fact, if not for Madness bing Silver in Mastery, Ss would have only seen question marks as well.


    Their hearts couldn''t help but beat wildly. Was it really possible for one of their own to be so powerful already? To kill such an opponent in just two minutes?


    Ss coated his fractured leg with Basic Aetherflow and his telekinesis as his scales faded away. He looked up and met the eyes of City Lord Plinli, a man that he had directly ignored from the very start. Then, he put the corpse of General Aleen and his steed away before vanishing down the same corridor.


    At that moment, one of the Earthlings in the crowd stored away a device and rushed away, a look of excitement on his somewhat chubby face.

 Chapter 363: Communication Nexus [Bonus]

    Chapter 363: Communication Nexus [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss leaned against a wall in a secluded ce, his breathing heavy. The bacsh of fusing with the Basilisk King was somewhat lesser now, but it still wasn''t the best. That was why he ended the fight as quickly as possible, even at the cost of heavier injuries. Though, he had a feeling that was the best course of action to take no matter what.


    The General was incredibly strong, too strong. Ss even had a feeling that he had more Skills he wasn''t able to get around to using because Ss so quickly pushed him into a corner. The City Lord, byparison, would only be stronger than that. If Ss wanted to eventually take him down, he would need more strength than just this alone.


    ''If only I could get my hands on stronger freeze Skills...''


    Ss'' Will and Charisma were so overwhelming when he activated Madness, but he ended up wasting much of it because his skills could be disrupted by stronger Skills. Now that he was a General, though, maybe there would be a chance to shore up that weakness. If he could, even if he was fighting against Level 50s, he felt that his Will and Charisma would have a ce to do some real damage.


    ''That Skill that relied on Will to trigger is also a good one. If I can get a berserk skill like that, it would definitely be of great help...''


    Ss took a breath, then finished the rest of his slow walk back to his home. The ce that he had bought was in a particrly poor part of the town. Ironically, he was a General now, but he lived in a stacked vessel that looked like it might topple over at any moment.


    But that was the best that he could afford, for now...


    As a General, he could take advantage of some amodations in the encampment, but he felt that this ce would be far better for some privacy for now. He wasn''t going to take any chances.


    [Guiz General Horse]


    [No Genes Detected]


    ''Seems Combat Mounts don''t have such a function? That''s okay. This horse is definitely the perfect material to feed the Stele Upgrade Crystal.''


    [General Aleen]


    [Genes Detected]


    [Bronze Gene: (4) Strength (F); (4) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (3) Speed (F); (7) Intelligence (F); (4) Wisdom (F); (1) Charisma (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ''Good...''


    Ss was actually hoping to see a Silver Gene, but he wasn''t surprised that he hadn''t. There should be a special leap between Bronze and Silver, much like there was one between Common and Bronze. The only unfortunate thing was that even after going through so much trouble, these Genes hardly put a dent in the number he needed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''What is interesting, though, is that they don''t treat these spawned people like beasts, they treat them like normal humans. Beasts only return one Gene type at best unless they''re the BOSS of a Dungeon. But humans...''


    Killing humans was far more lucrative in this world, to the point Ss felt that the system even did it on purpose. But, considering everything he knew about the powers interfering with Earth now, it was hard to say if it really was the fault of the system any longer...


    ''A Bronze Charisma Gene... I have never tried one before, I wonder what it would show me...''


    Ss took a breath and pressed down the urge. First, he needed to recover. Then, he would need to return to the encampment to finish off some bureaucracy matters, and after that, he still had his Quest and the library to deal with. Only then would he have the time to consider this matter again.


    He was tempted to just use these Genes to stock up hisprehension again and improve it further... but Mental Bronze Genes were truly too rare. If he kept pushing it off to try and get a bigger harvest, maybe he would be doing more harm to himself than not.


    *''We''ll see. I''ll make a decision again after everything is said and done. The rewards for the Title Sequence Quest should give me a great boost as well, one better than what these Bronze Genes could theoretically give me. So the library is more important no matter how I look at it.''*


    With that thought, Ss began to Transmute beast corpses he had caught on the way here into pills. As expected, his recovery was much greater thanks to this.


    In just three hours, he was already back to 100% and was ready to move out. But he didn''t know that in just a few minutes, everything would change.


    In the time that he had been out, a video of his feats had begun spreading around, and a certain merchant was making a great deal of money off of it through the Nexus. In these three hours, not only had this video gone viral in the Nexus, but it hadted this merchant enough profit to be an official citizen.


    With this sess, this merchant was able to buy a storefront in the capacity of a citizen, which gave him ess to a better Nexus, which only further spread this video around. By the time Ss got up to return to his tasks for the day, the world was set on fire by the name Ss Grimde once more... or, rather, it was so in the circles of people with enough backing and influence to have entered the Nexus recently.


    And as such, news of Ss reached the ears of the Grimdes once again.


    Before, Ss'' life and death were unknown. He had escaped with heavy injuries, and the government, along with Legacy, obviously wouldn''t give the Grimdes the full details of what happened. In fact, if not for the Merit Leaderboard, this news might have been greatly suppressed without them being any wiser.


    But now, things were different.


    Ss was about to step out of his door when he frowned. ''This is possible?''


    A notification had popped up by the side. When his intention moved toward it, something surprising happened.


    [Communication Nexus Established]


    [Message Received]


    It was from the Grimdes, and the demand was pretty clear: Return as quickly as possible.


    There was no threat, no realmand, but the intention was clear enough. After all, his family was still in their hands.

 Chapter 364: Memory Merchant

    Chapter 364: Memory Merchant


    ?


    Ss looked at this message in silence for a long while. It was from Lucius, expectedly. It was respectful, and there didn''t seem to be anything wrong with it as well. But Ss was too intelligent to take it at face value.


    Still, his expression didn''t change. He calmly closed the message and stepped outside.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The wind hit him, along with a bit of the foul smell of these slums. He looked up into the skies, his expression calm.


    ''Not yet...''


    Ss began to walk, his thoughts churning. He shed the previous suffocating thoughts and began to think. Something must have happened.


    He walked aimlessly through the streets for about half an hour before he understood. Then, he began a new action n.


    ...


    An hourter, Ss stood before a shabby shop that had quite a number of guests despite its small size. Making his way through these people was exceptionally easy... because he hardly had to do anything at all.


    With a snap of his fingers, the city guards moved to hismand, and suddenly the entire region was shut down. The merchant didn''t even realize what was happening until everyone scattered and Ss walked in.


    [Selvian Guatum]


    [Officially Licensed Merchant of Guiz City]


    [Level: 7]


    [Profession: Memory Merchant (Bronze)]


    [Special Talent: Record]


    >[Able to record any witnessed memory]


    [Favorability: N/A]


    Ss didn''t expect to see such a status screen. The problem wasn''t seeing it itself, because with his current scouting skill, plus the boost of Silver Mastery Madness, it wasn''t a surprise that he could see this. The real surprise was that he didn''t believe that this profession was as simple as it seemed.


    He looked to the side to find that Selvian had a particr penchant for selling skills. They were weak, most were F-, with the very rare asional F, but that was when Ss realized what his intuition was pointing him toward.


    ''Able to record any witnessed memory... the strength of this profession is going to be decided by what the barriers of the word "record" mean...''


    If Selvian knew that Ss had already seen through his greatest secret, he would be doing more than shitting the bricks he already was now.


    The silence was deafening. Ss didn''t seem to be in a rush to speak as he scanned every inch of the store, and every second that passed by was like another weight added to Selvian''s chest.


    "You''re recording me right now?" Ss suddenly asked.


    Selvian choked on his own spit and almost directly passed out. However, the chair behind him caught him, forcing him to wake up again.


    "You''ve made quite a bit of money off of me in these days and caused me no small bit of trouble as well."


    "This... I..." he didn''t know what to say.


    "Tell me. How much money have you made?"


    "I''m just..."


    "That''s not a number," Ss replied.


    Selvian felt a cold shiver run up his spine. He had never expected that he would bring this sort of trouble to his door.


    He was just a normal citizen of Guiz City right now, and Ss was a General whomanded 1,000 warriors, on top of being a Baron. Of course, in this context, the Baron title was next to useless. But even if he had just been a Baron, he would have more than enough ways to deal with Selvian.


    "... I''ve made over 400,000 F Coins."


    Ss gave him a look. That estimate was much higher than he assumed, but when he thought about it, he would have to have made so much to not only purchase a property but also a storefront like this one.


    To think he had made so much in just a few hours. It seemed that Ss'' face was worth more than he knew.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t in his calctions for his skill to be known so worldwide. But it was also impossible to ount for every variable, especially in this world. The difference between the winners and losers would be decided by how they adapt.


    "You can record the skills you see?"


    Selvian froze again. "You... How..."


    The chubby merchant''s face wentpletely pale. Ss was just casually poking at his weaknesses again and again.


    "What is the limit?"


    "I... I..."


    "Merchant Guatum, I can understand if you''re feeling a great deal of fear right now, but my time is precious. If you are useful to me, your life will be guaranteed. You used me to reach your current station, and ording to thews of Guiz City, I could have you executed for using my likeness without my permission, or for recording official military proceedings without permission, or for stealing skills-."


    Every charge made Merchant Guatum''s heart sink further.


    He hadn''t broken anyws, he was sure of it. He had read the rule book and knew it like the back of his hand. But sometimes, especially in a world like this one where power reigned so supreme, the objective truth didn''t matter. So long as it was close enough to the truth, he would be finished.


    Knowing that he was cornered, Selvian fell to his knees.


    "I understand! I''ll do whatever you need me to do!"


    Ss'' gaze narrowed. This was the clearest Selvian''s voice had sounded from start to finish. This man wasn''t simple by any means, and if Ss treated him like a careless fool, or worse yet, a coward who was easily coerced by fear, then he might end up being the one on the


    losing end eventually.


    However, in a battle of wits, even if he would soon be on the other side of the Aether ne, Ss would always bet on himself. Plus, very soon, this merchant woulde to realize that there was no better umbre to be under. By the time he had a choice in the matter, he wouldn''t want to leave if he was even half as smart as Ss thought him to be.


    For now, though, he would be a pawn under Ss'' thumb. It was the least he could do for all the trouble he put Ss in.

 Chapter 365: Shake the Foundations

    Chapter 365: Shake the Foundations


    ?


    Ss returned to the library. He knew that he couldn''t dy Lucius'' order for long, or else it would cause trouble for him. If he forced Lucius to use the means he had in his arsenal, it


    wouldn''t end well for either of them.


    So, he had to be fast.


    He had already documented all of the books and organized them. Now, he just had to find what he was looking for. What he hadn''t expected, though, was to get a useful clue from Merchant Guatum.


    Merchant Guatum''s record ability was interesting because how well it worked was entirely dependent on the level of information he was targeting. And, his progress was incredibly slow because his experience gathering was dependent on gathering higher quality information and sessfully selling it.


    It could be said, then, that Selvian had benefited from Ss in more ways than just one. Obviously, the library was one of Selvian''s next stops after Ss was gone. But what he didn''t expect was that Ss would realize this as well.


    Ss, however, didn''t want the Merchant to record the books here. He could already read them all for free.


    What he wanted the Merchant to do was to use his ability to scan the high-priority areas he had noted and pick out the books that his profession noted were more difficult to scan or impossible to scan.


    This way, Ss could immediately dismiss all of the worthless books and focus on all of the most important ones.


    What Ss didn''t know, however, was that after he asked Selvian to do this, the man struck down the thoughts hidden in his heart. Ss was far too dangerous a man to provoke. It was best to just follow what he said to perfection for now. Only in the future, when he was much stronger, would he consider anything else.


    It made sense for Selvian himself to think of using his ability in this way. After all, it was his own ability, and he had been trying to think up ways to maximize it for months already.


    But Ss had not only deduced what his ability was from a few on-the-shelf items, but he had even further deduced how he could maximize it to help Casstle Main, all before he then deduced how to maximize it to help himself.


    All of this happened within the span of a few minutes, and it left Selvian trembling. Wouldn''t this man see through him the moment he had thoughts of betrayal?


    ...


    Ss dismissed Selvian, setting him off to do the tasks they had spoken about earlier. If everything went well, most of Casstle Main''s troubles would be dealt with soon. He would just have to trust Cassarae to hold down the fort while he was gone, and she was more than capable of it.


    If not for the fact that she was being targeted by a System City, Casstle Main would likely have found a method of holding onto their top ten spot like The Enve had.


    Now, he had leveled the ying field for her again, so there was nothing to worry about.


    He took a seat in one of the few seating areas, and there were about two dozen or so books before him. These were the books that both potentially filled his needs and had the requisite quality ording to Selvian.


    There was nothing else to do but to read. Ss thought it might take him at least a week or two, but the moment he began, he realized that he had still underestimated himself.


    His memory had always been excellent, but with the additional Wisdom stats and his visualization, it was something else.


    He was able to concentrate his visualization onto the pages themselves and get an immediate snapshot as though he had just taken a picture with his mind. Because of this, he finished reading what was a textbook-sized tome in just 10 minutes or so. He went through the entire pile of books in just a few hours.


    After he was finished, he sat back and digested them slowly. Taking a snapshot of a page still wasn''t as good as reading it line by line. At best, he could get a feel for it.


    But when he went back over it, he found that his depth of understanding was greater because he had an overview.


    He opened his eyes and read the books again. This time, he did it line by line, but it flew by extremely quickly because his mind already had a foggy sense of what wasing.


    It took him almost triple the time to finish all the books this time, but the result was that he had imprinted every sentence perfectly.


    Ss took a breath and put down thest book.


    [Rune Enlightenment (Silver) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.]


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this storied heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment.]


    [Fragmented Requirement Cleared]


    [Common Requirement]


    [>Use entry into System City''s Library to find information about Lost Civilizations and clues


    about an Ancient Dungeon.]


    [Common Requirement Cleared]


    [Bronze Requirement]


    [>Deduce the location of Ancient Dungeon.]


    [Bronze Requirement Cleared]


    [Silver Requirement]


    [>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]


    Ss closed his eyes for a long while, seemingly ignoring the notifications. All the information swimming about in his head slowly formed a single realization. When his eyes opened again, the storm that had been hidden within them had calmed. ''The Mountain of Giza... The Pyramid of Giza... The Africor Continent... How convenient.'' He knew exactly where to find a portal to the Africor Continent. Didn''t that bouncer lookalike have a dialect from that Continent? And weren''t they near Lucius'' city?


    Ss stood. He knew that the Africor Continent was enormous. Even if he had a portal to the continent, that didn''t necessarily mean he would have one to what was olden-day Egypt. But


    it was a good start.


    Still, that much was the furthest from his mind.


    ''Is this really a Silver Grade Quest...?''


    Legacy has been trying to tease apart this mystery for decades... Something told him that


    there was nothing simple about this matter at all.


    What Ss didn''t know just yet was how right he was. This Quest would house a secret capableN?v(el)B\\jnn


    of shaking the very foundations of Earth.

 Chapter 366: Dont Let Me Catch You

    Chapter 366: Don''t Let Me Catch You


    ?


    Cassarae frowned when she heard Ss'' words. She didn''t expect that he would be returning so soon, but it seemed that it would be inevitable.


    "What''s with that look?" Ss asked, observing her face curiously.


    Cassarae snorted. "Don''t be so full of yourself. I''m worried about that little munchkin. Your antics are going to put her in trouble."


    The little munchkin she was referring to was, of course, Ss'' little sister.


    Ss didn''t reply immediately, but before he could, Cassarae sighed and apologized.


    "Forget I said that. Hurry up and go before anything bad happens."


    This was clearly a very difficult situation. She didn''t want her current hatred of Ss to influence her to say anything worse than that. She wasn''t exactly the best at controlling her mouth.


    "When is your next spawning? Soon, right?"


    "I have a few in line that I just haven''t used. You''re supposed to get one spawn for every upgrade, and one ''elite'' spawn for everyrge upgrade. Until now, I''ve only summoned Maya, Gregory, and five more militiamen. So I have three unused normal summons, and one uing."


    Ss nodded. He knew why Cassarae hadn''t used them. She wanted a special summon, but she didn''t have the money to build the residences they would need.


    Maya, for example, needed a specialty building to perform her best. Gregory needed his own office.


    Of course, she could just spawn more militiamen, but it felt like a waste since raising the ten she had now was already annoyingly difficult enough.


    Most other cities got their warriors by either raising them or conquering other cities. Cassarae had taken this approach because she didn''t really have another choice.


    The good news was that all her militiamen had the potential to grow into Generals because they were spawns. The bad news was that they were even harder to please because of that, which was why so many of them seemed to almost exclusively follow Gregory''s orders now.


    Still, Ss could see the confidence growing between Cassarae''s brows. Now that the external troubles had been forced to yield, she could handle the rest.


    "Okay," Ss nodded before continuing, "this is what I''ve prepared."


    He went on to tell Cassarae about Selvian before handing her the Gene Elixir Form, the Stele Upgrade Crystal and Den, and over 200,000 F coins.


    "I''ve given Selvian a n of action. I would advise you leave your father by his side so that they can work together now. Things should be easier on you because they can rely on my Barony and General Titles.


    "As for the form, special summon an alchemist if you can. The Stele Upgrade Crystal has already been loaded with an exceptionally powerful Combat Mount. It should allow the Sperm Whale Den to be something far more powerful.


    "Do whatever you want with the money, I''m not expecting any of it back."


    After saying these things, Ss prepared to leave again.


    "You''re really trying to pay your way into my bed, huh? I feel like a prostitute," she mumbled.


    "This is just what he should do. Reparations for years of trauma," the silent-until-now Olivia chimed in.


    Ss didn''t reply, leaving directly.


    "You know, you''re going to end up on the losing end if you keep targeting him like that." Cassarae said with augh.


    "Hey, hey. You immediately start defending him the moment he''s gone, where''s the sisterhood? Plus, I only lose if you spread your legs. Keep them closed and victory is mine. My pride is riding on you, fight back!"


    Cassarae sputtered withughter, however she couldn''t help but gaze toward where Ss had left. With the foundation he had left behind, she would be able to charge through into Township and beyond quite quickly. He had only appeared for barely a week, yet everything was fixed.


    If she couldn''t handle the rest, then she would really be too useless.


    Her expression shed with determination. It was time for revenge.


    All this time, she had been gathering her own tidbits of information, some things she didn''t


    even tell Ss because she felt that he would go and handle it himself.


    She didn''t want that. These people had been pissing her off for too long and she wanted to take their heads herself.


    This time, her Evil Cult was clear in her mind''s eye.


    [City Leaderboard]


    [10. The Enve]


    She was going to raze them to the ground.


    Cassarae was leaking quite a dangerous aura at the moment, one that took Olivia back a bit.


    "... Maybe you two nutcases are meant for each other," she mumbled.


    Cassarae was about to say something when her eyes widened.


    She stood to her feet quickly and mmed her hands on the desk.


    "THAT SON OF A BITCH!"


    Cassarae''s roar was so loud that Ss heard it even from the basement below. Then, in an unfortunate sight that only he would witness, he actually chuckled.


    His heart felt light, and the danger he was about to face didn''t seem to faze him in the


    slightest.


    If he took a step back, fighting it out against that General Aleen was a foolish choice. A Level 27 was far beyond him and he had no business battling it out against such a person. He was lucky that the arena was a confined space, forcing him to remain inside his Domain from start to finish, and by extension, there was less room for him to take full advantage of his Combat


    Mount.


    Yet, Ss only remembered feeling the thrill. He had fazed everything out and all that mattered was killing the opponent before him.


    If the Grimdes wanted to be that enemy, he would dly oblige.


    Until now, he had killed really only out of a matter of necessity. He wondered what would happen to him if he started to kill out of rage instead...


    As for why Cassarae was so mad...


    [You have been conferred the Title Baroness]


    [You have been conferred the Title Baroness of the Grimdes]


    "Don''t let me catch you, Ss Brown! Who the fuck gave you the balls to force me inton/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    marriage?!"

 Chapter 367: Lets See

    Chapter 367: Let''s See


    ?


    Ss exited into the dense steel jungle of York City, but just as quickly left. This time, he didn''t need to deal with a storm, and since he still had the boat he had taken from the cottage, it was smooth sailing on his way out.


    Soon, he had his sights on the portal back to the icynds of the Arctic Tundra. And as the chilly winds hit him, so too did his gaze be just as cold.


    He seemed to be quite obedient, already returning the moment he got Lucius'' message. But he had his own reasons.


    It was a simple matter for him to dy this return for another week or two. But there were several reasons he didn''t.


    The first was because of the Africor Continent Portal. The second was because of his family, he had truly been away for too long. And the third reason...


    Ss stepped into the snowy ins, the wind buffeting him from all sides. It felt colder than he remembered, which was odd... especially since his stats were far stronger now.


    However, that didn''t stop him from feeling quite rxed. After all, he had a great affinity for this chilliness now.


    Ss brought out the Mancer''s Wand.


    [Mancer''s Wand (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Wand allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it, and how to improve it. How far you can see down this road will be decided by your own personal insight]


    This was his third reason. He needed to be in a region that matched his affinity in order to see the effects of the wand, so returning was only natural... but how long he would stay here was another matter entirely.


    If it suited him, he wouldn''t mind spending several days in the depths of this cold.


    Ss sensed the changes to the Mancer Wand silently, trying to see what it wanted to tell him. He wasn''tpletely certain that it would give him what he needed, the description of this treasure was more vague than any other he had ever seen.


    However, soon, he began to feel something odd.


    ''Hm...?'' Ss paused. ''Follow.''


    He began to allow the wand to move on its own, and he quickly followed after it. He ended up summoning his Blue Cyclone Horse, but it was clearly much slower in the snow than normal. Still, it was faster than walking himself.


    What Ss didn''t expect was that it would take him half a day to reach his destination. He was forced to take two breaths in between, not just for his Mount''s stamina, but that of his own as well. Keeping the Mancer Wand activated took a great deal of Aether.


    The good news was that he had not only reached his destination, but he felt that <Maddened Enlightenment> was on the verge of Silvery Mastery. That would be another huge boost to


    him.


    The region Ss had reached was colder than any other he had been to. Even with his Constitution and affinity, he still felt a biting cold and goosebumps crawled up his skin. For the first time since he hade to the Arctic Tundra, he wanted something to bundle himself up. But he had alreadye too far.


    He could only thicken his Aether skin and look forward with a pensive expression.


    The location could only be called an arctic oasis. There were trees and foliage of crystalline ice, and in the middle there was a crystal clearke that should have long since frozen under this sort of cold, but still somehow managed to remain liquid.


    Around thiske, there was a dense pack of creatures separated into two groups.


    On one side, there were Arctic King Cobras in numbersrger than Ss had ever seen before, and that was saying something considering he had been attacked by more than 50 of them before.


    On the other, there was a pack of pr bears. However, rather than having ck marbles for eyes, theirs were an icy blue that looked as though they had reced them for polished balls of ice.


    No matter where you looked, all of these creatures were powerful. Though... it seemed that the Arctic King Cobras were being a bit suppressed.


    ''Is it because of me?'' Ss couldn''t help but wonder.


    The cobras only upied about 30 to 40% of the surroundingkend. Byparison, the pr bears had the rest and seemed to arrogantly look down on the cobras.


    They had human interactions from time to time that made them easy to read, almost like they were toddlers.


    ''If I''m correct... if the Arctic Emperor Cobra died and left a gap in leadership, that would give these pr bears the chance to make their move. But there''s no clear gap in their stats, that can only mean that the pr bears have a creature that''s likely to be on the same level as the Arctic Emperor Cobra...''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss was only making a guess, but if he was right, this ce was definitely not one he could easily take advantage of.


    It also had to be remembered that the Arctic Emperor Cobra was only in the middle of an evolution. What if the Arctic Emperor Bear, if one really existed, hadpleted theirs?


    Still, this was good news for Ss. Thatke should be the core reason for the evolution of these beasts, or at least one of them. And it had the Ice-Poison affinity that was perfect for him.


    He didn''t necessarily need to risk himself either to use it.


    The Mancer Wand wasn''t some guide. The only reason it had led Ss here was because he used it as a proxy to sense Ice-Poison Aether. The real purpose of the Mancer Wand was to distill the Aether in the surroundings into a form he could observe andprehend.


    He wondered what he could learn just by allowing the Mancer Wand to lurk here?


    ''Let''s see...''

 Chapter 368 Rune

    368 Rune


    Ss backed away from the edge of the valley he was peeking over. After some thought, he started to dig into the thick snow around him and buried himself in a small cave within.


    The Mancer Wand hovered before Ss and he closed his eyes, focusing everything he had on it after summoning the Basilisk King.


    The Basilisk King yed the role of protector while Ss focused. It was about time he found out the true use of the Mancer Wand.


    To get here, it could be said that he took advantage of a loophole of sorts. But now¡­


    Ss took a breath and <Maddened Enlightenment> activated on its own. It was so subtle that Ss didn''t even notice. Under normal circumstances, he might have. But at the moment, his mind had been pulled into a world of fluttering ice-blue snowkes.


    ''An illusion?''


    It didn''t feel real, but at the same time his body couldn''t help but shiver.


    -


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Ice (Bronze)]


    [Poison (Bronze)]


    [Ice-Poison (Common)]


    -


    Ss remembered the affinities his ss had given him. Was this what this world was supposed to improve?


    ''No, it''s something moreplicated than that¡­''


    This world wasn''t as organized as the Rune practicing world he had been in before. There was no structure, and seemingly no beginning and end.


    Recalling the description of the Mancer Wand, he understood¡­ somewhat. He was supposed to rely on himself to find the path. It would allow him to sense his Path of the Mancer more clearly, but how far he managed to take it was entirely reliant on himself.


    ''The benefits of having higher affinity are clear¡­ Controlling Runes in battle like I did increased the strength of my Ice-Poison Skills substantially, and it helped me to resist higher order countering Skills as well.


    ''Theoretically, if I increase my affinity any further, the benefits should speak for themselves. I should also see if I can find any pure Ice or pure Poison Skills as well, because their affinity is even higher than my Ice-Poison affinity alone¡­''


    Ss shook his head. He was getting distracted.


    One thing at a time.


    Right now, his Path was Ice-Poison, not Ice or Poison. What he needed to understand was a method of maximizing it because there was already no going back.


    The Madness Key told him that there was no one Mancer Path that was above another¡­ but was that strictly true?


    Technically, the answer the Madness Key gave him was overseeing everything from a lofty peak. Meaning, it was extrapting the greatest potential of every Path of the Mancer.


    But in Ss'' opinion, there would definitely be differences that would be the most clear at the start. And whether a weaker Path could even be a stronger one would be hinged on how hard a person would have to work.


    What if choosing certain more powerful Paths more easily guaranteed reaching that peak the Madness Key was looking down from?


    If he looked at things this way, he felt almost subconsciously that Ice-Poison was superior to Ice and Poison alone.


    But why?


    Ss looked around, trying to feel what the Mancer Wand wanted him to see. However, even after several minutes, all he had were vague inklings.


    Ss frowned. He wasn''t used to running into such brick walls. But in the rare instances he did, it only made him more focused.


    He tried to walk around, but the world was the exact same no matter where he went. If anything, the chill was only bing worse rather than better, as though his affinity was actually regressing the longer he spent here.


    What Ss didn''t know was that this was exactly what was happening.


    The Mancer Wand was looking at the world from the height of a Silver Grade affinity, while Ss'' own Ice-Poison affinity was at a mere Common Grade.


    Essentially, Ss was like a grade schooler trying to learn from a PhD program''s research paper. He had a huge gap in knowledge that he hadn''t filled, but now he was trying to take that leap all at once.


    Ironically, the Mancer Wand was actually too strong of a treasure. On top of that, its effects were too vague for even the likes of Ss to understand this clearly.


    ''No¡­ I need a different approach.''


    Ss came to a stop, his brows furrowed. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''¡­ Runes.''


    Ss activated Enchanted Schr, but it didn''t work. The world was still the same nket of ice blue.


    ''Is it because I''m not technically in my body right now?'' Ss frowned.


    Enchanted Schr allowed Ss to see Runes, but it was a Gene first and foremost. It was a literal part of his body. But right now, this was a projection of his mind, it was impossible to use.


    He hadn''t thought about it before, but to think Genes actually had such a limitation.


    ''Does Rune Breath have such a limitation?''


    Ss never tried to use Rune Breath without activating Enchanted Schr at the same time. But¡­ technically speaking it shouldn''t need thetter.


    With that thought, Ss tried.


    A shbang went off in his mind and it was as though a star had just exploded right before his eyes.


    Too much. It was too much too quickly, and he felt that his mind was rapidly draining. He hurriedly activated <Maddened Enlightenment>, only to realize that it was already active.


    Activating Rune Breath in this state almost felt like he had just poured alcohol into an open wound. Normally, his body was like his shield of skin, but right now, it wasn''t here, so there was no filter as the Runes practically acted on him directly.


    That was when Ss understood something.


    Runes and his mind¡­ or his soul, maybe? They were both made out of the same substance. That was the only reason such a thing was possible.


    The moment Ss had this thought, the world fell into silence and the Runes around him became even more obedient.


    Ss didn''t know what happened exactly, but he knew that he had had a breakthrough.


    He had stepped from Rune Breath to Rune Soul.

 Chapter 369 Missing

    369 Missing


    Ss, of course, didn''t know what any of this meant. Rune Breath was already described as something that separated the talented from the talentless, but it was still only a matter of a few seconds for him to grasp. So, he had no appreciation for the difficulty.


    Rune Soul wasn''t just one level above Rune Breath, it was two. Rune Breath was preceded by Rune Flesh.


    Rune Flesh was a state of being able to incorporate Runes into one''s very body. Of course, there would be limits, but it was essentially known as the state where one no longer needed to use Aether as a medium in order to use Runes. This meant that even in regions where Aether wasn''t dense, Ss would still be able to make use of Runes, and observe them clearly.


    Rune Flesh was actually something that Ss had personally experienced before. It was precisely what happened every time a Gene was absorbed!


    Extricate made this experience all the more potent and allowed one to benefit from theprehension of said Genes as well, while the system streamlined the process.


    Rune Soul was an even more powerful version of this. It allowed one to incorporate Runes right into their very soul. There was no simple one-to-oneparison for it¡­ at least not on current Earth.


    Ss could vaguely feel these changes, but he was quickly distracted by the world around him. He made a note to ask the Madness Key about such thingster¡­ but right now, there was only one ce that was of interest to him.


    The world of ice-blue seemed to, ironically, gain color in Ss'' eyes. It was as though it had gained true life.


    Everywhere Ss looked, there was one Rune after another. He saw several iterations of what he thought was the Ice-Poison Rune, but many of them were weaker than the Ice-Poison Rune he was familiar with, and there were several that were stronger than the Rune he was familiar with.


    ''All of them are Ice-Poison? Are they bits and pieces of a whole? Something else?''


    Ss never thought that there were multiple iterations of the Ice-Poison Rune because he had already seen it in twopletely different states. One was from the much weaker venom sack of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s son, and the other was from the Arctic Emperor Cobra itself.


    The Ice-Poison Runes on both venom sacks were the exact same.


    ''Were they, though¡­?''


    Ss frowned for a moment and then backed out of the Mancer Wand''s world. He quickly took out one of the corpses of the Arctic King Cobras that remained in his Madness Key and cut out the venom sack.


    He didn''t need to be nearly as careful as he had been in the past as he was immune, so the process was quick. Soon, he was observing the venom sack closely.


    ''Another¡­''


    Ss began to cut out venom sack after venom sack, but the result was the same.


    ''They really are the same, I knew I wouldn''t make a mistake like that. But why does the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s feel so different?''


    A realization came over Ss. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Aether.


    The maturity and strength of one''s Aether could influence and change Runes as well. The Arctic Emperor Cobra was on the verge of an evolution, so even though it had the same Rune, its presence, power, and aura were entirely different.


    Ss entered the Mancer Wand''s world again. So what was this ce?


    ''Building blocks¡­'' Ss thought after a long while. ''If I had to bet, if I captured an Arctic King Bear right now, they might have a slightly different Rune than the Arctic King Cobras had. They had ess to the same building blocks, but they took a different path.


    ''In that case, does that mean that if I want to grasp Ice-Poison to the Silver Grade I need to¡­'' Ss looked around him. ''... Comprehend it all?''


    The gap between Ss and what it would take to do something like this was tremendous. It felt like everywhere he looked there was a new Rune to look at, or a slightly different twist on one he had already seen.


    The Ice-Poison Rune he had learned had much more concentration in its piercing power. It was actually much more Poison than it was Ice¡­ or rather, more like venom.


    However, here, he saw Ice-Poison Runes that were far more overbearing, ones where a single touch could freeze you down to your very cells themselves. There were some that needed to be more airborne so that they could be inhaled, and were as such far more Poison-like in nature.


    ''No¡­''


    Ss changed his mind again. He didn''t believe that he needed to understand all of these just to reach the Silver Grade. It actually felt like the world was endless and there were a seemingly infinite number of variations and changes amongst these Runes.


    He re-centered himself, remembering that this world wasn''t about teaching him what to do, but was rather here to help him find his own Path of the Mancer. If he got lost in trying toprehend everything, he would just shoot himself in the foot.


    Of course, he would still use this world as a cheat to grasp the 50 Foundation Rune he needed toplete his Quest, but that didn''t mean that he should choose randomly.


    If he was going to learn one, he should learn one using the Path he wanted.


    The deeper he went into the world, the moreplex the Runes became until he started seeing his first few Runes that were well beyond 30 Foundations in size.


    He saw a few that were 40, and then he began to see the sparse scattering of 50 Foundation Runes.


    Although these Runes only felt slightly moreplicated than the 20 and 30 Foundation Runes he had been seeing before, for some reason, Ss felt that they were touching on much more profound concepts nheless.


    There seemed to be a clear divide between Runes below 40 Foundations and ones above 40. As he went deeper, he didn''t even see a single 60 Foundation Rune.


    ''Something feels¡­ missing¡­''


    Ss looked back toward the Runes he had skipped over.


    ''I see¡­''


    A subtle hint of an understanding came over Ss.


    ''If I want to ess these stronger Runes, it means that I''m already abandoning the Path of Ice-Poison and epting that I will need to take in another affinity in the near future¡­ If I go back to the weaker ones, then I can continue along with my Ice-Poison Path¡­''


    Ss didn''t need to think, he had already made his decision. He needed something stronger.


    The words of the Madness Key was the song that kept driving him stronger.


    Be Strong.

 Chapter 370 Decision

    370 Decision


    Ss'' gaze shed with a determined light. It was the same reason he was taking the risk of remaining a Level 0, the same reason he put himself in dangerous situation after dangerous situation, the same reason he was about to make the choice he was now¡­


    Immediate power sounded nice, but he knew that rising to the top of Earth was merely a start, merely the beginning.


    No one had ever told him, but he didn''t need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. And ironically, he just might be one of the few people on Earth smart enough to be exactly that.


    Earth was only a Grade 10 Bronze world. That meant that there were other much higher order worlds out there. Just like he was born with an unranked de Aura Gene, there might be others out there who hadplete Silver Genes from birth, maybe there were even some withplete Legendary Genes from birth¡­ babies that had stats in the quadruple digits before they were even potty trained.


    Ss wasn''t naive. The dangers he faced now were just small frypared to what he was sure he would have to face in the future. And if he wasn''t even content with being a Grimde subordinate now, how could he be willing to be under a much bigger thumb in the future?


    What would decide how far he went would be the choices he made right here and right now.


    He had no assurance that he would be able to remain Level 0 until he unlocked Legendary Genes. However, he had to ensure that he did everything he could to maximize his foundation now so that in the future, when he inevitably had topromise on something, it wouldn''t be as big of a hit.


    A green fire zed in Ss'' eyes as he calmed.


    He began to observe the strongest of the Runes around himself and began to make distinctions between them. Eventually, he had divided them into eight.


    These eight Runes were neither stronger nor weaker than one another, but they were all iplete in one way or another. In addition, they were all around 50 or so Foundations in size.


    Ss gave them all colloquial names like he had done in the past. He named them as follows: Slow, Freeze, Decay, Life, Order, Bnce, Disorder, Divine.


    The Slow Rune seemed to constrict everything in its surroundings. It wasn''t as simple as seeping into one''s muscles and making an opponent slow, but it slowed down even the Aether in the air, even freezing over Runes themselves.


    One could imagine that at an extreme, this Slow Rune might be able to dy or even disrupt even Skills, or Gene Talents.


    Freeze seemed simr to Slow in that they acted very much the same. In fact, so did Decay and Disorder. The differences between them all was exceptionally subtle, and they wouldn''t be more obvious until Ss began to progress them down their paths.


    Still, Freeze was also able to attack the Aether and Runes in the air, but it didn''t make themnguid. Instead, it separated them, making them seem a world away and locked in a separate space.


    Byparison, Decay and Disorder assaulted Rune and Aether in the same way, but rather than just disrupting them, they began to damage them. Ss wouldn''t even be surprised if part of what happened to Earth''s Runes were rted to other Runes much like these ones.


    The only difference between Decay and Disorder right now was that one destroyed and the other disrupted and disorganized. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Life, Order, Bnce, and Divine were like opposite sides of the four coins that were just described.


    The Order Ice-Poison Rune didn''t just freeze Runes in ce, but cobbled them together, forcing them into a subordinate role and gathering them in ce.


    Life was simr, but it forcefully converted the Runes into Ice-Poison,mandeering their energy and taking it for itself.


    Bnce and Divine were probably the mostplex of all eight.


    On the surface, Bnce seemed to be exactly like Life, taking Runes in the surrounding and converting it, but this wasn''t the entire truth. It also allowed a reversal, allowing Ice-Poison to be something else rather than forcefully converting everything else.


    Divine was also simr to Life, but if Ss had to describe the difference, Life had to force the Runes in the surroundings into submission, while Divine was able to make them follow through of their own ord.


    It was a subtle difference, but a powerful one nheless.


    With just this information on hand, Ss was having a hard time picking just one. He even felt that he should at least pick two and try to bnce them out. Maybe pick one that was more inclined toward the Ice side and another that was more inclined toward the Poison side and then bring them together.


    But even after he had this thought, he was having a hard time narrowing it down to just two even with such concessions.


    They were all powerful Runes, and there seemed to be some that he might prefer now, but who was to say that he would still prefer them in the future?


    It had to be remembered that all of these Runes were iplete. In the future, Ss would have to find something to stabilize them or add to them, and they would then change.


    So the decision he was making now wasn''t just based on what he saw before him, but he also had to extrapte into the future. If he couldn''t do that, he would end up handicapping himself.


    For example, Divine. The ability to subdue other Runes and guide them into obedience almost like a Rune Breath for his Ice-Poison Rune sounded great. In fact, it might be the strongest current ability here¡­ but how did it scale? How would he use it in the future?


    It was almost like he was taking his Ice-Poison Rune and making it a jack of all, master of none.


    Ss'' brain continued to churn until his heart settled down.


    He had made a decision.

 Chapter 371 Unyielding

    371 Unyielding


    His decision was quite unexpected, maybe even to him. When he initially started, he didn''t think that he would go this route. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the best route to take.


    Slow and Freeze.


    Ss was relying on one thing to make this decision: affinity.


    If the Madness Key didn''t lie to him, then every single one of these paths could lead to the pinnacle. In fact, every single one of the others in this Mancer''s Wand world could as well. It was just a matter of if he could take it there.


    What the Madness Key didn''t promise him was the ease of doing so.


    Ss had already taken the harder road by boxing himself into taking one of these eight. Or, rather, two of these eight.


    However, as he had said in the beginning, there would also be certain things that he would inevitably have topromise on in the future. Never mind the fact that he didn''t believe he waspromising right now at all.


    The reason he picked Slow and Freeze were simple: they were the two that embodied the affinity he felt for Ice-Poison the most.


    Slow was the most like Poison, it seeped into the Runes and Aether of the world, making themnguid and lethargic. If one carelessly used a Skill in its presence, it would show its dominance. Even a Gene Talent might not be safe at all.


    Freeze was the most like Ice. It boxed Runes and Aether in, freezing them into their own separate blocks and barring them from the rest of the world.


    Of all of these, these two were without a doubt the closest to Ice-Poison, and though they would definitely need stabilizing just like the others would, it would also be far easier to seed in doing so.


    Ss was happy with his choice and began with slow first.


    What he didn''t expect was that it would be far moreplex than he thought.


    The Slow Ice-Poison Rune had 51 Foundations, but there were 382 strokes. This was more than three times that of the number of Strokes that the normal Ice-Poison Rune had.


    Freeze was much the same. In fact, they both had an identical number of Foundations and Strokes.


    The problem wasn''t just the number of Strokes, but also how they wereyered. The sequence was much moreplex, and sometimes Ss actually found himself mistaking a single Stroke for what was actually abined two or three. He had to re-evaluate several times before he came down to the final number.


    ''Interesting¡­''


    If he had still been at the Rune Enlightenment Realm, or even still the Rune Breath Realm, this would have definitely been a challenge that had him stuck for a while. But now¡­


    ''¡­ A few hours should be enough.''


    ¡­


    Ss froze some time over a half dayter. A BANG! seemed to have gone off in his mind and the pain came in violent waves.


    ¡ª


    [Title: Unyielding Schr (FFF+)] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Embryo of chaos, dense in its unpredictability and lofty in its ambition. You are not only sharp, but your Wisdom is no less powerful than your Will]


    [Devours zing Will]


    [+200 Wisdom]


    [+200 Will]


    [+100% Wisdom]


    ¡ª


    Blood oozed out of Ss'' nose in the real world and he almost copsed.


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 41387 (F)]


    [Titles: A Burning Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; Unyielding Schr (FFF+); Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    ¡ª


    [Physical: 148]


    >[Strength: 140]


    >[Constitution: 170]


    >[Dexterity: 140]


    >[Speed: 140]


    [Mental: 437]


    >[Intelligence: 267]


    >[Wisdom: 844]


    >[Charisma: 200]


    [Will: 803]


    [Luck: 22]


    ¡ª


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-); Master Counter (FFF-)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    ¡ª


    [Gene State: Rigid]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: ¡ª]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    ¡ª


    The synergy between his Legendary Tamer Title and his new Unyielding Schr Title showed their full strength. He got +100% Wisdom from both, but he got +100% Will from Legendary Tamer on top +20% from A Burning Will.


    The unfortunate thing was that they didn''t stack and were instead applied separately. So rather than his +200 Wisdom bing +800, it instead began +600. However, his original 122 Wisdom still got its own +100% to 244, racking up the total of his current Wisdom.


    Ss coughed and wheezed, his mind buzzing. He had already asked the Madness Key in the past if it was safe to do this¡­ and technically it should be since it was his foundation being excavated and deepened, but that didn''t make it hurt any less.


    In addition, he would be weak for a period afterward, which was why he had been studying both Runes at the same time before heprehended them both.


    However, now he couldn''t help but wonder¡­


    Now what?


    Now that he hadprehended the Runes, what did that do for him? His Aetherposition didn''t seem to have changed, and his Ice-Poison affinity was still Common.


    He couldn''t help but wonder what he was missing.


    ''Maybe?''


    Ss decided to wait it out. He used <Maddened Enlightenment> to try and ease his splitting headache, only to be pleasantly surprised to find that it had finally reached Silver Mastery.


    His speed in recovering Aether and from mental fatigue had taken an enormous leap forward, especially since with Madness, it could now be at Gold Mastery.


    An hourter, Ss finally felt that he was back up to 100% and began his little experiment.


    He expelled all the Aether from his body, then began to use <Maddened Enlightenment> to rece it.


    ''Nope, still not working¡­''


    The Aether he received in return was the exact same. It seemed that he would have to take a more hands-on approach.


    Ss began to sift through the Aether in the world, rejecting what he didn''t want and only epting those that fit.


    Slowly, his Aether Pathways began to freeze over.


    A feeling of difort overwhelmed him and Ss felt like his body was about to be poisoned itself.


    His pupils constricted.


    This Aether was too high-level for his body. He was killing himself.

 Chapter 372: Lost in a World [Bonus]

    Chapter 372: Lost in a World [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss hurriedly stopped, but the bloating didn''t go away. In fact, it was slowly getting worse. Thinking quickly, he began to gather up the Aether to form a thicker and thickeryer of Aether skin, but just the process of expelling the small bits of Aether he had gathered was so painful.


    His pores were forcefully dted, and there was even a bit of a poison etch being drawn across his skin. Clearly, his immunity was still there, but only in part. As such, his body was fighting back as viciously as it could beneath this new and improved Aether.


    It took Ss several minutes before he managed to reverse the situation, but that didn''t change the pain his body was under. Luckily, he had noticed the issue quickly, mostly thanks to his experience with Intelligence Genes allowing him to be very sensitive to the changes in his Aether Pathways. Otherwise, he might have identally hit a point of no return before he even understood what had happened.


    He exhaled a breath, but it was frosty and cold, carrying a hint of a blue tinge.


    ''My ss is limiting me...''


    His Arctic Royal ss was able to allow him a natural affinity to catalyze the Aether in his surroundings into Ice-Poison, or rather, the Ice-Poison that he was innately familiar with. However, it didn''t allow him to be immune to any and all Ice-Poison.


    His affinity seemed to be limited to Common, but this wasn''t an arbitrary limit. It was a limit decided by his ss, and also a reminder that his body couldn''t take in more than that.


    Ss frowned. He had just made a great breakthrough, and learned to control two new forms of Ice-Poison that he believed had great potential. But if he didn''t have the Aether control to back it, while it wouldn''t be entirely useless in battle, it certainly wouldn''t be as effective as it should be.


    Taking a breath, Ss steadied himself.


    ''Maybe...''


    Ss delved into his body, trying to find his Aether Pathways. He always had vague feelings about where they were, but he, much like everything else, mostly relied on Skills to trigger on their own. It was only after the Aether in the surroundings was moving like he wanted could he use his mastery over Runes to amplify them. It wasn''t an internal process.


    Even when Ss used Aether skin, it was just a general process of osmosis, moving something from an area of higher concentration to lower. He was essentially just opening up his pores to allow his Aether to flow to and coat his skin. This didn''t require knowing exactly Aether Pathways either.


    But right now, he felt like he needed that, and he also felt that he knew exactly how he was going to find them.


    Ss brought out his reward for the month: a three-day Flexible Elixir. Then, he downed it. He was already about three-quarters of the way through the month now, so he might as well finally use it since he was getting another soon. Plus, he had a feeling that it was about time The needed such a thing anyway.


    Ss felt his body open up and almost bloom. He had had many Gene Elixirs before, but this was the first time he was having such a powerful one, and the difference truly showed...


    He couldn''t help but wonder if 65% felt so good, what would it feel like to have a Free body where he could take in 100% of all the Genes he tried to?


    Ss refocused himself.


    First, he amped himself up on Common Genes, using Extricate every time. It was almost too easy for him to reach his cap of 20 Common Genes, at least for the Physical stats, due to the sheer number of beasts he had killed and caught until now.


    He had been nning on using them with his Transmutation Beast Skin, but that wasn''t necessary for now.


    After putting himself in a State of Wealth, he brought out General Aleen''s corpse and used Extricate on one of his Intelligence Genes. He moved so fast that he didn''t even notice that his Physical Stats had actually ticked upward as fatigue hidden deep within his body was washed away.


    But there was a reason he didn''t notice. That was because he immediately hit the jackpot. The first Intelligence Gene he absorbed was a resounding sess, but what shocked Ss even more was that the feeling was far more potent than anything he had ever experienced. This wasn''t the first time he had absorbed a Bronze Gene, so what was the difference?


    His first thought was that it was the Flexible Gene Elixir. It was truly powerful, and it was only natural that it had such changes.


    But he dismissed this thought. Although this was a "sessful" absorption, he had already reached his cap of two Bronze Genes. That meant that although it felt like he had sessfully absorbed this Gene, his body was soon about to reject it. The Flexible Gene Elixir thus couldn''t possibly disy its full strength.


    That was when it hit Ss.


    ''Runes?''


    Indeed. Genes really didn''t look a lot like Runes after he used Extricate on them. Extremelyplex Runes, but Runes nheless.


    Could his breakthrough to Rune Breath be helping?


    What Ss still didn''t know was that he had alreadyprehended Rune Flesh and Rune Soul. The potency of the feeling Extricate gave him, as a result, was many times more.


    To put this matter into perspective, the difference between Ss now and before was akin to if the Ss of before had managed to use Extricate on a Gold Gene!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He was able to get the same potency of experience ayman would get from a Gold Gene with a mere Bronze Gene simply by virtue of hisprehension of Runes.


    And that came with benefits that were truly hard to describe... even Ss couldn''t because he


    waspletely lost in this world.


    The world of his Aether Pathways.

 Chapter 373: FF+ [Bonus]

    Chapter 373: FF+ [Bonus]


    ?


    When Ss absorbed the Common Genes earlier, he had already felt that something was wrong. The feeling was too sharp, too shocking. He found himself making a great deal of improvement, but he was more focused on speeding his way through to get to the Bronze Intelligence Gene, so he hadn''t paid nearly enough attention.


    But now, all of that seemed toe together at once.


    For the first time, it felt to Ss like he was looking at an MRI of his own body, as though someone was able to video tape and document his own organ systems in 4K.


    He went from being only able to vaguely sense the location of his Aether Pathways, to feeling like they were extensions of his own limbs.


    He subconsciously chose to circte a simple skill, <Chilling Scythe>. And he watched as his Aether moved along the pathways, forming a Rune Pattern of their own, and then imprinting that Rune into the outside world.


    When that Rune took shape, the atmospheric Aether responded and formed the body of <Chilling Scythe>.


    He could feel the ebbs and flows of the Skill. He could speed up its casting, decide its shape and size, even twist and change the potency of energy concentration within it all before it formed.


    Ss began to y around with the Mastery, checking and feeling what changes there were to the system''s triggering of the skill when Mastery was either high or low.


    The feeling of basking in the presence of this Gene, even though he couldn''t absorb it, alsosted far longer than any time before. If Ss was lucky, he would get a few dozen seconds to immerse himself in this feeling in the past.


    But now, several minutes had gone by and it still didn''t show any sign of weakening or slowing. In fact, Ss found that he would even slow down the process of the Gene being expelled from his body due to what he thought was Rune Breath, but was in reality Rune Soul.


    It took over ten minutes before the feeling finally slipped away from him, but it left behind a Ss with a gaze so bright it practically melted the snow all around him.


    ''The Aether Pathways aren''t a normal organ system. They''re a quasi-ethereal organ system mostly made up of a series of Runic connections. There''s some flesh that ys a part in it, but only insofar as this flesh allows it totch onto the body.


    ''Beyond the Aether Pathways, there seems to be a kernel or a seed of some sort hidden away in the heart. That location is actually also where my Gluttony Seed is, and the size of that seed in my heart should be dictated by how high my Intelligence stat is...''


    All sorts of things Ss didn''t understand before were now as clear as day to him.


    ''If I want to use a higher form of Aether, I will need a stronger Aether Pathway. But messing around with thatplicated system... it''s still too far beyond me.''


    Ss'' mind churned, trying to find a solution, but it seemed quite bleak and hopeless.


    It had taken him about a day to master two 52 Foundation Runes. But the number of Foundations his Aether Pathways were made out of, let alone the seed in his heart, were so many that he didn''t even bother to count them. It was certainly into the thousands, and the stronger his Intelligence became, the further away it would be from him to master and control.


    It seemed like one had to rely on the system to make these changes, otherwise you would simply be asking for death, or even in the best case scenarios, crippling.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Someone had to have created the system.'' Ss suddenly thought, his gaze shing with a ze of green mes.


    If someone else had managed to create the system to automate such aplicated process, Ss didn''t believe he wouldn''t be able to in the future. It was just that that future was too far away from him right now.


    It was a shame. Ss hadn''t had that unique Aether for long, but he had already noticed benefits. His Aether skin before had 200 Defense, for example. But with this new Aether skin, it had over 400. That was a casual sort of protection that would mean the vast majority of people on Earth couldn''t even harm him even if he stood there and let them hit him.


    But if his body couldn''t handle it, there was nothing he could do.


    ''Unless...''


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    He couldn''t tweak his Aether Pathways right now, but what about tweaking his skills?


    Was it possible to use a lower form of Aether to trigger the action of a higher form? Technically speaking, this was impossible.


    Skills worked, as Ss knew now, by forming a Rune in one''s Aether Pathways and thenmunicating with the world. The strength of that call to action was dependent, obviously, on the strength of the Aether you used. This was why Runes scaled with Aether potency and not just Strokes and Foundations.


    However, what if a skill was working in conjunction with Rune Breath?


    Ss had already gotten used to using his Runes to amplify his skills, and this should be one level beyond that.


    ''If I tweak the cirction pattern of my skill to trigger Slow Ice-Poison Runes or Freeze Ice- Poison Runes, then I can use Rune Breath to make those higher order Runes more likely to listen to me even though I used a lower order Aether...''


    Ss immediately began to put this into action. The more he practiced, the brighter and brighter the glow in his eyes became until a small curve tugged at the corner of his lips.


    He hadn''t had this much fun in a very long while.


    [You have pleased the system, System Breaker]


    [The system is watching you]


    -


    [System Reward Received]


    [Chilling Scythe Mutant (FF+) (Skill)] (Legendary Mastery)


    [Damage: 250]


    [Special Damage: 100/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Special Effect: Speed -50% for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    Ss'' expression flickered.


    How could an FF+ Skill be so strong?

 Chapter 374: Mutant

    Chapter 374: Mutant


    ?


    [Chilling Scythe Mutant (FF+) (Skill)] (Legendary Mastery)


    [Damage: 250]


    [Special Damage: 100/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Special Effect: Speed -50% for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    Ss built this Skill by modifying the skill''s cirction pattern based on his understanding of the Slow Ice-Poison Rune. There was much more ovep between this skill and Slow than there was between it and Freeze, so it was the obvious path to take.


    But he didn''t expect that it would have such arge effect on the overall strength of the skill. Not only did its attack power almost double, its Special Damage almost guaranteed that most opponents he came across would die within five seconds.


    Of course, they could still use a counter Skill, or a skill that dispelled Special Effects, but something told Ss that it wouldn''t be nearly as easy to do now as it had been in the past.


    Ss had traded for his own Countering Skill before he left Guiz City, so now he was much more aware of their limitations and what might hold them back.


    However, Ss knew that this wasn''t the matter he should be focused on right now. What kind of changes could he make to his other Ice-Poison Skills?


    The moment he had this thought, he turned his attention to his strongest Skill: <Arctic King''s Domain>. Unfortunately, he was immediately stonewalled.


    The Skill was tooplicated, and it felt that his Legendary Mastery of it was just a farce. Not only did it take him several seconds to cast unlike the others, but it had so manyyers that Ss knew he could just as easily weaken it as he could strengthen it.


    ''It would take me at least three days to seed... I can''t afford to waste that time, not yet...''


    Three days felt like a short time, but to Ss who was on a timer not just for himself, but for Cassarae and his own family as well, it was too much to invest. He had to find a bnce between improvement and time taken or else he would lose everything.


    ''<Arctic Howl>, however...''


    Just like <Chilling Scythe> was perfect for his Slow Ice-Poison Rune, <Arctic Howl> was absolutely made for his Freeze Ice-Poison Rune.


    Hourster, Ss had a result that he was very happy with.


    [Arctic Howl Mutant (FF+) (Skill)] (Legendary Mastery)


    [Defense: 1000]


    [Special Effect: Freeze attack in space for a moment. Limit: 1500 Attack.]


    [Attribute: Ice-Poison]


    He gained an extra 300 Defense, and a Special Effect on top of that. Meaning, even if he ran into an attack too powerful for his Defense to top or block, he would gain an extra split second of time to react so long as he deployed <Arctic Howl Mutant> fast enough.


    If he one day found enough time to improve <Arctic King''s Domain> like he wanted, he wondered just how much more powerful would it be?


    However, these improvements to his Skills didn''te without a cost. They took a bit longer to cast, about half a second instead of near instantaneously like before. That could definitely be a problem in a tight situation, but that was still the least of his worries.


    The main issue was that it put more pressure on his mind because he wasn''t just casting a Skill, he was controlling Runes at the same time. If not for himprehending Rune Soul and improving his Wisdom so much, the former Ss would have been exhausted after casting it


    once.


    But now, there was yet another thing draining his mind.


    Still, Ss checked through his other skills to see if there was anything that he could easily improve, but he didn''t find anything. Unfortunately, this method only worked withpatible Skills that fit into an Ice-Poison mold. Without it, he would be recreating a whole new skill from scratch, and that would take even longer to aplish than improving <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    ''Hold on...''


    Ss'' gaze shed. There was still


    . Right now, he could only use it twice in battle, and it came at the cost of his arms. It was a powerful skill, especially considering its grade... but wasn''t that only because his Visualization was so powerful?


    Would it be possible for him to use a Rune as a Visualization instead and weaken the bacsh? Then he would be able to use this skill more often, though it would certainly be weaker. He could hold off on using his Serpentes Beast Totem as a Visualization for when he really had his back against the wall.


    Right now, his only Ice-Poison attack was <Chilling Scythe> as his affinity was better made for control Skills and defensive Skills. But...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''It is possible.'' Ss'' gaze shed. ''But it''s not straightforward. A Rune alone isn''t enough, I need to give it form and substance, and that requires using Basic Aetherflow. But once I do...''


    Ss punched out incredibly slowly, aplex ice-blue Rune appearing before his fist. A frosty energy rippled from his knuckles and the space around his arm crackled as though the very water vapor was being frozen over in real time.


    ''Hm...''


    Ss pulled back his punch before he unleashed it.


    It definitely worked, increasing his Strength by about 50% or so. Compared to the well over 100% of his Beast Totem Visualization, this was much smaller. But the bacsh on him was


    much less nheless.


    Unfortunately, his Ice-Poison really wasn''t designed to attack. He could feel it resisting him and fighting back against his attempts at attack.


    It just didn''t work.


    If he tried to use this attack in battle, much of the strength would dissipate because it had the tendency to want to be an area-of-effect attack. So, although there was a 50% boost, the Effectiveness plummeted and would ultimately make it weaker than his normal punch.


    It wasn''t worth the Aether.


    ''I feel like there''s still potential here, but it would take more studying. I can''t finish this in a single sitting either. It might just be better to find a more suitable technique.''


    After he had this thought, Ss stood.


    It was time to take a bit of a risk and see what he could find deeper into Arctic King Bear and Arctic King Cobra territory.

 Chapter 375: Icy Blueness

    Chapter 375: Icy Blueness


    ?


    Ss returned to the edge of the valley, having put the Mancer Wand and the Basilisk King away. He felt good, good enough to try his luck.


    If there really was an Arctic Emperor Bear down there, he was really ying with fire. But he had long since be ustomed to risk.


    Just now, he had fought a few battles with straggler Arctic King Bears just to scout out their abilities and see if they were any different. And, indeed, he was right to do so, especially since he was lucky enough that he didn''t kill any little princes or princesses this time.


    The abilities of the Arctic King Bear mirrored that of the Arctic King Cobra, but they functioned differently. It could be said that the Arctic King Bears were actually stronger overall. After these battles, Ss realized that the Arctic King Cobra Race had likely been suppressed even when their Emperor was here.


    This wasn''t just because Ss couldn''t use his Beast Totem on these pr bears either. <Chilling w>, <Arctic King''s Pr Domain>, and <Arctic Roar> were their three main Skills, pretty reflective of what the Arctic King Cobra''s were capable of.


    The difference was that each one was far more dangerous.


    <Chilling w> was a physical attack as well as an Aether Skill. As such, its base Damage was amplified by the Physical abilities of the bear rather than being just a pure mage-like skill.


    As such, on top of having Special Damage Effects, they had a Damage of over 300 to even 400 in many cases. And in Ss'' estimates, that was only for Common and Bronze Mastery at best.


    <Arctic King''s Pr Domain> came with a slowing effect. Technically, <Arctic King''s Domain> did as well, but it was more passive while <Arctic King''s Pr Domain> was far more active. It almost felt like a gravity attack as well, though it wasn''t quite that.


    Basically, <Arctic King''s Pr Domain> came with a Special Effect while <Arctic King''s Domain> did not.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Finally, both <Arctic Howl> and <Arctic Roar> shared simr enough names, but the Effectiveness of the same Skill in the hands of the pr bears was exponentially more potent. Ss'' best guess was that it was because bears were innately capable of roaring and beating their chests. Cobras on the other hand... were very much not.


    That made Ss wonder if he was actually limiting the power of his own <Arctic Howl Mutant> Skill by not putting much emphasis into the actual bellowing part of the skill.


    Only time would tell.


    The world of skills, Runes, and Genes was moreplex than Ss had given them credit for and every day he learned something new.


    Now that he was prepared, there was nothing to do but to take the risk.


    Ss slid down the edge of the valley, approaching from the more vulnerable territory of the Arctic King Cobras.


    The space wasrge. He couldn''t quite see to the edge of the valley, but the diameter must have been at least half a kilometer. He was making a bet that even if the Arctic King Bears saw him, they wouldn''t care to take action.


    As for the Arctic King Cobras... he didn''t fear them at all, especially not with his current strength.


    His feet touched earth, or rather, a dense pack of snow. It crunched beneath his feet, but felt surprisingly solid.


    With a step, he shot forward.


    The Arctic King Cobras noticed his presence momentster and a hissing filled the air. But Ss directly ignored them, his eyes focused on the pool exuding a thick aura of Ice-Poison. He not only felt a tingling dangering from that direction, but he could also feel an opportunity. He knew there was a reason that these creatures called this ce home.


    A Level 7 Arctic King Cobra suddenly appeared before him, but Ss caught its <Chilling Scythe> with one hand and punched out with the other.


    He waspletely immune to its Ice-Poison and a single fist was all it took to send it flying off into the distance.


    His Beast Totem appeared behind him as he was prepared for another rain of attacks, but to his surprise, the moment it appeared, they all froze and didn''t move another inch forward.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed, but his Speed didn''t drop. He practically glided across the snow as he approached the sereneke.


    The Arctic King Cobras controlled a small part of the shore, and the closer Ss got, the more powerful they became until he started seeing several Level 10s and 11s. However, not a single one was Level 12 or beyond.


    Too weak.


    But it also didn''t matter because none of them dared to attack him either. They practically opened up a path for him, looking toward him with what he thought was....


    Hope?


    These creatures were far more intelligent than normal animals. The Arctic Emperor Cobra could feel rage... of course, even normal animals would attack when their offspring was killed, but Ss could feel a subtle but tangible difference.


    It wasn''t just a fury fueled by an evolutionary necessity, but something far more... human- like.


    And now, he could see that even clearer.


    Subconsciously, he could tell that these creatures were missing a leader. They were so desperate that after sensing that Ss was so much like them, they wanted him to take that


    role.


    By this point, the Arctic King Bears were taking an almostzy notice of what was happening. As Ss expected, they didn''t seem to care to take action...


    Until he showed signs of entering the pool.


    At that moment, they all tensed as though they were shocked by his audacity.


    ''It seems that the missing Arctic Emperor Bear might really be down there...''


    Ss took a breath, but his steps didn''t slow.


    He dove right into the waters, causing a rippling wave to spread out that even the strongest Arctic King Cobras rushed out of the way of.


    The moment the water hit him, Ss felt his Aether skin creaking and crunching almost immediately. It was slowly freezing, and very soon, it would prate into his very body.


    But he remained calm. He activated Rune Soul and Enchanted Schr. Then, he organized the Ice-Poison Runes around him into a shield.


    Soon, his Aether skin solidified and the pressure on him plummeted.


    He dove deeper and deeper into the clear waters until heid eyes on it.


    There it was, a behemoth of a creature with beautiful white fur that exuded a slight icy blue


    light.


    Ity there at the bottom of everything... right next to a Dungeon.


    -


    [Arctic Emperor Bear (-)]


    [Level: 12]


    Suddenly, it opened its eyes. An icy blueness prated into Ss'' soul.

 Chapter 376 Change [Bonus]

    Chapter 376 Change [Bonus]


    Ss'' cool green gaze looked right back at it. The moment he saw that it, too, hadn''tpleted its evolution into the Bronze Grade, whatever worry he had vanished into the ether.


    ''Let''s fight.''


    He didn''t say the words so clearly, but the bear understood them.


    Its maw opened wide and a furious roar bellowed out from its chest. Ss could feel the difference immediately. This was a creature made to howl.


    BANG!


    The pr bear stomped a foot against the bottom of the icyke and shot upward. It closed the distance in what felt like a single blink.


    Pr bears were exceptionally strong swimmers and had recorded swimming speeds far faster than any known human. Clearly, this mutated version of their lineage was no different.


    It swiped down, activating <Arctic w>.


    A beautiful, crystalline blue hue extended from each one of its ws, mming down on Ss from above. Even without using <Master Scouting>, Ss knew that this attack dealt almost a thousand Damage even without Special Damage factored in.


    This creature was a true powerhouse.


    ¡ª


    [Arctic Emperor Bear ( ¡ª )]


    [Level: 12]


    -


    [Physical: 732]


    >[Strength: 855]


    >[Constitution: 903]


    >[Dexterity: 570]


    >[Speed: 600]


    [Mental: 833]


    >[Intelligence: 1423]


    >[Wisdom: 731]


    >[Charisma: 345]


    [Will: 811]


    ¡ª


    Its stats could overwhelm General Aleen in several facets despite being less than half thetter''s Level, and that without havingpleted its evolution, or getting therge boost that came from crossing the Level 20 threshold.


    But Ss was already prepared.


    The moment the Arctic Emperor Bear was about to sh down, ck scales had already erupted across his body.


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    -


    [Physical: 452]


    >[Strength: 565]


    >[Constitution: 648]


    >[Dexterity: 291]


    >[Speed: 297]


    [Mental: 708]


    >[Intelligence: 629]


    >[Wisdom: 942]


    >[Charisma: 553]


    [Will: 1453]


    [Luck: 22]


    ¡ª


    The w swiped down with vicious momentum. The bear was enormous, and though smaller than the 20-meter length of the Arctic Emperor Cobra, it was wider and practically brimming with muscles. At five meters from the tip of its nose to its almost invisible tail, it was a truckload of power.


    Power that Ss was ready to handle.


    ROAR!


    BANG!


    Ss unleashed a bellow, reaching down into the depths of his diaphragm with his intention and activating <Arctic Howl>.


    In the depths of this water where the Ice-Poison Aether was so thick and concentrated, the defensive Skill was even more powerful than advertised. But the same was also true of the pr bear Emperor''s w.


    There was a strong rebounding force and Ss went flying upward. At the same time, the Arctic Emperor Bear froze for a moment beneath the new effects of his Skill.


    A pir of water broke the surface of theke and Ss found himself iling a bit.


    He had still underestimated the power of the bear. Although he had had the intention to use its power to retreat, the result was still beyond his expectation. However, his expression didn''t change in the slightest.


    His gaze shed with a blue light and he poured his Aether into his next Skill.


    <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    His Ice-Poison Damage would be useless against the Arctic Emperor Bear, but he wasn''t using this Domain for the usual reasons.


    Just as he finished deploying the Skill, the Arctic Emperor Bear rushed out of the water, its roar causing both the cobras and pr bears alike to shiver. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''The result is as expected.''


    Ss wasn''t talking about his Domain just yet, but rather the reaction of the others. He originally nned to retreat if he met the Arctic Emperor Bear, but after seeing the reaction of the Arctic King Cobras, he changed his mind.


    There was a chance to use his Tamer status here to his advantage. So he would take it.


    That was when his second n kicked in. The bear might have been immune to Ice-Poison, or more urately, it was immune to Ice-Poison of this Skill''s level. But now that Ss'' Domain had spread, all of the Runes in the area were under his control.


    The root purpose of a Domain Skill was to cast some sort of control over arge area, and when that was taken to a logical extreme¡­ it meant one very simple thing.


    The Arctic Emperor Bear could no longer cast Ice-Poison Skills. And at the same time, Ss'' own Ice-Poison Skills became more powerful.


    On cue, the Arctic Emperor Bear triedto cast <Chilling w> again, only for the familiar blue scythes that once extended from its fingers to barely manifest at all.


    By this point, Ss had alreadynded on the raging water''s surface again. He shot forward,pletely ignoring the w that wouldn''t form and unleashing a fist right into the bear''s snout.


    The Arctic Emperor Bear''s head shook in a hint of disorientation, but a second fist hit in quick session, then a third.


    Its w mmed down, hitting nothing but air and water. By then, Ss had already rounded to its side, unleashing another barrage of punches.


    It felt as though he was hitting a steel wall, but the depth of zing Will in his eyes only seemed to grow.


    Having this sort of power in your hands, this sort of control¡­


    It waspletely intoxicating.


    Right now, Ss'' telekinesis could exhibit 981 points of Strength. When he used Basic Aetherflow, it was forced into an average with his Base Strength, but even then it was able to give him more than an additional 200 points of Strength. On top of that, there was still his now FFF+ Boxing Comprehension for another addition +60% on top of that.


    However, that averaging of Strength only happened when he attacked from a distance. When he attacked with his fists directly, it was a different matter entirely.


    This sort of power was something that even the Arctic Emperor Bear had simply never experienced before. Every punch reverberated through its body and the sound of cracking ribs and rendered flesh echoed through the valley.


    DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM. DOOM.


    Without its Ice-Poison control, the bearcked even the Skill to keep up with Ss. Its body was being shredded apart piece by piece.


    It was then the situation changed.

 Chapter 377 Be Strong [Bonus]

    Chapter 377 Be Strong [Bonus]


    The Arctic Emperor Bear stumbled back, fury lighting its blue marble eyes. It looked at Ss as though it wanted to tear him apart, but Ss didn''t n on having a staring contest with the creature. He already had every intention of ripping into it.


    It was then the Arctic Emperor Bear unleashed a howl.


    CRACK.


    Syals felt his Domain shatter. It quickly came back together under his control, but even then it was shaky.


    He could feel that the Runes under his control had been forced into a tug of war battle and his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    He dodged out of the way of a swinging w, his mind swirling.


    ''This feeling¡­ it''s almost like when the Arctic Emperor Cobra resisted my Beast Totem somewhat¡­''


    There was nothing in his Beast Totem''s description that said it could be countered, but he had felt that the Arctic Emperor Cobra did so in part back then.


    Now, a bit of that same aura wasing from the Arctic Emperor Bear.


    It was like they weren''t just Emperors of their own little race, but rather Emperors of the world. The Laws of Earth wanted to obey them, and it was even suppressing Ss'' control over the Runes in the surroundings.


    Suddenly, the strength of the bear exploded and Ss found that he could no longer see its stats as though it had been obscured by something.


    This was the power of a beast that had broken the Limits of the world. Or, more urately¡­ this was a Quasi Limit Breaker. This wasn''t nearly as powerful as it would be on a true Bronze Beast. And yet, it was still able to suppress Ss'' Rune Soul Realm to this extent.


    BANG!


    The pr bear Emperor swiped out with another w, but this time, it was evenrger than the first time Ss had seen it. What was most shocking was that it would have been even more powerful if Ss wasn''t trying to rein in some control of the surrounding Runes.


    Ss dodged backward, the indifference in his gaze bing cold.


    The ws of the bear detached, bing a ranged attack out of his expectation. Four scythes cut across the air, appearing before him in an instant.


    <Arctic Howl>


    Ss roared and the collision sent him flying back. The brief pause saved him from a fate of being shredded apart.


    The four scythes froze in the air, and by then, Ss had already flown so far back that he almostnded on the shore of the Arctic King Cobras.


    The Arctic Emperor Bear was already barreling across the waters. It looked as though it had grown a size, the blue aura around it growing more profound and potent. At the same time, there seemed to be a half-formed bronze crown hanging over its head.


    The surrounding pr bears began to roar into the skies as though they were giving support to their Emperor.


    At the same time, the Arctic King Cobras began to respond in kind, their howls and hisses filling the valley.


    Ss felt his blood boiling for reasons he couldn''t exin in a few words. In that moment, he seemed to have forgotten everything. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He stamped down on the water once, causing a pir to rise into the air.


    Ss charged out of the pir of water, his hair being slicked back by the frosty liquids. However, he lookedpletely different.


    A pair of pauldrons floated before his fists and a pair of shin guards hovered in front of legs. Both were a deep crimson iron color and looked worn from battle.


    These were none other than pieces of General Aleen''s armor, and each one was over 20 pounds in heft. The pauldrons alone were almost 40¡­


    And when Ss punched out, the Arctic Emperor Bear would feel that.


    What did 981 points of Strength feel like when it was backed by swinging ballista heavier than a sledgehammer? Well¡­


    ROAR.


    Blood flew.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss and the pr bear Emperor shed in the middle of theke, w meeting armor.


    The water churned and Ice-Poison Runes spiraled through the air. The frosty energy seemed to only grow thicker and more menacing, but the two werepletely relentless.


    Ss unleashed a vicious kick. The shin guard flew through the air, a fiery green leg manifesting within it and mming against the pr bear Emperor''s head.


    Blood was drawn, but a pauldron had already descended from the skies, shattering the bear''s snout. Another pauldron cut up, smashing into its jaw and twisting its already deformed face.


    The bear unleashed <Arctic Roar> and Ss'' nextbination of attacks was blown apart.


    A w cut into Ss'' chest, spiraling snowkes cutting down from the skies above and shredding through his Aether skin. It was a Skill that Ss had never seen before.


    ''No, it''s a Gene Talent.''


    Ss realized this, but the indifference in his eyes was only belied by his fiery intent to battle. Feeling the blood flowing down his body and dripping into the waters below, he only felt a stronger Will churning in his heart.


    Be Strong.


    His telekinesis reached out, snatching the bits and pieces of armor out of the air. A zing green fire poured into them and for a moment, such a strong force descended onto them it looked as though they might be forcefully molded into Ss''s fists and legs.


    However, that was but an illusion.


    What wasn''t an illusion, though, was their strength.


    Ss roared, activating <Arctic Howl> again and forcefully shattering the descending current of snowke des.


    BANG! BANG!


    Two quick punches shredded apart what was left of the pr bear Emperor''s bloodied jaw. Itshed out again, but Ss was too far away. The scythes of its <Chilling w> were too easily dodged.


    <Chilling Scythe>.


    Ss cast this for the first time in the battle. It manifested right before the bear Emperor''s open maw under his Rune Soul control. It couldn''t dodge even if it wanted to, and it was too exhausted for its Emperor Domain to suppress Ss.


    Caught off guard, the attack pierced right into its open wound.


    Normally, even with its upgrade, this Skill wouldn''t be able to prate the Constitution of the pr bear Emperor. And, the Ice-Poison would be too weak, causing it to ignore any Special Damage that was possible. But now¡­


    It froze in ce, its body crackling as a continuous series of damage ripped through its veins.


    Ss huffed for breath, walking forward slowly as the five seconds of his Skill yed out.


    By the time he appeared before the Arctic Emperor Bear, it was already trying to break free, but its feeble attempt was causing it to fall apart. The Skill was capable of doing 750 total Damage. After this long battle, the fact that the bear even had that much left to give was a miracle.


    Ss stood before it, looking up at its massive frame.


    He took a breath, looking the beast in the eye, and unleashed another punch.


    BANG!


    He felt the flesh deforming beneath his fist and the world fell into silence¡­ until the body of the Arctic Emperor Bear copsed, falling onto the surface of theke.


    Ss took deep breaths, his chest heaving¡­


    And then the Arctic King Cobras went wild, the roars piercing the skies.

 Chapter 378: Ilk

    Chapter 378: Ilk


    ?


    Ss took in deep breaths, his eyes shing like lightning as he seemed prepared for another pr bear to leap at him at any time. But that wasn''t what happened.


    Instead, the Arctic King Bears all shrunk back, and the roars of the Arctic King Cobras only grew louder.


    This situation was certainly unexpected, but Ss was able to quickly understand. The beasts of this world, at least after the Summoning, didn''t have any natural inclination toward or against humans. There were many times that Ss had noticed this. Even during beast tides, it was rtively easy to blend in.


    The only time Ss hadn''t had such an opportunity was when he faced off against the snail, but that snail was also controlling the beasts in the surroundings to target humans, while there was also a team of humans deadset on stopping them from making their way through. The Arctic King Cobras, though, immediately felt that Ss was one of their own when his Beast Totem appeared, and even the Arctic King Bears had respected the battle between their Emperor and Ss as though Ss was likewise the representative of the Arctic King Cobras in their eyes.


    That was only further proven by the fact that the Arctic King Cobras began to push forward, shoving the Arctic King Bears back and upying more of the shore for themselves.


    Soon, the situation in the valley hadpletely reversed, and it was entirely thanks to Ss. The cobras looked toward him with reverence in their eyes, and Ss realized then that there was more of a benefit to his Vipermancer Profession than he knew.


    He had used his Beast Totem before to easily subdue his Blue Cyclone Horse. But that was done more casually than anything as he wasn''t sure if it would work.


    But this time, his Beast Totem had clearly subdued these beasts without him having to take in any of them as Contracts.


    Until now, Ss hadn''t even thought about taking in another Contract for several reasons. First, he couldn''t sign an unlimited number. The limit seemed to be decided by his Beast Totem. The higher Level it was, the more Contracts he could sign.


    Of course, Ss was nowhere near that limit, to the point where he hadn''t even bothered to check what that exact limit was. But the fact that he had such a limit made him realize that he couldn''t just go around contracting any snake he came across.


    The Basilisk King was a Legendary Beast. Well, it had the potential of one. It seemed a shame to pair it up with an inferior creature for temporary gains.


    The second reason he never bothered was because the cost to reward ratio wasn''t worth it. Right now, he could only fuse with one beast, and his Were For The Invincible Path seemed to imply that he would be able to fuse with more than just one in the future.


    Still, he was limited to one for now, so taking in a second beast would meanmitting to using it as a real battle pet.


    If the snake was strong enough, Ss wouldn''t mind. But if he contracted a beast that was too weak, then he would end up wasting his time trying to keep it alive. That would defeat the entire purpose.


    Plus, his telekinesis and mind-splitting abilities already made him uniquely suited to fighting battles against multiple people. A weak beast wouldn''t help him, it would only slow him down.


    This didn''t even mention the fact that evolving these beasts was hard. It had taken him quite an ordeal just to get the Basilisk King to FFF-, and he still had no idea how to help it level up. Now, it seemed that the Basilisk King''s next evolution would require the strongest treasure he had ever seen toplete: the Basilisk Skin Armor.


    This was all to say that Ss had never seriously considered another contract... but now he realized that he didn''t necessarily need to sign one to benefit from his Vipermancer status.


    He didn''t even need to ask these creatures, but they were already working for him. They secured the barrier around theke and now Ss was almost certain that he wouldn''t be bothered.


    Realizing this, Ss took a seat right in the middle of the waters, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.


    First, he would recover. Then, he would enter the Dungeon.


    Since it was so perfectly curated for him, how could he not?


    An odd sort of peace fell around theke as though none of the beasts wanted to bother him. Frosty energy came into Ss'' body and was expelled through his nostrils, a calming cycling forming in his body.


    He noticed after absorbing the Intelligence Bronze Gene that it was possible to use Aether to speed up his healing as well. Or more urately, he could use his Aether Pathways to more efficiently guide Aether to his cells and help to quicken the process by proxy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Now, he was testing that, but he felt that something was missing... until he started to reflect on the insight absorbing the Constitution Common Gene had given him.


    When these two insights wereyered onto one another, and the Ice-Poison affinity of his ss came into the picture, Ss'' wounds began to heal at a pace that was almost visible to the naked eye, though not quite.


    The pace was still slow, but for every ten minutes that passed, there was clear improvement until he felt that he was back to 100%.


    ''I can definitely get better at this. If I can do this myself, I even bet there''s a skill out there that can do the same more efficiently... but it''s likely very rare. This is a high-level application of Aether for sure.''


    Ss wouldn''t waste time practicing now, especially since he didn''t even have any wounds to practice on. But soon, he''d likely have more than enough of a chance.


    He dove into the waters, closing in on the Dungeon.


    [Frostbane Sylph (FFF+)]


    [Level Maximum: 20]


    [Entry Limit: 10]


    [Rmended: Mental 500; Will 500]


    [Description: The Sylphs are masters of the Path of the Mancer, and their arrogance is their calling card. They proim themselves to be overlords, and those not of their ilk who dare to step onto their Path will face their wrath]

 Chapter 379: Game

    Chapter 379: Game


    ?


    ''Sylphs...?''


    This was a first. It seemed that this Dungeon was referring to a humanoid race. Did that make it different from the other Dungeons that he had seen?


    The Level requirements were also insane, especially considering the Entry Limit was 10.


    The rmended stats and Levels factored in the number of entries for sure, Ss had confirmed this after the Basilisk King''s Reign Dungeon. If this Dungeon only asked for one person, the rmended Level would certainly be closer to 30. It was only because you could bring so much help that the requirement was only 20.


    [Who are the Sylphs?]


    [The Sylphs are an E-Grade Race of beings that favor the Path of the Mancer. They tend to be born with Gene affinities that give them great control over the elements.]


    ''E-Grade Race?''


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    He still didn''t quite understand what his Species was. All he knew was that whenever he ran into a stat or Gene Limit, it would be mentioned.


    His rudimentary understanding of it was that once one reached Level 50, there would be a chance to evolve to a higher Level. If one seeded in bing Level 51, then you could be an E-Grade existence.


    That said, an E-Grade Race sounded like apletely different thing. Did it mean that Sylphs were born Level 51? That didn''t seem to make much sense considering the Dungeon only required him to be Level 20. So it must refer to something else.


    Ss didn''t really want to waste the Genes on such a question, but in the end his curiosity got the best of him.


    ''I see... That''s a bit... troublesome.''


    The overall Grade of a Race was decided by rtive potential. An E-Grade Race was one that would have a rtively easier time of reaching the E-Gradepared to those of an F-Grade Race. As such, on average, the number of E-Grade existences among them would be substantially more than lower level Races, and by extension, they would have a better chance of striking at the D-Grade and beyond as well.


    It wasn''t a hard cap, but... it could be depending on the situation. Unless one could break the mold of their Race, you would be very likely to be stuck in said Race''s overall Grade.


    By the same token, higher rtive Grade Races also tended to have much greater Strength at the same Levelpared to lesser rtive Grade Races.


    Ss didn''t need to ask the Madness Key to know his own rtive Grade because he had been staring at it ever since he came to his world.


    [Species: Human (F)]


    It was right there in bold font and it wasn''t going anywhere.


    Of course, it would change if he managed to be Level 51. But unless he could change it while he was still in the F-Grade, whatever challenge he faced in crossing over into E-Grade would be especially tall.


    Ss stood in silence.


    At first, he was only nning to enter this Dungeon for the sake of gaining whatever was on the inside in hopes that it would help to strengthen him. But staring at it now...


    He wanted to tear it apart.


    Ss took a step forward and vanished.


    No one knew that a single young man had entered a 10 Entry Limit Level 20 Dungeon on his own. There were too few people in the Arctic Circle, and even fewer would dare to even think about facing off against the horde of beasts around theke.


    However, what everyone did notice was that Ss'' Merits had ticked up again.


    He was the only one on the list to begin with, and somehow he had already made the leadrger.


    Ss'' vision spun. When he could finally see around him, even he couldn''t help but be taken off guard.


    It was a quiet, somber environment. There was a bonfire ahead and there were around another dozen people around him facing off against an old man whose features were difficult to see because he stood behind the bonfire. However, the way the light of the fire flickered across his features made him look particrly sinister.


    As for the "people" around him, they didn''t seem to be people at all. At least not in the normal human sense.


    They did look like humans, albeit a little bit too perfect, almost like models with an additionalyer of photoshop. What really made Ss feel odd was the fact their skin gave off a bluish glow. While their underlying skin tone was more normal, they were definitely giving off an unnatural light.


    ''Azrael?''


    Suddenly, something clicked for Ss.


    He remembered the first time he met Azrael, he also felt that he had an odd blue tinge to him. But back then, Azrael had been so powerful that Ss had mistaken it for his Aether or maybe


    even his aura.


    But now he was sure...


    Azrael should be a Sylph.


    All at once, several gazesnded on Ss. The murderous intent was palpable.


    "A human."


    It was hard for Ss to tell who had spoken. There wasn''t much light outside of the bonfire, and because he had been using his visualization, there was a sudden distortion in his senses that originated from over a dozen separate locations at once.


    His mind almost felt like it was being ripped apart and he was forced to retract it. The pain didn''t stop his mind from working quickly. The moment he felt such hostility, he activated Madness. His vision hadn''t even cleared before there was several roars of pain.


    At least half the Sylphs fell to the ground, clutching their heads. Blood streamed down their noses and their bodies convulsed.


    By this point, Ss had recovered. His mind was far more robust than any of them had given him credit for, and the activation of Madness had clearly rebuffed whatever secondary probes


    they had in mind.


    However, Ss didn''t have the mind to care for this because he felt that he had well and truly screwed up this time.


    There wasn''t just over a dozen people here, there were exactly 21. Or more urately... there had been 20 until he showed up. Just enough to match two perfect entry limits.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Had he just entered a team game by himself?

 Chapter 380: I Am

    Chapter 380: I Am


    ?


    Ss slowly regained his bearings, his mind on full alert. There was always a risk of things going terribly wrong when you entered a Dungeon with a higher Entry Limit requirement with fewer numbers. But for things to go this poorly was definitely unique.


    What Ss didn''t know was that this situation was even worse than he knew.


    During a Summoning, a world was in a unique state. There were many oddities that could ur, including events that intersected with already well-established worlds.


    Most of these odd urrences could be described simply. The universe tended toward helping its children to evolve; it was a simple cadence of evolution. As such, the universe wasn''t interested in protecting interests and drawing dividing lines. In fact, if it was up to the universe, every world would perfectly seed in their Summoning.


    This was all to say that when these odd urrences happened, it was a method of the universe, or the system, rather, giving those of a lesser world an opportunity.


    The ceremony that Ss had just strolled into was one example of this. This was an event meant for Sylphs and Sylphs alone. He had no business appearing here. It could be said that everyone, including the elder lurking behind the bonfire, saw him as an enemy that should be directly killed.


    But by the same token, just like the Arctic Emperor Cobra, they were restricted by thews of the system. Their pain wasn''t just caused by Ss'' Madness Comprehension, but the bacsh of the system itself as well.


    They should have had an understanding of what it meant for a human to appear here, but they tried to overextend themselves nheless and those that were foolish enough to do so had ended up facing some bacsh.


    Such events were truly rare; it was no wonder that they would try and see if there was a loophole to take advantage of. But now that they had failed, the next time they tried to kill Ss...


    The result would be far worse.


    Ss'' gaze flickered as he stood to his full height. He didn''t hide his gaze, scanning everyone one by one, including the man standing behind the bonfire.


    There was no use in trying to hide his intentions, and since his visualization seemed impossible to use against these people, he could only rely on his eyes.


    Likewise, he didn''t dare to try and scan their stats either. All he knew was that they must be beneath Level 20. If he extrapted the stat rmendations of the Dungeon, then they all likely had around 500 Mental Stats and Will as well.


    For now, until he thought of something better, this would be the best that he could do.


    Slowly, the Sylphs around him also recovered from their mental bacsh, some of them even swallowing Elixirs directly to replenish themselves.


    Several more resnded on Ss'' body, but no one dared to act again. However, the oppression in the air would have likely suffocated anyone else.


    "You are alone?"


    The voice was gruff, aged and ancient. It sounded as though the man had been screaming at the top of his lungs for half a day and was somehow still willing himself to continue speaking now.


    It came from the elder behind the bonfire.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. ''Why can I understand theirnguage so clearly? Interesting.''


    It was an odd feeling. He knew they were speaking anothernguage, but it still naturally tranted when it reached his mind. He couldn''t tell if this was a Skill of the man himself, or if it was the system.


    Then again, he could understand the words of the other Sylphs as well, so it was likely the system.


    "I am."


    Ss'' words seemed to surprise most of them, including the man. But then there came the sinister gazes. They didn''t even bother to hide their intent.


    After saying these words, the man fell into silence. It only took Ss a few seconds to realize something.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They were waiting.


    There were likely more teamsing.


    Ss took a breath and made a decision. He turned and found a rock nearby. He took a seat on it and deployed his visualization into a tight five-meter barrier around him.


    Then, he began to draw Ice-Poison Rune after Ice-Poison Rune. Soon, a dense frosty aura pervaded the area and thick mist was created. The mist quickly grew so thick that Ss couldn''t even be seen within.


    This was most definitely a risk. For one, he was exposing his skill in Runes for them all to see, this would certainly put them on guard. Second, he still wasn''t sure if he was perfectly safe here, so what he was about to do came with an added level of danger.


    However, he had to do it.


    His mind was focused as he pulled out the pr bear Emperor''s corpse. As for his purpose, it was none other than the Gene Talent it had used.


    There was a reason Ss hadn''t done this before. Extricate didn''t work on Gene Talents. As far as he knew, the only way to get a Gene Talent was to rely on the system. Maybe if he upgraded Taboo Bond enough, but for now it was impossible.


    That meant that if he wanted a chance at a Gene Talent, he would have to waste basically all the Genes in this corpse, and that was something he didn''t even want to do... especially since it wasn''t even guaranteed that he would end up with the Gene Talent.


    His body had reached its Bronze Gene Limit so it was all or nothing.


    Either the system would give him a chance to unlock this Gene Talent, or he would be wasting maybe the most valuable Gene resource he had ever gathered.


    If it was just that, it would be bad enough, but he was also taking another risk. Because he had reached his Bronze Gene Limit, he had no space to gather the Genes he would need to sacrifice to the Gene Talent in order to awaken it.


    So... he was also gambling on the fact that Extricate would be able to bypass his body and pass Genes directly to his Gene Talent.


    Before, the gamble simply wasn''t worth it. Too many things had to coincidentally go right.


    But now...


    He had no other choice.


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss paused. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

 Chapter 381: Possible

    Chapter 381: Possible


    ?


    [Arctic Emperor Bear]


    [Genes Detected]


    [Bronze Gene: (7) Constitution (F); (7) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ''It should be possible. There''s no reason for it not to, I''ve done it before.''


    Ss began to use Extricate on the Arctic Emperor Bear. His target, obviously, wasn''t the Gene Talent, but rather the Genes themselves. Every time he extracted one, he poured it into the Gene Crystal.


    In the past, Ss had used Extricate on Gene Crystals to extend their life. It was a smoother process, so he could use the Gene Crystal more often before it shattered. That was why his 70 Capacity Gene Crystal was still alive and kicking.


    So why couldn''t he do a simpler thing? Instead of fusing the Genes together and then Extricating thepleted Gene, why not use the Gene Crystal as a Gene storage device instead?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This would add some wear and tear to the Gene Crystal, certainly. So he couldn''t do it with impunity. But that would only be a problem if he was constantly pulling Genes out and pushing them in.


    ''I guess we''ll see how much durability this uses up for sure if this works...''


    Once he had extracted all the Genes from the bear, he reached another threshold. Would the system still allow him to try an assimtion now that all the Genes were gone?


    Ss turned his focus inward. He waspletely focused on trying to grasp the Gene Talent that may or may not be there.


    With a breath, he moved his intention toward [Yes].


    It was oddly vacant. The system moved, but there were no Genes to grasp onto.


    ''Is it gone?''


    Ss sighed inwardly. Extricate was certainly powerful, it allowed him to control Runes moreplex than he could even begin to study and move them around as he pleased. But it clearly wasn''t omnipotent-.


    Just as Ss had this thought, he felt something.


    It was so impossibly subtle that if not for hisprehension of Rune Soul, he would have missed it. In fact, Rune Soul wasn''t solely to thank.


    Afterprehending Rune Soul, Extricating Bronze Genes gave Ss the same level of insight a Gold Gene would have given him. But he had only experienced that once. Comparatively speaking, he had absorbed 20 of each of the Physical Genes. They were all Common, but they still gave him far more insight than his Bronze Genes did previously. And because he had experienced each one so many times, Ss'' control over his body had reached an unprecedented level.


    That skill had disyed itself against the Arctic Emperor Bear. The gap inbat skill between himself and the bear was so overwhelming that it hardly touched him. If not for the fact its stats were so far beyond his own, it would have only taken a few exchanges for Ss to kill it.


    Now, Ss'' State of Wealth wasing in handy again. That was because the appearance of the Gene Talent wasn''t nearly as obvious as Genes themselves.


    ''I see... so that''s how Gene Talents work...''


    Gene Talents could be tied to specific Genes, but they didn''t need to be. Instead, they were more of a method of using the Genes that already existed in your body. Genes gave you talents that you didn''t have, Gene Talents used the Genes you did have to perform tasks you weren''t otherwise familiar with. It was like giving yourself muscle memory you didn''t have to train yourself.


    Unique Genes that came with Gene Talents weren''t much different. These kind of Unique Gene reliant Gene Talents just needed to use Genes you didn''t already have to function. That was the only difference.


    The Arctic Emperor Bear''s Gene Talent, as such, was spreading all throughout Ss'' body. It was trying to form a ubiquitous thatbined several factors of Ss'' Genes into one ability, and that was why it was so hard to sense.


    It was practically working on a cellr level, across several organ systems. Without his high understanding of his body, Ss wouldn''t have noticed it at all.


    But now that he had...


    ''It''s about to fail... my Ice-Poison affinity isn''t as high as the Arctic Emperor Bear''s so it''s difficult for my body to trigger its sess.''


    Ss frowned. It didn''t look like there was anything he could do. If his body was too weak, then trying to gain this Gene Talent or forcefully activating it would only end poorly. Was this a wasted effort? Well, he had at least saved the Genes so it wasn''t all bad.


    ''Wait...''


    Ss began to work quickly. He took out his Transmutation Beast Skin and expanded it until the entire bear corpse could fit on it. At the same time, he had a portion of his mind focused on the Gene Talent so that the feeling wouldn''t fully disappear.


    He pulled out his Gene Crystal and began to Extricate the Genes one more time, pouring them back into the body of the pr bear Emperor.


    CRACK.


    Ss couldn''t help but cringe. His 200 Capacity Gene Crystal had actually shown signs of breaking down already. It seemed that this wasn''t a viable long-term solution for storing Genes. If this Gene Crystal broke before he could upgrade Aetherflow, he wouldn''t even be able to describe his regret.


    Still, he pressed forward, Extricating thest Gene. Then, he poured his Aether into the Transmutation Beast Skin.


    WHOOOSH!


    A strong energy pulsed, and the bear''s corpse waspressed andpressed until it formed a beautiful icy pill with blue runes etched across its surface.


    ''That took 7 Units of Aether although it didn''t have a single Silver Gene... these half-Bronze beasts are no joke...''


    Though he had these thoughts, it didn''t slow his action. Ss swallowed the pill in one go.


    Since his body didn''t have the support structure the Gene Talent needed to take root, then he would just have to supplement it in another way.


    A body-wide massage thrummed through Ss'' limbs. A great amount of nutrients filled him


    to the brim.


    Ss'' gaze shed. ''It''s working.''


    [Gene Talent Detected]


    [Trade 5 Bronze Intelligence (F) and 5 Bronze Wisdom (F) to unlock: Winter''s Edge?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss was speechless... all of that to still be one Gene short.

 Chapter 382: Too Fast

    Chapter 382: Too Fast


    ?


    Ss closed his eyes and exhaled a breath. He had the five Intelligence Genes he needed because of General Aleen. He had only used one of the seven the General hade with. Unfortunately, General Aleen only had four Wisdom Genes, not the five he needed.


    The good news was that he was fairly confident now that he could bypass his Gene Limit to directly feed his Gene Talent. But what good was that when he was missing one of the Genes he needed? ''I will just have to find a Wisdom Gene as quickly as possible.'' A cold light shed in Ss'' eyes.


    He always received more Genes from humans for one reason or another, and he had a feeling that that truth would only continue to be true with these Sylphs. So long as he could kill one of them, the odds that they''d have a Wisdom Gene for him to take advantage of was very high. So long as he could get his hands on one of them, his odds of surviving would increase.


    Ss stood to his feet, dismissing the curtain of frost around him.


    When he appeared again, there was, indeed, another team present. Now, there were a total of 31 people. It didn''t seem to have been a long time since they appeared, because when they, too, saw that Ss was a human, they likewise reacted with surprise, subsequently followed by hostility.


    "Team leader, step forward." The gruff voice of the elder spoke out and soon four had stepped forward. One of them was, obviously, Ss. As for the others, two were women and thest was a man.


    As the team leaders of their various squads, they were likely also the few that Ss had to be the most worried about. Since this was hisst chance, he chose to take a gamble, scanning their stats directly with Madness fully activated.


    All three frowned at the same time, but their mental defenses were shattered in the next instant.


    [Aerwyna Galesong (???)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Vayu Aerovane (???)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Brisa Celestwind (???)]


    [Level: 9]


    All three of their gazes snapped toward Ss at the same time, but Ss himself had already moved his hand toward the bonfire. ''Even after going all out and using Madness boost <Master Scouting>, I can only get their Levels... But...'' Ss'' gaze shed as he checked a few more unsuspecting members.


    ''All of their team members share the samest names as them. Galesong... Aerovane... Celestwind... these are probably separate factions of their Race. Even if they are incredibly hostile toward me, something tells me that they''re not exactly kumbaya with one another.'' However, Ss had taken very clear note of the fact they were all Level 9. That meant in the opinion of the system, the people of Earth should pass through two watersheds, both Level 10 and Level 20, before they could fight against a Sylph that had yet to be through a single one.


    Ss pulled his hand back. Out from the bonfire came a frigid token with the Roman Numeral three on it (III). If not for his Ice-Poison affinity, just touching this coin would have likely killed him.


    Aerwyna, Vayu, and Brisa all restrained their killing intent, and at the same time, they felt a hint of wariness. They could tell that Ss had seeded in scanning them just now despite their protections. How was that possible?


    All three hid their tokens, not allowing the other parties to see. ''This can be troublesome. I didn''t try to hide mine.'' Ss made note of this, but only time would tell how much of a mistake that was. At the same time, he made a mental note to observe more before he acted. Right now, he was acting boldly because he was already public enemy number one. There were certain things that he could take advantage of with his position, but if he was too bold, he would end up suffering a loss.


    "The portal will open in one minute. Prepare yourselves." The elder was a man of few words. After he finished saying these few sentences, he no longer spoke.


    Ss stood and waited, his gaze focused as though he had forgotten about the world around him.


    It was then that someone crossed into his vision, appearing so close that he was nearly nose to nose with him.


    It was Vayu. A young man with deathly green eyes that seemed to reflect off of Ss quite well. Compared to Ss whose tracksuit was quite tattered by now, he was decked out in beautiful white leather armor that entuated the slender power of his frame.


    From this, it was hard to tell from a nce whether Vayu was a swordsman, an assassin, or an archer. But considering the bright white he wore, assassin was probably unlikely.


    He looked Ss up and down, his gaze frighteningly cold. Then, he suddenly unfurled a scroll. Ss had enough experience by now to recognize a Temte when he saw one.


    [Envement Contract (Bronze) (Temte)]


    [Bind the mind of any F-Grade, sub-Bronze Threat below Level 30 to yourmand]


    [Requirements: Consent or +100% Will; 20 Units of Aether]


    [Uses Left: 1/3]


    "You are likely a citizen of a world currently undergoing your Summoning. Since you''ve appeared here, it means you''re under the jurisdiction of my Aerovane n. If you show your usefulness now, it will make your future path much easier. Make the smart decision." After saying this, he passed held out the Temte as though prepared to activate it with a nod of Ss'' head.


    "Your Aerovane n? You sure talk big." Brisa sneered.


    She was a beautiful woman much like the other Sylph women, but she was exceptionally tall, even a head taller than Ss himself. Her figure was still quite slender, but her exposed shoulders still rippled with muscle striations.


    Vayu looked over and sneered back. "This isn''t your ce to-."


    Ss took the Temte from Vayu''s hand, looking at it curiously before putting it awayn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    casually.


    Vayu had only been distracted for a moment, but it all happened too fast.

 Chapter 383: More...

    Chapter 383: More...


    ?


    "You..."


    Ss ignored him, looking toward Brisa and Aerwyna. "There''s a reason he was the first to approach me."


    Those were all the words Ss said, and it made the two of them feel a lurch in their hearts. Even Vayu looked at Ss a bit incredulously.


    However, time had run out.


    The token in Ss'' hand began to vibrate and the others were forced to rush to their teams. With a flicker, a portal appeared before Ss and he took a step inside.


    ...


    The first thing Ss saw was a staircase of ice. It would have beenpletely transparent if not for the blue Runes swimming through it.


    ''Frostbane.''


    These were the first words Ss thought of because it was the very name of this Dungeon. It was very likely that Frostbane was an extension, a type, or maybe an even evolved version of Ice-Poison. Or maybe that was just the name of the specific Ice-Poison Rune at work here. After all, it wasn''t lost on Ss that he had given all the Ice-Poison Runes he hade across perfunctory names.


    These Runes, though, were very clearly Ice-Poison Runes. But...


    ''43 Foundations...''


    It was far inferior to his slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes.


    Ss looked around, but there was no one else here. There were exactly nine steps before him, and each one was more than double his height. It seemed that the only way forward was,


    well... up.


    He bent his legs and leapt up. He caught the edge of the ledge, pulling himself up. The first thing he felt was that the temperature had suddenly plummeted, but he couldn''t think about that for very long before a growl caught his attention.


    [Ice Wolf Spirit (???)]


    [Level: 5]


    -


    [Physical: ???]


    [Mental: ???]


    [Will: ???]


    -


    Ss frowned. What was he supposed to make of that?


    ''I see...''


    It didn''t take him long to figure out what the problem was, and this problem was likely also the reason he couldn''t even see the Grades of the others.


    Earth''s current stat system was based on rtivity. When they first entered the Trial, they were given stats from 1 to 10, where 10 represented the 99th percentile of physical or mental capabilities.


    Obviously, Earth''s stat system wouldn''t trante one to one with the outside world. Ss'' current system wasn''t suited to tranting, and that meant that he was flying blind...


    Ss frowned, but he didn''t have much time to consider this matter, the Ice Wolf Spirit had already lunged at him.


    It was a beautiful creature, about 1.7 meters long not including its crystalline tail. Its fur was somehow both flexible and formed of ice, its marble blue eyes reminding Ss of the Arctic Emperor Bear.


    ''It''s not very fast, but...''


    Ss''s Enchanted Schr was still activated so he immediately noticed that there was something particrly deceptive going on here. The wolf was gathering power from the surroundings in a way that he had never seen before. It seemed like it was even about to level


    up.


    Not only that, but there were several more kernels gathering energy in the surroundings as well as though they were trying to form something.


    At first, Ss thought that it was a skill of the wolf. But the more he observed, the more he realized that this wasn''t the case at all.


    ''More wolves.''


    When Ss realized this, he suddenly burst into action. He didn''t want to meet the wolf head-on without first fully understanding what its stats were. Although he had a few guesses, that wasn''t nearly enough.


    So instead, he brought out the pauldrons and shin guards of General Aleen again. Pulling on his Gluttony Seed, the power he could exert almost doubled as he smashed the pauldron into the wolf''s face.


    BANG!


    The wolf''s head exploded and it came to a skidding stop.


    Ss separated part of his visualization to pay attention to it as he rushed toward the location of the other forming wolves. His mind went through several thoughts at once until he just decided on the most violent method.


    Using Rune Soul, he forcefully took control of the gathering Runes and disrupted them.


    Just like that, the forming wolves stopped forming.


    ''It works.''


    Ss repeated the action, nketing the region in his visualization and stopping every spawn point until he was satisfied.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Just when he thought things were over, his head spun back to the original wolf he had killed.


    ''It''s reforming itself?''


    Ss'' figure shed and he appeared before the reforming wolf. With a push of his intention, the Runes were forced to disperse again.


    ''Is that it?''


    His luck wasn''t normally so good. He could see how this step could have gotten very difficult, very quickly. But he had been able to stop it before things even got to that point.


    From what he could tell, every kill came with a certain bit of damage to the Runes, and depending on how much stronger you were than the wolves, you would have to kill it anywhere between twice to even four or five times before it would stay dead.


    At the same time, more wolves would continue to spawn. Ss had counted at least three dozen more nodes of rising spirit wolves. It was no wonder this trial required a team of ten. Things worked out in his favor this time, though. These didn''t seem to be real beasts, but rather formations of Runes. It was an exceptionally high-level application of Rune Mastery, and though Ss couldn''t understand it, he seemed capable enough to disrupt it.


    But he also realized that this was only because the wolves were set to a weak level. There was no telling if he would be hard-pressed to disperse them with the same ease if he was up against a stronger spirit construct.


    It didn''t seem like there was anything more here, so Ss moved on, walking toward the beginning of the second step before leaping upwards again.


    As he was moving, so too were the other teams. They worked together seamlessly, and soon their first sh woulde.

 Chapter 384: First

    Chapter 384: First


    ?


    Vayu cursed in his heart as hemanded his team to move faster. This time, Ss had really screwed him over, and the worst part was that Ss shouldn''t have even known. How Ss managed to deduce it was beyond Vayu.


    Ss'' token read ''III'' while Vayu''s read ''IV''. This might seem meaningless, but in theing sh of team, ''I'' would pair with ''II'' and ''III'' would pair with ''IV''. This essentially meant that the first opponent that Vayu woulde across other than these wolf spirits would be Ss himself.


    This seemed not to be a big deal. After all, this should be a good thing. Ss was just one person. He should be ecstatic that he basically got a free ride to the final round.


    Unfortunately, Ss had seen through him.


    This wasn''t a simple tournament where there would be two elimination rounds to crown a winner. Instead, depending on how things went, there could end up being multiple rounds where each team would do their best to umte points.


    Once this staircase event was through, there would be a sh, and then there would be four doors. These four doors would likewise be numbered from ''I'' to ''IV''.


    The first to win would receive priority in choosing your next round''s opponent. Meaning, if Vayu was matched up against Ss in the first round and cleared an easy victory, then he would be able to pick Ss again in the next round and secure an advantage all the way up.


    If he killed Ss, it would be even easier, because that would mean that he would have free reign all the way up to the final rounds where thergest and truest rewards would be.


    However, because Ss exposed him, things would be different.


    Because a loss didn''t necessarily mean elimination, Aerwyna and Brisa might choose to collude, allowing one or the other to gain victory so that they could be the ones to challenge Ss first.


    This wouldn''t be ideal for them, but it would even out the ying field. That was because whoever "lost" would then proceed to collude with Vayu, and then they''d switch over. So on and so forth.


    But if Vayu got there first, then it would be meaningless.


    Eventually, by the end of the rounds, they''d have an even distribution of points and they''d be right back to square one.


    At the start, they had all seen Ss'' number, so this could have been guessed... but it wasn''t until Ss pointed it out that they put two and two together.


    Before, Aerwyna and Brisa might have been slow on the uptake and chosen to fight it out. By then, Vayu would have already had an insurmountable advantage.


    But now, he had to go all out in hopes that he still managed to reach the doors first. Only then could he firmly suppress Aerwyna and Brisa.


    Due to a few words from Ss, the first round, which should have been more a leisurely feeling out process, actually ended up being a full sprint to the end. Victory might very well be decided right here and now.


    A solemn expression couldn''t help but mar Vayu''s handsome brows. He didn''t know how Ss had managed to deduce this, but it had put him in a terrible position.


    What he didn''t know was that it was impossible for Ss to deduce the intricacies of all these rules without someone exining it to him. Vayu could only me himself for having such stupid reasoning.


    Trying to enve Ss under the pretext that he would one day be their n''s subordinate made no sense.


    It was possible that Vayu might have seen Ss'' potential and wanted to enve him, but using such a rare Temte on a ve you wouldn''t even be able to control for at least another few years made no sense whatsoever.


    The moment Ss saw the Temte, he realized that his being enved should somehow help Vayu out in the here and now.


    Vayu had tried to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to close up all potential loopholes, so he wanted for there to be no chance for Ss to reverse the situation.


    In the end, all Ss needed to know was this to expose him. He didn''t have to understand the details, he just had to vaguely understand what Vayu wanted and expose him on its merit. Then, Brisa and Aerwyna, who did know the intricacies of the rules, would be able to figure out the rest for themselves.


    As he had said... they werepetitors as well. He might be public enemy number one, but he wasn''t the only enemy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now, Ss''petitors were burning through the stamina and reserves in ways they usually wouldn''t... while he was leisurely keeping up pace without expending nearly the same amount of energy.


    ...


    The second step and the third step were practically the same. The Level of the wolves didn''t change. Instead, the number of them, and the speed with which they spawned and recovered was greater. In addition, the second step spawned two wolves from the very beginning, while the third step spawned three, making it a bit trickier to handle.


    However, now that Ss knew what he was aiming for, he didn''t hesitate or pause. In fact, he only got better at dispersing and disrupting the Runes.


    He fused his Rune Soul control with his telekinesis, applying the same concepts he had learned during his battle with the snail in order to make his disruption sharper and more violent.


    His telekinesis seemed to give his Rune Soul control more substance, and it was then that Ss realized that Rune Soul was actually an application of his Charisma and probably scaled with the stat as well.


    When he realized this, hisprehension seemed to deepen and the fourth step was somehow even easier than the first despite the fact it now had Level 6 wolves.


    Ss charged


    all the way up until he cleared the ninth step.


    The world swirled around him and he found himself locked in a transparent barrier he wasn''t


    allowed to leave.


    But there was no one else around him.


    He had gotten here first.

 Chapter 385: Point System

    Chapter 385: Point System


    ?


    Ss looked around. "I''m being forced to wait? Interesting..."


    He was starting to understand why his words had been so effective against Vayu. It seemed that he had stumbled into some good luck after all.


    He looked around, hoping that there would be rewards of some sort. Usually, there would be more to gain from a Dungeon than just whatever the final rewards were. But unfortunately, though he had finally had some good luck, it wasn''t that exaggerated.


    There was nothing here at all. Well... other than the barrier.


    "The barrier..."


    Ss looked at it, activating Enchanted Schr. These days, it was too easy to use this Gene Talent. Usually, it would have some strain on his Wisdom, but between Rune Soul lowering the requirements, and Unyielding Schr boosting his Wisdom to ridiculous levels, he didn''t even feel it much.


    He had kept it active all through those nine steps, actively using Rune Soul to disperse his targets, yet he didn''t feel any fatigue at all.


    "Another fascinating application of Rune Mastery..."


    Ss carefully touched the barrier. It looked ethereal, but it was as hard as aged icepressed beneath millions of years worth of snowfall.


    Clearly, this barrier was relying on Ice-Poison Runes, or rather, Frostbane Runes? But it was so much more powerful than what Ss was capable of despite the fact it should have been the weaker Rune. After all, Ss could control two Runes with 11 more Foundations than what was found here.


    Then there were those spirit wolves. That was definitely another application of Ice-Poison Runes, but Ss couldn''t even fathompleting something so intricate. He didn''t even understand how you could turn Runes into something that felt so... real.


    Logically, it should be possible. After all, Runes were the foundation of the world, its fundamentalws. Since life sprung from the world, Runes should have the innate ability to grant life.


    But he couldn''t see how one could make the leap from one to the other nheless. It was tooplicated for even him to wrap his head around.


    If he had to guess, it was likely the system doing the heavy lifting again. It was more than likely that whoever created those wolves had a ss Skill that did it for them.


    "Interesting. This sort of Rune configuration... if I deploy <Arctic Howl Mutant> like this, its Defense would increase probably by another 50%..."


    <Arctic Howl Mutant> already had 1000 Defense, another 50% would be no joke at all.


    "I focused too much on making each individual Rune powerful, but not enough on making each Rune y off against one another well. These Runes work like a circuit, and there''s a flow of energy between them, and they''re designed for better Aether control over the whole.


    "If I take the circuit analogy to an extreme, some of the Runes are ced in series in order to rapidly increase strength, and some are ced in parallel in order to increase sustainability. Thebination of the two finds a bnce across the whole skill in order to create something more powerful..."


    Of course, it was moreplicated than this, and seemed to also be rted to geometry, both in regard to the individual Runes and that of the overall Skill.


    For example, triangles were still the strongest shape, but not every Rune would allow you to ce three side by side like that. Plus, the skills would be in 3D, adding anotheryer ofplexity.


    Just as Ss was about to check if his hypotheses were correct, his gaze shed as another group appeared.


    He looked up to find that it was Aerwyna. She was one of the three that he had never heard speak before. Being far more dainty than the giant Brisa, she didn''t have the height of a fashion model, but she definitely had the face of one.


    Her eyes were striking blue, and when she saw Ss, she couldn''t help but be surprised as well. He had actually gotten here first?


    FLASH! FLASH!


    Soon afterward, Vayu and Brisa seemed to appear at the exact same time.


    Everyone''s expression changed at once. The fact that Ss was here ruined all of their ns again. That was because the moment all four were present-


    POP!


    Their bubbles shattered and the four were transported once again.


    The world was identical to the worlds of the iced steps. Snow fell from the skies, a chillingnd of ice and blue runes was beneath their feet, and a perpetual white fog formed the barriers of the world''s edge.


    Still, the first thing Ss noticed wasn''t the fact that Vayu and his team had appeared across from him, but it was rather the fact that there were several spawn points for wolves as well. "Why would there need to be spawning wolves if this is a head-to-head battle?"


    There was a possibility that it was just for an addedyer of chaos, but Ss didn''t feel that this was the most likely choice. There was already supposed to be a 10v10 battle, why would they need more chaos?


    "Point system?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss looked toward Vayu''s team and realized two things. First, they were all scanning the area as though they were looking for something, and second...


    They were tired.


    "There''s no reason for them to be so tired with their strength unless... they rushed here?"


    Suddenly, it all clicked for Ss at once.


    He took the initiative, moving first.


    "This must be a point-based victory. The point shouldn''t be to kill your opponent, instead it''s more like capture the g where your opponent is a hindrance."


    The moment Ss realized this was the moment he also realized that he had already all but won. His visualization had a 30 meter range that could cover almost half of this "arena". He could easily im arge number of points while they were still waiting for the wolves to


    spawn.


    But he didn''t choose to do so.


    That was because for the sake of his Gene Talent and to deal with the inevitable next rounds,


    he needed at least one of them to die... and there was no better time than when they were both


    tired and distracted.

 Chapter 386 Lolaleen [Bonus]

    Chapter 386 Lleen [Bonus]


    Vayu''s team was so stunned they weren''t even sure how to react. They felt that Ss was so insignificant that they didn''t even properly set up defenses around him. Their shieldmen were all focused elsewhere, ready for the beasts to start charging at them.


    None of them were ready for Ss to suddenly burst forward like he did. However¡­


    Ss was simply too slow.


    They were stunned, but all of them had Speed that was easily three times that of Ss'' own, and that included even the weakest of them. They started over 50 meters from one another, and though Ss could clear that distance now in what was less than three seconds, that was still far too much time for existences of their caliber to react.


    Vayu frowned. "Sergan. Kill him. Don''t y with your food, do it swiftly. The rest of you form up."


    Originally, Vayu didn''t want to do this. It would be easier to directly manipte Ss, but he understood that there was a problem here.


    For Ss to make it here at all, he had to have something that was special about him. As such, Vayu was smart enough not to send the weakest of their group at Ss. Sergan was his second-inmand and second in strength only to himself. He was also the second least affected by their stamina drain on the way here.


    ¡ª


    [Sergan Aerovane (???)]


    [Level: 9]


    ¡ª


    Ss scanned the man before him, but still couldn''t see any stats. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the luxury of trying another method because Sergan was already upon him.


    Fast.


    The man was like a blur of icy blue, a pair of daggers that matched appearing before Ss in a blink.


    Without a choice, Ss activated <Arctic Howl Mutant>. His Speed might be greatly inferior to Sergan''s, but his Wisdom certainly was not. His ability to think and calcte at this pace of battle wasn''t just not hindered, but it was superior to any one of the Sylphs.


    Sergan''s attack was rebuffed, causing him a great deal of surprise. For Ss to block his attack with a Skill, he had to have anticipated it. There was no instant casting at their level. Even sses that imed to give it still caused small half-second dys.


    The Sylph second-inmand was immediately several grades more serious after seeing this, but when he went to move, he was shocked to find that he was actually frozen in ce.


    ''Not good.''


    Sergan reacted swiftly, triggering a counter Skill of his own, but Ss didn''t even bother to try and analyze it. He had already side-stepped Sergan.


    In one breath, he elerated forward and sent a normal <Chilling Scythe> behind him to dy Sergan further.


    Embarrassment dug deep into Sergan''s bones, churning up his insides. He couldn''t read Ss'' stats, but his Speed and the power of his Skills painted enough of a scene. It was likely that Ss had a rare Mental Comprehension that allowed him to counter their probing, but for him to suffer at its hands like this¡­


    Ss didn''t give Sergan another nce, pushing his legs as fast as they would go as he crossed the rest of the distance between himself and the group.


    Before he reached them, Sergan had already broken free, but as expected, he was forced to sh with Ss'' <Chilling Scythe>, dying him further.


    Ss'' ice-cold green eyes shed as he scanned the group. By now, there were already wolves pouncing on them, having finally formed, and many more wereing.


    However, Ss wasn''t looking toward the wolves at all. He was trying to find something.


    He scanned over the entire group until his gazended on it.


    There.


    The weakmb of the group.


    Ss stomped a foot and he activated <Momentum Shift> and <Sudden Burst> at the same time. The Skill and Gene Talent stacked, a deft control and understanding of his own body disying itself as Ss changed direction without losing a single ounce of Speed.


    BANG!


    Where he had just been standing, a scythe of energy cut into the icy ground, an attack that came from Sergan to be sure.


    Vayu''s expression changed, realizing what Ss was trying to do. But he was already in the middle of attacking. It was like Ss had bided his time, only making his target clear the instant Vayu wasn''t in a position to do anything about it.


    A young female Sylph who still had therge, watery eyes of a teenager panicked when she realized her situation as well. She was fighting with a partner against a spirit wolf, and she was usually the support of the group to begin with.


    Usually, the support would try to hide themselves from being scouted out, but because their opponent was just one person, most, even Vayu, had let their guard down. Until now, she had already cast several support Skills¡­


    Never did she think that such a thing would happen. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She locked eyes with Ss and for a moment, she was absolutely certain that they turned into a golden slit right before her eyes, as though she was no longer even staring at a human.


    There was a sh and suddenly she felt her mind being locked down by an overwhelming presence.


    A scroll appeared in Ss'' hand and a devastating momentum burst forth.


    They didn''t even have the chance to understand what was going on when the scroll formed a beam of light that rushed into Ss'' forehead, only to exit with an even fiercer light that pierced toward the young woman.


    There was no suspense.


    Her eyes became dazed and zed over. A moment afterward, she regained her bearings and suddenly went pale as she likewise understood what happened.


    "Lleen!"


    The Sylph the young girl had been working with cried out in shock and horror, but she had her hands full. The Sylph had been forced to take on the brunt of the defense after Lleen was targeted, and now¡­


    One of their own had been enved.


    And more unfortunately for her, Ss was still present.

 Chapter 387 Couldnt Even See [Bonus]

    Chapter 387 Couldn''t Even See [Bonus]


    Ss was swift and decisive. Appearing behind Lleen''s partner, he unleashed a swift punch.


    The girl was no pushover, casting an area of effect defensive skill not too different from <Arctic Howl>. This Skill came with a pulse of light that pushed everything away, including Lleen.


    A frostiness coated Ss'' body and seemed to want to eat into his flesh, but he clenched his fists once and shattered it apart.


    His constitution was inferior to these people, but his control over Runes was far superior. Their Ice-Poison couldn''t affect him so long as he dealt with it before it prated deeply.


    ''Unfortunate.''


    This was Ss'' only thought as he failed to kill the girl. He had been hoping to kill two birds with one stone, but now he was about to be surrounded. If he dyed for any longer, he would lose his life here.


    "Go."


    He moved his intention toward Lleen and she had no choice but to obey. They used the momentum of the female Sylph''s push defensive Skill to escape the encirclement, but they were instantly surrounded by wolves, both figuratively and literally.


    It was at that moment that Ss'' intention moved once again, his Will flourishing as his Rune Soul pressed down.


    BANG!


    Several forming wolves exploded all at once and arge number of umted points were suddenly forcefully taken away by Ss.


    At that very moment, Sergan had finally caught up. Everything was happening too fast and there was hardly a moment for rest. But Ss felt as though everything was resting in the palm of his hands. Nothing could escape his notice at all.


    Hemanded Lleen, but with his mind this time, forcing her to cast a Skill he had seen her use in the past.


    His body was suddenly filled with strength and after a quick check, he realized that his Physical stats had increased by 50%, and that was on top of his 25% increase from Surge of the Die. This pushed all his Physical stats to over 260, while his Constitution became over 300.


    Ss had already taken a huge Aether hit from activating the contract and only had six units left, he couldn''t allow this to continue.


    ''There''s no way she would have cast this Skill so early on if there''s such a huge drawback. Their situation wasn''t nearly that desperate. That means there''s a way to mitigate this sort of loss.''


    However, he also felt that there was a great drain urring on his Aether as well. It seemed that this support Skill didn''t just pull power from thin air. He was actually using up an Aether Unit every few seconds.


    Ss had already taken a huge Aether hit from activating the contract and only had six units left, he couldn''t allow this to continue.


    ''There''s no way she would have cast this Skill so early on if there''s such a huge drawback. Their situation wasn''t nearly that desperate. That means there''s a way to mitigate this sort of loss.''


    Ss activated <Maddened Enlightenment> at the same time, its Silver Mastery soaring to Gold Mastery. Suddenly, his Aether Unit usage plummeted from one Aether Unit every few seconds, to every few minutes.


    Lleen''s eyes opened wide when she sensed this. She had never seen anyone mitigate the negative effects to such an extent, but Ss didn''t have the time to indulge her as Sergan had already appeared, his eyes bloodshot.


    Lleen was like the little sister of their group. Seeing her enved like this, not a single one of them wasn''t absolutely infuriated. This was especially so for Sergan who failed to stop him.


    PENG!


    Fist and dagger met.


    Ss only managed to stop thetter for a short while before he felt his Aether skin being shredded through. Even with the stack of Basic Aetherflow, his Aether skin, the Scorned Wraps, and his own personal Constitution, it wasn''t enough.


    His flesh suffered momentster and Ss was forced to retract his fist quickly. However, that only allowed the dagger to continue forward, aiming right for his throat.


    Even in this life and death situation, Ss seemed to have an endless well of calmness.


    BANG!


    Sergan''s head went somewhat hazy as a sudden pauldron smashed against the side of his head. It appeared out of nowhere and somehow gained all its possible momentum despite having started inches from his head. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The trajectory of the dagger was thrown off and Sergan felt his ears absolutely ringing. Even with his high Constitution, being smashed over the head with an almost 50-pound weight wasn''t something he could ignore.


    Even without his fusion with the Basilisk King, Ss'' telekinesis with Madness activated could now disy 476 points of Physical. Sylphs weren''t known for their Physical stats to begin with, there was a reason the Dungeon didn''t even give a Physical stat point rmendation. Caught unprepared, if not for his Aether skin protection, Sergan''s head would have already blown to pieces.


    Unfortunately, having lost this initiative, Ss didn''t show even the slightest hint of mercy.


    His head almost carelessly twisted at a slight angle, sliding by the new trajectory of Sergan''s dagger as he unleashed a fist right into the man''s gut.


    Ss didn''t know if the anatomy of a Sylph and a human was the same to begin with, so he didn''t aim in any particr locations as he unleashed a barrage of powerful punches.


    By the time Sergan awoke to the pain, he had already suffered a half dozen punches, the crunch of his bones and the cracking of his Aether skin echoing over the howls of the spirit wolves.


    "Use it." Ssmanded Lleen coldly again and she was forced to use a bind Skill, not on Sergan, but rather the wolf lunging at them.


    Unfortunately, Sergan thought the bind Skill wasing for him so he used his counter Skill at the same time, only to punch at nothing but air.


    The Stabilizing Bracelet on Ss'' wrist glowed and he cast <King''s Bind> in that same instant. Itnded just after Sergan''s counter Skill failed and the man found himself frozen in ce once again.


    Despair suddenly colored Sergan''s eyes. Somehow, he knew that though he still breathed¡­ he was already dead.


    He couldn''t even see Ss in those final moments, his gaze helplessly looking at Lleen whoserge green eyes were brimming with tears.


    .

 Chapter 388: Points

    Chapter 388: Points


    ?


    There was no Beast Totem that appeared behind Ss this time. He didn''t have enough Aether left to use it in the first ce, but it was never his intention to do so.


    Although he had learned how to use his own Aether to speed up his own personal healing factor, it took time and, obviously, Aether. There might not be any breaks at all in this Dungeon, and he was already running low on Aether after his first real battle.


    This was to say that there was no way he could afford to waste his high powered


    now, not when he would end up with a useless arm and no Aether to rely on.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    So instead, he set up the perfect situation to use the weakened version. This was precisely the version of Psychedelic Punch that relied on Slow and Freeze to work. It was just unfortunate that it dispersed a great deal of his power when it acted.


    But...


    The result of the punch shocked even Ss.


    His fist was almost agonizingly slow as it moved through the air, at least in the eyes of the elites here. If Ss'' usual attack speed was 100, then right now it was 40 at most.


    Yet, when itnded on Sergan''s head, the result was astonishing.


    CRACK.


    First, Sergan was frozenpletely in ce. Not figuratively, but literally. A barrier of icepletely incased him and pulsing blue runes rampaged through their surface.


    Sergan''s Aether skin was suddenly invaded by a cancerous army of ice-blue Runes and suddenly shattered to pieces.


    Sparkling motes of Aether light fluttered into the air, and it seemed like something even more devastating was about to happen when Ss suddenly took action.


    Rune Soul moved and forcefully suppressed the action of the Runes. If Sergan''s entire body became nothing more than ice shards and bits and pieces, how was he going to take advantage of his Genes?


    "Retreat." Ssmanded.


    A pauldron mmed into the head of the beast still bound by Lleen''s bind skill and the two swiftly left the bounds of the encirclement.


    With a touch to his frozen shoulder, Sergan''s body had already vanished into the Madness Key as Ss continued to retreat.


    By this point, the eyes of the Sylphs were practically spitting fire. Without Sergan, thispetition was practically lost. Vayu couldn''t possibly uphold the burden all on its own.


    On top of that, they had lost their best support ss. Although they had another, it was impossible for just one alone to support them all, and it was even worse because this second support was inferior to Lleen as well.


    Ss had taken out two of their key pirs and he seemed to havee outpletely unscathed.


    "Dismiss your Skill."


    Lleenplied and the pressure on Ss'' Aether vanished. <Maddened Enlightenment> continued to churn, swiftly adding to his reserves.


    ''It''s so much faster now. Usually, I can only be this fast when I enter a real state of meditation, but now I can do so while on the move.''


    Lleen''s eyes couldn''t help but flicker, her shock palpable. She had never seen such a powerful Aether replenishment skill before. It felt like Ss'' very pores were opening up to allow Aether in.


    What she didn''t expect was that this was precisely what would start happening momentster.


    Usually, Aether could only be taken in through the mouth and nose. Only those with exceptional skill could take it in through other parts of the body. Usually, it would require a special Comprehension or Gene Talent, sometimes even a Species change or ss change.


    However, Ss had grasped the intricacies of his Aether Pathways after absorbing the Bronze Intelligence Gene. He had a better appreciation for how Aether moved throughout his body so he had no need to only use the default pathways.


    Although it was definitely still much slower than when he took it in through his mouth and nose, Ss found that he could increase the potency of <Maddened Enlightenment> by another 20% or so. It was very worth it although it was a drain on his concentration and Wisdom.


    ''It should be about now...''


    Vayu''s team practically wanted to eat Ss alive, but they didn''t get the chance to. Ss had nned out everything too perfectly.


    Before the battle began, he had quietly snuffed out the spawning wolves in his region, clearing out ane of retreat. Then, when he had his big burst and destroyed arge number of them, he purposely left several more around Vayu''s team.


    While they were fighting it out with the wolves, he was recovering as though the battle had nothing to do with him at all. What he also couldn''t help but notice was that they didn''t even realize what he had done.


    This gaze Ss a valuable piece of information. They couldn''t sense his Rune Soul at all, likely because their Rune Mastery was just nowhere near his own to begin with.


    This made things even easier on him. They didn''t even realize that they were behind on points, so even though they were infuriated, they were still focused on at least securing their


    victory.


    Which was why what happened when thest wolf fell made them all pale.


    [1. Ss Grimde - 237 points]


    [2. Vayu Aerovane 36 points]


    ...


    Vayu''s eyes opened wide when he saw the system message.


    "HOW?!"


    He unleashed an infuriated roar, unable to believe his eyes. His only thought was that Ss had cheated, but they were all here. How was that even possible?


    His head snapped toward Ss'' direction, only to see violent blue winds whipping around him as Aether poured into his body in a frenzy. However, even in that storm, there were a pair of green orbs hovering within them, staring right back at him.


    Vayu felt an inexplicable cold chill run down his spine, his body losing control for a moment.


    Just what was going on here? How could there be someone so fearsome on a Summoned World?

 Chapter 389: More Than He Should

    Chapter 389: More Than He Should


    ?


    Ss walked out of the trial ground with Lleen in tow. He wasn''t sure if it would work, but it seemed that the system had acknowledged Lleen''s change in affiliation.


    ''I wonder... when I enter with the Basilisk King, does it count as one or two?''


    This thought surfaced in his mind as he realized how smoothly Lleen was taken under his wing. He was half expecting for her to be taken back with her group and then likely either restrained or killed. Either way, he had thought that using her again in the future would be difficult.


    The only reason he didn''t kill her outright was because in his views, it still might be possible to use her again.


    It was unlikely that they had a method to reverse envement or else their reactions wouldn''t have been so fierce. So, their only options would be to kill or restrain. If they did the former, so be it. But if they were foolish enough to do thetter, then Ss might be able to make them pay by using Lleen as a tool for sabotage the next time they met.


    Unfortunately, all those thoughts were moot.


    ''Still, things have gone smoothly. I didn''t need to use the Basilisk King or <Arctic King''s Domain>. I still have a lot of trump cards left that I can spring on an enemy in the future, and I''ve weakened their team a great deal...''


    Ss was always looking ahead. He knew that this wouldn''t be the end of the Dungeon, so he had no choice but to hide as much as he could for now.


    The rules were still a bit of an enigma to him, so caution was the name of the game for now. That would certainly be easier with Lleen by his side buffing him.


    "Tell me all of your Skills, Gene Talents and abilities-including what treasures you hold." When the duo walked out of the portal, they found themselves before a very familiar set of four doors. Realizing that the numerals matched the token they received earlier, Ss came to understand something.


    ''So that''s why...''


    When Lleen finished telling him about all her stats, he then asked her to exin all the rules of this ce.


    ''... What a convoluted game.''


    The Dungeon was, as expected, more of aing of age ceremony for the Sylphs. It was also a way for them to challenge one another without going into all-out war, thus why they were separated into family factions.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Unfortunately for them, Ss'' appearance had thrown a wrench into the ns... or so it seemed on the surface. From what he got from Lleen''s words, it was actually a good thing for them that Ss had appeared this time because it meant that their fourth faction of the Sylphs wouldn''t be able to take their usual first ce prize.


    The ceremony was divided into two main parts. The first were the stair challenges and the second were the team challenges. Thetter were thrown in purely so that these factions could vent their hatred for one another and disy whose younger generation was the stronger of them all. It could be said that the stair challenges were far more important.


    Until now, things were still fairly straightforward and there wasn''t much to be confused about... until the variability of "choice" was allowed.


    Between each round, one could choose your opponents. This was meant to be abination of strategy, forenning, and a little luck.


    Usually, most would do whatever they could to avoid this fourth faction, or make guesses about how certain teams would perform during certain stair challenges to time when it was best to target them or avoid them.


    This exined a great deal to Ss. Clearly, all of these people had been so eager because they all wanted to target him, only to end up dropping a rock on their own feet.


    This addedyer was where the truly tricky problem came into y. That was because since there was so much swapping of opponents and variability in challenges, the ceremony was judged based off a weighted point system that fluctuated depending on several factors.


    For example, if you targeted a group that was weak on purpose, the number of points you umted would actually be less. However, it was more than possible to offset this penalty if the team was too weak, which would still make such an option worthwhile, thus why Ss was prime meat in their eyes.


    By the same token, though, there were a great number of extra points to be gained by facing off against teams stronger than yourself. Inter rounds, if there was a big gap to be surmounted, some might choose to do this on purpose and go all out.


    But now... it seemed like it was Ss'' turn to take advantage of such a thing. Since he had the option, why wouldn''t he target the group with only eight remaining members?


    After all, ording to this system, he was still by far the weakest. His little team was just two people now, while his enemy had eight. Surely he would still get the scoring advantage on his side.


    Without much thought, he entered the IV door and was greeted with a whirlwind of ice. Ss had already asked Lleen what the levels were, so he was more than prepared. The first stair challenge was a direct battle, but this one... it was a test of Will. They would alternate like this, back and forth, until the very end. This should be why the Dungeon rmended 500 Will to enter.


    Ss'' Will, however... was over 800 even without his extra 250% boost from Madness. This time, the stairs were normal sized, but there was also far more than nine. The moment he raised his foot and touched down, a sharp cold prated into his very bones.


    Behind him, Lleen shivered, hints of despair in her eyes. Teams were supposed to face off against this blizzard together. Wouldn''t they just die doing this?


    Ss looked back and reached out his hand. He couldn''t let this useful little support die. Not


    yet, anyway.


    "Stay behind me."


    ...


    News that a human had infiltrated theiring of age ceremony had long since been spread to the rest of the Sylph Empire. Those that normally treated this matter as a formality showed slight hints of interest and the viewership began to slowly increase.


    Normally, the stair challenges wouldn''t be broadcasted, while the team battles would be. So, when everyone saw the result of the first team battle, there was a harsh silence left behind.


    --


    A certain old man stood behind a bonfire, looking down into the flickering mes as though the smoke didn''t bother him at all.


    ''A Level o...'' he thought to himself silently.


    At first, he hadn''t thought much of it. If the human had happened to stumble into the Dungeon when it had just appeared, it was still possible.


    But then there was Ss'' little disy of Rune Soul, and now... his victory against all odds.


    This was a problem.


    It was impossible to contact those on Earth right now, the restrictions were too stringent, let alone the fact the old man still wasn''t sure exactly which Ss was from.


    However... what the Sylph did know was that this couldn''t be allowed.


    The fact that Ss was Level o and still so powerful meant only one thing...


    He knew more than he should.

 Chapter 390: Harsh Winds [Bonus]

    Chapter 390: Harsh Winds [Bonus]


    ?


    Harsh winds buffeted against Ss'' body, pulling against his torn up clothing and sinking into his flesh. Itshed out like whips, the stinging pain drawing a fine line continuously. It felt almost like he was being burned from the outside, in.


    The pain made Ss frown slightly. Wasn''t this supposed to be a test of Will? So why was there so much physical pain involved?


    Ss still wasn''t used to the idea that Will could be a measured stat in the first ce. But this aside, if the pain was so physical, the test felt a bit... meaningless. That was because personal stats wouldn''t be able to be isted from one''s Will stat.


    The stronger a person was, the easier it would be to deal with these winds, and thus the lower their Will would have to be to withstand this.


    Plus, ording to Lleen, these challenges would even be withstood by an entire group at the same time. That made it even less of a Will challenge.


    ''Unless it''s stat-adjusted?''


    Ss thought for a moment, then remembering that Lleen said that the stair challenges weren''t recorded, his skin began to sh with ck scales.


    Lleen was taken aback again, a strong lurch of fear turning her stomach over. How much strength was Ss still hiding?


    ''Hm... it really doesn''t feel any different. So it is stat adjusted.''


    Ss'' scales faded. ''But in that case, how is it that they can work together?''


    He looked back toward Lleen was still following after him.


    ''I see... so these winds only target the person at the head of the group. So, presumably, they take turns taking the brunt of it.''


    Ss looked up, finding that he still had quite a distance to climb. Sometimes, being correct was a burden.


    He had already realized earlier that the first challenge was a stroke of luck. Not every challenge would be so easy, and it seemed that he had stumbled into exactly that truth now.


    Taking a breath, he continued upward. Now that he understood what was happening, there was nothing to do but to trudge forward.


    Ss'' jaw set as he took one step after another. His pace wasn''t fast, but it was steady.


    At some unknown time, a zing green me had lit in his eye and it only burned fiercer as he continued forward.


    Ss had never seen this green me before, but he could feel it quite clearly. That was when The seemed to realize something...


    His telekinesis flickered and formed a deflective shield before him. At first, he was using Basic Aetherflow, but he quickly realized that that wasn''t working.


    Aether wasn''t the way.


    This was a path that tested his Will, so...


    Ss pushed, a forcefield of telekinesis spreading out from him.


    For a brief moment, there was a subtle relief, but this forcefield dissipated quickly and then dispersed entirely.


    ''It works... but my telekinesis seems too intangible...''


    Ss pulled on his Gluttony Seed and then acted again.


    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!


    The sound felt so familiar, as though wind was buffeting a ss door in the middle of a raging storm. The icy winds sliced into his barrier, but this time, it withstood the onught for much longer.


    However, all good thingse to an end. Even with his Gluttony Seed, the barrier was soon shredded apart, and the pain he suffered increased exponentially.


    Luckily, it didn''t seem to be out of retaliation. Unluckily, it was a natural progression of the stairs. It would only get more painful from here on out, especially without anyone to swap out for him.


    Although he could use Lleen, he needed her in top condition and... he could feel something odd about this ce.


    Ss took another step forward and his heart shuddered. There was a wavering in his mind that reminded him of the assault his Will suffered in the Slithering Madness Dungeon. If this continued, his Will would actually begin to plummet.


    ''Slithering Madness... that was when my telekinesis first awakened...''


    There was too much about his telekinesis he didn''t understand. Why did it have such weight limitations, why couldn''t it stack properly, what about the Gluttony Seed allowed it to increase in strength, what changes in himself increased the weight it could carry...


    The questions were endless, and this wasn''t the first time he had thought of them.


    ''Don''t use the Gluttony Seed...''


    Ss came to a decision, forming another forcefield to fight against the winds, but this time, he did so continuously, forming forcefield after forcefield of telekinesis.


    His strength was dispersed over arge area, and the zing green mes in his eyes seemed like a weakly struggling ember in the middle of an endless tundra.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''No, there''s definitely something special here...''


    Ss clenched his teeth as he continued forward, contradictory beads of sweat falling down his brow.


    BANG!


    Ss struck out with a palm, guiding it with his telekinesis. He coated the strike in his Will, trying to lend it more power.


    But ultimately, the power of his arm overwhelmed it, making his telekinesis insignificant. This happened all too often. No matter how powerful his telekinesis, he couldn''t properly stack it to his attacks, at least not without Basic Aetherflow.


    But even when he used Basic Aetherflow, the stack wasn''t perfect and it ended up in an average of his Physical stats and his telekinesis. This weakened it greatly.


    As though this wasn''t enough of a waste, he had to be cautious with how he used it in battle or


    else theck of weight behind his telekinesis would severely hamper the damage.


    By now, his telekinesis should be so far beyond his Physical stats, and yet it could still be mostly used as a support.


    A grunt came from Ss'' lips as a line of blood dribbled down the corner of his lips.


    His fighting intent red as he took another step, and then another.


    He began raining down a series of palms, trying to trigger a change, something, anything...


    But all he received in return were harsher winds.

 Chapter 391: Failed to Analyze [Bonus]

    Chapter 391: Failed to Analyze [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss gasped for breath at the top of the stairs, his eyes bloodshot and his heart practically beating out of his chest. He felt like there was a scorching heat ripping through his throat and his veins werepletely on fire.


    Lleen cast a healing support Skill on him to help him rejuvenate, and it was only then that some of that scorching pain was weakened somewhat.


    All the way up the stairs, Ss hadn''tmanded Lleen to act once because he was saving it. Now stuck in a familiar bubble, it was only right that he benefit from his envement contract.


    Taking deep breaths, Ss hurriedly sat down. Maybe he had pushed himself too hard because there wasn''t anyone here either. It was clear that he was the first to arrive once again. Regardless, this was the only leisure time he''d have, so he needed to take advantage quickly. He pulled out Sergan''s corpse, inwardly crossing his fingers.


    The first time he tried to use the system to take Genes from a Sylph-assuming Azrael really was one¡ªit had failed. He could only hope this time that it would work.


    He had a feeling that the reason it didn''t work with Azrael was because of whatever oddity allowed him to appear on Earth in the first ce. He was banking on the fact it would be different this time.


    Luckily, he was correct.


    [Sergan Aerovane]


    [Genes Detected]


    [Unique Gene Detected]


    [Failed to Analyze Unique Gene]


    [Bronze Gene: (2) Strength (F); (2) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (2) Speed (F); (4) Intelligence (F); (3) Wisdom (F); (2) Charisma (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ''Excellent.''


    The moment Ss saw the Wisdom Gene he needed, he used Extricate on the Wisdom Gene. He ignored all the stuff about Unique Genes even though it was the first time he was seeing such a thing.


    If he was correct, this Unique Gene was to the Aerovanes was the Grimde Lineage Gene was to the Grimdes. Now that he thought about it, maybe there was a way to Extricate such a Gene as well, but it hardly mattered since it was certainly at least Bronze and he didn''t have the space for it anyway.


    Plus... his Luck was telling him that it certainly wouldn''t be easy.


    If he had to guess, there was no way a family would allow others to benefit from their blood sweat and tears.


    Gene Crystals were incredibly valuable, especially on a non-Summoning World. Earth was in a special state of elerated growth, so they were rtively easier to find. And yet, after risking his life again and again, Ss only managed to gather three so far, two of which were lucky gains from what was effectively gambling.


    If these worlds could manipte and twist the Runes of Earth, and Genes were just a highlyplex form of Runes... then why wouldn''t they be able to put their Unique Genes under lock and key so that others couldn''t just kill their descendants to steal the talent in their bloodlines?


    These were all periphery thoughts to Ss, because hisplete focus was on the Winter''s Edge Gene Talent.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This experience made him realize just how rare Gene Talents were. This was the first time he had stumbled into a Gene Talent since his very first encounters in the Trial. He had already lost count of the number of beasts he had even killed by now.


    Of course, part of the problem was that he had been relying entirely on Extricate until now, so there might be Gene Talents that he could have had, that he missed out on because of this. But even if that was true, they still had a rarity he couldn''t ignore.


    And now, he was gaining one that was absolutely perfect for his current path. If he was correct, this Gene Talent might even fix the attack weakness of his Ice-Poison Path!


    There was a shudder that went through Ss'' body as he pressed the Genes into himself. Lleen couldn''t even understand what was happening. The Runes were tooplex, and every time she tried to look at them closely, she got a splitting headache.


    In the end, her vision blurred and it ended up looking like Ss was just using an odd devouring Skill to take motes of light from two bodies and press them into himself.


    "Give me your Aether Stones." Ss called out.


    Though it hurt, Lleen had no choice but to oblige.


    Ss had never seen Aether Stones before, but ording to the Transmutation Beast Skin, he could use them in ce of his own Aether to trigger it.


    He pulled out what Ice-Poison corpses he had remaining and plundered all of Lleen''s wealth to convert them all into pills. He had already stripped them all of Genes, so they weren''t the best, but something was still better than nothing.


    There was a great pressure on Ss'' body. He knew that it was because he didn''t originally have the Genes to trigger the Gene Talent in the first ce. Right now, he was trying to cheat, forcing out potential hidden deep within himself.


    Ss suddenly coughed, frozen shards of blood flying from his mouth as his gaze dimmed.


    He grit his teeth, realizing that he was in trouble. He had relied on the Transmuted Pill of the Arctic Emperor Bear to get to this point, but that energy had long been used up. The pills he had now weren''t enough.


    He couldn''t help but regret a bit. Not taking this risk, but rather not killing a few of the Arctic King Bears before he entered the Dungeon so he would have some contingency. However, he hadn''t done that because even though he had defeated their Emperor, there were simply too many of them. There was a reason that the Arctic King Bears hadn''t taken out what remained of the Arctic King Cobras after they lost their Emperor, but rather suppressed them instead. They would suffer too great of a loss trying to take over the whole Ice-Poisonke for


    themselves.


    ''Not enough. Press forward.''


    Ss'' Will zed in his eyes. Even after going through the stairs, he still seemed to have


    more to give.


    With wild abandon, he began Extricating Intelligence and Wisdom Genes from General Aleen


    and Sergan, pouring them into his body regardless of the waste.


    It was at that moment that the teams began to appear.


    Ss'' body shuddered and the four teams flickered and vanished.


    When his vision cleared, he was half keeled over, with Lleen to his back and a group of


    eight practically rabid wolves staring at him.


    There was nothing Vayu''s team wanted more than to tear him to pieces.

 Chapter 392: Backlash

    Chapter 392 Bacsh


    Ss'' gaze shed. He knew that it was a risk to do this, but with what he knew about theter rounds, he also realized that he didn''t have much of a choice in the matter. That, and¡­


    He was ready. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    At that moment, several swirling tornados of icy blue wind appeared high above them. They formed a connected formation of sorts. As they spun faster, they influenced the wind in the surroundings, causing it to shoot up, growing sharper and fiercer.


    During every team battle, thendscape would be decided by the stair challenge that preceded it. The first team battle had a point system rted to the spirit wolves, but this time thendscape would be pervaded by the fierce winds they had fought against on the staircase.


    It was clear that this time Vayu''s team had taken their time. On the one hand, this allowed Ss to reach the waiting zone first and also trigger the Genes he needed for his Gene Talent. But on the other¡­ because they had cleverly nned out their turns on the stairs, they were much fresher now.


    The moment they appeared, they seemed to have already decided how to act.


    Their support locked onto Lleen, ready to cast counter Skills against her the moment she triggered any Skills. This was obviously a rare area of effect countering Skill, one that Ss had simply never seen before but had learned about through questioning Lleen.


    Lleen was the superior support, but this young man, simply known as River, might have been inferior in support, but had an array of abilities that made him valuable to the team nheless. And this was one of them.


    "Go." Ss spoke coldly.


    Lleen did as she was told. She wanted to remind Ss that she would be countered, but there was no room to refuse Ss''mand nheless. Plus, she had to remind herself that she was just a ve, why should she try hard to kill her own people?


    As expected, as the group was swiftly closing the gap, River''s gaze shed as his counter Skill activated.


    Lleen stumbled back, her Aether reversing its flow as she almost coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    Vayu sneered. "Fire."


    There were no beasts to deal with this time. So long as they could withstand the harsh and sharp winds, they would survive.


    When their Will hit rock bottom, the system would teleport them out. But until then, they could kill as they pleased.


    Vayu was working as fast as possible because he didn''t want Ss'' Will to give out first. If that happened, how could he kill him?


    Icicles formed in the air in pairings.


    Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but sh. One of the icicles burst apart, forming a protective shield around the second that supported it against the strong wind.


    Then, they rushed forward.


    This was the first time Ss had seen someone capable of manipting the intent of Skills to suit the environment. Well¡­ other than himself.


    Lleen had been able to tell him about the Skills, but what she couldn''t do was give him every detail about how they might use it.


    Still, he reacted quickly. He tossed out the idea of using the strong winds to his advantage, at least in part. Then, he dug deep, circting his Aether into a familiar Domain.


    <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    The icicles in the sky rushed toward him from six different directions, piercing through his ever-expanding Domain with the viciousness of a reaper''s call to death.


    Ss activated <Arctic Howl Mutant> the instant they were about to pierce through him and they froze in the air.


    He stumbled forward, his body still not cooperating fully.


    Another rain of icicles formed in the skies, more numerous than before, and seemingly fiercer.


    "Again." Ssmanded.


    Lleen''s head was still spinning from the first counter, but she was forced to obey again.


    River frowned, but reacted again. It wasn''t the time to be kind-hearted.


    Lleen coughed up a mouthful of blood and she fell to a knee, her small body shaking.


    As the second rain of icicles fell, the group had finally crossed thest of the distance. Vayu''s gaze lit with a vicious light. He timed his stride perfectly. The second rain of icicles would pierce through Ss first, then he wouldunch his attack right after. Even if Ss had another defensive Skill prepared, it was impossible that he would be able to use it twice in such quick session.


    As expected, Ss opened his mouth and roared once again, activating <Arctic Howl Mutant> once again.


    The sneer on Vayu''s expression deepened.


    The second rain of icicles froze around Ss and Vayu burst through the line of defense right afterward.


    Right at that moment, Ss'' body gave off a pulsing light. All the vtile energy within him stabilized at once and he stood to his full height.


    "Again." Ssmanded calmly.


    Lleen, kneeling to a single leg, couldn''t help but shudder. Unfortunately, her body acted on its own once again.


    River''s eyes turned bloodshot, but he still prepared his counter Skill, activating it once again.


    The team''s formation bore down on Ss, Vayu taking the vanguard, River hanging the furthest back, and their remaining six members closing off his escape paths. In fact, two had shot right for Lleen with every intention of restraining her, confident that River would counter her again.


    They could all feel the effects of Ss'' Domain, but they felt that it was nothing more than a joke. This level of Ice-Poison¡­ They were entirely immune to it!


    Lleen''s eyes shed, activating a Skill once again despite the pain she was under. But to everyone''s shock, it wasn''t a support Skill, but rather Lleen''s only attack Skill.


    It was a much weaker version of the icicle Skill that had targeted Ss twice now, andpared to the dozen the caster could form, Lleen was only able to form two, one for each of her attackers.


    However, it was hopeless. River still acted first, his counter Skill drilling into Lleen''s body once again.


    His eyes were practically pulsing with a crimson bed of snakes. This time, Lleen might really die from the bacsh.

 Chapter 393 Your Fault

    Chapter 393 Your Fault


    Vayu swung down a swift sword right at Ss'' neck just as River''s counter Skill descended.


    However, it was then the situation changed.


    Ss didn''t seem to see Vayu''s sword at all, his gaze zing with a green light.


    River felt his mind shake.


    ¡ª


    [Stunning Spike (FF-) (Skill)] (Silver)


    [Young mind is sharper than others, so much so that you strip them of even their own ability to think and reflect clearly]


    [Cost is 7 Units of Aether in exchange for 1 second of confusion. For every 10% gap in Will, Cost will decrease by 1 Unit, with the lowest Cost being 0.1 Aether Units]


    ¡ª


    Ss'' timing was perfect. River''s counter Skill was only half-way done when <Stunning Spike> descended, drilling into his mind.


    Ss had already learned how to use his telekinesis to interrupt Skills in the past. But after observing River''s counter Skill twice, he couldn''t find the crucial Runes to target. That was when he realized that it was because it was a mental attack and he was looking in the wrong ce.


    At the moment <Stunning Spike> activated, he poured his tangible Will into it, boosting it tremendously. The instant itnded, streams of blood rushed from River''s nose.


    SHIIING!


    Vayu didn''t have time to realize what happened. His sword cut into Ss'' neck, with a twist of his wrist, he was ready to send his head flying into the air¡­


    Only for a pauldron to appear right at his wrist.


    Again, it appeared from nowhere, and once again, it was in a perfect blind spot.


    Blood spurted from Ss'' neck, but the vicious blow to Vayu''s wrist slowed his shing strike.


    Ss leaned backward, sending out a kick toward Vayu''s chest.


    At the same time, Lleen''s two icicles were sessfully formed, catching her two teammates off guard and piercing right through their heads.


    BANG!


    Ss stumbled backward at the same time Vayu did, but he was ready unlike his opponent. In a swift motion that seemed to all happen in one breath, the entire situation reversed.


    A thickyer of Aether stemmed the flow of blood from his neck, another pauldron and two shin guards appeared, and as though that wasn''t enough, the icicles that seemed frozen in the air suddenly reversed their direction.


    <Arctic Howl Mutant> was only able to freeze attacks for a brief instant. So why did the icicles stay in the air for so long?


    It was because in that brief pause, Ss had already stripped them from their caster''s control. The others thought that this was the effect of his defensive Skill, when in reality it was the actions of his telekinesis.


    However, not only did Ss take the icicles for himself, he poured most of the effects of his Domain into them, strengthening them from the Frostbane Rune of the Sylphs to his own Freeze Rune.


    The Skills became his own, gaining the boost from <Arctic King''s Domain> and zipping out even faster under the control of his telekinesis.


    They appeared before the four remaining members, ignoring Vayu and River.


    Too fast. Too sudden.


    They had all been encircling Ss, looking to bite out a piece of his flesh. They had even weaved around the icicles, trying to get closer to him.


    None of them could have ever expected to be pierced from the back.


    Some of them reacted fast, using defensive Skills, but it wasn''t enough. Those that managed to survive the instant death found the Ice-Poison rushing through their veins, and the element they thought they had such immunity to suddenly became the bane of their existence, freezing thempletely in ce. With his mind, Ssmanded Lleen again.


    A flood of energy fueled his body as his stats were boosted by 50% once again all while Lleen rushed toward the frozen River with only one obvious intention in mind.


    Blood flowed down Ss'' body but he appeared before Vayu who was standing in a bit of a daze. He couldn''t seem to understand how all of this had happened. In one moment, victory was in hand¡­ and in the next¡­


    "It''s all your fault¡­" Vayu''s eyes bulged with a sudden fury. "IT''S ALL YOUR FAULT!"


    He roared, swinging down his sword like a madman. But he realized quickly that his Ice-Poison wasn''t listening to him.


    CLANG!


    Pauldron and sword met, a fiery ze of green light enveloping their crimson hue. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They rebounded away beneath Vayu''s strength, but they recovered quickly,shing out again and again.


    Vayu was on his back foot, a vicious series of sharpbinationsing from Ss. Every time his fists moved, the pauldrons descended. Every time his feet whipped out, the shin guards would slice through the air with the edge of des.


    It looked as though he was shadow boxing with the air, and yet every attack was as real as it could get for Vayu.


    The frustration was quickly boiling over. The heaviness of the armor was quickly depleting the Durability of his sword and Ss was too far away to deal real damage to him.


    A roar of frustration came from Vayu and a mysterious energy surged out from him. This time, it wasn''t Ice-Poison, but rather seemed to be more pure ice than anything else.


    His body cracked apart and suddenly shattered into countless pieces. Then, it suddenly reformed before Ss and far out of the way of his pauldrons and shin guards.


    The frosty energy bore down, cutting toward Ss swiftly. It seemed that by taking a step back, Vayu had freed himself of the oppression of Ss'' Domain. It could work on Ice-Poison, but it was limited on other Paths.


    However, Ss'' expression was as cool as Vayu''s ice. He side-stepped the sword, unleashing a counter punch. He stepped forward again, drawing an elbow across Vayu''s chin and sending his head snapping to the side.


    His second elbow was about to unleash a vicious thrusting blow, but his visualization caught sight of a dagger appearing in Vayu''s second hand, aiming right for his liver.


    Ss'' elbow changed its path midair, turning from a piercing blow into another sh. His hips spun with it, dodging out of the way of the de.


    It wasn''t enough. The de drew across his skin. However, it didn''t pierce into his organs.


    An icy energy poured into him, eating into his body. Ss felt it immediately, a vicious glint lighting his eyes.


    He pinned Vayu''s arm to his hip with an arm, stopping him from using the dagger again. Pulling back with Vayu still firmly in his grip, he threw the Sylph off bnce before driving a knee right into his gut.


    All the air in Vayu''s body exited at once. His wrist had already been injured during that earlier pauldron strike. Greatly weakened, thebination attacks caused him to lose grip of his de entirely.


    Ss suddenly released his arm and Vayu stumbled back, only for Ss to unleash a violent round house kick right into his head.


    Vayu''s skull deformed beneath Ss'' shin, the sound of popping tendons and shattering bone creating a symphony of death.


    Vayu''s head whipped back so hard his neck snapped.


    Slowly, his eyes dimmed, thest light of despair slowly fading.


    He had beenpletely overwhelmed in a contest of skill.


    Doom.


    He fell to the ground in a heap, leaving only the sounds of the howling winds, Ss'' heaving breaths, and Lleen''s sobs over River''s corpse.

 Chapter 394: Leave

    Chapter 394: Leave


    ?


    Ss finally settled his breathing and calmly gathered all the corpses.


    The one thing that he hadn''t had a chance to go over were all the treasures on their bodies. He hadn''t even had the time to scan Sergan''s daggers, and he certainly wouldn''t have the time to go through all of this stuff.


    The shame of it was that he was certain that there might at least be some stuff that was useful to him here. But the time crunch was too great.


    Right now, he had secured the right to choose his opponent first during the next round. But if he was too slow, he wouldn''t have that right again.


    He had no idea where Vayu''s strength ranked amongst the other teams, but what he did know was that the first to make it through the spirit wolf trials when they all went all out wasn''t Vayu, but rather Aerwyna and her team.


    Without Rune Soul, the teams had to rely on their rawbat strength to make it through that first trial. So, if he extrapted that, Aerwyna Galesong''s team was likely his greatest danger.


    If he could avoid battling with her, that would be for the best. And in order to do that, he would need to capitalize on being first every step of the way. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have the right to continue choosing IV and skipping the team battle any longer.


    "Let''s go."


    Ss put everything away into his Madness Key and turned to leave. He didn''t have the time to care for Lleen''s emotions. Even if she was a close friend, he wouldn''t have the bandwidth to spare for her right now, let alone the fact she would certainly not be shedding these tears if he was the one to die.


    Lleen instinctively wanted to refuse, but who would have thought that Ss wouldn''t say this casually but rather directlymand her through the envement contract?


    The feeling of not being able to control her body like she wanted to make her want to keel over and vomit, but ultimately even that didn''t seem to be under her control.


    "Focus on healing yourself." Ssmanded again. Then, he stepped into the portal and appeared before a familiar set of four doors.


    Once again, he was alone. This was the only chance he had to extend the distance.


    After the stair challenge, he was forced to wait for all the groups to appear. But after the team battle, he could directly enter the next stair challenge. This was where he had to im his advantage in time.


    If he was fast enough, then maybe he would have time to look through his spoils of battle.


    ---


    The world swirled around Ss again and he found a tall set of stairs before him again. Thest stair challenge was rted to Will, so this one should bebat again.


    He already had his pauldrons summoned as he leapt up.


    Ssnded as Lleen was forced to follow after him.


    ''This will... be a bit troublesome.''


    A growl echoed in Ss'' ears. The first thing he saw was a pair of yellow eyes, then came the bristling white fur, then he saw the beast''s entire form.


    It was an ape with long arms and short legs. It had the bodyposition of an orangutan, but the usual face of a monkey. However, this wasn''t particrly the problem.


    Ss'' Rune Soul and Enchanted Schr were already activated, just in hopes of getting a chance to take advantage of the situation like he had before. Ironically, that was what allowed him to see it.


    It was hard to exin, but he felt like the creature was mimicking him. It had actually swapped out Frostbane for Ss current inferior Ice-Poison Rune, the 32 Foundation one he had gotten from the Arctic King Cobras.


    That much was fine considering it was weaker than what Ss was capable of. But then it sensed Lleen''s appearance and then a second ape appeared. This one began to emit fluctuations that were onlymon on her and that confirmed Ss'' spection.


    The question was... how far did this mimicking go? Did it copy Skills? If he used Rune Soul to summon his stronger Slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes, would they copy that as well?


    He had questioned Lleen about all of this much earlier, but the problem was that the finer details of the actual trials were mostly unknown. They had some experience to lean on from their predecessors, but there would always be small changes from year to year that couldn''t be perfectly relied upon.


    ''There has to be a mechanism through which they''re copying. So long as I find a way to counter that...''


    SHUU!


    The first ape suddenly shot forward and Ss'' pupils constricted.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Its Physical stats were way beyond what one would expect from a Sylph, even closing in on what Ss had seen from General Aleen, though not quite there. It seemed that they were matching their already oppressive Physical stats, with the overwhelming Mental capability of the Sylphs.


    Ss took a breath. This battle would be troublesome.


    ...


    There was an eerie sort of silence over the Sylph camp. The bonfire continued to rage on, and the elder Sylph stood in the very same ce, staring into the mes as though the smoke didn''t bother him in the slightest.


    The weight of solemnity was only increasing with every passing moment. A cool wind passed by, swishing through the trees. It only increased the feeling of sheer hollowness.


    At that moment, there was a sh and a figure appeared. At first, it was just one, but very quickly, there were three. They moved like blizzards, frosty air wrapping around them with the sharpness of des.


    "This isn''t a ce you can be." The elder Sylph said calmly. "Leave."


    The three figures didn''t reply. Instead, they suddenlyunched a fierce attack.


    The elder Sylph''s eyes sharpened and a blizzard-like aura erupted from him as well.


    The sound of battle echoed through the hollow forest.

 Chapter 395: Worthless

    Chapter 395: Worthless


    ?


    "What do you all... think you''re doing..."


    The elder Sylph gasped for breath, a palm pressed to his bleeding chest. He was even paler now than he had been in the past, and now his white robes had a patch of quickly spreading ckness.


    The three figures still didn''t reply.


    In response, the elder Sylph could onlyugh. "Trying to y with the bottom line of the system as a mere E-Grade Race... you all... overestimate yourselves... whatever game you''re ying at... you''ll just end up the pawn on someone else''s board..."


    There was only the barest hint of emotion on the faces of the three when this was said, but that didn''t stop them from dealing the death blow to the elder Sylph.


    Once he had breathed hisst, the three of them stood around the bonfire and looked toward one another for the first time. Until now, they hadmunicated seamlessly with hardly a word between them as they took the man down.


    But now, they seemed to be negotiating something with their eyes. Eventually, two of them looked toward thest and there was a hint of resignation in his gaze.


    With a clench of his jaw, he stuck his hand forward and into the bonfire.


    Screams suddenly filled the forest. Cursed vein patterns ran how his arm and quickly made it to his heart. In that instant, the screams stopped... but the curse didn''t.


    It continued to rampage through his body until it had grown so thick that it looks as though the man''s skin had be green.


    His body was entirely stiff, not twitching even a single muscle as the curse finally invaded the dullness of his eyes and his brain.


    CRACK.


    Fissures began to appear across the man''s body and suddenly he cracked apart. What remained of his body floated off into the harsh winds, scattering across the forest to be forgotten.


    The two remaining men continued to look down at the bonfire as though theirpanion hadn''t just died. Their focus was trained ahead, not wanting to miss a single moment of what would happen next.


    But then...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The both of them shuddered.


    They looked up into the skies at once to see a fissure, if it could even be described that way. It was too perfect, as though the building blocks of reality had been carefully peeled apart inyers of perfectly straight lines that could be seamlessly put back together as though nothing at all had happened at all.


    The eyes of the two men widened in fear. How could this happen? This was certainly not supposed to happen.


    The perfect fissure opened in the tear duct shape of an eye, and soon there was a swirl of energy right at the center that formed an iris.


    The realization hit them toote. But even if they realized seconds earlier, it wouldn''t have changed a single thing.


    The beam of light descended and silence fell into the forest once more.


    mes flickered in the bonfire, dancing without someone to manage it. A single corpsey staring off into space, its eyes dull and lifeless. All the while, the situation on Ss'' side had changed.


    ...


    Ss had been just about to sh with the apes when he felt a shudder. His body swayed and The coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    All of a sudden, the pressure in thisbat level increased several times and icicles began to form across his skin.


    Ss reacted fast, using his Rune Soul to try and disperse them as quickly as possible, but while the Runes themselves were far weaker than his control, the Aether backing them was too powerful. It felt like he was facing off a behemoth whose Aether was hundreds of times more pure than his own.


    No matter how strong his Rune Soul, his Wisdom and overall Mental was too weak to support it at this level.


    Still, he grinded his teeth, pushing himself hard. He activated his Winter''s Edge Gene Talent for the first time, still not familiar with all that it could do, but knowing he had to rely on it for the extra bit of ambient Aether control he needed to keep himself alive.


    Unfortunately, Lleen wasn''t nearly so lucky. She fought back valiantly, but after the second second, she was already encased in ice. After the third, all life had beenpletely snuffed out from her. Even if she was defrosted, there would be nothing but a corpse remaining.


    The strength of the apes multiplied several times over in an instant.


    Ss quickly used <King''s Bind> on one, and thest charge, <King''s Shield> on the other. Luckily, <King''s Bind> worked.


    Unluckily, the remaining white ape smashed through <King''s Shield> as though it was a worthless, thin sheet of ice.


    Itshed out, pping at him.


    Ss could only gather all the Aether he could, crossing his arms over his chest and activated <Arctic Howl> at the same time.


    BOOM!


    His arms became a mangled mess and his body flew out faster than he had ever run in his life.


    The Basilisk King''s fusion canceled mid-flight, his injuries too heavy for it to seed.


    He crashed down heavily, blood spurting out of his mouth.


    What happened?


    These were the only words he could think of before the white ape continued barreling toward him. It also didn''t look like the second white ape would be stalled for much longer at all. It


    felt like death was the only way out.


    That was when Ss saw the notification.


    Normally, he wouldpletely tune it out in battle. He knew how distracting it would be. But right now, when he was grasping at any straw to find a path to survival, it was impossible for


    him to ignore it.


    However, what he saw when he opened it made his eyes widen.


    [The System is watching you, System Breaker]


    [Quest Received]


    [War of Worlds (Legendary)]


    [Your Dungeon has been tampered with by outside interferences and your life no longer seems to be in your hands. Follow the Path of the Progenitor and control your own Destiny]


    Ss was shaken.


    This waspletely worthless to him.

 Chapter 396: Useless Hint

    Chapter 396: Useless Hint


    ?


    The problem set in for Ss instantly.


    This notification wasn''t helpful at all. If anything, it was just further confirming just how screwed he was.


    This was the first time he had ever seen a Quest so highly rated. The closest he hade was a Silver Quest, but even that wasn''t necessarily representative of much at all.


    Ss had alreadye to realize that Quest difficulty was set on a scale of rtivity. A Silver Quest now might only be a Common or even Fragmented Quest in the future.


    It wasn''t just a rtivity decided by power, but also by scope as well.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    For example, a Profession Quest to refine a specific Elixir might be Silver, but it was iparable to abat Quest of the same level in terms of difficulty or danger. There were countless factors that might decide the Grade of a Quest.


    However... a Legendary Quest, this might be a firm, unmovable standard. Although Ss couldn''t be sure, he felt his heart leap out of his chest.


    His Luck was practically roaring at him to run the other direction, but... did he even have a choice in this matter? There was no eject button.


    The apes were swift, too swift. Even with Ss'' current thinking speed, he hardly had time to finish these thoughts before the one he had failed to bind had already closed the distance by more than half. Had it not sent him flying so far, it would already be barreling down on him.


    That was when Ss felt another notification trigger.


    [System Reward Activated]


    [Quest Hint Detected]


    Ss felt that he couldn''t read and react fast enough. He had gathered more System Rewards since the system first started watching him, but they hadid dormant without any movement. He assumed that they would have to trigger like they had the first time. For example, his first System Reward allowed him to awaken three Legendary Path Professions instead of just one. Now, a second System Reward had triggered, giving him a Quest Hint.


    [Quest Hint Used]


    [The ndestine Ape is a special race of beasts cloaked in mystery. They are born with the bodies of warriors and increase in strength without much effort. For some unknown reason, their Aether Pathways are barren, and their intelligence is low, making it difficult for most of them to achieve anything.


    [However, generations ago, a genius left his mark in history. They know him as the ndestine Schr, a man of unknown origins, but well-known merit.


    [Since that day-]


    Ss cursed in a rare instant, forcing himself up through abination of flexing his legs, torso, and telekinesis all at once. He couldn''t push himself up with his broken arms and could only dive to the side.


    He didn''t even have the time to read this hint. On top of that, soon, the second ape was going to break free of <King''s Bind> and his situation would be several times worse in an instant.


    He grit his teeth, circting his Aether and exploding forth with <Arctic King''s Domain>. With a roar, he activated <Arctic Howl Mutant>, forcing it to expand wider and wider under the control of his Rune Soul Realm. He poured everything he had into it, no longer having the mind to care about his stamina.


    The ape had already leapt past Ss and its forward momentum was still in theplete other direction. The introduction about this race''s stupidity was clearly to Ss'' advantage. It hadn''t even considered that Ss might dodge.


    The creature was hit with a wave of pulsing light and it froze in ce for a brief instant as Ss continued to dash forward, splitting his mind in two, one to continue reading the seemingly useless hint, and the second to try and kill the second ape before it broke free of <King''s Bind>.


    [Since that day, the ndestine Ape became known for something else, bing the experimental subject that all powers pined after. They had strong, robust bodies, and were likewise the perfect nk te, allowing countless paths to be etched onto them without resistance.]


    ''I''m not going to make it. I''m too slow.''


    The thought sunk into Ss'' gut. There was no way for him to make it back to the second ape before it broke free of <King''s Bind>. If he kept running, he would just be throwing himself to his death. To make matters worse, the second ape was still over 30 meters from him, so he couldn''t even rely on his telekinesis.


    The Stabilizing Bracelet had already used up its three charges, and though he could summon the Basilisk King to load more skills into it, it still took the Basilisk King too long to cast these Skills as its Mastery was too low. Ss couldn''t guarantee that he could protect himself, if he lost the Basilisk King, his chances of survival would plummet to zero.


    He looked down at his mangled arms and the pain of trying to run at full speed while they swung made a dense sweat pour down his brow.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t even have the luxury.


    The instant he changed directions, running toward a distance furthest from the two apes, the second ape broke free. Unleashing a howl, it lumbered after Ss, using its long arms as levers as it bounded forward.


    [The ndestine Ape is the perfect experimental subject. It can be used to test Skills, Paths, Genes, and even Comprehensions. Of course, this will be limited by the Grade of the ndestine Ape, but powers often breed their own powerful lines of ndestine Apes to experiment with Unique Gene mutations they might want to implement into their bloodlines


    in the future]


    ''That''s all?''


    That was it. There was nothing left in the Quest Hint.


    At that moment, there was a sudden rush of Aether. From his right, the second ape was casting several icicles into existence. From his left, the first ape had cast <Arctic King''s


    Domain>.


    The Domain shed with his own and the icicles swiftly appeared to his side.

 Chapter 397: Death

    Chapter 397: Death


    ?


    Ss'' eyes became ice cold.


    Death.


    It was a scent that he was bing more and more familiar with. The first time he had met it in this world, well and truly, his mind almost copsed. It was the most pathetic moment of his life, and it was a brand that was still fiercely stamped into his heart. Just thinking of that moment filled him with untold rage.


    He knew why he had felt that fear back then. He hadn''t awakened to himself, he still thought of himself as a normal Earthling, as a man who would be willing to go back to normal life if this Summoning nonsense was to end right this moment.


    But now he knew that that wasn''t him. If he had a button right before him now to reset everything to how it had once been, he knew that not only would he not press it, he would likely destroy it.


    Adrenaline filled his limbs and his brain churned.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He didn''t believe that it was possible for the system to give him a useless hint, least of all a useless System Reward.


    Pressure descended on Ss from all directions. It wasn''t just the attacks, or the Domain, it was the world itself that was still continuously trying to kill him. The frigid cold was slowly turning his mangled mess of a hand blue, and his toes weren''t escaping this fate either. Ice- Poison seeped into his bones, but Ss'' gaze was bing brighter and brighter.


    Suddenly, Ss ducked and rolled, holding his arms tightly to his body to avoid their damage bing any worse.


    He used <Arctic Howl Mutant> again the instant he stood to his feet. At the same time, his Domain became more aggressive, eating away at the <Arctic King''s Domain> of the first ape.


    The icicles froze in the air. Because Lleen was the temte the ape had used, they were far weaker than the ones her partner had used.


    Madness red and Ss shattered the icicles apart with his Rune Soul, disrupting the Runes inside the skill. He was copying exactly what Lleen''s partner had done, but this time, instead of using it to protect a second icicle against the wind, he was using it to obscure the second ape''s vision.


    At that moment, a targeted <Stunning Spike> pierced right through the first ape''s head and Madness spilled over.


    Ice and ice shards flew through the air, casting a pale fog over the region. It wasn''t nearly dense enough to obstruct vision, but all Ss needed was a small distraction.


    The eyes of the ndestine Apes went red as they howled into the air. They had no resistance to Madness at all, immediately losing their minds.


    Ss dashed out of the fog of ice, blood flowing down his body.


    BOOM!


    At that moment, the two apes shed with one another. And yet, rather than sitting around and hoping one of them died, Ss'' foot actually pivoted into the ground.


    The instant the two apes were locked onto one another, Ss dashed back into the pale fog, rounding to the back of one and leaping up.


    There was a slight of Madness in Ss'' eyes, one tempered by an eerie calm. His green irises practically leftsers of light in their wake, a dense flickering me hidden within them.


    Ss flicked one of his arms out and his forearm snapped back into ce with a sickening crush. Blood gushed and a bruise began to pool around the wound. By this point, his arm was already three times the size it should have been. Yet, rather than making him look stronger, it made him look like a mangled mess.


    Right then, Ss did something entirely unexpected andnded on the rampaging ape''s back. The apes were barely much taller than him at 2.5 meters, so there wasn''t much room at all. Yet, Ss didn''t hesitate in the slightest, his injured arm pressing right into its ice-cold fur. BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss was rocked, almost falling off the beast''s back. He could only react quickly, wrapping his legs around its waist tightly. But there was a searing pain that came right after just as quickly.


    The hard blows of the second apended on one of his ankles, breaking it.


    Ss'' eyes bulged and his bloodshot gaze practically pooled over with the crimson liquid. But in a feat of earth-shattering Will, he tightened his hold around the ape''s waist and pressed down on its back.


    "EXTRICATE!"


    Ss'' roar was practically like that of a wild beast''s.


    Extricate didn''t work on living beings, it wasn''t meant to in the first ce. Not only did it require time, the main problem was that in a living being, the variables were too numerous. There were countless minor changes that happened in one''s body during life, making it impossible to lock down Genes while a person was living and breathing. That was part of what made mastering Rune Flesh so magical, at least for yourself, it was like circumventing this rule.


    However, Ss seemed to have disregarded this rule entirely, using it on someone, or rather, some beast other than himself.


    And it actually worked.


    A blinding light came out of the ape''s body, its rampaging roars not ceasing for even a moment as it sped palms with the second ape.


    As Ss fell backward, the Domain of ice actually vanished around him. It was then that he was certain.


    The first ape had lost its ability to copy his Ice-Poison.


    A savage light shed in Ss'' eyes as he rolled to the side and out of the way of a stomping foot of the ape.


    <Chilling Scythe Mutant>.


    His swelling arm drew a line across the air and a curved de of icy blue shot upward and right into the roaring mouth of the second ape.


    BANG!


    The second ape had used Lleen as a temte. It simply had no ability to resist Ss'' Ice-


    Poison.


    Suddenly blood began to fly through the skies as the two beasts began to tear each other


    apart.


    Ss'' eyes glowed, drawing another de through the air.

 Chapter 398: Warm Blood [Bonus]

    Chapter 398: Warm Blood [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' <Chilling Scythe Mutant> rushed forward, cutting through the air. And yet, it wasn''t aimed at one of the apes at all. Instead, it suddenly curled, exploding on the ground beneath them and kicking up even more fog.


    The Ice-Poison erupted along the ground and the number of Ice-Poison Runes in the atmosphere multiplied several times over. Ss poured it all into his <Arctic King''s Domain>, pumping both apes with a continuous series of Damage.


    They both were so locked inbat and so foolish they didn''t understand that the Damage wasing from an external source.


    They fought valiantly, but the first ape was likewise the first to fall, veins of blue poison pulsing in its eyes as it copsed.


    The second ape''s eyes snapped toward Ss.


    By this point, Ss was standing just 20 meters away, a matter of a second or two to this beast.


    It took a step toward Ss, lunging at him.


    A shadow cast over Ss'' body as he looked up and into the maw of the beast, its sharp canines protruding to take a bite out of his face.


    Ss took a single step back.


    BANG!


    The second ape copsed to the ground, a swirl of ice kicking up around it and buffeting against Ss'' face. However, Ss didn''t so much as blink, his breathing being left as the only noise other than the howling wind.


    He looked toward the second stair. It rose high into the skies and must have been at least ten meters in height.


    That was right... this was just the first staircase... there were still eight more to go.


    Ss looked toward the Gene he had Extricated. It had already begun to dissipate in the air as he hadn''t been able to pay any attention to it, and taking it into his body would have certainly put him in a daze he couldn''t afford.


    However, now that he could focus on it somewhat, the dissipation process stopped.


    In the end, his Taboo Bond Talent had saved his life.


    He racked his brains trying to understand what the hint might have meant, but in the end, he concluded only one thing: the system was just trying to inform him about the apes he was facing off against and it was up to him to find their weakness.


    Some of those weaknesses were obvious. They were dumb creatures, for one. That meant that his Madness was super effective on them, but that wasn''t nearly enough.


    Even if he used his Madness to make them fight it out against one another, one of them would definitely survive.


    Sure, a one-on-one battle against an injured opponent would be easier. But... he was alone and likely to be even more heavily injured. Plus, he would then be up against an opponent that could copy his skills and gain immunity against them.


    The odds of victory even in that case were nil.


    Then there was the problem of theter stairs. Without Lleen, he would be alone, so that would presumably mean that there''d be just one ape to face off against in theter rounds. At that point...


    Who would he be making it fight against? If anything, his Madness would only make things more difficult for him, not easier.


    That was when something stuck with him... the malleability of the apes. They changed their Genes and affinities practically mid-battle as though they were all-consuming sponges.


    So was the reverse also true? If they could ept things so easily, was it likewise possible to take things away from them?


    In the end, his gamble had worked. He used Extricate on the core Gene they were using to copy his abilities and ripped it out of their bodies.


    ording to their description, this shouldn''t be an ability they had naturally, or else it wouldn''t have taken the ndestine Schr to observe this. There would have already been a bunch of ndestine Apes running around, copying everyone''s abilities.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Instead, they should just have a very unique bodyposition that allowed this to be


    possible. This Gene should have been added to them after the fact.


    Looking at it, although it was impossible for Ss to analyze fully, it made his heart tremble somewhat.


    This could hardly be called a Gene, it was more like a cancerous tumor. In fact, if he was correct, having this Gene in them probably severely cut down the lifespan of these creatures. Ss was more right than he knew. If a ndestine Ape was used properly, it probably wouldn''t live more than three years at the very most. Some had especially pitiful lives, only living a handful of months before they were run into the ground.


    This Gene took advantage of their unique characteristics, but there was a reason it only worked on them and no one else.


    Ss'' breaths continued to heave. ''There''s no other choice. If I don''t take a break here, I will lose my life.''


    He decisively gave up on trying to get first the rest of the way, looking down at his body. He wasn''t even sure if it was possible to heal all of this.


    ording to the rules, he would only have 50% more than the time of the secondst to arrive at the end of the stair challenge. Otherwise, he would be disqualified. He had no way of knowing how the others were doing, but he doubted they had faced the same struggles as he had.


    Whoever targeted him would be willing to sacrifice Lleen because she was already his ve, but would they sacrifice all the other Sylphs as well? Ss doubted that...


    Shivering, Ss walked forward and cut open the bellies of the two apes. Struggling, he barely managed to prop them up with abination of his feet and his telekinesis to form a barrier around him.


    Unfortunately, the cold hadn''t disappeared... and his challenges were only just starting.


    Even so, there was an equally cold light in the depths of his indifferent eyes as the warm blood of the apes coated him.

 Chapter 399: Elemental Healing [Bonus]

    Chapter 399: Elemental Healing [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss focused one of his minds on circting Aether to his arms, trying to heal them as quickly as possible.


    With another, he began to go through the spatial devices that he had gathered. He ignored most of the treasures, sifting through the Elixirs instead.


    Unfortunately, he was disappointed.


    It wasn''t that the Sylphs didn''t have Elixirs. It was rather that, well...


    [Frostbane Elemental Healing Elixir (FF-) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar pulled from Heavenly Dew. Drink this and heal yourself. For every 20 points of Intelligence, boost healing capacity by +100%. Effectsst a single day]


    This was clearly a Healing Elixir designed for Races like the Sylphs. They had poor Physicals, but their Path of the Mancer was strong. They were practically elemental creatures.


    The problem was that while this Frostbane Elemental Healing Elixir would be a tonic to them, to Ss, it was little more than poison.


    Ss had Ice-Poison affinity as well, but his was far weaker than the Frostbane Rune. While he could control stronger Ice-Poison Runes with his Rune Soul, his body wasn''t strong enough to keep up. Namely, his Ice-Poison affinity was still too low.


    Ultimately, he only had a Fragmented ss and had a long way to go.


    As Ss continued to search, he could only continuously circte his Aether to his arms and ankle, hoping for a better result.


    However, whether it was the Healing Elixirs, the Aether Replenishment Elixirs, or even some rare explosive strength increase Elixirs, they were all reliant on Frostbane.


    Ss grit his teeth. There was only one way, then.


    He shrugged the first ape off of him and gathered the one solid gain from their spatial devices: Aether Stones.


    They were abundant, and Ss was actually pretty sure that there were two E-Grade Aether Stones in Vayu''s ring. He didn''t know what this meant, or what kind of value it had, but he was sure it was quite a lot.


    Well, in killing them, he also inherited all of their F-Coins and his totals right now could only be said to be truly astronomical.


    [Coins: 1,387,372 (F)]


    Wealthy was an understatement for these people. Even with his cement on the


    leaderboards, it would take Ss half a year to umte this amount of wealth. Well... if he ignored the increases that wereing.


    Ss arranged the Transmutation Beast Skin and used an Aether Stone to trigger it.


    ''Hm? Failed? No... Out of energy.''


    Ss only needed one Aether Stone to activate the Beast Skin. Last time, he had taken one from Lleen, but it hadn''t ended up needing the entire thing, so he had used it again this time only for the process to stop halfway.


    Pulling out another stone, Ss triggered it again.


    This time, the Beast Skin finished its job and Ss popped the pill into his mouth.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The result waspletely out of his expectation.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    His blood began to boil, arge amount of nutrition rushing through him.


    The swelling on his arm began to go down at a visible speed, and his ankle snapped back into ce all on its own. At the same time, the umted fatigue, and wear and tear on his body began to fly away from him like steam on an engine.


    Ss'' eyes brightened. He had still underestimated just how strong the bodies of the ndestine Apes were. The abundance of energy in their bodies was so great that it was only natural they be able to heal him like this.


    He had thought that there would be a problem because theycked Aether, but that only weakened his Aether and Mental recovery.


    Although he was trading off a chance to replenish his mind and Aether, the healing to his body made it more than easy enough for him to ignore this.


    The trouble was that he needed his mind to fend off this cold. If his concentration ran out, he would end up just like Lleen.


    The simple solution seemed to be to absorb the second ape, the one he hadn''t taken a Gene out of and would still have ess to its Aether and Mental stats.


    However, there was no way Ss would do that, not if it meant putting that mutated, cancerous Gene into his body. He didn''t want to find out what would happen if he took such a path. He might end up killing himself for all he knew.


    It seemed that he was just going to have to rely on <Maddened Enlightenment> and hope that it could carry him to the finish line.


    Ss took a deep breath, feeling his body crackle and pop. He looked toward the second stair again, his eyes zing.


    Standing to his feet, blood that was both his own and that of the apes fell from him in waves. He used Extricate on the second ape, pulling out its mutated Gene before using the Transmutation Beast Skin on it.


    This was going to be his path to survival.


    ...


    Aerwyna and her team appeared. Beads of sweat fell down their faces, and some sported some injuries, but she hadn''t lost a single member. Byparison...


    Several minutester, Brisa''s team appeared. They were down to just seven members, and their giantess of a team leader couldn''t help but look at Aerwyna with a scalding gaze.


    After failing to catch up to Vayu the first time, the cooperation between these two had obviously fallen apart... and it was likewise obvious which of the two had taken the upper hand.


    Looking around, Brisa also realized that Aerwyna had gotten here first. That meant that she would get to choose which door to enter after the team battle first, leaving the rest of them on


    tenterhooks.


    But at this point... Brisa just wanted her to pick anyone but her.


    The minutes continued to tick by and the two were surprised by the time they had. Realizing that this was a rare opportunity and that they wouldn''t be jumping into battle instantly, they immediatelymanded their team to start focusing on healing themselves.


    By the time Ss finally appeared, most had recovered to more than 80%. As for Ss...


    Beaten and haggard, covered in blood from head to toe, he trudged forward. The only points of light on his entire body were his glowing pair of green irises.

 Chapter 400: Icy Cave

    Chapter 400: Icy Cave


    ?


    The two women and their teams only got the chance to catch a glimpse of Ss before their expressions changedpletely. This wasn''t because of Ss'' appearance himself, but rather the fact that they could already feel the teleportation kick in.


    This only meant one thing...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Vayu''s team was dead.


    And the most likely culprit was Ss himself.


    Although there was a chance that Vayu and his people had died during the stair challenge... looking at Ss right now, none of them would dare to guarantee such a thing.


    ...


    Ss vanished and when he reappeared, he was in and of ice and snow. However, there was no opponent across from him.


    The system detected this as well and Ss was transported once again. His victory had been imed and he earned a full 1000 points.


    When Ss'' vision cleared once more, he was standing before four doors. Unfortunately, he didn''t get the chance to choose this time.


    He wasst to appear, so between himself and the other two teams, Aerwyna would get to choose first, then Brisa, and only then would it be himself.


    If he was lucky, in the time Aerwyna and Brisa spent fighting against one another in the team battle, he would get to recover. However, if he was unlucky...


    A mere single minuteter, Aerwyna and Brisa''s teams appeared, their conflict having already been settled.


    Ss didn''t react to this. He already expected as much.


    If the two teams were equal, he could have hoped for a long, drawn-out battle. But, Aerwyna had clearly already asserted her dominance, so that made it easy for Brisa to give concessions.


    The two were now vying for first and second ce, and from their perspective, they couldn''t allow Ss to have any time to rest.


    He was clearly a danger if he could crush Vayu''s team, so they had to treat him as such. Looking down on him would only get them killed. The worse his condition, the better it would be for them.


    Seeing Ss still covered in blood and wheezing for breath, they knew they had made the right decision... especially when they felt the sharpness of his gaze. It felt to them that they were like a twin pair of green des continuously piercing into their skin.


    The two teams didn''t say a word, and as expected, Aerwyna moved forward to pick her door first.


    What was a slight surprise was that she didn''t pick IV like one would have expected. It was the obvious choice, the door that had no opponent and would thus grant an easy win and a full te of points in the uing team battle.


    Instead... she chose III. Ss'' door.


    Once his door was chosen, Ss obviously didn''t get a choice himself and he was immediately transported out. But, not before he gave Aerwyna a nce.


    He could see through her thoughts. The more she dragged it out, the greater chance Ss would have of reversing the situation. So... why not crush him as quickly as she could?


    It was no wonder she got Brisa to agree so readily. She had essentially handed Brisa a free chance to catch up in points despite having far fewer people.


    And, should things go optimally, Aerwyna would end up losing at least a few people at Ss'' hand as well.


    Aerwyna only had one goal... first ce.


    And Ss was standing in the way of that.


    ...


    Ss appeared in and of ice. There was a crystal clear sheen as far as the eye could see, and for the first time, there were no stairs. Instead... there was a cave entrance at the foot of a mountain.


    The second Will challenge.


    The first thing Ss noticed, though, wasn''t all of this at all. It was the biting, frigid cold that seeped into his very bones.


    As expected, he wasn''t so lucky. His entire dungeon had been tampered with, and judging by the fact the other two teams had escaped unscathed, clearly theirs was not.


    If he wanted to make it to the end, he would have to deal with this suped-up Dungeon all the way through.


    His jaw set and his gaze became colder.


    Ss couldn''t remember thest time he was angry. Or maybe it was that those memories had been mostly ignored or repressed by him. Even when people did wrong by him, he didn''t react much, because he knew that in the end, he woulde out on top.


    Olivia was one example of this. The Grimdes were another, though a far more serious example¡ªeven when they indirectly threatened his family, his reaction was almost... indifferent.


    It was a stoicism he prided himself on. He didn''t believe that a disciplined person should mouth off or lose their temper at the drop of a hat, something that probably made his affection for Cassarae all the more amusing or ironic. In a lot of ways, she was everything that he was not.


    Or maybe... she represented a part of him that he didn''t allow free.


    Staring at this mountain, and feeling his limbs and sinew being eaten into by this flesh- rending cold, there was a small me of anger hiding in the depths of his heart, and it was


    slowly growing.


    Ss didn''t put his anger into words because he knew if he thought about it his control just might spiral. At that point, he really wasn''t sure what he would do.


    Instead, he put one foot forward after the next, feeling his mind wearing down as he battled against the cold with his Rune Soul, flicking away the dense Runes of Ice-Poison in a vain


    attempt to keep himself warm.


    Then, he entered the cave.


    It was well lit and just as crystalline as everything else. Ahead were the stairs he thought would be missing this time around, but he simply couldn''t see to the end of them.


    There was just a long tunnel up to the top of the mountain... and he would have to walk it alone.

 Chapter 401: Just You and Me

    Chapter 401: Just You and Me


    ?


    Ss felt that it was hard to see anything other than the step before him. They were very manageable, only six inches tall, so short that even a toddler could walk up them without handrails to rely on.


    But they still consumed his vision. He couldn''t even see the step beyond, just the one right in front of him. That and the foot he slowly raised to press onto it.


    One foot after another, one focused bit of attention swapped for another focused bit of attention.


    If not for the winds cutting across his flesh, he would havepletely lost himself, his beaten and battered body bing nothing more than an afterthought.


    He remembered this sort of feeling, this experience. Whenever he went on a long run or had a particrly grueling boxing session, he would forget about everything.


    If there had been a stamina stat in the system, he was sure that his own would be quite high. Ironically, Constitution, which was likely where most of stamina was baked in, had been his weakest stat starting out at just 5 out of a potential 10.


    Ss had always wondered about that, but he felt he had a pretty good answer.


    He had a pretty tall frame, standing at 6''4", but he had always preferred endurance sports. There wasn''t much muscle on his frame at all, at least not muscle that wasn''t lean and highly functional. It was no wonder, then, that the defense aspects of his Constitution stat had caused the entire thing to take a hit.


    Ss pressed down another foot, his lips chapped and bluer than natural. They might have even started to bleed if not for the fact his blood was running just as cold as the surroundings.


    This was, at least, his first exnation for all of this. But the more he learned about Constitution, the more he felt that his stamina should have overridden the weakness of his body more. At the very least, he should have been given a 6 or 7.


    And that was when it hit him.


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F)]


    He had been observing the ndestine Ape''s mutated Genes for a while. After eight staircases more worth of battles, he had seen them in all shapes and forms, barelying out with his life just for a glimpse.


    That experience made him realize just the kind of twisted fate absorbing the wrong Gene could give you... but what about if you were born with such a Gene?


    Ss pressed a hand to his chest as he coughed up a mouthful of what should have been blood... but instead, it came out as shards of almost violet crystal.


    His Grimde Lineage Fragmented Gene, first of all, was a downgrade. If he had to guess, the main line of the Grimde family probably had it in Bronze. That meant that his wasn''t just one step down, but an entire two.


    On top of that, the de Aura Gene Talent he got from it was so mutated and warped that it didn''t even have a Grade. Instead, it got a dash through it instead.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder... was his Grimde Lineage Gene nothing more than a hindrance to him?


    The moment he had the thought, he wanted to use Extricate on himself to take it out. Unlike others that would be helpless, he wouldn''t be. But...


    He couldn''t do it.


    He had always wondered why his name was automatically registered as Grimde by the system, why he already had an Affiliation without even making a choice.


    Wasn''t the answer obvious now?


    If he took it out now, what would happen to all of that? Would the Grimdes take it as a sign of his defecting? And at that point, what would it mean for his family?


    A great deal of frustration was creeping into his mind.


    Boxed in from all sides, and feeling as though there was an endless path before him, it was hard for any human to not feel like they had touched the very ends of their limits.


    Even if he made it past this trial, he would be faced with another, a full squad of 10 with every intention to take him out, and a healthy dose of caution because they knew exactly how dangerous he could be.


    Ss took another step forward, then another. Somewhere deep inside, he began to wonder why he should keep walking at all. Yet, he took a third, then a fourth.


    His feet never stopped.


    He tried using Winter''s Edge again, but soon the ache in his body made his wheezing breath heavier.


    Winter''s Edge was too powerful, and he was still too unfamiliar with it. When he used it, his body could easily be pushed past the brink of fatigue. By then, he wouldn''t even be able to raise his feet to take another step... and another... and yet another...


    An endless cycle, but he kept going. His head was lowered, focused only on the next step, not how far he had gone, or how far he had to go.


    Just one foot after another.


    ''It''s just me and you...'' Ss thought, speaking to himself. ''... You said it was bullshit that the system could put a number on Will... so prove it... Ss Brown...''


    Another foot, then another.


    Ss felt his consciousness fading.


    He was lying to himself, and he knew it.


    This was no longer a challenge of Will. It had surpassed that long ago. If it was just a matter of Will, he had it in spades. The problem was that his mind was too fatigued.


    The ndestine Ape pills couldn''t replenish his mental fatigue. Had he not been circting <Maddened Enlightenment> all this time, he would have already copsed.


    Another foot. A second. Then a third.


    ''Just you and me...'' Ss thought to himself. ''... Just me...''


    The more his mind faded, the harder it became for him to control the smoldering mes of


    fury in his heart.


    ''Just me...''


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    The echoes of steps reverberated through the tunnel of ice, a sense of ustrophobia shrinking in from all sides.


    ''Just me...''


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has deepened]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Gold Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has been temporarily raised by Madness


    Comprehension]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has temporarily reached Legendary Mastery]


    SHOOOOM!N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 402: Tangible [Bonus]

    Chapter 402: Tangible [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss hardly seemed to notice the change. He didn''t even have the mind to pay attention to the notification. His feet just continued to press down one after another, and he had fooled himself into such a trance that he thought he was still pressing himself forward with nothing more than his Will.


    However, this change caused something magical to ur nheless.


    Aether rushed toward Ss and the pressure on his mind decreased significantly. The swirling winds around him were rebuffed faster and faster, and his Will-infused telekinesis seemed to begin to move on its own.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    One foot after another.


    Ss began to subconsciously move forward, but his pace didn''t increase to a surging one. Instead, he went from more of a lumbering gait to a steady upward trajectory, walking like any well-trained person would up the stairs.


    Another foot, then another, then a third.


    Again and again, he cycled through his mind.


    WHOO! WHOO!


    The wind whipped around him, but soon, something odd began to happen. It was rebuffed before it could hit his skin. Or, rather, it looked as though it had been parried, wrapping around the barrier of his body instead of slicing into it like it normally would.


    The icy winds howled, but like des against armor, they nced off again and again, the burning light in Ss'' eyes growing deeper, stronger.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    It was a steady rhythm that only became more solid as time continued onward. The winds were growing harsher, but Ss'' Will seemed to be growing stronger at an even faster pace.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    Ss could finally feel a scorching pain in his throat. Before, too much of his body had grown numb due to the cold, and he was bordering on feeling a needle-like pain in his body instead. If that happened, he would probably end up losing a few limbs to the icy wind.


    But his body was slowly beginning to heat up again, therge amounts of Aether beginning to follow the cadence of Ss''prehension, slowlybating the damage to his body.


    Ironically, this made the pain worse. Or more urately, he could feel his fatigue more clearly.


    No longer on the brink of a hazy death, his body began to send him signals to stop. His heart was beating out of his chest and every breath felt like swallowing smoke.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    He had been relying on Winter''s Edge too much, pushing his body to its very limits time and time again. The number of Transmuted Pills had already almost been entirely used up, and that scalding pain in his lungs was only bing worse.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    But he pressed on. A foot... another foot... a third foot...


    His face was expressionless, his body moving like it was pre-programmed, and the only part of him that seemed even the slightest bit human at this moment were his eyes.


    Deep and unfathomable, flickering with the waning light of his life, he protected it with what Will he had. He cared for it, nurturing it, allowing some hints of that hidden fury in his chest to pool toward it.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    He wanted nothing more than to control his own destiny. It was the reason he clicked [Yes] to the Trial, it was the reason he had continuously put his life on the line, it was the reason he was unwilling to focus on anything other than taking another step.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    His views, his scope, they were wider than anyone else''s. He didn''t just want to control the Grimdes, he wanted to be free of Earth''s powers entirely. He didn''t just want to dominate Earth, he wanted to crush the Sylphs. He didn''t just want to dominate an E-Grade Race, he wanted to be free and unfettered even in the face of those they could only bow to.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    Goals... aspirations... he couldn''t say that he had a solid grasp of what any of them would be. Every day, he learned more about the person he was, and he realized just how much of his true self had been repressed by the bounds of Earth''s rules and regtions.


    Rules and regtions... how many more of those were oppressing him?


    The Grimde Lineage in his blood, the mutated Runes of Earth, the tampered with Summoning of his home...


    Everywhere he looked, there was more red tape, more powerful individuals to stand in his way, more danger lurking around the corner just waiting and eager to p him back down into


    his ce.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    And then there was him. Maybe he was the biggest culprit of them all...


    With his own rules, his own arbitrary regtions, his own... Discipline.


    But that still felt different to him.


    What he hated wasn''t the fact rules existed... he hated the fact they weren''t all decided by


    himself.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    He could put his body through the cruelest of tortures, withstand the most grueling pain and


    savage psychological impacts...


    So long as it was his choice.


    No one could stop him from putting one foot after another.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    Not the Grimdes. Not those alien races. Not the government. Not Legacy. Not this damned


    cold wind.


    §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â. §´§Ñ§â.


    Ss raised his foot for a fourth time, ready to begin the cycle again, but he hit empty air, stumbling forward.


    His body was so weak that his knee crashed into the ice-cold ground, sending a spike of pain all the way up his spine. For a moment, he even thought that he had shattered his kneecap.


    BOOM!


    A dense aura radiated out from Ss in all directions.


    [Title Upgraded]


    [A zing Will > A Tangible Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind. While immature and still growing, it carves out its ce in


    the world. Continue to forge it, young man]


    [+30 Will]


    [+30% Will]


    The zing me in Ss'' eyes suddenly solidified, bing a hidden light within. In that moment, it looked as though his gaze truly glowed.

 Chapter 403: Saving [Bonus]

    Chapter 403: Saving [Bonus]


    ?


    [Will: 872]


    -


    Ss gasped for breath, his body keeling over onto the ground. By this point, his clothing was practically non-existent, having shattered into a rain of ice. Unfortunately, he didn''t have any recements other than what he might take off the corpses of the Sylphs, but he didn''t have the mind to care about such a thing right now.


    His body was practically shutting down on him, and he only barely had the mind to realize that once again... he was thest to arrive.


    And as such, there was no time to rest.


    ...


    Ss'' vision warped and twisted. When it cleared, he was standing at the bottom of a catb. All around, there were holes that barely showed snippets of the sky.


    Howling winds rushed through these holes, causing an echoing and resonant hum to fill the underground space.


    The resonancesyered on top of one another, forming stronger and stronger winds.


    The ground beneath him was no less icy than it had been in the tunnel staircase earlier, so clear he stared right at his reflection as he gasped and heaved for breath.


    He looked up, his gaze locking onto Aerwyna and her team. They were standing 100 meters away and had already entered their battle formation. Two archers raised icy bows, aiming right for him while three shieldmen stood at the vanguard, protecting Aerwyna to their backs. Aerwyna stood at the center of the formation, four individuals wielding staffs and wearing long robes standing around her.


    No matter where you looked, there was a sharpness that exuded from each one, and there was a cohesiveness that Ss hadn''t seen from Vayu''s group.


    It might not necessarily be that they were so much stronger, but rather that they had far better teamwork than any of the others.


    Ss slowly stood to his feet, his bnce a bit unstable. His gaze, however, never left the group, glowing with a subtle, but very much present light.


    Aerwyna felt her heart shake. Ss'' gaze was already something that she had noted before, but right now, it felt even more powerful than before.


    "I can give you the same deal I gave Brisa," Aerwyna suddenly spoke.


    It was the first time Ss had heard her do such a thing. Her voice was light, airy, and had a delicateness to it that made one''s bones soften. It felt like she was almost whispering, and yet he heard her clearly even over the howling winds.


    "Allow me to take 80% of the points here and we can continue to the next round without battle."


    Ss looked at her for a long while.


    This Dungeon was almost over, so this Aerwyna had certainly calcted well. She might have guessed that the only person she was behind in points was Ss. If she could force him into taking this deal, even if Brisa was gaining a full te of points from now on, she would stille out on top.


    It seemed that he had underestimated her. He thought that her main goal was just to take him out before he could recover. However, she had thought oneyer deeper.


    There was no need for her to take the risk. She still didn''t know how Ss had managed to take down Vayu''s group. In the best-case scenario, it was a fluke and Vayu had fallen to one of the challenges and not the team battle. But in the worst case, Ss had taken them out himself.


    Rather than gambling and potentially putting her team at risk, why not take the easy victory if she could get it? If she could use the pressure of her group to not fight at all, it would be for the best.


    She was smart, sharp, and clearly by the look of her team, she also knew how to lead.


    Unfortunately...


    Ss flipped a palm and a Transmutated Beast Pill appeared.


    After he killed the ndestine Ape on the ninth step, he had somehowe out beaten and haggard. But how could that happen if the ape could be transmuted to heal his injuries?


    The answer was that Ss was saving it. He knew that the next round was a Will challenge, and the pill was mostly useless for this since it didn''t help his mind replenish itself.


    Since he already knew that he would end up being thest to arrive...


    He saved it for this moment.


    BOOM!


    The pill hit the bottom of his stomach like an exploding bomb. A great deal of nutrients suddenly flooded his body.


    Aerwyna''s pupils constricted. "Fire!"


    Her reaction was swift, but Ss didn''t seem to react to the streaking arrows.


    They suddenly began to veer off path when they were 50 meters from Ss and eventually fell harmlessly to his side.


    At that moment, a boiling momentum continued to erupt from his body. Then, mere secondster, scales began to crawl up his body, covering his nudity and growing out with a tail to his back.


    The wild winds wrapped around Ss and Aerwyna was shaken again. Something odd was happening.


    What she didn''t know was that the winds here were absolutely patheticpared to the ones that Ss had just trudged through. The fact that her and her team were still alive only meant that during these team battles, whatever tampering there was with Ss'' Dungeon wasn''t


    here.


    And that only put Ss in an even more undefeatable position.


    Ss took a breath, his bones crackling as he felt his stats soar.


    He could feel it quite quickly, his Will had changed.


    A green glow suddenly covered his body like an Aether skin, contrasting against his ck scales with an eerie glow. Suddenly, he felt like his weight had dropped by more than half but


    then...


    CRACK.


    The ice beneath him shifted and changed.


    Suddenly, he felt like his weight had increased by more than 50%.


    The change was instantaneous andpletely under Ss'' control.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He took a step forward and suddenly threw a punch out.


    BANG!


    The air pped like thunder and suddenly, a fist imprint appeared 50 meters away from him,


    rushing forward with a pace even faster than the arrows.

 Chapter 404: Elite (1)

    Chapter 404: Elite (1)


    ?


    BANG!


    The three shieldmen took a step forward at the same time, their shoulders bumping against one another not to jostle for position, but in an odd solidarity.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss'' fist aura crashed against their shields the moment they solidified their footing. But...


    The three grunted, their bodies quaking as they were forced to take a step back.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 1,387,372 (F)]


    [Titles: A Tangible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 448]


    >[Strength: 562]


    >[Constitution: 643]


    >[Dexterity: 289]


    >[Speed: 296]


    [Mental: 708]


    >[Intelligence: 629]


    >[Wisdom: 942]


    >[Charisma: 553]


    [Will: 1522]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-); Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-); Master Counter (FFF-); Arctic Howl Mutant (FF+); Chilling Scythe Mutant (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Flexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: ...]


    [Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]


    Ss took another step forward, and his pauldrons and shin guards appeared once again. His tail pped onto the ground once, and a surge of strength sent him charging forward. Fear lit in the eyes of the three shieldmen. Ss'' strength was simply too overwhelming. He attacked across the hundred meters that separated them in a near instant, and the strength of their defensesbined was actually almostpromised.


    It couldn''t be helped. With the evolution of his Will, Ss'' telekinesis could now exhibit strength on objects easily up to 150 pounds. Though that was still more than 50 pounds shy of his weight, and even further than that when he was fused with the Basilisk King, it was still a weight approaching that of a grown man.


    His fist aura could no longer be shrugged off so casually anymore...


    Especially when his telekinesis could now exhibit a Physical of nearly 1200 when Madness was factored in. When his 25% boost from Surge of the Die was added on top of that, it was even more exaggerated.


    Aerwyna was the first to regain her bearings. Her hands moved in an odd pattern, and her team reacted in kind.


    Another set of arrows came at Ss, but this time they flooded forth in a rain. In exchange for speed and quantity, they gave up power. But it seemed like all they wanted to do was slow Ss down as much as possible.


    Two of the staff wielders raised their own into the air, a surging blizzard forming with them as the center and spreading it out in all directions.


    Visibility hit near rock bottom the instant the arrows fell from the skies.


    Thebination was excellent. In the past, even with his visualization, Ss didn''t have the Wisdom to take into ount every nook and cranny of his range. Since then, his Wisdom might have gotten a huge bump, but his visualization had also just expanded from 30 meters to 50. This ced exponentially more pressure on his visualization, especially when the attacks he was facing were so fast.


    Often, 50 meters ofg simply wasn''t enough for him to counter in time. It was difficult even for the current Ss, let alone against another opponent. Even with strong defenses, this sort of attack would end up causing someone to suffer without a doubt.


    <Arctic Howl Mutant>.


    There was something primal about Ss'' roar this time. Guttural and visceral all at once, it prated the heart. It would have almost been enough to make one feel like they were facing off against a beast of true chaos.


    Basic Aetherflowyered into the technique and Rune Soul activated.


    All at once, under the blizzard-like dome, the dozens of arrows froze in ce before they shattered to pieces.


    Ss dashed out, his body leaving trails of snowkes and cracked ice in his wake as he burst out from the area of effect Skill only to find the three shieldmen having moved forward a great deal as though they had entirely separated from their group.


    Their shoulders bumped against one another again, but this time their Aether circted at full bore. Their shields began to glow with the etchings of blue Runes and suddenly expanded into tower shields that anchored themselves into the ground.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Suddenly, a massive ice wall formed, connecting the shields and expanding up and to the sides. In one moment, there was nothing blocking Ss but three men. In the next, a wall 25 meters wide and tall appeared in his path, and was still only growingrger.


    The already chilly air grew more frigid.


    They had truly gone all out. This sort of defense looked as though it was better suited to facing off against an enormous beast rather than a single man like himself.


    What Ss didn''t know was that he was precisely correct. This defense was exactly what they would use againstrge beasts. But now, Aerwyna had deemed it necessary to go all out. She had already seen through the fact that Ss'' range was 50 meters and that he was relying on an advanced application of telekinesis. In that case, the barrier would act as a dense of nature that would stop his telekinesis from prating through while they could attack him in peace.


    Even if this didn''t stop Ss, it would certainly slow him down, and that might just be enough because Aerwyna had also deduced something else: Ss'' transformation most definitely had


    a time limit.


    Everything was under her control as she looked forward with cool, blue eyes.


    She raised a hand and formed another series of hand signals. Another two staff wielders mmed theirs into the ground and they suddenly vanished into the ground, appearing high upon the ice walls that were now over 30 meters.


    With a wave of their staffs, the top of the wall cracked and a rain of ice boulders began to fall toward Ss'' position, each one containing more than 1000 points of Damage.

 Chapter 405: Elite (2)

    Chapter 405: Elite (2)


    ?


    Ss'' gaze shed. This team was too cohesive. Not only were they too good at working together, but their knowledge of this world far surpassed his own. He could already see that Aerwyna hade to understand several of his weaknesses in a single false exchange.


    He had seen others negate his telekinesis before, so he knew that it was possible. Licius had done it, for example. But this was an even higher form of exactly that.


    Even if everyone didn''t have telekinesis, everyone had Will. Within certain parameters, and given the right circumstances, so long as they could set their own battlefield, their Will could circumvent and supersede his own.


    The three shieldmen werebining their Wills and Aether to counter Ss'' telekinesis, and as though that wasn''t bad enough, they had the ability to work off one another''s skills, actually using what was originally a defensive skill, and turning it into an offensive one.


    Ss dashed to the side, a green glow enveloping his body. His 296 Speed felt almost like double that with his weight halved.


    BOOM!


    His gaze shed as he dodged another, then another.


    ''The boulders are too heavy for me to use with my telekinesis...''


    He just tried to move one, but they must have been at least 400 to 500 pounds each. And if he picked them up with his hands, the Scorned Wraps would destroy them.


    He was forced to retreat again and again, his forward momentum having been entirely crushed.


    The two archers appeared on the top of the wall next, their gazes cold as they charged up an attack each. Now that the task of pinning Ss down was being handled by the two staff


    wielders, there was no longer a need for them to do it. Instead...


    They could focus on sniping.


    SHUUUUU! SHUUUUU!


    The twin arrows shot through the skies with more speed than ever before. Spiraling winds surrounded them, and their momentum seemed to grow as they sailed through the wind, making them look far more likences than arrows by the time they reached Ss.


    Ss'' gaze shed, his fists trembling as he pressed his back foot down into the ground. His tail pressed even harder for extra stability before he suddenly exploded forth with two fists.


    BANG! BANG!


    Thence-arrows shattered under the impact, but Ss could already sense two more were iing. At the same time, thest two staff wielders, the very same two that had originally cast the blizzard that obscured his vision earlier, were very clearly gathering up arge amount of Aether.


    If they weren''t casting another, far more substantial area of effect Skill, Ss simply wouldn''t believe it.


    This wasn''t good. He was pushed back even further now and Aerwyna''s team hadpletely taken control of the situation. Although he had grasped the advantage in individual power, they countered him perfectly and used their teamwork to overwhelm him. Aerwyna still hadn''t made a single personal move, and he didn''t believe for a moment that she was a ss vase only capable ofmanding.


    With his current Will, getting a feel for the strength of people was even easier than before. He knew that she was strong, stronger than even Vayu. But in this situation... she simply didn''t need to take action. Doing so would only slow down hermand and potentially give Ss a hole to exploit.


    Compared to the impatience of Vayu, she was on apletely different level.


    At that moment, the ground began to split and blue Runes raced across the icy earth like cancerous veins.


    The first two staff wielders had finally finished casting their area of effect Skill and the temperature plummeted once again.


    CRACK.


    Ss'' gaze shot down and his pupils constricted.


    He jumped to the side just out of the way of a jagged growth of sharp ice tree branches, only to have to jump again the moment hended.


    Suddenly, it felt like the entire world was against him.


    The ground exploded with the growth of vicious ice trees with barbs that would fillet his skin to minced meat.


    SHUUUU! SHUUUU!


    Two more arrows cut to the skies, both aiming not for Ss, but rather the locations he could dodge to in order to avoid the next barbden trees.


    And as though all of that wasn''t bad enough...


    Ss looked up, his ice-cold eyes flickering at the incredulity of it all.


    The two staff wielders that stood on the wall had stopped attacking him with boulders because he had retreated too far, but that didn''t mean they had stoppedpletely.


    They held their staffs up high, their Aether surging as bits and pieces of the ice wall rose high into the skies, forming an enormous meteor of ice.


    From one meter in diameter to two... and then from three to five... then from five to ten.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    If dropped from that high... Ss couldn''t help but wonder if it could tten a city.


    ''A city, no... but a small vige like Casstle Main?''


    It seemed to finally set in the kind of monsters he was dealing with. This was the strongest attack he had everid eyes one, and he had never seen such seamless teamwork in his life, and he realized that if he kept trying to outsmart them with on-the-fly ns, he would end up deader than dead, and he might not even be conscious of how it happened.


    Ss was forced to cast <Arctic Howl Mutant> again, dodging in the direction of one of the arrows regardless of the cost.


    His fingers gripped at the air, forming a green hand that extended from his palm and caught the frozen arrow out of the air the instant his defensive skill stopped it.


    With a grunt, he torqued his hips and threw it back at the wall with all the strength he could muster.


    ''Something is wrong,'' Aerwyna felt her heart skip a beat for an inexplicable reason.


    Her mind thought through several possibilities, but what she didn''t expect was that Ss would suddenly just turn and run.


    BOOM!


    At that moment, the arrow collided with the ice wall.

 Chapter 406: Battle of Wills (1)

    Chapter 406: Battle of Wills (1)


    The two staff wielders and archers were shaken, thinking that the arrow was headed for them. Their hair stood on end. It was simply moving too fast, and the fog of the earlier blizzard hadn''t quite dissipated.


    But, the arrow simplynded on the barrier, causing it to shake violently. Though it held up, they nearly lost their footing on the top of it, further dying them.


    By this point, Ss had already turned his back to them. Not only that¡­ but his tail and scales vanished, returning him to his base form.


    They had spent this entire time trying to force him back, and now he seemed to be forcing that distance himself.


    Aerwyna''s gaze flickered, then she held up a hand.


    Ss didn''t look back, rushing toward the edge of the catbs. It was only when he felt that they weren''t rushing after him that he slowed.


    A few arrows came from the distance, but nothing dangerous enough to harm him. Even without his fusion, the distance was too great and he had too much time to dodge. By this point, there was already over 200 hundred meters between Ss and the ice wall.


    The winds around them continued to howl, getting stronger and stronger. However, in a bold move, Ss actually sat right by one of the holes of the catbs despite the fact it was one of the locations where the wind was at its harshest.


    Aerwyna watched this with confusion written all over her face. The only reason Ss would do this would be if¡­


    ''No, it can''t be¡­''


    The rules of the team battle always followed the rules of the challenge that preceded it. Much like thest team battle that followed a Will challenge, points would be decided by how long yousted. Team members would be transferred out when they reached their limits and points would be allocated based on how long yousted.


    Ss'' actions seemed to assume that he would oust them all. But¡­ There was a problem with this approach.


    Ss was alone. That meant that even if he didst the longest, after the point distribution was decided, he would still end up with fewer points than all of them.


    The bad thing for Aerwyna was that if Sssted the longest, then she wouldn''t get the 80% split that she needed. If he managed tost a lot longer than her, then the damage could be as bad as 50/50. By then, she would end up losing to Brisa in points and that was uneptable. But the thing was that she didn''t believe that Ss could oust them, let alone oust her by such arge margin.


    Had he made a miscalction¡­?


    Or was she miscalcting?


    Her gaze shifted and she looked at the hole Ss sat before. That location was the worst spot to be in. Technically speaking, right now, his Will was being ground down far more than any one of theirs was.


    Why would he choose that spot? As a deterrent to them? Or maybe it was a concession? A dare? Was he silently epting his fate or reaching out an olive branch? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aerwyna was starting to get a bit frustrated. If he meant all of those things, shouldn''t he just say it out loud? She knew that he wasn''t mute.


    Her gaze couldn''t help but be a rare hint cold, something that was an oddity for her¡­ however, her teammates knew well what it meant.


    Aerwyna made a hand signal and everyone retreated. The ice wall copsed and they formed up into a tight circle. Soon, their auras red and they began to fight back against the winds together.


    Normally, this wouldn''t be possible in a team battle. But since Ss insisted on not fighting at all, they could use some of the same strategies they had during the stair challenges.


    What they didn''t know was that Ss had stopped paying attention to them entirely. He already knew that she would make this decision, that was because it was the smartest decision she could make given the circumstances.


    Unfortunately, she had no idea what Ss had gone through to make it to this point.


    Ss'' might ignored the world and entered an internal visualization, leaving only one of his minds to keep Rune Soul and <Maddened Enlightenment> active. In fact, because he wasn''t moving at all, <Maddened Enlightenment> was several times stronger than he was on the move.


    That was to say that not only was this challenge far weaker than the one he had already faced, but he likewise had even more powerful tools to deal with it.


    His Aether was being replenished at a frightening pace, and he couldn''t use Rune Soul fast enough to make a dent in his Wisdom because <Maddened Enlightenment> covered his bases too quickly.


    And unfortunately for Aerwyna, because he was sitting right in front of a howling wind tunnel to the outside, it was impossible for her to sense any of this from so far away.


    Ss had already decided. Since he couldn''t defeat them with strength, he would just have to choose another method.


    As for what he was focused on, it was the barrier he had seen when he first entered this Dungeon. Back then, he had been the first to clear the stair challenge and had the opportunity to wait around for everyone else.


    In the barrier he was stuck in, he found something interesting he believed would increase the strength of <Arctic Howl Mutant> by another 50%. If he was correct, it would be able to block up to 1500 Damage, and freeze an attack of up to 2000 for a brief instant.


    Unfortunately, he hadn''t had the time to finish his deductions¡­


    Until now.


    ''Geometry¡­ I should have considered this earlier. It''s not as simple as some shapes being stronger than others, but rather that some Runes prefer specific three-dimensional geometries over another¡­''


    Ss'' gaze flickered beneath his eyelids, his deductionsing faster and faster beneath his sharper Wisdom.


    Hourster, his eyes shed open with a sharp glint.

 Chapter 407: Battle of Wills (2)

    Chapter 407: Battle of Wills (2)


    ?


    Aerwyna''s group sat pale-faced, but stoic. They continued to hold it together, but from time to time, they couldn''t help but look toward Ss who was still sitting in silence.


    It had urred to Aerwyna that Ss'' Will should be powerful. He had made it through not just one, but two Will challenges all on his own and without the chance to swap with others.


    However, she had never imagined that it was so strong. She had no way of knowing that Ss'' base Will of 873 was already beyond her own, let alone the fact he could boost it by an additional 400% with Madness when he needed it.


    They were all working together, protecting one another, and most importantly taking the brunt of the pressure off her in the center, and yet even she was feeling some clear fatigue.


    The wear and tear was starting to get to them when Ss finally opened his eyes. He stared right at them, but he wasn''t moving a single inch.


    His breathing was even, his cheeks rosy.


    Maybe it was an illusion, but it felt like the pressure around them had actually grown when Ss awoke. The difort they were feeling only increased the calmer he was.


    Suddenly, an hourter, the first of them coughed up a mouthful of blood. Before they could pass out, a mysterious force descended and teleported them out.


    It was one of the archers.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Aerwyna''s jaw clenched and she began wondering if they should go all out to attack Ss now. But she was hesitant, not knowing if she should take action.


    As she was thinking, a second fell.


    Her group was down to eight. Although she knew that they would return to her when the next round started, her expression couldn''t help but be somewhat ugly.


    She wanted to believe that Ss was just bluffing, but everything pointed to the fact that he was still in top condition. The problem was that that didn''t make any sense.


    ''I know that he had a rare Mental Comprehension... could that Comprehension be rted to Will?''


    If Mental Comprehensions were already rare, Will Comprehensions were basically extinct. She hadn''t even considered it until this moment.


    Should she attack?


    She was beginning to waver. Suddenly, the fact Ss was sitting in front of a wind tunnel went from a concession to a death sentence. If they really moved to attack Ss now, would they even be able to make it close before another one of their members fell?


    Ss suddenly stood to his feet at that moment and Aerwyna suddenly tensed. For some reason, she felt like she had lost control of the situation. All logic pointed to the fact that she should still have everything else in her grasp, but the longer she stared into those glowing green eyes, the more she felt as though she had already lost.


    Another cough of blood. Another loss.


    Her group was down to seven.


    She had lost two staff wielders and an archer. Suddenly, her ability to control the battlefield had fallen by half.


    Ss stretched out his limbs. This was the most rest he had had since he stepped into this Dungeon. Other than the fact he was missing out on sleep, he had never felt better.


    Another cough. Another loss.


    Suddenly Ss moved. It was at this same instant that Aerwyna was putting up her hand to signal something.


    The distance between them was still over 200 meters, but the instant Ss'' skin shed and ck scales began to appear, he seemed to soar forward.


    A green light wrapped around him and the intent in his eyes zed.


    In just a handful of seconds, he had already cut the distance down by half and it all hit Aerwyna at once.


    She had made a mistake.


    What she had still yet to realize, though, was that even if she hadn''t just sat there, this was still Ss'' battle to win. He was the only one that could withstand the harsh winds of the wind tunnels for so long. The moment he had reached one, the battle was over.


    They had only managed tost hours because they had huddled up together and weren''t fighting. If they had been inbat at the same time, let alone hours, they would be hard- pressed tost a few minutes.


    The instant the first of the shieldmen fell tock of Will, Ss moved. This was precisely what he was waiting for.


    With just two drained shieldmen left...


    Aerwyna couldn''t stop him.


    "Form up!" Aerwyna''s battle intent zed and her palm flipped, revealing a bow. Clearly, she knew that she couldn''t stand on the sidelines this time.


    Her aura became far more valiant and it was like she had be apletely different woman. Her hair tie shattered and she began to release a rapid fire sequence of arrows.


    In that moment, her arms became a whirlwind of their own. By the time the two shieldmen had locked shoulders and were prepared to form a barrier, she had already unleashed an assault of dozens.


    Ss felt danger from each and every one, his Luck ring warning signs at him, but that only made his gaze colder.


    The arrows curved out and then suddenly converged onto a point of attack, making Ss feel like he had nowhere to dodge at all.


    However, Ss suddenly stomped the ground and hit another gear. His weight fell by half under the influence of his telekinesis and he outpaced the arrows, rushing by them and even using the explosion they created to his back to elerate further.


    Aerwyna''s gaze sharpened and she was already firing another arrow. But...


    They had entered Ss'' 50 meter range.


    At that moment, Ss pulled on his Gluttony Seed and the world flipped out.


    He pushed out with a palm and a strong surge of telekinesis hit one of the shieldmen like a wrecking ball. It felt like a 200-pound man had suddenly rammed into him with 1200 points


    of Physical.


    BANG!


    He was sent flying backward, only to m right into one of the staff wielders preparing a


    spell.

 Chapter 408: I...

    Chapter 408: I...


    Aerwyna''s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She couldn''t fathom how an F-Grade warrior could possibly have telekinesis strong enough to rock someone off of their feet¡­ let alone cause a result so devastating.


    If not for the armor they wore, that sudden push would havepletely obliterated his ribcage and minced all the organs beneath. However, while the shieldman survived rtively fine after a spurt of blood¡­ the staff wielder he crashed into wasn''t nearly so lucky.


    The staff wielder had been holding their arm out. The sudden change bent their arm awkwardly and shattered several bones. But worse than that, the defense that the two shieldmen had been preparing together was disrupted. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss crossed another ten meters before Aerwyna''s aura suddenly nketed arge space. He found that he couldn''t use his telekinesis at a distance anymore, but he also noticed that Aerwyna''s face became several shades paler as well.


    That was fine, it was well within his expectations.


    Ballista bolts began to appear from his Madness Key, appearing within their midst. He had stopped using these bolts in battle because his telekinesis power had already far surpassed their durability. The opponents he would need them for tended to have defenses too powerful to prate.


    This proved to be true this time as well. But it hardly mattered. They were nothing more than a distraction.


    The ballista bolts tore through the air, erupting in a rain of wooden shards every time they rebounded against an enemy. The Sylphs were forced back on impact, their Skills being disrupted and their bodies quaking beneath the impact. The air in their lungs felt as though it had been forcefully ripped out and suddenly, their blurring gazes could only see the yellow slit eyes looking back at them.


    Ss was already within five meters of them.


    Aerwyna''s bow vanished and she was already pulling out another weapon, but the bolts had slowed her down too and she was still a step toote.


    Ss appeared before thest standing shieldman as the second was still trying to pick himself up off of the ground.


    His running gait came to a sudden stop and the balls of his feet shifted into a slide. His hips dropped and he unleashed a violent fist.


    All at once, his weight increased by a measure and all his torque transferred to his ck-scaled knuckles.


    BANG! CRUNCH.


    Ss'' fist tore through the shieldman''s treasure and right into his chest, pulverizing his heart to nothingness.


    He had already seen through it earlier. In order for this team to link their Skills like they did, it took more than just Aether control. Unless all of them had Rune Breath, it was simply impossible.


    The only exnation, then, was that they relied on treasures to form the bridge between them. And in that case, they would be sacrificing something in exchange for that power.


    Together, the defenses of the shieldmen were shocking. But alone¡­


    They weren''t even worth a single fist.


    Ss retracted his fist, his tail whipping out to the side. Tail Whip activated and it suddenly elerated in the air.


    Just as thest archer was about to block, he activated <Momentum Shift> and pulled on his Gluttony Seed hard. <Momentum Shift> had a limit of a mere 200 Physical. However, when Ss used it in conjunction with his Gluttony Seed, although he couldn''t allow the same abrupt change in momentum, he could make it a sharper change than this woman was able to react to.


    BANG!


    His tail copsed her knees in the wrong direction, a scream of horroring out from her lips.


    Ss didn''t follow up, using the momentum of his tail swing to sway his body out of the way of an oing projectile. He caught the shieldman with a hole in his chest with a hand and suddenly tossed him forward.


    The man erupted into a rain of ash, obscuring their vision as Ss levied another attack from their midst.


    BANG!


    He stomped down a foot and the head of the Sylph woman with broken knees shattered.


    BANG!


    An elbow copsed the neck of thest shieldman just as he barely managed to get up.


    BANG!


    His fist followed up in abo, ripping a hole right through the gut of the staff wielder he had fallen on. Beaten and broken, she couldn''t even react before the life began to dim from her gaze.


    Ss was on aplete rampage, his attacks violent and unforgiving. Blood that was not his own coated him from head to toe, flowing through the crevices of his scales as though his own flesh itself was greedily absorbing it.


    His Madness descended in full force on thest outside of Aerwyna. By this point, their Will was already teetering on an edge, they simply weren''t prepared for a second Mental attack to suddenly crush their psyche like this¡­


    So when it did and they coughed up a mouthful of blood, about to be transported out, they couldn''t react at all to the fist that shattered their face.


    Too fast, too lethal. Ss seemed to have just stepped into their midst, and in the next instant they were entirely wiped out.


    Aerwyna''s eyes bulged with the shock and horror of it all, the sword she had finally managed to pull out trembling in her hands slightly.


    Ss took a step and slowed, the violent torque his body had been generating slowing to the dull hum of an engine.


    Aerwyna suddenly tightened her grip on her sword, her feelings of unwillingness and the unfairness of it all weighing down upon her with a heavy hand.


    Suddenly, she calmed, her gazending on Ss with an unwilling glint within them.


    Then, she did something Ss didn''t quite understand.


    "I concede."


    After she said these words, she vanished.


    Ss couldn''t help but frown. He didn''t know that that was possible. Was she speaking to him? Or the system? If they could all concede, did Vayu just let his rage get the best of him? Or was it something else?


    The howling winds whipped about, leaving Ss the lone victor remaining.

 Chapter 409: Not...

    Chapter 409: Not...


    Ss took a breath and gathered what remained on the battlefield. He had a feeling that this wouldn''t be thest time he saw that woman.


    ''A dangerous opponent¡­'' N?v(el)B\\jnn


    If not for thendscape advantage he had, it would have been impossible for him to win. He would have had no choice but to take her deal, but that would also mean giving up his chance at first ce, and potentially even second.


    He wasn''t sure what that would mean, ultimately. Would he still be considered to have cleared the Dungeon? Usually the answer would be yes or no, but that answer seemed to be up in the air this time.


    ''There''s only one challenge left¡­''


    Ss left and he found Brisa''s team waiting.


    ''Aerwyna technically made it through thest round first, so she should be the first to choose a door. Brisa was second, so the moment Aerwyna conceded, she should be the one to go. So why is she still here?''


    Though Ss thought this, he already had his answer through her gaze.


    Fear.


    She was standing here despite having gained an advantage because she wanted to confirm it for herself. She wanted to see Sse out alive.


    None of Aerwyna''s teammates were here, and assuming "conceding" wasn''t normal, she must think that they were all dead. After seeing Sse out alive and covered in blood, she was only more certain of this.


    The look in Ss'' eye did nothing to reassure her of anything else.


    This human hade in alone and had taken out two teams all on his own.


    What kind of monster was he?


    Ss only continued to look at her silently, his breathing calm. It wasn''t because he was particrly interested in her, her team, or anything she had to say. Rather¡­ it was because he couldn''t choose a door until she did.


    Brisa only seemed to realize this muchter, only then did shakily look toward the doors.


    After she settled down, she realized that there was no need for her to be worried. With two teams gone, unless Ss went out of his way to pick her, they should be able to cruise to the finish line.


    She froze when she had this thought. What if he did go out of his way?


    She didn''t know much about Summonings, but she knew enough to know that these people were likely to go out of their way to collect Genes.


    She turned back from the door, gritting her teeth.


    "I''m willing to make a deal¡ª."


    "Ca¡ª."


    Brisa held out a hand to stop her second inmand from saying something she was certain would be utterly foolish.


    "There''s only two of us left, and we can easily avoid one another the rest of the way. I''m willing topensate you to ensure that."


    Ss was a bit surprised to hear that, but he understood her reasoning quite quickly.


    "Go on." He said lightly.


    "I have the corpse of a Level 35 FFF- Grade beast that I''ve been saving. The Beast Core is in pristine condition and it has a Constitution Type Gene Talent you might be able to unlock. I can give it to you right here and now so long as you sign a pact with me."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He had been through the spatial devices of most of the others by now. Although he hadn''t seen what Aerwyna''s team had to offer yet, he had seen enough from Vayu''s to know that this was a very generous offer.


    FFF- didn''t sound impressive¡­ but it had to be remembered that the Grading system Ss was used to was rtive to Earth. The ratings were still a jumbled mess and wouldn''t even out for many years.


    There was arge concentration at the bottom of the barrel for Earth right now, so it made it extremely easy toe across even FFF+, let alone FFF- once.


    However, in an established world like the Sylph''s, most would turn tail and run the other way if they ever saw an FFF- beast. In fact, even F+ beast would take a mighty warrior to cut down.


    A lot of things on Earth right now were being looked through a distorted lens¡­ for an FFF- beast to appear in an E-Grade Race''s territory, they would have to be exceptional.


    In addition, the chance of a Gene Talent was truly tempting.


    Seeing Ss'' silence, Brisa grit her teeth again.


    "I am also willing to add in a nk te, FF- ndestine Ape."


    "Okay." Ss said lightly.


    Brisa exhaled a breath of relief and the two quickly signed a contract. Soon, Brisa felt air finally making its way into her lungs and she settled down.


    After handing Ss everything, she rushed away with her team as though she couldn''t move fast enough.


    Ss looked back toward the remaining doors. Brisa had entered II, which he presumed was Aerwyna''s door. So it was only natural that he enter IV.


    There was a reason he had epted this door. He had no way of knowing if the tampering on his Dungeon would still be in effect now or not¡­ which meant he likely still had one more dance with life and deathing.


    So long as he could pass this, there would only be onest Will challenge remaining and he was confident enough in crossing that.


    But this one¡­


    He let Brisa off because he didn''t know what kind of state he would be in after this round. There was no guarantee he would have another loophole to use like he had during the ndestine Ape round.


    Ss looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them. Closing his eyes, he slowly calmed his breathing and steadied his heart.


    He should only have one focus this time around.


    Victory.


    And he had to do it within 50% of Brisa''s time or else he would be disqualified.


    He took a step forward and entered door IV.


    The world spun around Ss and when everything cleared, a familiar set of tall stairs was before him.


    He leapt up with a bend of his knees,nding with a solid thud. He had already fused with the Basilisk King, prepared to go all out.


    ''Not a beast¡­''


    This was Ss'' first thought when he saw the figure.


    ''¡­ But not a human either¡­''

 Chapter 410: Tideborn and Stormveil

    Chapter 410: Tideborn and Stormveil


    ?


    The humanoid before him had blue skin. It wasn''t skin that emitted a blue light like with the Sylphs, but rather truly blue skin. It wasn''t a fierce color, and it was a bit muted almost to the point of being grey. This made it look more natural than not, but the rest of this individual''s build was almost too obviously alien.


    He had sharpened, almost elven-like ears, there was a reflective scale on his forehead, and a few more smaller versions on his cheek. He was a bitnky, but he still stood easily over a head and a half taller than Ss, putting him at easily over seven feet tall.


    But what was odder than all of that was...


    [Nerion Tideborn (FFF+)]


    [Level: 5]


    -


    [Physical: 677]


    >[Strength: 722]


    >[Constitution: 773]


    >[Dexterity: 607]


    >[Speed: 605]


    [Mental: 833]


    >[Intelligence: 1384]


    >[Wisdom: 222]


    >[Charisma: 893]


    [Will: 732]


    -


    Ss could actually read its stats. This was the first time since he had entered this Dungeon that he could actually read the stats of an opponent. ''Level 5...?''


    Soon afterward, though, he didn''t get much time to think about it. The harsh winds hit him in waves and suddenly he felt like he was right back on those stairs. The harsh climate buffeted against his body,shing out in wave after endless wave.


    Ss took a breath, his telekinesis forming a barrier around him that pressed it all down. The air around him seemed to warm as his gaze sharpened. After his Will evolved, his telekinesis had be more malleable, almost like Aether in that sense. Rather than having to focus on enveloping a target in his Will, he could practically pick a target and have it act on it.


    In the past, he couldn''t envelop his body like this without a lot of focus and control, so he ended up guiding it with fists and kicks instead. But now, he could pick his entire body as a target and it felt almost... natural.


    There was a drawback, however. And that was that it took up a lot more of Wisdom. By now, he could split his mind to over a dozen targets with ease. But when he was in this state, he could no longer split his mind so many ways. It felt like he was back to square one, only able to split his mind three ways, four if he truly strained himself.


    However... It was well worth it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss faced off against this blue-skinned man, but he quickly found that something was odd... He didn''t seem too eager to move.


    **


    While Ss was making his deal with Brisa, there was a sudden sh of light and a pale-faced Aerwyna appeared. Not far after her were the few teammates that remained.


    The disappointment in her eyes couldn''t be hidden in the slightest. She hade with the thought ofpeting for first ce. When the fourth group was suddenly reced by the machinations of the system, she thought that she had pretty much secured her victory, though she didn''t show any of that haughtiness on her face.


    But now... Sheughed at herself. She had been cautious enough, but she had no one but herself to me for failing at the final step. Had she not insisted on being so clever and targeting Ss directly, she could have fought out for a victory in points. Unfortunately, she had had to rely on a rare treasure she had been saving to escape.


    She looked down at a cracked jade piece and shook her head.


    -


    [Coward''s Back-Up (FFF-) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 17]


    [Escape from any System Organized Event with a Level <17> <FFF-> threat Grade] [Uses Left: 1/3]


    This treasure had been passed down in her family for a very long while, more years than she knew how to count. Yet, she was the second person to have to use it. There was no doubt that this was a great shame. However, the only thing she regretted was that she hadn''t been able to use it earlier.


    Aerwyna''s expression suddenly changed. Her gaze shed as her head turned violently,nding on an old man bleeding out on the ground. Her eyes widened and her heart almost leapt out of her chest.


    "We need to go. Now."


    In that moment, she felt far more fear than when she had faced off against Ss. This was clearly something that was far beyond her paygrade. Unfortunately, she was still toote. The whirring of engines sounded overhead and a warship suddenly appeared high in the skies. The trees swayed and were pressed down, several of Aerwyna''s team almost being thrown off their feet in that instant of time. On the bow of the ship, there was a group of three who stood and Aerwyna couldn''t help but grow stern.


    The Stormveil family. This was the fourth group of participants that hadn''t been able to appear before due to the system''s interference... but somehow Aerwyna felt that their appearance now wasn''t so simple at all.


    At their helm was a young man wearing fluttering white robes. His gaze was sharp and his bearing was noble. Above his head, there were flickers of dancing wind that sometimes formed the outline of a greenish-blue crown that vanished just as quickly, blinking in and out as though it refused to fully form.


    [Aurion Stormveil (???)]


    [Level: ???]


    Aerwyna trembled when she realized she couldn''t see Aurion''s stats or Level. She knew that they had all been holding back from Level 10 in order toplete this trial first, but she didn''t expect this fianc¨¦ of hers to have gotten over it so quickly. Not only did he not show any dissatisfaction toward the sudden interference of the system, but he had even left them all far


    behind.


    Aurion''s ship slowlynded, crushing the trees beneath it. All the while, he only gave his fianc¨¦e a casual nce as though they weren''t affiliated with one another much at all.


    However, when his eyesnded on the corpse, his own expression couldn''t help but be several hints more serious as well.

 Chapter 411: Clypsians and Dogons

    Chapter 411: Clypsians and Dogons


    ?


    "Young prince, this..."


    One of the elders following after Aurion leaned over to whisper in his ears, but Aurion held up a hand.


    "This matter is too important to return now. Whatever the fallout is, it''s already happened. Whoever it is can''t act out boldly now even if they wanted to."


    The elders still seemed hesitant, but in the end they were still forced to abide by this young prince''s words.


    Aerwyna sighed a breath of relief when she realized that they weren''t here for her. In that case, she would just slip away with her team.


    Unfortunately, things were never so simple.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You. Stay."


    Aerwyna froze, but in the end she, too, was forced toply.


    She knew that this wasn''t a method Aurion was using to get close to her. It was a simple risk analysis. He knew that even if he was here, whoever was behind the scenes might be desperate enough to still kill him. However, if she was here... the heir of the Stormveils and heiress of the Galesongs... well, they would be hard-pressed to choose such a nuclear option.


    As for why he was waiting, Aerwyna wasn''t sure. It couldn''t be to target Ss; the system would never allow such a loophole. Plus, judging by his reaction to the corpse, he had nothing to do with what happened here.


    In that case, it must be something else rted to the Dungeon. Her gaze shed. ''Thestbat stair challenge... Maybe?''


    **


    Ss frowned. His instinct was to attack first, and he was going to, but the man across from him actually spoke first.


    "... I can read your stats... You''re from Earth..."


    There was an odd mix ofplicated emotions on the man''s face. There was reminiscence... surprise... disdain.


    Thest seemed to be the most potent, almost as though he couldn''t be bothered to speak to Ss, but was going to anyway because he simply hadn''t been able to speak to anyone in so long.


    Ss, though, had rarely ever bothered with such things. It was rather the implication of the man''s words that shocked him. Did that mean that this man was from Earth? Or had he limated himself in an unknown way?


    For example, Azrael and Lucirius had limated themselves in unexpected ways and Ss could read their stats as well. But they certainly weren''t people of Earth.


    But another point of confusion was how this man could read his stats at all. Even Aerwyna and the others couldn''t do so. The only person that managed to was the old man behind the bonfire, but due to the restrictions of the system, he couldn''t tell the others about it.


    Ss had hardly felt any senses touch his own.


    "I guess that since you''ve made it so far, I can''t look down on you too much. But I don''t know why you bother. It''s going to end the same as it always does. Maybe one day you''ll be standing in my ce."


    Ss still didn''t respond, but these words confirmed something else. This man was truly a person of Earth. But how?


    Earth had never had such blue men; at least there was no information about such a thing. The closest thing to the man before him should have been from the Sixth Summoning, but such individuals shouldn''t have had blue skin.


    The races of Earth had all been mixed into a single melting pot; however, Ss wasn''t an idiot. There was no "blue race" before this integration, and there was certainly no scaled and pointy-eared race either. If there had been, at least some of thetter features would have carried over.


    What the man was saying just wasn''t making any sense.


    "Is there a need to be thinking so hard?" the manughed an oddugh. It was almost like a dolphin''s chirping, but it had a guttural depth to it.


    It was then Ss realized that this man definitely wasn''t speaking the currentnguage of Earth. Was it one of the ancient and integratednguages?


    Thankfully for him, the system was tranting or he wouldn''t be getting any of this information.


    "How did you end up here?" Ss finally asked.


    "Oh? You speak? Now you want to get information out of me? That''s quite adorable."


    "After the Summoning isplete, it wouldn''t be impossible for me to help you leave this ce if that''s what you want."


    The man burst into an even cheerierughter, or so it seemed. There was a darkness to his eyes that didn''t fade away no matter how hard his chest rumbled.


    "Save me? You certainly have an overactive imagination."


    Ss didn''t reply. Normally, he would never promise such a thing, but he could tell that this information was invaluable. Whatever this man knew, he had to know, and he couldn''t allow this opportunity to slip away.


    However, he also didn''t expect something for nothing in return, which was the only reason he had made such an offer. But this man either didn''t know that Ss always kept his word, or he didn''t care to find out one way or another.


    "I actually don''t mind telling you for free. My Race is known as the Clypsians and we failed the Second Summoning."


    Ss'' pupils constricted into pinholes.


    He didn''t care about the words themselves; he cared about the implications. The Second Summoning should have been the Late Devonian Extinction that urred 372 million years ago. But... something was telling him that this wasn''t the Summoning that this man was speaking about at all.


    If this wasn''t the Summoning he was speaking about, then wouldn''t that make this current Summoning the Eighth, not the Seventh?


    The man suddenly began tough. Heughed so hard that Ss could practically see the Runes around him quaking.


    "We aren''t the only ones. There''s another Race, the Dogons. Those sand munching, boar- nosed, shit-slinging monkeys. So whatever iteration you''re on now, go ahead and add two."


    Hisughter filled the skies.


    Ss didn''t even have time to mind the obvious racism as it set in.


    This wasn''t the Seventh Summoning.


    It was the Ninth and Final.


    -Volume 3 End-

 Chapter 412: Small Measure

    Chapter 412: Small Measure


    ?


    Nerion''sughter continued to peel through the skies, carrying a chilling cold that felt even worse than the howling winds.


    Ss slowly calmed, watching the manugh as though he hadpletely lost his mind.


    Did it matter to him if this was the Seventh or the Ninth Summoning?


    Yes... but only a small measure.


    There was a small chance of surviving even if the Seventh Summoning failed. The fact that there were power structures and governments that survived the "Sixth Summoning," or rather, what was likely the Eighth Summoning, proved this.


    However, if the Ninth Summoning failed, Earth was all but finished.


    From his understanding, a world that failed nine attempts was doomed to be subordinated to another world. A world incapable of crossing the Summoning of their own would have to piggyback thews of another.


    This sounded like a cheat, but in reality, it was the worst kind of fate. This was because the system would split into subordinate and master roles. In the end, the humans of Earth would be not much unlike the beasts they hunted today.


    The Basilisk King was the perfect example of this. Ss still hadn''t managed to find a method of helping it to level up. And strengthening it took difficult, roundabout methods that he could only find thanks to a Legendary Path Profession.


    If Earth was subordinated to another world, all of its people would lose easy ess to leveling up, gathering Genes, and overall improving themselves.


    It wasn''t just as simple as bing subordinates... They would be subordinated while being entirely unable to ever have a chance to rise again in the future.


    It would be the end of Earth as they knew it.


    Even if Ss managed to survive, he would rather die than live such a life. Wasn''t his freedom the reason he was doing this in the first ce?


    That said...


    He never nned to fail in the first ce.


    Now, all that had happened was that the situation had be moreplicated. The fact that two of the Summonings had been hidden from them could only mean that it was done on purpose by those messing around behind the scenes.


    The fact you got so many more Genes from killing fellow humans... the cancerous growths on the Runes of Earth... and now the obscuring of their own world''s history...


    They had really gone all out.


    A light glowed in the depths of Ss'' eyes.


    CLING! CLANG!


    His pauldrons and shin guards appeared as Nerion was still in a maddenedughter. There was a sh in his eyes and suddenly a strong pulse of telekinesis rammed right into Nerion''s chest.


    All the air was knocked out of the Clypsian in a single instant.


    It was clear that Nerion was caught off guard and didn''t expect such a thing. However, Ss didn''t have the mind to care. For one, the pressure of the chilling winds around him was too great. Plus, he had already activated his fusion with the Basilisk King and he was on a timer. If he could get through all nine steps in eight minutes, he would be shit out of luck.


    He had already given this man more than enough time to talk.


    BANG!


    A second attack mmed into Nerion''s back before he could regain his bearings.


    Ss raised his fist as the disoriented Nerion came flying toward him. It was then he realized that he might be in luck...


    Because Nerion was a person of Earth, despite the fact his stats were the most ridiculous Ss had ever seen for a Level 5, his understanding of things might very well be just as limited.


    He might not know how to deal with Ss'' telekinesis at all.


    Ss'' fist shed and his pauldron roared through the air.


    Nerion''s eyes only had time to widen before his head exploded into a rain of gore.


    His telekinesis could now exhibit over almost 1200 points of Physical on up to 150 pounds. If he pulled on his Gluttony Seed, he could easily add another 50 pounds to that... enough to


    knock a grown man off his feet with a single pulse.


    Ss put Nerion''s corpse away and rushed forward.


    He had nothing but speed on his mind, and if things were the same as every other round, he knew that he only had stronger and stronger challenges ahead.


    Luckily... the worst challenge he faced was the buffeting of the wind around him.


    The experience of the people he faced was too limited. Their stats were absolutely ridiculous, making it clear and obvious that humans were certainly not the apex creatures of Earth,


    whether that be in Physical stats or Mental ones.


    However, in this case, it simply didn''t matter.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss ripped through one after another, gathering their corpses and plowing his way forward. He spent not even two minutes on the first seven stairs...


    But then he stepped onto the eighth.


    Across from him was a shirtless man who wore a seal-skin skirt. He stood even taller than Nerion, and across his robust chest was a pattern of scales that reflected a gorgeous array of blues, almost like the sun reflecting off the surface of ake you could see clear to the bottom


    of.


    Ss made the same move he always did, bum-rushing the Clypsian with his telekinesis and rushing forward to deal a death blow with his pauldrons.


    However, this time, it didn''t work.


    His telekinesis dispersed as it crashed against the chest of the Clypsian almost like wind gliding across the surface of an aerodynamic vehicle.


    The muscr Clypsian looked down at his chest, raising an eyebrow as though he was slightly surprised by something. When he looked up, Ss had already cut the distance between them by half, but he still seemed to be in half a daze.


    Suddenly, he punched out.


    BANG!


    Ss'' pauldron and the Clypsian''s fist met. The man frowned a bit, clearly feeling some pain. But Ss'' pauldron was sent rebounding into the distance.

 Chapter 413: Eighth

    Chapter 413: Eighth


    ?


    Ss appeared before the Clypsian, unleashing the attack of his second pauldron as the first recovered. At the same time, he geared up a kick, ready to fade into abo in the first


    instant.


    But the man reacted first. His fist suddenly shed, vanishing from Ss'' vision and his visualization only to appear right before his nose.


    Ss had never seen such a skill before, and he was somewhat doubtful that it was a Skill at all. He didn''t sense any Aether at all.


    Was it a Gene Talent?


    BANG!


    Ss couldn''t dodge. The fistnded solidly on his face. If not for his upgraded Aether Skin, he might have even suffered a fractured skull.


    His head whipped back and he allowed the momentum to carry him back into a backflip.


    Three ballista bolts appeared in the path of the Clypsian, exploding across his robust body and barely causing him to take a single step back.


    Ss regained his bearings, his ringing ears and stinging nose barely managing to calm in a few seconds.


    The Clypsian, though, was still a step faster. His body shed much like his fist before had. This time, his hand chopped down like an ax, carrying a blinding arc of Aether along with it. For a moment, Ss thought he was facing off against a metallic man.


    The cold was beginning to seep into his bones and goosebumps red across his skin.


    He was getting slower.


    He was so close but the oppression of this cold was too much. Had he not upgraded his Will, he would already be an ice statue.


    Ss'' Aether circted in a violent torrent and he activated <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    Since he couldn''t end this battle early, he would have to force this man into a battle of attrition... one he could hopefully end more quickly than not.


    He suffered another blow to the gut on purpose, focusing instead onpleting the Skill. However, he was shocked to find that it wasn''t worth it.


    What should have been his most potent poison bounced off the body of the man much like his telekinesis had.


    ''Is this Rune Soul? Is his Will just that high? Is it a Comprehension?''


    It was hard to think when all the air in his body had just been forcefully expelled. One of his ribs snapped out of ce and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    The Clypsian was fast to follow up, appearing by Ss'' side as he rolled against the ground. His foot rose high into the skies and he smashed downward with an ax kick that shed so quickly it almost looked like a guillotine falling from above.


    Ss barely managed to push himself out of the way, making himself lighter and using his telekinesis and a push from his arm and tail all at once. Thanks to that, he managed to push himself more than seven meters out of the way.


    He glided backward on the balls of his feet, blood leaking from his lips and his gaze sharp and serious.


    This man was strong. Even if he wasn''t wasting so much of his Wisdom and split minds defending against this cold, he would be hard-pressed to find an easy path to victory.


    Ss took a breath, his mind bing unprecedentedly focused.


    He was going to have to give up something to gain something.


    <Mirror Step>


    His body separated into 10 clones and he immediately began to feel the harsh cutting of the winds as he diverted his attention away from it.


    He rushed forward as Azrael''s sword appeared high in the air, separating into several shadows all at once.


    His clones and himself circled the Clypsian from every direction.


    Ss punched out, and though he was in front of the man, his Aetherflow managed a fist from behind him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Who said his telekinesis only had to follow one direction? Even if he punched from the left, his power could just as easilye from above. This would give the illusion that all of his clones were real.


    The man was taken aback, having been pretty sure that they were mirror images. And because this time Ss was using Basic Aetherflow, the man couldn''t dismiss his telekinesis nearly as easily.


    The sword shadows fell from above and the man was suddenly wary. It was hard to tell which one was real now. He didn''t trust his eyes.


    BANG!


    At that moment, a ballista bolt suddenly appeared beneath his chin and knocked his head upward.


    A sword shadow fell from the skies and the man''s eyes opened wide... as it passed right through his forehead without causing even the slightest hint of damage.


    A cold sweat matted the Clypsian''s back as he realized he couldn''t tell what was real and what wasn''t anymore.


    He was bombarded from all sides by attacks. Realizing that he couldn''t remain so passive, he lunged at one of the clones but ended up hitting nothing but air.


    Ss'' gaze only became colder and colder, sending out a series of punches, kicks, and sudden ballista bolts to knock the man off bnce.


    The man suddenly unleashed a roar that dispersed a pulse of Aether in all directions, but Ss was ready for it. He had seen people counter him in this way far too many times.


    He cast <Arctic Howl Mutant> at the same time and the man found himself frozen for a brief


    instant.


    A counter skill came soon afterward, but the moment it did, a ballista bolt knocked his head


    to the side in a rain of splinters and exploded wood.


    At that same instant, another sword shadow fell from above.


    The man swiped at it, frustrated and thinking it to be another fake...


    Only for <Momentum Shift> and Ss'' Gluttony Seed to spear it right through his throat.


    The man''s eyes widened as the sword shattered on impact, its Durability having run its


    course.


    However, not before the sword''s tip was lodged into his neck.

 Chapter 414: Please! [Bonus]

    Chapter 414: Please! [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss gasped for breath, immediately turning his Wisdom back to fending off the cold. But...


    He looked down at his hands that had already begun to turn an ufortable shade of grey and blue. Just moving his lips slightly caused them to crack.


    He had known this would happen. Reflecting the cold winds took up too much of his mind,


    and if he was going to overwhelm an opponent with illusions and tricks, that was exactly the talent of his he needed to lean into.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This time, though... it was a necessary evil.


    He could only hope that the ninth challenge would be easier.


    Without time to waste, Ss'' jaw set and he pulled himself up. Gathering his things, he moved to the ninth stair and leapt up.


    ...


    Ss pulled himself up to see the samendscape as always: an icy ne with harsh snow falling from above.


    As for what was across from him, it was yet another Clypsian and the second woman he hade across on this staircase.


    Much like the man on the eighth staircase, she wore a skirt of seal skin. The only real difference was that she also had a chest band of seal skin across her breasts as well.


    She stood tall, her hair braided into a thick pattern that left a single ponytail trailing down to almost her ankles and a crown on her head.


    There were an odd pair of earrings hanging from her sharp ears. At first nce, they seemed normal, but whether it was his eyes or his visualization, Ss couldn''t see a line connecting the ear piece to the crystal dangling just above her shoulders. It was like they were held together by an odd maic field rather than tangible materials.


    The woman was shorter than the man, but she was still about the same height as Ss. Her body looked like a lean machine. Whether it was her exposed quads or belly, each was absolutely cut.


    However, her stats...


    [Nosphaleen Tideborn (FFF+)]


    [Level: 6]


    [Physical: 282]


    >[Strength: 282]


    >[Constitution: 282]


    >[Dexterity: 282]


    >[Speed: 282]


    [Mental: 1484]


    >[Intelligence: 1722]


    >[Wisdom: 1064]


    >[Charisma: 1666]


    [Will: 997]


    It was the first time Ss had seen someone with Physical stats so simr to his own. Not only in the fact they were so low, but also that they were very clearly being limited by a Stat Limit and nothing else.


    Her Mental stats were simply off the charts byparison. And this clearly didn''t include any Comprehensions she might or might not have.


    She was a true monster.


    And much like Nerion, she didn''t seem to be eager to attack. Though Ss did have the intention to end this battle as quickly as possible, she spoke the moment he appeared.


    "You''re from Earth..." she said softly.


    Ss felt his heart twitch but the light in his eyes quickly solidified. This seemed to half surprise Nosphaleen, but she smiled soon after. It was simply breathtaking and for a moment, Ss thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen until he shook that off as well.


    A frown furrowed his brows. ''Charisma? A Mental attack...''


    This woman''s Charisma made his own feel like a joke. She didn''t even seem to be actively targeting him, but he still almost fell.


    Some of that was due to the fact his mind was a bit fatigued. But Ss didn''t like that feeling at all.


    He circted Madness and there was a sudden wall of energy that pulsed around him. In that moment, his Will crossed countless barriers, moving to 4001 stat points.


    The woman suddenly took a step back as though she had been rebuffed by something. This time, her beautiful smile was reced by true shock.


    Though she was still beautiful, it wasn''t nearly as exaggerated as the image in Ss'' mind before. For a moment there, he would have done anything to make this woman happy, and that wasn''t a feeling he had even toward Cassarae, let alone this Clypsian he had never met before.


    Inwardly, he was quite relieved, though. He could feel that this woman likely had a special Comprehension as well, not much different from the man on the eighth staircase. If not for the advancement in his Will, he wasn''t sure if he would be able to deal with her.


    But now...


    He felt that victory was well in hand.


    Ss took a step and was about to elerate forward when the woman held up her hands in fear.


    "I''m sorry! It justes naturally to me, I didn''t do it on purpose. Please don''t kill me!"


    Ss was speechless. This wasn''t something that he could decide. Even when he promised to save the man on the first staircase, he realized soon after that that might not even be possible.


    He had a feeling that this was another act by the woman, likely a method of enhancing her charm. However, he still came to a stop. Not only did hee to a stop, but he dismissed his Fusion, lessening the pressure on his body a great deal.


    He exhaled a breath of relief.


    Even without the Basilisk King''s fusion, his Will was still over 3050 with Madness activated. He wasn''t worried about being harmed by the woman, but her actions at least gave him the chance to not push his body beyond repair.


    "If you can do three things, I don''t mind letting you live," Ss said indifferently. "First, you have to find a method to save yourself. I have no way of progressing unless I kill you outright. Second, the only way I let you out of here without killing you is if you''re subordinated to myself for the next year. I don''t need your word, I need a contract. And third, you have to tell me everything about the Clypsian and the Dogons."


    Nosphaleen peeked through her fingers as though to make sure that Ss was telling her the truth. Then she sighed a breath of relief. However, she soon felt at a loss. How would she get


    out of here?

 Chapter 415: How Badly? [Bonus]

    Chapter 415: How Badly? [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss stood and waited, circting his Aether to try and recover from his injuries while keeping an eye on the woman before him. His gaze was sharp, and he didn''t let his guard down for even a single moment.


    There were ways to circumvent the system. For example, when he enved Lleen, he had effectively taken her from Vayu''s team and put her onto his. So he knew that it was possible; it was just that the envement contract he used only had one use left, and obviously he had used it. If not, someone with Nosphaleen''s stats would be more than worth it.


    He almost regretted that he had wasted it on Lleen even though he knew it was thanks to that choice he had made it so far.


    Unfortunately... he was watching as Nosphaleen''s panic was bing more and more obvious. Clearly, she didn''t have a solution to all of this either.


    Ss slowly shook his head. It seemed that this could only end one way.


    He was about to make a move when he paused.


    ''Maybe?''


    When Ss signed a contract with Brisa he had learned something new. Agreements could be made through the system, agreements where the system would be the arbitrator and witness.


    He had thought that Brisa would bring out a contract, but instead he saw a system window instead.


    The drawback to such methods was, obviously, therger the gap in power between two individuals, the easier it was to break a contract. The system wouldn''t bepletely fair. Brisa had technically, by extension, been taking a risk by signing a pact with Ss at all.


    The strength gap wasn''t decided by overall stats, but rather Mental stats in particr. In such a situation... Ss waspletely out-matched.


    It wasn''t like he could keep Madness activated all the time, and even if he did, thergest boost would be his Will, whereas Will was separate from Mental stats.


    Ss wondered if he should take such a risk at all. Maybe it would be easier to just kill this woman. Plus, the number of Genes she could provide to him should be astronomical.


    He hadn''t counted up how many Genes he had gathered up until now, but other than the Sylph corpses, he had wasted all of the ndestine Ape corpses by turning them into nutrition pills, so that left him with just these Clypsians to benefit from. Of course, there was also the beast Gene Core that Brisa had given him.


    If he had Nosphaleen''s corpse, he might be able to hit the quota he needed for his 200 Capacity Gene Crystal in just this one Dungeon.


    Of course, there was also the chance she had Silver Genes, in which case her Genes would be "useless".


    It was also possible that he already had enough. He had nine corpses from Vayu''s team, four from Aerwyna''s, and now eight Clypsian corpses, on top of the Level 35 Gene Core.


    Logically, he should have enough now.


    It was a matter of whether he valued the information she could give him more than the risk of bringing her along and having her escape from his control...


    Ss knew the moment he thought this that his decision was already made.


    This information was too valuable.


    Ss tried to trigger the system pact between them, only to be stunned by the result. ''Failure?''


    Ss was taken aback. It shouldn''t be something that was difficult to do. Was he missing something? Lacking something Brisa had? Or...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I see...''


    He understood. After their failure, the Clypsians were no longer the alpha creatures of Earth, and as such their ce in the system''s hierarchy was knocked down several pegs.


    It was likely that Nosphaleen was already incapable of Leveling up with the same ease, and in terms of system pacts, she couldn''t sign them either because the system didn''t see them as equals in the first ce, regardless of what her stats were.


    ''It seems that I''ll just have to kill her. Even if she has Silver Genes, Extricate should give me some shocking insights nheless.''


    Ss shook his head and took a step forward. This time, he wasn''t going to hesitate anymore. Nosphaleen panicked when she noticed the change; however, the attack came too swiftly. <Stunning Spike>.


    A surge of pain ripped through her head and she was frozen in ce.


    Ss closed the distance by more than half, but then he felt a strong Comprehension suddenly be employed. In that moment, her Charisma skyrocketed and she shook free of his <Stunning Spike> in an instant.


    Ss had already expected as much. He was already within range.


    He struck out with a palm, sending a pulse of telekinesis at her.


    She subconsciously blocked from the front, leaving her back to suffer the blow.


    ''Herbat knowledge is next to nothing,'' Ss thought.


    Her body came flying toward him, but at that moment, she unleashed a shriek. The scales across the top of her chest and corbone expanded and her green-blue eyes gained a vertical


    slit.


    Her hair began to whip about with an array of rainbow-like colors, almost like northern lights in the night sky.


    All at once, her body was coated in a mysterious energy that seemed a lot like telekinesis but still felt somewhat different. She froze in the air, defying allws.


    At that moment, four circr des rose from her back and shed down toward Ss from all directions, but by that point, Ss had suddenlye to a stop, his eyes shining so bright they seemed to be emittingsers.


    Holding up a hand, his telekinesis shed with Nosphaleen''s and the four disk-shaped des froze in an all-out push and pull of tug-of-war.


    Ss blinked, his mind whirring.


    "... How badly do you want to get out of here?" he suddenly said.


    Nosphaleen, who had already entered a battle state, didn''t even know what he was talking


    about. In fact, she was pissed that he had suddenly attacked her like that.


    "I would do anything." Her voice almost came out in a hiss.


    "Are you willing to be a beast?"


    Ss'' words caused Nosphaleen''s eyes to open wide.


    The moment Nosphaleen had transformed, Ss had sensed her Serpentes characteristics,


    even to the point he felt like his Beast Totem would be partially effective on her.


    He thought this was good news. She thought she had gotten stronger, not knowing that he could easily suppress her to a state even worse than before because of this.


    But then he had another idea.


    If Nosphaleen was so close to his Beast Totem working on herpletely... how close was she


    to being a snake?


    And if she was truly so eager to leave this ce... would she be willing to be something other than a Clypsian?


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder. If he used Extricate on enough of a person''s Genes, or carefully selected them properly, could he change a person''s entire Race?


    Could he make this Clypsian a Serpentes and make her his second contracted beast?


    The moment Ss had this thought, he became eager to try it. At the same time, another world was opened up to him.


    He didn''t just have to find Legendary Serpentes... he could make them given the right


    circumstances.

 Chapter 416: A Chance

    Chapter 416: A Chance


    ?


    Nosphaleen didn''t know how to reply to Ss'' words. For one, they didn''t make sense, but it was only natural it didn''t click for her.


    After all, in order to do what he wanted to, Ss would have to rely on not just one, but two Legendary Path Professions. He would need a Taboo Bond for Extricate, and he would also need One Kind For Me in order to make sure that he was on the right path considering he was about to attempt something he never had before.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Acknowledging this, it was impossible for most to just guess what he was going to do.


    However, to his surprise, this somewhat silly woman nodded in the next moment.


    "Whatever it takes."


    Her words carried her will with them. One so pure that Ss felt his own was wholly inferior. He had made great progress, but this woman was very clearly on a tier above.


    Seeing this, Ss nodded slowly.


    He released his telekic control over her disk des and sheplied as well.


    "I do not know what sort of changes this will cause to your body, but be prepared."


    Nosphaleen nodded again. Although she didn''t have the full picture of what Ss wanted to do, she had a guess. The moment he said he wanted her to be a beast, she was intelligent enough to guess that he was a Beast Master of some sort who nned to use this Profession to sign a contract with her and take her out of here.


    What she didn''t understand was how Ss nned on doing this.


    Ss walked to her front and held out a hand. Nosphaleenplied and ced her palm in his.


    With a breath, Ss began to focus, probing around with Extricate.


    The Gene Talent Extricate came in three parts. The first was obviously a sensory perception. The second was an istion ability. The third was the actual Extrication part.


    The first was self-exnatory. It was also thanks to this ability that he was able to sense the Gene Talent of the Arctic Emperor Bear even though he couldn''t Extricate that. Well, that and his own amplified senses to his body.


    The second was a bit moreplicated, but easy enough to understand. You couldn''t just pluck a Gene out from a body without ruining a bunch of other things. The doctors of Earth knew well enough that one mutated Gene could be enough for a lifetime of horror.


    Extricate was able to iste Genes without dealing with these sorts of side effects... at least to a point.


    If not for this ability, Ss would only ever be able to use Extricate once per creature because after that, the rest of the Genes would end up twisted and ruined.


    Finally, the third was the easiest to understand. It was the process of manifesting the Gene and forming it into its Rune form to be taken out of the body.


    Unfortunately...


    ''As expected. The ndestine Apes are a very special case. Without their unique bodies, I can''t use Extricate on a living being even if they aren''t resisting at all.''


    This was why the system''s hint was so invaluable back then. Without it, Ss would have never thought of such a thing because he had already known that Extricate didn''t work on the living.


    That said... Ss wouldn''t have made such a suggestion if he didn''t have a potential solution.


    He pulled out an orb from his Madness Key. This orb was none other than the nkte, FF- ndestine Ape that Brisa had traded to him. Judging by her reaction, although this thing was only FF-, it was highly valuable.


    Inside, there seemed to be a little baby ape sleeping within a sphere of thick water. From what he could tell, it could live there for years without trouble.


    For now, Ss didn''t take it out. Instead, he used Extricate directly on the orb, focusing until he could pull out a familiar cancerous Gene.


    If there was a fourth aspect to Extricate, it would be the actual process of epting a Gene. While Ss couldn''t pull a Gene out of a living being under normal circumstances or maybe because his Level of Taboo Bond was too low-he could put one in.


    He had done so for Cassarae''s parents and Cassarae. Now, he was going to take this gamble with Nosphaleen.


    He would never put this cancerous Gene into his own body. But since he had a guinea pig here... why not try it?


    He saw Nosphaleen''s pupils tremble when she saw this Rune. Clearly, unlike others who only saw a blob of energy when he yed around with Genes like this, she might have grasped a form of Rune Control herself, allowing her to see it.


    And because of that, she could tell just how dangerous this Gene was.


    Even so, she grit her teeth as Ss pressed it into her chest.


    Her body shuddered and she immediately went pale.


    The first thing she experienced was difort. Her heartbeat became irregr on top of her heart rate increasing, blood seemed to drain and pool in ces it shouldn''t be, and to make matters worse, she felt uncontrobly weak all over as though the Efficiency of her stats had plummeted off a cliff.


    For a moment, she believed that Ss was just trying to kill her, but she was too smart to hang onto such an idea for long. If he wanted to do that, it would be easier to sneak attack her while they were so close rather than doing this.


    ''It actually worked...''


    Ss could feel that Nosphaleen had gotten several times weaker in an instant, but at the same time, he could finally feel her Genes loosen up.


    It was still difficult, but he had room to maneuver.


    If Ss was capped at Extricating Bronze Genes, this would likely not be enough. But he had luckily upgraded his Taboo Bond Path to the point where it could Extricate Silver Genes.


    Now his n had a chance of working.

 Chapter 417: There

    Chapter 417: There


    ?


    Ss was fairly confident in getting this far, but for the next steps, he would be flying blind, not to mention the fact he was on a time crunch.


    He could still withstand the chilling wind for longer, but once he started to focus on this task, it would surely begin to take up his Wisdom. By then, he might start suffering again.


    It also had to be remembered that he had toplete this round within 50% of the time Brisa took toplete it. Or else he would be disqualified and fail the Dungeon. By then, all the work he had done would be useless.


    The good news was that he had only taken a few minutes to get here at most, thanks to the time crunch that had been his fusion time limit. The bad news was that he still wasn''t sure how long this would take.


    But he hoped that the risk would be worth it.


    The first thing he did was truly tap into the senses of One Kind For Me. He wanted to feel what made Nosphaleena Serpentes; only that way would he be able to take away the Genes that made her decidedly not that.


    However, the process was moreplicated than even he had guessed.


    The reason for that was obvious.


    Physical Genes, Mental Genes, and Unique Genes were the only three categories of Genes that Ss knew until this point. But none of them seemed to be particrly "Race specific."


    He could take Strength Genes from beasts and incorporate them into his body just fine, for example.


    The only gray area was Unique Genes that required unique catalysts that might or might not be Race specific. But even then, that wasn''t necessarily the case.


    So what exactly did it mean to be a specific Race? Where were the Genes that differentiated them? Why was he human? Why was Nosphaleen a Clypsian?


    These were answers that Ss didn''t have. However, his focused attention on One Kind For Me was giving him insights he had never seen before.


    ''How... fascinating...''


    As a man of Earth, Ss'' natural instinct toward Genes was inextricably linked to DNA. The DNA was a series of nucleotides, and Genes were segments of DNA and could be either expressed or suppressed depending on one''s stage of life, development, or even various environmental factors.


    Due to this bias, most of the time he thought of the word Gene, as used by the system, to just be used in a more colloquial sense. It was better to think of Genes as power-ups than real Genes because that didn''t make sense.


    However, that perspective began to change somewhat after he saw the Basilisk King''s Gene Sequence. That was the wake-up call, the insightful incident that made it quite obvious to him that the Genes of this "fantasy" world and that of Earth were one and the same.


    That left a question, though...


    How?


    Why could he just take Genes from one Race and incorporate them into himself?


    However... wasn''t the answer obvious?


    The nucleotides that built up DNA were practically the same across most species. If those building blocks were all the same, then wasn''t it only natural that if this system could iste some proponents of it, all Races would be able to benefit?


    In that case, what differentiated the Races?


    It took Ss half an hour before he found a satisfactory answer. It was soplex that without the improvement to his Wisdom, he wouldn''t have been able to tease it apart.


    The simple answer was three words: It was deeper.


    Physical, Mental, and Unique Genes were just the surface. What made certain Races unique was located deeper, a furtheryer beneath. From what Ss could tell, there was actually more than just oneyer.


    Beneath Physical, Mental, and Unique Genes, there was something that he could only describe as a holistic membrane. The best word for it was actually constitution, but he didn''t want to use it when the stat existed.


    Then, deeper than that, there seemed to be a connection to the blood and emphasis on it. Then, deeper than even that, there seemed to be something eerily simr to what he had felt when he firstprehended Rune Soul... something like the mind, or... the soul.


    Ss could actually feel that there was probably ayer even deeper than that, and there wereplications to each one of theyers that he couldn''t quite tease apart.


    What he knew for sure was one thing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Taboo Bond was still far too weak to mess with any of this stuff.


    It felt like he had run into a wall. Would he have to kill her after all?


    He stood in silence, his brows furrowed in concentration. He was so focused that he only had the mind to pay to Nosphaleen and the task at hand. The pain that his body was experiencing from the wind seemed to be nothing more than an afterthought.


    ''Maybe instead of making her less Clypsian, I can try to make her more Serpentes... Or...''


    Ss'' eyes shed and he began to press down Nosphaleen''s body with his Will. By now, she was only half awake. Her body was barely standing upright. If Ss wanted, he could kill her with a single flick of his finger.


    Right now, he was controlling the cancerous Gene, taking hold of it and forcing it to warp and mutate the Clypsian Genes in Nosphaleen''s body.


    Although he couldn''t Extricateyers deeper than the surfaceyer, his ability to maneuver through them was still there. That was disyed with the Arctic Emperor Bear''s Gene Talent. And now... he was going to try it again.


    ''It''s working...''


    Ss could feel Nosphaleen growing weaker and weaker; she even copsed forward and was only standing because he continued to hold her up.


    Terrifying cancerous growths began to spread across her once wless skin, and her beautiful features became twisted. Tumors sprang across her body, but Ss'' gaze only became


    brighter and brighter.


    ''There!''


    Ss immediately circted his Aether and Will, forcing a Contract onto Nosphaleen who


    didn''t even have the consciousness to resist.

 Chapter 418: Mesmeryx

    Chapter 418: Mesmeryx


    ?


    [Your Will haspletely suppressed <Nosphaleen Tideborn>]


    [Contract of Subservience has been formed]


    [A Taming Contract has been formed]


    [Contracts]


    [1. Basilisk King: Lv5]


    [2. Nosphaleen Tideborn: Lv6]


    [Nosphaleen Tideborn]


    [Status: Quasi Death]


    [Loyalty: 7/10]


    -


    [Skills]


    [>Projected Shift (Dormant)]


    [>Dreamy Pupils (Dormant)]


    [>Double Vision (Dormant)]


    [>Charm Veil (Dormant)]


    [>Charm Pulse (Dormant)]


    [>Glide (Dormant)]


    [>Charm Counter (Dormant)]


    [Gene Talents]


    [>Compelling Gaze (Dormant)]


    [>Siren''s Call (Dormant)]


    -


    [Comprehensions]


    [>Mesmeryx Totem]


    [You have subdued a beast of Golden Lineage]


    [100,000 Free Experience Earned]


    Suddenly, there was a glitch in Ss'' system. The words warped and became an ancientnguage of sorts that made him realize that maybe the system had actually been tranting for him all this time.


    Things quickly went back to normal as per usual. However...


    -


    [Penalty essed]


    [80,000 Free Experience deducted]


    Ss frowned. Was he being penalized because Nosphaleen wasn''t a real Serpentes? Why would itg to realize this? Or was it something else?


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have much time to consider because Nosphaleen''s current health was ring. ording to the system, she might as well be dead already. He could only hurriedly put her into the Hibernation Realm.


    This was Nosphaleen''s only chance to survive. The bonus recovery from the Hibernation Realm was about the only thing that could keep her alive for now.


    Although Ss thought about just removing the cancerous Gene from her now, not only would that be moreplicated after he had just forcefully integrated it into her body, but he wasn''t yet sure if that would undo the contract he had with her, or what kind of rebound effect that would have on him.


    Right now, Ss wasn''t even sure if he could extricate the Gene out of her in the first ce. Because he had pushed it so far through thoseplicatedyers, it would likely take a Taboo Bond Level much higher than he had right now to undo it.


    Although he had 20,000 Experience to use now, it would take half of that just to get Taboo Bond from its current Level 4 state to Level 5. And if the trend continued as it was, he wouldn''t have enough Experience left to get it to Level 6 because that upgrade would certainly cost even more.


    ''Her situation seems to have stabilized somewhat...''


    Ss couldn''t enter the Hibernation Realm, likely because One Kind For Me was also too low- leveled right now. But he could see the situation inside well enough if he focused.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Hibernation Realm was a simple space of white fog that didn''t seem to have a beginning or end. The creatures inside were forced into a state of hibernation, much like the namesake of the Realm implied, and weren''t aware of much.


    However, when Ss summoned them, they would be immediately ready to go.


    Through this, he could see that Nosphaleen was stable. In fact, she was even rapidly getting better. However, Ss knew that the moment he summoned her, she would revert back to a


    terrible state.


    This wasn''t all.


    He had imbued the cancerous Gene into most of her Clypsian DNA, which was the very foundation of her being. She was far more Clypsian than she was Serpentes. Essentially, even if he could summon her right now, she wouldn''t be of any use at all, and her stats reflected


    that.


    Most of them weren''t even 10% of what they had been originally. The only exception was Will and Charisma, which only suffered a 20% hit or so.


    However, Ss would be a fool to fuse with Nosphaleen now.


    As for what would happen if he, a man, fused with this woman... he didn''t particrly care. That wasn''t something he would even give a second thought to if it meant that it would make


    him more powerful.


    The real reason he wouldn''t do such a stupid thing was because of the Cancerous Gene.


    Unlike Nosphaleen, he couldn''t enter the Hibernation Realm and might very well end up killing himself in the process.


    However, he couldn''t help but be fascinated by Nosphaleen''s status screen even if basically everything was Dormant.


    was both a movement technique and simr to <Momentum Shift>.


    However, it was far moreplex because it could use a series of illusions and telekic


    applications to disy its might.


    <Charm Veil> was an area of effect mental pulse that was far more focused in its aggressiveness than Ss'' usual passive use of Madness might be, and it was also far stronger


    than <Stunning Spike>, being an FFF-Grade Skill.


    <Glide> in conjunction with his telekinesis might even directly allow him to fly for a short


    time.


    There were so manypelling things here, but he could also see how he was a perfect counter to her. 90% of her Skills were useless on him because his Will was simply too high. The same was truly for Compelling Gaze, her Gene Talent.


    What was interesting, though, was that Siren''s Call, her second Gene Talent, was actually rted to the elements. It was an interesting Gene Talent capable of culling both Aether and Runes alike almost as though she was charming thews of the world. The only limitation was that it could only be used with water-based elements.


    Then there was what caught his attention the most.


    [Comprehensions]


    [>Mesmeryx Totem]


    It was clear that she had a Comprehension; he had already sensed that. But he found it


    interesting that it was described as a Totem.


    ''Mesmeryx...''


    He subconsciously knew what this was. In fact, he felt that he understood far more about it than the Basilisk that had been by his side for so long.


    The Mesmeryx was a Serpentes of Golden Lineage, known for its beautiful silvery, rainbow-


    scaled body and metallic wings. However, its strongest abilities were in its illusion and


    charming capabilities.


    Likely due to One Kind For Me, all of this information flooded into Ss'' mind, and he suddenly realized something else.


    He was only having so much trouble with the Basilisk King because it had a Legendary


    Lineage.


    Helping Nosphaleen to progress would be a piece of cake byparison.

 Chapter 419: Time Rule

    Chapter 419: Time Rule


    ?


    Ss shook his head, knowing that he was wasting his time thinking about such things. First he would need to get out of here and see if he could find another way to help cure her. Otherwise, he would likely end up losing her as a contract.


    On top of that, even if he did manage to keep her, it would require getting rid of most of her Clypsian heritage, which would also mean that the stats he had seen her with earlier would definitely be tossed out of the window.


    She would be much more like a normal Level 6.


    However, there was a silver lining to all of this.


    He had never felt One Kind For Me work so clearly before.


    ''Was it a mistake to not take in weaker beasts?''


    He had made the assumption that the vagueness of One Kind For Me and the Intuition it gave him would be the same across the board. But just now he had practically gotten a flood of information about the history of a beast he had never heard of until he saw Nosphaleen''s stat


    screen.


    Didn''t that mean the weaker the beast''s Lineage, the more prophetizing One Kind For Me could do? And in that case, even if his own Level was stalling, that of the beasts around him just might elerate to untold realms.


    There would definitely be a point of diminishing returns where taking in too many beasts would be a detriment to him instead of a help. But it was also obvious that that point wasn''t here, and it probably wouldn''t be at three or four either.


    ''Right now, the Hibernation Realm could easily take in five total beasts without losing any of its efficacy. When I return, I''ll start investing in this path as well. Maybe it will be what pulls me out of the shadow of always being outnumbered.''


    He still remembered his battle with Aerwyna. If not for being able to take advantage of his Will, he would have certainly lost that battle.


    Why?


    Because he was outnumbered and he wasn''t the only clever person in the world. That uniquebination of wit and numbers... it certainly wouldn''t be thest time he came across such a thing.


    Still, Ss also didn''t want to waste his time on snakes that were too weak either. It would needlessly waste a slot, and since he had to manage the Loyalty of his beasts as well, he couldn''t just casually add them and kill those he didn''t needter. Otherwise, it would begin to cause problems with the others.


    In addition, he could only fuse with one of these creatures at a time. Meaning, if they couldn''t keep up with his stats, they would be worthless to him. The quality had to be there no matter what.


    ''As with all things... the answer is somewhere in between.''


    His gaze shed as he made a decision. He already knew where he would get his third Serpentes from.


    Ss took a step and vanished from the ninth stair.


    ...


    Ss was surprised to find that there was no one waiting. He had wasted over half an hour to help Nosphaleen out, but it seemed that he had still ended up getting here first.


    He shook his head. The only exnation for this was that the opponents they were facing were no weaker than the ones he had.


    The Clypsians were truly powerful... And for Norian, the first Clypsian he had met, to have such a fierce hatred for them, the Dogons were likely just as powerful.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It made one wonder... just how had such people failed the Summoning? How had they ended up here of all ces? And if some of their people had survived, why was it that there was no resemnce between them and current Humans other than the fact they were all humanoid in stature?


    Did they just evolve a different way? Or could it be that this was an example of convergent evolution rather than divergent?


    Ss wasn''t sure. But the one thing he did know was that he had managed to make it through this Dungeon.


    There was only one will challenge left. If he had to go in this state, there might still be some effort he had to put in, but since he got to rest... there was no suspense at all.


    He closed his eyes, circting his Aether to heal his body and activated <Maddened Enlightenment>. Since thetter''s maturity to Golden status, and the subsequent Madness boost to Legendary, it had be maybe his greatest reliance.


    In just a few minutes, his overwhelming Wisdom had already been topped up and he felt like he had just had a refreshing night of rest.


    He had so much time remaining that he actually began to study <Arctic King''s Domain>. Before, it was far tooplicated for him to waste the time on, but now that he was just idle, he might as well.


    He found himself making great progress. Because he had to take fewer breaks thanks to <Maddened Enlightenment>''s progression, he was actually also making record time.


    It should have taken him a few days to get through before, but after just about an hour, he had


    made a surprising amount of progress and felt he was about 20% through.


    But it was at that moment that the shield around him shuddered and he blinked out of his


    stupor.


    He was surprised for a moment before he understood.


    ''She didn''t make it.''


    Ss had been worrying about how much time he had left, but he never considered the possibility that it would be Brisa who was too slow in the end.


    He didn''t even need to be there to imagine just how enraged she probably was. She had given up so much to him in hopes of making it to the end, only to be disqualified due to a fringe rule


    on time.


    Well, that wasn''t his problem.


    Ss cleared the team battle portion without issue, obviously, and then strolled into the final Will challenge.


    He stood before yet another staircase, but this time, there seemed to be the phantoms of warriors waiting for him.

 Chapter 420: Completed [Bonus]

    ?


    Ss took the first step and the phantom surged at him, piercing into his forehead. But the moment it touched him...


    BANG!


    The phantom shattered to pieces, scattering into the wind.


    ''Interesting...''


    Ss took another step and the scene reyed itself. Although the phantoms all lunged differently and had different war cries, their intentions were all obvious.


    ''They are like Astral Will projections...''


    Ss had the skill <Astral Will Fission>, and it was one of his more interesting ones, but he had never thought of using it to attack like this, nor was he certain that he could.


    ''Well, I might be able to. But it seems suicidal. There''s no way to retrieve my Will after it shatters, so I would just be cutting my own Will stat down...''


    Ss was almost casual as he continued to think and walk forward at the same time. None of the phantoms were capable of even making him give them more than a single nce.


    Still, he was finding their methods fascinating to the point he began to study the Runes in the air. Luckily he had replenished his mental state, or else he certainly wouldn''t have the luxury of doing such a thing.


    By the time Ss was halfway through, he realized that he was touching on something incredibly profound. The only unfortunate part was that this kamikaze-style mental attack wouldn''t be worth it for day-to-day battle.


    To take on a permanent loss to his Will, he would have to really be in a dire situation.


    And the worst part was that if he was in such a bad situation, the opponent''s Will would almost certainly be great as well. That meant he would have to give up a substantial piece of his own.


    ''Unless...''


    Ss looked around and found what he was looking for.


    Indeed, as expected, this kamikaze attack also incorporated Ice-Poison into it. What if he could pull back on the amount of Will he used to instead use it as an injection point for Ice- Poison itself?


    His manifestation of Ice-Poison was a Rune. And afterprehending Rune Soul, he understood that there was very much a soul aspect to Runes that couldn''t be ignored. If he could use Rune Soul to attach Ice-Poison to this kamikaze Will attack, with Astral Will Fission as a foundation, he might be able to create a potent mental attack that just might kill an opponent before they knew what was happening.


    Unfortunately...


    It was a great idea but he didn''t dare to test it out. How could he run a test that would require a permanent loss of his Will? Especially since the minimum bar for Astral Will Fission was 100 Will.


    ''It seems I''ll have to wait until the situation is truly dire to know whether I''m a genius or a fool.''


    Ss calmly took thest steps of the Will challenge, rebuffing everything he came across with hardly any effort at all. It felt almost too good, to the point where Ss was looking around to see if there was more trouble waiting for him around the corner even after he had finished it.


    However...


    There was nothing at all.


    He stood in a snowy ne and there was a single bonfire up ahead. However, this time, there was no old man behind it.


    Ss stood around for a long while, but nothing seemed to being.


    ''Is there something wrong?''


    After realizing that there was nothing, and there certainly wouldn''t be anyone following in behind him since Brisa had failed, Vayu was dead, and Aerwyna had escaped, he took a step forward and approached the bonfire.


    Even after approaching the bonfire, nothing happened.


    Ss used Enchanted Schr to look around again and found nothing, so he looked directly into the fire this time.


    What he saw made him blink.


    ''Are those rewards?''


    Ss looked up and around again. But there truly wasn''t anyone, and for a moment... he felt speechless.


    Was he supposed to take his own rewards?


    That was fine, but technically speaking, it was also a bit unfair. If he didn''t have Rune Soul, he wouldn''t even be able to see this and he would even likely be stuck here forever. What kind of Dungeon was this?


    ''This has to be rted to how my Dungeon run was messed with. If this bonfire is analogous to the one outside, then it probably means that either the old Sylph is the one that targeted me, or he was harmed and even likely killed by those that were. But... this is just fine by me.'' Ss began reaching into the bonfire, but he suddenly stopped, a frown marring his brows. ''It''s not a fake me. It''s even far hotter than theva world...''


    Ss sighed inwardly. Why could nothing ever be easy?


    His Aether skin wasn''t likely to be powerful enough to resist this fire. It was a fire that only an E-grade existence like that old man could casually put his hand into.


    ''Seems I''ll have to use my telekinesis again. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong this time.''


    Thest time Ss used his telekinesis to avoid something hot, he ended up trapped in a mirror world and had the sorriest moment of his life. It was safe to say that he still wasn''t quite over that.


    Luckily, this time, everything went well.


    He pulled out four bundles of Runes from the bonfire and they quickly formed into orbs.


    The first thing he saw was armor which almost immediately ticked him off. These Scorned Wraps were truly the bane of his existence. There was no way that was a normal armor.


    However, luckily, the other three items didn''t have a weapon among them, and there were no other armors, so he should benefit at least in part.


    ''Might as well look through them now. There''s no rush to return, and there''s probably only danger waiting for me outside.''


    After making his decision, he was about to pop the first bubble when something changed.


    [Quest "War of Worlds (Legendary)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Legendary]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Rewards]

 Chapter 421: OR [Bonus]

    ?


    Ss'' gaze flickered as he looked at this Quest. Honestly speaking, he had almost forgotten that he was in the middle of one. It was supposedly a Legendary Quest, but it didn''t feel very Legendary.


    However, that was only because of his own bias. After the first leg of the danger was made through, he had pretty much been able to ride that sess to the very end.


    There was also the matter of Ss not quite understanding just where his ce in the world was yet.


    In order to pass this Quest, Ss had to not only rely on a Legendary Path Talent in Extricate, he had to evolve his will to the Tangible Will Realm, on top of having Rune Soul, a Legendary Mastery Skill to rely upon, and an FFF Comprehensionbined with yet another Legendary Path Talent that together allowed him to have a Will that was eight times more than the Dungeon''s requirement.


    Then, even after all of that, had he not had the ability to take the rewards out of the bonfire, he would have been stuck here for the rest of his life.


    To say that this was a Legendary Quest certainly wasn''t an exaggeration. The problem was that Ss didn''t seem to take close shaves with death all that seriously anymore, and even he subconsciously realized that this was a bit of an over-correction.


    Those moments in the world ofva had been the lowest of his life. As a man who prided himself on his own discipline so much, to lose control of himself and his supposed irond Will was a humiliation he would never forget.


    No one had been there to witness it, but he had never been someone who prided himself on the thoughts of others in the first ce. He might be the only one who knows that such a thing happened, but he was also the most important person.


    Now, he made it a point to ovee those hurdles of life and death over and over again.


    Even though he had almost lost his life several times now...


    He felt nothing.


    Rewardsn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [>Complete Path of the Mancer Chain Quest]


    OR


    [>Unlock Dual ss Constitution]


    Ss didn''t look at this screen for nearly as long as one might have thought he would have. He had made his decision in an instant.


    Without even much care as though he wasn''t giving up anything at all, and without so much as a question to the Madness Key, he chose the second route.


    He didn''t feel the slightest regret.


    Choosing the first reward would have meant unlocking a Legendary ss instantly, not to mention removing the guillotine of failure over his head.


    However, for a long while now, Ss had constantly been picking future sess over immediate gratification, and the reason for that was inly obvious.


    The more difficult his route to power, the more effort he put in, the more chance he would have at circumventing the odds stacked against him.


    The Clypsians were such a powerful race of beings. Nosphaleen was only Level 6 yet she had several stats in the quadruple digits. She could simply mop the floor with most of the greatest powers of Earth right now. And yet... they were enved and forced into such a state.


    If it was the Sylphs who had managed this despite clearly being inferior in talent, it went to show just how powerful a great foundation was in this world.


    If it wasn''t the Sylphs, and there was yet another power in the background making these moves... all the more reason he had to be even stronger.


    If he could benefit from two ss upgrades per Level instead of just one, it would put him well on his way to this goal.


    But even now, he felt that it wasn''t enough. He had to be stronger than even this. Otherwise, there was no way he''d be able to carry this burden on his own.


    At that moment, Ss'' body trembled. His pores opened up to the point his sharp gaze could quite literally see them. His blood began to boil and his muscles writhed.


    ''It seems that this Dual ss Constitution isn''t normal at all...''


    The feeling wasn''t ufortable. Rather, it was almost intoxicating. Once again, Ss found a certain object down below engorging itself, and this time he couldn''t control it nearly so easily. It was only bing more intense.


    After he learned he couldn''t easily have a second Comprehension, Ss came to understand that everything in this world was built on the back of Genes. sses were certainly no different.


    A Dual ss Constitution was something that only a very rare few were born with. The weakest Race one could find such a thing in were D-Grade Races, and even then it was an exceptionally small number. Even at the C-Grade, it might only appear in one out of a few billion.


    Of course, this was across an entire universe where people could only be counted in the trillions upon trillions. But that didn''t diminish its rarity in the slightest.


    To have a Dual ss Constitution meant having a special arrangement of Genes that went beyond just allowing having a second ss.


    Ss almost immediately felt several special things.


    First, his Gene Limit was doubled. Although this didn''t apply to his Stat Limit as well, this was huge nheless. This meant that even without absorbing his Gene Crystal, his Bronze Gene Limit had increased from just two, all the way to four, and his Common Gene Limit had increased from 20 to 40.


    Just with this alone, his Body would be in such a State of Wealth-should he max them out, of course that his natural healing factor, his ability to train effectively, and his rity of mind would simply be on an entirely different level.


    It wasn''t just this either. He had opened up more slots for Gene Talents, improved his


    capability in epting them, and as though that wasn''t enough...


    If he wanted to, he could integrate a second Comprehension now even without the Fusion


    Crystal.

 Chapter 422: Dual Class Constitution

    Chapter 422: Dual ss Constitution


    ?


    The feeling was hard to describe, and if not for Ss'' new understanding of his own body in great thanks to Rune Soul, he would have had a hard time putting his finger on exactly what was going on.


    But now, even without asking the Madness Key, he had a fairly good idea of all the benefits he was receiving, and he could only say that it was huge.


    ''Even the impact the unranked Grimde Lineage Gene has on me has lessened considerably. My body feels like it''s even more under my control, and if I started to train using the same methods I learned from Olivia, the results would be double with half the effort...''


    Even before the Summoning, those that were gic phenomes were everywhere.


    Marathon runners all had off-the-charts aerobic fitness. The strongest men in the world had obscene bone density and muscle recovery times. The best sprinters, the highest jumpers, the strongest swimmers...


    Even if some of them might be used of taking steroids, the reality was that no amount of steroids was going to take someone with inferior gics to the Olympics. Even how the body reacted to steroids was a deciding factor in many of these sports.


    Some people could load themselves up on steroid cycles and not feel any adverse effects at all while reaping all the benefits, while someone else might be on theplete other side of the spectrum.


    If Ss had to summarize how he was feeling now, it felt like he had suddenly firmly stepped into the realms of true gic phenomes. At leastpared to his fellow humans, despite still being of an F-Grade Race, he was simply on another tier.


    Out of curiosity, Ss checked his Gene State only to realize that it had been affected as well. Thanks to his Merit Leaderboard rewards, his Gene State was Flexible right now, giving him a 65% chance of absorbing any Genes. While he still had a 65% chance and that hadn''t changed, the duration of this Gene State doubled!


    He had only had two days left in his Flexible Gene State, but now he very clearly had four.


    This was to say that from now on, when he drank Gene State Elixirs, they would actually provide him with double the usual duration. Or in the case it had a set number of attempts like a few he had seen in the past, he would likely get double the chances to absorb a Gene.


    Given the rarity of Gene State Elixirs, especially ones that couldst for a significant period of time, this was huge.


    Thest thing that Ss felt was a loosening of a burden.


    This burden didn''te from the Grimde Lineage, but rather, interestingly enough, from his Legendary Profession and its three Legendary Paths.


    This change was probably what shocked Ss the most. That was because he had never considered what it would mean for someone who couldn''t even absorb Silver Genes to have a Legendary Profession in the first ce.


    Everything in this world was built around Genes, and there was no reason for his Legendary Profession to be any different. So where were all these Genes? And what about him had changed to allow him to have a Legendary Profession in the first ce?


    It was only now that Ss realized that his body was actually a bottleneck for his Legendary Profession. Maybe the reason his understanding of the Basilisk King was so foggy was precisely because his body was so weak.


    Now that he thought about it, this wasn''t the first time his body limited his Profession. After all, ording to his Profession, he should be able to fuse with the Basilisk King for a full eight minutes. But usually, his body began to break down long before he reached that point.


    It was only recently, when he had had a great deal of strength increase, that he could manage this a bit better. But there was no doubt that if he seeded with the Basilisk King''s next evolution, he might be right back to square one.


    This was just the most obvious example, but Ss had never considered that there might be more subtle examples that he hadn''t even considered... Like the Intuition Talent of his One Kind For Me Path.


    Maybe it wasn''t that his understanding of Nosphaleen''s Path was so great, but rather that inparison to the Basilisk King it was so much more clear that he was under the illusion that he knew a lot about her.


    But now, after awakening the Dual ss Constitution, he felt that his previous understanding of the Mesmeryx was a joke.


    He didn''t just have a cliff notes understanding of the Mesmeryx in his mind now; he practically had a full catalog inparison to what he had grasped before.


    Suddenly he realized that if his Legendary Path wasn''t limited, maybe he would know every possible detail about any Serpentes he threw a casual nce at.


    The more Ss thought through these matters, the more certain he was that he had made the right choice. Even if all he gained was a chance to ept a second ss, he would be satisfied. But to gain all of these unexpected benefits on top of it was more than just a cherry on top.


    These were the things he would need in order to aplish what he wanted to.


    Finally, the metamorphosis of his body settled down. Unfortunately, his body was covered from head to toe in impurities and there was no easy method to clean himself off. Though he liked to be clean, he had no choice but to ignore this. It wasn''t like he was in the best of states before anyway.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now it was time to take a look at his other rewards. Since he already knew that it would be useless to him, he popped the armor bubble first and couldn''t help but sigh when he read its


    stats.


    ''Maybe if things go well with Nosphaleen I can just give it to her.''

 Chapter 423: Frostbane Treasures

    Chapter 423: Frostbane Treasures


    ?


    [Frostbane Armor (Bronze) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+100 Constitution]


    [Ability: Frostbane Zone]


    [Absorb Frostbane Aether to repair armor]


    [Exude Area of Effect in <1> meter radius that deals <1> Ice-Poison Damage per second when activated at the cost of 1 Durability per minute]


    [Durability: 10/10]


    Despite being a step below the Basilisk Skin Armor in grade, Ss might even argue that this armor was better. To have both a self-repair function and an AOE attack built in was simply huge.


    Ss had already lost several weapons due to Durability, and would only lose more in the future.


    He couldn''t use his kunai anymore because one more attempt would probably break them, he had just lost Azrael''s sword not long ago, and even the Stabilizing Bracelet, after so many uses, was beginning to take some nicks. He would have to be really cautious with how he used it in the future.


    The obvious tradeoff was that its innate Defense fell off a cliff and likely didn''t scale very high either. But even so, unless he leveled up the Basilisk Skin Armor to ridiculous levels, he would probably prefer this armor due to its versatility.


    Plus, when you took into ount the fact that the Basilisk Skin Armor was Silver Grade, and would certainly require Silver Grade Genes to continue to level up in the future, you would have an obvious position tradeoff that couldn''t be denied.


    Unfortunately, all of that was worthless since he couldn''t use it.


    The silver lining was that maybe Nosphaleen could use it in the future, but he wasn''t yet certain if that would be possible. If things went well, then Nosphaleen would probably lose her humanoid form and thus the ability to use this armor in the first ce.


    ''I''ll make use of it somehow. I''ll also have to find a method of getting my equipment repaired...''


    Unfortunately, his Dual ss Constitution didn''t seem to extend to Dual Profession. But even if it did, he wouldn''t even know how to go about getting the needed Profession in the first ce. Obviously, he had stumbled onto his Vipermancer Professionpletely by ident, and he wasn''t even sure if he''d have the necessary time to give to another.


    Shaking his head, Ss moved on to the second reward.


    It was a fruit that looked almost like a white-blue peach. Its surface was fuzzy like the fruit, but because of its odd color it looked more like an ornament to be ced in the middle of a dinner table rather than actually being part of the dinner.


    That said, the description more than made up for its slightly inedible appearance.


    [Frostbane Fruit (Silver) (Consumable)]


    [Advance Ice-Poison affinity by one Grade up to Silver Grade]


    Ss'' gaze shed. This fruit was perfect for him.


    Right now, his Ice-Poison affinity was only Common. It was only thanks to Rune Soul that he could control his Slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes at all.


    However, because his affinity was too low and his body couldn''t handle it, he hadn''t been able to swap his Aether out with this more powerful version. Due to this, casting his mutant Skills cost more Aether and sapped up a great deal of his Wisdom as well.


    If he had had a higher Ice-Poison affinity, he wouldn''t have suffered nearly so much after his Dungeon had been tampered with.


    Ss didn''t hesitate to take a bite into the fruit. Nothing happened, so he continued to eat until he had swallowed the entire thing, even the seed in the middle.


    It was surprisingly good. Though the fruit looked beautiful, he hadn''t expected to enjoy the taste so much. It was almost a bit spritzy like a carbonated drink, but it had a natural sweetness to it that refined sugars couldn''t match.


    After the seed hit his stomach, Ss finally began to feel the changes. A cool energy pooled through his Aether Pathways and his body felt like it was floating on air.


    That was when something surprising happened.


    ording to the description of the fruit, he should have only been able to progress his affinity from Common to Bronze. But to his surprise, his Dual ss Constitution seemed to have acted again, progressing it to the peak the fruit would allow and granting him a Silver Grade affinity.


    It was yet another pleasant surprise. It seemed that even the medicinal properties of fruits and maybe even Elixirs would go further thanks to his new Constitution.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss looked at his hand and was surprised to find it almost sparkling. He had always taken care of himself in the past, but it was hard to do so when something was trying to kill you every other hour.


    Because of that, his skin care hadgged behind, and it certainly didn''t help that he was covered from head to toe in his own impurities right now.


    But to his surprise, the fruit came with a sort of cleansing effect that froze over those impurities and shattered them into a sparkling rain. That exposed his skin underneath, which now looked even more soft and almost supplepared to what it had been before the


    Summoning.


    ''Fascinating...''


    Ss raised a hand to his head to check something and was thankful that all his hair was still there. Though, it was getting a little long now.


    ''I''ll also need to do something about my clothes...''


    The rags he was wearing had also shattered into shards of ice, leaving him entirely naked. His main problem was that unlike everyone else, he could only wear the most ordinary of


    clothing, leaving them vulnerable to things like this.


    Ss took a breath and swapped out his Aether, feeling a thrumming sensation run through his body as he felt even more powerful. Now, his Aether skin also came with double the


    Defense. This would be a huge advantage in battle.


    Finally, he turned his attention to the second-tost item.


    It was a scroll, and when he popped the bubble, he realized that it was actually a Skill.


    In fact, it was a Skill type he had been meaning to get for the longest time.


    A movement type Skill.


    Unfortunately...


    ''I can''t use this...''


    [Frostbane Escape (FFF-) (Race Skill)]


    [Deconstruct the body into Frostbane Runes and reappear in any location with <10> meters


    with sufficient Frostbane Aether concentration]


    [Note: Limited to Elemental Races]

 Chapter 424: Everything?

    Chapter 424: Everything?


    ?


    [Frostbane Escape (FFF-) (Race Skill)]


    [Deconstruct the body into Frostbane Runes and reappear in any location with <10> meters with sufficient Frostbane Aether concentration]


    [Note: Limited to Elemental Races]


    Ss sighed.


    This technique should be simr to something that Vayu had used. During their battle, he shattered into a rain of ice and then appeared near him, almost catching Ss off guard. However, Ss had luckily been able to grasp where he would appear thanks to Rune Soul.


    He had been very interested in this technique, and this skill even seemed to be an upgraded version of it, but unfortunately he didn''t have the bodyposition to use it.


    The Sylphs were certainly an "Elemental Race," whatever that meant. But humans very obviously weren''t. He would have to find a way to change his Race, upgrade it, or maybe use another method entirely if he wanted to make use of this skill.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Either way, he wasn''t going to have such a chance now. Shaking his head, Ss could only put the Skill away.


    For now, he didn''t learn it. Who knew, maybe there would be an opportunity to sell it in the future. Or maybe he could study the Runes of the skill to figure something else out.


    Ss had a feeling, though, that most movement skills rted to his current ss would probably require this sort of thing.


    Ice-Poison was unlikely to have an ability like <Shadow Warp>. That meant that he would likely need to find a skill unrted to his Arctic Royal ss.


    ''Maybe...''


    Ss'' thoughts drifted to Slow and Freeze. He might be thinking of things too simply, but whether he would get a chance to take such a step... only time would tell.


    Plus, if he could manage to find a worthy chance at a second ss, then it might cover his weaknesses regardless.


    Since Arctic Royal was so heavily defense and control focused, it would be nice if his second ss had more explosive attack abilities. But he wouldn''t snub his nose at a movement and evasion type if its Grade was high enough.


    Ss turned his attention to the final award. It was odd because it looked like a feather carved from ice. It was even more beautiful than the white-blue peach from earlier, and so delicate he was hesitant to even reach out and touch it.


    When he popped the bubble, something surprising happened.


    The ice feather fluttered in the air.


    [Frostbane Feather (Silver) (Consumable Treasure)]


    [Sacrifice to trigger upgrade in Mount or Combat Mount, or turn beast into Mount or Combat Mount]


    [Mutate or rece Aether affinity]


    [Improve Grade to FFF-]


    [Note: Function of Consumable Treasure will depend on the Gene Constitution of target beast. More control will be granted depending on Brand Grade]


    [Uses Left: 1/1]


    ''What an interesting treasure...''


    It was the first ''Consumable Treasure'' that Ss had ever seen, but more importantly than that, it seemed to have a wide range of oues.


    It didn''t specify whether you would be able to turn a normal beast into a Mount or Combat Mount, and it didn''t specify what it meant by "mutate" or "rece" Aether.


    Ss could make some extraptions of his own, but nothing was absolutely certain and it made it quite fascinating... especially this mention of "Branding".


    It seemed that he had to leave a mark of some sort on the Feather so that when he used it, the Mount or Combat Mount created would be recognized as his own. Clearly, a hidden function of this treasure was to also do the taming process on his behalf.


    In the right situation, this could actually save his life and him the perfect mount at the same time.


    ''Improve to FFF - Grade... that''s also a bit odd. What if the beast is stronger than that? Would it just not work? Or would it forcefully decrease the strength of the beast?''


    The Frostbane Feather was a Silver Grade treasure, but it only allowed one use to create an FFF- Mount. There had to be a reason for that.


    It seemed that he would just have to find out the hard way.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled.


    He wasn''t in a rush to use this Frostbane Feather. Like he had said to Cassarae, he technically did have a Combat Mount already; it was just a little less convenient in some ways, but also far more convenient in others.


    If he got a real Combat Mount, he would have to learn how to fight while on the back of a beast. Byparison, just fusing and gaining the necessary stats, or sending out the Basilisk King to fight on his behalf without having to mount it, was far more flexible.


    Knowing that, Ss had a very clear target. If he was going to use this feather, it had to be a Combat Mount that had strong defenses or area control, and most importantly... could fly.


    The convenience of having such a creature would help him tremendously, not just inbat, but to escapebat should he need to. Now, he would just have to find arge bird beast to


    target.


    With that thought, he stored the Frostbane Feather into his Madness Key. The rewards this time were great, though two of them were useless to him for now.


    He was only supposed to have received one of these rewards, so it was bound to be good stuff regardless. If he had only had one chance, and had gotten the armor out of it, there would be


    no room to regret.


    ''Is that everything?''


    Ss looked around again and nodded.


    ''I see. The reason they probably wanted to fight it out should be for the Frostbane Fruit. They were all Level 9, and having high Frostbane affinity before their ss eptances would have been a huge boon to them.


    ''But it''s still odd that it was done in teams of ten, then. Were the others not supposed to get anything out of this?''


    Ss had only just had the thought when a pressure descended from above. His expression couldn''t help but change.


    He did not want to Level up right now!

 Chapter 425: Blossom

    Chapter 425: Blossom


    ?


    Ss could feel what wasing immediately. It was likely that this rush was going to help him to Level up quickly. In fact, he might gain as much as 20 or 30 Levels in one go.


    This blessing was supposed to be something that was parsed between 40 or so individuals with various degrees of help. But not only was Ss in a team on his own, he was the only "team" that had even made it here to begin with.


    With this sort of baptism, he could probably make it to Level 50 in a single go. However, that was the absolutest thing he wanted right now.


    He subconsciously staved off the Mature Aether, using abination of his own Aether Skin and Rune Soul, but the pressure was greater than anything he could have ever expected.


    ''Dammit...''


    Ss'' gaze flickered. He realized already that he couldn''t do this indefinitely. He would end up folding eventually, and by that point, he might as well have epted the entire blessing. Should he just ept it? Having the entire thing was better than failing in thest stretch and only managing to grasp a tiny part of it. If he was going to Level up anyway, he might as well make it to Level 50 in a single go.


    Ss was under no delusions that he would be able to build this perfect foundation at Level 0, making himselfparable to the strongest Races in the universe. His starting point was too low and he knew that.


    This was why he had promised himself that he would start to Level up when his progress stalled too much. But now wasn''t the time. He had just made such massive gains, and he had been about to check if he had the 200 Genes he needed toplete his 200 Capacity Gene Crystal. There was still so much room to grow; he didn''t want to ruin everything now.


    And yet, he was now facing off against something that anyone would die to have but he wanted no part of.


    ''No. There has to be a way to divert it.''


    Ss thought about the Basilisk King, but he dismissed it. This Blessing was tailored to those with Frostbane affinity; it would likely kill his basilisk.


    Nosphaleen was an even worse option. She would copse the moment she left the


    Hibernation Realm, first of all. And on top of that, he wasn''t yet sure if she had Frostbane affinity. She might just be more capable than most in resisting the cold thanks to her Mental stats.


    Suddenly Ss'' gaze shed as he recalled something. Without hesitation, he brought out the Mancer''s Wand.


    By now, it was already beginning to lose some of its luster having not been able to absorb Ice- Poison Aether in so long. In fact, if things continued like this, it would likely revert back to its original form.


    The Mancer''s Wand had no particr affinity. It was capable of working with any and all Paths of the Mancer. That meant that it was able to morph as the situation allowed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, it also gave Ss an idea.


    He was able to learn so much from the Mancer''s Wand after absorbing fringe Ice-Poison Aether from the outskirts of the Arctic Emperor''s territory. What if he had the Mancer''s Wand absorb Aether capable of Leveling up a person to Level 50? Would he have a clear path to understand Ice-Poison to the very ends of the F-Grade?


    Ss inwardly crossed his fingers, hoping the Mancer''s Wand could withstand so much energy.


    And this time, he wasn''t disappointed.


    The Mancer''s Wand began to greedily swallow up the Aether in the surroundings. Under Ss'' guidance, it didn''t hold back in the slightest.


    Ss realized the might of a Silver Grade Treasure at that moment. The Mancer''s Wand didn''t have an obvious method of leveling up, at least not like the other Legendary Path Treasures he had seen.


    [Mancer''s Wand (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Wand allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it and how to improve it. How far you can see down this road will be decided by your own personal insight]


    He couldn''t seem to use Genes to upgrade it like he had seen before. But who was to say that it was incapable of Leveling up at all? Or maybe, because it was only temporarily able to maintain such a Level, it couldn''t be considered a permanent Level up.


    Regardless, Ss found himself in awe of just how much Aether it was absorbing, and just how much Aether a Level 50 would have.


    It pooled together in such a thick concoction that it nearly liquified.


    At the same time, the Mancer''s Wand began to grow, bing much more like a staff. And then from a staff, it seemed to root itself in the air, bing much more like a crystalline tree, exuding gorgeous colors.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    He would be a fool if he didn''t realize that something unexpected was happening.


    In fact, he was only saying Level 50 because of assumptions on his part. He had no idea if this Aether would cause him to fall far short of Level 50, or still be too much to absorb even if he did reach Level 50.


    But what was clear was that the Mancer''s Wand was evolving.


    Soon, it had grown from a wand to a small tree about Ss'' height. It wasn''t just this, but it began to bud, forming a few fruits on its body.


    [Mancer''s Blossom (Silver) (Aether Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Blossom allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it and how to improve it.]


    [Feed the Mancer''s Blossom Aether and it will bear fruit to enlighten your path]


    [Meditate beneath the Mancer''s Blossom to improve Aether Recovery and gain a chance to Level up]

 Chapter 426: CRACK.

    Chapter 426: CRACK.


    ?


    [Mancer''s Blossom (Silver) (Aether Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Blossom allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it and how to improve it.]


    [Feed the Mancer''s Blossom Aether and it will bear fruit to enlighten your path]


    [Meditate beneath the Mancer''s Blossom to improve Aether Recovery and gain a chance to Level up]


    Ss was pleasantly surprised by the change. Although the Grade didn''t change, there was no doubting that the Treasure, or rather the Aether Treasure, was a huge boost to what it had been before.


    This was what Ss had realized long ago. Unless all the variables were the same, it was unlikely for two Silver Grade treasures to be perfectly identical.


    The Silver Grade Frostbane Feather was a bitcklusterpared to its Silver Grade counterpart, only able to create an FFF- Grade Combat Mount at best. By the same token, this Silver Grade Mancer''s Blossom was clearly far more valuable.


    Ss exhaled a slow breath. He had managed to slip away from trouble this time around and had even made another gain.


    The question was...


    ''Will it be ready to put into the Madness Key?''


    Ss had already seen that he couldn''t put living people into the ring. He hadn''t had the chance to see whether he could put living nts and such inside.


    ''It should be fine.''


    He felt like he was worrying too much about it. Instead, he shifted his focus to his Gene Crystal.


    One after another, he took out several corpses and began to assess the number of Genes that he had gathered.


    [Aetherflow (F)]


    [> Silver Gene]


    [Raise Gic Limit to (20) Bronze Genes of a kind or (1) Silver Gene of a kind]


    [Raise Stat Limit to 500 Rtive Stat Units]


    [Gene Talents: Aetherflow (F)]


    [Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others. You have now reached a new step of mastery]


    [+80 Intelligence; +80 Charisma (Silver)]


    [>Requirements to Unlock (Silver)]


    [(22) Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Speed, Wisdom]


    [(44) Charisma]


    [(44) Intelligence]


    [(1) Basic Aetherflow]


    [(1) <Magecraft Title> (FFF+) (Title)]


    After some time and much more experience, Ss hadnded on choosing Aetherflow despite Rune Flow and Skill Flow being enticing in their own rights.


    [Rune Flow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside your body. The Runes of the world are your conduit and thews, abstruse and untouchable to others,e to you of their own volition]


    [Skill Flow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside your body. Layer your Skill, cast multiple at once, and even instant cast. The limitations of others do not apply to you]


    In the end, he felt like upgrading Aetherflow was his best choice, especially since it was the one he had fulfilled the most obscure requirements for.


    He had already gathered the Magecraft Title he needed, and he obviously carried Basic Aetherflow with him wherever he went.


    Beyond this, however, he felt that the other two were either redundant or didn''t synergize with him as well.


    Rune Flow just sounded like an inferior version of his Rune Soul, or rather, what he thought to be an upgraded Rune Breath. And in fact, he was right.


    Even with Rune Breath, he could control Runes about as well as Rune Flow would have allowed him to. With Rune Soul, he was leagues beyond. At best, what he would be getting out of it was the stat boost.


    Byparison, Skill Flow was harder to dismiss. But the issue was that the current stack of Skills that Ss had couldn''t really be used inyers, stacks, or benefit very much from double casts or more.


    Skills like <Arctic King''s Domain> or <Arctic Howl Mutant> were best cast once with proper


    timing.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Even the Skills that would benefit from such a thing were minimal. The only such Skill in his arsenal right now that would fit the bill was <Chilling Scythe Mutant>, but it was less than average among attack Skills and choosing this Unique Gene just for it was an aggressive waste of his time and resources.


    If he had a ss that focused more on attacks, or he had a wider variable range of attack options, Skill Flow might be more worth it. But since he was so loaded with control and defensive skills, it was worthless to the current him.


    That left Aetherflow.


    It was the ability he probably used the absolute most inbat now, and an upgrade to it would certainly bring him to an entirely new level. This time when he returned to the Grimdes, he would be more than prepared for anything that was thrown his way.


    ''There are 23 of each Physical Gene and 29 of each Mental Gene from the Sylphs. The Clypsians are the true boon. There are 26 of each of the Physical Genes, and 32 of each of the Mental Genes from them even though they had fewer of them...


    ''That''s 411 total Bronze Genes. I have enough to try the Gene Crystal twice... and I haven''t even looked at the Level 35 Gene Core yet...''


    Ss'' gaze shed when he had this thought. The Gene Crystal was cracked due to his earlier escapades, but it should be able to be used at least a handful more times so long as he wasn''t


    continuously using Extricate on it.


    If he was lucky enough...


    Ss began to load up the Gene Crystal. As he did so, he realized that he wouldn''t have the luxury to use the Gene Crystal twice like he wanted. That was because he was going to have to sacrifice his Title and Basic Aetherflow for this. Meaning...


    He would only get one shot.


    In that case, he would have no choice but to sacrifice the Gene Crystal.


    CRACK.

 Chapter 427: 999

    Chapter 427: 999


    ?


    Ss stood with a stoic calmness as he sacrificed the Gene Crystal.


    He had had fantasies of using the Gene Crystal twice with the number of Genes that he had umted. Thanks to his Dual ss Constitution, if the first Unique Gene seeded, his one Silver Gene Limit would be two, and he would be able to absorb another Silver Gene. Although Rune Flow and Skill Flow weren''t the right match for him, right now he had a ton of potential temtes he could use. There was Winter''s Edge, Rune Soul, he could even use his Slow or Freeze Ice-Poison Rune.


    However, in the end, he felt that he had already taken too many risks. If he lost his Title without gaining it back, his Wisdom would plummet off a cliff. But even worse than that, losing Basic Aetherflow would halve hisbat potential.


    It was an uneptable risk.


    Although he had a 65% chance of seeding, that was a 35% chance of failing. Oddsrger than one-third weren''t something he was willing to gamble on.


    He would rather the sure-fire chance even if that meant he couldn''t use Extricate on it.


    Plus, there was a silver lining to all of this.


    If he didn''t use the remaining over 200 Bronze Genes...


    He would be able to load up his Genes and his stats.


    Ss'' body trembled and a familiar yet foreign feeling filled him as his Genes were rearranged. He observed the changes as the Silver Gene integrated with him, and for a moment, there was a shbang that went off in his mind.


    He realized that even if he didn''t use Extricate directly, the sensory amplification of Rune Soul and this Legendary Path talent was such that it was effectively the same.


    He felt every moment of his Stat Limit increasing to 500... of his Bronze Gene Limit increasing to 20... and then to 40 shortly afterwards...


    And most clearly of all, he felt new tiers open up to him.


    Silver Genes.


    Now, he had space not for just one... but two.


    Experiencing the first Silver Gene himself, Ss realized just how far the gap was. It was aplete and qualitative change, one sorge that even Extricate couldn''t quite put a neat bow on it.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [ss: -]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 2133 222 (F)]


    [Titles: ...]


    [Physical: ...]


    ...


    [Mental: 517]


    >[Intelligence: 427]


    >[Wisdom: 844]


    >[Charisma: 280]


    [Will: 872]


    [Luck: 22]


    Ss was a bit surprised.


    His Title, Skill Savant, granted him +100% Intelligence. Because of that, the +80 Intelligence that Aetherflow gave him became 160, and that resulted in his Mental stat going over his new 500-point Stat Limit.


    Usually when that happened he would feel a great deal of pain. But this time... he only felt the samefort.


    ''It must be because of my Dual ss Constitution. I can break through Stat Limits more easily now and at the cost of less pain... It''s evenfortable...''


    The more he experienced from this new Constitution, the more he felt that he had made the right decision.


    With that thought, he began to load up his Bronze Genes until they were filled to the brim with what he had on hand. At the same time, his body felt like it was rippling with vitality and strength.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [ss: -]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 2133 222 (F)]


    [Titles: A Tangible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 500]


    >[Strength: 500]


    >[Constitution: 500]


    >[Dexterity: 500]


    >[Speed: 500]


    [Mental: 517]


    >[Intelligence: 427]


    >[Wisdom: 844]


    >[Charisma: 280]


    [Will: 999]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-); Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-); Master Counter (FFF-); Arctic Howl Mutant (FF+); Chilling Scythe Mutant


    (FF+)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Flexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: (20) Strength (F); (20) Constitution (F); (20) Dexterity (F); (20) Speed (F);


    (20) Intelligence (F); (20) Wisdom (F); (20) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Enchanted Scribe (F); (17) Strength (F); (17) Constitution (F); (17) Dexterity (F); (17) Speed (F); (17) Intelligence (F); (39) Wisdom (F); (17) Charisma (F); (40) Will (F)]


    [Silver Genes: Aetherflow (F)]


    [Gene Talents: de Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Winter''s Edge (FFF-); Aetherflow (FF+)]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss took his time to use Extricate on each and every one of his new Genes. Even when he felt like there were diminishing returns to the enlightenment, he did so anyway, feeling the shock and awe that it could bring him, and the deeper understanding of his stats that came with it. But to his shock, his Will actually reached a bottleneck at 999.


    Ss had noticed that his Will would have a Stat Limit long ago, but he had continued trudging along without ever running into it. But now he suddenly had.


    Now that he thought about it, despite having Mental Stats that were all in the ridiculously


    high quadruple digits, Nosphaleen''s Will had been at 997.


    Was that a coincidence? Or was 999 a universal cap to everyone?


    He had a ridiculous 20 Common Will Genes and 40 Bronze Will Genes, and a Dual ss Constitution, on top of having a Tangible Will, but he couldn''t break through this Stat Limit?


    Something about that felt...


    Off.


    Now that he thought about it, he had never run into anyone with a Will stat past 999... other than himself when he fused with the Basilisk King.


    He subconsciously made a move to ask the Madness Key about it, only to freeze moments


    later.


    ''A Taboo... This...?''


    Ss felt an anger he had already suppressed on this Will challenge rising up again.


    Someone was messing with his Will?


    He had never pegged himself as someone with a reverse scale. But if he were to ever have


    one...


    It would be this.


    He didn''t like the idea of Will being a stat at all. That was already touching his bottom line.


    But Will maniption?


    That was absolutely uneptable to him.

 Chapter 428: Extricate Lv5 [Bonus]

    Chapter 428: Extricate Lv5 [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss stood in silence for a long while before he managed to settle his emotions. The indifference on his face practically became etched in stone as he stood in a stoic sort of silence.


    All he could swear was that he would one day figure all of this out.


    After a breath, Ss didn''t make a move to leave just yet. Instead, he turned his attention to his 20,000 Free Experience points and put half of them directly into Taboo Bond.


    By now, he had already realized that Taboo Bond would maybe be his greatest reliance in the future. If he got a chance to upgrade it, he should take it.


    Even if it was once.


    The result, though, deviated from his expectations.


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 5]


    [Experience: 0/20,000]


    -


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv5]


    -


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Genes]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Common> Gene Talents]


    Ss calmed quickly. He realized that he should have expected such a change to begin with.


    It had to be remembered that the cost to upgrade from Lv3 Extricate to Lv4 had only required 800 total Experience. But the cost from Lv4 to Lv5 had jumped by more than ten times.


    It was only natural that there would be a qualitative change of sorts, and clearly that was represented here.


    Unfortunately, the Experience cost had begun to double again, but this could only be expected as well. There was no doubt that into the future, Taboo Bond would be by far his most expensive Legendary Path to upgrade.


    But the results were more than worth it.


    ''The question is... what does it mean by Common Gene Talent?''


    Ss had only ever seen Gene Talents between F- and FFF-, could it be that they were all considered Common?


    The only way to see was to test it on himself, so he did exactly that. He turned his new and improved Extricate talent on himself and started to probe around.


    As expected, he found that he had the ability to Extricate every one of his Gene Talents. It seemed that all of these Gene Talents were considered to be "Common."


    The ranking systems of the, well... system had always been confusing. But ever since he learned that the current system was just a pped-together version of an older model and a new one, he began to ept it more.


    However, every time he came across a situation like this one, it made him realize that something truly big must have happened in the past.


    By almost all metrics, the "old" system seemed to be better. The F- to FFF+ ranking seemed to always be below the Bronze to Legendary standards, and it made one wonder if the creation of this new system caused the loss of a great number of abilities of the past.


    ''Maybe in some sense. But I can''t help but notice that Taboo Bond always starts at Common Grade as though it doesn''t know a Fragmented Grade exists... it''s possible that in the past, while the ceiling was much higher... the floor was much lower as well. If that is the case, this "new" system might be much more forgiving than the old one once was.''


    Ss wasn''t sure of the truth and was just specting, but he also had no skin in thispetition of new and old. All he cared about was what would make him the strongest.


    He would use both if he had to.


    Just as he was about to use his remaining Experience on either One Kind For Me or Were-for- the-Invincible, he paused as he realized something.


    ''I might not be able to get away with Extricating the Grimde Lineage Gene, but can''t I Extricate the de Aura Gene Talent? Maybe that will make me feel better?''


    After having this thought, Ss tried it out.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Hm... it seems tied to the Grimde Lineage. It would be very difficult to separate them without theming out together...''


    The de Aura Gene Talent only came from the existence of the Grimde Lineage Gene. This was clearly different from a Gene Talent that existed on its own.


    However, from Ss'' understanding, there was no Gene Talent that truly did exist on its own. A Gene Talent was like a that caught a bunch of smaller Genes to make them work together to meet its ends. This was why using a new Gene Talent required so much aerobic fitness. It was almost like doing apletely new exercise for the first time.


    This meant that if his Extricate Talent allowed him to pull Gene Talents out in the first ce, there was no reason for it not to work this time.


    As expected, Ss tugged just a little harder and he felt the Unranked Gene Talent separate from his body.


    All of a sudden, he felt several times lighter. And when he checked his stats, he was surprised to find that all of his Physical Stats had actually increased by 20.


    His power surged again and it was almost like a wet cloth was removed from his mouth.


    He could breathe. Truly breathe.


    Ss looked down at his palm to find an amalgamation of twisting Runes. He could see that it was broken in several locations, but it was also far tooplex for him to fix.


    ''To think that the problem was mostly this Gene Talent and not the Grimde Lineage


    itself...''


    Ss had an inkling of what happened. Back then, his Stat Limit had been 50, as opposed to around 25 to 30 like most people, thanks to the Grimde Lineage. But he had also spected that the Stat Limit of the Grimde Heirs might be even higher.


    Now, he had definitely confirmed that.


    His first Stat Limit had increased from 50 to 70, and that was why his stats had suddenly just taken a leap.


    If he was correct, the Level o Stat Limit of the Grimde Heirs was probably closer to 200 or maybe even more.


    However, this also meant that Ss couldn''t just casually take the Grimde Lineage out of his body. It was best he find a Gene Crystal he could use that would swallow it up and rece it with a more perfect version. Or else rather than his stats increasing like now, they would plummet instead.

 Chapter 429: The Last Piece [Bonus]

    Chapter 429: The Last Piece [Bonus]


    ?


    ''Excellent.''


    Ss was happy with the results. At the same time, he was wondering if it was finally about time to invest in improving this Grimde Lineage he was born with.


    No matter what direction his ss was taking him in, because he had Grimde blood flowing through his veins, he was also aware that the foundation of his body was set in apletely different direction.


    After analyzing Nosphaleen''s body thoroughly, Ss realized that the stuff he was ying around with right now was only surface-level. If he truly wanted to reach his highest


    potential, he would either need to find methods of digging far deeper than he was now, or he would have to roll with what he was already born with.


    For now, he wasn''t opposed to doing either.


    Although the system said hisst name was Grimde, he had always thought of himself as Ss Brown.


    Still, that didn''t mean he was averse to using his Grimde blood to benefit himself.


    Anything otherwise would be the pinnacle of foolishness, and he prided himself in avoiding that sort of thing.


    Ss thought about using his Free Experience points once again before just dismissing the idea and choosing to save them.


    Truthfully, he didn''t feel the need to upgrade either of the other two for now, and being halfway to his next Taboo Bond upgrade sounded far more appealing.


    Instead, he took out the various spatial devices and treasures he had gathered and began to take inventory. It was about time he did so.


    After going through everything, he eventually settled on the Level 35 Gene Core.


    [Earthbound Serpent (FFF-)]


    [Genes Detected]


    -


    [Silver Genes: (5) Constitution (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]


    [Yes][No]


    ''Hm. The system doesn''t tell me about Gene Talents until I attempt the assimtion myself. But...''


    Ss reached forward with his senses, activating Madness and <Master Scouting> until he found what he was looking for.


    Earthen Roots.


    It was another FFF- Gene, and this one was a surprising mirror of Winter''s Edge. The function of Winter''s Edge was quite simple. It could separate and iste Ice-rted Aether and Runes in the air. And second, it could sharpen them to a point, allowing one to control a blizzard of des.


    Essentially, it automated what Ss might have to usually do with his Rune Soul, and took a step beyond. It could change the nature of the ice and give it far more piercing power.


    If Ss had to describe it, it was about the same as a Treasure with +50% Piercing power, or in other words, it made Strength about 50% more effective, giving 100 Strength the piercing power equivalent of 150 Strength.


    The good of Winter''s Edge was that it finally shored up one of Ss'' main weaknesses, that being attack strength...


    The bad news was that he could hardly use it for a few seconds.


    Originally, he had gotten Winter''s Edge as a trump card for this Dungeon, but not everything worked out the way you wanted it to. He ended up faring better when he didn''t use it. Though, it had been a bit useful on the Will challenge stairs because of the added control over the Aether in the surroundings. But not being able to use it for long really hampered him.


    An FFF- Gene Talent was the equivalent of an FFF- Skill at Legendary Mastery. Winter''s Edge also scaled with his Intelligence, which was currently 427. That meant that without any outside input, a single burst of Winter''s Edge could easily do about 700 or so Attack Damage. The best part was that it was continuous, doing that kind of damage at least once every couple of seconds. It was even possible that if he mastered it enough to the point he wasn''t gasping for breath after a handful of seconds, he might be able to incorporate some poison aspects as well.


    Unfortunately, the drawbacks were also obvious and he had a feeling that Earthen Root would be simr.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    When he said that Earthen Root was a perfect mirror of Winter''s Edge, he meant it. It worked the same, separating the Earth-type Aether from the air and using it. But this time, rather than an act of attack, it was one of defense.


    Earthen Root, though, was a little more forgiving. It would add the Earth Aether directly to his Aether skin, and he would be able to maintain it for at least a few minutes at a lower cost than what it would take to trigger it.


    However...


    ''This is thest piece.''


    Ss'' Intuition Talent shed the moment he touched it.


    The 450 Capacity Gene Talent Crystal. The Basilisk Skin Armor. This Gene Core.


    Those were the three pieces he needed to help the Basilisk King evolve once again.


    He had known that he needed just one more piece, but he didn''t expect that he would be handed that piece by the enemies of Earth.


    Realizing this, Ss chose to store away the Gene Core instead of absorbing the talent though it would surely help him.


    Compared to having this Gene Talent that would have him gasping for breath, what if he could have a Bronze Grade beast to call out to battle with him?


    With the increase to his stats, he could definitely fuse with a far more powerful Basilisk King without issues now. And even if he couldn''t... if this evolution allowed the Basilisk King to be a Bronze Grade beast, he might not even have to do any fighting personally at all. ording to the Madness Key, Bronze Beasts, true ones and not quasi ones like he had fought twice until now, were existences it took entire armies to bring down.


    If the Basilisk King became so strong, he wouldn''t even need to waste time gathering new creatures to use.


    It seemed that he would have to return to Casstle Main first before going back to the


    Grimdes.


    ''That should be everything...''


    Ss looked toward the blooming tree and ced it inside of the Madness Key. Luckily he was


    correct and there didn''t seem to be any problems. However, he could also tell that the tree


    was a bit restrained and suffocated.


    ''I''ll have to find a better vessel for it. Let''s go.''


    Ss manipted the Runes of the bonefire to step out.


    But when he did, he found an airship waiting in the skies for him.


    Aurion and Aerwyna.

 Chapter 430: Internal Struggles

    Chapter 430: Internal Struggles


    ?


    Ss looked to the skies, his expression calm.


    For some reason, he felt a great deal of pressure when he met Aurion''s gaze, but that didn''t cause him to falter. Instead, he calmly looked to the side where he found Brisa, who still seemed to be steaming from how things ended.


    Not only had she lost two valuable items, but she hadn''t even been able to make it to the end. However, she also didn''t dare to me Ss for it either.


    For her to lose on time was something that she still couldn''t wrap her head around. Just how strong did Ss have to be to aplish such a thing? Had they let him win?


    No, that was impossible as well. Even if they came from the same world, the chains of the system affected them all equally.


    Of course, they had yet to confirm that Ss was from Earth. As of now, they were still in the dark about exactly which of the Summoned Worlds he came from. So Brisa felt that this was actually even less likely.


    After sweeping his gaze through everyone, Ss seemed to realize something and then indifferently turned his attention to the bonfire.


    His eyes narrowed when he saw the corpse of the old man, and certain things he had guessed earlier were confirmed. Inwardly, however, he felt that this was actually quite good for him.


    ''So the Sylphs have such internal struggles. Good.''


    Weaknesses of the enemies were positives to him. If there was such a sh, he could take advantage of it.


    Back when Licirius tried to recruit him, he had exposed this potential underbelly, but he had only been specting.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Now, he was even more certain.


    His Rune Soul moved and he was about to leave this ce when a pressure fell from above.


    It was powerful, more powerful than anything that Ss had ever felt before.


    "Hand over the Clypsian and you may go."


    Aurion''s voice came from above, indifferent andmanding. He carried an icy cold that matched the crystals that seemed to coat his hair.


    [Aurion Stormveil (???)]


    [Level: 21]


    Aurion frowned as he felt Ss scan him. It wasn''t the scan that was the problem, but rather that he felt Ss had actually seeded in part. Just how powerful was his Mental?


    He had felt that it was beneath him to even attempt to scan Ss, but when he acted, his pupils couldn''t help but constrict.


    [Ss Grimde (???)]


    [Level: 0]


    He only seeded in part?


    A Level o?


    Aurion was floored, but by the time he recovered, Ss'' body was already vanishing. Thetter hadn''t even taken Aurion''s threat seriously.


    The only chance Aurion had of getting Ss to do what he wanted was intimidation and preying on Ss'' ignorance. Unfortunately for him, Ss was aware that if Aurion actually made a move, even if he managed to kill Ss, he would die soon after under the system''s wrath.


    Aurion had been prepared for this and had a death guard of sorts that would act in his stead. But what he didn''t expect was for Ss to be so decisive inpletely ignoring him. Then he had been stunned by Ss'' stats, or ratherck of them, and he forgot to hand out the order.


    By the time everything was settled, Ss was gone.


    Aurion stood in silence for a long while. However, he had long since regained his calm. "Find out which world he is from. We will need to be ready to deal with it," he said calmly.


    Then, without so much as another word to his fianc¨¦e, his ship rose into the air and vanished over the horizon.


    Brisa and Aerwyna looked to one another, their silence speaking a thousand words.


    ...


    Ss appeared at the bottom of ake and almost immediately frowned.


    One would think that he was thinking about Aurion''s intentions, but that was only a small bit at the back of his mind. That was because something else caught his attention immediately.


    Why was thiske so cold?


    All things considered, the Ice-Poisonke should have felt like warm tap water to him at worst by now, considering his new stats and his upgraded affinity. But...


    Ss'' pupils constricted. ''I lost four months?''


    This time, Ss was using the system to measure the time that passed, taking advantage of its date and time being synced to Earth.


    ''... I see...''


    Thest time Ss lost such arge chunk of time it was because of the Slithering Madness Dungeon. At first, he thought it was just an odd quirk of the Dungeon, but what if...


    That Dungeon and this one both transported him away from Earth?


    He would have no way of knowing one way or another.


    In that case, was Earth in an elerated time warp as well as being targeted from so many


    sides?


    Ss couldn''t help but feel the walls caving in.


    These things were so far above his pay grade he didn''t even understand how it could be possible. And worse than that, what about Earth was truly so valuable to be worth all this


    effort?


    Now that he thought about it, how were the Clypsians so powerful? And if the Dogons were their rivals, how had Earth produced two such powerful Races of beings despite only being a Grade 10 Bronze World?


    Things weren''t adding up, and the more he learned, the more pressure he felt.


    Ss'' jaw set and he shot up to the surface.


    BANG!


    Hended on the water, his clothing nowhere to be seen. He had no choice but to take out a seal skin beast skirt from one of the male Clypsians and put it on while the rest of his skin glistened with chilly waters.


    His eyes sharply scanned the region and he found about as much as he would have expected considering he had been gone for four months.


    The entirendscape had changed.


    But what was even more troublesome was that he couldn''t afford to return to Casstle Main now, not when he had no idea how things had changed on that side, and more importantly... what Lucius might have done in his absence from the Grimdes.

 Chapter 431: Legendary Paths Might

    Chapter 431: Legendary Path''s Might


    ?


    Minutester, Ss was still standing on the icyke. However, he now had one Arctic King Bear in his right hand and an Arctic King Cobra in his left.


    Blood dripped down from his fingers and drizzled into theke, forming crystal shards of violet blood as they froze over.


    Both were Level 19s... and they didn''tst very long in his hands at all.


    Ss raised up the Arctic King Bear and squeezed down.


    PA.


    Its head shattered into a rain of blood. Though, while it looked like he had done it with pure strength, it was instead because of Winter''s Edge.


    In a region of such high ice Aether concentration, the Gene Talent was far stronger.


    What Ss also noticed was that it flowed much more smoothly in the past, likely because of abination of his Dual ss Constitution and the fact he had gotten rid of de Aura, giving him far more space to maneuver.


    Slowly, Ss raised up the Arctic King Cobra.


    The snake writhed, but its eyes were clearly pulsing with fear.


    Ss had been gone for a quarter year, and it was clear that while these beasts were more intelligent than normal, it wasn''t to the point of truly being human-like.


    Though, honestly, even for humans, such a time was already enough for them to forget. Ss'' Will bore down and the Arctic King Cobra had its ability to resist fall to nothing.


    [Your Will haspletely suppressed <Arctic King Cobra>]


    [Contract of Subservience has been formed]


    [A Taming Contract has been formed]


    [Contracts]


    [1. Basilisk King: Lv5]


    [2. Nosphaleen Tideborn: Lv6]


    [3. Arctic King Cobra: Lv19]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Arctic King Cobra]


    [Status: Injured]


    [Loyalty: 9/10]


    -


    [Skills]


    [>Arctic King''s Domain]


    [>Chilling Scythe]


    [>Arctic Howl]


    -


    [Gene Talents]


    [>Fleshly Swallow (Dormant)]


    [You have subdued a beast of Common Lineage]


    [10 Free Experience Earned]


    -


    [Arctic King Cobra (FFF)]


    [Level: 19]


    -


    [Physical: 580]


    [Mental: 651]


    [Will: 603]


    Ss took a breath as arge amount of information filled his mind.


    ''Interesting...''


    The history of the Arctic King Cobra was far shorter. It was a beast native to Earth and seemed


    to have only mutated into existence thanks to this Ice-Poison pool.


    But what was fascinating was how they had gotten here in the first ce.


    ording to the Ice-Poison venom pouch introduction he had read back in the Nexus, the


    Arctic King Cobras had evolved first and then migrated to cooler regions.


    That made sense. After all, snakes were cold-blooded creatures; they couldn''t handle the cold unless a mutation urred first. So, Ss had epted this exnation without much pushback.


    However, ording to his One Kind For Me Legendary Path, this wasn''t what happened at all. ''Someone created them on purpose. And they did it in order to protect the Dungeon down below.''


    Ss looked toward the Dungeon, his eyes narrowing.


    There was only one group that could do this. Well, that wasn''t exactly true. But, Ss was still more than 90% certain, given the information he had now, that the culprits were Azrael and whoever was backing him.


    In all likelihood, it was rted to the System City that was nearby.


    But why?


    ''This isn''t the only oddity. How did Aurion know that I woulde out with a Clypsian? How did Lauren know that Cassarae had the Luck Ne? How did Licirius know where the Paradise Portal would appear?''


    He had run into such situations many times in this world by now, situations where his enemies seemed to have almost omnipotent knowledge about things they should have no


    understanding of.


    Ss wouldn''t even be surprised if Guiz City had only been targeting Cassarae so harshly precisely because they knew of her Quest.


    ''Four months...''


    Losing so much time meant that not only did he have much less time to work with, but Cassarae was really riding a razor-thin margin. He had to make sure his family was alright and


    return as quickly as possible.


    If that meant falling out with Lucius... then so be it.


    There was a reason Ss hadn''t made the decision to go nuclear on the Grimde family just yet, and that was because he knew that Lucius'' thoughts and that of the Grimde family


    might not align.


    The Grimdes were looking for the best and most trustworthy heir; that''s why they were choosing between those three. However, Lucius wanted to make sure that he was that heir.


    If the Grimdes were making the decisions, then there was no way they would choose to alienate Ss. At least not so overtly.


    Lucius was putting his foot down because that was his chosen approach, and because he felt that he had to. The more Ss struggled out of his control, the less of a chance he would have


    of maintaining the pecking order when the time came.


    However...


    Four months or not, Ss had long since slipped out of his control.


    Ss turned back to the Arctic King Cobra.


    It had been chosen by the person that forced its evolution precisely because of its higher-


    than-average intellect and its high Constitution.


    However, this person had neglected one thing.


    The King Character of the Arctic King Cobra.


    The Arctic King Cobra was simr to the ndestine Apes, but forpletely different reasons. The ndestine Apes adapted to any extremes, but the Arctic King Cobra suppressed


    all extremes.


    Meaning...


    Ss pressed a finger to the forehead of the Arctic King Cobra and closed his eyes. He


    breathed in slowly and exhaled.


    If one could see inside the body of the Arctic King Cobra, several of its Genes were being rearranged, shifted, and changed. At the same time, Genes from the Arctic King Bear were rising up and fusing into it along with Ss'' own personal Ice-Poison Runes.


    He had already felt a moment of rity when he used Insight on a Mesmeryx. Butpared to


    that, it was leagues easier on a Common Beast... to the point where theplicated Genes that Ss couldn''t even begin to manipte in the past were like y putty in his hands.


    And in just three hours...


    [Arctic Emperor Cobra (FFF+)]


    [Level: 19]


    -


    [Physical: 942]


    >[Strength: 1075]


    >[Constitution: 1023] >[Dexterity: 790]


    >[Speed: 821]


    [Mental: 933] >[Intelligence: 1523] >[Wisdom: 831]


    >[Charisma: 545]


    [Will: 996]


    A subtle smile curled Ss'' lip. It was that very same giddy feeling he used to get as a child when hepleted a difficult puzzle... long before they became too easy for him to care about


    anymore.


    The feeling of aplishment was something he hadn''t felt in a very long time.


    What truly made him happy wasn''t the fact his Intuition had worked so well. No. The reason


    he was so happy was because he was correct.


    When he first saw the list of Legendary Paths, he hadn''t been sure which to choose. But after reading the cumtive total of all possible Beast Master Paths, he came to the conclusion of choosing Were-for-the-Invincible, One Kind For Me, and Taboo Bond, not because they were individually powerful, but because he knew that together they would be a truly monstrous


    combination.


    And now, he was proven more than correct.


    Without the Insight Talent One Kind For Me gave him, it would be impossible for him to see through suchplicated Runes at his level.


    But, without Taboo Bond, even if he could sense those Genes, he wouldn''t be able to directly


    change them.


    And even if he had those two Talents, without the Hibernation Realm, it would take years for


    his new Arctic Emperor Cobra to adjust to its new evolution.


    But now... it wouldn''t even take five minutes. With a wave of his hand, the Arctic Emperor Cobra vanished.


    It was time to return to the Grimdes.

 Chapter 432: Bloom

    Chapter 432: Bloom


    ?


    Ss practically glided across the surface of the snow. There was no point in summoning his Blue Cyclone Horse because it was simply too weak. Its maximum Speed wasn''t even 400, but his own was now 500.


    Plus, this was a good opportunity to get more used to his new stats.


    In truth, he didn''t have much to get used to at all. After experiencing Extricate on so many Physical and Mental Genes, even if his stats hadn''t improved so much, his understanding about body control, and his own sense of self, was far beyond what most people of Earth could even fathom.


    Every stride was almost elegant as all the muscles of his body fired in unison. His tendons tensed, the fibers of his body pulsing all at once. Whether it was the pump of his arms or the flex of his ankles as they hit the ground, it was all in perfect harmony.


    The same parts of his foot hit the ground again and again, the angle of his arms and the almost careless looseness of his fists didn''t shift in the slightest.


    He looked like a textbook representation of the perfect run...


    And he left a blur in his wake.


    Before, it had taken him over a day to make it here even while riding a Mount. But in just a few hours this time, he was already seeing the endless snowy ins wane somewhat.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''The animals have be far more powerful.''


    There hadn''t been many Level 10 beasts in this region when he first made his way through. They were powerful, like the mammoths, for example. But their Levels weren''t particrly high.


    However, on the run back, he had seen several above Level 10.


    He was eager to know what Level the best of humanity had reached by now. He wouldn''t be surprised if it was pushing Level 30, or worse.


    And that would certainly make the System City elites even more powerful as a result. After all, their Levels were capped depending on the best Earth had to offer.


    Things had gotten moreplicated.


    This was twice now he had gotten out far ahead, only to be reset by time. And unfortunately, like most things in this world, he couldn''t control it.


    Still, it gave him confidence. They had a seven-month advantage on him...


    And he doubted they could pose a threat at all without their numbers'' advantage.


    ''The Africor Continent Portal should be in that direction,'' Ss thought to himself as he entered the forest of tall evergreens. ''The System City''s there, and Lucius'' city should be in that direction. They form a triangle between them... if I''m too careless and I run into a no- man''snd between them all, it could cause some trouble. But...''


    Ss cut right through.


    Although it didn''t show on his face, he was feeling a bit antsy. If anything happened to his little sister... truthfully, he wasn''t sure what he would do.


    Most of the time, he was so even-keeled and nothing fazed him. But it was hard to tell what would happen when he was pushed over the edge.


    Ss'' ears twitched as he caught the sound of battle. Without hesitation, he bolted in that direction.


    With a leap, he stamped a foot against a tree trunk, shattering its bark before making it to a high branch in a single bound.


    He pressed down and leapt to the next tree, leaving a blur of emerald green in his wake as he cut his own weight in half.


    His Speed became a fold more Effective as he crossed dozens of meters with single pushes of his leg. Thebination of his new Physical stats and more powerful telekinesis was showing their worth in spades.


    It took him no more than half a minute to lock onto a battle that had been over a kilometer away. There was no doubt in Ss'' mind that he could easily outpace a vehicle now, and in terms of agility, he would leave one in his dust.


    ''Bloom.''


    It was a queer sort of coincidence, but the first people he ran into were none other than his pair of sibling "handlers."


    Bloom brandished her spear, weaving in and out of Mark''s defenses while thetter manned his shield.


    They were outnumbered, facing off against six opponents. But the opponents themselves were the oddities. That was because they were an odd mix of human look-alikes and demons.


    The demons were wolfmen, or werewolves, whichever or how to parse the difference didn''t mean much to Ss. All he needed to know was that they stood on two, digitigrade legs, had the heads of wolves, and thick tufts of fur that formed an almost sharp mane.


    And the human look-alikes...


    ''Sylphs.''


    Ss was very sensitive to their auras now even though they were clearly restrained and in disguise. The slight blue aura he could seeing whenever they used Aether was a dead giveaway.


    ''And they''re over Level 20 now...''


    Ss thought about it for a moment, standing high in the trees. He pressed a palm against the thick bark, steadying himself as the branch beneath him swayed beneath his weight.


    He didn''t particrly care about Bloom and Mark''s life and death. In fact, he had already deduced that Bloom had probably caused more problems for him than not. She had seen through a lot of his secrets ahead of time, and she was clearly a powerful warrior as well as a trusted aid to Lucius.


    But on the other hand, he truly wasn''t prepared to fall out with the Grimdes yet. At least not until he could find a method to bring his family under Cassarae''s care.


    Unfortunately, that would be far easier said than done...


    Somewhat.


    He already had a bit of a n for that as well, though it would depend on Earth''s current situation and how much the Aether ne had fused with it.


    However, as Ss was thinking, the choice was made for him.


    A Sylph suddenly looked up, locking eyes with him and unleashing the fastest arrow he had


    ever seen.

 Chapter 433: Hiding

    Chapter 433: Hiding


    ?


    The arrow was sudden and sharp, appearing before Ss so fast that the sound hardly registered at all. And yet...


    Ss reached out and grabbed it. The arrow viciously spun in his palms, but his Aether Skin turned it to ice. The spinning slowed beneath his Ice-Poison Runes and a cancerous growth of blue patterns raced across its surface.


    However, before his Ice-Poison could turn it to ash, his Scorned Wraps were first.


    PA.


    The arrow exploded into a rain of fine powder, obscuring Ss'' visage somewhat before fluttering down toward the ground.


    ''Okay...'' Ss thought silently as he stepped forward into empty air.


    He began plummeting from the skies, seemingly making himself a live target.


    The archer realized this quickly, but Ss was still a step faster. His Gluttony Seed activated first and deflected a powerful arrow to the side. Then he sent out a pulse of telekinesis that seemed to act as an extension of his arm, pushing him out of the way of a second.


    By the time he hit the ground, the archer hadn''t had the chance to fire a third before he was obscured by Mark''s figure.


    Ss raised a finger and the two arrows spiraling wildly in the air, the two that he had just dodged, were forcefully severed from the archer''s control.


    The Sylph''s eyes widened, but Ss was too fast.


    Even without fusing with the Basilisk King, the Physical of his telekinesis was over 600 now with Madness activated.


    And it showed.


    The arrows whizzed through the air, curling so fast around the trees that the only one who spotted them was the archer who had fired them in the first ce.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t speak nearly fast enough tomunicate with the others. BANG! BANG!


    The heads of two wolfmen exploded, only for the bone axes they had been carrying to be easily plucked from their grips and spiral into the chests of two more of theirpanions.


    The eyes of the two remaining Sylphs widened and they instantly sent out pulses of Aether to block Ss'' next round of telekinesis, but that did little to deter Mark, who sent out a pulse of his own.


    A shield bash attack countered, and Bloom''s spear snaked through the air like a streaking silver star.


    Ss drew two fingers across the air and two normal <Chilling Scythes> rushed forward, causing enough of a distraction for the siblings to finish the job.


    As thest Sylph fell, the two stood there gasping for breath.


    They were in quite a sorry state. Mark was covered in blood, presumably having had to take the bulk of the punishment for his sister. However, Ss could see that one of Bloom''s wrists was terribly bruised and she had barely been putting any power into that arm.


    At a nce, it was clear that they were ambushed. But it couldn''t be that simple, or else with the skills of these two, they wouldn''t have been caught so t-footed.


    Eventually, the siblings managed to finally look over at Ss.


    Truthfully, he looked a bit ridiculous by modern standards... or even logical standards, but there was no doubt that he was in the best shape of them all.


    He wore nothing but what looked like a soft, seal-skin skirt. He didn''t have any shoes on his feet or a shirt on his back. His gaze had an icy green hue to it, and although it felt like a trick of the light at first, the more they looked, the more certain they were that his eyes were well and truly glowing... although only slightly.


    Byparison, the two of them were decked out in the best treasures and armor that money could buy at this point in the Summoning. And somehow, they still felt inferior.


    They could feel Ss probe their stats, but they didn''t even have the right to resist.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [Mark Grimde (FF+)]


    [Level: 21]


    -


    [Bloom Grimde (FFF-)]


    [Level: 21]


    Ss looked at their stats in more detail. Other than the fact their Grades seemed to have ticked up by one, they really weren''t that impressive.


    Bloom''s best Physical stat was her Dexterity, but that was only 453 stat points, while her best stat overall, Intelligence, was just barely over 500.


    Byparison, Mark''s Constitution was almost 600, but he didn''t have another stat over 500.


    However... their stats weren''t everything.


    Not only did these two also have de Aura, the first time Ss met Bloom, he had sensed her Comprehension. Now, he could feel it even more clearly.


    On top of that, there was all the equipment they were wearing.


    Scanning them one by one, their stats were an average of over 600, with their best clearing 700. Mark''s Constitution, shield and armor included, was almost into the quadruple digits. By now, the gap between those with good equipment and without was bing ringly obvious.


    The siblings felt a little ufortable with Ss'' stare. It was very rude to simply scan someone like this, but it also wasn''t something that most could pull off.


    They had counter Skills, Mental protection Treasures, and all sorts of other tricks and gadgets. But they seemed useless before Ss'' eyes.


    Mark was the first to clear his throat. "Ss, we''ve been wondering where you''ve been. Holy hell, you really saved our bacon this time."


    "I was dyed by some matters and got stuck in a Dungeon," Ss replied. "I was only able


    to return now."


    The two nodded, but though he was telling the truth, Ss could also tell they didn''t believe


    him.


    "But this situation seems a bit odd," Ss continued. "What happened?"


    The two siblings looked toward one another and Mark sighed.


    "It''s a long story. We''ve really been getting fucked from all sides. Right now we''re on a Quest to secure a trade route, but as you might expect... things didn''t exactly go as nned."


    Ss frowned inwardly. A trade route? That was most likely between Lucius'' city and the System City. But that attack was clearly headed by Sylphs that should also be from the System


    City.


    Odd.


    These two were hiding something.

 Chapter 434: Multi Quest [Bonus]

    Chapter 434: Multi Quest [Bonus]


    ?


    "Let''s finish securing the trade route, then." Ss replied.


    His expression didn''t seem to give away anything, but he could see a twinkle in Bloom''s eye that quickly became shock and confusion.


    Obviously, Profession had failed to work this time. But Ss didn''t expose her.


    With Ss, the duo managed to finish their Quest swiftly. Or rather, it could be said that if not for being ambushed, they would have never struggled with it in the first ce.


    A trade route securing Quest was separated into three aspects. The first was scouting, the second was marking, and the third was sessfullypleting one route.


    They were on thest leg, and if their cargo had suffered any damage, they would have failed.


    Luckily for them, the target of the Sylphs wasn''t their cargo.


    Or so it seemed.


    Ss'' eyes scanned everything he could, taking note of as much information as possible, and he couldn''t help but feel that it was impossible for it to be a coincidence.


    Maybe it was because he was aware that the Sylphs were almost certainly in charge of the nearby System City, but he couldn''t get out of his own head about it.


    Was it really natural for them to go so far out of their way to target a mere Bloom and Mark? In the past, Ss had felt a great deal of pressure from them. But now... he didn''t even take them very seriously at all. He had a hard time believing that the Sylphs would care to.


    But as they were finishing up the route, he got a notification that made his gaze flicker.


    [You have begun to effect change on a Multi Quest. Would you like to steal their Destiny?]


    ''I see...''


    Ss had never heard of a Multi Quest before, but on the way here, he had casually killed more than enough creatures with Bronze Genes.


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <2 Bronze> Genes]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <12 Bronze> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <5 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    The Madness Key had undergone quite a few evolutions since he survived against the Arctic Emperor Cobra. It had already been well over a month since then.


    Luckily, the Madness Key only counted time he personally experienced, or else he might truly be screwed this time.


    But, even so, it was already getting to the point where gathering so many Genes might be troublesome.


    The good news was that it had stopped doubling and for thest while, it had only been needing two extra Bronze Genes a week.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Thanks to this, he found out what a Multi Quest was quickly and confirmed his guesses. They came in two forms, one of which was somewhat simr to a Chain Quest, and another that was a bit moreplex than that.


    The former essentially forced a Quest onto a team of people and each were given legs of the Quest toplete. The Quest would fail if everyone didn''tplete their parts. The only difference between it and a Chain Quest was that the parts werepleted simultaneously instead of in sequence.


    Thetter were moreplicated and sometimes even called Multi Variable Quests to distinguish them.


    They were Quests that could change objectives or alter their difficulty on the fly, somewhat like receiving alternative endings in a video game.


    Such Quests were actually highly sought after because upon triggering some hidden requirements, it was possible to receive rewards far higher than the initial difficulty.


    But, likewise, it was also possible toplete a task far more difficult in exchange for little to nothing at all.


    The question was... which of these Quests were the siblings on?


    And also, what would happen if he epted?


    No matter what kind of Multi Quest it was, there would be several legs of it, with many moving parts. If he stole the Destiny of the whole Quest, then how would he possiblyplete it alone?


    Unless in this context stealing referred to forcefully integrating himself into the Quest and gaining rewards anyway.


    Ss was curious, and honestly speaking, no matter what he did, the Grimdes would be antsy. So why not?


    This time, Ss epted and there was a sudden warp.


    Bloom and Mark frowned subconsciously as though they felt something they couldn''t quite exin, but their reaction wasn''t nearly as fierce as it should have been had they known exactly what happened.


    [Multi Quest Received]


    [Madness Key Gluttony will go into dormancy for <14> days. Hunger will be reduced by 100% permanently.]


    OR... upon Failure.


    [Madness Key Gluttony will double. Timer for Hunger will reduce by 50% for <28> days]


    Ss was surprised when he read these penalties and potential rewards... because they were identical to what he would receive if he seeded in his Legendary Chain Quest.


    It seemed that either this would always be the result no matter what... or this Multi Quest had the potential to truly be something special.


    Whichever one it was, he would likely find out very soon.


    [Evergreen Territory im (Multi Quest) (???)]


    [The Evergreen Winter Forest is home to 223 Demon Viges, three System Cities, and two mysterious powers. It is not well-known for its vegetation, but what itcks in life and vitality, it makes up for in precious metals. Controlling this territory means ess to a wealth


    of mineral and ore deposits.


    [However, this region is faced with a problem. It is the mirror of a continent with climate opposite to its own. Whereas it is dry and cold, its Earth coordinates are wet and hot.


    [This disruption results in a sh of Aether that could potentially ruin bothnds.


    [Lay im to Evergreen, re-align its coordinates, and im its wealth for yourself]


    -


    [Leg 003]


    >[Clear Trading Route]


    ''... I see...''


    This wasn''t a Quest. This was an all-out war.


    But the details simply didn''t matter because with this... Lucius wouldn''t be able to kill him even if he was capable.

 Chapter 435: Originator [Bonus]

    Chapter 435: Originator [Bonus]


    ?


    [Leg 003 Cleared]


    >[Return to Quest Originator]


    When Ss read the word Originator, he felt something stir inside of him.


    The feeling soon became far more substantial than just a vague feeling.


    -


    [Path of the Progenitor Activated]


    [Subordinate Path sensed]


    [Precedence overruled]


    -


    [Would you like to take control of this Multi Quest?]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He followed after the siblings, so neither could see his expression... though, that would not have been likely to help them at all.


    After thinking about it, Ss chose to reject it for now.


    ''Path of the Progenitor... that came from the Legendary Quest.''


    He didn''t receive any reward rted to it, so he had neglected it only for it toe up in the most expected of ways now.


    Ss didn''t even bother to attempt to ask the Madness Key. He could already feel from the slight intention alone that it was a Taboo. But he could also feel that this Path of the Progenitor, while he had yet to truly earn it just yet...


    Was extremely powerful.


    It wasn''t yet time to pick this nuclear option. He would have to see what the state of Lucius'' city was first.


    After all, he needed more from this ce than just knowledge that his family was alright. In a few hours, they could see a city on the horizon.


    Compared to thest time Ss had seen it, it had undergone many changes.


    The thick logs that made up its exterior walls seemed stained with ck ash and exuded a far stronger aura. It seemed to even have a slight deterrence that Ss could feel through One Kind For Me would be effective against his Serpentespanions.


    It was a beast ward, a perpetual one etched into the very walls.


    Judging by its strength, it would work for at least two or three kilometers. It would definitely keep this region safe... at least from beasts.


    They passed through several outposts, and Ss could feel the Aether fluctuations as they quickly sent information back.


    Soon, there was a small team of three rushing toward them. But this team had a man that didn''t look like he had done a day of exercise in his life.


    It wasn''t that he was fat, but rather that he was, well... soft, forck of a better descriptor. He wasn''t skinny enough to benky or fat enough to be obese. But he certainly had a belly and his body was almost lumpy in its constitution.


    The wispy grey hairs on his head went to confirm just how much things had changed. This might have been a war, but this was no longer a frontier of just warriors alone.


    They had definitely expanded in more ways than one.


    Gasping for breath, the lumpy man came to a stop.


    "Is it... finished?" he said between breaths.


    "Yes, the route is secured."


    "I understand..." the man huffed, settling himself. He stood up straight and turned a nce toward Ss.


    Ss could feel that he was being observed. For a moment, he thought of whether he should block or not, but when he sensed something in the distance, he chose the former.


    The lumpy man suddenly staggered backward, blood running down his nose as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.


    Mark quickly reached out and caught him. "Wilfred! What''s wrong?!"


    CLINK. CLINK. CLANK.


    At that moment, in the far-off distance, the seemingly empty city walls became lined with artillery.


    Ss knew what he was seeing. These should be the works of a certain Old English speaker... Archibald. It seemed that now that he was getting far better equipment, what he could create was also likewise shocking.


    Even a casual ballista bolt from these units would carry over 2000 Attack. If it was cranked at the expense of Durability, Ss'' <Master Scouting> told him that it wouldn''t be impossible to hit 3000 Attack a few times.


    The gates of the city shook from a partial open position to a half-open one and a small troop of a dozen marched out. At the same time, on the city walls, another group appeared. This one had Lucius and three others, two of which Ss recognized.


    The first was Nathan, Lucius'' first pick and the self-created billionaire who had created several sessfulpanies thanks to his AI algorithm.


    The second was Lucius'' third pick, the one he took after Ss. It was a young woman, and she was a historian who went by Ivy, if he recalled correctly.


    She was somewhat special, but he had only heard vague retellings of what she specialized in from conversations others had spoken about. He wasn''t exactly sure what made her worthy of being picked by Lucius, but all things considered, he didn''t know much about Nathan as well. He wasn''t the one who carried all their information and made decisions about where to draft them, after all.


    The troop of a dozen on the ground was quick to surround them, and Bloom and Mark seemed to understand that this was all for Ss as well.


    They distanced themselves from him and the two guards that hade with Wilfred were likewise on high alert as they unsheathed their weapons.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss wasn''t actually too surprised about all of this.


    If it was possible to hide Ss'' feats, then he might have been willing to pretend like Ss was on a mission he had sent him out for. But not only was that not in his personality, but that ship had also long since sailed.


    Ss bet that while he was away... some other shocking truth bombs had fallen.


    If he got Merits for killing a Quasi-Bronze Beast, he would have certainly gotten another for killing the second. And if Merits were about contributions to Earth, then defeating the Sylphs would certainly be another... especially after his Dungeon was tampered with.


    Ss was more than just a little bit correct.


    Although he was no longer the sole possessor of the Merit list... the distance between himself


    and everyone else might as well have been an abyss.


    And on top of that, unlike the Madness Key... treasures given by the Merit Leaderboard, or Leaderboards in general, were decided by Earth''s timeline, not Ss'' personal experience of


    it.


    Ss looked up from the approaching troops and his gaze met Lucius''.

 Chapter 436: Lording

    Chapter 436: Lording


    ?


    Ss could imagine that from Lucius'' perspective, things had spun too far out of control. What he wanted to know now was just how much unteral control Lucius had over the situation?


    Right now, it could be said that he wasn''t truly facing off against the Grimdes, but rather Lucius himself. That said, they weren''t necessarily mutually exclusive.


    For example, Archibald was a huge boon to Lucius, and thetter was clearly using him now. However, the appearance of Archibald had also allowed Lucius to be rewarded by the Grimdes... at least from what Ss had deduced.


    So where was the line, exactly?


    The Grimdes would certainly also be aware of his feats, so how far would they allow Lucius to go?


    All things considered, Lucius was the son of his grandfather''s brother, making him Ss'' cousin, though once removed. Compared to the other Brown-family-callbacks, Ss was actually quite close to the main line. In fact, had his grandfather not left to raise his father, his father would be in Lucius'' position right now and there would be four heirs instead of three.


    That made all of this even moreplicated because how the family treated him might actually bleed into how they wanted to treat his grandfather.


    Would they stand by a family decision made so long ago even if it turned out to be wrong? Or would they show flexibility?


    Then there was the most important part.


    On the one hand, Lucius might be inclined to not take things too far because the family would likely see him as a valuable asset.


    But on the other hand, precisely because the family knew, the fact that Lucius hadn''t controlled and managed him properly could be seen as a ding to his candidacy for heir, and as such... Lucius might decide to take things too far precisely to prove that he could be managed.


    All of these thoughts were swirling around in Ss'' head. The number ofyers to the situation was deep, and he knew that it was no longer about simple or surface level actions. In fact, depending on what Lucius'' exact thought processes were, even the same action could be either stupid or highly intelligent depending.


    For example... if he chose to attack Ss now... was it because of his ego? Or was it a y at something moreplex than that?


    As for what the true answer would be... even Ss was curious.


    Lucius might be unaware, but despite the pressure in the surroundings, Ss had the means to end this right here and now. All he had to do was point out his new role in their Multi Quest. But... he wanted to see this first.


    "Take him down," Lucius said lightly. "Detain him."


    ''A middle ground choice, hm? Well, that would likely depend.''


    Ss thought about how to deal with the situation as those around him moved. Much of their equipment seemed even better than Bloom and Mark''s, and he could even see that they were getting a boost simr to his Guiz City Titles just by being here.


    Luckily, as a General, he could leave Guiz City for however long he wanted. Otherwise, that four-month disappearance would have truly screwed him over.


    Many thoughts swirled in Ss'' head.


    Should he assert dominance? Should he try to fight back and then feign a loss? Should he not fight back at all?


    Honestly speaking, he was leaning toward not fighting at all, not only for the sake of preserving whatst bit of facade there was between the two of them, but also because he wasn''t naive enough to feel like he was invincible.


    He was fine with being detained by Cassarae because it had, one, given him time to meditate on something he had wanted to meditate on anyway, and two, because he knew she would never actually harm him.


    But who was to say what Lucius might be capable of after catching him? He wasn''t to the point where he was omnipotent just yet.


    However, tearing off thatstyer of facade would also put his family in harm''s way.


    Ss took a breath, his gaze flickering.


    Unfortunately, he still didn''t have enough information about what was happening to make the most informed decision.


    And in that case...


    Ss'' gaze suddenly sharpened.


    ... It was time to gamble.


    Bloom and Mark stood to the side, but they were still the first to react. This reaction wasn''t to attack Ss, but instead in realization of what was happening.


    BANG!


    A forceful wave of telekinesis spread out in a booming cadence. <Arctic Howl Mutant>, his new Aetherflow Gene Talent, and his telekinesis formed a all together.


    Theing troop was frozen in one moment, and then blown away in the next.


    Each one was toppled off of their feet as Ss stood in ce, the harsh, cold winds whipping around him wildly as Winter''s Edge pulsed and shrank continuously as though it was ready to deploy at any moment.


    The temperature in the surroundings plummeted as Ss crossed his arms over his chest. Blue Runes danced around him, cracking the ground in a new sheet of ice and spreading out


    like a cancer.


    Ss didn''t move, but he continued to stand in silence, his gaze flickering as though he was still thinking about whether he made the right move or not.


    However, when he did decide on something, he never hesitated.


    Scales began to grow along his body, etched in ck and gold. His aura surged, bingN?v(el)B\\jnn


    even more powerful.


    Clenching a fist, he uncrossed his arms and took a single step forward.


    A tall set of illusory, golden slit eyes appeared to his back, lording over the world.


    .


    He was easily 50 meters from the wall, but in that moment, it felt like he might as well be standing right in front of Lucius.


    BANG!


    The first was too fast, too shocking, too powerful.


    Before anyone could react, the air shattered apart as the sound of what felt like an exploding


    bomb resonated in their ears.

 Chapter 437: Aetherflow

    Chapter 437: Aetherflow


    ?


    Lucius'' pupils constricted as he froze in ce. His head slowly turned to the side, a slight sheen of cold sweat on his back. He had prepared for everything, but he had never thought even a single time that Ss would be able to attack from so far away without even so much as a bow.


    And worse than that...


    A ballista, expensive and painstakingly crafted by Archibald, was sted apart as though a ticking time bomb had just gone off in its internal structure.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Bits and pieces, shards and gears, blew apart in all directions as Ss slowly lowered his fist. However, what was even more shocking than that was that the top of the wall had a trench torn out through it as though a giant had suddenlye from above and taken a bite.


    They all knew exactly how tough that wall was, but now it had been blown to bits from a single strike.


    Ss'' ck scales slowly faded, his eyes twinkling and his arm throbbing. Even after all the upgrades, his arm had actually still be useless after just a single use of


    , but he knew what the problem was. Though, it wasn''t really a "problem" at all.


    His Will had grown considerably, and now the Beast Totem he could visualize was even more insane than before.


    Not only that, but his Beast Totem actually seemed to grow more powerful after he contracted more Serpentes. There seemed to be some rtionship between the two.


    But even this was just one aspect.


    The next issue was that... Aetherflow was simply too powerful. More powerful than Ss ever expected. It seemed that the gap between Bronze and Silver was no joke at all.


    Before, Basic Aetherflow was capable of scaling with his punching skill-not Skill. Meaning, the better his boxing technique, the stronger Basic Aetherflow was.


    When he first got it, his fists were only boosted by a measly 5%. But by the time he got his unfused Boxing Comprehension up to FFF+, his fists had been able to carry a whole 60% boost to his Strength when he was firing out punches with Basic Aetherflow.


    Given his previously weak Physical stats, that was huge. And it was only more exaggerated now that his Physical stats had finally begun to truly catch up with the rest of the world... and even better when his fusion with the Basilisk King was added on top of that.


    But now...


    There was a full 100% boost.


    This didn''t sound like much, andparatively speaking, it didn''t truly highlight the difference between Bronze and Silver...


    And that was true.


    But that was also because the surface-level boost to his punching power was just the tip of the iceberg.


    Not only did he not get a 100% boost, the cost of his Aether had plummeted off a cliff. Before, it would cost at least 0.1 Aether Units to fire off a punch. But now he could send out at least 10 for that cost, which was absolutely absurd considering the current state of his Intelligence.


    Essentially, he could fire off over 4000 punches before his Aether truly began to wane. And yet that still wasn''t all.


    Just now, when his fist appeared, he had freely controlled it to increase in size.


    [Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others. You have now reached a new step of mastery]


    Basic Aetherflow had always been about control, but there had likewise been many diminishing returns with said control as well. But the upgrade from Basic Aetherflow to Aetherflow seemed to have done away with much of that.


    Ss could now directly control the area of effect of his fists. He could expand it and make his power disperse over several meters, or he could tighten it, shrinking his fist size by half and concentrating the Strength into an even tighter point.


    But that wasn''t all.


    If he wanted, he wouldn''t have to disperse the power at all. In fact, just for a little more additional Aether, he could keep the Effectiveness of his fist the same and ratchet up the area of effect.


    Essentially, he could throw fists like he was a giant, making him akin to therge creatures of Earth and their ridiculous Physicals at simply the cost of a little more Aether.


    And it showed.


    His Strength was basically 700 with the Basilisk King added on top. There was a 100% boost from Aetherflow and what must have been an almost +200% boost from


    , which before had only given him a little over a +100% boost.


    Together, that punch alone had had over 4000 Attack... even higher than the absolute upper


    limit of what those fancy new ballista could do on their own.


    And although Ss could only throw such a punch twice...


    Not only was he far more urate and flexible...


    He believed that he had proven his point adequately enough.


    He wasn''t trapped here with them.


    They were trapped here with him.


    And any one of them within a 50-meter range could die instantly if they weren''t careful.


    Of course, by doing this he had also exposed the fact that he could, which would make them ready and wary for the next time.


    But there were also many things that he hadn''t shown he could do...


    They had no idea that on top of fusing with the Basilisk King, he had another Contract. Even though he couldn''t fuse with them at the same time, that didn''t mean that he couldn''t summon them to fight.


    He could fuse with the Basilisk King on one hand, and have a beast a step from Quasi Bronze wreak havoc on the surroundings... and all of that before he even used his greatest trump: the


    Multi Quest.


    All of this was the reason Ss had chosen to take such a step.


    What happened next would depend on Lucius.

 Chapter 438: I Understand

    Chapter 438: I Understand


    ?


    Ss stood in a calm silence, the shuddering air and the echoing BOOM! the only proof of his earlier action.


    The troop of warriors shuddered as they broke free of the temporary freeze, but many of them were still covered in an eerie, stubborn poison. Their attempts to break through were taking up arge amount of Aether a second, and each one felt as though their lives were no longer in their hands.


    Of course, they also had no idea just how much Aether and Wisdom it was taking up for Ss to continuously press them with his Freeze Rune, and they weren''t going to, either.


    The silence was palpable.


    Lucius and Ss looked toward one another, the former having already calmed, thetter having been indifferent all the while.


    If there was one thing that could be said about Lucius, it was that he was worthy of being a Grimde heir candidate. He had been through a lot, and the sticity of his mind was extremely high.


    "What would you like to do here, Ss?"


    Lucius'' voice was steady. He didn''t have to make any underlying threats clear; he was sure that Ss was smart enough to think of them all. Wasting his time doing so would not only be a waste of everyone''s, it would also lower his standing even further in the eyes of those here.


    Ss raised an internal eyebrow. He didn''t expect that Lucius would ask such a question, but he could also see through Lucius'' confidence as well.


    This was a conversation they should be having in private; however, Lucius had chosen to have it here.


    There were two ways to look at that.


    Either he wanted to take this as an opportunity to try and disy that he still had control of the situation.


    Or... he felt that if he asked Ss toe in, too many things could go wrong. Ss could reject, which would force them back to square one and make it into a battle of pure Strength. In such a situation, Ss would likely have a high chance of escaping given the strength he had just disyed.


    From Lucius'' perspective, this was the smartest way to go about things. He wouldn''t force things to the end, and assuming negotiations went well, it would allow those that remained to see that he still had cards to y in his hand.


    But it was a risk... this action also subconsciously put Ss on the same level as him in the eyes of those smart enough to see it.


    By the same token, it pushed Ss toward the center. Did he have the ability to negotiate? Did he know what to say, and when? He had been a Professor, and byparison, Lucius had been sealing multi-million dor deals since he was in histe teens.


    Now, as a man approaching his mid-forties, just how much experience did he have?


    "Only to return to the Grimdes," Ss said calmly.


    "And what does that mean to you?"


    "Exactly what I said."


    Lucius didn''t seem perturbed by Ss'' words.


    "The family works based on a series ofws and regtions. We are a family second and an organization first. We do not have the luxury to be anything else, not with the fate of our world on the line.


    "I asked you to return four months ago and was willing to give you a several-week grace period. However, this sort of dy was uneptable.


    "You do not seem to take me very seriously at all. So why should I allow you to return?"


    "I was stuck in a Dungeon," Ss replied.


    Lucius'' gaze flickered. He thought about the changes to the Merit Leaderboard and felt that Ss was likely telling the truth.


    "Also, even after being gone for these four months, I would say that I''ve still contributed more than almost anyone here."


    Either subconsciously or not, Ss sent a nce toward the trench he had just dug out of the top of the ck-log wall.


    Lucius remained silent for a moment before he turned to Nathan.


    "Nathan, what is our policy about Dungeons?"


    "They must be reported and diagnosed before a team is selected to go in. In the case that there is no other choice but to enter the Dungeon, a detailed report is to be taken and all treasures, Gene Cores, or items of value found should be taken stock of after the fact.


    "Once this ispleted, the individual or team that entered under duress will be allowed to keep 30% of the items, as opposed to the 50% they would get to keep had the Dungeon been reported. They will also not get first choice as they would in thetter case."


    Lucius nodded without much of a change in his expression.


    "However," Nathan continued, "this policy was only implemented after the disappearance of Ss, here. So he was not made aware. And since he has been stuck in such a Dungeon for four months, he also entered first, too."


    "Mm," Lucius nodded, not seeming to mind Nathan''s words. In fact, one would have almost thought they had time to rehearse it all. "That is a fair assessment of the situation. In that case, the rule can be waived, but please keep this in mind in the future. However, there are other rules that cannot be waived. Nathan."


    "Indeed. There are certain taxes and tariffs that must be enforced. In addition..." Nathan sent a nce toward the broken wall and the shattered ballista. "... Borrowed equipment that ends up damaged beyond the Durability allowances must be paid for in full. Either the repair cost in the case of a Durability issue, or in recement cost in the case ofplete destruction." It didn''t take a genius to understand what was happening. A retreat for advancement. They couldn''t allow Ss toe back for nothing even if they had no choice.


    It was righteous extortion.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I understand," Ss replied calmly. "It would be impossible to conquer the Evergreen Territory without such rules. I have no issues."


    They were simple words, but Lucius felt his heart leap to his throat.

 Chapter 439: Merit, Originator, and Progenitor

    Chapter 439: Merit, Originator, and Progenitor


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There was no one who should know the name of the Quest. He hadn''t shared it with anyone. The names the system gave to things were variable. It was based on abination of what people used and sometimes hidden mechanisms that were far moreplex.


    For example, Ss'' first name was decided by the system purely based on what his legal name was. However, his true legal name was Ss Brown, so why did it appear as Ss Grimde to the system?


    He was certainly not the only one who was experiencing such a thing. And most importantly for this case, it wasn''t just something people dealt with either.


    There were certainly various names that people called this ce. Some named it after therge number of Dire Wolves in the region, some extended the name of the Arctic Circle further north to this region, and there were some that even called it Evergreen.


    But thest was not only the most rare of the names; tobine it with the word "Territory" was too on the nose for Ss to have said it by ident.


    Lucius had only learned of the official name of this region after receiving this Quest. It was simply impossible for Ss to know it unless he was privy to the Quest as well... unless there was another wild coincidence that he wasn''t aware of.


    Not sure what to do, Lucius subconsciously checked his Quest notifications to ensure that he hadn''t mistaken something. But that was when he saw something that shook him to his core.


    When had Ss be a part of the Quest''s contingent? He was the Quest Originator; he hadn''t approved of such a thing. How was this possible?


    There was no denying it. Lucius was shaken.


    And he realized now that the calmness of Ss'' reaction wasn''t just because he was rich, and it wasn''t because he felt like he could get away with what he wanted no matter what Lucius said either...


    It was because he already had Lucius by the balls and he knew it.


    Lucius knew more about the Merit Leaderboard than most, and it was inrge part because of it that he didn''t dare to take things too far with Ss.


    Still, he had begun to doubt it somewhat. The number of Merits Ss had already umted simply didn''t make any sense. It made one feel as though the Merit Leaderboard was broken or that Ss had found some sort of loophole to exploit.


    However, right now, he was forced to believe it.


    The Merit Leaderboard was one that measured the contributions one made to their home world. The strongest worlds across the universe were all under the control of one power. Those that were split between several factions tended to be the weakest of them.


    The Merit Leaderboard, in its simplest form, was an easy method of dividing resources and the focus of a world across factions and their leaders. Essentially, it was a method of avoiding all-out conflict and focusing on helping a world to evolve: the true main purpose of the system.


    However, it was also said that when there was a by-far-and-away king or queen, the purpose of the Merit Leaderboard had a chance to change and could provide an opportunity.


    A Merit War that would decide the Emperor of a World.


    Of course... Lucius knew too little about such things. In fact, even the ancestors of the Grimdes knew next to nothing, and these were just tidbits he had picked up on.


    What he didn''t know was that it would take far more than some Stars of Merit to trigger such a thing. For one, one had to actually be the owner or highly rted to the owner of a cityrge enough and strong enough toy im to an entire world in the first ce, and that was just part of the issue.


    All Lucius did know was that having arge amount of Merit allowed you to gain the favor of the system and skirt some of its rules... at least in regard to events of high importance to the future of a world...


    And what was more important than the future ruler of a Territory of the Aether ne? Not only that, but the merging of this Territory with Earth was going to make or break the foundation of two highly important areas.


    There were few things that would be more important to the system than this.


    But what Lucius didn''t know was that it was even worse than this.


    The Title of "Originator," which Lucius was temporarily granted for this Quest, was fluid. It could change, onlysted for a short time, and was only applied to highly specific events like


    this one.


    However, the Title of "Progenitor" represented something wholly different. It ranked even higher than what it would mean to be the Emperor of a World.


    A Progenitor could only appear before a Worldpleted its Summoning. They were an existence akin to the Ancestor of a world.


    Should a Progenitor be sessfully born, their Path of Progress would be inextricably linked to the World.


    On the one hand, this meant that a World''s fate, whether good or bad, would directly be tied to this Progenitor.


    However, by the same token... it would open up a secondary system, one designed not just to advance the Gene State of a person...


    But of an entire World!


    Unlike people, the talent of a World was practically set. It could be downgraded depending on external action, and it could be upgraded slightly with a great deal of effort, but such things took an obscene amount of resources and time that could only be counted in generations.


    However, Progenitors unlocked the system''s favor, allowing them to Level Up their worlds like they would themselves.


    The Path of the Progenitor had been opened up to Ss. Meaning... the day he managed to gain Earth''splete Favor would be the day he was nigh invincible while standing in its


    midst.


    And now, with a simple sentence, he had barely shown Lucius a part of his cards and forced him into a corner in a single move.

 Chapter 440: Communication [Bonus]

    Chapter 440: Communication [Bonus]


    ?


    Lucius gave Ss a deep look. He was already aware that he had been out-maneuvered. There was no getting out of this. The Quest was too important to him. So...


    He smiled.


    "I''m d that we have been able toe to an understanding, and equally as d that you managed to make it back from such a difficult Dungeon. We can iron out the detailster."


    Lucius looked over the wall and toward those manning the gates.


    "Open up the gates. Be prepared for battle."


    The subtle words seemed to be a signal to everyone else. This, of course, wasn''t a green light to attack Ss, but rather implied that he was letting things go because they were in a precarious situation and needed to be a single unit without internal strife.


    It wasn''t long before Ss was escorted into Lucius'' city, and though he wasn''t given any official positions just yet, judging by his amodations, it was less because Lucius wouldn''t and more that it just wasn''t the right time.


    His new living abode was simple, but it had the first instance of running water that Ss had seen outside of System Cities on the Aether ne, and it was almost too big for just a single person, being over 500 square feet.


    Ss had many things he wanted to do, but he chose to wait. And as expected, it wasn''t long before he was escorted to see Lucius once more. This time... in a much more private setting.


    The meeting was too surface-level to bother to recount. Lucius spent much of the time hedging and beating around the bush, but Ss gave nothing away at all.


    However, the two of them weren''t naive men. They realized that this situation hardly made them allies, and it was likely that the both of them would be watching their backs from now


    on.


    Right now, Ss seemed to have Lucius by the balls, but any intelligent person would see that it was far more even than it seemed... that was because Lucius'' pull in the real Grimde family was much greater than anything Ss could manage. In fact, Ss had no presence in the real Grimde family at all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Because of this, Ss had no idea how much Lucius'' word could impact his family. While he held Lucius'' future in his hands, Lucius likewise had cards that were difficult for him to see through.


    Who knew what kind of improvement Lucius had made in this time?


    Ss had to find a way to get in touch with a Nexus soon, because that was the only way he could both im his umted rewards and check to see the current state of the world.


    He would just have to hope for now that Cassarae could hold out on her own.


    That said... the meeting wasn''t entirely fruitless.


    ...


    Ss returned to his living abode and began preparing to set out once again. It was already time toplete the next leg of the Multi Quest, but Ss had insisted on having a method of contacting his family first.


    Now he had one.


    That was the good news.


    The bad news was that Lucius would obviously ce limiters. This device could only be used to connect with one other person''s system and it was permanent. In addition, it cost arge number of Aether Stones to use properly.


    For just a one-minute call, it required ten Aether Stones. And to make matters worse, this amount couldn''t be reced with Aether. It specifically required the refined state of Aether Stones to work unlike his Transmutation Beast Skin.


    Ss wasn''t sure what the difference was, and he didn''t want to particrly find the time to find out. Right now, it wasn''t at the top of his priority list.


    He fiddled around with the device in his hands a bit, realizing that it was a bit moreplicated than he thought.


    For example, how would he pick out the system he wanted to connect to in a sea of people? This seemed to be a bit of a double-edged sword. Either he would fail to contact his family and that would be a positive for Lucius, not to mention an extra card. Or he would seed and expose more of his strengths.


    Right now though...


    He didn''t care because he simply didn''t fear Lucius.


    Although he hadn''t scanned Lucius'' stats... he felt next to no pressure standing before him, and he trusted his Will.


    Once Ss started using Rune Soul, the process was even easier than expected. All he had to do was sort by name.


    The good thing about the system having everybody''s name was that it likewise documented it all. On top of that, Grimde was a unique family name tied to their Genes, making it so that there were only a few thousand people in the world with this name.


    ''So many Grimdes, huh... I guess their reserves run deeper than I even previously assumed...''


    Soon, Ss found the names of his family and double-checked that there was no one else who shared the same name. After some further thought, although it was a bit silly, he chose to connect with his little sister first.


    His thought process was simple: she was probably thest person Lucius thought he would use this opportunity on... and Lucius also had no idea how smart his little sister was either.


    She was far less disciplined than himself, but Ss had a feeling that his little sister''s raw IQ might be higher than his own.


    Unfortunately, the little munchkin took the world even less seriously than her elder brother


    did.


    Soon, there was a flicker and an image formed in Ss'' eyes. Much like his notification pop- ups, he was fairly sure that he was the only one that could see it. In fact, he should be the only one that could hear it too.


    "Ss?" ra''s little face blinked in surprise and then her eyes lit up. "Ss!"

 Chapter 441: Hard and Soft Tactics [Bonus]

    Chapter 441: Hard and Soft Tactics [Bonus]


    ?


    ra''s reaction made Ss smile a little bit. But it was less for the reaction and more for the fact that she was alright.


    "Okay, okay, don''t make too much noise."


    ra seemed to realize something and eventually nodded.


    "What did you do, Ss? You know, I''ve been telling you to get a girlfriend. I hoped it would help you mellow out, but here you are causing me all this trouble."


    Ss'' gaze flickered. He could hear ra speaking clearly in his head, but her lips weren''t moving. In fact, she wasn''t even looking at him anymore, as though she was focused on something else.


    The projection only showed him his sister''s face floating in space. There was no projection of the background or anything of the sort, but if he had to guess, she likely wasn''t in private quarters.


    As expected, the little munchkin was sharp. Even when she called out his name earlier, it was with her intention.


    ''Professor Fembroise was right, I need to treat the system more like a new technology to learn and explore, not much unlike how I would do with a phone. ra seems to have already gotten the hang of it.''


    His little sister had already grown up a lot in thest half year or so. He could practically see the childishness receding from her face.


    He had missed her 14th birthday and he was pretty sure he''d get an earful for that very soon. "Trouble? What happened?" Ss asked with his intention as well.


    "Not much. We''re fine. But this school sucks."


    "School?"


    "We''re being taught by the Grimdes."


    "Is that so? You''re not leveling? What are you learning?"


    "No leveling. There''s this Grimde with a Teaching Profession or something like that. They have an ability called Lecture where they can help people awaken their ''natural'' Professions or whatever by humming out throat-song nonsense."


    "And it sounds like you don''t like that?"


    "It''s stupid. I can feel it. If I ept their Profession I''ll be locked into trash so I''ve been stalling. Though I guess they think I''m pretty useless by now."


    Though his sister didn''t exin much, Ss got the gist of it.


    In all likelihood, there were limits to this Teaching Profession. It wasn''t like it could help everyone awaken a Legendary Path or something like that.


    It was more likely that the cap for the awakened Profession was dependent on how good this "Teaching Profession" was in the first ce.


    "Did it help you figure out what you would be best at?" Ss asked.


    "I can vaguely feel it. But I don''t wanna believe it."


    ra pouted somewhat, feeling a bit irritated.


    Ss couldn''t help but smile again. He knew that face. It appeared whenever she saw something that she didn''t like. But it was also likely to be something that was her fault to begin with.


    "What did you do this time?"


    "It wasn''t my fault!"


    "Mhm."


    "Forget it! I''m definitely not introducing you to Sophie! Stay single forever!"


    Ss'' lip twitched. He had no interest in little girls; why did this little munchkin keep bringing that girl up?


    "Really, what is it?"


    "Don''tugh!"


    "I won''t."


    "You''re lying!"


    "I really won''t."


    ra huffed. "I could only see it vaguely so it might be wrong. No! It''s definitely wrong, I don''t want to believe it. If I had gotten any closer I could feel that my body would subconsciously ept it.


    "The stupid thing is called Barbed Bard."


    Ss blinked, confused for a moment before he rolled his thin lips over themselves.


    Barbed Bard? Was that a profession for little girls with sharp tongues?


    A slight snort came from him before he cleared his throat, looking off into the distance as though he was focusing on something else.


    "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN''T LAUGH!"


    "I didn''t." Ss coughed lightly before he spoke seriously.


    Inwardly, though, he was thinking. This Profession sounded amusing, but it also sounded simr to something else he had seen...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Spellbound Ventriloquist]


    [Your words give life. Infuse your Will and project with your Charisma, giving your voice power others couldn''t fathom.]


    This Unique Gene had been among the three he had before he ended up choosing Enchanted Scribe. And now, it sounded eerily simr to this.


    "I''m such an innocent soul. This stupid system is broken."


    Ss smiled lightly and thought of something.


    This was just amunication method, but there was no reason he shouldn''t be able to send something directly to his sister through it.


    After some finagling, he figured it out and sent the introduction to Rune Mastery item he had exchanged for months ago to her. It cost over 20 Aether Stones, but he felt that it was worth it.


    "You''re right not to ept a useless Profession. For now, study this and see how far you make it. I''ll contact you once every day.


    "How are mother and father? What about grandfather?"


    "They''re fine, but..."


    Ss frowned, seeing his sister''s mood dim a bit.


    "What is it?"


    "Grandpa and dad''s position in the family is a bit odd right now because dad is technically an heir and grandpa is, well... he''s supposed to be part of the big wigs.


    "I''m the only one who''s getting any sort of training and it''s the worst kind. Mom, dad, and grandpa just spend all day in the vi and don''t get to do much of anything."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. "I see... Okay, I will keep this in mind. Go back to school and only use what I sent you when you''re alone at night. Don''t tell mom, dad, and the others about it for


    now."


    "Okay." ra replied but managed to refrain from nodding.


    After that, Ss closed off themunication, his eyes flickering.


    They were in an odd in-between state now. The situation was still stable for now, but unless


    The grew powerful enough to suppress this entire family, he wouldn''t feel at ease.


    Their ability to use both hard and soft tactics to control them was... impressive. ''In that case, let''s start by pressing Lucius beneath my thumb.''

 Chapter 442: However...

    Chapter 442: However...


    ?


    Ss shot through the forest, leaving the team he was assigned to far behind.


    [Leg 004]


    >[Clear Trading Route]


    The mission seemed to be the exact same as Leg 003. But what was interesting was that this was a trading route already owned by another faction.


    The details of the actual mission were only in the hands of the Originator and the individuals said Originator trusted. Everyone else only gained the bare minimum information: location and goal.


    This was clearly another test by Lucius. He wanted to see just how much Ss was able to glean. So, Ss chose to oblige.


    With his Progenitor status, he could see theplete details.


    [Leg 004]


    >[Clear Trading Route. Ebonspire is 70% finished with their Trading Routes and your team has likewise reached this milestone. The final 30% will have to be fought for. Begin by destroying Ebonspire''s Trade Route. The rest will be up to you.]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Ebonspire. Last I saw it, it was ranked fifth on the City Leaderboard.''


    Ss thought back to the poison master, bouncer look-alike he had fought against for the Mammoth corpse he ultimately used to help the Basilisk Kingplete its first evolution.


    He wasn''t sure if it was still ranked so high, but he doubted much had changed.


    After the Trial ended, all the upstart cities had been reced by those from powerful organizations, governments, and families. The only exception was The Enve that managed to hold onto the tenth spot.


    ''That portal I saw when I ran into the poison user should have been to the Africor Continent ording to his dialect. In that case, is this Ebonspire under the control of the Ravenw family?''


    Ss came to a stop high in the trees, waiting in silence as his gaze shed.


    However, he wasn''t very focused on this mission. His focus was instead on how to turn this situation in his favor.


    He could just strip control from Lucius, but that would be a nuclear option. It was a Multi Quest, so by definition, it couldn''t bepleted alone.


    ''... I''ll have to wait for the perfect moment.''


    The light in his eyes condensed as his visualization picked up movement past the dense pack of trees and over 40 meters away.


    ''In that case, I''ll have to force the issue and push it to that point as quickly as possible.''


    ...


    Lucius sat in his office in silence, his finger tapping away. He lookedpletely calm.


    Across from him, Nathan sat, reclining in a chair with a leg crossed over the other. He puffed on a pipe, blowing out borate patterns into the air. But this smoke didn''t seem to have the acrid scent of tobo. It was quite sweet to the nose.


    "I did tell you he was a variable you''d have to ount for," Nathan said after his third puff.


    He hadn''t said these words recently; that would have been too easy. Rather, he had said it after his very first conversation with Ss in the helicopter.


    Lucius hadn''t exactly brushed his words off, but it could be said that the Grimdes knew every detail of Ss'' life. If he was truly so shocking, Lucius would already be privy to such information, and by extension, he would have likely been taken first overall by that sister- cousin of his.


    Still, after Ss brought back Archibald, he had already prepared to take drastic actions to prepare for the future. But no one could have predicted that Ss would end up caught up by the Arctic Emperor Cobra and almost die.


    In fact, there was a long while that they had thought he was dead... until that video of him in Guiz City surfaced.


    Once that happened, Lucius knew that things had likely gone awry, so he took the risk of pissing Ss off bymanding him to return.


    After that, the rest of what happened was obvious enough.


    "How is it?" Lucius asked.


    "You will lose."


    Lucius'' expression finally showed a hint of something. Nathan rarely spoke in absolutes; it basically never happened.


    Looking up, he met Nathan''s gaze to see that he wasn''t joking around.


    "If things continue like this, not only will you lose, but if you push him too far, you will die. The predictive model is at upwards of 97%. I''ve never seen numbers so high."


    "Even with everything factored in?"


    "When do I ever not include everything?"


    "How urate can you be? Even Wilfred couldn''t read his stats; can you?"


    "My model is based on the lowest necessary threshold he must have needed to reach in order


    for Wilfred to not only fail but to also suffer that sort of bacsh.


    "Model A is based on if his cumtive Mental is over 2000.


    "Model B is based on if he has a Mental Comprehension exceeding the FF+ rank.


    "Model C is based on a treasure."


    "And even Model C has a poor result?"


    "Well, Model C is the most variable. But treasures don''t fall out of the sky. They usually end up in the hands of those that earn them. The system isn''t a charity organization. There are certain settings that would make Model C even worse for you than Model A would be."


    Lucius'' pupils constricted. His initial reaction was that Model A was the one he least wanted


    to be true.


    Even the strongest of Earth currently might barely have Mentals above 1000. But 2000? That would make him an absolute monster.


    But Nathan''s words made him realize that he was being far too simple-minded.


    "If it''s Model A, your chances are less than 1%. Model C is most variable, but even under the best settings, you have a 27% chance at most. Model B... well, I settled on giving you a 7%


    chance."


    "Settled?"


    "The trouble with Comprehensions is that it''s not just the Comprehension that matters. If he managed to bring it to Bronze Mastery... well, you''d have even less of a chance than Model A. But the odds that he both has such a high Graded Comprehension and high Mastery were low.


    "However..."


    "However?"


    "If he has a Silver Mastery FFF- Comprehension, you have no chance. A FFF Bronze Master Comprehension... well, just pack your bags now. Move out of this house and give it to him. Maybe he can take us to the top."

 Chapter 443: They Died?

    Chapter 443: They Died?


    ?


    Lucius stood slowly and began to pace.


    "So what is your n?" Lucius asked.


    "You seem to be trusting me a lot more than usual," Nathan said with a chuckle. "I''m


    probably even more dangerous than Ss in your eyes, no? Why else would you keep me so close?"


    Lucius gave Nathan a nce but didn''t reply.


    "If you want to deal with someone like this, you can''t do it directly. And you also need to really weigh whether or not you want to do such a thing. He is too smart for you to get away with it if it ends in failure, so you need to be ready for the fallout.


    "In addition, you need to decide if it''s not really better to just be friends despite what risks mighte with that."


    Lucius stared off into the distance.


    Friends with Ss?


    If Ss had no ambitions at all, that would have been possible... but every aspect of him waspletely antithetical to that.


    The fact he entered the Trial at all was enough of a red g. But somehow he had managed to defeat a Quasi Bronze beast against all odds, be a Noble, and disappeared off the face of the only to return with Merits Lucius couldn''t even fathom.


    Someone like Ss would certainly take control of the Grimdes if he was given the opportunity, and what made all of this worse was that he had the pedigree to do so.


    Although some would be dissatisfied with the fact his grandfather had married someone who wasn''t approved, with Ss'' current performance, he had already begun to hear murmurings.


    They were minor, and definitely in the minority, but they were there.


    However, the only reason they weren''t louder was because Ss was obviously too independent as well. No one wanted to put all their cards into such a basket. But...


    Ss'' actions also had a direct impact on him. Because it was clear he couldn''t control him, his status in the eyes of the ancestors was only plummeting by the day.


    Astrid had already started with a lead and she was only leaving the two of them further and further behind.


    "That''s impossible," Lucius eventually said.


    If he couldn''t lead the Grimdes.


    Then he would rather die.


    His fate would be in his own hands and no one else''s.


    "Well... alright," Nathan said.


    "What do you have in mind?"


    "When you''re dealing with variables, the best counter is something even more variable." "You want to throw numbers at him?"


    "Numbers won''t work. He''s just one person, and with his power, escaping an encirclement only takes one slip-up. If there''s not the requisite power, it''s all useless."


    "Then the System City."


    "You''re going to have to give up something to gain something. This won''te without a cost," Nathan replied without directly refuting.


    "... The Multi Quest."


    "Bingo. Unless you''re willing to lose any and all of the rewards of this Quest, you''d better go back to thinking about whether or not you want to be friends again.


    "And... you have to be ready for all of this to fail even if you have perfect preparation. I have a feeling that since he forced himself onto the list of participants, this won''t be so easy."


    Lucius came to a stop from his pacing, staring out of the window for a long while and almost subconsciously looking toward Ss'' home.


    His decision had already been made.


    "There''s also something else," Nathan suddenly said.


    "And that is?"


    "Have you read Bloom and Mark''s report?"


    "Of course."


    "Then you should know that they almost died. If they failed, then we would have fallen behind Ebonspire and they would have taken a decisive advantage."


    "Is this your way of trying to convince me to be his friend?"


    Lucius was smart enough to know that this wasn''t what Nathan meant, but there was still a bit of dissatisfaction in his heart that he couldn''t quite control. He felt like Ss was pushing him into a corner and it had been a very long time since he felt so...


    Helpless.


    "No. But we should be wondering why it was the System City chose to target us and not the Ebonspire. Why did they allow them to hit the 70%plete mark, but wanted to stop us from doing the same? As far as our reports and scouts go, there were no otherworlders who attacked Ebonspire''s people."


    "And you''re sure that Ss didn''t kill them on his way?"


    "It''s possible, but doubtful. The trade routes will ovep, but only during Leg 004 which just started. Meaning, the odds Ss woulde through both wouldn''t make any sense unless he came from the direction of Ebonspire... which is doubtful.


    "ording to Bloom and Mark, he came from the north."


    "I see..." Lucius'' gaze shed with a murderous light.


    The number of traitors was growing more and more these days. They had already infiltrated several governments, and now it seemed like even the heirs of these families were growing desperate.


    It made sense, of them all, Ragnar Ravenw had been rankedst on the Leaderboard and had only recently begun to climb up. He had the least chance of bing an heir of anything. Had he really taken such a step? Or was the System City sowing discord on purpose?


    --


    "They died?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Rond Orciulius]


    [Level: ???]


    City Lord Orciulius heard the report and was more than a little surprised. Everything had been perfectly nned. How had they failed at the final step?


    "There is no information. However, their vessels are now empty. They''ve definitely died."


    Rond stood from his throne.


    It was an outright humiliation. They had already lost Azrael all those months ago, and he still wasn''t absolutely certain who the culprit was. He was just somewhat sure that they came from Lucius'' city.


    But if before he had still had some reservations, now he was certain.


    A sh of fury lit in his eyes.


    How dare these ants kill his flesh and blood?

 Chapter 444: Follow

    Chapter 444: Follow


    ?


    A group of three walked through the forest without making a sound. Despite the chilled, crunchy grass beneath their feet, it was as though they were ghosts moving through daylight.


    Suddenly, their scout came to a stop and put a hand up.


    They all seamlessly came to a stop together, their movements just as silent.


    [Cher Ravenw (FFF-)]


    [Level: 19]


    -


    [Physical: 473]


    [Mental: 522]


    [Will: 328]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Cher was a young man. He had a short stature at around 5''7", but his body waspact and powerful. Though his muscles didn''t bulge, he had a slender sort of power to him.


    However, ironically enough, he was their scout, and just now his detection Skill had felt something.


    He had a unique assassin-like ss that made him incredibly sensitive. Even when facing those of much higher level than himself, he could feel when his skill was rebuffed.


    Instantly, he knew that he was up against a monster. It was rare that he came across someone who could stop his scan.


    He didn''t try to look around. He knew he wouldn''t be able to find the exact location of this person.


    With a wave of his hand, the group that had been standing in silence suddenly scattered.


    -


    Ss was watching this from above. He had felt the sudden probe, but it had also been very easy to dispel it so he hadn''t thought he would be detected. But the moment Cher raised up a hand, he knew he had been seen through.


    ''Interesting...''


    There was so much in this world. It made him ufortable that he couldn''t ount for every variable, but it also made the Madness Key all the more obviously correct.


    The only way to survive in this world was to be strong enough that any variables you ran into were worthless.


    Ss didn''t chase them.


    They were smart, separating first and foremost, and then choosing the direction they assumed to be opposite of him. Right now, they were all getting further from him while running in three different directions. Obviously, although Cher couldn''t pinpoint his exact location, he had a vague idea about the general direction.


    However, the reason Ss wasn''t chasing them wasn''t because of this. He could easily send the Basilisk King to stall one, the Arctic Emperor Cobra to hawk down another, and deal with thest himself.


    He didn''t do that because he didn''t want to expose the truth of his Profession just yet. For all anyone knew, he just had a unique transformation ability. And, two, the goal wasn''t these people. It was the trading route.


    There were two ways to ruin a trading route.


    The first was to damage the cargo. However, his opponents were smart and had scattered, making it difficult to tell which of them had the cargo on them.


    The second was to destroy the checkpoints.


    There would be several at key locations along the trading route, and this was the reason Lucius had only sent Mark and Bloom to finish thest leg.


    The other checkpoints were under heavy guard by the rest of the participants.


    It made one wonder, then... why Lucius had trusted Ss with this part of the Quest.


    But Ss thought it was actually a smart decision on his part. He probably thought he could at least hide the checkpoints from Ss this way.


    ''I bet at least one of them will go back to a checkpoint. The question is... which one...''


    Ss'' gaze shed and he ignored Cher, choosing one of the others to follow.


    [Bass Ravenw (FF+)]


    [Level: 19]


    Ss followed silently. He was having a hard time remaining as silent as the others, but he didn''t need to. He was a long enough distance away that it was doubtful that Bass would hear him.


    The chase went on for hours. Ss continued to glide through the trees without a hint of fatigue, his eyes calm.


    The only rule for checkpoints was that they had to be ced down within a certain radius of one another, and there had to be a certain number depending on the length of the trading


    route.


    But other than this, they could be extremely variable, and if one was smart, they could use this to their advantage.


    It could be possible to keep two checkpoints extremely close, but another far. Or, vice versa. Checkpoints could also be hidden and camouged, making them difficult to spot.


    When activated, they were ces that could also hide cargo, and they would have defensive barriers that couldst quite a while. They were essentially like downgraded outposts.


    However, they would still be vulnerable nheless if they were smart.


    Bass obviously wasn''t returning to the checkpoint directly, but Ss was extremely patient. It didn''t matter where he passed through or what dangers he tried to drag him into. And then it


    finally happened.


    The man came to a stop in a seemingly inconspicuous region.


    The region seemed barren. There was a cave opening that was hard to spot at first because of the sheer number of trees around the area, and there was a thinyer of snow covering


    everything.


    This wasn''t the first time the man had stopped at a region that seemed to have high beast activity. Thest time there had been arge number of Dire Wolves that surged into the area. So, Ss didn''t think much about it for the first few seconds.


    But then his eyes suddenly sharpened.


    It''s here.


    Ss moved first.


    Bass never expected it. He had had a feeling that he had been followed all the while, so he had tried to lure Ss into a false sense of security.


    A normal person would have already let their guard down and would have to wait for some true stimulus before they acted. But he hadn''t even had the chance to secretly call out his


    teammates before the back of his head exploded into a rain of blood, a heavy pauldron having


    smashed right against it.


    Ss leapt down from the tree he hid in, rushing into the cave.

 Chapter 445: Hostage

    Chapter 445: Hostage


    ?


    Even as he died, Bass had no idea what exposed him.


    What he didn''t know was that the very first Title Ss received in this world was A Patient Stalker. He wasn''t a person with a normal amount of patience, and his focus was off the choice.


    What exposed Bass?


    He had paused for too long.


    If Bass knew this, he would likely cough up blood and die again. That was because the difference between this time and all the others was not even a half second.


    Unfortunately, his vision was already fading and there was no time for regret. Thest thing he saw was Ss'' figure shing by him and entering the cave that hid their checkpoint.


    ...


    Ss didn''t spare Bass another nce. Enchanted Schr had already activated and he sensed the Runes protecting the cave entrance.


    He analyzed them as he rushed toward it and thought of several solutions in just a few seconds.


    Whoever had set this formation up was too inferior. The Runes they used didn''t even have a dozen Foundations to them. It was barely more difficult than the first door of the introductory challenge of the Rune Mastery world.


    Ss slipped right through, his body swirling with stamped Runes. The formation didn''t even realize that he wasn''t a part of it as he rushed into the darkness.


    His visualization spread out and he inwardly shook his head.


    Not only was his visualization limited in water, but it had a hard time passing through rock. This sort of environment gave him very limited vision.


    He slowed down a touch and constricted his 50-meter visualization down to just ten. He felt that that would give him more than enough time to react, and he was correct.


    His figure suddenly shed and his elbow cut across the air.


    He was simply too fast. The guard was only barely standing there when Ss'' elbow copsed his throat.


    Ss spun to his back, wrapping his other arm around his neck and violently ripping to the side.


    The man''s head was rotated the wrong direction by the time he fell to the ground.


    ''Grappling is definitely my weakness.''


    Ss had this casual thought as he shot forward, moving swiftly.


    If he wanted to max out his Martial Arts, he would have to learn more than just kicking and punching. Striking was only one aspect of mixed martial arts.


    ...


    [Sunniva Ravenw (FFF)]


    [Level: 20]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Physical: 582]


    [Mental: 622]


    [Will: 711]


    "They should be back soon. They''re likely being tracked," Cher exined. "I think the Grimdes took a heavy risk this time sending out someone so powerful. One of their checkpoints is likelypromised. We need to take advantage."


    Cher had returned long before Bass because he was confident that he hadn''t been followed. But he was a bit anxious, mostly because Mysteer was holding the cargo, so if she waspromised, it would ruin this leg.


    Luckily, Mysteer came in soon after, sweating. After spending all day running around, trying to escape a tail she wasn''t even sure was there, it was bound to take quite a bit out of her.


    Sunniva, another young woman with a sharp gaze. She had short-cut ck hair and her body seemed dotted with sheathed daggers. It looked as though she could touch anywhere on her body and pull a de out. Even the earrings that dangled from her earlobes glistened with an edge under the right light.


    Suddenly, she stood up, her nose twitching.


    "Blood. Someone is here."


    Cher frowned. That was impossible.


    However, at that moment, a figure appeared at the entrance.


    The ceilings of this ce weren''t very tall, just about seven feet, and the clearing wasn''t thatrge either, only being about three average wing spans in length and width.


    There was simply no ce to move, and though there were two other directions to leave in... which of them would dare to turn their backs at this point?


    In order for Ss to make it here, even if he took the most optimal route, he would have had to kill at least four of thempletely silently.


    He was cold and decisive, and he proved it in the next instant.


    He didn''t even pause, taking a strong step forward and sending out a punch.


    "Cover me," Sunniva said with a cold bite to her tone. Now wasn''t the time to consider who was at fault.


    Her de shed. It wasn''t even clear which holster she had unsheathed it from. She was already attacking Ss before the other two could even react.


    Fast.


    Ss'' gaze flickered as he side-stepped, sending out a fist.


    But she was still faster. A second dagger appeared in her once empty palm, shing toward Ss'' throat.


    By this point, the other two were pincering him. Cher had aimed a glistening, hidden crossbow at his chest and Mysteer had tossed out what looked like a bomb.


    There was simply no way she would deploy a bomb here. Ss immediately realized that it was either something to bind him or obscure his vision.


    He analyzed his situation in an instant and reacted.


    A strong pulse of telekinesis caught Cher off guard, sending his steady arm swinging to the side just as he triggered his crossbow.


    The bolt tore into Mysteer''s shoulder, causing her "bomb" to steer in the wrong direction and hit Sunniva''s back instead.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t a binding treasure. Instead, a sh of light erupted... one that was useless against Ss with the help of his visualization. In fact, he had already closed his eyes, moving to deal with the de at his throat.


    <Arctic Howl>.


    Sunniva''s body froze in ce but broke free a secondyer. She dodged back to avoid Ss''


    follow up.


    Ss had to admit that she was quick.


    It just didn''t matter.


    She was so focused on dodging that she didn''t notice one of her own des unsheath from her body and tear right through the bottom of her jaw, through her tongue, and into her brain.


    Ss didn''t even give her a second nce.


    Cher and Mysteer were obviously immune to the shbang or else thetter would have never sent it out. But with the both of them off bnce...


    What chance did he stand.


    Cher''s arm had spun to the side with such force that his back was turned to Ss. He only had


    the time to look off toward an exit with despair before his head exploded beneath a fist.


    Ss pivoted and his leg stamped out at an angle, executing a perfect oblique kick that pushed Mysteer''s leg the wrong direction.


    She screamed out in pain again, falling to the ground only to find Ss'' foot pressed against her chest so hard that she could feel her ribs creaking and whining.


    It seemed he had a hostage now.


    However, before he could say anything, his gaze shed and he dodged to the side. He moved


    so fast and with so much force that he didn''t have the time to care about Mysteer''s safety.


    He practically felt the ground through her chest and didn''t have to double-check that she was


    dead. She certainly was.


    A de whizzed by his ear, drawing blood.


    He looked back, his gaze flickering as Sunniva rose from the ground.

 Chapter 446: More [Bonus]

    Chapter 446: More [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss was inwardly shocked. This world had surprised him many times, but this was truly the first time his understanding of the world seemed to have overturned.


    He was certain that this de had driven right through her head. He wasn''t enough of a fool to take something so important for granted.


    That meant that either this woman had juste back from the dead, or something even more inexplicable than that had just urred.


    Unfortunately, Sunniva wasn''t going to give him the time to try and figure it out.


    The des that dotted her body shed out and formed a around the already small space. They circled around in odd, hard-to-grasp patterns before attacking in a rhythm that was hard to track.


    At the same time, Sunniva seemed to weave in and out of them as though they were a part of her. She closed the distance, not allowing him the chance to try and escape.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' gaze flickered. He was certain. Just now, one of the daggers had gone through Sunniva''s body.


    ''Is this telekinesis? No, it can''t be...''


    Ss barely dodged a de, but a deep wound was drawn across his back. His healing factor seemed tog as there was a violent, shredding sort of Aether left lingering behind.


    Without a choice, Ss summoned as many pieces of General Aleen''s armor as he could sustain, shing with these des as he tried to deal with Sunniva''s relentless strikes.


    She was exceptionally skilled. It felt like she had been ying with des since she left her mother''s womb, and considering she was a core member of the Ravenws, maybe that was precisely the truth.


    The wounds on Ss'' body were only bing more numerous, and he had had a close shave with death more than a single time.


    ''... I see...''


    Ss seemed to finally understand after several exchanges.


    This wasn''t telekinesis; this must be a rare ss-based skill or something of the sort. The des weren''t real.


    Well, they were real enough to cut into him. But the point was that their des weren''t formed of metal, but rather Aether. By some special method, these Aether des were made to look like real des.


    The reason Sunniva wasn''t dead despite one driving through her head was that she could make herself immune. She had allowed Ss to think that she was dead despite having perfect control of the situation, before attacking, gaining the initiative, and pressing it.


    Unfortunately, understanding didn''t make things much easier. That was because the moment she saw that Ss had an understanding, she became even more brazen.


    She no longer hid the fact that the des could pass through her body, and her flood of attacks became more relentless and violent.


    Even so, there was a flicker of shock in her eyes. There were very few people that could possiblyst so long against her in such close quarters, and from what she could tell, at least on average, Ss'' Physical stats were weaker than her own.


    She had to end this quickly. Or else...


    Sunniva froze.


    BANG!


    It was too sudden, and all she felt was a dose of cold and a sh of white.


    A tail pped into her side, shattering through her defenses and sending her spiraling into the wall.


    It felt as though all her bones had been fractured at once, and the confusion on her face was palpable.


    She barely had the wherewithal to see the appearance of arge snake''s tail before she passed


    out.


    ...


    Sunniva awoke to find a pair of cold, green eyes staring at her. She was confused at first, but then the fact she was naked hit her, and then all of her memories came flooding back. Feeling the state of her body, she thought that she had just been vited. But then she recalled that she wouldn''t really be able to tell the difference one way or another.


    She was over-thinking things, however. Ss was only taking the precautions he should in this world. There were too many treasures and hidden items. Even now that she was stripped naked, he was still on high alert in case anything happened. This was the same woman that had just escaped a de through her head, so he didn''t dare to underestimate her.


    If not for the Arctic Emperor Cobra, that battle would have truly pushed him to the edge.


    Of course, he could have just fused with the Basilisk King, but relying on fusion so early while deep into enemy territory when it would likely be needed soon was foolish.


    It was a bit difficult, though. The Arctic Emperor Cobra was toorge to fit into this small clearing. Luckily, Ss could decide exactly where it would appear within the range of his visualization, so he had its body appear in one of the exits behind Sunniva with just enough room for its tail to peek out and deal a blow.


    Plus, this was the perfect opportunity to use the Arctic Emperor Cobra... because there was no one around but her to witness it.


    On top of that, though she was likely quite the looker usually considering she was a fit woman in her prime... it was hard to care about such things when she was covered in bruises and signs of internal bleeding.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra had over a thousand Strength while Constitution was Sunniva''s weakest stat at barely 400 or so.


    What chance did she stand against a sneak attack?


    Still, the wounds over Ss'' body told of her valiant efforts. Though they had already stopped bleeding and were on their way to begin the healing process despite the fact that he had yet to use his Aether.


    His Dual ss Constitution and this almost excessive State of Wealth he was in was certainly no joke. It made his healing factor superhuman.


    Now, he had caught someone even more useful than the hostage he nned to take. Sunniva would certainly know a lot more than Mysteer would.

 Chapter 447: Will Levels [Bonus]

    Chapter 447: Will Levels [Bonus]


    ?


    Sunniva grimaced, but for the most part, after she got over the fact she might have been vited, she leveled a cold re at Ss.


    The world was different now. If she acted like she would on a civilized Earth and let her emotions rule her, she wouldn''t be endearing; she would be a fool.


    Well, maybe to the right people she would be. But Ss certainly wasn''t one of them.


    The number of women who had suffered such a thing were probably too numerous to count by now, especially since men had been far more likely to do something as stupid as click [Yes] for the Trial.


    Rather than crying about it, it would be better if she found a way to survive and make Ss pay for what happened here today.


    "I''m sure I don''t need to exin your situation," Ss began, not minding Sunniva''s reaction. His gaze didn''t even so much as look away from her eyes. He was entirely focused on reading the changes in her expression in case she did something. As for whether she thought he raped her or not, that was just not his concern. He didn''t care what she thought. "Be helpful to me and I can give you a chance to survive. Be the opposite, and I can simply kill you here. The choice will be yours."


    Ss knew that Sunniva was a Ravenw, but after seeing the Sylphs attack Bloom and Mark, he had some spections brewing in his heart.


    Plus, there was still that professor that got Cassarae''s mother practically banished by the government.


    The people of this world, if there were enough benefits on the table, might choose short-term sess over long-term stability.


    If the Ravenws could choose the Sylphs... why could they not choose him?


    As expected, Sunniva''s gaze flickered momentarily, but it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking.


    "... What do you want to know from me?"


    "The exact location of the other checkpoints, for starters."


    "I cannot tell you that.


    Ss didn''t reply, giving her a level stare.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sunniva found herself feeling more ufortable the longer the silence went on. Usually, Ss would have said something by now, asking why or pressing her. But he seemedpletely content to sit in the silence, so much so that she eventually had to grit her teeth and speak.


    "There is no assurance that you''ll do as you say. How can I just tell you what you want to know without any assurances?"


    "We will sign an agreement."


    Ss'' gaze flickered, feeling a bit confused. Didn''t they know about signing agreements?


    To be fair, he had learned about it from a much more advanced Race, the Sylphs. It failed when he tried it with Nosphaleen, but that was only because she was no longer deemed an equal by the system.


    Sunniva, obviously, wouldn''t face such an issue. They were still in the Summoning, so they all still had a chance to be treated as VIPS by the system.


    However, he would have thought that such a core member of the Ravenws would be aware of this already.


    "You have a Temte?" Sunniva asked, feeling slightly relieved. If he was willing to use a Temte on something like this, there might really be a chance.


    When she said these words, it suddenly hit Ss.


    ''Forming a contract through the system must not be as easy as I assumed. The requirements to sign an equal contract ce emphasis on the Wills of the two parties. If there''s toorge a gap between them, then one party can unterally withstand the bacsh.


    ''I already knew that after asking the Madness Key, but what I didn''t consider was the fact that you might have to have a certain level of Will to trigger such a thing in the first ce.''


    Until now, Ss'' Will had undergone three transformations. The first time was in the Slithering Madness Dungeon, where he gained Telekinesis and his ''A Flexible Will'' Title. The second time during his battle with Azrael, where he gained ''A zing Will''. Finally, there was the change he made after seeding on the Will challenge stairs, where he finally formed ''A Tangible Will''.


    He wasn''t sure just yet if these were just the random names of Titles or if they represented real levels of Will like he had experienced with Rune Enlightenment and Rune Breath. But not only was he determined to find out after this, but he also had a feeling that the minimum requirement for triggering such a contract was to have a Will of at least the first level.


    He had a feeling that most people in this worldcked Telekinesis because their Will state was too low.


    As expected, when Ss tried to trigger an agreement between himself and Sunniva, it was like grabbing at air. There was nothing real to mp on to.


    Without meeting the minimum Will requirement, it seemed that the system wouldn''t even allow such an agreement to be formed.


    ''It seems that strong Will is a double-edged sword... you would think that her having weak Will would allow me to just force her into very, but this doesn''t seem to be the case...''


    That said, the agreements through the system always required mutual agreement even when one party''s Will was far superior. So, there had never been a very aspect to it in the first


    ce.


    If you wanted something like that, you would need a rare Temte like the one he stole from


    Vayu.


    Unfortunately, that was gone now.


    ''I will need to think of another solution, then.''


    The information about the checkpoints was important. This wasn''t because he was so gung- ho about defeating the Ravenws, but rather because he, well, one, wanted to clear this Multi Quest, and two... he had a feeling that ruining the Ravenws would ruin the ns of the Sylphs as well.


    Sunniva was too good of a target to give up on so easily.


    ''This ce likely won''t be safe forever, but at least for now, I doubt that anyone wille to bother me in the short term. In fact...''


    Ss'' intention moved and Nosphaleen''s body appeared.

 Chapter 448 Voided

    448 Voided


    When Sunniva saw such a beautiful woman appear, her expression couldn''t help but twist. Her opinion of Ss was already low before, but it was hard for it to not get even lower now.


    Could he want to do them both? Wait, why did this woman seem dead?


    Her thoughts only became worse and worse until Nosphaleen suddenly frowned.


    Without the effects of the Hibernation Realm, Nosphaleen was no longer healing faster than the cancer could harm her body. Very quickly, ugly patches began to flower across her once pristine skin and soon began to grow from birthmarks to tumorous growths.


    However, Ss had already focused his attention on her, beginning to slowly pull the cancerous Gene out of her body.


    It had to be remembered that he had only put the cancer Gene in her body as a failsafe. He wanted to suppress the Clypsian Genes inside of her so that she would be registered as a Serpentes.


    The main goal, though, wasn''t to keep her as a servant. It was just to bring her out of the Dungeon. Now that he had, and they were in a rtively secluded ce, it was time to reverse things. Nosphaleen was of no use to him if she was in perpetual hibernation.


    Before, it would have been very difficult for Ss to do this. And honestly, it still was.


    Pushing the cancer Gene into deeperyers of her body was much easier than pulling it out. That was because in the first direction, he only had to have control over the Gene itself, but in the reverse direction, he would have to poke around in deeperyers of her body.


    Genes were just the simplestyer of one''s body constitution. Deeper than that, there were Gene Talents, and deeper than that, there were an array of things that Ss couldn''t quite understand just yet.


    Luckily, contracting Nosphaleen had allowed him to gain enough Experience to progress his Taboo Bond Talent. This gave him the ability to control Gene Talents to a certain extent. As such, he had a little bit more control over the deeperyers. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    If he had to actually change or extricate them, he couldn''t do so. But if it was just about pulling a Gene out from theiryers¡­


    He could manage that.


    Ss tried to be quick. If too much damage was done to Nosphaleen''s body, she might die. And this time, if she wasn''t deemed Serpentes enough, he wouldn''t be able to put her into the Hibernation Realm for a quick heal.


    He had to be quick and decisive, and that was what he was.


    It took almost ten minutes for Ss to seed and finally pull the cancerous Gene all the way out.


    The good news was that the closer he got to sess, the slower the cancer growth was.


    The bad news was that there was still very much cancer growth. There were particrlyrge, discolored tumors on one side of her face, her leg, and on the right side of her chest. In fact, the one on her face had swollen her eyepletely shut, and it made Ss worry if it had wormed its way into her brain.


    If that was the case, she might truly be finished.


    Ss stuffed the cancer Gene back into the ndestine Ape. It was a bit more warped and twisted than before, seemingly having lost some of its form, but he didn''t have the time or attention to spare for it.


    He pressed a hand against Nosphaleen''s body, checking the situation of her Genes and making sure that he didn''t miss anything.


    After ensuring that everything seemed fine, he began to take out several transmuted Pills from none other than the Arctic King Bears and Cobras.


    Ss had no interest in trying to rear so many beasts, at least not in this circumstance. So he had taken advantage of the fact they tried to kill him when he returned to stash more than just a few of these pills.


    They were filled to the brim with life and vitality, and although Nosphaleen didn''t have an Ice-Poison affinity, given the fact she was just fine in the Dungeon, she should be able to withstand it.


    He stuffed the first pill into her mouth and watched, his hand still pressed against her body. His worry was that if he fed her such a pill, most of the energy would end up going to the cancer and make things worse, not better.


    Luckily, that wasn''t the case.


    ¡ª


    [Contract <Nosphaleen Tideborn> no longer meets necessary requirements] [Connection lost] [Contract voided]


    ¡ª


    Ss ignored the notifications, having already expected as much. What he was far more fascinated by was the receding of the cancer.


    It was hard to imagine it, but technically speaking¡­ didn''t he have the cure for cancer in the palm of his hands? Let alone the cure for it, he had the ability to inflict malignant cancer onto people.


    This world¡­


    The more he learned about it, the more in awe he was.


    Ss fed Nosphaleen another pill, and then another.


    Soon, the cancerous growths began to fall off her body like peeling skin. It was a grotesque sight, but a necessary one.


    In just an hour, and with the cost of basically all his umted nutrition pills, she was back.


    Her eyes fluttered open with a hint of surprise and she shot up, her eyes darting from side to side until she saw Ss.


    "You¡­ Ss?"


    She barely remembered his name, only having caught a glimpse of it before. But it was hard to forget the name of the man who had taken her out of that hell-hole.


    Ss nodded. "I''ve taken you out of there."


    Nosphaleen looked around again as though she didn''t quite believe. It wasn''t as though a dingy cave was much better. But when she felt theck of restrictions, tears began to subconsciously brim in her eyes.

 Chapter 449 Compelling Gaze

    449 Compelling Gaze


    Ss calmly watched Nosphaleen''s reaction.


    Normally, it would be foolish for him to do something like this. However, he had his reasons.


    First, he hadn''t given up on Nosphaleen. It was just that he would need a far stronger Taboo Bond Talent in order to truly turn her into a Serpentes.


    Second, she might not be aware of the full situation just yet. Although she was certainly smart enough to realize that Ss didn''t lord over her any longer, there were several reasons she couldn''t.


    She had been unconscious when the contract was formed, and then she spent the rest of the time in hibernation, so she had no personal experience with the contracted state.


    In addition, she still had Mesmeryx Genes within her. As such, Ss'' Beast Totem was still effective against her in part. So, even if she did rebel, he didn''t fear her. And more importantly than that, she would feel a subconscious closeness and subservience to him that she might mistake as a true contract due to herck of familiarity with it.


    Then, third, and the ribbon to tie all of this nicely¡­


    She wouldn''t be able to improve without him.


    It had to be remembered that the Clypsians, and the Dogons for that matter, had both failed the Summoning and had been reced by other creatures as the overlords of Earth.


    As such, as talented as they were, humans were the lords of Earth right now and had the precedent. Humans could level up easily by killing beasts and absorbing their Gene Cores. But, much like Ss struggled with helping the Basilisk King improve, the trouble was just as great for Nosphaleen. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Right now, he could easily defeat her.


    As time progressed, the gap would only be wider.


    Without the help of his One Kind For Me Path to illuminate a path for her, she would be unlikely to ever progress in her life.


    And something told Ss that that was thest thing she wanted.


    "Here." Ss pulled out the Ice-Poison armor he had received as a reward and directly handed it to her.


    Nosphaleen''s eyes widened, not expecting such a thing.


    The only treasures she had on her were her four circr des. But they were only the most simple ofmon items. In fact, Ss could probably easily break them if he was given the perfect opportunity.


    ¡ª


    [Frostbane Armor (Bronze) (Treasure)] [Level: 1] [+100 Constitution] [Ability: Frostbane Zone] [Absorb Frostbane Aether to repair armor] [Exude Area of Effect in <1> meter radius that deals <1> Ice-Poison Damage per second when activated at the cost of 1 Durability per minute] [Durability: 10/10] ¡ª


    This was the best treasure she had ever seen.


    Unsurprisingly, she had grown up in captivity. So other than being leveled up to be used as a sparring partner, she had held such valuable things in her hands.


    Her saving grace was that she had still learned quite a bit from the seniors of her Race. But they obviously didn''t have the ability to give her what she wanted.


    "Also, can you use this Skill?" Ss asked, handing her the Elemental Race Locked Skill.


    "I can¡­" Nosphaleen nodded. "¡­ But¡­"


    She hesitated.


    "You have a better Skill?" Ss questioned, though his tone didn''t seem very confused. It was more like a statement.


    He had already seen all of her Skills, another reason he was confident in dealing with her. Of them, there was


    and <Glide>. With thebination of the two, it was safe to say that her movement ability was far beyond his own.


    "Mm¡­" Nosphaleen nodded, a bit embarrassed as though she was scared to offend Ss.


    However, would Ss be perturbed by such a thing?


    "Understood." He put the Skill away. He''d have to find another way to use it, then. "Put the armor on. You have the ability to control this woman, right?"


    Nosphaleen hesitated, but nodded. She didn''t really hear the second part of Ss'' words, focused entirely on the first part. But she pressed down whatever difort there might have been.


    However, as she was building up her courage and pulled her top off, she realized that Ss wasn''t even looking at her. He was already lost in thought as though analyzing his next steps.


    By the time he remembered Nosphaleen was with him, she was already dressed. She still wore the same seal-skin skirt, but now her arms, legs, and torso, even up to her neck, were covered in ace-like ice pattern. It melded with her grey-blue skin well and almost looked like an extension of her body.


    It suited her well.


    Her Physical stats were definitely among her weaknesses, being about half of Ss'' now. But this would help bolster her a great deal, especially after they started feeding it Genes.


    Ss nodded. "Good. Now put her under your control. We need information."


    It finally seemed to click for Nosphaleen what Ss'' earlier words were, and she blushed with slight embarrassment as she rushed toplete her orders.


    Nosphaleen had several charm Skills. In fact, it could be said that 90% of her Skills were Charisma-rted. And considering her Charisma stat was 1666, this was only natural¡­ especially since her Mesmeryx Totem Comprehension gave it an even more exaggerated boost.


    In fact, she didn''t just have Skills. She was born with not one, but two Gene Talents. Compelling Gaze and Siren''s Call, both of which scaled with Charisma.


    She had almost too many options to exert influence on Sunniva, who was already starting to feel nervous.


    Unfortunately, her nervousness wouldn''t help.


    Compelling Gaze.


    For a moment, even Ss froze and he had to force himself to shake his head. In that instant of time, she became almost too beautiful, so much so that it didn''t make sense for a living being¡­ almost to the point that he would have given up everything for her.


    Sunniva froze for a moment as well, and Ss could sense her counter Skill activate subconsciously.


    Unfortunately for her, Compelling Gaze wasn''t just any other Skill.


    Sunniva shivered awake¡­ or so it seemed.


    Suddenly, she picked up her heavily injured body, ignoring her broken bones and internal bleeding, and crawled to Nosphaleen and began kissing her feet.

 Chapter 450 One More

    450 One More


    Sunniva didn''t seem to think that it was enough. Even Ss'' expression twitched somewhat as his tongue began to do things to Nosphaleen''s toes that most wouldn''t even do in bed, let alone without their consent.


    Nosphaleen blushed with one part embarrassment and another part arousal as she felt Ss'' gaze.


    "¡­ I would stop her, but it''s best to allow them to embarrass themselves as much as possible. The cognitive dissonance avoidance will stop them from breaking free in the future and it''ll make things easier on me. Otherwise, it would take too much stamina to keep them under control, especially for this woman who had decent Will,paratively speaking."


    Ss nodded in understanding.


    It seemed that Nosphaleen, too, used abination of hard and soft tactics.


    There was a reason why cults started with their more ptable beliefs, and only when their new recruits were in deep would they expose their harder-to-ept ones.


    Part of tricking humans into subservience, or any Race at this point, was making them trick themselves.


    The more embarrassing Sunniva''s actions, the more likely she would be to justify it in her mindter, allowing Nosphaleen to release the reins bit by bit until Sunniva kept herself under subservience.


    It was a terrifying ability to be sure, but when Ss saw Sunniva''s tongue creeping up Nosphaleen''s leg and then further up her thigh, he shook his head and turned away as the warrior woman''s head disappeared into Nosphaleen''s skirt.


    "Let me know when you''re finished."


    Ss turned and left.


    Different Races obviously had different cultures. Although Nosphaleen had seemed embarrassed, the fact she was willing to do this meant that she was, while more reserved than many of the other members of her Race, quite used to actions like this one.


    He was finding that his body was feeling more and more¡­ heat these days, so in order to keep his mind clear, it was better he not witness it at all.


    Plus, he had to make sure that there would still be no one sneaking up on him.


    Still, he was Ss Brown, after all. He couldn''t help but analyze things.


    ''Sunniva is a woman, so this would likely be embarrassing for her. Unless she was a lesbian or bisexual to begin with, that is. But would a man feel the same embarrassment in doing such a thing for a beautiful woman? I wonder what different approach she would use if I needed her to charm a man¡­ ''Maybe embarrassment isn''t the right word. You need to trigger cognitive dissonance. You could easily find something you could force a man to do in bed that would trigger something like that¡­''


    There was also a part of Ss that obviously realized that Nosphaleen enjoyed this. She couldn''t hide her anticipation at all.


    So there was no telling what approach she would take with a man.


    Either way, so long as it was effective, Ss didn''t care.


    Nosphaleen would be a valuable tool for him.


    ¡­


    The process didn''t take long. In just ten minutes or so, Nosphaleen called Ss back from his patrol to the scene of Sunniva curled up by herp like an obedient kitten.


    Sunniva seemed to have even been healed somewhat, though only in part. Regardless, the look in Sunniva''s eyes said she would rather die than allow any harm toe to Nosphaleen, which was perfect.


    "Would you like to use her?" Nosphaleen asked a bit sheepishly, almost as though she was offering a bite of food.


    Ss gazed at her.


    A normal human would probably feel disgusted by her words. But he simply wasn''t a normal human.


    "There''s no need. Just tell her to answer my questions."


    Nosphaleen nodded. "Answer whatever he asks you."


    "Yes, mistress."


    It was mind-numbingly easy. She was obedient to the point that it was creepy, and she practically purred every time Nosphaleen touched her.


    Although it was a bit odd, there was no doubt that Nosphaleen''s methods were more than effective.


    ''Her second Gene Talent is Siren''s Call¡­ I wonder if her Race is rted to the legends about the Sirens of Earth. If that''s the case, then a lot of this would make sense.''


    The odd part was that Siren''s Call wasn''t much of a Charisma-type technique. Or rather, not in the normal sense. It allowed Nosphaleen to have strong control over water-type Aether, which was why the Frostbane Armor would work well with her. As for whether she would be able to deal with the poison aspects, only time would tell.


    It wasn''t long before Ss got information about all the checkpoints and was ready to set out.


    But that was when Sunniva said something that caught him off guard.


    "Repeat that." Ss said.


    "¡­ There''s a strong concentration of Ravenws near the Congolian Portal¡ª."


    "No, before that."


    "We opened up a portal¡ª."


    Ss raised his hand and made Sunniva stop, his gaze flickering.


    Why did these two situations feel so simr?


    The Multi Quest wasn''t just about gaining control of the Evergreen Territory. It was also about stopping the Aether ne and Earth from intersecting on points that would be bad for it. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Evergreen Territory was a region in near perpetual winter. Byparison, the Congolian Portal exited right into a rainforest not much different from the Amazonian Wilds other than the fact that it was of Earth and not the Aether ne.


    Now, Sunniva was telling him that Ragnar had opened the portal there on purpose?


    If before, he had been questioning whether or not the Ravenws were traitors, now he was even more certain.


    This sort of malicious attack against Earth that seemed to be helpful on the surface¡­ wasn''t it exactly what that professor, or the man Cassarae would call a "limp-dicked bastard," wanted to do with the seas by York City?


    If it was just one aspect, it might be a coincidence. But he had already been specting, and now this felt¡­


    It seemed he had more than one reason to crush this wing of the Ravenws.

 Chapter 451: Begin

    Chapter 451: Begin


    ?


    "Let''s go," Ss said after a long moment. However, he paused before he turned around. "Can she fight?"


    Ss pointed to Sunniva.


    "She can. Though it''s a bitplicated. I will need more time to make certain that she remains... loyal. It will probably be best if we avoid that for now if it isn''t necessary."


    Ss nodded.


    Sunniva was a powerful fighter. If they could get her on their side, it would be like two for the price of one, where the only price he had to pay was saving Nosphaleen.


    The problem, of course, was that it seemed that it would be quite difficult to scale this sort of thing.


    Whatever suggestion Nosphaleen had ced on Sunniva had to be constantly reinforced and nurtured. There would obviously be diminishing returns the more people there were.


    When he got to this point in his thoughts, he handed Sunniva a few pills to heal herself. Then he returned her clothing to her while withholding the special des.


    After analyzing the way Sunniva''s ss worked, he found that the des were a special sort of Rune application.


    The hilts of the des were real, in part. The des themselves and their edges were fabrications of Aether and the activation of these Runes.


    With this, Sunniva had perfect control over whether the des were active or not, and she could trick opponents into thinking she had suffered blows when she really hadn''t, even to the point of fooling Ss.


    Of course, this was only a minor extension of her ss. The main power was de control. It was even more effective than Ss'' Telekinesis in a lot of ways.


    The des had practically no weight. Durability wasn''t an issue because they were all formed of Aether, and she didn''t need a skill like <Momentum Shift> to forcefully change their direction either.


    On top of that, the ss was clearly abination path that allowed both this versatile attack form and a boost toward closebat.


    Though, unless it was a high-grade ss, it was probably a jack-of-all-trades sort of situation.


    When Sunniva was finally fully clothed, Ss asked something unexpected.


    "Tell me the truth hidden at the bottom of your heart. If you learned that your Ravenw family was colluding with alien Races, how would you feel?"


    Sunniva blinked in surprise and seemed to struggle for a moment. Nosphaleen even felt some of that struggle as though she was about to break free. This shocked her. She didn''t


    understand why such a simple question would trigger such a thing.


    Ss was the first to react. He analyzed what happened instantly and spoke up again.


    "Your master isn''t an alien Race. She is a Clypsian, born and bred on Earth. They were a Race of people that existed before humans."


    The realization hit Nosphaleen at the same time the struggle in Sunniva vanished. At the same time, Nosphaleen couldn''t help but look toward Ss like she was looking at a monster. She didn''t quite understand how a person''s brain could work so flexibly.


    Nosphaleen understood her ability best, so she realized what the issue was.


    She had blue skin. To Sunniva, she was among the alien Races that Ss was referring to.


    As such, if in her heart of hearts she would hate her family for doing such a thing, it would be contradictory to her current subservience to Nosphaleen.


    Understanding that was one thing... deducing it from a mere struggle on Sunniva''s face, one that didn''t evenst very long, was another thing. It only made it worse that Ss shouldn''t be able to feel what she had felt in that moment. He wouldn''t have known that she was about to break free of her suggestion. Yet he still figured it out before she did despite the fact his Mental stats were well below her own.


    Nosphaleen was one of the rare few people that could actually read Ss'' stats. She knew exactly what they were, and that only shocked her more.


    ''Are humans so powerful?''


    Her Race wasn''t particrly... inviting to other people. Even the Dogons that stood on par with them in talent were usually disparaged, least of all humans that were basically cavemen when the Clypsians were in power.


    Nosphaleen was far more mild-tempered than her counterparts, and she had also never met one of those cavemen personally, so her own bias hadn''t settled in, but she had heard enough from her seniors to still feel subconsciously superior.


    Even if Ss was stronger than her, could he really be smarter?


    It was only one example, but now she truly wasn''t so sure anymore...


    Had the cavemen really evolved so far?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "... I would not like it at all," Sunniva finally replied.


    "Good. When the time is right, you''ll be a part of my team." Ss turned to leave the cave. "Keep her in check for now."


    Having Nosphaleen constantly keep tabs on Sunniva was obviously not sustainable. Unless the Clypsian had months of time to drill her suggestion into the depths of Sunniva''s mind, it would be likely that she would break free any time, and maybe even at the worst of times. Even if the worst-case scenario didn''t happen, Nosphaleen would likely be constantly handicapped trying to trigger her Gene Talent again and again. It would eventually start to impact her performance, and he would need her.


    So, he thought of something else.


    While questioning Sunniva, he realized that she didn''t really know about the Sylph traitor situation. So he chose to ask her while she was under suggestion.


    Now that he knew her answer, turning her over to his side without Nosphaleen''s suggestion would be far easier.


    Even if only Ragnar was involved, he should be able to make use of Sunniva at least in the short term before she returned to the Ravenw family.


    That would be enough.


    But for now, he would need to show her indisputable proof.


    And while he was at it, he would destroy a few checkpoints.


    Ss appeared in an inconspicuous tunnel and suddenly punched out.


    CRACK.


    The checkpoint split and then shattered to pieces.


    That was one down, and its failure would likely put the Ravenws on high alert.


    ''Let''s begin.''

 Chapter 452: Cleared [Bonus]

    Chapter 452: Cleared [Bonus]


    ?


    Blood fell from Ss'' fingers as a corpse fell from his hands, its neck snapped and its jaw hanging down to one side as though it had been torn off.


    This was already the third checkpoint they had taken down, including the first that Bass had led him to.


    It wasn''t that the Ravenws were so slow to react, but rather that Ss was too fast.


    He had a Speed that far outstripped most Mounts these days, and he was already at a level where he could rival and even outpace vehicles at this point, while also having an agility they couldn''t match.


    The first time he was in his Evergreen Territory, just after conquering Paradise, it would have taken him at least an hour to make it to and from all these checkpoints. But now, it took him not even a dozen minutes.


    As for the actual conquering process, even though she was a bit handicapped in an attempt to keep Sunniva in line, the addition of Nosphaleen might as well have been a cheat code.


    Ss had grown used to fighting alone, but he had to admit that having something to support him from the back made things far easier.


    This time, he had cleared the checkpoint in not even five minutes.


    It was simply too fast for the Ravenws to react.


    ''This should be shaving it pretty close. There is likely a group rushing here. Let''s retreat and assess the new situation.''


    Ss realized something else as he targeted these two checkpoints: Sunniva was quite powerful amongst the Ravenws.


    This didn''t raise Ss'' eyebrows. If he was correct, Ragnar had sent her so far away, and to a rtively obscure checkpoint, likely because he knew that she wouldn''t like his choices.


    This way, not only could Ragnar use her as a vanguard and a deterrence to enemies, he could keep her nose out of his business.


    Deductions like this were important for Ss to understand the kind of opponent he was up against. Ragnar might look like a meathead bouncer, but that didn''t mean he actually was


    one.


    Ultimately, even if he felt he was losing the heir selection of his family, the Ravenws wouldn''t give a chance to a fool.


    However, whether his intelligence was actually something to worry about was another matter entirely.


    ...


    Ragnar stood in silence, a sinister air circling around him. He wore an almost too tight pair of dress pants, a half-unbuttoned dress shirt revealing his chest hair and dangling gold chain.


    At first nce, it didn''t look like he was wearing any advanced equipment at all. As usual, he looked like the cross between a bouncer and a pimp...


    And he seemed to carry the sinister gaze of one now.


    He had already gotten the notification of failure the moment Ss destroyed the first checkpoint. It had left him shaken.


    Usually, if a Leg failed, it would be because the cargo was damaged. Never did he expect the opponent to directly target the checkpoint instead.


    Because it was a Multi Quest, however, failure didn''t mean the end. It was just that the path to victory changed, so the Leg requirement shifted ordingly.


    But then a second checkpoint was destroyed. Then a third.


    And now...


    [Leg 005]


    [The Ravenws are on the verge of being expelled from the race for the Evergreen Territory; drastic measures must be taken. Find this enemy in the dark.]


    This change worried Ragnar for several reasons. But the main issue was that the Leg wasn''t asking him to kill the enemy, just to find them.


    The Legs of Multi Quests varied, but usually, they fell within a certain range of difficulty depending on the overall Quest Grade.


    The fact that his only task for this Leg was to identify the enemy meant only one thing...


    The enemy was mind-numbingly powerful.


    However, by the same token, it was a chance.


    If the enemy was so powerful, then due to this coincidence, the Ravenws had likely opened up a path to much greater rewards.


    Until now, Ragnar had been essentially giving up on better rewards for the sake of securing victory. Colluding with the Sylphs like he was was bound to have such results.


    The situation now was different.


    At that moment, someone knocked on his door.


    "Enter."


    A messenger came in with a lowered head and gave him a report.


    ''I guess things aren''t meant to be so easy.''


    Ragnar had tried to cheat a bit. He sent individuals to both of the remaining checkpoints with no other task than to record and send information back. He gave them both temporary visual Nexuses for this reason. He was even willing for them to die so long as they sent the


    information back to him.


    But the enemy never showed up.


    It was all calcted perfectly. It was a swift surprise attack, and then they retreated without losing a hair. Now, they were still in the shadows while he knew next to nothing about this


    person.


    It was a shame. Otherwise, this might have been the easiest Leg he had ever received.


    That said...


    Ragnar looked at a message that he received from Rond and his lip curled.


    The City Lord was asking him about information. He wanted to know about any Grimdes powerful enough to kill Sylphs, and he was even threatening him, saying that he was holding back information.


    The more Ragnar interacted with these alien Races, the more he realized that they weren''t so


    almighty.


    This message alone was enough for him to be about 80% certain.


    Back when he was manning the portal, a ck-scaled man had suddenly appeared before him


    and stolen his kill. He hadn''t even been able to read that person''s stats.


    But then... a video of the ck-scaled man defeating a General of a System City went viral.


    And his name...


    Wasn''t it Ss Grimde?


    Someone powerful enough to kill Sylphs with ease? Couldn''t it only be him?


    ''So you''re the enemy in the dark, huh?''


    [Leg 005 Cleared]N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 453: Superior [Bonus]

    Chapter 453: Superior [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss sat in silence, staring off into the distance. On the one hand, his mind was churning. And on the other, he was taking the opportunity to replenish his stamina.


    From time to time, he would pop a nutritional pill into his mouth and energy would flood through him. He was taking his body recovery even more seriously now despite having the Dual ss Constitution.


    The only unfortunate part was that he still didn''t have the time to dial in his sleep the way he would like to. He still wanted to observe Nosphaleen for longer before he trusted her enough to do that.


    However, there was no doubt that this Legendary Quest reward was a shocking one. He never failed to be surprised by his new body even dayster. It seemed to have a new surprise for him every day.


    ''The Multi Quest introduction mentioned that the demon viges are involved in all of this as well. I should take the opportunity to destroy a few of them and gather Experience. The higher Taboo Bond is, the better...''


    Assuming he would need to get Taboo Bond to Level 50 just like his own personal Level to max out its state in the F-Grade, he couldn''t even fathom the amount of Experience he would need.


    The cost was already 20,000, and he already knew that it wouldn''t increase linearly.


    ''If the Ravenws don''t make a move, I''ll do that.''


    Ss slowly stood, beginning to stretch his body, something else that had be a daily routine.


    It was also about time he start questioning Nosphaleen about some important matters. "What do you know about what happened to your Clypsian Race?"


    Nosphaleen blinked, not having expected such a question so suddenly. She knew that Ss would eventually ask, but he had such an odd cadence with how he did things that kept people on their toes.


    The more she observed him, the more she felt that he might be the most dangerous person she had ever met.


    "I only know what my elders have told me. We were the overlords of the Second Summoning, but we ended up losing for reasons even we don''t fully understand. A lot of us think it''s


    because of the Dogons, though."


    "And why''s that?"


    "The Dogons were the overlords of the Third Summoning. But logically speaking, we should have been given another chance. They seemed toe out of nowhere as though someone elerated their evolution. Although we knew that they were on pace to potentially be an overlord Race in the future, they weregging far behind us originally."


    "And the humans?"


    "The evolution of the Human Race seemed far more natural. It wasn''t until the Sixth Summoning that you all appeared in your current state, though you had been around in some form since the First Summoning."


    Ss raised an eyebrow when he heard this.


    There were only two ways to interpret Nosphaleen''s words. Either she was lying, or she subconsciously looked down on humans more than Ss thought.


    ording to Ss'' understanding of the timeline, the first few Extinctions were hundreds of millions of years ago. Even the dinosaurs only died during the Fifth Extinction, or in other words, the so-called "Fifth Summoning."


    He wouldn''t be surprised if these timelines were off or the whole Extinction to Summoning corrtion was all a faked facade.


    But the timeline scale difference shouldn''t be too exaggerated.


    There was simply no way there were "humans" around so far back then when there were barely any primates during the dinosaur period.


    These Clypsians really saw the Human Race no differently than they saw monkeys. In fact, it might be even worse than just that.


    Not only was Ss not offended by this, he even felt that he understood their perspective. The closest gic rtive to humans were what? Chimpanzees? And there was a barely 1% difference between their DNA. But how much smarter than chimps were humans?


    Now, what was the difference between Clypsians and Humans? Ss doubted that it was just blue skin and a few reflective scales.


    "Anyway... during the Third Summoning and the Fourth, we spent more time fighting amongst one another for supremacy than we did trying to find a path to survival. We realized toote that we were being interfered with by outside forces."


    Ss'' gaze shed. "You fought? How did you fight when you lost your status as an overlord Race?"


    Logically speaking, the moment the Dogons reced the Clypsians, the former should have had an insurmountable advantage.


    "We are the superior intelligence." Nosphaleen replied as though it was just a matter of fact. Ss continued to look at her and she realized quickly that this exnation wasn''t enough for him.


    "Not everyone dies after a Summoning failure unless something goes terribly wrong. We had many powerful experts remaining though they had rules they had to follow. Plus, with their experience, although it''s difficult to progress without the favor of the system, it isn''t impossible."


    "I see."


    Ss nodded, looking off into the distance.


    This pretty much confirmed something...


    There just might be Clypsians and Dogons still hiding in the shadows somewhere ready to make their move. In fact, who knew if there weren''t any other Races waiting in the wings? He couldn''t help but notice that he had yet to run into a single dinosaur, the most famous of the Extinct creatures.


    Ss could only hope that they had learned their lesson from their previous failures.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Maybe they have, but humans have no idea that this is the final chance we have. Now that I know all of this, I have a feeling whoever manipted the facts did so on purpose so that they could trigger infighting again. Without believing that our backs are truly against the wall, who would take working together seriously?''


    Ss exhaled a slow breath, the light in his eyes burning bright.


    "They''re making a move."


    Ss felt his Luck stir somewhat. Someone was targeting him.


    The once subtle feelings felt far sharper now.

 Chapter 454: Drawbacks

    Chapter 454: Drawbacks


    ?


    At that moment, three demon vige armies were making their way toward Lucius'' city. A pig demon vige, a wolfman vige, and a gnoll vige.


    They seemed to be moving independently, approaching from different directions. But there was no doubt about what their destination was.


    ...


    Ss had only just stood up when he received a message. It was only the second time he had received such a message, and it was from none other than Lucius.


    ''Return, huh? It seems that I was right.''


    The counterattack had started.


    Ss thought for a moment before he took a peek.


    [Leg 005]


    [Your city has been targeted by an underlying dark current. Face off against the assault of Pig Demon Vige 122, Gnoll Vige 297, and Wolfman Vige 011. Survive for three days]


    ''Interesting...''


    Ss thought about it for a moment. However, if Lucius couldn''t deal with this, he would truly be too ipetent.


    "Let''s go. We''re heading to the System City."


    **


    Orciuius City.


    If it wasn''t broken, Ss had no intention of fixing it. The only question was how his previous noble title would affect things here.


    And the answer was none at all.


    Noble status was based on two factors: System City and Territory. Within the same Territory, his Barony Title might hold a small bit of weight. But outside of that Territory, it plummeted until it was worth nothing at all.


    In this city, he might as well be a homeless man by the side of the road.


    He entered the city smoothly and bought a territory, directly bing a Citizen. Unfortunately, he didn''t get promoted to Baron immediately like he wanted, but that much was fine. He had already expected this.


    What he didn''t expect was to gain something else entirely.


    [Your Merit has been acknowledged by Orciulius City.]


    [Your status has been elevated]


    [You have been directly conferred the Title of Earl]


    [You have been awarded 100,000 Hero Points]


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    He remembered when he first entered Guiz City, he had been practically ushered in as a "Hero." In fact, that was the exact word the guard at the gate used to acknowledge him.


    He also noticed that the home he bought was even cheaper than before. He had gotten a 50% discount the first time in Guiz City, but this time it was 90% off. The cost was barely 5000 coins for a dingy ce that should have cost at least 50,000.


    This experience made him realize just how much he was truly underestimating the weight of his Merits. It made all of thisically easy.


    Just to get a Viscount Title back in Guiz City, it would cost 1,000 Hero Points. To make it to Earl, it would likely cost a hundred times that with ease.


    But he had gotten the Title for free and 100,000 Hero Points on top of that to spend as he pleased.


    [Title Unlocked]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Title: Earl of Orciulius]


    [You now have a stake in the territory of Orciulius City, and your power should reflect that] [+40% to ALL stats while within 50 kilometers of Orciulius City]


    This time, when he walked into the military encampment near the core of the city, he didn''t receive the same disdain. It was like his Merits were too overwhelming to ignore any longer. ''I can gain a Colonel position in exchange for just 10,000 Hero Points...''


    Ss hadn''t expected the sudden influx of Hero Points, and he wondered if he should change his ns. But in the end, he shook his head. He would stick with his original n.


    First, he epted a Captain Title, found the military missions list, scanned through them, picked one, then directly left.


    The sudden appearance of an unknown Earl didn''t escape Rond''s attention. But by then, Ss was gone.


    **


    Lucius stared off into the distance with a solemn expression. He had sent a message to Ss for him to return, but he wasn''t banking on it. He would be a fool to trust his life to such a


    variable.


    However, as the enemies approached from the distance, he couldn''t help but feel a hint of darkness in his heart. Ss truly didn''t take him very seriously at all.


    The Multi Quest wasn''t unfair. There were a good few hours before the armies appeared along their first line of scouting. But Ss was still nowhere to be seen.


    The only reason Lucius hadn''t lost his temperpletely was because he knew that Ss had actually done quite a lot in this period.


    Leg 004 changed before it was evenpleted, changing from stopping the Ravenws from gaining an advantage, to destroying their checkpoints. There was only one person who could


    be responsible for such a thing.


    Ss.


    Lucius took a breath. They didn''t need to defeat the army; they just needed tost for three days. That would be enough.


    This should be the way of the system finding bnce. Otherwise, they might truly be out of


    luck.


    These weren''t normal demon viges. They were all powerful, having Level 30s at their helms. They couldn''t be underestimated in the slightest.


    Lucius'' protection n was already finished. If Ss came, good. If not, that was fine as well.


    He was prepared.


    But that was when something astonishing happened.


    Just as the Grimdes were prepared for battle, the pig demons froze and their City Lord let


    out a howl.


    The pig demons seemed furious about something, and their power seemed to plummet for an inexplicable reason.


    The battle began, but then the scene repeated itself. The wolfmen were the next to take a hit.


    And then, hours after that, it was the turn of the gnolls.


    Distracted and seemingly weakened, the demons weren''t just repelled by Lucius; they were


    crushed.


    Lucius didn''t understand what was happening at first, but then the reality sunk in.


    Their viges... they had to have been destroyed.


    Demons were special. They were spawned from thin air, and they were the only example of


    City Lords that could freely leave their cities before reaching a certain vige Grade.


    But... that came with its own drawbacks.

 Chapter 455: One Man

    Chapter 455: One Man


    ?


    Demon viges didn''t have the usual expected setup. They didn''t have women and children in the normal sense, or more urately, any women they did have were soldiers and warriors just like the rest.


    As one might expect, then, they didn''t reproduce normally either. Much like Dens and Mount Steles, they spawned. But unlike Dens and Mounts, their spawning was based on something known as Conqueror Points.


    The more territory they imed and controlled, the more Conqueror Points they''d have, and the more chances at evolution and increasing their army size.


    But... by the same token...


    If their City Stele was suddenly conquered...


    ...


    Ss stood over a cracked City Stele as it crumbled into motes of light. He didn''t hesitate to turn it into Experience.


    He had expected to earn quite a lot because these viges were quite powerful. Although most of their warriors were gone, he didn''t think that that would affect the worth of their City Steles.


    However, he only gained 30,000 total Free Experience. The price exchange was just the same as the first pig demon vige he conquered.


    That said...


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 6]


    [Experience: 0/40,000]


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv6]


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Genes]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Bronze> Gene Talents]


    It seemed that it was going to take a lot more to be able to y around with Legendary Genes. But honestly, the fact that he was so close with a mere Level 6 Profession went a long way to showing just how powerful Taboo Bond was.


    ''Maybe there''s a t Experience gained regardless of the Level of the City Stele. Unless it''s an E-Grade Vige, or a Bronze Grade one, I won''t get more than 10,000 Experience...''


    At least that was how it seemed now. But that was fine.


    He would just have to slowly wring out all the potential of his Path one step after another. At the same time, he would look out for powerful Serpentes beasts. Clearly, that would be the easiest way to umte arge number of Experience in a short time.


    Ss, with Nosphaleen and Sunniva in tow, disappeared into the night, leaving the vige in their wake.


    Because there were so few demons left behind to defend, they didn''t gain much from the vige itself. Compared to Ss'' current wealth, the coins were worthless, and the treasures were unimpressive.


    Sunniva was having a hard time keeping up, but every time it looked like she was about to copse, Ss gave her a nutrition pill.


    As for Nosphaleen, although her Physical stats were basically half his own, she was very adept at using herrge amount of Aether to counter those weaknesses, so she needed to be replenished much less often.


    "We''ll rest here. Come the morning, we''ll check out the situation again. I''ll give you four hours."


    He could only put off sleep for so long. Plus, he had another card to y.


    "He will be our guard."


    Ss summoned the Basilisk King. Although the Arctic Emperor Cobra had far higher stats, the Basilisk King would have far more resistance to Nosphaleen''s charm. If something were to go wrong, Ss trusted the Basilisk King to handle it better.


    Then, he entered a state of meditation, slowly falling into a deep sleep.


    Within his body, his cells fired, and his synapses formed new connections. This was the first time he had slept in almost a week. He had severely underestimated just how much his body needed this.


    Slowly, his will began toplete thest stretch of its advancement, solidifying itself within the Realm of Tangibility.


    ...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Lucius was still stunned by what was happening. The powerful demons seemed to have be kittens in their hands. As they ughtered thest of them, he looked off into the distance, being informed by Wilfred that there were more parties watching from the sidelines.


    However, because of the scene they saw before them, they didn''t dare to step forward any longer.


    Lucius'' face twisted into a slight sneer, but inwardly, his heart was pounding rapidly. It wasn''t because of these people, but because he wasn''t stupid.


    He knew that this had to be because of Ss, and he could guess what triggered it.


    But how did Ss know which viges to target? Even if the Quest numbered them, it didn''t give locations even to him, the Originator.


    Unfortunately, Lucius didn''t know about the mission system of cities. Otherwise, he would have guessed immediately.


    Even so, this made Ss even more unfathomable in his eyes.


    They had already been thrown several challenges in this Multi Quest, but Ss made it all feel


    So...


    Easy.


    [Leg 005 Cleared]


    [Leg 006]


    [The plot of your enemies has been thwarted and a penalty has sanctioned them. This will be a


    free round. Deal as much Damage against them as you can within 3 days]


    >[The allies of Ebonspire will be restricted to a 10-kilometer radius of their city]


    >[The secret support of Ebonspire will be cursed to inaction]


    Lucius'' eyes brightened like torches. It was no wonder they didn''t attack. In fact, they were


    being forced to retreat.


    If Lucius had Rune Soul, or at least Rune Enlightenment, he would be able to see the restrictions of the system falling from the skies above. They couldn''t even resist as their bodies practically moved on their own, returning to their individual holdings.


    This wasn''t just for the humans of the Ravenw family, but the Sylphs of the System City as


    well.


    All of a sudden, the pressure the Grimdes were facing receded like a tide. Lucius stood to his full height, his saber dripping with demon blood as he looked off with a serious expression. Then, either subconsciously or on purpose, he looked toward Nathan.


    Right then, he saw an expression on Nathan that he had never seen before. The man was a prankster and jokester down to his very bones. But right now...


    He was unprecedentedly solemn.


    And the both of them knew that this had nothing to do with Leg 006.


    It was all because of one man.


    Ss Grimde.

 Chapter 456: Hero Points

    Chapter 456: Hero Points


    ?


    Ss woke up with a sharp glint in his eyes. He shifted slightly and his bones popped and cracked, his muscles awakening like a dragon stretching itself taut after a long slumber.


    The moon was still high in the sky, shimmering with a beautiful fullness. However, Ss didn''t have the eyes for it. Instead, he was looking at the new notification on his screen.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    When he saw Leg 006''s introduction, he understood that things must have gone very well. It also confirmed for him that the system wasn''t just fair; it was biased toward those it supported.


    The Sylphs had no business here, and the system knew it. As such, whenever they exposed themselves, the system would give him all the chances in the world to crush them.


    These realizations, though, only made him more wary. He definitely wasn''t the only intelligent person in the world. For Earth to have failed so many times even with such advantages, and powerful existences like the Dogons and Clypsians as their predecessors... It could only mean that their enemies were far stronger than he knew.


    He stood to his feet.


    For now, he wouldn''t be going to the Ebonspire. To him, the Ravenws were never the threat. The people he needed to crush were the Sylphs.


    This territory would never be his so long as they existed.


    ...


    Rond sat in his office, feeling ironically much the same as Plinli. The difference was that he had lost much more than plinli had by the point he realized that he was being painted into a corner.


    The price of controlling demon viges wasn''t low, and it was also impossible to capture powerful demon viges so easily. The only way to mitigate the hardship was by targeting new demon viges and then investing in their growth.


    These demon viges had Level 30s at their helm. The highest Level human right this moment was only Level 28. One could imagine how valuable they were now, but he had lost three in quick session. And he didn''t even deal a blow to his enemies.


    Now, he had been sanctioned by the system and couldn''t make another move even if he wanted to.


    The worst part was that this sanction also targeted the demon viges that were under his control. Not only would this expose his cards to his enemies, but if they took advantage of these three days properly, he would suffer a setback that couldn''t be reversed.


    His gaze flickered. It seemed that he might have to rely on the other System Cities to do this. There were two others in this territory, and until now, they had been less involved in the Multi Quest than usual. But... it should be possible to pull some strings and...


    Rond suddenly got a notification that made him stand to his feet fiercely.


    ...


    Ss stood in front of the mission hub, indifferently handing over his missions.


    This time, he didn''t use a misdirection because he knew that Rond wouldn''t have enough time to act even if he wanted to and... because he knew that it woulde in handy right here and now.


    [Pig Demon Vige 122]


    [Reward: 135,200 Hero Points]


    -


    [Gnoll Vige 297]


    [Reward: 134,100 Hero Points]


    [Wolfman Vige 011]


    [Reward: 145,000 Hero Points]


    Suddenly, he had over 500,000 Hero Points on hand.


    [Trade Hub]


    ...


    [>Marquess Promotion - 500,000 Hero Points]


    [>Duke Promotion - 1,000,000 Hero Points]


    It wasn''t enough.


    From what he understood, bing a Duke of a City would give him the right to buy Duke- Gradednd. In a lot of ways, this would be like having a city within a city.


    He was less interested in the Dukedom, though, and far more interested in the Nexus he would gain ess to as a result. This Nexus would only be a single step weaker than the Nexus a City Lord would have ess to.


    Until now, the best Nexus he had ever essed was a Bronze one from a reward. Other than that, it was just the Common Nexus from Casstle Main.


    However, the Duke of a System City should have unlimited ess to a Bronze Nexus. Although this Nexus wouldn''t upgrade to Silver, it would progress with the Level cap of the System City and thus always remain relevant so long as Earth continued to improve.


    It had to be remembered that the strength of a System City was decided by the best warriors of Earth. The City Lord would be capped at 10 levels above the highest level on the Summoned World, and their 10 Generals would be 2 levels beneath them.


    Of course, this didn''t include any additional stat boosts they''d receive from armor and Title


    boosts.


    Unfortunately, all the hoping in the world wouldn''t change the fact he was still short. He was also pretty sure that these were discounted prices thanks to his Merits.


    In that case, what he would have to do would definitely be moreplicated.


    The ideal scenario would be to be the City Lord of this System City. Not only would he gain all the wealth that came with it, but he would erase an enemy for him.


    Unfortunately, things were tooplicated.


    The second-best path, then, was to find a way to handicap them so that they couldn''t


    interfere even if they wanted to.


    Ss'' mind churned with a wild array of thoughts.


    If it was just as easy as gathering more Hero Points, he would do that. But there simply wasn''t


    enough time.


    He didn''t have the strength yet to clear viges headed by Level 30s on his own; that would be suicide. And the other missions gave too little return for him to clear enough of them within


    three days.


    He would have to make an opportunity for himself.


    His eyes shed as he had an idea.


    ...


    Nosphaleen looked at her screen, her lip twitching.


    -


    [You have been conferred the Title Countess]


    [You have been conferred the Title Countess of the Grimdes]


    -


    Shaking her head, she entered the den of Nobles and took out an item.


    [nar Convergence Gate (Silver) (Temte)]

 Chapter 457: Planar Convergence Gate

    Chapter 457: nar Convergence Gate


    ?


    [nar Convergence Gate (Silver) (Temte)]


    [Exchange 100 Units of Aether or 10 Aether Stones to open a Portal between your world and its Aether ne. Location will be a one-to-one trantion of space and time. Gate willst 10 days upon opening.]


    [Uses Left: 3/3]


    She didn''t know what Ss was thinking, wanting to deploy something like this here. Plus, from her understanding, it wasn''t so simple to circumvent the protections of a System City. The military wasn''t the only thing protecting it. There wererge numbers of formations ands of Runes that could suppress the activation of such a thing.


    Though this nar Convergence Gate was powerful, it was more likely than not that it would be detected, suppressed, and then ultimately fail.


    That was especially so considering the fact that they were doing this in the heart of the most protected region.


    Still, she had no choice but to follow Ss'' orders at this point.


    She pulled out ten Aether Stones, working quickly. There would definitely be a great fallout upon failure. There was a reason that Ss was making her do this rather than doing it himself.


    The nar Convergence Gate didn''t seem like a gate at all. Instead, it looked a lot like the Beast Transmutation Skin, just arge parchment of leather etched with ancient,plex carvings.


    She ced the Aether Stones in their proper locations and that was when it changed.


    The Aether raced through the etchings like cars surging through aplex terrain and then converged at the center.


    The illusion of a starry gate took shape and that was when themotion began.


    Rond sensed it at the first instant, and that was the moment he stood from his chair, his head snapping toward their direction.


    However, by this point, the process couldn''t be stopped. Space quaked and it seemed like it was about to tear in two.


    But that was when the Runes that protected the System City activated. rms red and a domain of starry Aether covered the city in a Dome that blocked out the night sky and made it so bright one might almost mistake it for day.


    Nosphaleen''s heart skipped a beat. The reaction was even fiercer than she thought. She looked off toward where she thought Ss was hiding, but he wasn''t making a move. Was he really going to sacrifice her like this?


    She had seen Ss'' cruel nature, and in many ways, she understood it. As well as Ss had hidden it, she had already noticed that his control over her wasn''t as absolute as it should have been between a master and beast. Whatever he had done to take her out had already been reversed.


    But it seemed that she hadn''t been able to convince him to trust her in these days.


    Nosphaleen sighed as the pattern of converging Aether shattered beneath the might of the System City.


    [Uses Left: 2/3]


    Nosphaleen stumbled backward, the spiraling rage of Aether knocking her off bnce. "Again."


    The voice came before she could even stabilize herself properly. When she heard them, she understood why Ss had handed her 20 Aether Stones and not 10. He had always nned to do this twice.


    But she didn''t understand what he would gain out of it.


    This time, though, Ss came out of the shadows, striding over as themotion took hold of the entire city. The dome above was already fading away, but he could feel as though the system''s eyes were converging over here.


    However, there was a clearg in the system''s actions...


    Favoritism.


    He knew what it was without much thought. And now that he was more confident in taking action, he urged Nosphaleen.


    "Hurry up."


    The cold glint in Ss'' eyes made her heart skip a beat. The Mesmeryx part of her was especially strangled, as though she was gazing toward her overlord.


    She realized whether she was considered a beast of Ss or not...


    He was her bane.


    Without a choice, Nosphaleen could only hurry to set it up again.


    By this point, Ss was only 20 or so meters away as the nar Convergence Gate began to form up.


    This time, the System City reacted even faster because its formations had yet to fade in the first ce. However... there was another important thing to consider this time.


    Ss was here.


    He had used the first opportunity to observe and see if there was something that he could do. Quite quickly, he realized that he would be able to take action this time.


    As expected, the System City''s level was dimmed and restrained so that it would be around the general level of Earth as a whole. This wasn''t just in the level of its fighters, but also in the level of its formations.


    Thanks to this, Rune Soul was more than enough for Ss to get a general feel of what was happening. And... more than enough for him to protect the nar Convergence Gate for just


    long enough...


    His telekinesis red and Enchanted Schr churned.


    His Ice-Poison formed needles under the control of Winter''s Edge and his Slow Runes pierced into the converging Runes of the System City.


    PA. PA. PA.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ice popped and crackled in the air.


    Ss'' eyes glowed brighter and brighter as the formations of the System City were unceremoniously poisoned one after another. Blue, cancerous runes spread like veins formed into a across the skies.


    Nosphaleen hardly had the time to understand what was happening when her brows shot up.


    ''Sess!''


    BOOM!


    The starry gate solidified, mming into the marbled ground and entrenching itself.


    A swirling portal appeared within it and arge amount of Aether converged.


    "Retreat for now," Ss said calmly.


    He was still waiting for something and he believed that the other foot would drop quite


    quickly.


    And that it did.


    -


    [Quicktime Event Triggered]


    [Future of Orciulius City]


    [Level Rmended: 30]


    [Description: A sudden power struggle has been triggered in the depths of the Orciulius City.


    Who wille out on top?]


    [Event Type: Points Based]


    [Time Limit: 10:00:00:00]


    [Clear Requirements]


    ...

 Chapter 458: His Path

    Chapter 458: His Path


    ?


    Ss had only just finished speaking when he noticed a problem.


    Nosphaleen was marked.


    Still, he was quite calm when he noticed this despite the panic on Nosphaleen''s face. He was ready.


    He had been marked before, and he knew the kind of tricks that the system liked to y. This was the real reason he had had Nosphaleen act as opposed to just doing it himself.


    Like this...


    He could actually hide her.


    The somewhat warped cancer Gene appeared again.


    "Bear with it."


    Ss had already mmed the Gene into her chest before she could react.


    A familiar pain overwhelmed her, and her body began to shut down once again. Soon, her Clypsian Genes had been suppressed once again.


    With the upgrade to his Taboo Bond Path, it was even easier than it had been in the past for Ss to aplish this. Adding onto that his familiarity with the process, it barely took a few seconds before Nosphaleen was tossed back into his Hibernation Realm.


    He looked above his head and nodded.


    He had been partially worried that the beacon would transfer to him, but at the very least he had confirmed that at least a Legendary Path ability could circumvent the system to some extent.


    ''Nosphaleen has had time to really drill the suggestion into Sunniva. But only time will tell if it will hold up these ten days. I''ll have to watch my back in the meantime.''


    Ss began to retreat from the region just as the first beasts began to rush out of the portal.


    Because the gate was much more controlled than the usual portal, it wasn''t constantly expanding. However, that didn''t mean it wasn''t quiterge.


    The gate was at least 30 meters tall and ten meters thick. It was more than enough to unleash a great deal of absolute chaos.


    And...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''I''m in luck...''


    Ss hadn''t been paying much attention earlier, but he had felt a slight frigid winding from the other side. However, now he could confirm it.


    The world on the other side was likewise a winterynd.


    However, this shouldn''t have been a surprise. He had mostly spoken those words perfunctorily.


    It had to be remembered that the nar Convergence Gate connected the Aether ne to the proper Earth coordinates, or vice versa. In addition, it had been implied through the description of the Multi Quest that the Africor Continent was not the propernding location and that its climate and that of the Evergreen Territory''s would certainly sh.


    Using this as a foundation, it was simple for Ss to deduce that when he connected the Evergreen Territory to Earth with the nar Convergence Gate, he would certainly be connecting to a location of simr climate. And in this case...


    He would have the advantage in Aether.


    There was no doubt that the Path of the Mancer had a great deal of potential, but there were also drawbacks. If he was in an environment that was too adversarial to his own, it would be far more difficult to cast Ice-Poison Skills, even with the support of Rune Soul.


    But now...


    He would be able to maintain his advantage.


    **


    Other side of nar Convergence Gate.


    The Celestial Republic.


    "Report."


    [Verday Song (FFF)]


    [Level: 26]


    "A portal has appeared on the Great Celestial Wall, sir."


    Verday looked up from his documents, his eyes sharpening.


    He had the air of a General to him. Though he was somewhat short in stature, standing at around 5''8", he had an aura of a man a foot taller than that. His reporting officer couldn''t help but shrink beneath his gaze.


    "What happened?" Verday asked slowly.


    ording to their analysis, there should be no such portal.


    Although it was difficult to predict the appearance of portals into the future, within a few days, the "weather forecast," so to speak, should be quite urate.


    A random portal couldn''t appear in such a highly monitored region without cause. "We are still investigating. But all signs point to this being done on purpose. The portal is very stable and a gate has appeared. This gate also seems to have a particrly strong luring effect on beasts. The Aether is more stable, so it gathers more systematically. The Great Celestial Wall is already being overrun."


    The wall was long. It was impossible to defend every inch of it. Instead, it was mostly used to bolster defenses in certain areas. The location of this portal happened to be particrly inconvenient as a result.


    Verday stood.


    "Hand out my orders. Send a report back to headquarters and gather up the men."


    They needed to move out now and be prepared for the other foot to drop. The odds that this was a plot against their government were low. But they had to be prepared for it nheless. And if it wasn''t, this was likely an opportunity.


    As expected, the words had barelye out when the Quicktime Event notification reached


    him.


    ''A System City?''


    His gaze shed as he made several decisions at once.


    ...


    Within General Song''s encampment, a familiar man sat in silence.


    [Morgan Hayes (FF-)]


    [Level: 13]


    "Professor, you''re needed."


    Morgan looked up. "Where''s the brief?"


    "There isn''t one. Emergency situation."


    Morgan stood when he heard this.


    "Alright. Bring me where I need to go."


    **


    Orciulius City.


    Ss didn''t go very far from the nar Convergence Gate as the warriors of the System City began to converge. His focus had turned to the clear conditions of the Quicktime Event.


    One of them, unsurprisingly, was finding and killing the culprit. That, obviously, being Nosphaleen. But he had already hidden her away, and the odds of that were minimal.


    However, after this, the challenge changed.


    [Clear Requirements]


    >[The culprit of this incident has been hidden through mysterious means. Find the secrets hidden in the dark and kill both the culprit and their conspirators]


    It was unsurprisingly a very difficult requirement to meet. If Ss wasn''t the one who had


    done it, he wouldn''t even know where to start.


    Obviously, this wasn''t a requirement he could meet. So his path was the others...

 Chapter 459: Clear Requirements

    Chapter 459: Clear Requirements


    ?


    [Clear Requirements]


    >[... their conspirators]


    OR


    >[Maintain Top Score]


    OR


    >[Kill the leaders of all involved parties]


    Thest one, that was surely there for the sake of the "conspirators," or in other words, Ss and Nosphaleen.


    However, what did it mean by all leaders?


    ''One should obviously be City Lord Orciulius. But the fact they''re multiple should mean...''


    He looked toward the portal. There had to be another power on that side.


    ''Since it''s a portal to Earth, it''s most likely either a particr government or Legacy. But there''s no way to confirm unless I actually go there. That said...''


    Ss looked off into the distance, and City Lord Orcilius was rushing over. It wasn''t just that, but he had a great number of elites with him, ten Generals, a hundred Colonels, and much of the city''s army converged.


    They organized almost cartoonishly fast, but Ss also had to realize that much of the army were humans spawned for this purpose and this purpose alone. They were disciplined to a fault, and finding a gap in their rigor would be nigh impossible.


    That was when Ss saw that there was a beacon above City Lord Orcilius'' head. By extension, whoever the other leaders were, they should have beacons above their heads as well.


    This gave Ss a huge advantage. He was in the dark while all of them were exposed. It was theplete reverse of the Arctic Emperor Cobra situation.


    However, this didn''t put him at ease. If anything, it made him frown. Even if the system showed favoritism, it definitely wouldn''t be to this extent. There had to be a catch somewhere.


    He realized what the catch was not even a momentter.


    City Lord Orcelius didn''t even make a move, just standing there while he scanned the region with sharp eyes. Ss wasn''t the only noble watching from on high, and because he was somewhat hidden, the City Lord didn''t notice his presence immediately. And even if he did, there was nothing he could do about it. Unless he had probable cause, he couldn''t just attack a sitting Noble like that. The Dukes would revolt against him and he would be usurped, making Ss'' task all the easier.


    However, that wasn''t the important part. What stuck out to Ss was the fact that although the City Lord didn''t make a single move...


    His points began to skyrocket.


    That was when Ss understood what was happening.


    First, the easiest way to gather points was by killing beasts. He assumed that another method would be killing the members under the other "leader" as well, but he had yet to confirm that.


    And second...


    The leaders he was meant to target gained points not just for personal kills, but also for kills their subordinates made.


    That meant one thing...


    There was absolutely no way Ss could win through the second condition. How could he alone outscore thousands?


    That was just the most obvious problem too.


    If he started killing beasts and his name popped up on the leaderboard, he would be exposing himself as the hidden third party that everyone had to focus on killing.


    That meant that he had to somehow find a way to kill the opposing leaders while they were being protected by thousands, but he also had to maneuver around this battlefield without getting any confirmed kills himself.


    The more Ss analyzed his situation, the more he realized that things were veering well off the course he wanted them to follow.


    It seemed that while the system might show some slight favoritism, it would never be the point of tant nepotism.


    However, by the same token, if he could pull it off...


    Ss'' gaze turned cold. After he finished analyzing the situation, he realized what he had to do, and the embryo of a n began stirring in his mind.


    If he was going to seed, he had to do this. Otherwise, he would have no chance at all.


    [Rond Orciulius (???)]


    [Level: 38]


    The System City army began to set up a perimeter. However, at that moment.


    ROAR!


    A massive beast appeared and its roar shook their hearts as a violent swirl of ice and poison shook the air.


    The beast must have been at least 20 meters from head to tail, its scales reflecting a gorgeous pearly white etched withplex runes of blue.


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 8]


    [Experience: 0/12800]


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv8; Insight Lv8]


    -


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <85%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <12800%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <800%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <160%>]


    -


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    [Arctic Emperor Cobra (FFF+)]


    [Level: 19]


    -


    [Physical: 2449]


    >[Strength: 2795]


    >[Constitution: 2660]


    >[Dexterity: 2054]


    >[Speed: 2135]


    [Mental: 2425]


    >[Intelligence: 3960]


    >[Wisdom: 2161]


    >[Charisma: 1417]


    [Will: 2590]


    A Beast Totem loomed over Ss'' head from the shadows, his eyes flickering with a dense light. He didn''t hesitate to pour 6400 of his remaining 10,000 Experience into One Kind For Me, increasing the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s buff from 140% to 160%.


    Then, using his visualization range, he summoned it just outside the portal, making it look as though it had just walked right out of it.


    The appearance of such a powerful beast made even the City Lord''s pupils constrict. And as expected, he had no idea that this was Ss'' contracted beast.


    It was for this very reason that Ss had been cautious with how he used the Arctic Emperor


    Cobra.


    However, this was just the first step.


    Commands flew through his intention, bearing down on the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s psyche.


    The Insight Path was the vaguest of his Path Talents, but also, arguably, the most useful. Not only did it allow him the ability to understand how to help his Contract evolve, but it also helped him understand it in an almost spiritual sense. Meaning... he knew exactly how to "speak" to it so that it would understand, especially after his Dual ss Constitution made his feel for his Profession even stronger.


    Still, somehow he was going to have to win while keeping two things in mind.


    First... he had to find a way to lure the City Lord out of the city no matter what. Within these


    limits, even the Arctic Emperor Cobra was no match for him.


    And second...


    He somehow had to do it without killing because any points the Arctic Emperor Cobra gained


    would count for him.

 Chapter 460: Fish

    Chapter 460: Fish


    ?


    Ss immediately eliminated several things.


    Using <Arctic King''s Domain> would be foolish. They would just end up dying to the poison in a few seconds. The attacking spells were a decent option because the Arctic Emperor Cobra had never had great attacking ability. They would only do 100-200 Damage a piece, and so long as he controlled them well, it might be fine...


    But the problem with that approach was that the Damage of the Arctic Emperor Cobra wouldn''t stop there. He had even made it far too strong. The residual Ice-Poison effect would umte after the fact. So unless he used Rune Soul to expel the attack every time, they would eventually die to umted Damage as well.


    Ss hadn''t thought that he would ever run into a problem where his cards were too powerful for the situation, but here he was. If he was careless, he could ruin everything.


    Even if he tried to use the Arctic Emperor Cobra to bulldoze its way through everything, just its Physical stats alone were too ridiculous. He would have to ask it to hold back. But if he did that, then it would be obvious that there was a scheme or ploy at hand here. There was no way an existence like the City Lord wouldn''t be able to tell a beast wasn''t using their Physical to its full potential.


    That was doubly so considering this City Lord definitely had experience outside the bounds of what Ss could understand. After all, he was a Sylph.


    All of these thoughts shed through Ss'' head in an instant.


    Since he had dared to do this... he had his own ns.


    Suddenly, the aura of the Arctic Emperor Cobra dimmed considerably, before shooting up again, and then being repressed once more.


    The wild fluctuations of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s aura caught the experts off guard. Although they didn''t understand what was happening, they realized that this beast wasn''t nearly as dangerous thanks to this.


    It was then the Arctic Emperor Cobra let out a bellow, the confusion in its eyes disappearing as it charged forward.


    ...


    Ss sat in perfect silence on the rooftop of a building in the distance. His eyes were closed and he was in a perfect state of focus. From time to time, his own aura would fluctuate as well and his control became more finely tuned.


    At the moment, he seemed to be the Arctic Emperor Cobra. Its sentience was far beneath that of the Basilisk King. As such, it practically let him step into its body like a puppeteer.


    He subconsciously used <Madness Control> before he could even realize that it likely wouldn''t work... only to be shocked when it actually did.


    A part of him realized that this might very well be the breakthrough in <Madness Control> that he needed. After all, he still hadn''t forgotten the mission he received to create a better version of it.


    Unfortunately, now wasn''t the time to consider it.


    The wild fluctuation of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s aura was, of course, due to the Beast Totem.


    His Beast Totem could now suppress Serpentes beasts by 85%. With the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s current prowess, that meant that under Ss'' suppression, it would barely be able to exhibit around 370 Physical.


    However, that was only if one ignored the fact that the reason the Arctic Emperor Cobra had such high stats to begin with was because of the 160% boost he could give it.


    When Ss flipped the switch from buffing to debuffing, the Arctic Emperor Cobra couldn''t even muster up 150 points of Strength!


    And that was exactly what Ss was doing now. He was carefully controlling the Arctic Emperor Cobra, buffing and debuffing it at a rhythm that seemed erratic on the surface, but was actually a series of perfectly timed maneuvers.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Every time the Arctic Emperor Cobra was about to suffer a great blow, he would bump up the buff, allowing it to benefit from its full 2660 Constitution. Or when he needed it to carve through some distance or an opening bubbled up, he would allow it to use its full 2135 Speed. However, every time he had it attack someone, he would perfectly control the descent of its stats. Giving it just enough power to deal a strong blow, but not enough for a lethal one.


    Everything was within the purview of his calctions, and he found that he could perfectly fine-tune the Effectiveness of his Beast Totem, measuring exactly how much he wanted to suppress the Arctic Emperor Cobra and exactly how much he wanted to buff it.


    As expected, around this time, City Lord Orciulius was observing every little thing. He already had his own conclusions about what was happening here, but most importantly... there was a light of greed in his eyes.


    Such a powerful Level 19 beast with such an odd curse-like affliction wasn''t something you came across every day. The odds that it had Silver Genes were also quite decent.


    However, the City Lord didn''t make a move immediately. The battlefield was a mess because of the Arctic Emperor Cobra, but there were arge number of other beasts pouring out as well. Although he didn''t fear them, there was no easy way to take down the Arctic Emperor Cobra.


    By the same token, Ss was patient. So patient, in fact, that it didn''t even seem like he was breathing very frequently at all.


    He bided his time like he was ying a game of chess, slowly pushing the Arctic Emperor Cobra up the board until it seemed like it was being lured closer and closer to the City Lord.


    Then the fish bit.


    Rond gave out amand and two of his Generals swarmed toward the Arctic Emperor Cobra.


    They were certainly no joke. They were both Level 36s and had eye-watering stats.


    For the first time, Ss began to allow the Arctic Emperor Cobra to suffer some wounds... mostly because he didn''t even have a choice in the matter. These Generals were certainly strong enough to deal Damage even if the Arctic Emperor Cobra was at its best.


    However, with the Hibernation Realm in his back pocket, Ss went all in.


    Beneath his closed eyes, two slits seemed to split his irises apart.

 Chapter 461: Speed

    Chapter 461: Speed


    ?


    The two Generals surrounded the Arctic Emperor Cobra from two opposing sides, doing what they thought would make it difficult for the beast to react.


    The battle erupted in the midst of it all, but the addition of two powerful Generals made it so that there was practically no one other than the Colonels of the army that could stay close, especially since the Generals were riding steeds that bolstered their power by another level.


    And this was exactly the opportunity that Ss was waiting for.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra roared, its hood ring as it seemed to "try" to cast a skill, only to fail.


    The short hesitation caused the Generals tog behind, resulting in a vicious tail whip. The General and his steed went flying through the air, crashing near the area City Lord Orciulius stood and wiping out anotherrge portion of the army.


    Then, the Arctic Emperor Cobra actually began to turn and run.


    City Lord Orciulius frowned. ''This beast has some intelligence... Chase.''


    He made a few hand signals and several more Generals moved. But under Ss'' control, the retreat of the Arctic Emperor Cobra, though seemingly imperfect, was steady.


    The wounds began to umte more and more, but the Arctic Emperor Cobra continued to close in the distance on the portal.


    City Lord Orciulius'' frown deepened. At this rate, it was going to manage to escape. The worst part was that the Generals were only adding to the casualties of the city.


    Ss was very careful not to kill anyone, but the Generals weren''t the same. The best part was that these kills didn''t count toward Rond''s total at all because they were under his own faction. Only when they killed the stray beast would it count for something.


    Suddenly, Rond sprung into action.


    Ss stood to his feet at the same instant. He didn''t expect that Rond would be so decisive, but that only proved he was more of an impatient man than he thought. In that case, that would only benefit him.


    He shot onto the battlefield, weaving through practically undetected in the chaos.


    He was an Earl, no one with status too low would dare to tell him to do much of anything.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra was about to be stalled. The power of City Lord Orciulius was too great, especially within the city.


    Scales sprouted across Ss'' skin and his Speed skyrocketed. He dodged out of the way of a beast''s ws, sweeping it off its feet as he slid down between its legs.


    He hopped back to his feet with an almost exaggerated smoothness that made it feel like he had never been on the ground at all. Not a single time did his Speed drop below his max. In fact, he was still elerating.


    On the other side of the battlefield, the Arctic Emperor Cobra blocked a palm from the City Lord and was sent a bit away from the portal. Clearly, the City Lord was trying to knock it away, moving it further from its goal.


    ''Not yet...''


    Ss had the Arctic Emperor Cobra fail to cast another Skill as he closed in.


    He wasn''t a far distance away to begin with. He could only control the Arctic Emperor Cobra so perfectly when within the 50-meter range of his visualization. The only reason he hadn''t closed in the distance already was because weaving through a battlefield and running a straight distance obviously required different levels of strain.


    However...


    ''Now.''


    The City Lord descended with another attack. This time he had pulled out a sword, one that looked not too dissimr from the one Azrael had wielded. It was a ck straight sword that seemed to vanish into the shadows when it was swung.


    And right at that moment, the Arctic Emperor Cobra activated <Arctic Howl>.


    The Skill rebuffed the City Lord''s strike, catching him off guard for a moment. This was the first time the Arctic Emperor Cobra had actually seeded in casting a Skill.


    But the City Lord was prepared for a follow-up, reacting quickly, only to find himself frozen in ce.


    Ss had manipted the Runes in the air, forcefully changing the effect of <Arctic Howl> to <Arctic Howl Mutant>. He had already evolved the Arctic Emperor Cobra to be able to withstand his Freeze Ice-Poison Rune, so the rest was easy.


    As expected, the City Lord broke through it instantly, only for Ss'' eyes to sh.


    <King''s Bind>.


    Rond was frozen again. He had sensed that it was someone else who cast this skill and realized that he was caught in a trap. But just as he was about to break free again and see who wasing from behind him, the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s tail descended.


    If it was just one temporary bind, Rond would have still had the time to dodge.


    But after two binds, the time it took for him to counter both of them gave the Arctic Emperor Cobra the chance to send him flying...


    Right toward the portal.


    Rond''s eyes widened as he unfroze in the air. What was happening?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He was ready to cast a skill to orient himself, avoiding the portal, but that was when a forceful rush of telekinesis mmed right into him.


    The second push stacked on top of the first violent counter by the Arctic Emperor Cobra.


    Then, for inexplicable reasons, the beast he had been chasing all this time vanished from his sight. All that was left was a man covered in scales.


    Rond''s eyes widened as he came to a realization at the same instant he was swallowed up by the portal.


    Ss'' feet never stopped. ording to what he knew about portals, Rond would be ejected a decent distance. However, it wouldn''t be long enough that he couldn''te back.


    The only reason he was even able to do this in the first ce was because the restriction on Rond as a City Lord had been loosened by the Quicktime Event.


    Simply put, this was likely going to be the only chance he had of ever killing Rond outside


    the city.


    And he was going to take it.


    He needed Speed. He needed to reach the portal before Rond could make his way back, and avoid these Generals while he did so.

 Chapter 462 Only He [Bonus]

    Chapter 462 Only He [Bonus]


    Ss had thought out every meticulous detail, but he knew that this would be among the most dangerous situations he would face. However, he seemed to have an icy coolness to his gaze.


    The feeling of his body being under hisplete control was intoxicating, and he seemed to step beyond a limit.


    His body came to a sudden forceful stop just as a de sliced through where he would be.


    He spun to the side, pressing a foot against the ground with such forcefulness that the thin ice caused by the earlier <Arctic Howl> cracked.


    His toe made contact with the solid ground beneath, eliminating all the slippage in a single instant as he burst forward.


    A green glow covered his body, and his weight dropped drastically. He practically glided through the air, moving like a shadow as he stopped, jerked, and elerated in movements that were far too smooth to be natural.


    Ss'' weakness had always been his movement. He didn''t have any sudden teleportation abilities, and hecked any Speed-rted Skills that could bolster him in a timely moment.


    But at that instant, it seemed as though he had be his own Skill.


    His body moved like a well-oiled machine, and he took into ount every aspect within a small five-meter range.


    If he kept it to 50, it would be impossible for him to scan the entire region. But when he limited it to just five, it was as though he had a bird''s eye view of his entire area. Everything was in the palm of his hands, and the world was his oyster.


    He ducked and rolled, slipping out of the way of a stomp by a General''s steed''s hoof. Reaching out with a strong hand, he grabbed onto the reins, swinging himself back up to his feet and knocking the General off thanks to the horse being shaken off bnce.


    The sounds of his feet hitting the ground were practically like the delicate pitter-patter of rain, drowned out by the roars and ngs of the battlefield.


    Then, with another step, he elerated past thest wave of attacks, entering the portal with a final stride.


    ¡­


    Off in the distance, not long after Ss had entered the portal, a group caught up quickly after, their expressions changing.


    If Ss had been here, he would have recognized them as Sylphs. However, for some reason or another, they hadn''t participated in this battle.


    That said¡­ this was also within Ss'' calctions.


    The Sylphs that acted outside the city weren''t under the same rules as City Lord Orciulius. They weren''t part of the city''s military, and they also didn''t have Noble Titles. The system would never allow that. At best, they could enter the city, but if they tried to participate in the battle, the Generals, Nobles, and other officials would react much the same way any other military would react to civilians trying to join a battle.


    As expected, they had hardly appeared when a shout came from a certain General Sun.


    "Why the hell are there civilians on this battlefield?! Get them the fuck out of here!"


    "Detain them! They might be the secret masterminds in the dark!"


    The words of the officials made the Sylphs curse under their breaths. This was exactly what they were worried about, but they couldn''t hold themselves back when they saw Rond being schemed against. Now it seemed toote to do anything.


    "Retreat."


    "They''re trying to escape!"


    "Dammit! The army''s in a mess!"


    Hidden on a building rooftop opposite to where Ss had originally hidden himself, Sunniva watched this with rapt attention.


    Ss had given her a task, and thanks to the bindings of Nosphaleen, she was still following them. Her only task was to see if she could pick off these Sylphs should the opportunity present itself.


    Of course, it was a low-risk sort of task. Ss didn''t really care if she seeded or not. In fact, his goal was something entirely different¡­


    If she seeded, then good. If she didn''t¡­ then good.


    As for what his thoughts were, only Ss himself knew.


    ¡­


    The world shed around Ss, and he found himself spiraling out.


    ''Great Celestial Wall¡­''


    Ss recognized where he was immediately. However, the instant he did, he had another huge epiphany.


    Why did he know the name of the Great Celestial Wall, but not recognize the Mountains of Giza? They were both wonders of the world¡­


    He didn''t have the time to think about it.


    He found himself falling from the skies and realized that the fact the portal appeared here had helped him out a great bit. He was ejected from the portal far enough that he was falling down the side of the Great Celestial Wall.


    This must have been what happened to Rond as well, making it difficult for him to make it back to the portal in short order.


    But that was only the first part of the problem. That was because there was an army. In fact, there might as well have been two¡­ one on the side of the hordes of beasts rushing in this direction, and the othering from the government of this region.


    That was when Ss realized something else as well. There must have been so few Generals on the battlefield in Orciulius City because the rest were stationed outside of it to stop beasts from overrunning their walls.


    Ss analyzed all of this before hended on the ground.


    Snow crunched beneath his feet before a white tiger lunged at him. It was a beautiful creature, and far more regal and powerful than its pre-Summoning counterpart.


    Unfortunately, it was facing off against Ss.


    Ss leapt backward, his body still enveloped in a green hue as his telekinesis made him lighter.


    He pushed off with both feet, thennded past the tiger''s ws and onto its head.


    BANG!


    The tiger''s head was driven into the ground as Ss leapt up and back to the wall, grabbing onto a crack and pulling himself up the rest of the way.


    Hended on the wall just in time to see both the chaos and City Lord Orciulius about to make it to the portal once more.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 463 Weak [Bonus]

    Chapter 463 Weak [Bonus]


    [Rond Orciulius (FFF+)]


    [Level: 38]


    -


    [Physical: 1201]


    >[Strength: 783]


    >[Constitution: 615]


    >[Dexterity: 1789]


    >[Speed: 1615]


    [Mental: 1333]


    >[Intelligence: 1662]


    >[Wisdom: 1234]


    >[Charisma: 1086]


    [Will: 991]


    ¡ª


    Ss knew that his n had worked the moment he saw Rond''s stats for the first time. Not only was his Grade no longer a string of question marks, but he could actually read his stats¡­


    And they were more than manageable.


    In fact, his stats, albeit stronger than Nosphaleen''s, considering his level, it was almost to the point that...


    ''You''re weak.''


    Ss didn''t want any variable to creep up. It had been half a minute since he put the Arctic Emperor Cobra into the Hibernation Realm. That was the equivalent of over an hour of rest.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra wasn''t severely injured to begin with. With its Constitution and the Hibernation Realmbined¡­


    ROAR!


    The familiar spread of a gorgeous hood of white and blue appeared before the scrambling Rond.


    The City Lord''s pupils constricted when he saw the beast suddenly appear before him. He had already spotted Ss, but he thought he would have the time to make it to the portal. What he didn''t know was that Ss could summon his contracts anywhere within the range of his visualization, and though Rond was more than 50 meters from him¡­


    The portal was not.


    He didn''t need to make it to Rond; he only needed to stop Rond from taking advantage of his higher Speed and making it there first.


    Rond knew that he had fallen for the perfect trap; however, he didn''t give up, hoping that the curse-like affliction that had gued the Arctic Emperor Cobra was still there.


    But he was wrong.


    Very wrong.


    He tried to slip by the Arctic Emperor Cobra, activating a shifting Spell that elerated him forward, but he was no longer facing off against the same creature.


    <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    CRACK.


    Rond''s fast movements shattered the ice on him, but his Speed plummeted off a cliff.


    And worst yet for him¡­


    With the Beast Totem active¡­


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Speed was far stronger than his own to begin with.


    A tail rammed into Rond, and he felt like his entire body was shattered to pieces. He had weak Constitutionpared to his Level to begin with. Facing off against a creature with almost 2800 Strength with such poor Constitution was a recipe for death¡­ especially when the Speed he was so proud of was so worthless.


    Unfortunately, even the City Lord''s armor was worthless in front of such a disparity. Maybe only a treasure on the level of the Basilisk Skin Armor could make up such a difference.


    By this point, Ss had alreadynded on the wall.


    The City Lord was soaring right toward him. He was going to catch him, but at thest moment, his eyes narrowed.


    He pointed a finger forward and then drove it down.


    A massive wave of telekinesis in the form of an enormous finger mmed the City Lord into the ground before he could even make it to Ss.


    BOOM!


    Ss crossed his arms over his chest, activating <Arctic Howl Mutant> in the same instant.


    Smoke billowed into the skies, and Ss was almost sent flying off the side of the great wall again. Beasts that had been converging onto the battlefield found themselves being sent sprawling away, and visibility was rock bottom.


    ''A sacrificial treasure?''


    The split-second pause of <Arctic Howl Mutant> allowed Ss to retreat, but the moment the shockwave started back up again, he could no longer stop himself from being blown away.


    His Luck had sensed that something was wrong with Rond immediately, but he didn''t expect such a thing.


    He had calcted every factor, but in the end, there was something still outside of his grasp. He didn''t like it one bit.


    ''Luck¡­ maybe that''s why they call it that¡­''


    He twisted in the air, realizing that he was falling toward a wave of beasts and armored men. The soldiers were grizzled veterans and each one was approaching Level 20 at the worst. The best of them were definitely over that threshold.


    The problem wasn''t their Levels, though¡­ it was that there were simply too many of them.


    Ss barely had the time to spare to look at the leaderboard. He didn''t even know just yet if the Arctic Emperor Cobra was alright. He shelved using their connection to see because he felt it was more important to know whether Rond was alive or not.


    The good news?


    Rond was definitely dead. His points shot up, and the Merit of killing a Leader was applied to him.


    The bad news?


    ¡ª


    >[The culprit hidden in the dark has revealed himself. Kill him and secure victory]


    ¡ª


    There was yet another new clear requirement added with a nice, bold "OR" next to it.


    Ss looked above his head and would have chuckled bitterly if he cared to. It seemed that now the beacon had been transferred to him.


    Still, this was all within his expectations and a worthy tradeoff in Ss'' eye. In exchange for the death of one Leader, he had exposed him. Now, it seemed that he only had to kill one more.


    Falling through the air, he locked eyes with a stoic man of short stature with a beacon above his head.


    The task was simple. Kill him, and all would be well.


    Well¡­ not exactly. Because even if he did, he would likely still be stuck in an army of soldiers that hated his guts.


    Now, his contract was too far from him, the timer on his fusion with the Basilisk King had already been ticking for a small while now, and¡­


    BANG!


    Ssnded, smashing a beast beneath him to minced meat with a punch.


    He took a breath, and his gaze sharpened.


    At this point, the beasts were his friends.


    Unfortunately, there were no Serpentes here to take advantage of. Serpentes that were fans of the cold were already a rarity. They certainly wouldn''t take up shop here, so he was surrounded by furry monstrosities.


    However, just as he was going to make a decision, his gaze flickered as he noticed something.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 464 Morgan

    Chapter 464 Morgan


    Ss'' mind worked fast. He only seemed to lock onto the region for a short while before he looked away.


    ''Morgan¡­''


    In this sea of people, Ss seemed to be able to scan each one of their faces and react ordingly. He had already taken everything in, but he didn''t expect to see an old acquaintance.


    This was an odd wrinkle. Because judging by the look in Morgan''s eyes, he immediately felt that something was wrong.


    Compared to the others on the battlefield, Morgan was weak by not just one measure. He could be one-shotted by any one of these soldiers, let alone Ss. So he wasn''t a threat, but that wasn''t the main issue.


    Why was he here?


    The Celestial Republic Government wouldn''t have such a weak member of their army out here. What were the odds that Morgan would be the one weakling amongst this sea of warriors?


    Then there was the fact that there seemed to be a handler with him, someone that was protecting him.


    All of that went to say that Morgan was here for another purpose entirely. The question was¡­


    What was that purpose?


    It seemed like a useless question to be thinking about, especially when he was being forced to weave in and out of a storm of beasts trying to take his head off, and the fact that General Song was most definitely in the process of nning a tactical mission to take him out as well.


    But¡­


    Ss always trusted his mind.


    Odd things didn''t just ur for no reason. And this detail that someone else might miss might be precisely what saves his life.


    Ss bought time, trying to lengthen the distance between him and the oing army, the opposite of what he had wanted to do in the past. The difficulty was proving exactly why he hadn''t wanted to take such an approach.


    The way out was just as problematic as the way in, so much so that he might as well have been doing his best to take General Song''s head instead. However, he was trying to bide his time to think.


    He turned back as the smoke was finally clearing to a small extent. The connection with the Arctic Emperor Cobra was still there, but it was, unsurprisingly, greatly injured.


    If not for Ss'' fast reaction time, let alone injured, he would have ended up dead.


    ''It won''t be of much use unless I can get close enough to put it back into the Hibernation Realm¡­''


    While he could summon his beast to anywhere within 50 meters, he couldn''t do the worst¡­ let alone the fact that he was no longer within 50 meters of the beast to begin with anyway.


    Realizing the situation, Ss directly ignored the Arctic Emperor Cobra. If it came down to it and it died, so be it.


    ''If I could find a chance to bring Nosphaleen out¡­''


    The thoughts rolled and roared, but they were mostly a backdrop. His thoughts were still focused on Morgan as though his mind was insisting that there was something to take advantage of here even though he couldn''t find it.


    That was when something clicked.


    He remembered that Morgan had said that he was a Professor. In fact, he was a Professor at a university that stood on a level ying field with Veridian, King University.


    After all, at that point, both Lauren and Alex had been found out as traitors. Among those who had joined for the sake of Casstle Main''s Quest, that only left Ss, who was someone Cassarae had known her whole life, and Morgan, who was just as much of a stranger as the other two.


    This was something that Morgan had exined to him during theirst conversation, and it was also because of thisst conversation that Ss felt that Morgan might even be a key to him winning here.


    During thatst conversation, Morgan had thanked him for being the reason Cassarae trusted him. He had said that it was because Ss trusted him that Cassarae didn''t put him at arm''s length like might have been the reaction of any other leader.


    After all, at that point, both Lauren and Alex had been found out as traitors. Among those who had joined for the sake of Casstle Main''s Quest, that only left Ss, who was someone Cassarae had known her whole life, and Morgan, who was just as much of a stranger as the other two.


    Logically, it wouldn''t have even been beyond the pale even if Cassarae had chosen to execute him just out of an abundance of caution. He wasn''t under any illusions that this was the same society that existed before the Summoning. People had killed for less reasons.


    Of course, all of this could have just been Morgan buttering him up. But for what purpose? Just to end up in this obscure situation where Ss would choose to trust him with his life on the line?


    That was impossible.


    The more likely answer was that Morgan was not much different from Brant. He too wanted out from the shadow of his government.


    But all of that wasn''t enough of a reason for Ss. That information didn''t help him at all. If anything, Morgan was nothing more than a burden to him now, and even if he had such intentions, Ss wouldn''t risk his life to save him.


    ''Why do I know the name of the Great Celestial¡­''


    Ss didn''t finish his thoughts, his head snapping in a certain direction. It was the direction of the wall. His thoughts turned, and he suddenly felt like he was piecing something together.


    The Celestial Republic. It was an odd name.


    The world''s governments had all taken on names that elicited a feel for the former countries or continents that they had once been¡­ the Africor Continent¡­ the United Federation of Terranova¡­


    But why didn''t the Celestial Republic elicit the same feel?


    No, it did¡­ at the very least, the "Republic" part did. But the Celestial part¡­ he never really thought much about it.


    ''Neurodivergence¡­ is it a stretch?''


    After having met the Clypsians, they truly did seem like a race arrogant enough to give themselves such a title. But¡­


    Ss'' gaze flickered, feeling five powerful auras shooting toward him from five different directions. It seemed that General Song had taken to throwing a tactical but small unit at him instead of the entire army.


    He was probing him.


    Ss hesitated for a moment before his n solidified in his mind.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 465 So…

    Chapter 465 So¡­


    The ck scales receded from Ss'' body as his strength plummeted. At the same time, no one noticed a beast suddenly appear amongst the torrent of beasts over 50 meters away. Who would notice just one more in a sea of so many?


    ¡ª


    [Cassius Novar (FF+)]


    [Level: 22]


    ¡ª


    [Talia Orin (FF+)]


    [Level: 21]


    ¡ª


    [Corvus Lumin (FF+)]


    [Level: 22]


    -


    [Physical: 482]


    [Mental: 578]


    [Will: 433]


    ¡ª


    The five agents weaved through the beasts, closing in on Ss in what they likely thought was a covert operation. But the moment they entered a 50-meter radius of Ss, he felt that their intention was different from the others.


    His Luck and Will didn''t just help him to form thisprehensive bubble around him; they also nudged him toward danger.


    However, even without the Basilisk King¡­ he was more than enough to deal with these few.


    The question was how fast he wanted to do it.


    Corvus, despite being the strongest of the five,gged behind. All the while, General Song was watching with hawk-like eyes, his intention not very subtle at all. It was as though he wanted Ss to notice.


    ''I see. He wants me to be on edge. He likely knows he can''t hide it from me, but he probably thinks he can hide the exact number. So long as one of the five slips through while I''m unaware, I''ll suffer.''


    Ss continued to retreat, seemingly looking around warily, but his heart was unprecedentedly calm.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the battlefield, the Basilisk King slithered forward. Now being outside of the range of Ss'' visualization, the Beast Totem was no longer effective on it, making it one of the weakest beasts present.


    ¡ª


    [Basilisk King (FFF-)]


    [Level: 5]


    -


    [Physical: 125]


    [Mental: 113]


    [Will: 271]


    ¡ª


    However, it had something that the other beasts didn''t have: intelligence.


    Well, that and Voice of a King. Facing off against so many powerful opponents, its Gene Talent was practically thrumming with life, slowly increasing its stats over time.


    With its intelligence, it avoided battles it could and yed dead when it fought battles it couldn''t.


    All of the beasts were rushing for the nar Convergence Gate anyway; they didn''t have the mind to care enough to deal with such a weakling.


    Every time this happened, the Basilisk King felt itself die a little bit more on the inside. It was a mighty Basilisk, a beast of Legendary stock¡­ how had it fallen so far?


    Its yellowish eyes shed with rage it quickly suppressed. It pushed forward, not quite realizing the change happening within it.


    After Ss broke it, maybe it would have already copsed. But although it wasn''t gung-ho now, it at the very least had spirit.


    Though¡­ if it continued to think that Ss was the one that had caused its fall, it would likely never reach the level it was meant to.


    The fall of the Basilisk King had started long before it met Ss Brown.


    At that moment, it poked its head up. The path forward was too congested, and there was no way through. With how important Morgan was, and how weak it was, there was simply no way that it could sneak all the way to Morgan. Just the soldier by Morgan''s side was enough to kill it ten times over.


    It could feel its heart trembling as it made itself tall.


    In the past, it had been quite arge creature to Ss. But now, it looked almost quaint on the battlefield. And yet, as expected, Morgan noticed it.


    Morgan had seen the Basilisk King before. Ss had used it during the final battle at Casstle Main before the Trial ended. Although the Basilisk King now was muchrger than the one he remembered, when he connected the fact Ss'' scales had disappeared and how this beast was oddly staring at him, he realized what was going on.


    At the end of the day, Ss had judged Morgan correctly. He was a sharp man with a meticulous mind.


    "That beast, let it in, Kael."


    The soldier by Morgan''s side frowned and was about to say something. But at that moment, the Basilisk King was battered from the side. Blood flew, and its scales flung from its body.


    "If you let that beast die, we''re all finished," Morgan growled.


    Hearing these words, the young soldier didn''t dare to hesitate again. He wasn''t high up enough to know the details of Morgan''s duty. But he wasn''t a fool. Morgan was so weak, yet he had such an important position. This was obviously a matter that was existential to the government.


    Plus, considering how weak the beast was, there really wouldn''t be a problem even if he let it in.


    From a distance, General Song didn''t notice this matter immediately. He was too intently focused on Ss and didn''t see such a thing happening behind his back. By the time he pieced together how he had lost, he might very well be breathing hisst.


    "Give me some distance, Kael."


    "I¡ª."


    "Distance. I might be weak, but I''m sure you can see that I can handle this beast if things go south, right?"


    Kael nodded. However, that didn''t stop him from making a report up the chain ofmand. But in a battle like this one, it would take time before General Song got information about what was going on here, especially since Morgan had pretty high clearance himself.


    ¡­


    Morgan stared at the Basilisk King as it stared back at him. Neither spoke. Thetter because it couldn''t, and the former because he didn''t really understand why Ss had sent it.


    Realizing that the Basilisk King wasn''t going to hand him anything ormunicate, Morgan frowned.


    ''Ss obviously didn''t send it for protection, and the beast is too weak to break me out of here. So¡­''


    Morgan''s eyes shed with understanding.


    The beast obviously couldn''t speak or else it would have exined why it was here already. And it obviously wasn''t strong enough to take him out of here. That only left one thing¡­


    Ss wanted it to bring something back.


    And Morgan had nothing to give other than information.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 466: Linguistics

    Chapter 466: Linguistics


    ?


    "General Song is-."


    Morgan began to speak, nning on listing out everything he knew about General Song''s abilities and skills; however, the Basilisk King quickly shook his head.


    The Professor was taken aback, first because he was surprised that this wasn''t the information Ss wanted, and second because this beast had picked up on the fact that it wasn''t what its master needed so quickly as well.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This was the smartest creature he had evere across, and for a moment, the schrly side of Morgan almost geeked out. What he did best was study peculiar minds, and a mind like the Basilisk King had him on edge.


    However, he quickly realized the situation they were in and that there wasn''t much time. If he was correct, Kael would certainly report this, and though it was easy enough to bullshit a rookie without much experience, he knew enough about General Song to know the stoic man didn''t have the mind of the meathead one might expect from him.


    ''If not that, then...'' Morgan''s pupils sharpened. ''... Could he see through that already? But how could he possibly take advantage of that?''


    Ss was correct; Morgan''s role here wasn''t simple.


    The truth was that his role as a studier of neurodivergence in humans was almost a side project, though it would still be inurate to describe it as such.


    He was a psychologist, psychiatrist, and, oddly enough, a linguistics expert. His real specialty was in studying the changes of the human mind over the course of history, with a focus specifically on the extremes of the spectrum.


    In the infancy of his career, he was focused on things like depression and why there seemed to be an uptick in it despite the fact that by objective metrics, quality of life was increasing. But that led him down an interesting rabbit hole.


    For his second PhD, he actually posited that the uptick in depression was due to the overall increase in human IQ. The greater the self-awareness and self-introspection, the ironically more susceptible to such things people became. He remembered that he had given it a particrly click-baity title as well, annoyed by the bacsh he had been getting.


    "Humans Were Better Off Dumb," he called it.


    Well, it was safe to say that he wasn''t very popr for those ideas, and his studies, though having some foundation, remained quite fringe. However, the idea still stuck with him, and he burrowed further into the rabbit hole until he stumbled onto neurodivergence.


    What was interesting was that he found that while IQ was increasing overall, so too were cases of neurodivergence-though, to be sure, such cases in the past were hard to document. People were more likely to burn such people at the stake than actually study them. But that was why they were so lucky that the Sixth Summoning existed, making it much easier to track. The reason this was so fascinating to Morgan was because IQ could be changed and even gamed in a way. You could quite easily train someone to boost their IQ score a few percentage points. Though you couldn''t put them in an entirely new bracket, it was easy enough to say that the general increase in IQ was due to better education around the world overall.


    In fact, you could even track better IQ back to better living conditions and nutrition.


    This was an important distinction. Because while training, nutrition, and living conditions could tick your IQ up a few points... it didn''t make any sense for it to create more neurodivergent people.


    Logically speaking, neurodivergent existences-absolute geniuses who broke molds others couldn''t fathom, the Isaac Newtons and Nik Tes of the world-couldn''t be created just because of better living conditions.


    Either you were such an existence, or you weren''t.


    Interested in this phenomenon, Morgan began to tie it back to the homogenous mixing of Earth''s genes. Maybe there were more absolute geniuses now because the Human Race had pooled together all of their best traits.


    In fact, one of the reasons he became a linguistics expert to begin with was because he wanted to see if it was because everyone spoke the samenguage now-as opposed to in the past where there were hundreds of them-that knowledge was simply passed from country to country more smoothly and thus allowed for more geniuses to emerge.


    It could be said that he was absolutely obsessed with this study. So much so that he seemed to neglect the fact that he could only take it so far because he was one of the neurodivergents he imed to only study.


    This was all to say that when the Celestial Republic ran into a group of aliens that seemed to have set up shop near one of their World Wonders, the top of the list to study this matter was


    Morgan.


    Not only was he a linguistics expert and could decipher their writings andnguage, but he was also the best suited toprehending their culture, their thought processes, and how those two things would inform their decisions.


    The reason he was called to the battlefield today, then, was obvious. General Song thought that there might be a chance that this nar Convergence Gate situation was rted to these aliens that they had detected the existence of. If it came down to it, Morgan being here might be the difference between them being wiped out or not.


    But that was precisely why it was hard to fathom how knowing this would help Ss. Even Morgan and the others hadn''t quite figured everything out yet, and they had yet to make contact with these aliens. It was just that a member of the Celestial Republic, even higher up than Morgan and General Song, had already confirmed that they must exist.


    Even with his intelligence, Morgan really couldn''t figure out how any of this would be of help to Ss.


    However, that only made his eyes light up with more fervor.


    He really wanted to see what kind of brain Ss had.

 Chapter 467: Decision

    Chapter 467: Decision


    ?


    Ss blocked a blow with his forearm, the sh causing his skin to deform and his bones to nearly crack. However, it was all under his control.


    His skin almost rippled. With a step back, he dispersed much of the damage and sidestepped, unleashing a fist into the side of one of his sneak attackers.


    He found himself having to hold back as the control he had over his body was quickly reaching frightening levels. If he killed these few too easily, then his n with the Basilisk King might be exposed ahead of time.


    However, these five, or rather the three that were attacking him for now, were only helping him.


    Because of them, his "retreat" hade to a stop and he was now getting closer and closer to the front line of the Celestial Republic army.


    On the surface, this seemed to mean that he was getting closer to a danger that he could no longer escape, and in reality, this was close enough to the truth. After all, the numbers he was facing off against were ridiculous.


    However, it was also a calcted risk that he was willing to take.


    A sword pierced toward his liver, leaving a streak in the air. Aether shed, and it seemed to multiply.


    Ss frowned. He was finding that these people were far too unskilled. They should naturally have more fighting experience than he did, but...


    ''They probably spent most of their lives training with guns. This is as new to them as it is to me. That probably means that the government has some stashed elites who would have been training in the proper way long ago. They might even be working on bringing guns back into the fold...''


    He let the sword pierce into him, although he could have dodged. But it passed through nothing but flesh,pletely missing his vital organs.


    By this point, he had retreated to the point where General Song was almostfortable enough tounch a true all-out assault on him, ending things here. Even until now, he had yet to send in the two others waiting in the wings, believing that Ss still hadn''t noticed them.


    However, it was also at this point that Ss'' connection with the Basilisk King was re- established, and arge amount of information flooded into his mind.


    Memories of the Basilisk King''smunication with Morgan pooled and solidified. And soon, Ss knew everything he needed to know.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His first instinct was to frown because, as Morgan had thought, this information wasn''t nearly as useful to him as he thought it would be. Had he done all of this just to figure out that they hadn''t made much progress either?


    ''No... I''m missing something.''


    Ss sped a hand on the sword that had pierced through him. Despite the strength he used, the sword waspletely unable to rip through the Scorned Wraps.


    Suddenly, he pulled.


    BANG!


    The head of the soldier shattered.


    In the same instant the soldier died, the sword was torn to ashes.


    <Arctic King''s Domain>.


    SHUUUUU!


    Ss'' aurapletely changed. A frosty energy spiraled around him with wild abandon as he pulled on Winter''s Edge with his intention.


    The region around him was instantly filled with arge pulse of Ice-Poison and spiraling sharp des of snow. In that moment, the gentle and easily ignored snowfall above became the most lethal of weapons.


    Winter''s Edge, his Rune Soul, and <Arctic King''s Domain> synergized with spine-tingling effectiveness. Now, it wasn''t just des cutting into skin, but poison leaving its mark behind as well, elerating their race toward death.


    However, he hardly spared it all a nce.


    The moment the enemies around him retreated to protect themselves, he had already pulled Nosphaleen out of the Hibernation Realm, pressing a palm against her chest and activating Extricate.


    This time, he was even faster than before. However, the moment he started, he realized that he would still need at least a minute. Although that was more than 1000% faster than the first time he had pulled the cancerous Gene out of her, in a battlefield situation like this one, it was far too long.


    Still, he had his own contingencies.


    ROAR!


    A heavily injured Arctic Emperor Cobra used its body as a battering ram through the battlefield.


    Everything was set and working perfectly. With this current pace, the Arctic Emperor Cobra would make it to him before they figured out a way to deal with his Domain, and then it wouldn''t be more than a few seconds before Nosphaleen was up and going.


    What Ss didn''t expect was that his n would elerate out of his control.


    The moment Nosphaleen appeared, there was a mere breath of pause before the Great Celestial Wall trembled.


    Several hidden etchings and wounds shook, and a feeling of danger swelled up in Ss'' heart.


    Something big wasing.


    Ss made a split-second decision and scrapped everything. He pulled Nosphaleen back into his Hibernation Realm before he had even made it very far. Then he suddenly found himself stuck between a rock and a hard ce.


    The Basilisk King was to his back. The Arctic Emperor Cobra was in front of him.


    He couldn''t pull any one of them back in without touch, but if he moved toward one, the other would get further away.


    ording to his original n, he would stay in ce, the Arctic Emperor Cobra would manage to make it to him on itsst breaths and stall everyone just enough for him to awaken Nosphaleen and have her save the Basilisk King. He knew that her movement abilities were far beyond his own thanks to her Skills.


    But now, the situation was changing too fast. He had been locked onto by something he couldn''t even quite understand, and now he had to make a decision between a beast of Legendary potential and a beast strong enough to help him right here and now.


    Ss looked back to the Basilisk King, who was using its intelligence to weave through the ground of beasts and y dead when it had to. However, by now, news of its existence had made it back to General Song, and now it had more eyes on it than just dumb beasts.


    The Basilisk King seemed to sense Ss'' gaze and had alreadye to understand its master''s decision.


    Ss turned away and bolted toward the Arctic Emperor Cobra.

 Chapter 468: Overplayed Hand (1)

    Chapter 468: Overyed Hand (1)


    ?


    Ss'' stride lengthened, and the depth of color in his eyes seemed to deepen. However, he was distinctly aware that, other than the beasts on the battlefield, everyone seemed to be focused on something else.


    The Great Celestial Wall trembled, and beams of light began to pierce the skies.


    Then, all at once, three figures appeared.


    They were tall, two of them well over two meters. Though their bodies were slender, they were packed with power and explosiveness, as though every one of their muscle fibers was worth double that of a human''s. The bluish-grey skin that adorned their bodies and the scales that beaded across their chests and centered on their foreheads seemed particrly reflective even against the will of the clouded skies above.


    Clypsians.


    Three of them.


    And their power was no joke.


    [Elyndor Coralspire (FFF+)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 1122]


    [Mental: 1248]


    [Will: 995]


    [Sorvanis Coralspire (FFF+)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 1092]


    [Mental: 1382]


    [Will: 996]


    [Vorthyx Coralspire (FFF+)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 1322]


    [Mental: 1277]


    [Will: 995]


    -


    They all stood on the edge of the Great Celestial Wall, and there seemed to be an invisible barrier around them that rebuffed the beasts.


    Ss didn''t need to think much to know why they appeared. There was no doubt that it was for Nosphaleen. However, it was outside of his calctions that their reaction would be so fierce and immediate.


    For one, Nosphaleen should have never been to Earth before. She should have been born into captivity and very. They shouldn''t know who she was.


    Second, they didn''t even share herst name, meaning they weren''t part of the same n of people to begin with. They only shared a Race, and this wasn''t typically enough to cause such a fierce reaction.


    Of course, there was the possibility that the number of Clypsians that remained was so few that they had grown a different sort of solidarity that humans were yet to share. Or, it could be that Clypsian society was more close-knit than he knew, but this was still only part of the oddity.


    It seemed that this time, trying to be too clever brought him more trouble than not.


    If they were watching from the very beginning, they would only be an additional problem for him.


    However, just as Ss cut his way to within a few meters of the Arctic Emperor Cobra, he realized something.


    ''I overyed my hand.''


    It was rare for him to make mistakes in logical reasoning like this. But when he was gambling with his life, it was hard not to take the path that gave him the highest probability of survival.


    But he had obviously neglected something, and that was a pair of words he kept hearing over and over again...


    Overlord Race.


    The Human Race was the current Overlord Race of Earth. So what did it mean for a former Overlord Race to suddenly appear now?


    The three were just standing there, and they didn''t seem ready to make a move. Instead, Sorvanis, one of the males well over two meters tall, raised his head to the sky and let out a sound that echoed for hundreds of miles.


    It was a resonant, continuous clicking, one that immediately triggered a memory in Ss'' head.


    It was said that the clicking of a Sperm Whale was loud and powerful enough at its apex to vibrate a human body to death. He had once seen a video that echoed this very same sound.


    All of a sudden, the surge of beasts changed. They became as arranged as a marching army. It was still a great mess now, but Ss could see the movement of the tide and its trends through his visualization. He realized what they were doing instantly.


    ''They''re arranging the beasts. They''re going to separate me from General Song''s army and surround me. Then, they''ll likely try to question me or force me to hand Nosphaleen over.'' Ss reached this conclusion for one reason. He realized that the Clypsians were likely limited in what they could do.


    He could see the flow of Runes around them, and they were subtly surrounding the invisible forcefield as though waiting for it to wane or copse. He could also see that the force field originated from the only woman among them, Elyndor.


    His mind practically stratified itself between all its different deductions, its thoughts a muddy mess as he came to understand several things.


    ''If they allow the system to detect them, something they don''t want to happen will ur. Which means... they likely can''t interfere with all of this directly.''


    Ss'' eyes glowed as the beasts continued to arrange themselves. In as little as another half minute, this matter would be sealed and finished. There would be little he could do to change the fact his life would be in the hands of another.


    However... this was precisely the opportunity that he was waiting for.


    ''Now.''


    Ss'' Beast Totem suddenly red.


    Sorvanis'' eyes widened, but it was toote. He foolishly tried to control the Arctic Emperor Cobra, only to bump up against Ss'' Vipermancy. No matter how powerful the Clypsians were, the odds that they had someone with even one Legendary Path Profession was next to zero, let alone three like Ss.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And even if he did, it was clearly an all-epassing beast control Profession. How could it match up to Ss, who had homed in on a single genus?


    Trying to strip Ss'' control over his own beast... wasn''t that asking to suffer bacsh?


    Sorvanis coughed up a mouthful of blood and stumbled backward. He fell to a knee as he briefly lost consciousness before catching himself.


    Ss crossed the final distance between himself and the Arctic Emperor Cobra. Thanks to Sorvanis'' intervention, this was even somewhat easier, as he had forced the beasts to stop fighting one another.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra vanished with a touch, and Ss exhaled a long breath, but his pace


    didn''t stop. He continued rushing toward the Great Celestial Wall, making up arge amount


    of ground before Sorvanis could recover.


    Right then, Vorthyx frowned.

 Chapter 469: Overplayed Hand (2)

    Chapter 469: Overyed Hand (2)


    ?


    The feeling of danger locked onto Ss again. He could feel it as though it wasing from all sides and yet nowhere all at once. The pressure was such that he felt like he might suffocate at any moment.


    His gaze shed, a deep green light flying out from their depths almost like beams. The pressure was pierced through, and a cold sweat matted his back.


    He realized at that moment that the danger he was feeling was a psychological tactic, but it felt so real that he couldn''t break free of it easily.


    ''This Vorthyx is on the same talent level as Nosphaleen... the difference being that he''s Level 9 while Nosphaleen is only Level 5, and the gap shows...''


    Ss had a hard time breaking free of Nosphaleen''s coercion easily, and despite the distance between himself and Vorthyx, this was the second time he had made him think that a false danger was, in reality, a real one.


    If he got any closer, the feeling would only be more potent. But at this point, he had no other choice.


    To his back, the Basilisk King had already been surrounded by General Song''s army, and there was simply no way back. Unless he could aplish his goal, all of this would be a failure. "Sorvanis."


    Vorthyx''s voice echoed, carrying a peculiar quality to it.


    From the far-off distance, Ss could tell that he was speaking anothernguage, and this time, there was no system to trante it for him. But the word he spoke sounded phically almost identical to the name he had read from the Clypsian bleeding from his nose.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sorvanis seemed to be awakened by the mysterious energy, and his condition slowly stabilized. The Clypsian spat out a mouthful of blood to the side with derision as he red into the distance toward Ss.


    He said words in clear anger that Ss couldn''t understand, and Vorthyx replied with a cold tone.


    After hearing whatever Vorthyx said, Sorvanis fell into silence. Or rather, it seemed like he didn''t dare to speak again.


    Sorvanis knocked his head back and chugged an Elixir in a single go.


    The three Clypsians could see that Ss was getting closer, but none of them seemed to care. Elyndor had absolute confidence in herself, and the other two shared the sentiment.


    However...


    When Ss reached within 30 meters of them and Sorvanis was just standing up to act again, the entire situation changed once more.


    Ss'' Rune Soul expertise crashed down from above like a wave, nearly shredding the barrier apart.


    Elyndor, a cold beauty who had yet to say a single word, suddenly felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest. She spoke out a string of words in a panic, and this time even Vorthyx had a fierce reaction as well.


    This first person that Ss had ever met with Rune Breath was Nosphaleen. In his impression, these people were stronger, so the odds that they had even greater control over Runes than himself was high.


    What he didn''t know was that he no longer had Rune Breath; he had Rune Soul. And... Elyndor only had Rune Breath herself.


    She hadn''t believed for a second that there was anyone here who could do anything against her barrier. And in truth, she was in part right.


    Ss was a raw talent, but she was someone who had been systematically trained. Something like the shocking geometry that Ss had learned to incorporate into his <Arctic King''s Domain> was something that Elyndor had likely learned in theory long before she even grasped Rune Enlightenment, let alone now.


    The structure of Elyndor''s force field was thus incredibly robust and sturdy, and it was like Ss had the strength of a giant with the coordination of a toddler.


    He smashed against it with great force, and his power was far beyond what Elyndor could imagine, but her skill was far beyond his likewise.


    This created a counterbnce. But it was doubtful that it wouldst very long... because Ss was a quick learner.


    The moment he sensed the fluctuation of the force field, he seemed to have grasped several weaknesses all in a single instant.


    He understood how he could break it, but there simply wasn''t enough time. If he had a foundation of theory, it would take him a split second. But if he wanted to shatter this barrier without force, he would need to build the key to do so from the ground up. That would take him at least two minutes by his estimation.


    Ss realized all of this the moment his Will collided with the barrier. He just might be toote to do anything.


    But as was the pattern today, he pivoted again, changing his ns when he saw the panic on the faces of the Clypsians. He came to a stop, his frosty <Arctic King''s Domain> suppressing the region around him.


    His Will surrounded the force field and gently pressed down. He raised a hand as though he was about to strike down before he paused.


    "Which of you can trante?" he asked coldly.


    Ss'' gaze flickered. He had never been more surprised in a single day than he was today. In fact, that included the day the Summoning descended.


    It felt like too much was out of his control.


    The moment his words descended, Vorthyx waved a hand, and the three of them were enveloped in rays of light once again. The Great Celestial Wall lit up before vanishing. Ss stood in silence, huffing for breath as he slowly lowered his hand.


    ''Still not strong enough.''


    He looked up into the skies. He was neither strong enough nor knowledgeable enough.


    To his back, the Basilisk King had already been caught in a, its head forced to the ground. Its yellow eyes flickered with unwillingness and anger, but for some reason, seeing Ss'' back from such a far-off distance away, it had a feeling that Ss was experiencing the same


    thing.

 Chapter 470: By Me

    Chapter 470: By Me


    ?


    Ss took a moment to recalibrate himself. The beasts around him were still in a slight state of confusion, many not havingpletely woken up from the suggestion of the Clypsians.


    His breathing slowly settled down and he stopped his thoughts from racing.


    Trying to control every variable when he wasn''t even aware of how many there were to begin with was foolish. He wanted to be the King of the chess board when he didn''t even know how many pawns there were, or if he was a pawn himself.


    As much as it seemed like things going awry weren''t his fault, Ss didn''t believe it. In fact, even if every variable was out of his control, he would still self-reflect like this.


    All of this started only because he chose to try to press the issue and deal with Orciulius City as quickly as possible. However, he should have known that opening up such a gate would lead to trouble. Now, he was facing off against a high-ranked General with the backing of a government, and the variable he had hoped to rely on to turn the tides had just vanished.


    He should have waited for a better opportunity, or maybe he could have set up a nar Convergence Gate somewhere else so he could check the situation on the other side first before making a decision.


    The reason he didn''t was because he was too greedy. He knew that he would need to use at least two of his three attempts to set one up in the middle of the city. If he also used one to check the situation on the other side, he would be all out of attempts.


    But in a world like this one, could he afford to save up his trump cards like this? Now, because he had entered this situation blind, he was stuck.


    Should he return to the city, take control, and then hope for a points victory? Should he turn back and try to kill his way to General Song and at least save the Basilisk King should he fail?


    Not even an hour had passed through the ten-day limit, but for some reason, he felt like he had hit a dead end.


    Ss closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> circted and his mind reached an unprecedented state of focus.


    This was the line he was looking for.


    When it came to his body, he always chose to save or bet on future potential. He chose the Dual ss Constitution over having an immediate Legendary Path ss; he chose Gene Crystals when he could have had a boost to his Gene State; he chose an upgradeable Title when he could have gotten an immediate one...


    Every step of the way, he was biding his time for the future, knowing that unless he could reach a Level where even the Clypsians and Dogons were like ants before him, then he would just end up in the same exact situation as they had...


    A loser who was under the control of another.


    However, this time, he had gone too far.


    Betting on the future for his body was fine. But if he was going into a dangerous situation like this one while holding back, it woulde back to bite him exactly like this.


    He would never do this again.


    Ss looked back through the sea of beasts and soldiers, meeting the Basilisk King''s eyes. The two didn''t exchange any words, and they were too far apart for their minds to connect, but nothing needed to be said.


    With a leap, Ss continued forward, plowing a path to the wall and making it to the portal before vanishing inside.


    ...


    One would have expected Ss toe back to weapons drawn, only to be surrounded once again. After all, he had been exposed as the third party hidden in the shadows.


    However, this wasn''t the case.


    That was because once City Lord Orciulius died, the army of Orciulius City no longer had a Leader and as such, they had no connection remaining to the Quicktime Event. That meant that until a new leader of the System City was appointed, they wouldn''t be able to point Ss out.


    Ss had guessed this would happen, which was why he made the effort to return like he did... Thanks to the Quicktime Event and the death of Rond, he had gathered all the Hero Points he needed to be promoted right to Duke. And that was precisely what he needed right now. He made his way through the battlefield and directly left to the encampment.


    [Hero Points: 2,621,327]


    The point system for the Quicktime Event was directly tranted to Hero Points. This wasn''t much of a surprise considering the title of the Event. After all, it was a fight for control over the System City, and there was nothing more important than Hero Points.


    Ss had originally nned on dealing with everything in one go, but he suppressed his ego and realized that as fun as it was to bulldoze his way through everything and make off-the- cuff ns, that sort of approach in the long term would get him killed.


    He had three days before the system''s suppression on the Sylphs and their allies was lifted, and there were still two other System Cities in this Territory.


    He had to take a much slower and steadier approach.


    First, he used 500,000 Hero Points to upgrade to Marquis, then another million to reach the status of Duke.


    Once this was finished, he left. As for his destination, it was none other than the City Lord''s mansion.


    When he entered, he could already hear the sound of discussion. As with every other System City, there were three Dukes, and with the death of the City Lord confirmed, they were all vying for this position themselves.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' entry unsurprisingly caused many gazes tond on him.


    "The City Lord position will be taken over by me."

 Chapter 471: Grin

    Chapter 471: Grin


    ?


    "Uneptable."


    Morgan''s words caused the military tent to practically freeze over.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    General Song frowned, looking toward the professor with a sharp gaze and an unhappy twist to his lip.


    "Professor Hayes, this is-."


    "Don''t try to belittle me, General. I''ve allowed your rules and regtions to put up guardrails wherever you may please in the past. Have I ever resisted your orders before?


    "But you seem to have forgotten that we are not in a subordinate-superior rtionship. In fact, in the eyes of the Celestial Republic, I am no less important than you are.


    "I might listen to your words when it''s a matter of safety, but you know nothing about my field. So I would suggest that you show the same level of deference that I have given you in thesest several months in matters such as these."


    The atmosphere seemed to solidify as silence fell over them all. No one dared to speak or even breathe too loudly as the two men faced off.


    The Summoning had changed a lot of things, but they were men of the government. Even if it was just on the surface, they had no choice but to do their best to follow the rule ofw.


    No matter how weak Morgan was, he was seen to be a valuable asset to the government, and he was one of the few experts that could decipher the secret of the Great Celestial Wall.


    On top of that, after the matters of today, the wall had likely be an even more high- priority item.


    If in the past it was just spection, the fact those alien races had suddenly appeared on the wall today said everything that needed to be said. If anything, after today, Morgan''s standing among them all might even be higher than that of General Song.


    Of course, this was a military tent of high officials, so there was no doubt that most of them were tacticians politically savvy enough to see through this.


    As for what they were arguing about, it was unsurprising that it was rted to the Basilisk King.


    General Song wanted to try to torture the beast to see if there was any information they could get out of it. After all, ording to reports, Morgan had sessfullymunicated with it. And in order to uphold appearances, Morgan had no choice but to pretend that this was the truth as well.


    If torturing didn''t work, General Song wanted to send the creature back to the government to be kept under secure lock and key.


    Obviously, Morgan couldn''t ept this, so he refuted, and he actually had strong reasons on his side. After all, everyone had seen the Clypsians use some sort of beast-controlling art. It was easy for him to divert attention from what potential connection the Basilisk King might have with Ss and turn it to a connection it had with the alien races instead.


    ording to Morgan''s woven tale, the Clypsians tried to establish contact, but General Song chose to capture the beast and shred apart their goodwill.


    Morgan was arguing that they should treat the Basilisk King well and even send it back if possible.


    But obviously, General Song wasn''t a fan of this. The alien races had to be studied and understood, but they were not friends. Those high up in the government knew exactly how dangerous they could be in the right circumstances.


    General Song bit back the actual words he wanted to say, but the gloominess between his brows painted its own story.


    "You had better forget about sending this beast back anywhere."


    Although his tone was tough, it was clear to them all that this was actually him taking a step back.


    "Call Grin back."


    Morgan''s heart shook when he heard this.


    Grin.


    The military wasn''t known for its anomalies. It was strict in hierarchy and order, and the only times shes like the ones between General Song and Morgan might ur were when they came from vastly different fields.


    Under normal circumstances, there would be an obvious hierarchy between them as well. But because Morgan was an academic and General Song was a military man, their rtive positions were a bit more murky, leading to the current confrontation.


    Grin, however... was an outright anomaly.


    Morgan knew that his situation in this ce wasn''t the best, so he had only continued to follow orders and never fought back while gathering as much information as he could through silent observation.


    But the one man he didn''t actually understand was this "Grin" character.


    He didn''t seem to have an official military rank, but General Song had an odd deference to him that almost seemed to stem from... fear. But at the same time, General Song seemed to love the idea that Morgan was so in the dark about this man and often used it as a power y to suppress Morgan.


    "You already sent him?! This-!"


    "I called him back, didn''t I?" General Song snarled. His patience was wearing thin.


    Morgan''s expression flickered with anger, but he calmed himself.


    "Take me to the snake."


    ---


    Morgan rushed into the dark tent only to be hit by a stench of blood.


    He could see very clearly, and it took him a moment for his eyes to adjust, but even during that period, the first things he saw were a pair of bright yellow eyes staring with almost


    vacantly.


    No, it wasn''t a real vacancy; it was almost a reminisce, an unwillingness, a detachment from


    the current reality and the seeking out of another.


    When his eyes finally did clear, Morgan saw the scene in full.


    There was a man who stood before the Basilisk King with a curved de in hand. Blood drizzled down the length of the dagger as another scale was almost carelessly flicked off of the Basilisk King''s body.


    By now, the Basilisk King had practically been skinned alive, his proud count nging to the ground like loose change.


    However, those eyes continued to stare, seemingly right through Morgan.

 Chapter 472: Too Early

    Chapter 472: Too Early


    ?


    There was something particrly eerie about Grin''s gaze.


    His actual face was quite delicate, almost cut, in a way. It was hard to tell if he was a grown man or a 14-year-old youth, but he had a liveliness to him that couldn''t be denied.


    Large hazel eyes, an almost innocent school-boy cut for his brown hair, and a peculiar sort of curiosity for everything he looked at.


    However, no matter how disarming his appearance, it couldn''t be denied that he was still holding a bloody knife in his hand.


    "You are?" Grin broke the silence.


    Morgan took a breath and steadied himself.


    "The snake will be under my protection from now on."


    He spoke strongly and assertively. Something about Grin made him feel as though he was having a staring contest with a wild beast. In such a situation, didn''t they always say to make yourself look big?


    Grin blinked and looked back at the Basilisk King as though he was feeling sad about something.


    Then, he simply slipped away without a single word.


    However, it was precisely because he didn''t say anything that Morgan felt an eerie chill creep up his spine. This person was far too unpredictable.


    He didn''t know whatpelled him, but he rushed to the tent ps and peeked out, only to find that only the soldier that had escorted him here was present, while Grin was nowhere to be seen.


    A deep frown marred Morgan''s brows, an unsettling feeling welling up in his chest. However, he had no choice but to let it go. Even if he wanted to act... what could he do with his current strength?


    ...


    General Song sat in silence after dismissing his tacticians. For now, Quicktime Event had be a battle of attrition, and with the other leader having vanished, there was nothing to worry about for the time being.


    It should be an easy victory, and the only thing he had to guard against was a potential assassination plot. That man was too much of a variable, and it was hard to tell if he had such abilities or not.


    "General Song, this situation..."


    General Song waved a hand to stop the speaker.


    The official was a woman, meticulously dressed in military garb that looked like thick cotton. A pair of sses adorned her face, and she pressed what looked like a clipboard to her chest, but this so-called "clipboard" radiated an odd, inexplicable air.


    "No need to speak, Da. Since he''s chosen to act out, let him. If he''s telling the truth, good. If not, we can''t outsmart him anyway. It''s best to let Grin handle it."


    "You sent Grin ahead of time on purpose," Da said more confirming than asking.


    "I did no such thing," General Song replied indifferently.


    Da didn''t reply either, but she had her answer.


    General Song was a man who was well aware of his limits, and he was the scariest of the Celestial Republic''s Generals for that very reason.


    His strength wasn''t his intelligence.


    It was in knowing when and how to use the people around him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    **


    Ss'' prestige was too much. The weight of not only the Hero Points but his Merit was too much to bear.


    Ss still didn''t have a full understanding of what Merit was, but he realized that whatever category it fell into, it made his job far easier. At least when it came to system-designed tasks, events, and locations like this one, his prestige couldn''t be matched by quite literally anyone else.


    He had been expecting at least some resistance, but the result went smoother than he could have ever expected. He barely had a verbal spar with the Dukes before they took a step back.


    Nothing about his age, nothing about his unknown status, they didn''t even ask if he knew how to govern at all.


    Now he was facing just one problem: as the City Lord he couldn''t leave the city. At least not outside of the context of Quicktime Event.


    As for how he would handle that in the future, maybe only he was aware. As for right now, his thoughts weren''t focused on this at all. Instead, the first thing he did other than leaving the defenses of the city to the Generals was head right into the City Lord''s residence. As for his target, it was none other than the Nexus.


    Not having a Nexus was a huge problem for Ss. He couldn''t maximize his wealth or his resources. And unfortunately, for obvious but different reasons, he couldn''t use Cassarae''s or Lucius''.


    But now... he had his own.


    Any Sylphs had long since vanished, not being stupid enough to remain. They had either gone to the other two System Cities, or they chose to strike it out on their own, maybe even trying to target another System City.


    Now that Ss thought about it, he was making the assumption that most if not all System Cities were under their control. But in practice, that was maybe not the case.


    After all, just because the two System Cities he hade across had them, didn''t mean they were all issues. Maybe he was just particrly unlucky.


    ''Wow...''


    It wasn''t often that Ss had such thoughts, but when he entered the core of the City Lord''s residence, this was his true reaction.


    It felt as though he had entered the reactor core of a nuclear power nt. The ce was


    enormous.


    There was a railing that lined the curvature of the walls and slowly spiraled down to the bottom, but it was hard to tell just how deep it was.


    Down below, there was a deep well of water so clear that Ss didn''t even know it was there at first nce, and maybe would have never been able to tell if not for the fact there was a slight blue glowing from it.


    Then hovering above the surface of the water was a cube. It was a City Stele, but far more borate than any Ss had ever seen.


    For some reason... he got the feeling that he was seeing something that he wasn''t supposed to see much too early....

 Chapter 473: Stele Ability

    Chapter 473: Stele Ability


    ?


    Ss walked down the steps slowly until he eventually reached eye level with the City Stele.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [View City Status]


    [Use Stele Ability]


    [Enter Nexus]


    ''Stele Ability?'' Ss had seen Cassarae''s City Stele before. Usually, that line was reced with a prompt to conquer the City. But since he was the owner of the City Stele, technically, it wouldn''t make sense for it to be here.


    Now he was wondering if a Stele Ability was natural for all cities or if it was a rarity.


    Since Bronze Genes were practicallymon currency to him now, he just directly asked the Madness Key and found out.


    ''I see...'' It turned out that only Cities of the Common Grade and above had a chance to unlock a Stele Ability, and first it would have to be a City. That meant going through several Grades.


    The higher Grade the city, the earlier it could awaken an ability, or even multiple of them. However, there wasn''t some great reward waiting for Ss... at least not on the surface. All System Cities came with the same default ability: Bird''s Eye View.


    It allowed a detailed map of a certain region. Since there were three System Cities in this Evergreen Territory, that meant that he was able to see an entire third of the Evergreen Territory unobstructed.


    Every city, every demon vige, every resource.


    It seemed only limited by the Grade of the Stele and System Cities were, by default, a level beyond that of the world they were on. As such, it could only find resources at the Silver Grade and below.


    There was also a limit of height and depth. It could find deposits nearer to the surface, but not very deep into the earth.


    But this wasn''t all.


    It could also inform him ahead of time when there were fluctuations within this region that would likely lead to the appearance of a portal. And... it had some control over the portals that already existed.


    Of course, he couldn''t just open or close them at will. But he could use Orciulius'' City''s ability to take a peek into the other side, about a kilometer or so.


    That kilometer radius was a far cry from how far he could see on this side. But it would be invaluable very soon.


    ''One step at a time.''


    Right now, his focus was a perfect clearance of this Quicktime Event. The enemies thaty beyond that, he would deal with when the time came. Trying to ount for everything was what led to his n failing in the first ce.


    He slotted away the existence of this Stele Ability into the back of his mind and entered the Nexus.


    [Merit Leaderboard]


    - [1. Ss Grimde - ???]


    - [2. Lauren Mitchell - *]


    - [3. Kael Darkman - ??]


    - [4. Astrid Grimde - ?]


    [First ce > 160 000 coins a day; 5 three-day Flexible Elixir a month] [Second ce > 144000 coins a day; 5 two-day Flexible Elixir a month] [Third ce > 128 000 coins a day; 5 one-day Flexible Elixir a month] [Fourth ce > 80 000 coins a day; 4 three-day Soft Elixir a month] [Fifth ce > 64 000 coins a day; 4 two-day Soft a month] [Sixth ce > 48 000 coins a day; 4 one-day Soft Elixir a month]


    [Seventh ce > 24 000 coins a day; 4 three-day Brittle Elixir a month]


    [Eighth ce> 16 000 coins a day; 4 two-day Brittle Elixir a month]


    [Ninth ce > 8 000 coins a day; 4 one-day Brittle Elixir a month] [Tenth ce > 4 000 coins a day; 4 three-use Brittle Elixir a month]


    [Coins: 7 493 222 (F)]


    It seems that thanks to his spot on the Merit Leaderboard, he had made quite a bit. The rewards had also continued to increase every month. He gained an additional Elixir for every.


    ''Lauren Mitchell...'' Ss'' gaze flickered.


    He still didn''t really understand what the Stars represented, but he had a good guess. Those two empty stars should be the two Quasi Bronze beasts he had killed, and the full star should represent what Merit he gained from defeating the Sylphs.


    The weight of the two was clearly different; otherwise, Lauren wouldn''t be above Kael. But the fact that Lauren was on this list at all... was surely a surprise.


    Lauren was none other than the woman that had stolen Cassarae''s Luck ne, and she was a member of Legacy.


    And judging by the amount of Coins he had, Lauren should have only recently imed this Merit. Otherwise, he would have made much less if she had imed the top spot for a while.


    He wasn''t sure how the time trickery worked in this case, so he could only guess. Regardless, he now had 14 Flexible Gene Elixirs, good enough tost over a month even if he used them continuously, and more money than he knew what to do with.


    Though, he was sure that thattter plight wouldn''tst for long.


    He had learned even in the Bronze Nexus that things could get very expensive, very fast, especially for things on a city-wide scale, things that he would unfortunately be needing if he was going to face off against a government''s army that would not be ready for his


    appearance.


    As much as he wanted to spend the money to find things to upgrade his Rune status first, he had to prioritize things.


    Though it felt like he had a lot of money, even if he waited a month while making 160 000 Coins a day, he would still be shy of five million.


    This was to say that this seven million would be the most money he had for a long while, and he had to take advantage of it.


    And the first order of business was to find a movement skill that he could finally use himself. Though he needed things to deal with an army, he couldn''t forget about his personal strength


    either.


    As with all things... He needed to find the perfect bnce.


    He went into the shop with a focused mind and began to scan through all the items before he found three Movement Skills that caught his attention.

 Chapter 474: Three Movement Skills

    Chapter 474: Three Movement Skills


    ?


    <Chilled Rise>, <Surfing Frost>, <Cryobane Elevation>.


    These three movement methods were all extremely expensive FFF+ skills, except for one, and the learning curve was undoubtedly steep. However, they all caught his attention for various reasons.


    <Chilled Rise> worked by supercharging the air with frosty energy. The purpose was to force the hotter air to rise as a result, taking advantage to make his body lighter.


    As one might expect, though, such a skill was incredibly difficult to control. For one, it was the hot energy that rose, not the frosty energy that was coating your body. That meant one had to take advantage of brief instants of time to piggyback off of the hotter air.


    Such a thing sounded difficult even while exining it so simply. But Ss could see to a deeperyer.


    Not only would this require supreme Aether control, it would also necessitate constantly scanning the environment, looking for regions where the skill would be more effective than not. Only by doing this would it be possible to maximize the skill.


    Of course, Ss also had other ideas as well. He could imagine that at the Legendary Mastery level, or maybe even before then, it wouldn''t be necessary to rely on the environment at all.


    The technique was designed to take advantage of small changes in temperature to begin with. In pre-Summoning life, the rise of hot air and the fall of cold air wasn''t nearly exaggerated enough to lift the body of a person. That meant that the sort of buoyancy this technique was taking advantage of was minute.


    Essentially, it was meant to take advantage of even small degrees of separation. In that case, why not create the gradient himself?


    He could just make one region around him cold, and another even colder, that way he could create the gradients he needed in real-time rather than relying on scanning the environment. A level beyond even that would probably be controlling the shift in energy itself.


    ''Cold is just the absence of heat... technically speaking, when I chill a region, I''m stripping heat from it. With a few tweaks to my slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes, there''s nothing that would stop me from controlling this flow of heat.''


    Whether it was Ice or Fire, Ss believed that both likely took advantage of moving heat and energy. If the science of Earth held up, then there should be no difference at all between the


    two when it came to controlling the movement of heat.


    It was all the same.


    Plus, this skill would allow him to do something that he had wanted to do for a while. Well, something he had wanted to do ever since he saw Nosphaleen''s <Glide> skill.


    If his mastery of this skill reached a high enough level, there probably wouldn''t be anything stopping him from gliding through the air for a moment as well. Of course, that was only if he matched it with his telekinesis.


    As far as he could tell by the description of this technique, it wasn''t meant to be used to fly, but more so to lighten the steps of the user, and at the extremes, be used as a sort of a "double


    jump."


    <Surfing Frost> was probably the least technical of the skills. It was as simple as it got. It created tforms, paths, and curving roads of ice for its user to glide on. At this point, it was obvious why it had a name like <Surfing Frost>.


    It might be the simplest of them, but it was a skill that truly intrigued Ss. That was because, in his estimation, the sheer amount of Aether you would need to use this skill was ridiculous.


    You had to supercool the air to create ice thick enough to not crack the moment you stepped on it.


    If you were on tnd, that was fine enough. But this technique described curving through the air and out of the way of attacks. That would mean literally creating roads of ice out of thin air.


    As one might guess, at lower mastery levels, most would only be able to manage a few thin strips on the ground, or maybe even only directly under their feet.


    But Ss was thinking about the highest mastery levels, and how could he not? After all, his Ice-Poison now had Silver-Grade affinity. It would be a shame if he didn''t maximize it.


    These skills would probably progress a lot slower than his Madness-rted abilities would. But they wouldn''t be all that slow either.


    Finally, there was <Cryobane Elevation>. It was the most technical of the three skills and had the potential to be the absolute mostplex. It also seemed to work much more like a Gene Talent than a skill, which was an interesting differentiation.


    [Cryobane Elevation (F-) (Gene Skill)]


    It was the first of its kind that Ss had ever seen and it was impossible for him to not be drawn to it.


    A Gene Skill... ording to the Madness Key, it was a skill that stood above normal skills, but they were likewise even more difficult to use.


    And it was the only Ice-Poison movement skill in the Nexus, while the others were all pure Ice. There were also a few pure Poison skills, but he simply wasn''t interested in them. They all pretty much did what <Cryobane Elevation> did, but to an inferior level.


    <Cryobane Elevation> did two things. First, it used Poison to supercharge the body into an elevated, berserk-like state. Second, it used Ice to keep the body chilled beneath the point of overheating and copse.


    Of course, this "berserk" state didn''t refer to one''s mind. It was instead an attack against one''s Stat Limit. Essentially, for brief instances, Ss could increase his Speed and Dexterity


    Stat Limits.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This put his body at risk of overheating, but that was where his Ice woulde into y. The exnation was simple enough, but in practice its intricacies made Ss'' eyes shine.

 Chapter 475: Ridiculous

    Chapter 475: Ridiculous


    ?


    The three techniques all had their strengths and weaknesses, so much so that it was hard to choose between them.


    The obvious choice seemed to be the highest-rated skill, but there were too many variables in y.


    On the one hand, thanks to Extricate, Rune Soul, and his Dual ss Constitution, Ss had more understanding of his body than practically anyone on Earth right now. And he believed that included the Sylphs.


    This meant that he was uniquely suited to grasping a Gene Skill in general, let alone a Gene Skill that was sopatible with him.


    But, on the other hand, the power of <Cyrobane Elevation> was not his Stat Limit-which it could elevate-but rather his Gene Limit.


    He could easily imagine a future where <Cyrobane Elevation> wanted to improve his Stat Limit, but couldn''t because he either didn''t have the Genes for it or he had already reached his Gene Limit.


    It had to be remembered that sses could increase Stat Limits, but not Gene Limits. This meant that if his Stat Limit overran his Gene Limits, he would not only lose his State of Wealth, but he would also lose the effectiveness of <Cryobane Elevation> as well.


    If he was already at his Gene Limit, there would be no Stat Limit to push.


    Regardless of his advantages, this Gene Skill would be extremely difficult to make use of. If by the time he finally mastered it to Legendary it became useless... well, it would be a great shame.


    This seemed to be the real reason this was only considered to be an F- Gene Skill.


    The problems with <Chilled Rise> and <Surfing Frost> were more obvious. The consumption of Aether was astronomical for both of them, and if Ss used them how he wanted to, it would be more so.


    Ironically, despite being the highest-level skill of them all, <Cryobane Elevation> probably had the lowest Aether requirements.


    And when you got into the details, it became even worse.


    [Surfing Frost (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [The world is your frosted oyster;nd, the seas, and even the sky are your board. Glide across them all and grasp the universe in your palms.]


    [At the cost of 1 Unit of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across thend.]


    [At the cost of <5> Units of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the sea.]


    [At the cost of <20> Units of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the skies.]


    [Note: Pace of Surfing Frost production is limited to Average of Intelligence and Speed. To move faster, more Units of Aether must be used.]


    [Cost: 120,000 (F) Coins]


    [Chilled Rise (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [The air is yours to rise above. Wee the Chilling Rise of a true glider.]


    [<1> Unit of Aether per minute to lower body weight.]


    [<5> Units of Aether to increase jump height.]


    [<20> Units of Aether to perform a Double Jump.]


    [<50> Units of Aether to glide for <1> second.]


    [Cost: 135,000 (F) Coins]


    The cost was obviously excessive. But the note on <Surfing Frost> was incredibly troubling. He had 520 Speed, but only 427 Intelligence. That meant that using this skill would actually make him slower.


    The rate-limiting step of <Surfing Frost> was obviously the creation of the Frost itself, and that took time. If he wasn''t creating the roads fast enough, there would be nothing to "surf."


    [Cryobane Elevation (F-) (Gene Skill)]


    [Your body is a den of Ice and Poison, so make use of it. Supercharge your Speed and Dexterity fibers, and chill them to within maintainable levels.]


    [<5> Units of Aether a minute per use in exchange for a <50% > increase to Speed and Dexterity Stat Limit.]


    [Cost: 950,000 (F) Coins]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. In the end, it seemed that <Cryobane Elevation> would just have to be the one he went with.


    ''Theck of flexibility with <Cryobane Elevation> is a true problem. If only I could fuse them...''


    After some thought, Ss chose to exchange for all three skills. If his mastery increased enough, the cost would go down. In addition, his Rune Soul would be of great help.


    With Rune Soul, he should be able to elerate the creation of Frost and control the gliding of <Chilled Rise> even better.


    Ultimately, he could only be certain if he actually tried first, and honestly speaking, since the cost of <Cryobane Elevation> was so high, it made the price of the first two easier to swallow. Even if it ended up being a waste of money in the end, it was worth it.


    He nned on taking a day after this to really drill with these skills in a way he never had before because he never had the time. He would know soon whether he made the rightn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    decision or not.


    ''Oh?''


    Ss was about to go and see what kind of armors he could buy for the Arctic Emperor Cobra to elevate its battle prowess again, or maybe see if he could find a way to get it to Quasi Bronze, but he paused soon after.


    He had entered a section for beasts, so there were obviously beast-rted items all around him. What he hadn''t considered before, though maybe he should have, was the possibility of buying a beast.


    There were beast eggs present for sale, and even some live beasts, something that he hadn''t seen in the Bronze Nexus and clearly represented an upgrade of some sort.


    ''Maybe I can find something here...''


    If there was someone on the that cared the least about the time he would have to wait for a beast to hatch and grow, it was Ss.


    Wasn''t that exactly what the Hibernation Realm was for?


    If he could find even a Bronze Beast here, it would be a huge profit. He had been able to make


    the Arctic Emperor Cobra so strong, and it was a mere Common Beast.


    Of course, he had also had an advantage. After all, the Arctic Emperor Cobra followed his Path


    of the Mancer. So it was much easier to upgrade it.


    But who said he couldn''t find another Ice-Poison beast here?


    However, when Ss started seriously looking, eliminating all but the Serpentes, he couldn''t


    help but frown.


    These prices... weren''t they too ridiculous?

 Chapter 476: Spinalcoil [Bonus]

    Chapter 476: Spinalcoil [Bonus]


    ?


    [Brown Snake (?)]


    [Cost: 1,200,050 (F) Coins]


    Ss looked at this price for a long time, even wondering if he had seen wrongly. But every time he looked, it was the same.


    The question mark didn''t mean that this snake was some sort of powerhouse, which was likely why there was just one question mark this time instead of three, like he was used to seeing in such a situation. Instead, it was because the egg had yet to be properly appraised, and this "shop" had a bit of a gacha situation going on.


    As for the name "brown snake," that was just a casualbel meant to be a clue as to its origin. After all, there was some low-level appraising going on just for the sake of categorizing the eggs into their proper categories.


    If it was just that, it would be fine. But Ss had the eyes of a Vipermancer. He knew that this egg waspletely worthless, and yet it was set at 1.2 million Coins.


    Brown Snake might as well be its actual name. It had, expectedly, brown scales and would only grow to about three feet in length. Other than that, it would be pretty decent at spitting in your face for a distraction. If you expected anything else, well... it was best you not expect anything in the first ce, honestly.


    The main issue wasn''t that this snake was so weak; it was that they were all weak. No matter where he looked, Ss found worthless eggs being put up for upwards of five million.


    It was a shameless money grab that existed for just one reason, apparently... the hope of something great.


    These eggs, once they hatched, would expectedly be attached. If you yed it safe and got a contract Temte, you could gain abat pet. Though this would be inferior to a Combat Mount that could scale with your stats and would naturally understand yourmands and orders, for people who just wanted an extra bit of safety and protection in this world, such pets could be worth a lot.


    The brown snake was truly pathetic, but there were some eggs here that had the potential to be FF and FF+ threats if raised correctly.


    But Ss had no intention of wasting a slot on a Common Beast.


    It seemed like it was a dead end here.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss left the region but then found something else interesting.


    ''City Protectors...''


    This was a category of beasts that Ss had never seen before. They seemed tied to the fate of a city and had ridiculous Constitution as a result. They were a lot like the formation Cassarae bought back then to protect the city from the sudden attack.


    But they were even more expensive. Even the weakest was five million, and the strongest present here were easily ten times that. There was even one that was over nine figures.


    Ss wasn''t anywhere near able to afford such a thing right now. And even if he could, it wouldn''t help him very much. After all, it wasn''t like he was a walking city.


    A City Protector needed a City Stele to be bound to in order for it to work properly.


    ''I''ll keep this in mind.''


    Ss was about to leave entirely when he paused again. This time, it wasn''t because he had seen something new or interesting. Instead, he wondered...


    Should he have filtered by Serpentes?


    His experience with Nosphaleen had taught him that not every Serpentes was an obvious one on the surface.


    Considering how poor the identification and appraisal methods used on these eggs were, who was to say that some didn''t slip through the cracks?


    With his Vipermancy Profession, so long as there was something to be found, he would surely sense it.


    Ss went back and opened up the category filters. As expected, there were hundreds of times more beast eggs to analyze like this.


    He scanned through them one by one with great speed. He trusted his Profession and his instincts. There was no need to waste time going through every description. He just popped the egg up, sensed for a split moment, and if there was nothing, he continued.


    This went on for several minutes, and Ss had already been through over a thousand by


    now.


    Most of the time, he felt absolutely nothing. Although he had what was technically a Beast Master Profession, he had no understanding of beasts outside of Serpentes.


    But then it happened.


    [Bone-tailed Lizard (?)]


    [Cost: 2,250,000 (F) Coins]


    Ss hesitated.


    This was the first time he had actually sensed something from an egg here, but it felt so vague and fleeting... even more vague than what he had felt from Nosphaleen.


    ''Well, that might not be true. I didn''t sense anything from Nosphaleen at all until she started using her Beast Totem Comprehension. But here, I can sense something even though the beast has yet to be born. It should be slightly easier... Interesting...''


    The beast here wasn''t a Serpentes, at least not in the normal sense. Instead, it seemed to have undergone an odd mutation that made a series of Genes within it mimic another Serpentes


    quite closely.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This Serpentes was known as the Spinalcoil Serpent.


    It was Bronze Beast that was quite unique in the Serpentes line because it had the ability to control its bones to attack. Under the right conditions, it could even affect the bones of an


    opponent.


    The details were a bit fuzzy to Ss because the Spinalcoil Serpent Genes in this lizard were so faint. However, he believed that this snake had a very special poison that could quickly target and erode bones. Once the poison set in duringbat, it was even possible for the serpent to directly control the body of an opponent. Or, rather, their bones.


    Then, the serpent could either directly kill the target or even turn them into ance against others, manipting them into projectiles or any other form they could think of.

 Chapter 477: Treasure Set [Bonus]

    Chapter 477: Treasure Set [Bonus]


    ?


    When Ss felt his mind fill with information about this poison, he was immediately interested.


    Also, the idea of potentially fusing with a creature that would allow him to control the bones in his body for both extra defense and offense was likewise intriguing.


    He couldn''t use weapons, but surely the Scorned Wraps wouldn''t count his own bones?


    Ss hesitated when he thought of this. If the Scorned Wraps turned him to ash because of such a thing, it would be toote to regret it. There wouldn''t even be a "him" to regret anything.


    ''No need to overthink it. The point of the Scorned Wraps from their introduction is that I must rely on my own body and nothing else. My bones are definitely an extension of that. If something is going wrong, I''ll sense it.''


    He was also getting ahead of himself. This lizard only had partial Serpentes Genes in it; it didn''t quite count as one. Plus, it was extremely expensive.


    Ss didn''t like it. He had already gambled on two Skills just now, and he was trying to find a path to sure victory. More gambling wasn''t something that he wanted to do.


    He looked at his Coins remaining.


    [Coins: 6 288 222 (F)]


    After seeing this, Ss chose to leave for now. If he could find what he needed for within four million, he would return.


    Ss began to scour the Nexus. He left no stone unturned.


    He was mindful that he had a timer he was working with. Of course, that timer wasn''t the 10- day time limit of the Convergence Gate, but rather the 3-day timer of the system''s penalty.


    He had already used up over a quarter of the first day between waiting for the City Lord to fall for his trap and everything else, so he had to make the best use of what he had left. There was a great deal to choose from.


    He went through as many options as he could within the two-hour limit that he gave himself. Most things he was looking for fell into two categories. The first were immediate boosts in strength, and the second were methods of covert operation.


    The best n moving forward seemed to be to find a method to sneak to General Song''s side and then kill him in a blitz attack too strong for him to handle.


    However, that was also the most obvious n and one that General Song would surely be waiting for. If not for the boundaries of the Quicktime Event, if Ss were General Song, he might even vacate the area. But even if he couldn''t do that, he would surely surround himself with a full detail, and getting to him wouldn''t be easy.


    In order to get a method of sneaking in that wouldn''t be detected, Ss would have to spend upward of ten million, Coins he obviously didn''t have.


    Stealth Temtes were, rightfully, expensive. Stealth Treasures even more so. And Stealth Skills... well, Ss didn''t bother with them because he wasn''tpatible.


    ''It seems I''ll need a method to lure him out. That would require him feeling like he could lose...''


    General Song was ahead in points currently, but that was mostly thanks to the City Lord''s death. Now that Ss had taken his spot, the city once again had a leader and thus could begin to umte points once more.


    However, this wasn''t enough. He wanted General Song to feel as though he couldn''t win unless he killed Ss, and that would require a muchrger gap.


    Thinking to this point, Ss changed his strategy.


    ''Secure the victory. In which case... it''ll be you.''


    [Army gs (FFF) (Treasure Set)]


    [Gather your Army''s Will and suppress your enemy beneath your feet]


    [For every 500 Will of the g bearer, those under the g''s banner receive +100 Physical.] [Minimum Will Requirement: 500]


    [Durability: 3/3]


    [Note: A Set of 100 gs and 1 Core g designed for use with 10,000 people. Core g bearer must have Will at least double that of the average Will of the 100 g bearers.] [Cost: 3,500,100 (F) Coins]


    This Treasure Set was surprisingly cheap given what it was, and there was a good reason for that.


    For one, on arge scale, +100 Physical wasn''t much. That could be easily granted through a series of armors and additional items, which was a huge part of the reason Ss even had close fights these days.


    The more time passed, the more powerful Treasures entered cirction, and the more trouble he would have in this regard.


    Second, 500 Will was an incredibly high requirement.


    Third, the Treasure couldn''t Level up like others.


    Fourth, its Durability was incredibly low. This meant that not only could opponents easily target and destroy the gs given the right situation, but the gs themselves had to be constantly maintained. They would likelyst one or two battles before the entire Set had to be basically reforged, which would easily cost another million in materials, every time, considering the number of them. Let alone thebor involved.


    The fifth issue was thergest, and that was that the burden on the person holding the Core g was astronomical.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This person had to have Will at least double that of the average of the other g bearers for the formation to work. And that was just the minimum bar.


    Someone who met that shaky standard could maybest an hour in battle, and even then they wouldn''t be able to do anything other than stand there.


    Even for Ss, who had an insane Will stat, if not for Madness, he wouldn''t even reach the minimum standard to use this Treasure Set. After all, his Will was only 999, and the minimum


    requirement to use the other gs was 500.


    But for all of these reasons...


    The gs were also perfect.


    That was because there would be no intelligent enemies here to target them in the first ce. They just had to kill more beasts than the other guys, and they didn''t even have to cross the


    Gate to do that.


    When the time came and Ss felt that General Song could feel his victory slipping away, he


    would give thetter an opportunity...


    And then strike suddenly and swiftly.


    As for the key to this, it would depend on just how much he could sharpen his movement Skills


    in the next day.


    And if he was lucky... maybe that Bone-tailed Lizard egg could give him the surprise he


    needed.

 Chapter 478: Amazing Feeling

    Chapter 478: Amazing Feeling


    ?


    Ss stepped out of the Nexus, his mind returning. The waters below still clearly reflected everything above with utmost perfection, and he couldn''t help but wonder once again just why all of this was here.


    This ce had to serve a function of some sort, but whether it was through his passive observation or the City Stele itself, he couldn''t find it.


    Shaking his head, Ss chose to set these matters aside for now. He didn''t have the time to consider why a City Stele would need what was apparently such arge cooling rig.


    ...


    The City Lord''s mansion wasrge. It had everything one could ever need, including a training


    room.


    The System City itself had many training rooms that provided simted battles, but what Ss hadn''t known was that there were actually rooms designed to help increase Skill Mastery as well.


    In fact, it turned out that once the peak Level of the City Lord reached Level 50, something that would be triggered by the best warriors of Earth reaching Level 40, they would even open up rooms that would help in speeding up Comprehension progression.


    Of course, these were all things that could only be used in moderation.


    They were definitely more effective for lower-level warriors. And with his Comprehension already at Silver Mastery, they were entirely useless to Ss, as there were no rooms avable, or would be avable, that would help with a progression to Gold Mastery.


    However, the Skill Mastery rooms were interesting.


    As the City Lord, Ss was able to enter for free and was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was able to analyze his skill and create an approximation of what it might look like at Silver Mastery.


    Again, it couldn''t show anything about that Mastery level, but considering Ss was only at Fragmented Mastery right now without ever having used the skills, this was huge.


    Ss thought about whether he should check out the egg first. After purchasing it, his senses were far more capable of analyzing it, and the oddities of its Genes were clearer to him.


    He was also pleasantly surprised to find that, likely because it was still in gestation, manipting the Genes of this egg was far easier than doing so for an already birthed existence. That meant that he could likely avoid using the cancer Gene.


    After some thought, Ss made the sensible decision.


    The egg was a gamble; the movement techniques were the foundation of everything. If he could have moved around the battlefield with real speed back then, General Song would already be dead, and he wouldn''t even have to waste three million on a Treasure Set that would be nigh useless to him after this Quicktime Event was over.


    So, he began analyzing his skills. If there was time, he would get to the egg.


    ...


    Ss took deep breaths, exhaling slowly. Beads of sweat fell down his brows, and his body felt a particr aching due tock of Aether.


    However, his eyes still shone bright.


    ''This is an amazing feeling.''


    Even after all this time, he had still underestimated his Dual ss Constitution. Even his affinities just seemed to be worth more.


    His Ice-Poison affinity was at Silver now. On an individual level, although not quite Gold, his Ice and Poison affinities were separately nearing that level.


    That should already be more than good enough. Though Ss didn''t know it, a Bronze affinity was usually the minimum bar to study and use a Gene Skill. Silver was more than good enough.


    What he hadn''t expected was for things to go even more smoothly than he expected.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Surfing Frost (FFF+) (Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [At the cost of <0.1> Unit of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across thend]


    [At the cost of <1> Units of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the sea]


    [At the cost of <5> Units of Aether per minute, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the skies]


    [Note: Pace of Surfing Frost production is limited to Average of Intelligence and Speed. To move faster, more Units of Aether must be used]


    [Chilled Rise (FFF+) (Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [<0.1> Unit of Aether per minute to lower body weight]


    [<1> Units of Aether to increase jump height]


    [<5> Units of Aether to perform a Double Jump]


    [<10> Units of Aether to glide for <3> seconds]


    [Cryobane Elevation (F-) (Gene Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [<2> Units of Aether a minute per use in exchange for a <70% > increase to Speed and Dexterity Stat Limit]


    Of them all, <Cryobane Elevation> ironically took the shortest time to reach Silver Mastery. In fact, he felt that he was just barely on the cusp of reaching Gold Mastery already.


    The advantage of Extricate and Rune Soul was too high. He could feel the cirction of the Skill in ways that even this training room couldn''t.


    However, the changes to the stats on the Skill page weren''t enough to describe his real talent with them. In fact, if his Rune Soul was incorporated, their status would look more like...


    [Surfing Frost (FFF+) (Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [At the cost of 0.1 Unit of Aether per ten minutes, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across thend]


    [At the cost of <1> Units of Aether per ten minutes, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the sea]


    [At the cost of <5> Units of Aether per ten minutes, attaching Surfing Frost to your feet to glide across the skies]


    [Note: Pace of Surfing Frost production is limited to Average of Intelligence and Speed. To move faster, more Units of Aether must be used]


    [Chilled Rise (FFF+) (Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [<0.1> Unit of Aether per ten minutes to lower body weight]


    [<0.1> Units of Aether to increase jump height]


    [<1> Units of Aether to perform a Double Jump]


    [<5> Units of Aether to glide for <5> seconds]


    [Cryobane Elevation (F-) (Gene Skill)] (Silver Mastery)


    [<1> Units of Aether a minute per use in exchange for a <80%> increase to Speed and Dexterity


    Stat Limit]

 Chapter 479: All He Could

    Chapter 479: All He Could


    ?


    After this experience, Ss was finally starting to feel that something was off. The difference between the skills with and without his Rune Soul was too drastic.


    ording to his understanding of the Rune Realm he thought he was in-Rune Breath-he shouldn''t be able to do all of this. He had thought that maybe he was underestimating Rune Breath a bit too much, but the evidence was piling on further and further.


    So he chose to ask the Madness Key about the various Rune Realms.


    Rune Sight. Rune Visualization. Rune Enlightenment. Rune Breath. Rune Flesh. Rune Soul...


    Rune Essence. Rune Vitality. Rune Spark.


    These were the nine levels of Rune Mastery. Though, there was something odd about the Madness Key''s response that made Ss feel as though there might be more to this than what met the eye.


    Still, after reading their descriptions, Ss was almost certain he had somehow leapt over Rune Flesh and entered Rune Soul directly.


    He could easily manipte his Rune control with his Will and work with them interchangeably. That sort of soul or mental control was the characteristic of Rune Soul.


    Byparison, Rune Essence was another huge leap forward, simr to the gap between Rune Enlightenment, which was just about naturallyprehending the Runes you saw, and Rune Breath, which crossed into a level of Rune maniption.


    Rune Essence was a level where you could practically speak Runes into existence.


    If with Rune Sight one became aware of Runes, and with Rune Breath one couldmunicate with and begin a rudimentary usage of Runes, then with Rune Essence one could think of a Rune and have a subconscious understanding of how you might go about creating it even if you had never seen or studied such a Rune before.


    It was an intimacy of the highest levels.


    ''I see...''


    There was something about understanding his true level that seemed to make his Rune Soul settle down... as though its foundation had deepened or it had taken a small half-step forward.


    Ss basked in the feeling for a moment before he pressed on.


    ''It''s possible to use <Cryobane Elevation> and any one of the other two skills at the same time, but it isn''t possible to use thetter two at once... for now, this will have to be enough.''


    The Skills would be worthwhile to have in different application situations. He couldn''t see a clear line to connect them all just yet. But the huge plummet in Aether requirements made it more than worth it.


    And all of this had only taken him half a day. That still left him with about two and a quarter days to work with.


    ''Let''s see about this egg...''


    ...


    Ss sat in silence, his Aether slowly circting as <Maddened Enlightenment> worked to replenish him.


    An egg that was almost half the size of his body at about three quarters of a meter tall. There were no special patterns on it at all. In fact, it looked like a super-sized chicken egg. The surface was smooth, it was a nice off-white color, and its shell was especially thick. Ss could tell that so long as he kept it in a sun-rich, warm incubator, it would hatch in about another three months or so.


    The egg itself, oddly enough, would grow more, reaching about double this already obscene size.


    ''This should be rted to its bone abilities... this egg is like an extension of its body rather than a true egg. But that''s a problem...''


    If things continued like this, the beast would have to crack apart its own skeletal system in order to hatch, and the odds that it would survive such a thing were minimal.


    A baby couldn''t withstand such torture.


    That said... Ss had his Hibernation Realm. Even if the process was hundreds of times more lethal, it wouldn''t matter.


    But whether he could use it or not would depend on whether he could contract this egg. ''Let''s see the situation.''


    Ss pressed down with his Will and activated Extricate.


    The body of the beast, or rather the embryo, was incredibly loose and easy to probe. Theyers it took so much effort for Ss to see through in Nosphaleen''s body became like thin paper nes.


    However, although they were easier to see, there was another challenge that was presented. They were amorphous, difficult to understand and track. Luckily, Ss had the Insight Talent.


    Another Beast Master wouldn''t be able to make heads or tails of this soup of Genes. But Ss only had to ask himself one thing: would this make the little creature more Serpentes or not?


    Ss didn''t hesitate to start Extricating everything he felt wasn''t Serpentes.


    There were things that began to manifest that even made him dizzy. Theplexities of the bodies of living beings left him in a state of wonder.


    However, he didn''t lose focus.


    When he sensed something that synergized with the Genes remaining, he left it. When he found something that shed with it, he suppressed it.


    Ss wasn''t ashamed to say that he was flyingpletely blind. It was like he was untangling a den of wires by randomly pulling at any somewhat loose wire he came across.


    He waspletely relying on his Legendary Profession, and there wasn''t the slightest bit of Skill involved.


    For the first time, he began to feel some fatigue while using Extricate. All around him, Runes moreplex than any he had ever seen before floated around him, slowly disappearing one by one with the ticking time.


    Ss had long since reached a state where he could contract this egg as it was more than Serpentes enough by now. But he wasn''t satisfied with this alone.


    Once he put the egg into the Hibernation Realm, it would only be about 16 hours or so before


    it hatched. Meaning, he would lose the opportunity while it was so malleable.


    He had to push this to the limits until its current body was as close to the legend of the Spinecoil Serpent as possible.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    An hourter, Ss exhaled a breath, his body covered in sweat.


    He had done all he could.

 Chapter 480 Press the Issue

    ?Chapter 480 Press the Issue


    Ss ced the egg into the libernation Realm. Now all he had to do was wait. It should be about 16 to 17 hours before it hatched. Although it would still be an infant when that time came, Ss wasn''t worried about this.


    Even if the stats of the beast were poor, all that really mattered was its ability. He didn''t n on making it a world beater immediately. In fact, he preferred it to be weaker for now.


    From his estimations, if he were to fuse with the Arctic Emperor Cobra, for example, he wouldst maybe a few seconds at best. And that was only thanks to the fact he had the Dual ss Constitution and was in a great State of Wealth.


    The gap between his stats and the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s was too far apart.


    Byparison, he would much rather have a weaker beast he could fuse with that also happened toe with a useful set of abilities. But he wouldn''t know whether the gamble truly paid off until about an hour from now.


    ''Now it''s time to press the issue!


    Ss introduced the gs to the System City army, and the tide immediately began to turn. Before, they were about equal in how they gathered up Hero Points, but now it had be aplete lopsided affair.


    Standing at a high point, Ss watched all of this in silence with arge red g pierced into the ground behind him. His mind was swirling with all sorts of thoughts. Namely...


    How had the Celestial Republic army kept up all this time?


    ''It shoulde down to two things: organization, and most importantly, a numbers advantage. No matter how powerful the System City, they only have 10,000 men in their army. Byparison, the Celestial Republic, even with the over 90% reduction to the poption, has a farrger well to pull from.


    The Generals of the System City were Level 36, and there were ten of them. The Colonels and Captains weren''t too bad either. All of them were above the best Earth had to offer right now. Ss had to take this into consideration to flip the tide. But there were also things that worked in his favor.


    For one, the radius of the Quicktime Event was limited, so even if they had a numbers advantage, there was only so much they could benefit from it.


    And two, they couldn''t just randomly add to their numbers either. General Song was the leader, so the system had already recognized who was under hismand and who was not.


    Only by officially signing someone into his army could that ur, and that would require going through all the bureaucratic work for military transfers and the like.


    With technology having been suppressed by Aether, it was next to impossible to get arge enough influx of new blood in a short time. Even if technology had still worked, anyone who knew how slowly things moved in the government and military would also know that it was a pipe dream to get such transfers done in just ten days...


    Let alone the fact Ss didn''t n to give them so much time.


    ''It''s going well. Let''s press the issue a bit more!


    A surge of telekinesis picked the g up from behind him as he hopped down. He could feel that he couldn''t split his mind any more ways because of the pressure of the g, but he didn''t need to.


    This time, he would use his fists and work out the kinks in his new movement skills.


    A frosty energy enveloped him as he fell from the skies, and suddenly he felt like he barely weighed a hundred pounds...


    If not for the fact the g was using up so much of his Wisdom, he just might be able to split his telekinesis another way and soar through the air.


    His gaze shed.


    This really was the right decision.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Oh... I sense her...''


    W*


    General Song sat in his military tent, his brows furrowed. The situation had suddenly changed a few hours ago, and the gap was only growing wider and wider now.


    Something had changed, but he couldn''t see what it was.


    Ss hadn''t wanted General Song and the others to realize what was going on. So the System City army that was on the Celestial Republic side of the portal weren''t wielding gs at all; they were just in normal defensive positions and continued to kill at the same speed.


    It was the parts of the army outside of Orciulius City that were using the gs in full force. After all, not just beasts from the Celestial Republic wanted to get close to the portal, but beasts from the Evergreen Territory wanted to as well.


    Da could see that the situation wasn''t good. After much hesitation, she chose to speak. "General, this sudden Quicktime Event isn''t absolutely necessary to win. There''s no need to put yourself at risk unnecessarily."


    General Song didn''t reply. Da knew him well and what he was thinking. He could scheme, but that wasn''t what he liked to do most.


    The fact that the System City hadn''t been at this sort of advantage from the beginning told him that it was likely a temporary measure. If he could find its weakness and press it, it would likely crumble. The problem was that there was a reason he hadn''t told his men to try and enter the portal. That would be suicide.


    There was a chance that the system would level the ying field. After all, if they could just use their formations, this battle would already be over. But it would be a gamble... a gamble Da didn''t want him to take for good reason.


    Too little was known about System Cities, and they must have elected a new City Lord if they were umting points again.


    Just as General Song was mulling over what to do with this sudden change, a certain innocent-looking young man entered the tent.


    Grin.

 Chapter 481: What Do You Want From Me?

    Chapter 481: What Do You Want From Me?


    Ssnded beside Sunniva, his fists dripping with blood. But the Scorned Wraps quickly cleaned themselves, and soon it was as though he hadn''t just been in a bloody battle at all.


    The girl seemed to be in a bit of a daze, looking off absentmindedly. It seemed that much of Nosphaleen''s suggestion had begun to wear off, but Ss didn''t believe that was because of how much time had passed. Rather, it should be because she was shocked awake by something.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As for what she had been shocked awake by, he already knew.


    Iler family''s betrayal. Or, rather, Ragnar''s alliance with the Sylphs.


    Ss had allowed Sunniva to go off and hunt the escaping Sylphs herself not because he actually wanted them all dead. As far as he was concerned, if Sunniva could kill even one of them, it would be a miracle. After all, the Sylphs were no joke.


    Though Sunniva was strong, it was unlikely that she could deal with many of them. She would likely struggle with just one.


    Ss was willing to take this risk, one because he simply didn''t care if she lived or died, and two because if she managed toe back, not only would that mean her value was higher than he thought, but she would also be unlikely to need Nosphaleen''s interference to remain loyal. Sunniva''s head shot up toward Ss, realizing a few seconds toote that he had appeared.


    Her expression was very odd. Her impression of Ss was that he was a pervert, but her memories of her experience with Nosphaleen were still intact. So, she knew that Ss had had the opportunity to do something to her and yet had turned it down.


    Remembering Nosphaleen, she couldn''t help but frown. That was not something she wanted to experience ever again.


    Ss didn''t speak at first, just silently observing her as though he was looking for something. Eventually, it was Sunniva who spoke first.


    "What do you want from me?"


    "An odd question to ask when you came back here on your own, no?" Ss replied coolly.


    Sunniva''s expression flickered. That was true. She had snapped out of it already, and yet she had chosen toe back here anyway.


    "Where is the blue-skinned woman?"


    "She is in my contracted space!


    "She''s your contract?" Sunniva was taken aback, not understanding what that could mean.


    "Why did you return?" Ss changed the subject.


    "... I don''t know. I have no intention of following the Grimdes. And even if Ragnar is a traitor, that doesn''t mean my entire Ravenw family is. Ragnar was just desperate because he''s never had a chance against Thorne... Even Draven has never had a chance against Thorne..."


    Sunniva stopped talking as though she realized she was giving away too much about her family. She didn''t know why she was speaking so much to Ss, but there was something about his eyes that seemed to pry secrets out of her.


    However, her words made Ss think.


    Last he checked the Leaderboard, the Ravenws were basically all near the bottom of the top ten at sixth, eighth, and tenth. Although the Darkmanes had someone at ninth, they also had someone at


    second to bnce it out.


    The sixth and eighth ces were none other than Thorne and Draven, respectively. The difference didn''t seem to be that great... but Sunniva seemed to speak about. Thorne as though he was the one ranked first and not Astrid Grimde.


    Of course, it was only a brief feeling. But Ss had always been good at reading people and picking up context clues, and the vulnerable Sunniva was practically an open book between the oppression of his Will and the lingering effects of Nosphaleen''s suggestion.


    "Do you have family?'' Ss asked.


    "-"


    "Real family." Ss emphasized.


    Sunniva hesitated again before her gaze fell to the ground. She had a lot of people who she shared ast name with, but family...?


    The silence was all the answer Ss needed.


    "Following me will do you better than the Ravenws ever could. I''m sure you''re smart enough to understand why."


    There were only two options.


    Either the Ravenws weren''t part of Ragnar''s betrayal or they were.


    In thetter case, Sunniva wouldn''t want to be a part of them anyway. In the former case, even if the Ravenws didn''t punish her along with Ragnar, her chances of rising up in the family would have now fallen to near nil.


    She had gone from a core member of a potential family heir to the core member of a traitorous bastard. What kind of future did she think she could have?


    Sunniva''s gaze flickered. She looked up to meet Ss'' gaze and eventually said something she thought was a bit childish.


    "Can I... think about it?"


    Ss'' expression didn''t change when he heard these words. He was just as calm, just as indifferent. "You have until this Quicktime Event ends. Ss replied simply.


    "Understood. What do you need me to do?"


    Sunniva felt like a weight hade off her back. She knew how cruel this world was and felt that Ss was giving her a lot of leeway. But in return, she wanted to prove that she was valuable.


    Ss must only be allowing her such a long leash because he didn''t have many people on his side just yet. However, if she didn''t prove herself early, when he did establish himself, she would be easily


    forgotten.


    Although she hadn''t made her decision, she had already be used to ying politics in aplex world.


    Ss opened his mouth to answer when his pupils suddenly constricted.


    The air by the side of his neck rippled only the slightest bit, an invisible de shing down with sharp precision.


    Sunniva was still waiting for an answer and had no idea what was happening. However, for Ss, it felt like he was being forced to live out thest few seconds of his life at an excruciatingly slow pace.


    PUCHI!


    Blood spurted.

 Chapter 482: Blade [Bonus]

    Chapter 482: de [Bonus]


    ?


    The de cut through Ss'' Aether Skin and into his neck, only a mere split moment from severing his headpletely.


    Ss only had time to open his mouth and unleash an <Arctic Howl Mutant>.


    The sneak attacker was already within range of his defense and couldn''t be repelled. However, there was still a brief instant of a pause.


    Before the sneak attacker could counter the freeze, Ss'' hand had already shed over, grabbing onto the de.


    The sneak attacker hidden in the shadows couldn''t help but feel like Ss was in his death throes. Although he had reacted much faster than expected, grabbing onto his de with his bare hands was the most foolish thing he could have done. After all, this was a Lv30 Bronze Grade treasure. Its sharpness was on an entirely different level.


    Still, the sneak attacker was a consummate professional. He didn''t let down his guard and activated his counter, ready to twist the knife and sever Ss'' fingers.


    But for once, the Scorned Wraps weren''t so bad to Ss after all. He felt a great pinch in his palm, but the de couldn''t cut through the Scorned Wraps as well. If not for the jagged pain of the flesh beneath, one would have thought that he was gripping onto a butter knife.


    Ss didn''t try to rip the dagger out with his hand. Instead, he held it in ce and took a fierce, but slightly curved step backward. His body followed the arc of the de perfectly, minimizing extra damage.


    Blood flowed out like a fountain. Ss could already tell that an important artery had been severed. He was having trouble breathing, and he was quickly bleeding out faster than his Aether could help him recover.


    And yet, there was a deathly coldness in his eyes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He abandoned the g behind him, and his suppressed Will suddenly burst forth. His grip on the de only tightened as the sneak attacker twisted, expecting to easily take the weapon back... only to be shocked when Ss'' hand was still intact.


    Could Ss'' Constitution really be so high? No, that was impossible. Otherwise, his neck wouldn''t have been cut so easily.


    The sneak attacker''s gaze shed as he noticed the wraps around Ss'' hand. Then, remembering the reports about Ss never using weapons, he seemed to deduce something.


    The hidden man''s pupils constricted, but it was toote.


    BANG!


    A pauldron mmed into the back of his head, making him see stars. It hade out of nowhere. He hadn''t been prepared for Ss to suddenly take the initiative to attack like this. No normal person would make such a choice with his life bleeding out from his neck.


    The sneak attacker hardly had time to think before an elbow mmed right across his chin. <Arctic Emperor''s Domain>.


    Ss was truly going all out, pouring everything he had. If not for the fact he knew it would fail due to his injury, he would have even taken the risk to fuse with this Arctic Emperor Cobra at that same time.


    Plumes of icy fog came out of his neck, and suddenly half his face, down his neck, and even through to his shoulder, was covered in a thick mask of ice that restrained his movement down one side a bit, but stemmed the bleeding to an extent nheless.


    All the while, he unleashed a barrage of attacks.


    He focused his visualization on a small region, still holding onto the dagger tightly as he unleashed fists, elbows, and knees.


    However, for an assassin, the sneak attacker''s body was shockingly resilient. Ss felt like he wasn''t doing much damage at all despite unleashing everything he had.


    At that moment, Sunniva finally reacted, and her daggers flew out toward where she felt the invisible man should be standing.


    To her astonishment, her des flew right through as though Ss was truly fighting against the air. Before she could attack again, she was forced to retreat as Ss'' <Arctic Emperor''s Domain> began to affect her as well.


    Ss didn''t have the time to mind her at all; the light in his eyes was only growing more ferocious as he felt his body growing weaker.


    Fight. Fight. Fight.


    The words echoed in his head again as his moment of weakness in the volcanic world reyed in his mind. He refused to bend like that again.


    The sneak attacker seemed to have recovered from his earlier daze, and he began to defend against Ss'' blows while sending out strikes with his free hand and attempting to wrestle his dagger back.


    A strength exploded from his palms, and Ss felt like this man''s strength stat was well beyond his own. If not for his earlier daze, thanks in part to a sudden pauldron attack, he would have taken it away already.


    Ss knew that he couldn''t allow this. The man was too hard to track. It was only after shrinking his visualization to just two meters that he could finally see a faint outline of him. But that range was too easy for the sneak attacker to slip out of.


    He wanted to end this.


    Now.


    The sneak attacker ripped the dagger free and took a leap backward. In that same instant, Ss popped a Transmutated Beast Pill into his mouth.


    In that brief moment where the sneak attacker thought that Ss was trying to recover, arge beast suddenly fell from the skies above.


    Ss'' Beast Totem bloomed, and the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s might shot through the roof.


    ROAR!


    The heft of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''srge body fell right onto the sneak attacker.


    The man had already slipped out of Ss'' two-meter range. But using his connection with the Arctic Emperor Cobra, Ss was able to tell exactly where he was pinned beneath its body.


    His gamble had worked. Although the man was outside his range, the cobra''s body was over two dozen meters long. If it fell in a tight coil, it was bound to hit something.


    SHIIIIIING!


    Ss was only just running forward when the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s body was cut in two.

 Chapter 483: Yours [Bonus]

    Chapter 483: Yours [Bonus]


    ?


    The Arctic Emperor''s pain echoed as pulsing thoughts in Ss'' mind. However, his speed wasn''t slow.


    The invisible man was covered in the blood of his own making. He was forced to send out a pulse of Aether to push it away from himself, but that only made his image even brighter in Ss'' visualization.


    <Cryobane Elevation>.


    <Surfing Frost>.


    Suddenly, Ss'' Speed and Dexterity went from 520 to 884. Ice appeared on the ground all around him at the same time, raising his speed to an even more exaggerated level, even approaching 1500 when he also used his telekinesis to lower his weight.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The synergy between <Arctic King''s Domain> and <Surfing Frost> wasn''t bad at all. He didn''t need to waste much Aether creating ice paths because the world was his ice path.


    Ss'' sudden eleration caught the sneak attacker off guard. A fist was drilled into his gut in the next instant.


    At the same time, arge amount of Ice-Poison Runes was already beginning to umte along his body. Ss focused the Slow Ice-Poison Rune, knowing that Freeze was too brittle for the asion.


    Damage began to umte as Ss and the man entered another furious exchange.


    Ss glided across the ice, using a series of footholds when he needed friction and speed when he needed added power.


    He and the hidden man flickered around one another, dagger and fist meeting again and again before the situation suddenly changed once again.


    Winter''s Edge.


    Ss didn''t let up on the gas pedal. The poor blood cirction in his body was nothing more than an afterthought. His entire being was focused on taking this man down.


    By this point, the army generals had noticed that the gs had stopped working and put two and two together. They weren''t just foolish NPCs; they hadplex thoughts of their own. It wasn''t long before they concluded that something was wrong with Ss, and they located the sounds of battle.


    The invisible man seemed to realize that he was running out of time. The poison was continuously slowing him down, and now with Winter''s Edge, even his defenses were starting to bepromised.


    SHIIING!


    Ss'' gaze shed as the warning signs pulsed in his mind.


    He slid to the side with <Surfing Frost>, but the de followed him. However, just as he was about to be cut in half, his path of ice curved into the skies.


    The de sliced into the path, but Ss had already surfed up and over, smashing down with a fist from above.


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist mmed into hard ground, and he couldn''t help but frown.


    The sneak attacker was gone.


    ''No, he can''t have gone far. He didn''t use any skills, or else I would have sensed the Aether.'' <Arctic Howl Mutant>.


    Ss reacted quickly. His thoughts moved so fast that there didn''t even seem to be a moment between his fist hitting the icy ground and his roar echoing.


    The sound of his surge of ice colliding against something caught Ss'' attention instantly. He turned his head in that direction and cast <King''s Bind> from the Stabilizing Bracelet in the same instant the hidden man escaped the freeze.


    The Stabilizing Bracelet cracked and then shattered apart, its Durability having reached the end of its lifespan. Ss knew that this would happen soon. He just hadn''t been able to find anyone to repair it; his life was just filled with one dangerous event after another.


    But he didn''t have the time to mind it or care either.


    With <King''s Bind> activated, whatever Skill the man was using to hide himself suddenly copsed, and Ss found the face of a young man with an almost curious expression on his face looking back at him.


    This wasn''t the look of someone who should be in a fierce battle at all. It was almost the look of a cat ying around with a mouse caught in a trap.


    Grin.


    Ss actually couldn''t see the man''s stats or his name even in this situation. It was as though he didn''t exist at all.


    However, unlike others, Ss wasn''t put off by Grin''s gaze in the slightest. His gaze was still just as cold and indifferent, the weakness in his body doing nothing to slow down his counterattack in the slightest.


    The dagger in Grin''s hand was ripped out by Ss'' telekinesis as he couldn''t control his body to tighten his grip for a brief instant. Then, in a sudden turn, the dagger turned and stabbed right into Grin''s throat.


    Ss closed in the final distance, his fist aiming right for Grin''s head.


    .


    The Beast Totem behind him roared with life, and his gaze seemed to turn into slits as though


    a mighty Serpentes Emperor was bearing down on the world.


    However, Grin''s expression was still seemingly calm.


    BANG!


    Grin''s head exploded into a rain of blood and gore.


    Finally, Ss came to a stop, his body heaving for breath. A coldness permeated him from head to toe, and a shiver crept up his spine. This wasn''t from fear, but rather the fact his blood was starting to run cold.


    ''Is he really dead?'' Ss couldn''t help but think this. Grin wasn''t normal, but was there anyone who could be so careless in the face of death?


    Even after his oaths, Ss didn''t believe that he could be, and maybe that was why he was pushing so hard. While he had been in difficult, near-death experiences since the volcano incident... had he ever faced true death?


    He raised a hand to his neck, feeling the icy cold as his vision swam.


    ''Maybe...''


    Ss shook his head. His intuition was telling him that this Grin character hadn''t died just yet. Regardless of whether he was right or not, he would have to prepare for it as though it was inevitable. This opponent was too shocking.


    ''But now I know how to deal with his invisibility. Next time it won''t be the same.''


    ...


    In a forest in the far-off distance, a man stumbled out with a pale face. If Ss had been able


    to see his stats before and after, he would have known that they plummeted by half.


    However, Grin didn''t seem to care in the slightest.


    ''So... that snake is yours, hm?''

 Chapter 484: Slipped Up

    Chapter 484: Slipped Up


    ?


    Ss'' head whipped toward the portal. If there was going to be an escape made, it would be toward there. If not, that would mean that he escaped outside of the city.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, this sudden movement caused him to fall to a knee. His vision swam, and he almost cked out. If it wasn''t for a quick bite to his tongue, he would have.


    Although he had swallowed a Transmutated Beast Pill, it was one, not a miracle drug, and two, because he used ice to slow his bleeding, that ironically slowed his healing as well. It was a double-edged sword.


    Well, in the right circumstances, a Transmutated pill could work like a miracle drug. But the problem was that he hadn''t run into nearly enough beasts that were bothpatible with him and powerful.


    Obviously, the stronger the beast, the stronger the pill would be.


    ''There''s arge number of Ice affinity beasts here. I need to take advantage.''


    His Skills copsed in on themselves, and he closed his eyes shut. He squeezed his eyelids tightly as though he was trying to regain control over himself.


    "City Lord!"


    Finally, the Generals had already rushed over.


    "... Bring me the strongest beasts you''ve killed," Ss said in a voice much too steady given his current situation.


    ...


    It was several hours before Ss'' situation had stabilized, and the sharpness returned to his gaze.


    He had known that there were all sorts of shocking abilities in this world, but knowing was one thing, and being prepared for them was another. If not for his Luck stat today, he would have died.


    The man was too quick and ferocious, and now he was aware of all of Ss'' trump cards on top of making one entirely useless.


    Ss looked over to the corpse of the Arctic Emperor Cobra. He truly hadn''t expected that it would die just like that.


    It had been cut in half, but Ss had been too caught up in the battle to possibly waste the time he would need to put it into the Hibernation Realm. He thought that it could at least withstand the wound for a while since it had been cut down its thickness and not its length, but he had underestimated the insidiousness of Grin''s de.


    There was definitely something special about it. But for whatever reason, that specialness hadn''t affected him.


    ''No... it should be that when he stabbed me in the neck, he didn''t use a technique for the sake of stealth. Byparison, there was a huge sh of Aether when he attacked the Arctic Emperor Cobra. Whatever that skill is, I''ll have to be wary of it in the future.''


    Ss shook his head, but he didn''t mourn the death of the Arctic Emperor Cobra for long. He simply did the most logical thing and turned it into a new trump card.


    Soon, the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s remains had be the strongest Transmutated Pill in his possession. It should be able to help him at a critical point.


    ''There''s still some time before the egg hatches. I will look into that odd sense of <Madness Control> I got when the Quicktime Event first started... it might be the breakthrough I need.''


    He originally hadn''t wanted to because of the time, but in the battle against Grin, the core g had been destroyed. He couldn''t continue along the path he wanted anymore. For now, he would just have to hope the lead he built up was enough.


    After ordering the Generals to keep a sharp eye out around the city limits and to restrict any new entries, he left again.


    ...


    Grin watched the state of the city from a distance, his gaze flickering. His stats weren''t what they used to be, but there was a pulse of lighting from the dagger in his hands that almost felt alive.


    His veins pumped with that vitality, and his pale expression was slowly recovering. ''He''s sharp...''


    Seeing the movement of the Generals and the lockdown of the city, Grin knew that he wouldn''t be able to sneak back in easily.


    Ss was right. There was no way for Grin to instantly teleport all the way back to the Celestial Republic. He would have to rely on the portal for that.


    In truth, he hadn''t absolutely needed to die. He just used his substitution Skill because it was the most convenient given the situation. He knew that the Generals were on their way, and he didn''t want to expose too much of himself too soon.


    As such, he chose to appear outside the city instead of near the portal. It was the lowest risk. After all, there were still Generals on the other side of the portal as well.


    Now, Ss had grasped onto his weakness.


    That said... that didn''t mean that he couldn''t do anything to target Ss.


    ''He abandoned that ck snake without much hesitation. It''s unlikely that it''s important. But... the real question is whether that Professor knows or made an honest mistake...''


    It seemed like he was here to support General Song, but only he knew that his real mission was rted to Morgan.


    There was spection that the Professor had stumbled onto a very rare Profession, but there was no guarantee just yet. They still had to keep the propriety of a government, however, so they couldn''t just lock Morgan up just because.


    Or rather... the reason they couldn''t was because Morgan was too smart. It didn''t take much time after he returned from the Trial to make a big show of his reappearance. He even released a paper about his experience in the Trial as though he had only gone for educational purposes.


    He was a very tricky man to deal with, and when there were tricky things to deal with, Grin and those hidden in the shadows along with him were the ones that dealt with it.


    After all this time, it seemed that Morgan had finally slipped up a little bit...

 Chapter 485: Mastery

    Chapter 485: Mastery


    ?


    Ss sat in silent meditation, trying to recall that feeling from earlier.


    Before, he had beenmunicating with the Arctic Emperor Cobra through their link, sensing the changes in its body, and controlling it with great purpose.


    However, that feeling of controlling something that wasn''t his body so precisely left him in an elevated state.


    Then, he had even felt like his eyes and that of the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s felt like they were one in that same moment.


    It was a feeling that was nigh impossible to describe, almost as though he was floating on a cloud in a far-off distantnd, and yet had full control of his original body at the same time.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Quest Received]


    [Surging Madness Control (Common)]


    -


    [Your Madness Control has reached the Legendary Mastery Realm all on its own, your Madness allowing you to peak toward an unprecedented Realm that exists beyond its normal Bounds. Grasp this chance to enhance yourself]


    -


    [Fragmented Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF- <Madness Control> Skill]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Create an FFF <Madness Control> Skill]


    It had been a long while since he received this Quest, but he had made no headway at all until that moment.


    He had no foundation or understanding in creating Skills. Manipting already existing Skills was one thing. But crafting them from scratch? That was more than a little bit of a stretch for him.


    Truthfully, Ss was underestimating himself. Being so close to Rune Essence, and having absorbed more Genes through Extricate than he cared to count, by now he had a deep enough understanding of his Aether Pathways and Runes to create a few weaker tier Skills.


    The problem, though, was that this Quest wanted him to create an FFF- Skill which was still a far cry from his current abilities.


    However... Skills were created through four paths.


    The first were experts of higher order. The second was through the system itself. The third was through alterations in Genes that could happen through sses or Professions. And finally, the fourth...


    Sudden enlightenment.


    Ss sat inplete silence, a web of thoughts forming in his mind.


    Subconsciously, he began to think about Fusion again. But this time, the actual process of it. He recalled every sensation of his body''sposition changing.


    Thoughts of <Cryobane Elevation> shed in his mind as well, and the bout of enlightenment only seemed to deepen.


    His interaction with Grin led him to one conclusion. The man was definitely relying on a Gene Skill to be invisible like that. There was no normal skill that could possibly allow such a thing. And even further than that, it was almost certainly rted to a high-level ss as well.


    He believed that Grin''s ss was at least Silver, if not Gold.


    But that also awakened him to another fact. Compared to most, he was far ahead. Compared to the truest hidden experts, though, he had fallen behind. Or, maybe, he had never caught up to them in the first ce.


    He knew the Grimdes certainly had more experts hidden in the dark. The fact they could waste away time letting their three heir candidates fight it out like they did proved that they had something more substantial to rely on.


    There was still Legacy and the governments on top of that. And that was all before he even began to factor in the Dogons and Clypsians, let alone those that had somehow managed to suppress them.


    However, Ss wasn''t pissed about his luck. Now that he understood Earth was in a sort of a time lock, he also knew that he was likely not the only person who had experienced such losses in time.


    In fact, he had a feeling that the people who had experienced suchpses in time were all among the most powerful... that was because losing such chunks of time required leaving the bounds of Earth, which would mean that anyone who did so was an existence who had stumbled onto opportunities no less than his.


    This might even very well be the reason the time lock existed in the first ce. They wanted to run those like Ss into a corner. The more he chased the best opportunities, the more time he would lose until eventually...


    He had nothing left.


    A flickering green me suddenly appeared around Ss'' body as his emotions seemed to reach a head. His Will manifested outside of his body in a way it never had before, but his focus was so great that he seemed to forget about everything around him.


    Be Strong.


    SHUUUU!


    Something clicked and his <Madness Control> reached a deeper level. If before it had been at just barely the surface, it suddenly dove into his very organs themselves.


    [Madness Control (FF+) (Skill) -> Madness Control (F) (Gene Skill)]


    [Madness Control (F) (Gene Skill)] (Legendary Mastery)


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own. Now you have grasped a much deeper meaning of this truth]


    [+10% to ALL Stats, Skills, Gene Skills, Profession Talents, and Titles]


    Ss blinked when he saw the result. The +10% seemed underwhelming, but when he saw what it applied to, he was a bit surprised. Even his Titles got a boost? Didn''t that mean that this stat was stackable?


    For example, his Skill Savant Title gave him +100% Intelligence. If he could get a 10% boost to it and a 10% boost to his Intelligence.


    With how many Titles he had, if that happened across everything, all of a sudden what was a +50 to his stat points at best could easily snowball.


    Ss had only barely had this thought when something changed once again. He didn''t even have the chance to look at his rewards for the Quest before his mind shook.


    [System Reward Activated]


    [Title Mutation Reward Received]


    [Title Upgraded]


    [Skill Savant > Skill Progenitor]


    [You have forged a path ahead, leaving your predecessors behind, albeit taken the path less


    traveled. Embrace the status of a man who walks his own Path]


    [+200% Intelligence]


    [You have unlocked your first Progenitor me: Progenitor Mastery]


    [Madness Control (F) (Gene Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own. Now you have


    grasped a much deeper meaning of this truth]


    [+20% to ALL Stats, Skills, Gene Skills, Profession Talents, and Titles]

 Chapter 486: Failed

    Chapter 486: Failed


    ?


    [Skill Savant > Skill Progenitor]


    [You have forged a path ahead, leaving your predecessors behind, albeit taken the path less traveled. Embrace the status of a man who walks his own Path]


    [+200% Intelligence]


    [Madness Control (F) (Gene Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [Your body is your temple and it listens to nomands other than your own. Now you have grasped a much deeper meaning of this truth]


    [+20% to ALL Stats, Skills, Gene Skills, Profession Talents, and Titles]


    Ss could feel his mind expanding.


    Usually, when his Stat Limits were forcefully increased due to a Title, he would feel a great amount of pain. But ever since he unlocked the Dual ss Constitution, breaking his Stat Limits had be several times easier, and let alone pain, it actually felt quite good.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]


    [ss: -]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 538 122 (F)]


    [Titles: A Tangible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Skill Progenitor; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; City Lord of Orciulius; Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 520]


    >[Strength: 520]


    >[Constitution: 520]


    >[Dexterity: 520]


    >[Speed: 520]


    [Mental: 588]


    >[Intelligence: 641]


    >[Wisdom: 844]


    >[Charisma: 280]


    [Will: 999]


    [Luck: 22]


    [Skills: Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-); Arctic King''s Domain (FFF-); Master Counter (FFF-); Arctic Howl Mutant (FF+); Chilling Scythe Mutant (FF+); Chilled Rise (FFF+); Surfing Frost (FFF+)]


    [Gene Skills: Cryobane Elevation (F-); Madness Control (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Flexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: (20) Strength (F); (20) Constitution (F); (20) Dexterity (F); (20) Speed (F); (20) Intelligence (F); (20) Wisdom (F); (20) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Enchanted Scribe (F); (40) Strength (F); (40) Constitution (F); (40) Dexterity (F); (40) Speed (F); (40) Intelligence (F); (39) Wisdom (F); (17) Charisma (F); (40) Will (F)] [Silver Genes: Aetherflow (F)]


    -


    [Gene Talents: Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Winter''s Edge (FFF-); Aetherflow (FF+)]


    Ss took a breath and exhaled. He had gained more than an extra 200 or so Intelligence. Although his new Skill Progenitor Title came with a +200%, that also had to factor in the original 100% he gained from Skill Savant.


    Even so, it was a great boost to him and his Mental overall.


    What was most amusing about his stat screen was that he actually had far more Bronze Genes avable to him than Common Genes. He had taken his time to max them out, but these days, finding Bronze Genes was actually easier than finding Common ones.


    This was just a natural consequence of living on a world with top-tier Bronze potential. Most of the beasts that grew to this point would have Bronze Genes avable to him.


    If Earth had been a lower-tier Bronze Grade world, Bronze Genes would be much rarer than


    they were.


    The only Genes he had left to max out were Wisdom and Charisma, but they were unfortunately much harder to find in normal beasts. Intelligence, byparison, was much


    moremon.


    Ss activated <Madness Control> in its new form for the first time and felt a deep-rooted


    control.


    If the original <Madness Control> only allowed him better control over his outer flesh, including his muscles, tendons, and ligaments, this version went ayer deeper. From his Aether Pathways to his blood vessels, and even his Genes.


    ''This <Madness Control> feels like the rudimentary form of Extricate, before I gained the ability to manipte Gene Talents as well. Does that mean that if I manage to improve it further, I''ll gain ess to deeper levels of control?''


    After his time with Nosphaleen, he had realized that there was much more to his body than what was on the surface.


    His flesh, rted to his Physical Stats, were just the start. Ayer deeper were where his Genes resided, and deeper than that was a mesh system where Gene Talents, and there were several moreyers deeper than even that.


    So long as he continued to progress like this, one day he was sure to be able to control his body down to the greatest depths.


    Finally, he turned his attention to the notifications he had received while his mind was evolving. But what he saw left him without words.


    [Quest <Surging Madness Control> Failed]


    Ss almostughed. Almost.


    He wasn''t very happy with what he was seeing at all. The Quest did specify creating either an FFF- or FFF Grade version of <Madness Control>. But he didn''t expect to be dinged for going


    above and beyond.


    In the workforce, many jobs didn''t like to hire overqualified people because it would usually mean that they were looking for a quick jump-off point. But Ss could hardly see how that


    logic would apply here.


    In the end, he chose tofort himself. After all, it was just a Common Grade Quest anyway. Hopefully, the reward wouldn''t have been too great.


    But this was a reminder that when the Quest was specific, he should follow it to a tee.


    Ss was about to close the window when there was a sudden flicker. It came not from his notification screen, but rather from the Madness Key.


    There was a surge of light from it and he felt a suction force take root.


    At that moment, the ze of mes around him before, the very ones birthed from his Will


    that he hadn''t noticed earlier.


    Suddenly, he recalled a line from earlier.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [You have unlocked your first Progenitor me: Progenitor Mastery]


    Was this rted to that?


    This wasn''t good. What would it mean for his Progenitor me if the Madness Key swallowed


    it?


    Unfortunately, Ss could only watch with a frowning expression as it was sucked away.


    But then he felt a surge deep within his body.


    The Gluttony Seed was surging, its power bubbling forth.


    BOOM!


    A heart-shuddering aura erupted from Ss.

 Chapter 487: System...

    Chapter 487: System...


    ?


    The ground beneath Ss rebounded with a great presence and Ss himself was sent flying into the air.


    He barely had time to orient himself before he felt right back down t on his face, but the feeling waspletely shocking.


    Just now, his telekinesis had erupted with such force that it was able to send him half a meter into the air. That was absolutely shocking. It had never been able to exhibit such strength and power before.


    In order for that to work, it had to have been able to at least exhibit enough weight to offset his own. That meant that now his Gluttony Seed should be able to help him lift around 220 pounds or so, or around 100 kilograms.


    However, that was only what he was able to exhibit passively. He hadn''t even made a conscious effort to utilize it just now.


    Ss caught himself on the ground in a pushup position, slowly pulling himself up to his feet as he felt the power coursing within him. He was nning on testing it out to see what the true limits of his Gluttony Seed were now, but...


    He could never have nice things.


    [You havemitted a Taboo]


    [Title Changed]


    [System Breaker > System Rebel]


    [You have shattered the norms of the system and stepped beyond the boundaries it is willing to tolerate. The system is watching you]


    [+100 Luck]


    [System Curse]


    Ss'' expression changed and he hurriedly looked at his Luck Stat.


    [Luck: 101]


    He had lost the +100% to Luck System Breaker gave him. Instead, it was reced with a t increase. Although this increase was enormous, Ss had a feeling that in the long run he would only suffer for it.


    Luck stats were obviously incredibly rare. The change to double whatever lucky run-ins he had with them was immensely valuable. But now that was gone.


    On the one hand, he felt his senses expand to an astonishing degree and the world was like a violent eruption of colors.


    But on the other...


    He couldn''t take his eyes off of it.


    [System Curse]


    The system had favored him so much until now. But due to no fault of his own, he was suddenly in its bad graces.


    If the System Rewards were so helpful, just how detrimental would a System Curse be? Ss took a breath and calmed himself down.


    With all things the system did, there should be a bnce. If not, there was no way he would have just gotten +100 to his Luck. That alone had expanded his visualization radius by double to 100 meters, and it would likely only increase once he settled it in.


    His visualization had existed before the increase to his Luck stat, but the increase to his Luck had solidified it almost like an enhanced sixth sense.


    His visualization was abination of his Will and his Luck, thetter of which almost gave him a unique feel and sense for danger. Almost like an attunement with his surroundings.


    Be Strong...


    Ss picked up the Madness Key around his neck and looked at it in silence for a long while. Every day, he felt like these words could only be more true and never less.


    It seemed that now, he didn''t just have to be prepared for everything... he had to be over- prepared. Because at any time, this Curse could fall on his head and ruin everything.


    Ss allowed himself to reach a calm equilibrium before he tested out his Gluttony Seed. ''Just about 250 pounds... This is good...''


    With this, he could easily soar through the skies at least while his Gluttony Seed was still active.


    He hadn''t been taking full advantage of the sheer amount of weight his telekinesis could move around just yet. He still had about half a million Coins; maybe he should go and see if he could find something good to exchange for.


    Ss entered the Nexus once more and found exactly what he was looking for.


    [Chained Stones (Unranked) (Semi-Treasure)]


    [A Training Device useful for training beasts]


    [Weight: 220 pounds each]


    [Cost: 2000 (F) Coins]


    It was a training item that could be used by Beast Masters. Most didn''t have Ss'' Extricate Talent or his Hibernation Realm, so they had to use more crude methods like these.


    He thought about trading for something much more expensive, but the good stuff was either far beyond his pay grade, or not worth it. Ultimately, this training item was durable enough for his needs and it had a chain attached to it that could be very useful in the right situation. And the best part was that there were two of them.


    ''It''s been 16 hours...''


    It was finally time.


    With a thought, Ss summoned the egg. Or, rather, what was now...


    ''A dinosaur?''


    Ss couldn''t look at it like anything else.


    It had four limbs; its back was covered in a half bony, half scaly contraption that almost looked like a turtle shell.


    Its tail had a heavy mass of bone on the end of it, and spikes covered the lengths of its body.


    It looked like a hammer tail dinosaur. Ss didn''t know the actual name of the dinosaur, but it didn''t seem to matter in the slightest.


    Even as a newborn, the beast was already at his hip height, and it seemed barely just short of as long as he was tall.


    [Your Will haspletely suppressed <Bone-Tailed Lizard>]


    [Contract of Subservience has been formed]


    [A Taming Contract has been formed]


    [Contracts]


    [1. Basilisk King: Lv5]


    [2. Nosphaleen Tideborn: Lv6]


    [3. Bone-Tailed Lizard: Lvo]


    [Bone-Tailed Lizard (FFF+)]


    [Status: Healthy]


    [Loyalty: 10/10]


    -


    [Physical: 120]


    >[Strength: 162]


    >[Constitution: 239]


    >[Dexterity: 39]


    >[Speed: 40]


    [Mental: 45]


    >[Intelligence: 90]


    >[Wisdom: 23]


    >[Charisma: 22]


    [Will: 20]


    -


    [Skills]


    -


    [Gene Talents]


    [>Bone Coil]


    [>Spinecoil Poison]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Seeing the Gene Talents he most wanted appear, he was satisfied. Though his Insight told him that the Bone-Tailed Lizard had only unlocked the weakest of the bone control talents of the


    Spinecoil Serpent.


    Bone Coil was only capable of tightening and strengthening, or doing the reverse, for already


    existing bones and couldn''t create new bones rapidly. This referred to the bones of the Bone-


    Tailed Lizard itself.


    The Spinecoil Poison scaled with the bone controlling talent. Meaning that Ss could only use it to weaken enemies, but the vision of him making a person explode in a rain of bone that formed an area of effect attack was nothing but a pipe dream...


    For now.


    The Bone-Tailed Lizard rubbed up against Ss'' leg, licking at his feet.


    Ss was about to put it back into the Hibernation Realm when his gaze flickered.


    There was an echo of a low, rumbling, and almostforting growl in his ears.


    ''No, it''s not my ears. It''s in my head...'' his gaze snapped toward the Bone-Tailed Lizard. ''... Is


    it trying tomunicate with me?''


    Ss was stunned. Even the intelligent Basilisk King couldn''t do this. Although it was just


    incoherent growls and hums, Ss had a feeling that this was huge.


    ''Is this because it''s a dinosaur?''


    The thoughts swirled around in his head, wondering if he had stumbled onto another benefit.


    Unfortunately, his Insight didn''t seem to have any information to give.


    ''I''ll have to study this slowly...''

 Chapter 488: Lv7 [Bonus]

    Chapter 488: Lv7 [Bonus]


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    General Song was still trying to make a decision when he received a message from Grin. The words left him shocked.


    Grin was stuck outside? Didn''t that mean that Grin had lost a battle?


    He had never seen Grin''s stats before. In fact, even Ss had never, let alone General Song. But Grin still gave him an unfathomable feeling, a feeling that Ss didn''t give him by the


    same measure.


    General Song had always prided himself in his judgment of people, and he had observed Ss in battle for long enough toe to what he thought was an urate conclusion.


    But now...


    ''That snake, huh?''


    He leaned back in his chair, wondering what to do.


    The information was about more than just the snake and Morgan as well. It also made it clear that the new leader of the city was actually the same man.


    This made it easier for General Song to ept Grin''s apparent defeat. If Ss had made use of the Generals, then it was only natural.


    From Grin''s tone as well, it didn''t seem like he was asking for help to deal with Ss either. Instead, his message was far more tailored toward Morgan and their attempts to pin him down.


    Clearly, Grin still wanted to deal with Ss on his own. But by the same token, he needed General Song to apply a bit of pressure.


    Even if Ss didn''t care about the Basilisk King, could it be that he was interested in Morgan for the same reasons their Celestial Republic was? In that case, they could have a two-for-


    one...


    Whether Ss cared about the Basilisk King or Morgan, the clues pointed toward the fact he would certainly have some reservations about either one of them dying.


    That could be used.


    The timing of this was excellent. General Song was just wondering what to do when Grin''s information fell on hisp.


    On the one hand, he now knew that he had a hold of a potential weakness of Ss, and on the other, many of the System City Generals were upied trying to make sure that Grin didn''t sneak back into the city walls.


    There was no better time to act than now.


    General Song slowly stood.


    "Da, get my weapons. We''re preparing for war."


    **


    [What is a Progenitor me?]


    [The tale of Prometheus is one long spread, and the mes of a Progenitor represent the very same re for life and hope. Step onto the Path of a Progenitor, gather Progenitor mes, and increase your ability to help raise your world to another level]


    Ss read the description of the Madness Key in silence, feeling that it was being far more vague than usual considering just how specific the question was.


    He also found it weird that a Progenitor me was supposedly supposed to help his world, but how could he help Earth when only he gained ess to Progenitor Mastery?


    And also, it seemed now that the reason the system was so infuriated was because he had made it one step worse. Not only did the Progenitor me not seem to have an obvious ability to help Earth as a whole, but his Gluttony Seed took it for itself selfishly.


    If Ss had to guess, it was likely that he would never be able to use the Progenitor me to help out Earth anymore.


    [How does the Progenitor Mastery Progenitor me help a world?]


    [The appearance of Progenitor Mastery allows bouts of enlightenment to ur more frequently on a world. The stronger a Progenitor grows the mes, the more likely it is for geniuses of said world to create new Paths and new skills. When it reaches its pinnacle, it''s even possible to evolve to the point where individuals can create new Gene Skills as well]


    The understanding dawned on Ss. It seemed that he had taken something that would have eventually benefited the whole of Earth for himself.


    The system had given him a gift to help his people, but the Gluttony Seed swallowed it. Now, the power of the me would not only be much harder to improve, it would only benefit him and no one else.


    The system''s main purpose wasn''t the evolution of one person, but rather evolution on arge scale. Ss could understand why it was so mad...


    And it also gave him a deeper understanding of just what kind of monstrous thing was hanging around his neck.


    The Madness Key... it just might be more dangerous than this Summoning.


    Ss took a breath and pressed those feelings down. Then, making a decision, he directly upgraded Were-for-the-Invincible.


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 7]


    [Experience: 0/6400]


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv7]


    -


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <15 seconds> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <16 minutes>]


    After he spent 6400 of his remaining 10,000 Free Experience on upgrading One Kind For Me to Lv8. So he still had 3600 remaining, 3200 of which he just used on Were-for-the-Invincible.


    The improvement of the Fusion time from eight minutes to double that would be huge. He had a feeling that the other foot was going to drop soon.


    No sooner did he have this thought did he turn toward the portal. A runner came out from it and quickly gave him the information he had been waiting for.


    Ss stood in silence for a long while, deducing many things in quick session. ''Both the Basilisk King and Morgan are on the frontlines? Could you make it more obvious?''


    Ss could see through it in an instant. They were clearly specting that the Basilisk King was his. He had already known that this would be a possibility after he brought out the Arctic


    Emperor Cobra.


    However, while they were scheming, did they think that Ss was just sitting on his hands?


    Much of his life, Ss held back, falling into line with society and not rocking the boat too much. Much of life was boring to him, so he had everything on cruise control.


    But since this world wanted to unleash the real him... he would show them what it meant to stand opposing Ss Grimde.

 Chapter 489: Too Late [Bonus]

    Chapter 489: Too Late [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss casually walked out of the portal, still shirtless and without the slightest hint of shoes. A smooth, soft seal-skin skirt covered his lower half, and he found it to be quitefortable and freeing in battle. He understood why this was the Clypsians'' dress of choice.


    Standing in the howling cold winds, he didn''t seem to feel the chill in the slightest.


    Instead, his gaze locked onto General Song in the distance.


    The General didn''t seem to have Morgan under lock and key. In fact, Morgan wasn''t even standing all that close to him. The only change was that his security detail were now six instead of just one, and he stood nearer to the back of the army.


    Byparison, the Basilisk King was in a cage not far from General Song, surrounded by an even fiercer security detail.


    Ss took a breath and for a moment, the air around him seemed to solidify.


    [Da Cummings (FFF+)]


    [Level: 25]


    -


    [Physical: 702]


    [Mental: 757]


    [Will: 581]


    -


    [Ryan Throne (FFF)]


    [Level: 26]


    [Physical: 688]


    [Mental: 761]


    [Will: 497]


    [Paul Hasan (FFF)]


    [Level: 26]


    -


    [Physical: 701]


    [Mental: 743]


    [Will: 533]


    His gaze slowly shifted and itnded on the powerhouses around General Song. Many might be shocked to find that Da was among them, having swapped her clipboard for a sword so thin it disappeared in certain lights.


    By her, there were two others of concern... a man who had the antlers of a beast extending from the top of his head, and another man who held a bow lightly in his hand, an arrow nocked and pointed to the ground in his grasp.


    Ryan Throne was the archer... Paul Hasan was the man with antlers. Together, they seemed to be quite the fierce lineup. And then...


    [General Song (???)]


    [Level: ???]


    It seemed that General Song had quite some protections on him. But whether Ss was right about him relying on a treasure, or if he was truly so powerful...


    It didn''t matter.


    This time, Ss was prepared.


    Be Strong.


    ''That sneak attacker is not here.''


    Ss concluded this without the slightest hesitation. Although his visualization couldn''t see through Grin''s invisibility, he was confident in this conclusion nheless.


    He took a step forward, his aura ring.


    "All you two need to do is protect this line," Ss said calmly, speaking to the two Generals.


    Before they could react, Ss was like a streak through the air.


    The edge of the Great Celestial Wall shuddered and all at once, a green glow covered Ss'' body and he cleared over 20 meters in a single bound before he even began descending to the ground.


    <Chilled Rise> activated and he stepped on the air.


    All of a sudden, Ss, who looked like he had run out of momentum, lurched forward by another degree, crossing another 20 meters in what felt like the blink of an eye.


    He soared over 10 meters in the air.


    General Song''s pupils constricted. Last time he saw Ss, he did not have this ability.


    "Archers!"


    Ss might be flying through the air, but he clearly didn''t have the ability to move as freely on the ground as he did in the air. Plus, he made it convenient for them...


    After all, so long as he was in the air, their other men would be safe from their attacks.


    Ryan slowly raised his bow, but Ss'' expression didn''t change in the slightest as though he had already expected all of this.


    At that moment, a dozen ballista bolts appeared around him, whizzing through the air even faster than he was.


    The instant the arrows were released, Ss likewise loosed the final rain of ballista bolts he


    had.


    Each one moved with absolute perfection through the air, colliding tip to tip with the oing arrows. Although they were weak treasures and thus obliterated in a single instant, Ss seemed to have already expected this.


    His telekinesis red out and the now weakened volley of arrows were deflected through the air one by one, falling in a lethal rain toward the soldiers below.


    By this point, Ss had crossed yet another 20 meters, putting him not even 50 away from General Song and his position.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    SHUUUUU!


    A harsh whistling filled the air as Ryan finally unleashed his own arrow. It was so fast that it appeared before Ss in an instant. There simply was no dodging, and his telekinesis wasn''t strong enough to deflect such an arrow. And yet...


    A path of ice appeared beneath Ss'' feet.


    In the middle of the air, he did the one thing General Song thought he couldn''t...


    He changed direction.


    <Chilled Rise> was dismissed the moment <Surfing Frost> appeared. However, Ss'' Speed


    only elerated.


    His body control was immacte as he rode the curved road of ice.


    Ryan''s arrow whizzed by his ear, but it was as though he hadn''t noticed it in the slightest, his


    mind focused on only one thing.


    Kill.


    General Song realized a bit toote that he had still underestimated Ss. But by then, he was just 20 meters away, his curved road of ice elerating him downward. His telekinesis, his movement skill, and gravity itself all worked in tandem, and soon it felt like his Speed was


    approaching 2000 stat points.


    It was already toote.


    What they didn''t know was that the moment Ss was within 100 meters of him, they were


    already in his grips.


    However, now... their situation was only worse.


    An arm of telekinesis manifested as an extension of Ss'' arm. Hisprehension of <Madness Control> had also enlightened him to many other things.


    For example...


    His telekinesis didn''t always need to be a separate part of him.


    At that moment, a chain manifested and the erged green arm mped down on it.


    Ryan''s pupils constricted, but the distance had already been cut to just five meters. He hurried to raise his bow to attack, and Paul by his side seemed to want to activate a defensive skill.


    But that was when <Stunning Spike> pierced right between thetter''s brows and Ss swung


    the chain down.


    His Gluttony Seed red and the stone descended from above. His Speed, his telekinesis, and


    his own arm''s power came together as one.


    BOOM!


    Ryan was smashed into a meat paste on the ground just as Ss made it to the end of his path


    of ice.


    BANG!


    Ssnded heavily on the ground, a chain rattling from his arm formed of green aura.


    In what felt like a blink of an eye, he had crossed through an entire army as though they weren''t even there.

 Chapter 490: Destination [Bonus]

    Chapter 490: Destination [Bonus]


    ?


    The silence was brief, but it felt as though it hadsted a lifetime.


    The truth of the matter was that even now, no one used a weapon that was so heavy. Even the strongest warriors with Strength-based sses would only use weapons upwards of a


    hundred pounds at most.


    General Aleen had had armor on that weighed at least that much overall. But, first, that was one reason why weapons weren''t so heavy. Most Strength-based warriors would have to factor in the weight of their armors into that total. And two, General Aleen was still a somewhat special case because he was used to battling with a Combat Mount that would mitigate the loss of Speed.


    This was all to say that someone swinging out a 220-pound weapon, a weight total that didn''t even include the heavy, long chain on the end, was something that they had simply never seen before.


    This was the advantage of telekinesis. There were many who could swing such a heavy weapon if all they had to do was stand still.


    But there were none who could do it with such deft control, speed, and dexterity.


    There was only one.


    With a rattle, the heavy chain and stone vanished into thin air.


    Everything happened too quickly. Ss had only justnded on the ground when the stone vanished and he elerated forward.


    Da reacted first, but it was Paul who shook himself free of <Stunning Spike> and blocked ahead. Fur burst from his body, and he seemed to grow an extra foot as he activated a ss Skill.


    With a roar, he unhooked a hammer from his back and mmed a tower shield to block Ss'' path forward. At the same time, his hammer swung down from the side at an odd angle that made it look as though his arm would m against his own shield.


    Da took a step, and her slender sword slithered through a gap. Silent and deadly, Paul seemed to be thunder while she was lightning.


    Both of them had fury between their brows. Maybe their rtionship with Ryan wasn''t bad.


    Just as it seemed like the situation was set, General Song opened his mouth and let out a resonant hum that sounded almost like an ancient hymn.


    Ss could feel the Will flourishing through the air and pouring into Da and Paul''s bodies. ''A Support ss...''


    Ss'' mind worked in overdrive. It was a bit of a surprise that the General had taken such a path, but not enough to take himpletely off guard.


    Only he knew what his true ns were right this moment.


    His fist rebounded against Paul''s shield, and he used the momentum to dodge out of the way of his swinging hammer.


    However, Paul''s hammer came to a sudden stop just before his arm hit his shield. Ss was almost 100% certain that he had used a skill akin to <Momentum Shift>, but knowing that didn''t help the fact that Paul was already prepping a second attack while Da''s sword elerated beneath General Song''s blessing.


    Ss was forced to twist out of the way, <Surfing Frost> canceling as <Chilled Rise> activated once more. This time, he wasn''t trying to soar through the air, but he felt as light as a feather. He became quicker on his feet.


    Da''s de just barely managed to cut across the thin surface of his skin, but not far enough to draw anything more than a few droplets of blood.


    Ss made a move to continue his spin to turn back to counterattack, but he could already see Da retreating in his visualization at the same time Paul''s hammer descended once again.


    General Song''s hymn echoed, and Ss felt something reverberate against his mind as though two loud bells had suddenly rung right next to both of his ears.


    The disorientation took him off guard, and by the time <Master Counter> activated to clear his mind, Paul''s hammer was inches away.


    BANG!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss barely had the time to block with his forearm and elbow against his torso as he felt his body curve forcefully to the side beneath the shocking weight of the strike.


    He coughed out a mouthful of blood, and his Aether skin cracked and shattered.


    Da followed up swiftly, and though he managed to dodge fatal damage, there was a piercing pain in his shoulder. Without his Aether skin, the sharpness of her de slipped in almost too easily.


    A great wave of danger rebounded against Ss'' mind. He hurried to retreat, moving back faster than Da could pierce forward, but the tip of the de still remained in his flesh just enough as the Skill activated.


    BANG!


    An explosion of Aether rippled as Ss'' shoulder seemed tobust from the inside out. Blood and flesh flew in all directions as an enormous chunk seemed to be taken out of his delt.


    Ss was sent flying backward.


    The situation only seemed to be getting worse. The teamwork of the three was on another level, and the surrounding army hadn''t vanished. The exchange between them was quick and sudden, so the army had yet to properly react. But after several seconds had passed, how could they not?


    Now, Ss was flying backward, heavily injured, all while facing off against an iing wave of thousands.


    He lookedpletely screwed.


    But for some reason, General Song couldn''t help but frown. Then his eyes widened as Ss mmed into something.


    BANG!


    The bars of the cage dug into Ss'' back, practically threatening to split him in two...


    But this was exactly where he wanted to be.


    Ryan had been behind Da and Paul, near General Song. After all, he was the archer of the group. In order for those two to attack him, they had to turn around. Which meant that when


    they sent Ss flying backward...


    They sent him right to his destination.


    General Song opened his lips to roar, no doubt executing another disruptive technique.


    However, Ss sent out a pulse of telekinesis that buried it.


    What they didn''t expect, though, was that Ss didn''t even reach for the Basilisk King first. Instead, he brought out the nar Convergence Gate and activated itsst usage.

 Chapter 491: Waiting [Bonus]

    Chapter 491: Waiting [Bonus]


    ?


    This time, Ss nned to hold nothing back. He used up the third and final usage of nar Convergence Gate without the slightest hesitation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The instant he did, there was a new and sudden surge of Aether and the entire situation


    changed.


    General Song was inplete shock. Seeing the gate appear, he suddenly realized that from the very beginning, everything had been triggered by Ss.


    This gate and the one on the Great Celestial Wall were identical!


    The tide of beasts split in two, and suddenly the perimeter that had protected General Song near the back of the army waspromised as arge number of beasts began to divert their attention to this Gate instead.


    However, Ss had already reached out another green hand formed of his Will into the cage and touched the Basilisk King.


    The two master and beast didn''t exchange a word, but Ss wasn''t blind. He could see the injuries on his body. It was just that Ss didn''t have it in him to have the usual sentimental response... not for a beast, at least.


    That said, he could recognize those de marks, and even if he had no sentimental, emotional attachment to the Basilisk King... what he did feel was that the Basilisk King was one of his keys to be strong enough in the future to break Earth free of its predicament... to be strong enough to truly control his own life.


    Anyone who threatened him in this way had to die.


    Ss took a leap backward after the Basilisk King vanished and entered the portal. From start to finish, he didn''t look at Morgan more than once.


    "After him!" General Song roared furiously. He realized that Ss wasn''t trying to target him at all, he just wanted to get his beast and escape.


    They had made the wrong y. It seemed that Ss only cared about the beast and didn''t care about Morgan. It was even likely that Morgan had been tricked just like the rest of them had been. After all, Morgan''s exnation was perfectly sound.


    ...


    Ss appeared in a familiar Evergreen forest. He looked toward one direction and found the System City in the not-too-far-off distance. It was all well in his calction.


    His gaze shed as Da, Paul, General Song, and a surge of other Celestial Republic soldiers were sent flying into the forest as well. Without hesitation, he turned and ran.


    The location of the gate wasn''t ideal, and he had been flung away from the city. If he tried to run toward the city now for support, he would end up surrounded by therge number of men and women that were nowing after him.


    Seemingly without a choice, Ss pulled out his Blue Cyclone Horse. Blood fell from his shoulder in waves and his Speed seemed to have hit rock bottom.


    A chase began through the forest and Ss only seemed to be growing weaker.


    However, all of a sudden, he came to a stop.


    The horse beneath him vanished and hended on the ground. He stared out into seemingly nk space before his head snapped in a certain direction.


    This was exactly what he was waiting for.


    WHOOSH!


    A surging aura came from Ss as he popped the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s transmutated pill into his mouth. The moment his healing reached a certain threshold, his Fusion with the Bone-Tailed Lizardpleted in an instant.


    His spine rippled and formed a twin, parallel line of bone spurs, his skin became covered in a muddy green array of scales, and a heavy bone tail extended from his back.


    He activated the Bone Coil Gene Talent at the same time and his Constitution more than doubled in a brief instant. At that moment, he had a Constitution of over 1500, not even including the over 400 Defense of his Aether skin.


    He reached out and grabbed at the air.


    An invisible dagger was caught in his palm and the sound of shing metal reverberated around the world.


    Before Grin could react, Ss'' fist was even faster. A green glow enveloped his arm and he unleashed his strongest


    .


    His tendons threatened to shear off the bone, but his bones themselves were practically like steel, their density so great that his fist tore right through Grin''s guts.


    The feeling of intestines shifting and a spine breaking echoed through his body.


    Grin shuddered and he keeled over, coughing out a mouthful of blood so dark it almost looked ck. His eyes were wide. Never did he expect something like this to happen.


    He didn''t realize until thest moment that Ss had done all of this just for the sake of making sure he was dead. He even intentionally set up the Gate in the wrong location, knowing it would expel him further from the city, because he knew that Grin would still be trapped outside of it.


    Someone who knew his trump cards would find it obvious. He hadn''t fused with his contract, he didn''t use <Cyrobane Elevation>, he didn''t even use <Madness Control> or summon Nosphaleen who would have been a huge additional help...


    In what world could he possibly have been going all out?


    And it was purely to set up this situation right here.


    With a hand firmly grasped onto Grin''s spine, Ss ripped and contorted his torso to dodge an arrow beforeunching him.


    Grin''s body shuddered once before it erupted into a rain of ash that fell from the skies above, obscuring the vision of many as the now dead man''s dagger pierced itself into a nearby tree.


    Ss'' expression was as cool as ice as he took a step forward, entering the storm of ash. All one could see in the darkness was a pair of eerily glowing green eyes.


    Then, with another step, he elerated.


    <Cyrobane Elevation>.


    <Madness Control>.


    The 70% boost to his Speed and Dexterity became 84%, causing the two to almost hit 960 in a


    sh.


    What was left in Ss'' wake wasplete and utter carnage.


    Every time his tail shed, a head exploded. Every time his fist collided with flesh, bone shattered. Every elbow, every kick, every knee.


    He turned the battlefield into a dance floor caked with blood, the rhythm of his steps bringing


    death.

 Chapter 492 Vice

    ?Chapter 492 Vice


    Ss''s breathing was slow and steady. Celestial Republic soldiers were running from him in droves, and he couldn''t be bothered to go after them at all.


    It only made sense that they were scared shitless. After all, their General''s unconscious body was now dripping blood from his hand. However, Ss hadn''t killed him just yet.


    Da, Paul, and General Song stood not a single chance when Ss started to go all out. Their battle hardlysted for more than a half minute.


    Ss looked toward where Grin''s de was and reached out a hand. A green aura surged forward, a long arm extending from his palm, wrapping around it, ripping it out of the tree, and sending it into the Madness Key.


    IIe didn''t take a look at it for now because there was something more important to do.


    Ss returned to the Celestial Republic, feeling the snow falling on his body.


    By now, the guards around Morgan had already realized that something was wrong with so many soldiers running away, and they were about to make a move to escort Morgan back when Ss appeared.


    "Make it easy on yourself and just let me go, Morgan spoke for the first time.


    He realized the instant Ss returned that things had gone about how he expected. Ss wasn''t a fool, so he had a hard time imagining that he would jump into such danger only to get pummeled in the end. And he knew Ss'' view of the world, so there was no way he would risk his life just to save a beast unless he was sure he could seed.


    By now, it was obvious why Ss had yet to kill General Song.


    Without the Quicktime Event, he couldn''t leave the System City as he was still its City Lord. So if he wanted to get Morgan out, it was best he wait before killing General Song.


    Plus... getting Morgan back would be even more convenient with him as a hostage.


    In the end, he was correct. But unfortunately for the men protecting Morgan, the instant Ss vanished into the first nar Convergence Gate with Morgan and returned to the city was the same instant the Spinecoil Poison made all of General Song''s bones as soft as wet paper.


    Ss took a breath as he received the notification of his sess. For another person, the tension might have left their body, and they might have even felt relieved. But... Ss didn''t feel that way. He was almost... disappointed.


    Ss shook his head. He still had things to do.


    It wasn''t long before he had escorted Morgan to the City Lord mansion and faced the man directly.


    "You''re more important than I thought you were. Why is that?" Ss asked.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Morgan''s answer was almost shockingly straightforward.


    "I have a Silver Grade Profession of two Paths they often mistake for a Gold Grade one. It is called Vice Instructor. The first Path is called Language Vice, and the second Path is called Lecturers Vice.


    "The abilities can get veryplicated, but the gist of it is that Language Vice allows me to read and understand allnguages. Lecturers Vice allows me to pass on that information to others and briefly,


    or permanently in some cases, allow them to understand it"


    "Vice?" Ss asked.


    Originally, he thought the name of the Profession being Vice Instructor was a nod to something like a Vice Principal, meaning there was a higher level of this Profession.


    But the way Vice was used in the Paths made him think that it might be referring to somethingpletely different, maybe even something evil.


    "Yes. This is what I mean where the abilities getplicated because there is something very... sinister about this Profession if used in the right ways. As much as I can give, I can also take.


    "In the context of Language Vice, I can erase the history of a civilization''s remains and even rewrite it. In terms of Lecturers Vice, I can strip away a person''s understanding of anguage.


    Ss fell into silence, looking deeply into Morgan''s eyes.


    For a normal person, it might be easy to dismiss such a thing. What was the worth of changing ancient history? Sure, there might be some contexts where that could cause people of the present to make the wrong assumptions, but that was nothing that a normal person couldn''t do to varying levels of sess. Maybe at best, what would differentiate Morgan was the fact that he could make the fakes convincing even under great scrutiny.


    As for Lecturers Vice, it was far more sinister. It might be horrible if you really lost the ability to understandnguage, but... it wasn''t like it would kill you... right?


    However, Ss wasn''t a normal person. He was well on his way to being a Rune Master. In fact, if the outside world knew of his advancement to Rune Soul, especially the speed at which he did it, there wouldn''t be enough words in the world to describe their shock.


    Ifnguage in this context meant what he thought it meant, then sure... maybe in the simplest applications, Morgan could cause an army to forget how tomunicate and thus ruin their organization. But in the most sinister applications, couldn''t he make a person forget how to use their Skills? Their Gene Talents? Even their Genes themselves?


    And what if this rewriting of history Language Vice represented could allow him to actually influence something in the past?


    Ss felt that that was likely too exaggerated, especially for a mere Silver Grade Profession, even if it did have two Paths. If a Silver Profession could rewrite timelines, then shouldn''t he be a God already? But maybe there was something that he was missing here that might be able to exin it all.


    "Alright. For now, stay here. When the timees, I will take you back to Casstle Main!


    After saying this, Ss left, but he suddenly had a feeling that Morgan could help him with something that had been bothering him.


    Just maybe... Morgan could exin the anomaly that was Archibald to him. The engineer who seemed to havee from a very distant past...

 Chapter 493 Curved Blood Blade

    ?Chapter 493: Curved Blood de


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Future of Orciulius City - Completed]


    [Contribution Leaderboard]


    [Ss Grimde - 47,472,723 Hero Points]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Lv30 ess Ticket Received]


    ''Oh?''


    Ss was surprised. He had been expecting the same screen he received thest time he cleared a Quicktime Event, but this one was clearly different.


    Before he got a whole list of things like...


    [Bronze Contribution Reward Received] [Top Contributor Reward Received] [Perfect Clearance Reward Received] [Against All Odds Reward Received] [Merit Reward Received]


    But now there was just one row. An ''ess Ticket!" He wasn''t quite sure what it was, but it sounded simr to a Nexus.


    After a question to the Madness Key, he confirmed that this was true. It seemed to be a very special system store separate from the Nexus and only essible through means like this. But it was also capped by Level and usually also by the world it was received in.


    The main difference between the ess Store and a Nexus was that the Nexus was the trade hub of a single world. Those with the appropriate Professions or Temtes could put things up for sale in a Nexus, and it was shared by the world.


    Of course, much of what was in the Nexus was provided initially by the system, but this was only based on things that would and could spawn on Earth itself.


    Byparison, the ess Store was universal. Technically speaking, there was nothing that couldn''t be bought from it. Of course, within the limits of its Level ess.


    However, this also made Ss frown.


    If he entered this ess Store, he would once again be subject to Earth''s time lock situation.


    By now, he was fairly sure that about a day or so was the equivalent of three months. He had spent a day and a bit in the Sylph Dungeon, so it had ended up being around four months.


    Even if he was fast and only used up an hour, that would still be almost four days. The biggest issue was that the ess Store would make the size of the Nexus seem like aplete and utter joke.


    Back when Ss got a Bronze Nexus Ticket, the time limit had almost cost him, and that was despite knowing pretty much exactly what he wanted.


    If he entered this ess Store, he would be like a headless chicken. He would be overwhelmed by sensory information from all sorts of worlds, and without enough time to analyze it all, he would end up wasting this awardpletely.


    The currency of the ess Store was based on the Event or Quest that allowed you to enter. He wasn''t sure if 47 million was a lot or a little in this context, but it felt like a lot. If he wanted to spend it all properly and make the right decisions, he had to give himself at least several hours, even if he came in with a n of action.


    Ss'' frown deepened. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he couldn''t actually use his reward. It was frustrating.


    I have to find a moment where I can afford to vanish for at least a week or two before I can use it...! He shook his head, feeling disappointed. In this time, he would see if he could squeeze out more answers from the Madness Key about what he could expect on the other side. At this point, every second would matter.


    The more efficient he could be, the better.


    ''Now let''s check and see this... Maybe it can make up for my losses this time...''


    Ss brought out Grin''s de.


    Was he 100% sure that Grin was dead? No, he actually wasn''t. However, what he did know was that even if Grin had somehow managed to find a way to slip from him, he would no longer be a threat. And that was because this dagger was too much of a core part of his being.


    [Curved Blood de (Legacy Treasure)]


    There was no Grade at all. However...


    [Unusable]


    That was the only description as well.


    No Grade, and a description that told him he was out of luck. But when Ss first saw this, he had a feeling that a certain something would likely have something to say about it.


    And as expected, the Madness Key red up when the Curved Blood de appeared.


    [Would you like to steal the Curved Blood de Destiny?]


    Seeing the question, Ss shook his head. Why did the Madness Key ask for his input sometimes, and at others, do whatever the hell it wanted?


    He was especially curious about what this thing was, and he was feeling a bit disappointed that he could ept his ess Ticket reward immediately, so he was already leaning toward saying yes. But his impulsiveness from earlier had shaken him awake. He had to do things the right way. So, he


    chose to ask the Madness Key about the de to see if it might know anything about it


    However, to Ss'' astonishment...


    ???


    ''A Taboo?''


    His gaze shed as he looked at the de hovering before him again.


    Ss stared at the de for a good, long while. A Legacy Treasure, a Treasure type he had never even run into before as far as he was aware... and a Taboo...


    ''Absorb it.


    In the end, Ss chose to take the risk. He knew that he was going to have to take a lot of these. If he wasn''t willing to put his life on the line every day, he would never get to where he needed to go.


    The Madness Key obliged, but the reaction was much more fierce than he thought it would be. The runes of the Madness Key began to glow with a fiendish sort of crimson as though it was trying to suppress something.


    The blinding shes forced Ss to squint, but even with his eyelids basically all the way closed, there was still a piercing pain in his retinas.


    At that moment, even with his eyes closed, he saw the vision of a crimson pupil splitting the skies.

 Chapter 494 Get Out!

    ?Chapter 494 Get Out!


    Ss felt absolutely frozen in time. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t move a single muscle. It was like control over his body had been ripped away from him, stripped down and ced under the control of another.


    Staring into the depths of the eye made him feel like he was looking into the birth of the universe. But not in a spring of life, blooming potential sort of way... it felt like he was instead staring into the depths of cruelty the world was capable of, the kind of cruelty that made a mother bird abandon their chick, or a lion pack leader cat the cubs of another lion.


    It was the gritty sort of hidden underbelly soaked with blood that was all around them in the world, and right now all of that hidden darkness, animosity, and rage was aimed right for Ss.


    At that moment, Ss felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He had felt this emotion before; it was the kind of thing he had experienced when the Gluttony Seed was formed. However, back then, he didn''t have nearly enough control or understanding of his body to know exactly what was happening. But now, he could feel the formation.


    It was buried deep within theyers of his body, deeper than where his Gene Talents resided, deeper than even where his Rune Soulprehension resided.


    However, he also felt that there was something off about the formation of this new Seed.


    It was sinister in a way the Gluttony Seed wasn''t. Though the Gluttony Seed was hard to manage and often caused him problems, it was more like a problem child or a naughty puppy. But this new Seed was evil, truly evil, carrying an edge to it that made Ss'' eyes slowly turn red.


    No one could see them with his eyelids forcefully closed, at least not until the crimson turned so bright that the beams began to emit from within them as well.


    The difort in the depths of Ss'' body grew greater and greater as he was overwhelmed by the creation of this new Seed. In fact, it even looked as though it might try to swallow his Gluttony Seed whole.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Veins of ck pulsed across his body, and they were especially dense out of the corner of his eyes. They bulged and grew, wiggling about like live snakes as his blood pressure shot through the roof. Ss began to struggle, but no matter what he did, it felt like things were out of his hands.


    Ie had known that this was a risk when he epted it, but this was still spiraling much too far out of control. However, what he liked the least was the attack on his mind.


    It was growing, and it almost felt as though the thoughts were forming worms in his brain that. forcefully entrenched themselves deeper and deeper.


    There was an insatiable evil to it. But most prominently, there was a Hunger...


    A Greed.


    Ss had never felt it so clearly before.


    He had always wondered why the Madness Key used words like Hunger, and yet it formed a Gluttony Seed and not a Greed Seed.


    The Title Gluttony Seed was one that he was intrinsically certain about. It was like the name was spoken into his mind and psyche, as though it didn''t want him to mistake it for anything else.


    In the right context, though, especially when the lines were blurred away from food, the Gluttony Seed could easily be mistaken for the Greed Seed.


    But right now, Ss was sure that the Seed forming in him was the Greed Seed. Andpared to the Gluttony Seed... it was like it had found a weakness of his to exploit.


    He didn''t align with Gluttony nearly as much as he aligned with Greed. But... that wasn''t the main problem.


    This wasn''t the reason the Seed felt so sinister.


    There was another problem, an additional hurdle, something foreign added into it that wasn''t natural to the original Seed. And this parasite looked for more, wanted more, didn''t know how to be satiated.


    Veins began to bulge along Ss'' jawline as he clenched his teeth. He pressed them together so hard that one might even be worried that he could crack one of them or all of them at any given moment. ''Get out of my head!


    Ss'' eyes started to slowly force themselves open. He circted <Madness Control> to the best of his abilities, but the Aether moved impossibly slowly.


    He started to take control of Extricate, using it to move the energy in his Genes along and force the new Gene Skill to activate how he wanted it to move.


    He was focusing his entire being on opening his eyelids as though that would fix something, but he had already deduced deep down that this wasn''t the issue. At most, it was a distraction that stopped his mind from being taken over.


    Ss let out a roar as his eyelids snapped open, the tension causing blood to leak from his eyes and the bulging veins across their corners to pop in a rain of ck and red.


    Twin beams of light shot out from his eyes, piercing toward nowhere. But what Ss didn''t know was that this one action of his would only bring him a great deal of trouble in the future.


    The sinister aura leaked into the surroundings, and as expected, the assault on Ss'' mind didn''t stop. But the opening of his eyes did allow the Gluttony Seed to awaken from a slumber it seemed to have entered. Although it didn''t fight back against the Greed Seed, it protected itself, bing imprable.


    Ultimately, the Gluttony Seed had already had some advancement while the Greed Seed was fresh and new. It was incapable of doing anything to the Gluttony Seed.


    Ss grasped onto the opportunity and a mighty Will exploded forth from him.


    "Get out of my head!"


    His roar shook the very City Lord mansion itself.

 Chapter 495: Gene-Stat Limit

    Chapter 495: Gene-Stat Limit


    ?


    An odd energy circted through Ss'' mind and shed against an invisible barrier. His brain felt like a mushy mess, and he had no doubt that the ringing and rebounding energy in his skull was going to cause a concussion.


    However, what he didn''t expect was that served with his concussion would be an opportunity.


    If Ss hadn''t had the Dual ss Constitution, his mind wouldn''t have nearly the sticity it needed to break past this barrier. However, after forming the Dual ss Constitution, he was already close to breaking free of this barrier.


    And now that there was a sudden force against it...


    His Will broke through the 999 mark and entered the quadruple digits.


    But not only did it do this, it kept surging upward, moving faster and faster until...


    [Your Will has reached 1999]


    [Gene-Stat Limit Reached. Absorb a Silver Will Gene to increase your Will further]


    Ss hardly had time to view this message before he fell to a knee. His head felt like it was ringing, and he was forced to gasp for breath. He had been so focused on breaking free that he had practically shut down all the other functions of his body. Even the attention he had for breathing waspletely disregarded.


    White noise yed in his ears and blood leaked down his nose.


    Even as he slowly regained control over himself, he felt disjointed and unorganized, not just in his thoughts, but also...


    Ss tried using his telekinesis only to find that it waspletely unbnced.


    Telekinesis was formed of abination of Will and Charisma. But what Ss never considered was what would happen if one stat was far greater than the other.


    ''A bottleneck...''


    Even without Madness, with 1999 Will, he should be able to exhibit 285 points of Physical with his telekinesis. With Madness, his telekinesis should be at 1050 points of Physical. But right now it felt like there was only a marginal increase to his telekinesis'' Strength, almost as though his Will hadn''t improved at all.


    Ss forced himself to stand, his legs feeling a bit shaky beneath him as though he was standing on a boat.


    His concussion was bad, and he was finding it difficult even to think properly.


    He dragged himself to the more secure room in the entire city, shut the doors, activated the formations, and then directly passed out.


    Right now... he needed sleep.


    **


    In a distant, unknown location, there was a sea of red. It didn''t feel like a sinister red and almost felt clear, almost as though this location had differentws that allowed water to radiate something other than its usual blue hues.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The sea sparkled, reflecting like rubies, but when a wave kicked up, one would realize two things...


    First, that it was far more viscous than it seemed like it should be, and second...


    That the smell of blood and rotten flesh was in the air.


    The moment the red waters moved, it was as though the thin film of protection holding the odor back was disrupted, assaulting one''s nose until it burned.


    And yet, deep within these foul waters, a man that looked more skeleton than not opened his eyes.


    ''My Seed... it''s only half taken root? Where...?''


    The man tried to grasp a location only to find that he couldn''t.


    ''A scheme? It''s possible. Plenty of powers might want to take advantage of my hard work, and it seems they''ve found a good seedling to do so... Time will tell...''


    The man fell back into silence. However, around his neck, a familiar item swayed in the thick waters.


    Madness Key.


    **


    Ss woke up slower than he was used to. He still didn''t feel like he was in the best of conditions, but he certainly didn''t feel terrible either.


    He blinked several times, pushing himself up.


    ''My heart rate... it''s too fast...''


    Even before the Summoning, Ss'' resting heart rate was excellent, nearing that of top athletes. It had been just shy of the 40s, remaining firmly in the low 50s.


    After the Summoning, his heart rate only got better, though only marginally so. While his heart was getting healthier, the demands his body had of it were likewise higher. So, his heart rate had only just dipped into the high 40s.


    For context, on average, a normal human before the Summoning was probably around 60 to 100 beats a minute, and the average was about the same now, though with a slight tick down with everyone being more active.


    But thereiny the problem. Right now, Ss'' heart rate was double what it should be at over 90, and that was despite the fact he had only just gotten up. He didn''t believe he had a bad dream either; he hadn''t woken up in a cold sweat. So why was his heart beating so fast?


    Ss didn''t have an urate measurement, but he also didn''t need one. Double the speed was so obvious there might as well be a signboard in front of him.


    He felt calm; his body didn''t feel tired, so that could only mean that...


    ''The Seed...''


    There was an unknown pressure on his body now, one that was making him subconsciously have to work a lot harder.


    He couldn''t help but wonder what he had gotten himself into. He didn''t even truly understand the Gluttony Seed, and the Madness Key certainly wasn''t going to answer his questions about this Taboo. Now he had a second, and it seemed to be tainted in a way he didn''t understand.


    Ss knew that he couldn''t just leave it in his body and ignore it. If it was going to be a ticking time bomb, he might as well set it off now while he was well-rested.


    So, it didn''t take more than a moment for him to pull on the Greed Seed with his intention, trying to get an understanding of it.


    The Gluttony Seed could increase the weight limit of his telekinesis. Could the Greed Seed do the same?


    The moment Ss tried, there was an attack on his mind. Though much milder than the past, and something he could easily shrug off, it still made him frown.


    At the same time, the Greed Seedbined with his telekinesis to form a strong suction


    force.


    ''Hm?''


    It felt like the Greed Seed wanted to swallow something... but what was it looking for? That was when Ss'' gaze flickered with a realization.

 Chapter 496: Merits

    Chapter 496: Merits


    ?


    Before, while Ss was fighting Grin, he had felt that something was off. The Arctic Emperor Cobra had died too easily, and he could feel something particrly sinistering from the dagger.


    However, he had also felt that it was odd that the dagger didn''t do the same thing to him when it pierced into his neck. Back then, he had dismissed it, thinking that it was because Grin hadn''t used the Skill on him in order to maximize his stealth.


    But when Ss swallowed the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Transmutated Pill, he felt that it wascking something he couldn''t put his finger on. The healing effects weren''t nearly as strong as they should have been, as though it was also missing something.


    Then he thought about Wills and how both Seeds seemed to require his telekinesis to activate...


    Finally, he came to a guess.


    ''This Seed is forcefully stealing something like vitality from those it attacks; that should be what it''s trying to suction in. I''m not sure exactly what it is, but it''s likely Will-rted, or hidden within the sameyer my Rune Soul resides in...


    ''When I fought Grin the second time, he was much weaker than I remember, and I don''t think that''s just because of injuries. He should have used a sacrifice-type Skill in order to escape that likely came at a heavy cost. If not for the fact it looked like I was on myst legs, he wouldn''t have taken the risk to attack.


    ''But I also noticed that his dagger was feeding him something that was helping him restore himself as well...''


    Ss put two and two together and came to a realization. The Gluttony Seed could enhance the power of his telekinesis, and it seemed that the Greed Seed could use his telekinesis to rip something quite important away from people.


    As for exactly what that was, Ss still wasn''t sure. But he found it ironic that Greed was doing the devouring here, while Gluttony... well, it was hard to say if it was in line with its name at all.


    It made Ss feel that he was still underestimating Gluttony greatly. What about it was he missing?


    Ss stood to his feet. Because he had slept, there were barely three hours now until the three-day grace period was over, and many of his ns had been ruined.


    It was impossible for him to take out two more System Cities and Ragnar''s city in that time.


    However, if he had to prioritize one, it would certainly have to be Ragnar''s city... if he could make it in time.


    But first, he had to cut himself free of this System City.


    ...


    Ss found himself standing in a familiar location. It was the ce where the City Stele of the System City was housed.


    The waters down below were just as calm as before, and there was a certain coolness in the air that made one feel somehow bothfortable and hesitant. It was almost like it was trying to trick you into a false sense of security.


    [City Conquered]


    [Do you want to disce city?]


    [Yes][No]


    [Yes]


    [Yes Selected]


    [You are a City Lord. Do you want to keep this City Stele? Or would you like to sacrifice it for <???> Free Experience?]


    Ss paused. Something about this felt... off.


    It was like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, but he didn''t see the endless plunge waiting for him as his foot hovered above the ck abyss.


    [What happens if you use a System City for Free Experience?]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [You will earn a Demerit.]


    Ss fell into a calm silence once again. It was as he expected; the System Cities truly weren''t simple.


    [What does it mean to earn a Demerit?]


    [Should you have Merits, you will lose one depending on the level of the offense. Should you have no Merits capable of offsetting your Demerits, you will lose them all and enter the negative. In such a situation, you will be Cursed by the System. You will be at a disadvantage during Quicktime Events, spontaneous Quests will be less likely to choose you, and Dungeons will have an uptick in danger.]


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    [What are the levels of Merits?]


    [From Lowest to Highest]


    >[Hollow Merits - ?: These are quasi merits, usually gained through the killing of soon-to- be threats to the safety of a world. These include Quasi King Beasts, Dungeons on the verge of Breaking, or misaligned Aether ne to World connections.]


    >[Merits - *: This is the first level of True Merit. This is given to those that deal with a True threat to a world. This includes outside interference, King Beasts, Broken Dungeons, so on


    and so forth...]


    >[Bronze Merit::...]


    >[Silver Merit: : ...]


    There was no exnation of Bronze and Silver Merits. Ss could tell that his Madness Key wanted far more Genes in order to give him a proper exnation.


    It was truly starting to get more Greedy.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder if this was rted to the Greed Seed or not... After all, the creation of his Gluttony Seed came from the Madness Key. With the creation of this new Seed, it wasn''t foolish to believe that there was some connection...


    [How many Merits do I lose for turning a System City Stele into Free Experience?]


    [A Hollow Demerit]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. This was definitely worth it. He was already ahead, and it was unlikely that Lauren would catch up to him any time soon. Although his lead looked small, how rare were these so-called Quasi King Beasts?


    Plus, he had a feeling that most True Merits would need to be gathered off Earth. Due to the time dtion involved, it would be a long time before anyone could gather a second. Maybe this was why Lauren hadn''t been heard of since she disappeared from Castle Main.


    But the real question was... why was this worth a Demerit?


    The obvious answer was that the System City was a safety valve for Earth. One conquered and


    distilled to Experience was one less they would have...


    But... Ss knew it had to be deeper than that.


    When he got the answer, his eyes narrowed.

 Chapter 497: Lv10 Talents

    Chapter 497: Lv10 Talents


    ?


    [Why are System Cities so important?]


    [System Cities are the nodes of a formation created by the system. Upon a sessful


    Summoning, these nodes activate and elevate a world to the next level. The stronger a System City, the smoother this process will be.]


    ''No wonder... However, since it''s only worth a Hollow Demerit, it should be a luxury, not a necessity...''


    This wasn''t all Ss was thinking. In fact, he felt like he was slowly starting to understand something.


    Earth had been messed with a lot. They were stuck in a time lock, their Runes were twisted and broken, making it difficult for them to build upon their past understanding of science, and many of their System Cities seemed to have been taken over by alien Races.


    Was that a coincidence?


    Were the alien Races really targeting System Cities just for misceneous purposes? Or had they been using these important Nodes to manipte Earth all along?


    And in that case... could it be that destroying these System Cities would instead release Earth from this Fate?


    To deal with a cancer, you had to cut it out.


    [How do youplete a Summoning without System Cities?]


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 10,000 Silver Genes or 1 Gold Gene]


    The price was shocking, but Ss hardly nced at it. He only cared about one thing and one thing only: the fact there was an answer at all.


    At that moment, Ss made a decision on behalf of all the people of Earth.


    The System City began to rumble, and Ss felt as though something had been stripped from him.


    [1,000,000 Free Experience Earned]


    The walls of the System City began to crumble. Everyone looked around in shock, not knowing what had happened.


    Soon after, the guards, Nobles, and military men all shook as though invisible chains had been lopped off their bodies.


    They looked around with slight confusion, and it felt like if their free will was just a single road ahead before, it was now countless paths.


    However, by the same token, their Levels all began to plummet, falling by 10 Levels each without fail.


    ...


    Ss didn''t seem to have anything to do with this as he observed the calm silvery-blue waters beneath him.


    Knowing now that it was unlikely to be dangerous, he reached down with a hand slowly. After his Luck didn''t warn him of anything, he scooped up a handful.


    [Aetherstille Essence (Silver) (Raw Resource)]


    [A valuable stabilizing agent.]


    The description was simple, and Ss had a feeling it was because his <Master Scouting> Skill was too low-level. But with the name, he was able to find a lot more from the Madness Key.


    It turned out this Aetherstille Essence was invaluable to alchemists, formation masters, and cksmiths alike.


    Its simplest use was elevating the quality of an item. Though this could only be done if you were skilled enough to use the Essence in the preparation method itself. Just pouring the liquid over a finished product would do nothing.


    However, what it could do was dilute Elixirs. Depending on the original quality of the Elixir, the Aetherstille Essence could dilute it while also keeping the same potency.


    Essentially, it could turn one Gene Elixir into three. It could make any one Elixir go further. There was a shocking amount of it here, but Ss had no method of taking it away. He had the Madness Key, but it wasn''t designed to take liquids in like his water jug was. But the water jug wasn''t a high enough Grade to stop the Aetherstille Essence from losing its efficacy over time.


    Ss also wasn''t an alchemist, and he didn''tck for Elixirs, so he had a hard time caring about this liquid much.


    He turned his attention to his Free Experience instead.


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 9]


    [Experience: 0/100,000]


    -


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv9]


    -


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Genes]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Gene Talents]


    Using 140,000 Experience in one go, he moved Taboo Bond right to Level 9.


    If it was just about the raw usage of Taboo Bond, he would stop here. After all, he had yet to evene across a Common Gene Talent, let alone a Gold one. It felt like a waste to pour


    more into it.


    However, the longer Ss had Extricate, the more he realized just how invaluable it was. The auxiliary understanding of his body it gave him was too great to put into words. Without Extricate, he would have never been able to create a Gene Skill of his own, or take Nosphaleen away, or help a potential Spinecoil Serpent to be born.


    So, without much hesitation, he used another 100,000 Experience on it.


    [Taboo Bond]


    [Level: 10]


    [Experience: 0/200,000]


    -


    [Path Talent: Extricate Lv10]


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Genes]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Gold> Gene Talents]


    [>Extricate <F-Rank Fragmented> Blood Essence]


    ''Blood Essence... So this is theyer beneath Gene Talents that I''ve been feeling...


    fascinating...''


    Ss felt around in his body with this new sixth sense of his, trying to understand what Blood


    Essence was on his own. He quickly found that it was inextricably tied to Constitution, the stat. But it was also tied to Race, and maybe even Race Grade and/or potential.


    He remembered digging into theyers of Nosphaleen''s body and realizing that this was where things became veryplicated.


    Luckily, Extricate helped tease apart those secrets for him a great deal.


    ''With how expensive Taboo Bond is, I definitely won''t hit the next threshold with the 760,400 Free Experience I have left. I''ll see what Were-for-the-Invincible and One Kind For Me have


    in store instead...''


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 9]


    [Experience: 0/51,200]


    -


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv9; Insight Lv9]


    -


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <90%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <25,600%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <900%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <180%>]


    -


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Observe Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 9]


    [Experience: 0/51,200]


    -


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv9]


    -


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats] [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <4 seconds> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <64 minutes>]


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 10]


    [Experience: 0/102,400]


    -


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv10; Insight Lv10]


    -


    [Beast Totem (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <100%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <51,200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <1,000%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <200%>]


    [>Beacon of <1> kilometer radius] (NEW!!)


    -


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Comprehend Gene Sequence of Contract] (NEW!!)


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 10] [Experience: 0/102,400]


    -


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv10]


    -


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <2 seconds> toplete] [>Fusionsts <128 minutes>]


    [>Semi-Fusion] (NEW!!)


    -


    As expected, there was an overhaul of the talents the moment they crossed the Level 10


    barrier, and several new additions were added to the Talents.


    It seemed that while Taboo Bond had a huge change every five Levels, Were-for-the-


    Invincible and One Kind For Me would have one every ten.


    And the new additions were excellent.


    626,000 Free Experience remaining.

 Chapter 498: What Right?

    Chapter 498: What Right?


    ?


    626,000 Free Experience remaining.


    Of his new abilities, Blood Essence Extrication was the most enigmatic, but the others were easy enough for him to understand.


    Beacon allowed him to call forth any Serpentes within a kilometer radius to his side. At its current level, it wouldn''t allow him to control them all perfectly like he would his Contracts, but they would still have a certain fondness for him and would be unwilling to attack him.


    Of course, it would take a very specific situation for him to benefit from such a thing, and it would also take time to activate. In its current state, the beasts would need to run to his location, so its use was limited and had to be prepared in advance.


    His Insight Path Talent also got a change. "See" Gene Sequence became Comprehend. Before, when he went through all that trouble of seeing the Basilisk King''s Gene Sequence, he had only been able to vaguely understand it. In fact, he couldn''t even stare at it directly but had to feed it through aputer instead.


    But now, it seemed that he wouldn''t need to go through so much trouble again.


    The most convenient change of them all, though, was Semi-Fusion, a change to his Fuse Path Talent.


    Now, he could amodate just one aspect of his beasts at a time, and that was supremely useful.


    For example, with Nosphaleen. He didn''t dare to fuse with her not because he wasn''t sure what would happen if he fused with a woman like that he didn''t really care so long as it made him stronger-but instead because of the cancer in her.


    But if he could just copy one of her skills or one of her Gene Talents, that was huge.


    A Gene Talent might still be iffy because the cancer was involved, but copying one of her Skills might be more than worth it.


    The best part about Semi-Fusion was that he could copy the skill to the grade of his Contract''s Mastery.


    The reason he only ever used <King''s Bind> or the Basilisk King''s other skills with the Stabilizing Bracelet was because it simply took too much time in the midst of battle, and the Basilisk King''s Mastery was still too low.


    Though that was something that Ss shouldn''t me on himself more than not. He wasn''t much of a Beast Master if he couldn''t help his beasts improve, and there was more to improvement than just leveling and stats. If there wasn''t, he wouldn''t be nearly as powerful as he was now.


    It was just a shame that Ss simply didn''t have such time. It felt like there was one problem after another that he had to face. In fact, right now he was rushing just so that he could get to Ragnar''s city before the system''s penalty let up.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had been so busytely that he hadn''t even had the chance to continue increasing his te of Comprehensions yet, let alone finding the time to help the Basilisk King.


    Ss used 600,000 of his remaining Free Experience to raise Taboo Bond to Level 12 and left the remaining 26,000 to the side.


    Satisfied, he was about to turn to leave when he stopped.


    Shaking his head, he pulled the Basilisk King out of the Hibernation Realm.


    ''I can''t continue to neglect it too much. The strength of the Basilisk King is directly corrted to its mental state. If for no other reason, I should at least check on it because of this.''


    By now, the Basilisk King was already fully healed. But contrary to the state Ss thought he would find it in, it stood tall, staring right into Ss'' eyes. Its gaze darted around for a moment as though it was looking for the enemy, only to be surprised that there was none. Seeing this, the Basilisk King didn''t let out a sigh of relief, but instead let out a hiss. It sounded almost sad, as though it was trying to guess what Ss wanted or had already thought the worst.


    Was Ss going to let it go?


    No... knowing this master of its, if there was a benefit to be taken, he would take it. Ss would be more likely to kill it and turn it into a pill than just let him go for nothing.


    Maybe that was what it deserved. It had been pathetically captured, and then it had to wait for Ss and Morgan to save it.


    A little weakling like Morgan was actually able to do what it couldn''t and protect its life. Otherwise, it might have already died at Grin''s hands.


    The Basilisk King lowered its head for a moment before raising it. It hissed again, but this time it was far more determined. If Ss was going to try and kill it, it wasn''t going to go down without a fight.


    It made itself taller, and soon its head was a meter over Ss''.


    Its Loyalty numbers flickered wildly as though it too didn''t know exactly what it wanted to do.


    Ss didn''t make a single movement, just observing in silence. But when he saw the Basilisk King take this posture, his gaze shed.


    This was the first time he felt that this beast... was more of a "he" than an "it." He could feel its series of emotions clearly, and in the end, Ss couldn''t help but have shbacks to those moments in theva world, trapped with nowhere to go, and believing that his life was going to end at any time.


    It was the most pathetic he had ever been, and it was a stain that left him feeling ufortable every time he thought of it.


    And for the first time, he identified with the Basilisk King. The only difference between the two of them was that his own path to growing stronger was in his hands, while that of the Basilisk King was in Ss''.


    One of them had a choice, and the other didn''t.


    What right did he have to look down on the Basilisk King?

 Chapter 499: Chaos

    Chapter 499: Chaos


    ?


    Ss found himself subconsciously reaching out a hand. The Basilisk King looked at him in confusion, not understanding what was going on.


    Honestly speaking, the Basilisk King''s heart was practically doing cartwheels. Its blood pressure had risen to the point itsrge body was trembling like a small hill.


    It had been ready to die just now, and it half expected a beam of light to calm out of Ss'' palm and crush him in an instant.


    But that beam didn''te.


    Ss felt a bit awkward having his hand up like this. It was the first time he had acted without quite thinking things through, which was rare for him.


    However, it wasn''t long before the Basilisk King bumped its head against his palm, its gaze flickering with a hint of embarrassment as well.


    When it understood what Ss was trying to do, it felt a bit awkward as well. It was a mighty Basilisk, a Serpentes of Legend... not a puppy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But it felt worse leaving its master in an awkward situation. Although it feared Ss, that fear was built on a foundation of respect.


    Ss almost found himself chuckling, something even rarer for him.


    "Never again?" he asked.


    The Basilisk King nodded repeatedly.


    "Deal. Let''s go."


    The Basilisk King vanished into the Hibernation Realm, and Ss stepped out to find the world in chaos.


    When he learned of what happened, his gaze flickered. He didn''t have the time to mind Morgan for now and left him in the City Lord mansion before bolting off.


    ...


    Ss crossed through the forest with a zing pace, his skin already covered in ck scales. Now that his Fusionsted 128 minutes, and his stats were so far beyond the Basilisk King''s, there was no need to be as conservative as he had been in the past.


    He had also noticed that his Dual ss Constitution made withstanding Fusion with stronger Contracts easier as well. But this wasn''t what was at the forefront of his mind for now.


    He had been correct. But maybe a little bit too correct.


    His deduction that the System Cities were like the nodes that triggered all the worst changes on Earth was true. What he had underestimated, though, was how much the loss of one could affect the overall situation.


    After the System City copsed, wild fluctuations had been triggered all across the Evergreen Territory. As for why that was, it was for no other reason than the Portals.


    It had to be remembered that one of the targets of the Multi Quest was to help this portion of the Aether ne align with the correct location on Earth.


    Lucius'' Portal went to Paradise, a small city by Lone Star.


    Then there was Ragnar''s Portal that went to the Africor Continent.


    While in reality, the true one-to-one location of the Evergreen Forest was the Celestial Republic.


    By destroying one of the System Cities, Ss had caused Lucius'' and Ragnar''s Portal to destabilize.


    This was both good and bad news.


    The good news was that they were both screwed over by his actions.


    The bad news was that he was also screwed over.


    Although the misalignment of Portals was definitely an act against Earth, it was also a matter of huge convenience for him as well.


    The Africor Continent was the likely location of his iplete Rune Enlightenment Chain Quest, the Paradise Portal was his easy ess to Professor Fembroise and a certain skateboarding youth, while the portal up in the icy ins was convenient to return to Cassarae.


    Not only did he want to make sure that Cassarae was still holding up after all these months, more importantly than that, she had the Basilisk Skin Armor that was the key to the Basilisk King''s next evolution.


    Of course, the first part wasn''t necessary. That was because in the Nexus, he had seen that Cassle Main had actually made it back into the top ten Cities. In fact, not just top ten, but into the top seven. But thetter was hugely important.


    ''The changes to the System City here shouldn''t affect the situation so far away. But...''


    He couldn''t be certain just yet.


    He had only touched upon the surface of the issue as well.


    There was no way that the informationwork of the System City, especially after it had been disbanded, could possibly be robust enough to have information about those regions.


    And because the City Stele was now sacrificed for Free Experience, he obviously couldn''t use the Stele Ability to check on them.


    So the question was, how had he known what was happening at two far-away locations? The answer was that he had deduced it.


    And the reason he did was because the beasts in the region were going absolutely wild, surging toward those two locations.


    Ss had already used the bird''s-eye view ability of the System City to scout out the region. He knew the locations of several Dungeons and had even thought of visiting them should his


    time allow it.


    That was why when he saw where beasts wereing from, and the flow toward where they were heading, he immediately put two and two together.


    The fluctuations had triggered a Dungeon Break far earlier than it should have. Dungeon Breaks were triggered when a Dungeon spent too long uncleared. The umted Aether would go out of control, the rules would break down, and many of thews restricting and controlling the beasts within would be unleashed.


    It seemed that the Aether ne shifting its coordinates and entering a tug of war with the out-of-ce Portals had caused the entire region to be in disarray.


    Soon, the two remaining System Cities wouldn''t be able to keep up, and the Aether ne would snap out of alignment like a rubber band. Then at the very least, this region would return to its original coordinates.


    But once that happened, he would lose out on at least two portals... not to mention an excellent opportunity to take out the Ravenws.


    WHOOSH!


    Ss ripped his way past a branch, and leaves were sent flying in all directions as he finally locked eyes with a swarming army ahead.

 Chapter 500: Support Me! [Bonus]

    Chapter 500: Support Me! [Bonus]


    ?


    It was aplete and utter mess.


    Setting aside the rampaging beasts and the now disorganized Grimdes, there was a huge cloud of green over the entire battlefield.


    Ss didn''t need to think much to know what it was.


    Poison.


    The bouncer, or Ragnar as he would likely have to call him now, had always been a poison master as well. Ss had learned that after their very first interaction, and it was part of the reason it had taken so long for the Basilisk King to benefit from the mammoth corpse.


    Now, it seemed that he had given it everything he had. The Ravenws had likely taken some sort of immunity elixir, while everyone else was using abination of Aether skin and more general anti-poison elixirs.


    The added variable of the rushing beasts and the wildly fluctuating portal was not helping. That was because, from time to time, something would either be swallowed up by the portal and sent to the other side, orrge objects or even people woulde flying in.


    Ss stood high in a tree in the far-off distance, at least 500 meters from the first line of battle, and yet...


    SHUUUU! PENG!


    His w grabbed at the air, catching a street sign before it could slice his head in two.


    It wasplete and utter chaos.


    ''That is...''


    Ss had only just felt like he got a full handle on what was happening when the sandstorm appeared. It came from the other side and churned up into a spiraling cyclone that pierced toward the skies.


    Soon, the battlefield was filled with several of these Aether-fueled cyclones.


    Down below, Lucius'' expression was as dark as could be. He had yet to even see Ragnar''s face in all this time, and breaching the city walls seemed to be an impossible task.


    The timer was running out, and soon they wouldn''t be able to guarantee that the Sylphs wouldn''t be involved any longer.


    Even with such an advantage, things had ended up like this, while Ss was absolutely nowhere to be seen no matter how many times he tried to contact him.


    Now, the casualties were starting to pile up, and the battlefield was only bing more chaotic.


    The poison fog was the biggest problem. Ragnar obviously had an antidote, but they didn''t have an alchemy specialist capable of deducing a form asplex as this one in just three days. And even if they did, they wouldn''t be able to mass-produce in time.


    Their experts had no choice but to move in and out of the fog, and those that were too careless ended up dying within.


    Between this and the fact the Ravenws were just trying to stall for time, the battle had been endlessly frustrating.


    They couldn''t even use one of their biggest strengths-engineered weapons-because Archibald had been far more focused on city defenses instead of attacks like this one.


    The more Lucius observed the battle, the more he felt that all of this was a failure on his part. He had built a good foundation for his city, but he wasn''t nearly as flexible as he needed to be. He got tunnel vision too often, and unless he was able to pivot on a dime instead of having to take a step back every time he ran into a roadblock, he would never be able to catch up to his cousin, let alone deal with Ss.


    He was just having these thoughts when a soaring figure cut right through the air.


    BANG!


    The gates to Ragnar''s city practically flew from their hinges. The crossbows didn''t even have the time to react. No one could have ever expected a sudden aerial assault in and mostly fought on the ground until now.


    No one noticed Ss flying through the air until it was far toote.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Now, he stood in the midst of the carnage, violet winds, Aether, and sand flying around him wildly as though he was the reason for the chaos.


    His back stood straight and tall, his bearing rxed. ck scales rippled across his body, and his tail only swayed a single time before he seemed to have recovered from the shock of


    crashing to the ground with such speed.


    Then his fist began to fly.


    The path behind the gates had beenpletely cleared by the sudden and abruptly violent opening. However, that didn''t mean that the Ravenws were slow to react.


    He sent out one punch after another, fists of green filling the air.


    It was like a continuous, rapid firing of techniques, unabashed and violent in their simple


    means.


    One fist. One death.


    Most of the Ravenw''s infantry weren''t Level 20 geniuses like Sunniva. Most of them struggled even to make it to Level 15. Ragnar wasn''t a very good leader to begin with, or else he would have never sided with the Sylphs.


    And now they were losing their lives due to his ipetence.


    It wasn''t more than a few seconds before Ss'' appearance caused an uproar, not just from the Grimdes, but namely the Ravenws.


    Ragnar came running out from his cottage, his eyes bloodshot and his purple spear in his hands.


    He looked like he had just stepped out of the basement of a club rather than like a man who was ready for battle. However, Ss noticed something immediately.


    ''He has new tattoos.''


    It was an odd observation to make until one considered the fact they were in the middle of an apocalypse. Tattoo machines wouldn''t even work without electricity. So unless Ragnar went out of his way to get someone to use a more ancient, primitive method on him...


    ''Indeed. Something is off about those tattoos. No wonder he doesn''t wear armor.''


    Ss deduced everything in what felt like a brief sh. Ragnar could have never guessed that his opponent would see through him because of such a trivial matter. Who could even remember the tattoos of a person they had only seen once before?


    "Support me! Do not engage with him directly."


    Ragnar dashed forward.

 Chapter 501: Tattoos [Bonus]

    Chapter 501: Tattoos [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' gaze shed as he quickly took in the surroundings. They were in an open square in the middle of the vige; corpses were littered around, and there wasn''t just more than a dozen meters squared or so to maneuver around.


    To his back, there was arge number of Ravenws trying to stop his forward charge, and there were a few more stragglers in the vige that wanted to do the same.


    But honestly... Ss couldn''t believe the disorganization. If they hurried to support Ragnar like this, the Grimdes would have an easier time prating their defenses as well.


    Unless... he was confident in the fact this poison would be able to stop him.


    Unfortunately for Ragnar, though, while Ss had feared this poison the first time they met, it wasn''t at a level that could harm him at all now.


    Not only had he already analyzed the Rune that formed this poison, even if he hadn''t, his Poison affinity alone would have been enough for him to control the Aether in the surroundings to keep it away from him.


    A Silver Grade Poison Affinity wasn''t something the likes of Ragnar could stand up to.


    ''Is he really so foolish?''


    There was enough usible deniability to go around. A lone person should be easy to deal with, so fair enough. But... by that same token, if Ragnar really thought he was a normal lone person, he wouldn''t be investing this much manpower into it either.


    ''I see...'' Ss seemed to have finally thought of something. But instead of being shaken, he was only calmer.


    A spear appeared before his face, and he took a step back. The de didn''t carry a lot of power, but it was fast, sharp, and urate.


    Ragnar''s dress pants and shirt didn''t seem to hinder him in the slightest as he moved with a shocking re to him. Maybe it was just his personality, but Ss felt like the weapon before him had real life.


    Ragnar was exceptionally skilled, and Ss, who had been expecting to find a quick method of counterattack or a hole to exploit, quickly found that he actually couldn''t.


    ''I''ve underestimated him.''


    Though he had this thought, he remained calm.


    The heir candidates for these families had been preparing since their youth. The fact his skill was even close to theirs was a testament to Ss'' talent, not theirck of effort.


    Ss parried the body of the spear to the side, and a glint lit in Ragnar''s eyes. Spikesced with poison jetted out and cut into Ss'' arm, hooking into him.


    Ragnar pulled back, ripping Ss'' flesh along with his efforts and leaving a bloody gash down his forearm.


    Ss frowned. It had cut into his scales; this wasn''t just a small parlor trick. This spear was specially designed to be used with poison; of course it would have such hidden traps.


    The feeling of a foreign poison pooling into his body was unpleasant, but it was easily suppressed by his superior Ice-Poison.


    By the time he had gotten it under control, Ragnar''s spear was already following up in a flurry. It carried a speed that was clearly a few percentage points faster, and their afterimages made the de particrly hard to track.


    ''He''s taking advantage of my distraction.''


    Ss was constantly waiting for the men around them to take action, but they were biding their time perfectly. In fact, they had set up a nice formation, blocking him in while retreating their line of defense against the Grimdes enough that they could manage both situations. ''Okay. In that case.''


    Ss pressed a foot down into the ground and slipped his head to his side. He formed a sturdy base, and he no longer dodged; his fists nged against the rain of spear thrusts.


    Every solid collision made it sound as though metal was shing against metal.


    He seemed to havepletely forgotten that there were enemies around, and the moment he focused on Ragnar, it was no longer a one-sided attack fest.


    Ss shifted and flowed, his body like a symphony and his tendons like their plucking strings. Every strike he sent brought with it 100% effectiveness, his stats being maximized to their greatest degree.


    Ragnar, who had been rxed until now, felt the change immediately. His spear strikes weren''tnding as true as before, and his wait for the poison to begin affecting Ss wasn''t bearing any fruit.


    BANG!


    Ss'' gaze flickered as a rebounding force came from the side of Ragnar''s head. He had suddenly summoned his pauldron just now, but an automatic defense triggered just when he was about to catch Ragnar off guard.


    ''The tattoos. Interesting.''


    Just now, there was a forceful cirction of Aether triggered that passed through one of the tattoos on Ragnar''s body.


    Realizing an easy victory wasn''t in the cards, the rest of General Aleen''s armor appeared. Or at the very least, the pieces Ss used the most often.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <Mirror Step> activated, and Ragnar was pressed to his back foot. The pauldrons hovered around Ss'' mirror image, making it look as though there were truly two of him fighting against Ragnar.


    The pressure increased.


    Ss weaved in and out, swapping locations and pivoting around his "clone" freely.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ragnar stumbled back and then stumbled back again.


    His footing was thrown off, and his defenses became sloppy.


    Ss'' fist slipped through and shed right against his chest, only for another barrier of defenses to activate.


    A pauldron mmed into his back at the same time as Ss pincered him from both sides. Ragnar found himself being shaken from both sides, but he still stood his ground expertly. Taking advantage of his strong defenses, he took an opportunity to slip out.


    His tattoos red with life and his aura changed. The seriousness on his expression could no longer be hidden as an illusory armor mped down around him.


    A translucent scorpion tail curled from his back, and its carapace coated Ragnar from head to


    toe.

 Chapter 502: Trap [Bonus]

    Chapter 502: Trap [Bonus]


    ?


    Suddenly, Ragnar had two weapons to attack with. His tail swiped out at Ss'' clone while his spear thrust out at the real Ss.


    However, to his astonishment, his spear went right through this so-called "real Ss."


    At some unknown point, Ss had swapped with his clone in the mess of the battlefield.


    Ragnar found his scorpion tail pinned to Ss'' body and his feet practically ripped up and off the floor.


    With one elbow pinning the tail to his hip, Ss twisted, taking a half step back in a curving arc that pulled Ragnar, who had lost his bnce attacking nothing but air, toward him.


    Ss'' gaze red with an intense light as his elbow mmed right into the back of Ragnar''s neck.


    The illusory armor shuddered, and Poison Runes snaked up Ss'' arm. However, hepletely ignored them.


    Although the armor managed to keep itself together, Ragnar''s head was jarred forward, and his vision swam. The Ravenw''s brain rattled around in his skull, and he was disoriented for a full half-second.


    By the time he recovered, he found that he had been lifted up and off his feet.


    A feeling of danger he had never experienced in his life before overwhelmed him. Ragnar felt death kissing his neck, a sickeningly sweet scent of blood drilling into his nose.


    An animalistic sort of instinct, buried deep within his bones, activated at once as his irises, a deep shade of ck, overwhelmed his sclera. In that instant, it looked as though his eyeballs had been reced by a pair of ck marbles.


    His body reacted on its own, his own Aether drilling through his body and shattering all of his tattoos at once. He didn''t know why he had to do it, but he knew that if he didn''t react fast enough, there would only be death waiting for him.


    In that same instant that he reacted, the Scorned Wraps registered Ss'' attempt to use Ragnar as a weapon.


    A scream echoed through the air asrge patches of Ragnar''s skin were burned in an inferno. His nigh indestructible armor, until this point, was shredded into a rain of ash.


    The moment Ragnar lost control of his body and Ss began to swing him toward the iing Ravenws, the destruction process had begun.


    Luckily for Ragnar, his Ravenw Unique Gene had triggered an instinctual will of life preservation. His body reacted on its own, much like his tattoos had, cutting away the danger almost like lopping off a poisonous limb.


    Ss'' gaze flickered as he was somewhat surprised. He had been wondering if Ragnar would lose his life because the tattoos were etched onto his body or if the illusory armor would be seen as a separate entity.


    Regardless, he thought the worst case would be Ragnar losing this tough armor of his, and the best case would be Ragnar dying outright.


    What he didn''t expect was to get a result smack dab in the middle of the two. Ragnar had survived, but he was practically half dead.


    The only shame was that because Ss had been swinging him around like a weapon, the moment the armor shattered, he was sent flying off into the distance, only to be caught by his people.


    ''Those eyes... I was wondering what the Ravenw''s Unique Gene was. I''m still not 100% certain, but it seems quite... animalistic.''


    "Take him away! Now!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    One of the trusted members of Ragnar''s faction stepped up to block Ss'' path back to Ragnar, urging the others to bring him away.


    Ss had gotten some information from Sunniva. Most of the core members had protective items on them to hide their stats, but the strongest should be about Level 26. That was a young man who went by Gavren Ravenw, and he too wielded a spear.


    With Ragnar heavily injured, he took the vanguard while the others rushed Ragnar away, seemingly looking to escape into the portal.


    Seeing the situation take a bit of an unfavorable turn, Ss wasn''t in a rush to dive headfirst into danger again. He looked back toward where the Grimdes were, and they were still locked in battle with the Ravenws, who were desperately trying to hold on until the three- day timer was up.


    When that time came, the support of the Sylphs would likely not be too far away, and the situation on the ground would change again.


    However, whether it was the Grimdes or the Ravenws, they all looked more than content to keep Ss contained. With Ss not taking the initiative to act, Gavren didn''t make a move to attack him first either, taking a defensive posture.


    ''As expected. That really is their n, and Lucius seems more than willing to allow it to happen. But I don''t think I understand the full extent of it all just yet.''


    From the very beginning, things had been odd. Sure, he had caught them off guard by flying through the air, but that didn''t matter if they were waiting for his appearance one way or another.


    Not one of them could deal with him on their own, but the Sylphs, on the other hand... well, they would at least have a small chance.


    Ss'' power wasn''t overwhelming. His greatest asset was his intelligence and his ability to take his opponents off guard with methods ofbat they had never seen before. Ragnar was a tough opponent, but he could have never guessed that he would lose because he lost his footing for a split second.


    The Sylphs, however... they were much more experienced in the ways of this new world, and even if they wouldn''t be prepared for all of Ss'' tricks, they would certainly have tricks of their own that would be tough for him to react to.


    But this n was still too simple. Ss didn''t believe that Lucius would be stupid enough to fall for such a thing.


    In all likelihood, the real ce they wanted to draw him to was the Africor Continent. That was where the real trap resided.


    Ss only thought for a moment before he burst forward.

 Chapter 503: Enter [Bonus]

    Chapter 503: Enter [Bonus]


    ?


    Gavren''s expression flickered when he saw Ss'' action before it returned to normal. But this was still all the confirmation Ss needed to know what was going on.


    The spear of Ragnar''s right-hand man shot forward and suddenly multiplied, forming a that made it look like he was trying to hold Ss back.


    With a sudden eleration, Ss'' pauldrons red with life. His mirror image vanished, its services no longer necessary. He freed up more aspects of his mind, and his Will pressed down onto Gavren, shredding the illusion of his spears apart.


    Ss'' body swayed oddly, and an undetectable burst of ice appeared beneath his feet, sending him shing to the side in a way that shouldn''t have been possible.


    Gavren didn''t have the time to understand how Ss could both be dodging and still elerating at the same time. He tried to pull his spear back to defend, this time a light of panic flickering in his eyes, but Ss'' fist was too fast.


    BANG!


    Gavren''s armor practically deformed as he felt his liver almost fly up and out of his throat. His entire body shut down, and he barely registered his spear being ripped out of his hands.


    A wave of ash filled the air, only to be blown right into his eyes.


    Gavren squinted for thest time in his life. Hepletely missed the follow-up elbow that drove right into his head.


    The Constitution his armor gave him was surely tough. But with Ss'' Muay Thai


    comprehension increasing by the day, a single elbow or knee strike already had no less than a 60% boost that his fists carried.


    His nose was driven into his skull, and his frontal cortex began to be riddled with the fragments of his own bones.


    Before he could even sway to the ground, Ss had bolted by him, his tail swinging out once and sending his corpse spiraling toward half of the oing Ravenws.


    Tail Whip.


    The attack didn''t slow Ss down in the slightest. His body was like a phantom, weaving in and out of the crowd of warriors with an unconscious speed and an effortless control over his body.


    He felt like he could see all things, and his body reacted like a well-oiled machine.


    Even if he was going to hop right into a trap... that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t make sure to make them suffer a great deal for it.


    His body leapt up andnded on a dpidated building.


    A rain of arrows came at him from what seemed like all sides. In the chaos, it would certainly be easy for a person to mistake it for such. But with his visualization, Ss practically had a bird''s-eye view of everything.


    He could see that the arrows formed a very subtle funnel, giving him just one path that arched toward the portal.


    In the not too far-off distance, the portal was no longer nearly as controlled. It looked like a wildly fluctuating amoeba. Tentacles of Aether extended out from it, sometimes randomly flinging items from inside of it, or sometimes randomly capturing those on the outside to be brought back to Earth.


    It was disordered and seemed precisely like the kind of thing one would want to avoid at all costs. If the portal only caught part of your body, it was possible even to lose entire limbs to the violent teleportation process.


    It was toward this portal that Ragnar was carried before he and his people escaped. However, Ss, who they likely thought would follow after in the same direction, had other ns.


    His body flickered, and he seemed to be caught off guard by one of the tentacles of the portal before his body was swallowed up.


    ...


    Britt and Germaine Ravenw carried Ragnar to the other side, their gazes firm.


    The region of the portal they had chosen to enter was one of the most stable and predictable. If they entered anywhere else, it was likely that things would spin out of their control.


    As expected, though they were flung a few meters off course, it was manageable.


    The other side of the portal was on the Africor Continent, and it was quite a dangerous region, known for its poisonous beasts. Since Ragnar had chosen to go all-in on his poison attributes, it was the perfect path for him.


    There was a hot and humid air hanging. It said that hot air rose, but if that was the case, then it could only be said that the so-called "cool" air of this continent was enough to fry an egg on a regr stone.


    The region was a mix of sand and sparse trees that extended as far as the eye could see. It seemed quite barren, but only to the untrained eye. In reality, the space was filled with pitfalls and, most importantly...


    "There are still a couple of minutes left until the timer is up," Britt said through gritted teeth.


    "We can hold on that long. We won''t be the ones doing the distracting either."


    They rushed forward, their steps following a very particr pattern. If one looked closely, it didn''t seem like the sand theynded onpressed nearly as much as it should. Ragnar''s eyes opened slowly to find that he was being jostled around. The pain made him grit his teeth and let out a hiss, but he forced himself to hold it together.


    There was a sinister light shing within his gaze as the ck marbles retreated and his eyes returned to normal. However, he didn''t say a word, nor did he try to direct Britt and


    Germaine.


    Murderous impulses pulsed all around him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It was do or die now.


    The trio stopped near the base of a tree and frowned when they didn''t notice Ss. The n was to let him see where they vanished to.


    "Enter," Ragnar said coldly.


    Britt and Germaine hesitated slightly, but in the end, they nodded. If they just stood here like fools and only disappeared after Ss came, it would make it all the more obvious that there


    was a trapid here.


    With a stomp, they fell through the sand and vanished.


    What they didn''t know was that Ss had already appeared on this side, and his visualization was shocked by the undergroundwork beneath his feet.

 Chapter 504: Decision

    Chapter 504: Decision


    ?


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss'' visualization had never been good at looking through barriers. Even when he was in the ocean, it was highly limited by the waters alone. In this situation, even with how porous the sand was, he couldn''t see more than a meter or so underground.


    However, that was enough for him to realize something.


    The world around him was basically being held up by arge root system. The sparse trees might as well have been on an organic system, connected with one another, sharing resources and water. And it was because of this thick, continuous connection that the sand had anywhere to rest. But if one wasn''t careful, it was easy to identally slip and fall into this endlesswork of roots.


    The shocking part was that before the improvement to his Luck, Ss wouldn''t have been able to see far enough to realize this at all. He would have thought it was normal sandy ground and likely slipped down by ident, finding himself assaulted by arge number of poisonous creatures.


    The roots were practically a den for poptions of scorpions that seemed to be in the tens of thousands. It was hard to look anywhere and not find a scorpion territory in some situation.


    If he agitated the roots without thought, he would easily be public enemy number one.


    ''Where did the street signe from?''


    This random thought made Ss pause.


    When he first got to the battlefield, a spiraling street sign had almost taken his head off his shoulders if not for the fact he caught it before it could.


    But there didn''t seem to be any cities or civilization nearby at all.


    There seemed to only be two potential exnations.


    Either it was a remnant from Ragnar''s own vige, or there was an underground city here somewhere.


    The portal in the distance looked to be buried into the ground, and Ss felt the odds that a small vige like Ragnar''s needed street signs were unlikely. In that case, there really was awork down below.


    ''Are they trying to lure me to the city? Or do they want to take me down with these poisonous beasts?''


    Ss thought hard, trying to see if he could remember anything about the Africor Continent having an underground city. But he couldn''t recall such a thing.


    However, he couldn''t dismiss it outright either. Unless...


    ''There''s no obvious entrance from what I can see. If this city was created by the Africor government, there''s no way it would be so hidden. There would have to be a way to get supplies in and out. They wouldn''t rely on people slipping in and out like this. Which means this city is either a new creation, or it was hidden from the beginning.''


    Ss didn''t know how much of his thoughts would be useful, but even if he was going to jump into a trap, it wouldn''t be carelessly.


    There was a reason he had chosen to take this risk. And ironically, that was because he trusted in Lucius'' intelligence somewhat.


    If Lucius really wanted to use a borrowed knife to deal with him, he would know that he would have to sacrifice quite a great deal to do so. The more he was willing to sacrifice, therger chance Ss would have at gaining something.


    In addition, Ss had toe to the Africor Continent no matter what toplete his Quest. If not, who knew when the next chance would be to step foot here? He had no ability to cross the ocean right now.


    However, other than these questions, he still had another on his mind. And that was why they wanted him to enter from the same location they had.


    He had seen their pause and look around. They were definitely trying to bait him.


    After a long while, Ss made a decision. He would enter from another location.


    What he didn''t notice was that the moment he gingerlynded on thework of roots, there was a slight tremor that followed through them all.


    Deep underground, a beast with dozens of eyes opened them all at once, allowing a glimmering crimson to fill the dark space.


    ...


    Lucius frowned when he saw how Ss entered. This would definitely throw these matters off. However, when he thought of all the contingency ns and failsafes he had in ce, he didn''t allow this slight miscalction to ruin everything.


    "Let''s move on to the next phase," Luciusmunicated with Nathan secretly.


    "Are you sure? You still have usible deniability right now," Nathan replied.


    Lucius didn''t reply immediately. He stared off into the distance as his Grimdes began to press into the vige.


    One way or another, he was going to stamp out thispetition.


    Contrary to what one might believe, he didn''t make any ns with the Ravenws, nor did hemunicate with the Sylphs. He was using them both.


    It was just that he knew that the likelihood that they would seed was minimal. However, if he ced his hands on the scale a bit, it was possible that Ss might really be forced into a


    corner.


    It was exactly this sort of ambiguity that made the n viable. That was because right about now, if Ss had sniffed anything out, he was probably thinking that he was in collusion with the Ravenws, whereas in reality... Ragnar was still under the impression that he was working on his own.


    Funny enough, he and Ragnar both had the same thoughts. Ragnar was about to sacrifice his vige for the sake of taking out Ss, believing he could turn the situation around so long as


    he wasn''t around.


    As for Lucius, he was willing to sacrifice even more than that.


    He was now standing at a crossroads once more and staring down two options.


    Nathan was right. If he backed out now, if Ss somehow survived, there was still usible deniability. But if he did this... there was no going back.


    "I''ve made my decision," he replied, his gaze calm. "Get Bloom here."

 Chapter 505: Cowards Courage

    Chapter 505: Coward''s Courage


    ?


    Ss moved nimbly, hopping from solid root to solid root, his visualization scanning below while he looked for a proper entrance. He wanted something a solid distance away from where the others had entered, but also close enough that he could slowly make his way back when the situation allowed.


    Soon, he found what he was looking for. He stepped onto the sand and slipped downward.


    The process was smoother than quicksand. He almost felt like a smooth marble slipping through the sand, falling down below with practically no resistance.


    When hended on the ground, it flexed and bowed as though he hadnded on a trampoline instead. The visibility was quite low, but with his visualization, he was able to see that the reason for this was that he hadnded on a mesh of tree roots.


    It seemed that even underground, the entirework was formed of these trees. It made the ground a bit unstable and difficult to work with, but Ss got used to it quickly. At the very least, it was easier than fighting on water, and he had already be used to that as well.


    If necessary, he would just freeze it over and make it even more solid. Though in this humidity, it would be even tougher.


    The underground space was even hotter than the surface, and there was an ufortable stench.


    This region of the Africor continent should have been quite dry, but this space in particr seemed to umte a ton of water vapor, so much so that a normal human would have had trouble getting enough oxygen to breathe.


    Ss moved forward, picking his way through the tunnels of branches slowly.


    It was quite a mess and didn''t seem to be very organized. Though, he didn''t expect it to be if this was a natural formation. Unfortunately, that made it so that following along often required some innovation.


    He found himself climbing through the roots and spitting falling sand out of his mouth several times.


    However, slowly but surely, he was getting closer and closer to the location that Ragnar, Germaine, and Britt had vanished into. With his visualization, he was able to keep an urate map in his head, and his steps were measured enough that he could keep track of the distance perfectly.


    Soon, he felt that he was getting there, but he still hadn''t found anything out of the ordinary. Aside from the poisonous critters that were constantly finding chances to attack him, there didn''t seem to be much danger at all.


    However, the more it was like this, the more cautious he became. He knew that the other foot was going to drop soon.


    ''It''s possible that they''re even deeper than this...''


    Ss looked below his feet. There was no reason that this would be the finalyer of the meshwork of roots.


    Just as he was about to approach closer, the situation changed again.


    [Transfer Rights of Multi-Quest <Evergreen Territory im> have been given to you by former Originator <Lucius Grimde>]


    -


    [A Warrant has been put out for your arrest]


    [You have beenbeled a Fugitive]


    [You have been set as a ''Kill On Sight'' target]


    [Your Privileges have been Restricted]


    [Your Stats have experienced a 50% Deduction]


    [Your Professions have been Restricted]


    [Restriction Failed]


    [Some Profession Abilities have been Limited]


    Ss watched as the ring warning notifications popped up before his eyes one after another. He read them one after another, his gaze almost too calm given the situation. His mind, however, was churning as he thought of how this would be possible.


    If you could just take so many of his stats away, he would have been targeted like this long ago. And also, why transfer the rights of the Quest to him? Although he could have taken it whenever he wanted, this was strange.


    That was when he realized what it was.


    ''Bloom.''


    A beacon appeared above Ss'' head, and a whirring noise shot out. In the darkness, he became like the one source of light.


    ...


    Bloom hacked up mouthfuls of blood, veins of ck crawling up her neck and body as she was ced beneath a great deal of strain.


    Soon, the pain was too much, and she directly fainted.


    Lucius looked toward Mark. "Take your sister away to be treated."


    Though he sounded calm, his emotions were churning. He already knew that Bloom would be out ofmission after this. But he had expected her to hold on for long enough to tell him


    how it went.


    Now he had no idea just how much Ss had been Restricted by, and that made things very tricky to handle. He was flying blind again.


    But once more, he calmed quickly. He had made enough contingency ns that one not going perfectly wouldn''t make arge difference.


    Luckily, because he had expected this, he already had Bloom use her abilities to transfer the Multi-Quest over to Ss first. But... not before he used a particr item.


    [Coward''s Courage (FFF) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Double the Rewards of any Quest or Multi-Quest. Should you fail, suffer Demerits Proportional to Quest Grade]


    [Uses Left: 0/1]


    Before, the Grade of the Multi-Quest had been unknown, showing up as (???). This was because depending on the changes and paths taken during the Multi-Quest, the Grade could change, and thus the challenge could likewise change.


    But now, thanks to Ss pressing the issue and clearing everything so perfectly for them...


    [Evergreen Territory im (Multi-Quest) (Silver)]


    ... The Grade had been locked in.


    "Do it," Lucius said.


    Nathan nodded and sent out the orders. At that moment, all around the Evergreen Territory, traderoutes Lucius had given his blood, sweat, and tears to build up were destroyed. But no sacrifice was harsher than the one of his city itself.


    -


    [You have spent too long away from your City]


    [Your City Stele has copsed without a Leader]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And the moment this happened, the Multi-Quest failed, and Ss suffered a string of


    Demerits.


    From first on the Merit Leaderboard, he was erasedpletely.

 Chapter 506: Kill On Sight

    Chapter 506: Kill On Sight


    ?


    [Multi Quest <Evergreen Territory im> Failed]


    [You have suffered a Silver Demerit]


    Ss felt as though his body had suddenly been sucked into a vacuum.


    For the first time since these series of unfortunate events were triggered, his gaze flickered and his expression changed.


    Right now, he only had a single True Merit and one Hollow Merit. That was lower than a Bronze Merit, which was lower than a Silver Merit.


    You needed ten True Merits to form a Bronze Merit, and ten Bronze Merits to form a Silver Merit, and obviously ten Hollow Merits to form a True Merit.


    That meant that Ss had suddenly lost almost a hundred times the Merit he had right now in the blink of an eye.


    That much was already bad enough, but the fallout of what this would mean for him was enough to leave him shaken.


    It was said that when you entered a state where your Demerits outweighed your Merits, you would be Cursed by the system. In that situation, everything you faced would have an extra hint of difficulty to it.


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Fugitive of the Grimde Lineage]


    [Physical: 260]


    >[Strength: 260]


    >[Constitution: 260]


    >[Dexterity: 260]


    >[Speed: 260]


    [Mental: 294]


    >[Intelligence: 321]


    >[Wisdom: 422]


    >[Charisma: 140]


    [Will: 1999]


    [Luck: 101]


    ''Fugitive of the Grimde Lineage... I see...''


    He had deduced long ago that Bloom had a government official-like Profession. It was what allowed her to create that license te out of thin air, and it was also the method through which she scanned him.


    It seemed that using the fact he was affiliated with the Grimdes, she was able to act in an official capacity and use his own Genes as the anchor to mark him as a Fugitive.


    Ss had known that the Grimde Lineage Unique Gene was a ticking time bomb, but he hadn''t been able to get rid of it because it was the foundation for all of his stats.


    Without it, his original Stat Limit would be undone, and then his body woulde copsing down like a house of cards.


    Now that he could Extricate Blood Essence as well, his understanding had grown deeper. He was born with Grimde blood running through his veins. This was much different from adding the Gene after the fact. It was practically worked into the depths of his body, and it was also woven into the fabric of what made him human.


    Taking it out simply wasn''t an option.


    His Will, however, was untouched. Or so it seemed. It was more likely that even after being suppressed by half, his Will was still at 1999. After all, it was only stuck at that level because of the Gene-Stat Limit.


    After being reduced to 1000, his extra Will Bronze Genes just activated again to raise it back up to 1999.


    But there seemed to be something particrly special about his Will. Or else the same thing would have happened with his other stats as well. After all, they were all in a State of Wealth.


    As for his Luck, outsiders had no ability to affect it at all.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And yet, even with all of that, thergest problem he faced was probably...


    Ss looked above his head to find the beacon still shing.


    That was supposed to be there to help Grimdes find and capture him, as well as alerting anyone else that he could be returned to the Grimdes for a reward.


    ''No, not returned...''


    [You have been set as a ''Kill On Sight'' target]


    Ss didn''t move. He stood in silence, breathing in and out.


    Did he regreting here?


    No.


    Whether he entered or not, Lucius could execute this n. The difference between here and the outside was that Lucius would be able to maintain a facade of leadership and be trusting


    of talents.


    If he was still outside, Lucius would be forced to act to kill him himself, which would erode trust and make his already shaky foundation even more so.


    But like this, he could rely on the Sylphs and Ravenws, while his men, other than his trusted inner circle, would be none the wiser.


    ''For him to do this, he definitely gave up quite a lot. He gave up the Quest, and for the Failure to be so swift, he must have also abandoned his city on top of that.''


    None of the heirs could be underestimated. Lucius didn''t try to have his cake and eat it too. He was willing to cut off his nose to spite his face.


    This was a dangerous man, and it had never been more obvious to Ss than now.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled slowly.


    When his eyes opened once more, there was a cold, dense light within. He could feel his blood pumping through his body.


    He knew what it was...


    Excitement.


    It was the reason he had chosen to work with venomous snakes when he chose his Graduate Student path. It was why he had clicked ''Yes'' when the Trial began. It was why he had felt his


    life was boring... until now.


    DUDOOM!


    The ground shook and thework of roots rumbled.


    Ss felt as though the floor was falling out from underneath him. A wild tangle of vine-like roots and a waterfall of sand surrounded him.


    He grabbed to the side, holding onto a root, only for his fingers to feel as though hundreds of tiny needles had ripped into them.


    Ss'' gaze remained an icy cold. He didn''t let go, swinging from the branch instead to a foothold, and then leaping again and again.


    His figure leapt with such speed that the hooks of the branches couldn''t seem to keep up.


    BANG!


    Hended on sand dusted limestone, the ancient air of the region practically drilling into his


    sensory organs.


    And ahead, lying in a den of wooden webs, he saw it.


    [Woond Spider Queen ( - )]


    [Level: 25]


    -


    [Physical: 1464]


    >[Strength: 1710]


    >[Constitution: 1806]


    >[Dexterity: 1140]


    >[Speed: 1200]


    [Mental: 1670]


    >[Intelligence: 2850] >[Wisdom: 690]


    >[Charisma: 1462]


    [Will: 994]

 Chapter 507: SKKKKRREEEEEEEE!!

    Chapter 507: SKKKKRREEEEEEEE!!


    ?


    [You have entered a Field Dungeon]


    [Kill ''Woond Spider Queen'' to escape]


    SKKKKRREEEEEEEE!!


    Ss'' icy re stared into the maw of the enormous spider queen. The violent shift in the root system had allowed the light of the sun to peek through asrge amounts of sand fell from above, giving him enough to see the creature before him.


    It must have been at least 20 meters from its fangs to itsrge abdomen. Patterns of brown, green, and violet spotted its body, and when it opened its mouth to roar, sizzling, acidic beads of venom fell from its fangs.


    However, this was the least of Ss'' problems, ironically enough.


    The first issue was that a Field Dungeon wasn''t something that was supposed to be inescapable.


    Field Dungeon BOSSes were often locked to certain regions by circumstance. These circumstances could be a pending evolution, pregnancy, or the inconvenience of movement. For this Woond Spider Queen, its body and this nest of roots seemed to practically be one. If Ss was correct, this root system was created by it, which meant that it had put a lot of effort into getting things absolutely perfect.


    It couldn''t move freely as a result, which was why it was a Field Dungeon BOSS.


    The fact he wasn''t allowed to escape was purely the system antagonizing him. The issue of his Demerits was already rearing its ugly head. And yet, this was still just the first issue.


    The secondary issue was the fact that this Woond Spider Queen wasn''t alone.


    The moment its cry echoed out, arge number of spider babies, each one about a meter or so in length, manifested.


    There were a dozen of them in a sh, and hearing the call of their mother, they scurried forward with menace, venom dripping from their fangs as well.


    [Woond Spider (FF+)]


    [Level: 11]


    -


    [Physical: 163]


    >[Strength: 225]


    >[Constitution: 250]


    >[Dexterity: 84]


    >[Speed: 93]


    [Mental: 144]


    >[Intelligence: 198]


    >[Wisdom: 39]


    >[Charisma: 194]


    [Will: 187]


    Even as they scurried toward him, Ss didn''t seem to be willing to do anything but take slow, steady breaths.


    The odd actions of Bloom had forcefully canceled his Fusion stat, and now it seemed to be on an odd cooldown.


    There was no way that Bloom could truly suppress his Professionpletely. It seemed that he had lost ess to Fusion for the rest of the 128-minute duration he would have had it for. However, other than that, all the other aspects of his Profession were still very much there.


    ''They''re still not acting... I guess it wouldn''t be that easy...''


    Ss wasn''t looking around, but his visualization was probing for where Ragnar and hispanions were. He was also looking out for the Sylphs. But they were all nowhere to be


    seen.


    He was certain that this was the BOSS they wanted to lure him in to fight. There was no way they would just leave well enough alone and hope he died. They were certainly in the shadows somewhere waiting to see if they had to act or not.


    It seemed that things wouldn''t be so easy... all he could do was fight.


    ''The spider queen is untangling herself. I have no idea how long it will take, but these waves of lesser spiders will likely keep going in the meantime. I have no choice but to try and find a way to kill it before it can free itself from its web.''


    [How do you remove a Fugitive Status tied to Affiliation?]


    [Fugitive brandings tied to Affiliation are inextricably linked to Genes. As such, the only way to remove them is with a Counter Gene Skill, a Temte, or the aid of a special Profession]


    Ss read the notification in a sh as he took a step forward. His breathing even and his gaze firm, he punched out and the head of the first spider shattered, a glow of green amplifying the strength of his fist.


    ...


    "There''s something wrong."


    The voice came from an unexpected source. It definitely wasn''t the voice of Ragnar, Britt, or Germaine. Instead, it was a fourth party who seemed to appear from nowhere, his body wrapped in a bubbling violet aura as though his skin was shining itself.


    Ragnar and the others, though, didn''t seem surprised.


    Ragnar was hurriedly trying to heal himself, but his expression was quite ugly when he saw the state of his body. All of his tattoos would have to be redone. Thinking of the amount of resources he had poured into this, and realizing that he would have to do it again, he couldn''t help but grimace.


    "Someone else seems to be targeting him as well. We are getting some outside help," a fifth voice echoed.


    "Yes, but..." the Sylph with the violet aura peered forward through the countless branches and roots, trying to see something but not quite able to grasp it. "... There''s also been a change to the Field Dungeon itself. There are restrictions that shouldn''t be there. If we enter, we won''t


    be able to get out."


    A silence fell. This wasn''t part of their n either.


    "Is this because of this unknown third party?"


    "Most likely. But whatever the reason is, we cannot afford to be trapped with that beast. Once


    it breaks free of its web, its stats will increase further and it will enter a new phase. Anyone


    trapped in there during that time will be finished."


    "Then let''s take it as a good thing. He can''t escape and we can simply watch from the sidelines. No need for all the contingency ns we had to stop him from escaping the Field


    Dungeon."


    "Yes..." the violet Sylph said slowly. "... Whoever has trapped him like this is truly sinister. They may be no less of a danger. We will need to watch out."


    "There is no need to guess." Ragnar suddenly spoke, not opening his eyes. "It''s almost 100%


    Lucius."


    "The Grimde?"


    "Yes. He does not like variables he cannot control, and this Ss is certainly not someone hen/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    can control. He probably wants him dead more than we do."


    "In that case... this man is certainly dead."

 Chapter 508: Fast. Piercing. Lethal. [Bonus]

    Chapter 508: Fast. Piercing. Lethal. [Bonus]


    ?


    Despite the words of the conspirators hidden in the shadows, Ss didn''t seem to be in a rush, nor did he seem pressed. One would have thought that he hadn''t lost half of his stats at all.


    He calmly observed the wave after wave of spidersing toward him, analyzing their quirks, their habits, and most importantly, their weaknesses.


    As he grew used to their patterns, the amount of Strength he put into each blow began to reduce slowly.


    At first, every one of his fists aimed for the head, shattering it apart with a forceful blow.


    But then his stance changed, aiming for thergest eyes at the center of their foreheads and sending a stream of fist aura right into their skulls.


    However, his tactic didn''tst for long.


    He noticed the twitching hairs on their bodies soon after and how sensitive they were to changes on them. He began to use his telekinesis to brush against them, trying to gauge what sort of reaction they would have.


    He quickly realized that they were hypersensitive to these changes on their body, and the most violent of them even turned in the direction of his telekic touch, opening themselves up to be killed with a swift strike.


    When Ss settled into a rhythm, it almost became a joke. The disoriented spiders were in part focused on him, and in part on an invisible enemy that didn''t exist.


    By the time the wave of spiders actually reached Ss, he hadprehended their habits and sensitivities so profoundly that they didn''t even get a chance to attack him before they died.


    The stamina usage of Ss slowed to a crawl. In fact, because of his Dual ss Constitution and his State of Wealth, his recovery ability was already ridiculous. Now, he was regaining lost stamina faster than he was using it up.


    In a battle where he should have been on his back foot, being quickly drained, it was as though he was lightly sparring in his own backyard.


    However, the only person aware of such profound changes was Ss himself. It would take a very keen eye to realize what he was doing, and his telekinesis was entirely invisible to outside observers without visualization.


    Even if those hidden in the shadows did have visualizations, they weren''t close enough to use them. In their eyes, it probably looked like Ss was using up a great amount of stamina to kill them all quickly, when in reality, he wasn''t.


    Ss settled into a rhythm, his movements became more fluid. The only worry was his usage of Aether, but even that was being kept to an absolute minimum.


    All the while, his gaze was focused on finding a way out of this.


    He needed a method to kill the spider queen before it could break free. He also wasn''t under the illusion that it would just continue to sit idly there as its children continued to die in droves. There was definitely some sort of skill or the like that it could use.


    However, its Constitution was too high for him to kill with his current stats.


    ''It has to be poison, then. That''s the only way. But I''ll need a method to bypass its Constitution nheless. Beasts at this level have intelligence no weaker than that of humans as well. So if I want to use my telekinesis to trick it with its sensitive hairs, I''ll only have one go at it... a second time won''t work.''


    He needed an open wound at the very least, or he needed to destroy one of its eyes. But he also couldn''t afford to go all in on this tactic either. There was a very real possibility that this spider queen would be resistant to his poison.


    This was a Quasi Bronze beast, or a Quasi King beast as the Madness Key called them. He couldn''t afford to take it lightly.


    SSSSKKKKRRREEEEEEEEE!!!


    Just as Ss was trying to figure out the best course of action, the screech of the spider echoed through the root system. More sand fell from above, and pirs of light fell on the Woond Spider Queen''s abdomen.


    Runes lit up and all of a sudden its abdomen began to pulse. With every squeeze, another spider was released, but this time their aura made the earlier baby spiders look like, well... babies....


    [Elite Woond Spider (FFF+)]


    [Level: 11]


    -n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Physical: 471]


    >[Strength: 538]


    >[Constitution: 512]


    >[Dexterity: 395]


    >[Speed: 411]


    [Mental: 467]


    >[Intelligence: 762]


    >[Wisdom: 273]


    >[Charisma: 416]


    [Will: 488]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. This was a problem. Even with a distraction, it would be nigh impossible


    to kill these easily. His Strength was now only half of their Constitution.


    The spider queen wasn''t done even after a dozen pumps. It just kept going, and soon the number of these Elite Woond Spiders had doubled, and then doubled again.


    It felt endless. But considering the ridiculous Intelligence stats of the spider queen, maybe it really could be endless.


    ''I can''t continue to rest on my back foot. I''ve observed enough.''


    Ss finally stopped standing in ce and burst forward as though he had been shot out of a


    cannon.


    The underground space wasrge, but there was still only 50 meters separating him and the


    spider queen.


    Caution lit his senses as his wariness shot through the roof. He had no idea if the spider queen would have another method of attacking him when he got close, and he quickly found that he was right to be cautious.


    The spider queen unleashed another screech, and an arrow of venom cut through the air


    toward him.


    Fast, piercing, lethal.


    Ss opened his mouth and roared, using <Arctic Howl Mutant> for the first time in the


    battle.


    The arrow froze in ce as Ss slid by it, coating his feet with more ice as he elerated past the leg scythe of one of the elite spiders before jumping onto the head of another and


    into the air.


    Semi-Fusion activated, and Ss pulled on Nosphaleen''s Skill Mastery, activating <Glide> in a split second. In that moment, it was like he had been using the skill all his life.


    In a blink, he had appeared high above the spider queen, meeting its several eyes with a deathly intent of his own.

 Chapter 509: Hissing [Bonus]

    Chapter 509: Hissing [Bonus]


    ?


    BANG!


    The arrow Ss just dodged crashed into the ground. Or rather, into the mesh of roots.


    The sounds of sizzling and popping only barely managed to reach his ears before Ss'' gaze zed with fiery intent.


    .


    With every improvement to One Kind For Me, the visualization of the Beast Totem also became stronger and more shocking. However, Ss wasn''t using the Beast Totem as his visualization this time.


    He was using the Slow Rune.


    Ice crackled and popped around his fist, his hair dancing wildly as he punched out.


    His fist seemed to be suppressed by something, almost as though it was trying to move through an icy storm. Veins popped along his forearm, his knuckles bing covered by an icy sheen as he suddenly broke through that barrier.


    BANG!


    The spider queen had beenpletely focused on Ss'' fist, ready to act at any moment, all for his fist Skill to suddenly vanish from his hand and appear before its eyes in a blink.


    Aetherflow.


    What this spider queen had only learned just now was that the surrounding hundred meters was Ss'' range.


    Although his Will wasn''t able to exhibit its full strength due to how low his Charisma was, that didn''t mean there was no change at all.


    For example... there was probably no one on Earth who could forcefully counter his telekinesis now with a mere surge of Aether.


    Before Ss, even your own body wouldn''t be fully under your control.


    The icy fist aura smashed into an eye of the spider queen.


    A shrill screech echoed, but the sight of a bursting eye didn''te, nor was there any surge of blood and gore.


    ''So strong...''


    Ss'' pupils constricted.


    As with every stat, Constitution was rtive. Not every part of the body would have the same Defense, much like how a kick would carry more Strength, or a finger would exhibit more Dexterity than the body as a whole.


    The eyes should be one of the weakest parts of the spider''s body. It probably could only exhibit about half of the spider queen''s Constitution.


    And yet... it hade out unscathed.


    SHUUU!


    The sound of sharp wind howling twitched Ss'' ears. His visualization sparked with warning signs of danger as a root deep within the web the spider queen was trapped inside shot out.


    It appeared before Ss in a sh. Stuck in a punching posture, it was truly too difficult for Ss to dodge out of the way now...


    However, his reaction was quick.


    Telekinesis coated his body, and <Glide> was still active. He pulled on the Gluttony Seed and his body was suddenly ripped into a twisting motion.


    His head spun along with his body as he braced his forearms across his chest.


    The rogue root scraped into his flesh, just barely shy of tearing across the muscle and bone.


    His forearms managed to divert the root just enough that it didn''t pierce into his face, but the assault of the poison that coated it came swift and harsh.


    Ss was sent flying, barreling down toward a horde of greedy elite spiders. His arms felt as though a scalding hot iron had been pressed against them. In fact, it felt like it was still searing against his skin, rooting itself down into his muscle and toward his bone.


    ...


    "He''s been poisoned. This should end swiftly," Germiane spoke with a glint in his eye. No one else said anything, but it was clear that they were all thinking the same thing. Maybe due to the danger of the situation, Ss had made a truly foolish decision.


    As for Ragnar, who had experienced Ss'' poison immunity before, he still felt the same way. After all, his poison came as an offshoot from a beast that wasn''t even worthy of being ackey to the spider queen. The poison of the spider queen itself was on a whole other level. "The Portal is copsing soon," one of the Sylphs, Rylen, looked toward the distance. Before, their n had been to simply allow it to close. Killing Ss was more important. But now they felt the desire to have their cake and eat it too. If Ss was finished, shouldn''t they return?


    "We will stay." Another Sylph, Kalden, cut Rylen off before he could even make the suggestion. "This is something we must see through to the end. No mistakes can be


    allowed."


    Everyone fell into silence once more as the Portal flickered on its final embers before being forcefully shut.


    ...


    Ss noticed the change immediately, but it was hard for him to pay much mind to it when he was currently falling to his death.


    The amount of Aether it would take to reverse course now wasn''t worth it. With his Intelligence halved, forcefully activating <Glide> now so he could rebound into the skies would deplete more than he was willing to give up.


    That was because now he not only had to counter his own weight, but that of the force of the spider queen''s attack as well.


    Even so, he remained deathly focused as several venom-formed arrows shot toward him from below. Some of the elite spiders even curled their abdomens, sending out spurts of poisonous roots right at him.


    Ss opened his mouth and roared, <Arctic Howl Mutant> causing an echo of CLANGS to


    reverberate.


    The defenses of the Skill were too low to face off against so many attacks, but the slight freeze dy was what Ss really needed.


    Rather than fighting against his downward momentum, he pressed the advantage, pushing his telekinesis to allow him to fall even faster.


    He shot by the intersection of attacks andnded on the head of an elite spider.


    The sickening sound of shattering carapace and oozing, meaty flesh filled his ears.


    ''This poison is indeed weaker than my own. It''s only formed about 38 or so Foundations. But the Aether backing it is strong, and there''s an extra character to it that makes it particrly


    stubborn.''


    Ss knew that this "extra character" was the power of Quasi King beasts. When that half- illusory flickering crown appeared above their heads, it was like they had be the ruler of a region and several rules no longer applied to them.


    This made this poison particrly stubborn.


    Ss dodged out of the way of an attack, feeling his nerves frying. However, his gaze shed


    as what he had been waiting for finally arrived.


    The sound of hissing filled the skies as dozens of Serpentes made their way toward his


    location.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Beacon.

 Chapter 510: Too Late

    Chapter 510: Too Late


    ?


    There were likely a rare few people on Earth that had the flexibility of thought that Ss did. The moment he realized the kind of situation he was in, he changed his perspective.


    He didn''t worry about finding Lucius for revenge, nor did he have the mind to care about what people were watching from the shadows. Instead, his thoughts were consumed by one drive.


    Survive.


    The instant he got the notification about what was happening to him, he activated Beacon. And it was actually because Beacon was activated that


    could only be used with his slow Ice-Poison Rune.


    Beacon needed to use his Beast Totem. So while it was active, his Beast Totem couldn''t be used for anything else.


    But the miraculous thing about Beacon was that the only existences that could sense it were Serpentes. As such, whether it was the spider queen or the Sylphs watching from the sidelines, they didn''t realize what he was doing until it was toote.


    There were many tradeoffs to be made in life, and the Summoning seemed to only make that more obvious. While it was much harder to gather up Ice-Poison and cast Ice-Poison Skills in the middle of this desert...


    The number of Serpentes within a kilometer radius wasn''t a small number at all.


    The hissing had only just begun, but it rose to a fever pitch in the next instant.


    The Woond Spider Queen unleashed a shriek as it was infuriated by the invasion into its territory. However, between their fear of the Woond Spider Queen and their reverence for Ss...


    There was nopetition at all.


    The Serpentes flooded in. Starting from just a few dozen, they quickly doubled and then doubled again.


    Ss continued to dodge out of the way of the attacks of the elite spiders. As he did, he observed the situation and couldn''t help but frown.


    ''Many of them are injured... I see... there must be barricades on the outside. But that means...'' Ss'' gaze shed with realization. Lucius was just using Ragnar and the Sylphs.


    When he understood this, several things that were odd to him made sense.


    If the Sylphs knew that he had suffered such a terrible Demerit, they would be able to guess that he would be trapped in this Field Dungeon. And if they could guess that, they wouldn''t need to put up the number of barricades that would be necessary to harm such arge number of serpents.


    That could only mean that the ns of Lucius and the Sylphs weren''t properly aligned.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    When Ss came to understand this, he realized that this disjointedness might be a chance for him.


    The situation on the battlefield changed in that instant.


    The serpents swarmed toward Ss'' location, and their numbers were only increasing as the barricades they plowed through left open gaps for more of their kind to make their way in.


    By the time their numbers crossed into the hundreds, even Ss was floored by the sheer number. He had several underestimated the number of wildlife hidden away in this root system.


    But this was also precisely the opportunity he needed.


    In fact, the punch he had levied at the spider queen wasn''t nearly as useless as it seemed. While he didn''t rupture the eye, that wasn''t his main goal.


    Poison didn''t have to enter through an open wound; it could also seep into a vulnerable body part. As someone who once worked with venom for a living, Ss knew that even breathing in too deeply in the face of the wrong kind could end his life.


    The genitals, the nose, the mouth, the posterior-they were all vulnerable regions... and of them, the only ones he didn''t mention were the eyes.


    Even if the spider queen had the Constitution to resist his punch, that didn''t mean it had the defenses necessary to stop his Ice-Poison from seeping into its blood system.


    Ss leapt back, allowing his hoard of serpents to begin an all-out war with the spiders. SSSKKKKKREEEEEEEE!!!


    The fury of the spider queen shook the web system.


    Ss'' senses had never left it, and he noticed the blue vein pattern running through its eye, slowly crawling its way up.


    He looked down at his arms, and he seemed to be in the same situation as the spider queen. However... that was only because he hadn''t had the time to deal with it.


    Taking advantage of the appearance of the Serpentes, he stood still, his gaze zing. All of a sudden, Runes were forcefully expelled from the open wounds in his arms. Though to ayman, it would look as though it was arge amount of violet-green tainted blood. Ss'' body immediately felt lighter as his blood ran down his arms. From any perspective, he looked like a man on hisst legs. However, only he knew just how close to victory he was.


    He flickered and vanished; his body activated <Cyrobane Elevation>, and he could feel it churning deeper than ever before. His grasp of Blood Essence allowed him a far sharper image of what it truly meant to raise his Stat Limit.


    With his hoard allowing him to ignore the elite spiders, he only had one thought in mind: kill the spider queen as quickly as possible.


    A road of ice appeared as he leapt up. His feet glided along its smooth surface, and a single one of his strides became like four. Semi-Fusion activated at the same time, and <Glide> was


    triggered again.


    While he might not be able to use <Surfing Frost> and <Chilled Rise> at the same time, with Semi-Fusion, he could use <Surfing Frost> and <Glide> simultaneously, with thetter having its load taken by the hibernating Nosphaleen.


    His Speed had been suppressed to just 260, but at the moment, he was nearing almost five


    times that.


    ''Now''s the perfect time.''


    His telekinesis moved, and the hairs by the spider queen''s damaged eye shifted.


    The spider queen reacted fiercely, snapping her head in a certain direction only to realize nothing was there.


    By the time she turned back, it was toote.

 Chapter 511: Lost Its Mind

    Chapter 511: Lost Its Mind


    ?


    .


    A pair of golden slit irises appeared behind Ss. In that moment, even the spider queen shook with fear.


    Ss was descending with over 1000 Speed, putting all of that pressure and his power into a single punch.


    In thest moment, Ss deactivated <Glide> and <Surfing Frost>, diverting all his Aether to <Stunning Spike>.


    His fist arched back, his body stretching itself thin like a bow before he exploded with all of his power at the same time.


    He wasn''t thinking about doing a small amount of damage. He wanted to shatter the spider queen''s entire head; he wanted its body to rupture down the middle, for the power of his fist to make it look as though it had imploded, as though a nuclear bomb had been imnted into the depths of its body.


    Of course... none of that actually happened.


    But his Willing practically forged his fist into a gauntletrger than his hand, a green glow carrying the weight of the world descending with the momentum of a man enraged.


    BOOM!


    The eye deformed beneath Ss'' fist, and he felt all the tendons in his arms snap at once. Almost like a rubber band that had finally reached its limits, his arm surged with too much power before copsing in on itself, even bending in the wrong direction.


    However, from Ss'' expression, one could have never guessed.


    He buried his arm into the eye of the spider queen. Although he hadn''t been able to make it to its brain, the damage was done.


    SKKKKKREEEEEEEE!!!!


    Ss felt a violent pressure hit him in a wave as the spider queen shook off <Stunning Spike>. He knew that despite the disparity in their Wills, the Skill was much too low-level to hold it for long. He had only wanted to stop it from using a defensive skill at thest moment, and it had worked.


    What hadn''t worked was the fact that the spider queen''s Skill was only paused, not entirely interrupted.


    It was the first time Ss had even seen such a thing.


    A wave of pressure collided against him, and like an almighty push, he was sent flying away. However, the sinister glint in his eyes didn''t fade in the slightest. That was because as he had been sent flying, he nted something in the eye of the spider queen.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra''s venom sack.


    He had put a lot of effort into the Arctic Emperor Cobra. Its Ice-Poison was no longer the stock version, but rather an upgraded form of his Freeze Ice-Poison Rune. There was no doubt that its venom sack had also undergone a qualitative change.


    And unlike Ss, who was a mere Level O... his Arctic Emperor Cobra had been Level 19 and had the powerful Aether to back it up. The Woond Spider Queen couldn''t shrug it off nearly so easily.


    Ssnded in a pile of serpents who used their bodies to cushion him. Some of them even died beneath the impact, and yet they seemed more than willing to give their lives to the


    cause.


    There were no supremely powerful serpents among them because this was the territory of the spider queen. Beasts were highly territorial, so there likely wouldn''t be such a serpent anywhere near here.


    However, what hecked in quality, Ss'' Beacon Path Talent more than made up for in quantity.


    The elite spiders found themselves being hounded by dozens of serpents each, and it seemed that even though Ss had turned Beacon off, the number of serpents was only increasing as they formed a tide to enter battle.


    Ss stood to his feet, wiping blood off of his lips with his one good remaining arm, his other having been snapped back to its proper form but could still only hang limply.


    The spider queen writhed and roared, the blue Runes along its body only increasing. Ss could practically see its Defensese tumbling down.


    The venom sack of the Arctic Emperor Cobra wasn''t small by any means. Both creatures were just asrge as one another, so it was simply impossible for the spider queen, who was used to using her poison on others, to deal with it in such a short time.


    Ss took deep breaths, using these moments of reprieve to try and recover and heal himself. But he was still on high alert.


    A mixture of his blood and that of the spider queen''s coated his body, his open wounds stinging. However, he stood tall, watching coldly as the spider queen continued to writhe.


    In the distance, the Sylphs and Ragnar frowned. This change in the situation waspletely out of their expectations, and it was also clear that Ss had done something to the Woond Spider Queen that they didn''t understand.


    Never could they have thought that Ss would use poison to deal with a poisonous beast.


    "This might not be a bad thing," Ragnar said as he suddenly noticed something.


    "You want to take action now?"


    "That''s a possibility, but I think it would be too premature. The spider queen isn''t so easy to defeat. The only reason it''s taking so long to get out of its web is that it doesn''t want to destroy it. But if Ss pushes it too far..."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ...


    Ragnar had only just finished speaking when the emotions of the Woond Spider Queen boiled over. Its blood pooled and entered its mouth. Tasting its own blood for the first time, it froze for a moment as though it didn''t understand what it was sensing.


    But when it finally did understand...


    Itpletely lost its mind.


    Its mindless shrieks turned into a skill, and Ss was forced to thicken the Aether skin around his head and mp his palms over his ears. However, because one of his arms was useless, he had no choice but to use a shoulder and a palm instead.


    RIP.


    At that moment, the first leg of the spider queen tore its way out of theplex of roots, sending sharp, poisonous projectiles and splinters flying in all directions.

 Chapter 512: Advantage

    Chapter 512: Advantage


    ?


    [Woond Spider Queen ( - )]


    [Level: 25]


    -


    [Physical: 1464]


    >[Strength: 1710]


    >[Constitution: 1806]


    >[Dexterity: 1140]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    >[Speed: 1200]


    [Mental: 1670]


    >[Intelligence: 2850]


    >[Wisdom: 690]


    >[Charisma: 1462]


    [Will: 994]


    A flicker appeared above the Woond Spider Queen''s head. Its stats didn''t change, that Ss was certain of. However, it was the same oppressive might he had felt from the Arctic Emperor Bear.


    The Effectiveness of the spider queen''s stats hit a new threshold, one that was hard to put into just a few words. Even without its numbers increasing, the oppression it wrought was deadly... and maybe even more important than that, it seemed to gain a repertoire of new skills.


    The root system beneath Ss'' feet exploded, and he looked down to find an endless abyss beneath his feet.


    His gaze flickered as his weight was swept out from under him.


    He realized that the system had screwed him over more than he knew.


    He was stuck in this region, unable to leave. But now he had just realized that this wasn''t just a nest... the entire web was the spider queen''s attack weapon.


    Suddenly, the roots around him shot at him from all sides, their barbs scratching against his skin and trying to tear him apart even when he dodged.


    The roots swallowed him up, and Ss could barely hear the hisses of his hoard of snakes before that sound was cut off from him as well.


    The panic threatened to take hold of his heart before he forcefully pressed it down.


    He noticed several things.


    First, the roots were numerous, but their power output was rtively weak. Even with his weakened Constitution, they couldn''t pierce through him easily. The barbs were only scratching at his skin and leaving shallow cuts; their real danger was the poison they held. But Ss was rtively unaffected by it.


    If the spider queen could control such arge region and bring real power along with it, she would simply be undefeatable.


    The second thing he noticed was that he had quickly stopped falling. He had rebounded against a barrier, and if he had to guess, this barrier was what was trapping him within the Field Dungeon.


    The spider queen had probably wanted him to fall to his death, as the underground was far deeper than he ever expected. But what neither of them could have guessed was that Ss would be saved from such a death by something that was originally a punishment.


    The Woond Spider Queen was an intelligent beast. It should know that Ss was capable of flight. But it would also be aware that this flight would onlyst a short time and took a lot out of him.


    It had wanted to capitalize on this by beating and battering him until he just outright died. That was because this beast had already begun to fear Ss.


    It wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible, eradicate his serpents, and then deal with the poison that was drilling its way through its body.


    However, it had failed to do so.


    And the third thing Ss realized was that the queen couldn''t sense him clearly any longer.


    Before, the spider queen was one with its web, so anyone that stepped onto it, it sensed. But now, it had not only broken free, but it had done so forcefully, effectively destroying arge segment of the web.


    That meant that if Ss found a way back, he would have the advantage of a sneak attack.


    Ss regained his calm and analyzed all of this in a brief instant.


    He stood on the barrier, and darkness was all around him. It was impossible to tell how far below things went, but what he could tell was how far he had to go to return upward.


    He could still see some faint rays of light peeking through the woven tapestry of tree roots. ''This darkness... it''s to my advantage...''


    Heaving deep breaths, Ss'' gaze flickered in the darkness before he formted a n. Then, he pulled Nosphaleen out.


    Until now, he had been hiding her. That was because he knew that the Woond Spider Queen wasn''t the only danger he had to face. Having another hidden trump card that could jump out and surprise his enemies was for the best.


    But now, another opportunity had presented itself.


    He could barely see his own hand in this ce. The odds that they could still keep tabs on him were low.


    He pressed a palm to Nosphaleen''s chest and ripped the cancer out of her even faster than he had before. The impact of a Lv12 Taboo Bond Path was showing itself. It wasn''t even a half second before Nosphaleen''s eyes were fluttering, and this time, there was no need to even attempt to heal her.


    "Can you make it through?" Ss asked.


    Nosphaleen had barely recovered when Ss asked her if she could make it through to the other side. She knew better than to ask Ss questions by now, so she just tried and then


    shook her head.


    ''Interesting... so if someone enters, they''ll be stuck with me. No wonder they haven''t tried to impact the battle. But that''s fine as well.''


    "We have an enemy above. It''s already severely injured. You hold it with your charm Skills, and I will deal the final blow. Do not show yourself if unnecessary."


    Ss pulled on his Gluttony Seed as Nosphaleen activated <Glide>.


    They both shot into the air at the same time, weaving through the roots.


    Nosphaleen stopped just underneath the spider queen, enough to see its eyes through the gaps in the roots.


    Ss rounded to its back, his gaze sharp as he patiently waited.


    The instant Nosphaleen''s blue eyes shed, he ripped through the roots, appearing behind the spider queen as it went on a rampage, its sharp legs spearing through one serpent after


    another.


    It didn''t even notice Ss at first, and by the time it felt like something was off, Nosphaleen''s Skill had collided with it.


    Ss appeared high above it, falling toward its gaping eye wound with menace.


    <Arctic King''s Domain>.

 Chapter 513: Horrifying

    Chapter 513: Horrifying


    ?


    Ss hadn''t had the chance to use this skill since the battle started. The distance between himself and the spider queen was toorge, and he also didn''t dare to stay near it for too long.


    But this time, he needed it. Not for the continuous poison damage, but rather for an effect of the skill that he had mostly ignored just now.


    His Ice-Poison Skills were weaker now because the climate wasn''t conducive to its strength. Or more urately, the Ice aspects of his affinity were in very limited supply. Byparison, the amount of Poison Runes in the surroundings couldn''t be any higher.


    However, if he used <Arctic King''s Domain>, he would be able to strengthen the ice aspects in the air to the point where he could force his skills beyond the usual tier.


    When this activated, a blizzard surrounded his body, and his Ice-Poison Skills were boosted by several dozen percentage points.


    Winter''s Edge.


    des of snow fluttered around Ss, and his body froze in the air for but a moment before he drew a finger across the air.


    <Chilling Scythe>.


    The de light, swirling the sharp protrusions of Winter''s Edges, shot right into the open wound of the spider queen.


    Ss descended after it,nding on the queen''s head and pushing an arm into her open flesh wound.


    The spike of pain woke the spider queen up, and Ss vaguely heard Nosphaleen coughing up a mouthful of blood in all the chaos. If not for the fact he knew she was there, he would have very likely missed herpletely.


    He didn''t have the time to mind it.


    He held onto the spider queen''s body with fierce determination.


    When it tried to cast its defensive skill again, he cast <Arctic Howl Mutant> at the same time. Amplified by his <Arctic King''s Domain>, it was several fold stronger than it should have been, shing against the forceful push of the spider queen, keeping him in ce, and strengthening the spread of the poison even further.


    It was only now Ss truly understood the power of <Arctic King''s Domain>. It was one thing when he was already stuck in and of ice, but where it truly disyed its power was in worlds lost in a thick desert-like mess...


    Exactly like this one.


    SSSKKKREEEEEEEEE!!!


    The spider queen bucked and writhed, but Ss refused to let go. He stuck his entire arm into the hole in its eye, grabbing onto whatever slimy mess he could.


    His gaze was sharp and cold, the determination in his eyes not fading for even a moment. BANG!!


    The spider queen mmed into the side of its nest, pinning Ss'' body along with it. Ss felt practically his whole rib cage shatter at the same time. His bones punctured into his inner organs, and his body felt like it wanted to shut down.


    He had ended up far more injured than he wanted, but he knew that he didn''t have the luxury to rest on hisurels. The next time the spider queen flung him away, it wouldn''t be so foolish as to let him fall.


    Theck of attack options was really driving him into a wall as his vision swam and his arm threatened to loosen its grip. His other arm was still useless from the earlier


    , but that was the least of his worries when he had holes in his lung and liver now. The pain was absolutely excruciating. If the spider queen''s eye wasrge enough to crawl into, he would have. Unfortunately, while it was arge reaction, it wasn''t quite thatrge. With a grit of his teeth, he pressed his foot into the back of its abdomen and pushed himself forward.


    Using the leverage, he pushed his arm deeper into its eye. Then he coated his finger with a sheen of telekinesis and Aether skin, pulling up the dregs of what he had left and piercing down and into the soft flesh.


    He had given it everything he had.


    The Arctic Emperor Cobra''s pouch, his own attacks, Nosphaleen''s interference, and now it looked like he would be willing to give up even his own arm for a chance.


    However, in his focus, he didn''t notice the abdomen of the spider queen suddenly light up again. But this time, it didn''t form a new elite spider.


    A root pierced down from above.


    Ss barely had the time to register the fact that his Luck sent him ring warning signs when it appeared above his back.


    He only moved the slightest bit when the root, full of poison, shot through his chest.


    Ss'' gritted teeth gave way to a spurt of blood.


    The root tried ripping him back, its barbs sticking into his body and trying to rip him apart from the inside out.


    But with a roar, Ss froze it all, pumping all of his Aether out without a thought to conserve it. This was a matter of his life and death, and there was no time to hesitate.


    He forcefully twisted his body, and the root that pierced through him snapped.


    Ss'' arm went loose, and he was sent flying off the body of the spider queen. Blood came from his mouth, so thick and dark that it looked as though it had had all its vitality sucked dry from it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    An entire half of Ss'' chest was covered by a sheen of ice, the blue veins pumping wildly beneath as it froze his blood over.


    His vision swam, and he couldn''t quite see clearly. He tried to interpret the signals his visualization was sending him, but all he saw was the vague outline of the spider queen rushing toward him.


    At the same time, he saw something even more horrifying.


    The spider queen pierced its leg through one of its elite children, and it turned into green motes of light that looked like twisting vines. These twisting vines surged into the spider queen and started to heal it.

 Chapter 514: Fear [Bonus]

    Chapter 514: Fear [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss winced as he tried to get up. If not for his hoard of serpents, he would have already been overrun by the smaller Woond Spiders. However, he knew that he couldn''t let the


    Woond Spider Queen have any more chances to heal.


    No matter what, he had to get up.


    No matter what.


    ...


    Hidden in the distance, Ragnar and the Sylphs were tense.


    They had just thought that Ss was dead, but then he came back with a maneuver they couldn''t quite understand. But even now, when they should have been rxing, it still felt as though the air had beenpletely sucked out of their lungs.


    This man... was dangerous.


    He was practically fighting such a beast on his own. A Quasi Bronze Beast...


    And he was making it suffer.


    They clenched their weapons, their gazes filled with thankfulness that he should die soon. No matter what, they had to make certain of that.


    A man who could make it this far without support had to be taken out as quickly as possible... because the day he managed to build a real faction around himself would likely be the day the rest of them didn''t have a chance anymore.


    Ragnar understood Earth''s situation better than most people. He knew that there were other people who were just as dangerous. But those people were hidden experts of the governments... slumbering powerhouses of the families... stowed away trump cards of Legacy... ancient Races with foundations deeper than any of them could imagine...


    But if there was another person like Ss, a person without such foundations who had managed to be so dangerous...


    He couldn''t name them.


    ...


    Ss pushed himself up, blood drizzling down his face. He nearly fell, his bodycking the blood needed to stop his head from spinning. It felt like the ground was moving beneath him, and it only made it worse that it was in part. The roots weren''t exactly the most solid floor there was.


    They moved and swayed, shifting and bouncing with his every step.


    Ss looked ahead, meeting the gaze of the spider queen. Or, at least, what was left of it. He could see it.


    Another person would feel despair right now, but he refused to allow himself to sink into that abyss once again. Instead, he was focused on another thing.


    Fear.


    Noting from himself, but the scent he could feeling off of the Woond Spider Queen.


    He could feel it as though it was lingering in the air like the dense fog of dusk. He could feel its inferiority. He could feel the power of being the superior beast.


    The Woond Spider Queen shuddered as it took a step back.


    There was something particrly sinister about a Ss with a thick branch sticking out of his chest, iced over as though he couldn''t feel it in the slightest.


    Although his legs wobbled, his gaze itself was firm.


    His Will zed deep within, the solid light practically boiling over.


    He was someone who had shattered the ss ceiling of Earth''s Will. He was someone who refused to allow a mere stat to dictate just how strong his Will might or might not be.


    He was someone who was determined not to die here.


    <Astral Will Fission>.


    Ss sacrificed an entire 1000 of his Will in a single sitting.


    The Woond Spider Queen couldn''t even feel it. Its eyes werepletely locked onto Ss, its fear gripping its heart and its soul. It could feel that a danger wasing, and it knew that that danger was Ss, but it had no ability to fight back against it.


    At that moment, Ss recalled his experience in the Sylph Dungeon. Thest Will trial used kamikaze Astral Wills to attack his psyche, but they had been unable to seed because his Will was too strong.


    Back then, he had the thought of using <Astral Will Fission> as a foundation to do exactly this, but he didn''t dare to try for fear of the permanent decrease to his Will.


    But this time, there was no other choice. So he made the right decision without the slightest hesitation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His Will came infused with all of his Silver Grade Ice-Poison affinity. And it pierced right into the spider queen''s very soul.


    Ss didn''t move, and neither did the spider queen.


    They stood there, dozens of meters apart, staring at one another seemingly without the slightest intention of moving.


    The spider queen was already close to itsst legs. The amount of poison that had been pumped through its body was tremendous. If it was any other beast without a poison affinity, it would have long since copsed.


    Although Ss'' poison was far stronger than its own, it had the Level and Aether advantage. The Arctic Emperor Cobra weakened that advantage, but after the spider queen activated its Kingly Aura, it became several times more difficult for it to deeply root itself.


    The Rule Breaking ability of these King Beasts was precisely what made them so supremely powerful. Their stats were almost a secondary worry. Unless you could overwhelm them... you would have no chance at all.


    However, now...


    Ragnar and the Sylphs could only watch in silence as Ss stared down the spider queen, and their hearts quaked as the beast actually took a step back, and then another, before it froze.


    Then they witnessed something that they would never forget.


    The spider queen, frozen in ce, began to slowly ice over.


    Before, the blue Runes were only growing slowly. But all of a sudden, they elerated,


    overwhelming its body.


    Soon, half its body was encased in ice, and then it was over 70% before there was almost nothing at all that wasn''t frozen.


    It tried to open its mouth to echo out with onest mournful cry, but as it was in the process,


    its maw was the final piece to be frozen solid.


    The spider queen stopped moving. Forever.


    [Field Dungeon of <Woond Spider Queen> Cleared]

 Chapter 515: Plentiful Rewards [Bonus]

    Chapter 515: Plentiful Rewards [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss heaved long, slow breaths. The aches in his body were practically screaming at him, trying to get him to copse to the ground, but he was well aware that things wouldn''t end so simply.


    [Rewards]


    [>Woond Spider Den (Den)]


    [>Woond Poison Lance (Treasure)]


    [>Woond Spider Queen yer (Title)]


    [>Woond Territory Key (Treasure)]


    [>Woond Web (Fortress)]


    The rewards were plentiful, and even without looking into them too deeply, Ss had a feeling that their grades were also exceptionally high.


    He likewise saw many things that he had never seen before. For example, what was a "Fortress"? It was the first category of its kind that he had seen. And also, what was a Territory Key?


    The Evergreen Territory was, well... a Territory. Could it be that defeating this Woond Spider gave him the rights to a Territory?


    But where was this Territory? Could it be that that was the true location that this part of Earth was meant to connect to on the Aether ne? If that was the case, would it be as barren, dry, and hot as thisnd? If that was the case, then it might not be so great to gain this reward.


    [Woond Territory Key (Unranked) (Treasure)]


    [Bring this Key to the Woond Territory in exchange for ownership of thend.]


    It seemed that his guesses were correct. But it couldn''t be all bad.


    An entire Multi Quest was necessary to take charge of the Evergreen Territory, but with this Key he would just have to show up. Though, he had risked his life just to get it. Most others would have died long ago.


    [Woond Web (Silver) (Fortress)]


    [Protect your City with the Spirit of the Woond Spider Queen]


    The description was vague and there didn''t seem to be much else to it, but after asking the Madness Key, Ss realized why that was. He wasn''t a City Lord, so there were certain breakdowns he couldn''t see.


    A Fortress was a Treasure that could be applied to a City Stele to give it certain upgrades. In this case, the Woond Web would rece the city walls, overhaul the Military Encampment, and provide certain immunities and boosts to the cities and soldiers.


    A Military Encampment was a building that could be built through the City Stele, and it was often one of the required upgrades for a City Stele to evolve. The city wall was the same.


    However, with a Fortress applied, this expense could be ignored.


    The city wall itself was often one of the greatest expenses a City Lord would have to incur, but with a Fortress, so long as it was of high enough Grade, it would evolve naturally so long as the other upgrade requirements were met.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Military Encampment was what could decide how well a soldier was trained and what natural abilities they would have. Normally, the easiest way to upgrade a soldier was by upgrading the Military Encampment or outfitting it with ss Steles.


    But a Fortress could do this naturally.


    Ss couldn''t see the details, but the Woond Web probably gave some sort of basic poison immunity and might even allow the soldiers that were summoned to have decent poison affinity as well.


    If these soldiers were paired with the Woond Spider Den, then a City would be able to create a whole cavalry of poison masters. It would truly be a uniquebination.


    But it would be tough to justify.


    Cassarae already had to deal with issues with her citizens rted to the Rotten Wolves. The spawned people of cities couldn''t just be treated like normal NPCs, and you had to consider things other than just raw power output.


    Poison and spiders were certainly two things that people might not take too kindly to.


    [Woond Poison Lance (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+300 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce; Erode]


    [Strength is doubly as Effective]


    [Destroy structural integrity of Aether]


    [Durability: 50/50]


    The initial stats weren''t as overwhelming as the Basilisk Skin Armor, but the potential effects of Erode spoke for themselves. Between the piercing power, and the fact that an opponent''s Aether skin would practically shatter under the effects of Erode, it was a truly powerful


    weapon.


    It was too bad its uses had little to nothing to do with Ss. He couldn''t use it as much. It was particrly heavy, and it wasn''t the sort of nimble weapon that was ideal for his telekinesis. But, it would be a nice-to-have trump card along with his heavy, chained stone.


    [Woond Spider Den (FFF+)]


    [Level: 25]


    [Spawn Rate: 3]


    [Mutation Rate: 0.1]


    The Spawn Rate of the Den shocked Ss once more. To spawn three creatures that powerful a day was ridiculous. But the fact the Mutation Rate was 0.1 was even crazier.


    That meant for every ten Woond Spiders formed, one of them would be a mutation.


    A mutation might not necessarily mean that it would be stronger; it was also possible that it could be weaker. However, that many chances at a mutation could mean that one of the Woond Spiders that spawned just mighte out as strong as the Woond Spider


    Queen.


    For the first time, Ss actually felt like the danger of this Field Dungeon was actually worth it... Especially since he was fairly certain that this wasn''t all he would gain.


    Now, it was just a matter of whether or not he would actually survive.


    He had quickly scanned the treasures not because he had the leisure to do so, but precisely because he didn''t have any time.


    He knew that the moment the barriers of the Field Dungeon copsed, he would have more enemies on the way. He had looked through the Treasures in hopes that he would find something that could boost his odds of survival right now, but unfortunately he didn''t find


    any such smoking gun.


    But time waited for no man. He could already sense the movement, and soon enough, his


    enemies began to appear.


    There were only two, and both of them were Sylphs.


    Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but narrow when he saw this. There were definitely more of them. It


    was just a question of where they were.


    He realized what the answer was immediately and a long arm formed of green aura shot


    toward them.

 Chapter 516: Slight of Hand

    Chapter 516: Slight of Hand


    ?


    The Sylphs braced themselves for an attack, only for the arm to suddenly change directions and touch the frozen corpse of the Woond Spider Queen.


    At the same time, Ss'' Beacon activated once again, agitating what remained of the spiders and calling in more. He couldn''t give them any truemands, but they knew enough to know exactly who it was that he wanted to target.


    The swarm of serpents rushed toward the Sylphs as the Woond Spider Queen disappeared into Ss'' Madness Key.


    As for Ss himself, he had already turned to run, a burning pain in his chest.


    There were only two possibilities as to why the others hadn''t shown up yet.


    The first was that they wanted to bait him and spring yet another trap.


    The second was that they were setting up an area defense around him, trying to create an inescapable that he would be hard-pressed to fight his way out of... especially in his current state.


    He had already deduced that Lucius and Ragnar, though they seemed to have the same goal of killing him, weren''t actually working together. That meant that this group wouldn''t have known that he would be trapped in this Field Dungeon, which also meant that they would have had to set up a separate set of defenses to force him to keep fighting the spider queen. But by extension of that, thanks to his Beacon Path Talent, those defenses had more or less been shredded apart, so they would have no choice but to set up new ones or rely on another contingency n.


    If he was lucky, they had only just started now.


    If he was unlucky... well, he really hoped that he had suffered enough for the system to leave him alone for a bit, or else he might well and truly be screwed.


    His Speed was already cut in half by the Warrant ced on him, and his injuries only took another major cut out of it.


    Luckily, while they had to be careful weaving in and out of these paths, he did not. After all, this entire web was a poisonous hell trap, while to him he was practically immune.


    Well... he was immune for as long as his beaten and ragged body could hold up.


    Beacon lit deep within his soul, and he called for more help on top of what he had already received. However, he was quickly running out of steam.


    With a quick check to his status page, he realized that his Will was actually somehow still at 1999. However, he could feel a great fatigueing from his mind as though its sticity was really being pushed to the limit.


    The use of Beacon was a huge weight on his mind, but it was something he could normally easily withstand. But if his continuous use of Rune Soul was stacked on top of that, it was a miracle that he hadn''t passed out already.


    Kalden and Rylen were hot on Ss'' tail. They were caught off guard by the sudden change, not expecting such a prompt decision from Ss. But it was only a moment before they were a mere meter or so behind him, ready to reach out and grab him.


    Ss would have cursed if he had the mind to. At a time like this, one more use of his nar Convergence Gate would have been a miracle sent from above. Unfortunately, he had already used them all up.


    The timer on his Fusion Path Talent was up, but now his body was too heavily injured to even use it.


    He felt a hand swipe at him from behind.


    He tried to activate <Cyrobane Elevation>, only to realize that he simply didn''t have enough Aether. He had pushed out everything he had in that battle, and he was running on fumes. The only thing he could do was dive to the side to avoid a grab, but the gash cut across his back deep enough that even the ice he had used to protect his pierced side fragmented.


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood, a deep fury hidden in his eyes. He truly hated this feeling, more than he could describe in just a few words.


    The worst of it was that even if he managed to find the miracle waiting to give him a path of survival, this likely wouldn''t be thest time in his life that he would have to deal with such a situation.


    How far would he have to run? How much blood would he have to shed? How much pain would he have to experience before he could finally walk through this universe without a single hint of fear?


    His waning Will suddenly sparked and red with life.


    [Title Evolved]


    [Title Sequence Shake of the Die has changed]


    [Surge of the Die > Slight of Hand]


    [The Odds shift ever against you, but who cares for Odds when you have Will]


    [When entering Heavily Injured status or facing off against ten or more enemies, decrease enemy stats by 20%]


    [Note: the stronger your Will, the lower the requirements]


    The moment Ss saw the Title change, he remembered that he was actually in the middle of


    a Title Sequence for Surge of the Die, but the requirements for the next Title were tall.


    He didn''t think that it would mutate before he even got a chance toplete it.


    At the same time he saw this Title, he reacted on instinct. He used Semi-Fusion and activated the Basilisk King''s <Voice of a King> Skill at the same time.


    The synergy between his Title and skill was forced when his Extricate was pushed into the picture. A subconscious understanding of Blood Essence created a unique resonance that he couldn''t quite put his finger on and simply didn''t have the time to.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    At that moment, Kalden and Rylen felt their bodies shiver as though they had been stripped of all their clothes, just in time for a heavy stone to swing down from above.

 Chapter 517: Only the Beginning

    Chapter 517: Only the Beginning


    ?


    SPLAT.


    It was a grotesque, wet noise, one so resonating that the two Sylphs might have even heard it from the afterlife. They had both thought that they had taken Ss more than seriously enough, but neither could have possibly imagined that they would actually die like this.


    But there was no medicine for regret. And even if there was one, they weren''t alive to take it. Ss coughed up another mouthful of blood as he slowly stood, but there was the very same calmness to him. Even though that me of rage was still flickering deep within his eyes, he was starting to understand more and more what this world needed from him.


    It was still the same two words... Be Strong.


    But for some reason, every time he survived a situation like this one, his understanding of those words would warp, ripple, and change as though it was bing more tangible in a way that was hard to exin.


    He reached up a hand and grabbed the branch that was ripping through his lung. umting what small bits of Ice-Poison he had left, he poured it all in.


    He was hesitant to do this earlier because he knew what it woulde with. But there were some things that he could only face head-on... and right now, there was a surging confidence rolling through him.


    Maybe it was foolhardy. Maybe it was him overestimating himself and the danger of the world.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    And yet, his Will still felt so tangible coursing through him.


    He had stepped through a threshold that few ever would, and somehow, though his Will seemed to not have changed, everything had changed at the same time.


    Intangible Will... Flexible Will... Burning Will... Tangible Will...


    They were all just stepping stones.


    Neither was as real or formic as Rune Mastery, and two people who had both had Burning Will might have vastly different oues and strengths assigned to them.


    Will was one of the most enigmatic stats that the system tracked. In fact, the truth was that before this current iteration of the system, Will was never something that was tracked because it was simply too difficult to.


    Ss'' trouble with telekinesis and figuring out his quirks wasn''t the only one of its kind. Many had faced the same struggles, and at best, the Will stat of the system could only be a general outline of your progress.


    It was no wonder why even those so-called stat debuffs couldn''t change the number on his stat screen.


    But why was all of this so important now?


    It was because Ss had sensed something very particr when his Title evolved just now. His Will had taken a step beyond a threshold, but it wasn''t the threshold itself that was so amazing... it was instead what it reminded him of...


    A Progenitor me.


    Was it truly one? No, of course not. Ss had felt the real thing before, and the gap between his flickering me of a Will and a real Progenitor me was worse than night and day. It might as well be likeparing the radius of a star and its size to a moon that could only reflect its light.


    However, the slight simrities enlightened him to something important.


    His Will wasn''t meant to follow a designed, preordained structure like his Rune Mastery was. It was meant to forge its own path toward indomitability, a path that would be decided by his own hands, built on a foundation of his blood and flesh.


    Ss wouldn''t realize for a while just how shocking it was for him to make such a revtion so early on, especially not without the guidance of a teacher or even a hint from the Madness Key. In fact, even if he were to ask the Madness Key, he would just end up stumbling into another Taboo.


    But one thing was for certain.


    This Greed Seed couldn''t hope to control him.


    Ss'' hold on the branch in his body tightened, and the wood suddenly shattered into a great number of pieces, leaving a gaping wound in his chest.


    But even as he sensed his other enemies closing in, he only waved a hand and pulled on the Greed Seed.


    The bloody remains of Kalden and Rylen convulsed before their Blood Essence was taken into his body.


    A pulsing vitality ripped through him, and his injuries, inrge part also thanks to his Dual ss Constitution that handled this sudden influx of energy far better than his original body could have, began to close at a speed visible to the naked eye. And, of course... his Lv12 Taboo Bond had something to say about all of this as well.


    Ss finally knew what it was that had been missing from the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s body. Grin had stripped it of its Blood Essence.


    The reason this didn''t affect the Beast Transmutation Pill was that the Beast Skin only worked on surface-level Genes, pretty much wasting the rest of the product. It made no difference whether the Blood Essence was there or not.


    But now that Ss not only understood what the Greed Seed could do, he was on a level that Grin wouldn''t even be able to look up to.


    Greed had days and still didn''t manage to fully absorb the Arctic Emperor Cobra''s Blood Essence. When Ss met him for a second time, the man still hadn''t recovered his full stats. But between his Dual ss Constitution, the fact he didn''t need to use a medium like Grin''s de, and the fact Extricate gave him a subconsciousprehension of Blood Essence and how it worked in his body...


    Ss had done what Grin couldn''t do in days in a matter of a few dozen seconds...


    Not just once...


    But twice over.


    The moment he began to use the Greed Seed, he could sense an attack on his mind, but it was rebuffed so easily it might as well have not been there at all.


    ''This is only the beginning. The more I strengthen it, the stronger that mental attack will be. But it doesn''t matter... you won''t be able to outpace my Will.''


    Ss looked up as hisplexion slowly became more rosy.


    There in the distance, Nosphaleen came closer, holding several bloody hands in her supposedly delicate fingers while a drizzle of blood dribbled down the corner of her cherry


    lips.

 Chapter 518: Down

    Chapter 518: Down


    ?


    "§´§Ñ§â.


    Nosphaleen let the heads drop to the floor of roots. Her own gaze was flickering with surprise as she watched Ss'' chest close before her eyes. She couldn''t quite understand how anyone could heal so fast.


    Even the top-graded Healing Elixirs wouldn''t be so great. For it to be so effective, it would have to at least be an E-Grade Elixir. But the problem with them was that if an F-Grade existence took them, they would explode and die.


    That meant it would not only have to be an E-Grade Elixir, but it would also need to be an exceptionally high-graded one, maybe one so highly graded that even D-Grade existences might fight over it. Only an E-Grade Elixir that was so great could both have the power and gentleness necessary to be so effective.


    Having this sort of context, it was no wonder Nosphaleen was so shocked.


    Of course, she had no idea how close to the truth she was.


    The Sylphs that came down to Earth had an odd lock on their bodies. Every time Ss tried to absorb their Genes, the system didn''t recognize them, and even Extricate didn''t seem to work.


    Ss still didn''t quite understand why this was, and unfortunately, their methods were Taboo, so the Madness Key couldn''t give him the answer he needed. But what was certain was that the strength the Sylphs disyed now was only a fraction of their real strength.


    Although it might not be as exaggerated as them being E-Grade powerhouses, Ss wouldn''t be surprised if they were close.


    If by chance they were E-Grade powerhouses, it would exin why even Extricate didn''t work on them. After all, Extricate was only designed to be used against F-Grade existences.


    But regardless, the Blood Essence he took from them was certainly not normal by any means. That was because even if they weren''t E-Grade existences, they were part of an E-Grade race, which naturally made their Blood Essence a level higher than anything Earth had to offer right


    now.


    It could be said that of all the people on Earth he could use to replenish himself, these two were among the best.


    "Their leader got away?" Ss asked, ignoring Nosphaleen''s shock. The more enigmatic she thought he was, the less likely it would be for her to turn on him.


    It wasn''t lost on him that he didn''t have full control of her when she wasn''t one of his Contracts. And now the cancer Gene was heavily damaged, so he might only be able to use it once or twice more.


    So until he found a way to make her a permanent Serpentes, he would have to make himself thergest shadow in her mind.


    "I''m not sure who their leader is," Nosphaleen said with a shake of her head.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Her response meant that she hadn''t seen Ragnar slip away; otherwise, she would have understood what he meant.


    Nosphaleen hade back with five heads, two of which came from Germaine and Britt, while the other three were Sylphs. Judging by the looks on their faces, she had caught at least the Sylphs off guard.


    ''He''s smart...''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss knew that none of the heirs were simple characters. Ragnar had proven that several times, and he had suffered enough at Lucius'' hand by now to understand it even more intimately.


    But he didn''t expect Ragnar to manage to slip away.


    ''No...''


    Ss'' gaze shed as he realized something. He had nned on healing up some more, but it seemed that he wouldn''t have the time.


    "Let''s go. He should be close by."


    Nosphaleen was surprised again, but she didn''t question it. She had already seen that Ss'' brain simply didn''t work like a normal person''s did. Even if she had ess to the same information, it would probably take her several times longer to reach the same conclusion. What surprised her even more than Ss'' words, though, was the fact that instead of making his way out of this hellhole, he was going in deeper. Literally.


    Ss began opening up a path beneath them, ripping through the roots and beginning to descend downward.


    "How''s your immunity to the poison?" Ss asked.


    "I should be okay with my Aether skin active."


    Ss nodded. Nosphaleen''s Intelligence was high, so her reserves of Aether would be equally as high. With the help of the armor he had given her and the upgrades they had already fed it with, her Constitution wouldn''t be too bad either.


    She should be fine.


    As for himself, he wasn''t back to 100% yet. The Blood Essence could help his Physical stats, but did nothing to change the state of his mind or his Aether.


    While his body was soaking up the Blood Essence, he also couldn''t divert his attention to other things like casting skills because he had to both be wary of the Greed Seed and be mindful of his control over the powerful Blood Essence.


    That said...


    "Use this. Pick up any snake corpses you see along the way and convert them to pills for me." ... He had another method of replenishing his Aether quickly.


    Nosphaleen obliged as Ss picked his way forward. It was best he do the heavy lifting on this front, or else no matter how strong Nosphaleen''s Aether, she would eventually hit her limit due to the umted damage and corrosion.


    Ss began swallowing the pills Nosphaleen handed him one after another. The snakes might be weak, but there were many of them, and most had at least part poison affinity that made them more useful to him than not.


    Although it wasn''t the perfect Ice-Poison affinity that would help him best, it was better than


    nothing.


    By the time he swallowed the sixth one, his Aether had replenished by 30%, and he was closing in on refining the rest of the Blood Essence.


    However, it was also around then that their efforts to dig deeper came to an end.


    ''There really is something down here...''

 Chapter 519: The...

    Chapter 519: The...


    ?


    Ss hung from thest vestiges of the web of tree roots, his gaze flickering. There was nothing but a fall to darkness beneath him, but his visualization was also not obstructed by the dense web system either.


    Thanks to that, he could see a full 100 meters below. Or, rather, what was effectively 15 meters


    or so.


    And that was enough to notice that there was an abandoned city beneath him, just as expected.


    Of course, Ss couldn''t have been certain of this. He wasn''t an oracle who could see the future. But he had had his guesses.


    The first oddity was the fact he had almost fallen into this abyss before. The spider queen had tried to drop him down here, and if not for the barrier of the Field Dungeon keeping him in, the n just might have seeded.


    But that was only one part. It truly was odd that there was a root system like this built so high above the true ground, but that could easily be exined away by the existence of the spider queen.


    What couldn''t be exined away so easily were Ragnar''s odd decisions.


    Why was he so willing to give up his city for the sake of taking him down?


    It made sense for Lucius to make such a sacrifice, but had he really been such a thorn to Ragnar? He shouldn''t even really know who he was. Even if he had figured it out, their interactions were too few and he shouldn''t have built up such a hatred for him.


    There was a chance that it was rted to his partnership with the Sylphs, but that would only make sense if Ragnar was stupid.


    After all, Ss had already killed the best trump card the Sylphs had in the Evergreen Territory. And he had yet to confirm if the other two System Cities were under their control or not.


    There was a very real possibility that the only foundation the Sylphs and Ragnar both had left in the Evergreen Territory was Ragnar''s city.


    So why abandon it?


    Even more shocking than that, they should know that Ss had failed the Evergreen Multi Quest. That meant that they should have a wide open door to take advantage of. So why were they eager to kill him to the point of allowing the portal to Evergreen to close on them?


    Was his life really that important to them?


    There were only two possible exnations.


    Either the rtionship between Ragnar and the Sylphs was built on more than just mutual benefits...


    Highly unlikely.


    Or... the group had found something else to rely on.


    And clearly, the answer to that was two.


    ''A fifteen-meter fall. We can manage.''


    Ss rocked his body and then, with a sway, he let himself fall down after signaling to Nosphaleen to be as quiet as possible.


    Nosphaleen obliged, and realizing this wasn''t the right time to use Aether, she allowed herself to drop down in the direction of Ss.


    Ss realized that Nosphaleen was going tond awkwardly, so he caught her before she slipped off the building theynded on. It made him realize his visualization wasn''t nearly asrge as his own.


    He had already guessed as much, but it was only 15 meters. Could her visualization really be weaker than that?


    There wasn''t much time to mind it all, so he began to scan the region.


    The first thing he realized was that this ce had an extreme fascination with scorpions. The artifacts left behind by whoever once lived here, whether that be the Gods they worshipped or the bowls they ate from, all seemed to incorporate scorpions in one way or another.


    It wasn''t much of a surprise that Ss would think of Ragnar and his tattoos when he saw all of this.


    Could this be where Ragnar had gotten his ss from?


    Ss didn''t really have much of a luxury to consider what his second ss would be, especially with the time crunch of his first still looming over his head.


    He was closing in on just about seven months left toplete all the legs of his Chain Quest, or else there would be hell to pay.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Plus, he had gained so many benefits from the Dual ss Constitution even without a second ss to pair it with, so he wasn''t all that obsessed.


    But now that he had run into such a situation, he couldn''t help but be curious.


    His visualization red outward and he began to check things over one by one. But he didn''t find Ragnar immediately like he expected. It seemed that this underground vige was farrger than he knew. It was more like a true city.


    He hopped down from the building quietly, and Nosphaleen followed much more nimbly this time.


    ''Judging by the general flow of the city, if there are important regions, it''ll probably be in that direction.''


    He set off, still remaining cautious.


    If Ragnar had great gains from this ce, this would obviously be his home turf.


    Ss might be eager to kill him to be rid of one more annoyance in his life, but he couldn''t be too careless or else he might end up being counter-killed.


    It wasn''t long before Ss and Nosphaleen reached the core of this forgotten city. Though, that was mostly because of their stats.


    They must have had to travel what was easily tens of kilometers. It was no wonder they had managed to benefit from this ce without being worried about the influence of the spider


    queen.


    However, this made things tricky.


    There was no guarantee that Ragnar coulde to the center of the city like this. He could be hiding anywhere, and it would be practically impossible to find him.


    All of their sneaking around was meaningless at this point, but it was still best to conserve their Aether since there was no longer a portal in the region. Given enough time, this piece of Earth would be Aether-barren again.


    As Ss was trying to understand what it was he was looking at in the darkness, Nosphaleen


    suddenly spoke through gritted teeth.


    "The Dogons."

 Chapter 520: The Dogons [Bonus]

    Chapter 520: The Dogons [Bonus]


    ?


    "The Dogons."


    The simple words were quick to catch Ss'' attention.


    "This is a lost city of the Dogons?"


    "Almost certainly," Nosphaleen replied, trying to keep her cool.


    "How do you know?"


    "I didn''t at first. There is definitely more than one primitive race of Earth that worshipped idols like this."


    As she spoke, their gaze was focused on the shadowy outline of the scorpion god before them.


    He had the head of a human, the carapace and tail of a scorpion on his back, and six arms. Standing at over ten meters tall, he looked to the skies as though he wanted to challenge the


    sun.


    "However, there''s only one race I know of that had a fondness for fusing the likeness of humanoids with their gods. They believed it made them closer to their gods.


    "Less arrogant races believed that their gods made them in the image of themselves and granted them free will to worship them.


    "The Dogons believed the opposite. They believed that it was their duty to bring themselves closer to the image of their gods as the ultimate sign of respect."


    Ss nodded slowly, but this still wasn''t enough to confirm for certain, especially since she had been in captivity all her life and couldn''t have possibly had a chance to see the Dogons before in any form.


    Unless, of course, the Dogons were in captivity with her. But if that was the case, she would have certainly mentioned it already, especially with how many times he had questioned her about certain things.


    "In that case, how do you think someone might go about benefiting from a ce like this one?" Ss asked.


    Ragnar almost certainly obtained something from this ce, and he had also found that it had enough potential to bet his future on, and yet Ss had yet to find anything special here.


    There was no Dungeon entrance, no Quest to trigger, there didn''t seem to be anything of value at all.


    "You think the leader gained something from here?"


    "I believe so. He had an ability rted to tattoos. He activated them to form an illusory armor over his body that could both be used to bolster his attack and defense."


    Nosphaleen''s brows shot up. "That''s the Unique Gene ability of the Dogons. They are born with Rune Flesh naturally because of it, and they etch Runes in the form of tattoos across their bodies to increase their strength.


    "It''s an extremely powerful ability."


    Ss raised an eyebrow. "Their Unique Gene allows them toprehend Rune Flesh? That''s it?"


    Nosphaleen gave Ss an odd look. It didn''t seem like this master of hers understood just how rare Rune Flesh was.


    The vast majority of people would never cross into this fourth level. To have a race that was naturally born at that state gave them an enormous advantage that couldn''t be exined in just a few words.


    The Dogons were far from a barbarian race. Although they looked the part, it was ironically because of their intelligence that it was possible.


    That said...


    "No, that isn''t the only ability of their Unique Gene. Technically, their Unique Gene is a very high level of flesh maniption. It gives them the ability to recover quicker, which also tends to trante to very high Physical stats. But most importantly, they can turn over their cells at an exceptional rate.


    "So, if they have a Rune Etching on their bodies that is no longer useful to them, they can ''heal'' from it and rece it with another. They''ve even created patches that they can use in battle to quickly swap methods. If you ever battle a Dogon, you have to be careful. Because in one moment, you could have gotten used to their attack patterns before they all of a sudden became apletely differentbatant before your eyes.


    "Many of my people have died due to their tricks."


    Ss listened intently, taking note of everything he could. No one would know someone better than their enemies. From the way it sounded, the Clypsians had been inbat with the Dogons for a long while. They likely knew one another very well.


    ''The Unique Gene of ''Siren''s Call''... but I''ll hold off from asking about the Clypsians. She might be willing to tell me everything about the Dogons because she hates them, but it could cause problems if she realized I wanted to know the weaknesses of her race as well...''


    He still hadn''t forgotten how those three Clypsians had appeared for Nosphaleen. It was clear that their camaraderie couldn''t be underestimated, even if they had given up on her in the end.


    "Then what are their weaknesses?" he asked.


    "It depends on the Dogon you''re facing. Most of them have limits, and not all of them are created equal.


    "Most Dogons can only take on two or three Rune Etchings at a time. They also tend to run out of Aether and mental capacity quickly because of the strain using their Runes puts on them, so they''ll focus on using their pure Physical capabilities for as long as they can get away with it. "The most dangerous Dogons, though, are the Bone Dogons. If you ever run across a Dogon with bone piercing through their nose or ears, be extremely careful. These are the most powerful of them, and their Rune Flesh is high graded enough to Rune Etch directly into their bone, making them several times more powerful.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "If you run into a Dogon with odd bone growthsing out of them, however..." Nosphaleen gave Ss a heavy and somber look. "... Run the other way."


    Ss didn''t reply to this warning. His head turned and looked up at the statue, and he felt he had pieced together what Ragnar gained from this ce.


    He reached a hand forward and passed a palm across the statue.


    ''As expected...''


    The Runes. They were here.


    There was no treasure to find because the city itself was the treasure. A treasure trove of


    knowledge.

 Chapter 521: The Treasure [Bonus]

    Chapter 521: The Treasure [Bonus]


    ?


    Even before the Summoning, Ss'' memory was on apletely different levelpared to others. With his Wisdom increasing to its current point, it was only more exaggerated.


    He could remember the exact configuration of the tattoos on Ragnar''s body, even the ones not readily visible through his clothing. That was because when he almost killed Ragnar through the Scorned Wraps, he had sensed the clear fluctuation of the tattoos, or rather, what Nosphaleen called Rune Etchings.


    Because of that, even in the darkness, he had been able to feel some of the same fluctuationsing from this statue. When he felt them with his palms, he was even more certain of the simrities.


    He noticed that Ragnar had made mistakes in several locations, and it shocked him that he was actually able to get his tattoos to work with so many ws built up over them.


    Maybe it was even a good thing for him that he had made so many mistakes. If the tattoos were as powerful as they should be, it was hard to say if Ragnar''s body could even withstand them.


    Looking at them now, Ss even began to wonder if he could withstand them.


    This must be what Nosphaleen was talking about. Being able to use Rune Flesh was one thing, but being capable of actually withstanding the power of the Runes was another.


    Some of the Runes on this statue only had 20 or so Foundations, which was manageable enough. But if one looked deeper, many of the Runes came together to form awork. By the time you looked at the whole picture, you were gazing at a manuscript that required thousands of Foundations.


    To put this into perspective, Ss'' Freeze and slow Ice-Poison Runes were already enough to overwhelm the affinity of the spider queen. If not for his weakness in Aether, he could have killed the spider queen in a few minutes at worst.


    Yet, they only had a little over 50 Foundations each.


    What sort of concept was it to be two orders of magnitude beyond that?


    In Ss'' opinion, even his Dual ss Constitution couldn''t bridge the gap he would need to aplish this.


    Suddenly, something sparked in his mind as he made a connection.


    "You said that the Dogons likely received help to elerate their progress?"


    Nosphaleen didn''t expect Ss to suddenly start talking and was taken aback. But she replied quite quickly.


    "That''s the only way they could have reced us as the overlord race after just one Summoning. Logically speaking, we should have been the overlord race of both the Second and Third Summonings, but they took over thetter."


    "Did your elders ever tell you why they thought that?"


    "... We didn''t know any specifics," she replied after a while. Honestly, she was a bit embarrassed. She epted everything her elders told her without hesitation, but she was also a grown woman now. How could she not understand the hatred and animosity of her people and what kind of biases that would cause in them?


    It made her wonder if Ss had noticed something contradictory about her statements. She really shouldn''t speak about unverified matters like they were facts.


    Luckily, Ss'' next words made her calm.


    "Have you ever seen a Rune system thisplex?"


    Nosphaleen blinked. "I..."


    She didn''t know how to answer.


    Ss looked over at her with a frown. "Do you not have Rune Enlightenment?"


    "I do, but... I can''t see anything right now."


    Ss frowned. "What do you mean you can''t see anything?"


    "It''s too dark."


    "Use your visualization."


    "Visualization? You mean Sixth Sense? I can''t use that to observe Runes, not unless I have Rune So..."


    The realization overcame Nosphaleen, and she looked at Ss like she was looking at a monster.


    Her lips were slightly parted, and she didn''t know what to say.


    She had been around for long enough to learn several things about this world... like the fact the Summoning only began less than a year ago.


    How was it possible for anyone to master Rune Soul that quickly?


    Seeing her reaction, Ss too understood the disconnect.


    "Use your hands and see what you can make out."


    Nosphaleen was starting to get more and more embarrassed as their interactions went on. Her elders had always said she was one of the best geniuses of their race, and if they were still the overlord race, she would have a chance to unlock the Progenitor Path.


    Yet, why was it that she felt she couldn''tpare to a man her people only referred to as cavemen and apes?


    She did as Ss described, but she was having a hard time.


    Even the blind needed to be taught how to read braille, and that was anguage specifically designed to be easier to feel out. How could she be expected to piece together theplexities of the Runes with just the feel?


    "I can''t do it," she finally admitted.


    Ss fell into silence, but he wasn''t really thinking about Nosphaleen; he was still focused on these Runes as though he was trying to piece something together.


    Suddenly, he remembered Nosphaleen was by his side and spoke again.


    "This statue, from what I''ve seen, is broken into threeyers. The first foundationalyer is formed from Runes with 20 or so Foundations. There are 68 for the limbs and 32 more just for the torso alone. Between it all, there are probably around 2300 or so Foundations.


    "The secondyer is a linkage between them that''s formed of at least that many Foundations


    on its own.


    "And then on top of that, there''s a meshyered over the top thatbines with the rest to form a grand total of over 9000 Foundations."


    Ss didn''t seem to notice that the more he spoke, the more frozen Nosphaleen seemed to


    be.


    It wasn''t just the shock of such an intricate array of Runes... But...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    How was it even possible for someone to analyze them all so fast? Even figuring out the exact number of Strokes and Foundations in one Rune should take dozens of minutes even for one


    as simple as just 20 Foundations.


    How did his brain work?

 Chapter 522: Uneasy

    Chapter 522: Uneasy


    ?


    Nosphaleen was in too much of a daze to answer properly. It was only after she felt Ss'' gaze on her that she responded.


    "I..." she shook her head, stabilizing her mental state. "I can''t say for certain, but... what I do know is that F-Grade Runes won''t have more than 100 Foundations and E-Grade ones won''t have more than 1000. To be approaching 10,000, it would have to be a nearly D-Grade Rune. But..."


    "But?"


    "The way you described it, it''s hard to say if it''s really a D-Grade Rune. As talented as you clearly are, analyzing a D-Grade Rune would cause your soul to burst apart, that I''m certain of."


    "Hm..."


    Ss didn''t disagree with her; he wasn''t so arrogant. Maybe he had analyzed it wrongly? "It''s possible..." Nosphaleen started somewhat hesitantly. "I can''t say for certain, but there are many Rune disciplines. I''ve heard of connecting Runes like this; they call them Rune Networks. It''s a method of using many weaker Runes to mimic the effects of a stronger Rune. The problem is that I''ve never heard of one being soplex."


    Nosphaleen gritted her teeth, one part due to the frustration of her hesitancy when facing Ss, and another part due to the fact that it was getting clearer by the second that the Dogons really had received outside help.


    There was no way they had managed to create these themselves.


    Ss fell into silence before he spoke out a theory of his.


    "Could it be simplified, then?"


    "You want to weaken it?"


    "No. I mean that maybe this statue is a simplified D-Grade Rune."


    "If I was a higher existence and I wanted to help a lower existence elerate their growth, I would need to use methods that gave immediate benefits and long-term benefits.


    "With this statue here, on the one hand, it''s very clearly beneficial in the short term. But what if it also helpsy a foundation that could help youprehend higher Grade Runes?"


    It dawned on Ss that this just might be a more robust version of what he had already seen before.


    The first time he analyzed a Rune without any sort of foundational understanding, hadn''t he done exactly what this mesh, Rune Etching, armor-type, Rune Network was doing?


    He had broken down the original Ice-Poison Rune into many pieces, designating what each piece did one by one.


    It was only after that that he learned of Strokes, Foundations, and things of the like.


    Here, it seemed to be the same thing, just on apletely different scale.


    Nosphaleen''s eyes widened. "Yes, yes. That''s exactly how my elders taught me simpler Runes. But if that''s true..."


    "It would mean that the help the Dogons received had toe from someone with not just an understanding of D-Grade Runes, but a deep one."


    Nosphaleen clenched her teeth.


    Rune Masters, even at the F-Grade, were rare and highly sought after. She couldn''t even imagine how powerful a D-Grade Rune Master would be, let alone one that could distill the teachings of a D-Grade Rune into pieces that F-Grade existences couldprehend and digest.


    But there was something else they were both intelligent enough to understand but didn''t dare to say aloud...


    It was one thing for someone to be skilled enough to do this. But it was another matter entirely for them to be so casual about it.


    This statue had no protections; it was avable for everyone to experience, and it was only one of its kind.


    It was more likely than not that every hidden Dogon city across Earth had at least one of these statues, along with an unknown number of lesser statuesying around.


    This sort of casual dissemination of something they saw as so valuable could only mean one thing...


    This enemy of theirs didn''t see these teachings as nearly so valuable.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It was possible that this existence, then, was even beyond the D-Grade.


    But the shadow of even the E-Grade was sorge and looming that it was hard for them to even fathom, let alone the D-Grade. Imagining something or someone above that...


    It did them no good whatsoever.


    Ss had already tossed it to the back of his mind. Instead of trying to study the statue here, he instead began trying to find a way to take it away.


    Over the course of his journey, he had learned many things in regard to spatial treasures. The fact they had limits to the kind of things they could store was well known to him now, and it made the value of the Madness Key around his neck all the more potent even if the sheer size of its capacity was ignored.


    This statue was certainly a treasure of high order.


    Although it seemed like a simple carving, Ss could feel a clear power radiating from it. If it was ced into a normal spatial device, that device would definitely be torn to pieces. Ss wasn''t worried about the Madness Key. What he was worried about, though, was finding a method of digging this statue out of the ground. That could potentially be tricky depending on a few factors.


    However, he had underestimated the carelessness of the Dogon''s benefactor. Whoever they were, they clearly didn''t care about their statue ever corroding or being disced.


    The statue wasn''t even nailed into the ground.


    There were only two reasons Ragnar hadn''t taken it away. The first was because he didn''t have a spatial device like the Madness Key, and the second was that the statue was far too heavy.


    For normal people without telekinesis, taking things into a spatial device was a troublesome effort of manipting their Will into an intent that covered the entire object and contact.


    But for those with telekinesis...


    WHOOSH.


    An odd vacuum formed in the region after the statue vanished into the Madness Key. It was as though a hole had been left in the world and the ground beneath them destabilized.


    An uneasy feeling took hold of Ss.

 Chapter 523: Exact Requirements

    Chapter 523: Exact Requirements


    ?


    Ss stood in silence for a long while as the odd vacuum slowly settled down. However, it only took him a moment to realize something...


    He was already involved in something much more dangerous.


    The uneasy feeling wasing from the fact he felt that someone was trying to observe him. However, that feeling was much less sinister and oppressive than the feeling the crimson eye had given him.


    Whoever it was helping the Dogons... they weren''t nearly on the same level as whoever was behind the Greed Seed.


    Not even close.


    When he thought of this, Ss'' emotions settled down.


    There was only one thing to consider in a situation like this one, and that was growing stronger.


    The reason he had put the statue away this time instead of continuing to study it was twofold.


    First, it would take time and the benefits were unlikely to be immediate. That said, there would no doubt be heavy long-term benefits.


    And second... the reason why it wouldn''t be immediate was a bit troublesome to describe and it folded into several other issues.


    Ss hadn''t been there to hear Ragnar''s curses about the destruction of his tattoos, but he could make some guesses now.


    There were only two ways to make use of these Runes, a temporary method and a permanent method. Both required arge amount of mental strength, but the former was especially


    taxing.


    The temporary method involved forging the Runes mid-battle and infusing them into your flesh. This required a great deal of skill, and the consumption not only in the creation but in the sustaining of it would be astronomical.


    Byparison, one could use treasures to create dyes that could make it more permanent. Ss hadn''t known about this method in the past, but after observing the statue, he noticed the presence of several vitality-rich dyes that were used to paint it. These dyes carried the air of Blood Essence, so they couldn''t have possibly been chosen casually. However, he also had a strong enough sense for Blood Essence to know that there were several other things mixed in.


    Due to this, he made the deduction. However, he was certain that these things were likely to be very expensive.


    He could get the Blood Essence himself through Extricate, which would definitely make the cost much cheaper than it was for Ragnar. But he would still need to buy the other stuff.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' Rune Soul was already too heavily involved in hisbat style for him to tack on yet another responsibility to it. His Wisdom would have to be at least a magnitude greater before he feltfortable doing such a thing.


    What was interesting was that the Dogons most definitely used the second method, but ording to Nosphaleen, they were still hyper aware of the state of their stamina.


    It was clear that Ss was yet again an anomaly in this regard. Because he was pretty confident in using the second method with ease. However, that would take time to sort out.


    He would also likely need to find Ragnar to figure out how the man had deduced the materials he needed for the Rune Ink.


    Regardless, right now, Ss had finally pivoted to something else that had been on his mind. "Protect me." Ss said calmly.


    Nosphaleen nodded, though she didn''t know what Ss wanted to do. She was still surprised by how he managed to take the statue away. But at this point, she would just have to ept anything this monster did with open arms.


    Ss took a seat where the statue had once been and felt a great deal of energy surging into him.


    It seemed that the Dogons weren''tpletely careless with the statue. Part of the reason a vacuum had formed was because there was an undergroundwork of Aether Stones feeding into it. He would definitely have to investigate thatter.


    But for now...


    Ss brought out the spider queen''s corpse.


    [Path of the Mancer (Common) (Quest)]


    [You have disyed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy, following your own is much more difficult.]


    [The word Mancer has a storied history, deeper than you know. There are manyplex definitions but it can be boiled down to a single word: Control.]


    [Open up the Path of the Mancer or die trying.]


    [Common Reward Requirements]


    [>Kill a Level 20 creature with the Ice-Poison Path of the Mancer]


    OR


    [>Kill a Level 20 creature with Ice Path of the Mancer]


    [>Kill a Level 20 creature with Poison Path of the Mancer]


    OR


    [>Kill a Level 20 creature withpatible Path of the Mancer]


    [>Find Common Evolution Stone]


    There was just one thing that Ss was missing. A so-called Common Evolution Stone. However...


    [What is a Common Evolution Stone?]


    [A Common Evolution Stone is simr to a Gene State Elixir. It warms up the body and allows it to be prepared for an overhaul. The process can be extremely painful. It is a method usually left to those not in an abundant State of Wealth or without Special Constitutions.]


    The problem with this was that Quests were very particr. He had failed not long ago purely because he had overshot the request of a Quest. It would be hard to believe if he could undershoot it, even if his body was well-equipped.


    If he had known that he would stumble into an opportunity like this, he would have tried to see if he could trade for one from the System City Nexus. Though, he probably would have run out of money anyway.


    Ss opened his eyes and shook his head. It was no good. It wasn''t allowing him toplete


    the Quest.


    He could only sigh. He had expected as much, but he just wanted to try.


    Just as he stood, ready to go and check out what he thought might be an Aether Stone mine below, there was a sudden rush of air and a split appeared in the skies.


    Ss'' eyes brightened.


    A portal was forming!


    It seemed that he would have his opportunity to trade for the Common Evolution Stone he


    needed quite soon.

 Chapter 524: System-Wide Message

    Chapter 524: System-Wide Message


    ?


    "Ah, the influx of Aether must have stabilized this region ahead of time," Nosphaleen spoke as they watched the formation of the portal together.


    Ss'' eyes brightened. This was good timing indeed.


    This portal should directly lead to the Woond Territory, which meant that he would be able to use his Territory Key much earlier than expected.


    At that point, he would have three System Cities under his control and free reign over their Nexuses. This was precisely what he needed right now.


    When the portal wasrge enough, the two entered quite swiftly.


    In the far-off distance, a pair of eyes watched with a light of rage in them. He had lost everything.


    --


    The Woond Territory was probably ssified as a tropical dry forest by Earth''s geographical standards. These were regions with short but heavy rain seasons, followed by long dry seasons.


    Trees in these regions had deepworks of roots and had evolved to be capable of spending long periods of time without rainfall. Compared to the wastnd Ss expected to find, this was certainly leagues better.


    There were plentiful trees and cacti around, as well as many mountainous slopes that extended into the distance with heavy fog hanging over them.


    The portal had appeared pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Even after extending his visualization, or rather his Sixth Sense as Nosphaleen called it, he didn''t find anything but beasts that were likely to be rushing over here with quite some swiftness.


    ''It''s unfortunate. The underground city will probably be overrun by more beasts now. There''ll definitely be a sh between the native poisonous poption and this new one...''


    Ss shook his head. He felt that there was definitely more to gain from the city, especially with the underground Aether Stone mine.


    Aether Stone mines were incredibly rare. There were probably a handful in every territory, but the City Stele Abilities of the System Cities couldn''t peek very far underground. So finding them was a task that would require someone with a Geotechnical Engineering Profession of


    some sort.


    Ss knew that he definitely couldn''t leave that Aether Stone mine. After just a few weeks of using the Aether Stones he got from the Sylphs in the Dungeon with impunity, he was already close to running out.


    He was also certain that he had yet to find out the best uses for Aether Stones just yet. He had yet to look into it, but he bet that Nosphaleen would know a thing or two.


    Ss took out a shimmering key from the Madness Key. It was about the length of his forearm and was wrapped in a viney wood pattern and a grainy sand.


    The moment it appeared in the Woond Territory, it shook.


    For a moment, Ss hesitated.


    Right now, his name had been lopped off the Merit Leaderboard. Lucius would have every reason to believe that he was dead. If he conquered this Territory, it would almost certainly trigger a phenomenon that would be picked up by those here, and soon enough, if the Grimde''s informationwork was as robust as he thought it was, it would make it back to Lucius.


    In that case... should he even do this?


    ''No...''


    Ss held the key out, stabilizing its trembling.


    Whoever it was that ced the warrant out for his arrest would definitely know whether he was alive or not. And unless they died, every Grimde would know that he was still alive for the taking.


    In that case... he would let Lucius enjoy his sleepless nights until the day he came to get his head.


    And if anyone harmed his family in the meantime, there would be more than death waiting on the other end of his fist.


    He turned the key.


    A ripple of Aether spread across the Woond Territory as far as the eyes could see. Every human, beast, or living being in the region all felt it at once.


    [System-Wide Message]


    [The Royal Line System has been unlocked. As the first Royal of Earth, Ss Grimde will be awarded the Title <Woond Warlord> and has earned the right to establish a Bloodline]


    Even Ss'' gaze flickered. He hadn''t been expecting this at all, but before he could digest it, a fluttering scroll appeared before him.


    By now, his experience was great enough that he recognized it as a Temte. As for what the Temte was for, it should be either rted to his authority as the Woond Warlord or this so-called Bloodline.


    Quite quickly, he got his answer. It was thetter.


    The scroll fell into his hands and he felt a strong connection with it form before it disappeared into his body. After that, he subconsciously understood how it worked.


    ''I see... so this is how they did it...''


    After grasping Blood Essence, Ss felt that just upgrading your Genes wasn''t enough to pass on a Unique Gene like the Grimdes or the other hidden families did. Genes, even Unique Genes, were too fleeting.


    A child might keep a portion of it, but by the third generation, it would already be less than half effective; by the fourth, it might not exist at all.


    The only way to establish a family line was to root it in your Blood Essence. Only once a Unique Gene had established a connection with such a thing would it be possible. However, for most, this was impossible.


    It took over a million Free Experience points before Ss managed to gain control of Blood Essence, and that didn''t even mention the fact that he needed to unlock a Legendary Path


    Profession first.


    How many people could do that?


    As such, these people instead needed a Bloodline Temte. This Blood Temte, up to a certain standard, allowed any Gene that the Ancestor of a Bloodline formed to be rooted in their Blood Essence.


    In this case, it was up to a Silver Grade standard.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    From now on, any improvements he made to himself within that limit would have a better


    than 90% chance of being passed down in whole to his children.


    And by the same token... his blood had suddenly be extremely valuable.

 Chapter 525: Woodland Warlord

    Chapter 525: Woond Warlord


    ?


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Woond Warlord]


    [The Woond Territory is now your Territory. Thend is yournd, the rain is your rain, its blood is your blood]


    [Woond Curse Seal: Suppress the stats of any target within your Territory to 50%]


    [Quasi King Crown: The Territory obeys you]


    With a thought, two changes urred to Ss'' body.


    First was the shimmering seal that appeared in front of his forehead. It looked almost like the emblem of an Emperor, swimming around with all sorts ofplex Runes and grafts that gave it an ancient and oppressive feel.


    This was none other than the Woond Curse Seal. When he activated it, he could use it in two ways. The first was to suppress those in his presence, and the second was to imnt a Curse into the body of a target.


    With thetter method, the person could still flee, but every time they stepped into his Territory, he would not only sense it, but their stats would also plummet.


    The second change was the flickering half crown above his head. When Ss felt it, it was like a surge of power was coursing through his veins.


    Much like the Quasi King beasts, he didn''t experience any changes to his stats, and yet it still felt like everything was resting in the palm of his hands, waiting for him to take control.


    The Aether listened to hismands more fluidly, he could cast skills faster and with better precision, and he felt like his Rune Soul had been pumped with steroids, disying a power that was easily tens of times better than it was in the past.


    He felt like so long as he was in his Woond Territory, he would even be capable of using the Runes on the scorpion armor with much greater ease.


    Ss made a mental note that if he wanted to practice Runes, the best ce to do so would certainly be right here. It was like everything he wanted to learn from the world was whispered right into his very ears.


    ''So this is what it feels like to be one of those beasts... if I were to fight the spider queen in this Territory, I wouldn''t struggle nearly as much even if I didn''t use the Curse Seal.''


    Ss exhaled a breath.


    He didn''t just gain these things either. He could feel that some of the pressure the system had ced on him had loosened a bit. That meant that he had gained a Merit, and not a normal one either.


    Killing the spider queen was only worth a Hollow Merit if he was correct, so he hadn''t felt much of a change. But for there to be such a great change now, it could only mean that he had at least earned a True Merit just now, and that was huge.


    Unfortunately, he would need 99 more True Merits before he could offset just one Silver Demerit. He had a long way to go before this monkey was off his back.


    But he wasn''t done yet.


    --


    Ss stood in the third andst System City of his Territory, having already conquered and sacrificed the other two for 2,000,000 Free Experience points.


    He had even more freedom as the Woond Warlord than he ever did as the City Lord. Not only could he freelye and go in this Territory as he pleased, but he could likewise bend and twist the rules to his liking as well.


    In the previous two System Cities, he had just casually swiped their tax money, and not even the system could stop him. What good was their tax money if he was going to liquidate the System City anyway for Free Experience points?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now, he had over 20 million coins to his name and a Nexus to peruse through.


    The items in the Nexus weren''t any different than the ones he had already seen in the other System Cities, so he didn''t bother to go to a ce he had been before and just went directly to where he would find a Common Evolution Stone.


    Luckily, he managed to find several, but the prices were eye-watering.


    A Common Evolution Stone cost over 10 million. A Bronze one, which he might end up needing for his next ss upgrade, was ten times that. And a Silver one, thest Grade avable here, was worth a hundred times that.


    Ss shook his head. If he could help it, he wouldn''t add much more to his affinities. The Woond Spider Queen was too good to miss out on, and he was also running out of time. But there was no way he would have a billion coins by the time he needed a Silver Grade Evolution Stone, let alone the fact he would still need a Gold and Legendary one beyond that.


    Ss directly traded for the Common Evolution Stone and finally got the window he was looking for.


    [Bronze Beast Destiny Consumed]


    [Gluttony Seed has strengthened]


    [Quest Rewards changed]


    [Woond Frost King (Common)]


    [The tundra is your Domain and poison adorns your chalice, the trees are your friend and the


    earth warms your bed]


    [+55 Mental]


    [+65 Constitution]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +18 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +8 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.24 Intelligence; 0.24 Wisdom; 0.24 Charisma; 0.24 Constitution]


    [ss: Woond Frost King]


    [Level: 0]


    -


    >[Basic Skills]


    [Woond Frost Domain (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 50/second]


    [Restrains and traps]


    [Special Buff: +40% to all Wood, Ice, and Poison Skills used]


    -


    [Woond Spirit Summon (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [For <50> Units of Aether, Summon a Woond Spirit with 50% of your stats to fight on your


    behalf]


    [Attribute: Wood-Poison]


    -


    [Woond Spirit Swallow (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Swallow Summoned Woond Spirit to elerate Healing proportional to Constitution. For


    every 50 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by <+500%>]


    [Woond Frost Spike (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Damage: 300]


    [Special Damage: 80/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Wood-Ice-Poison]


    -


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Ice (Quasi Gold)]


    [Poison (Quasi Gold)]


    [Ice-Poison (Silver)]


    [Wood (Quasi Silver)]


    [Wood-Poison (Bronze)] [Wood-Ice-Poison (Common)] [Earth (Common)]


    >[Unlockables]


    [Level 20]


    --


    [End of Vol 4]

 Chapter 526: Breather [Bonus]

    Chapter 526: Breather [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss nodded to himself when he saw the skills he gained. He was especially fond of the attack Skill.


    [Woond Frost Spike (FFF-) (Skill)]


    [Damage: 300]


    [Special Damage: 80/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Wood-Ice-Poison]


    It wasn''t anything crazy, but it was far better than <Chilling Scythe> was, and even far better than <Chilling Scythe Mutant> by arge margin as well.


    This should be the skill that had pierced through his lung. If it was going to almost take his life, it had better be powerful.


    And from what he could tell, the synergy between this attack Skill and the Domain Skill was incredible. The attack he had suffered through his chest was definitely far greater than 300 Damage. 300 Damage alone wouldn''t even make it through his Aether skin, let alone damage him to that extent.


    Of course, the 300 Damage limit here was just referring to a Fragmented Mastery. It would probably be upwards of a 1000 Damage once it reached Legendary.


    Still, Ss was quite sure that with the Woond Frost Domain activated, the power would at least be 50% greater.


    While he was observing the Skills, Ss could feel the changes to his body as well.


    The first time he advanced his ss, he had been in a terrible state triggered by consuming too many Elixirs, so the process had been particrly painful. This time, due to the fact he was in rtively decent health and now had the Dual ss Constitution, it was smooth sailing.


    He could feel his Stat Limits wanting to loosen, and he bet that if he went back to his original training regimen, the one he had teased out thanks to Olivia, he could gain a few dozen extra stats points with rtive ease.


    However, he wasn''t sure if he had the time for that.


    The moment Ss had this thought, he paused. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and then exhaled slowly.


    ''No. I need to take a breather.''


    There were many things he wanted to do.


    Return to Casstle Main, revenge against Lucius, making sure his family was safe,pleting the Rune Enlightenment Chain Quest...


    However, not a single one of those things could be done with immediacy.


    He was across the ocean from the nearest portal to Casstle Main he knew of, Lucius was definitely not an existence he could handle casually, and he had no idea where he was in rtion to the exact location of the final destination of his Rune Enlightenment Chain Quest.


    If he just started running around, he would be effectively wasting his time.


    Not to mention the fact his stats were still halved currently; the system was out to get him. He had a Silver Demerit to his name that would ensure anywhere he stepped just might be thest death trap he fell into.


    Rushing was going to get him nowhere.


    When he changed his perspective, he rxed somewhat.


    ''I have seven months before the timer for my Mancer Quest runs out. Cassarae is facing the same timeline for hers. I took too long to find a Level 20 beast; if I could manage to find a Level 30 one in my Woond Territory, that would be ideal.


    ''There''s also the matter of my Comprehension. With my Dual ss Constitution, I can fuse with a second one, and the Fusion Crystal can allow me to take on a third one. I haven''t put nearly as much effort into this.


    ''This region is also one that I can sense is ideal for the growth of the Bone-Tailed Lizard. There are many poisonous beasts in the region, and the odds that I can find a Level 30 creature of the Mancer Path worth the upgrade and help the infant beast progress at the same time is high.''


    Ss realized that he needed to strike a bnce.


    He was basically invincible in this region, and his ability to progress here would be much faster. He also had direct ess to the Africor Continent, which should be the location where he wouldplete thest leg of his Rune Enlightenment Quest as well, ording to all his research.


    It would be foolish of him to not take advantage of improving here as quickly as possible. With the City Stele Ability at his fingertips, he could find all the best resources in the region and plunder them for himself.


    ''I will give myself exactly one month of time.''


    It would be the longest "downtime" Ss had spent since the Summoning hade down. Well, it would be if he ignored the time he spent in the Grimde family waiting around for the "draft." But even that had only been a week or so at most.


    There would be another benefit to this choice of his as well, and that was the fact he could keep this Nexus.


    A Nexus was a hub that was meant to allowmunication and exchange between those on a world. Although lower Grade Nexuses couldn''tmunicate with higher Grade ones, the vice versa was possible.


    Meaning, Ss could very well use this Silver Grade Nexus to establish a line of connection with Casstle Main and get an understanding of what was happening over there as well. In fact, he would even be able to use a function he had never had the time for before and even meet with Cassarae within the Nexus.


    Although they would just be projections of one another, a small arc still appeared on the corners of his lips. He was somewhat looking forward to it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But maybe only as natural, there always seemed to be something acting on his life to make it moreplicated. This time, however, it was something that Ss had pretty much expected


    to happen.


    There was a rumble that shook the entire Woond Territory.


    Ss knew exactly what it was the moment it was triggered.


    The Woond Territory was fusing with the sandy ins of the Africor Continent. With two System Cities conquered, it was inevitable.

 Chapter 527: Instructor [Bonus]

    Chapter 527: Instructor [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss stepped outside, curious about what sort of process this might be.


    Part of Earthpleting the Summoning was rted to the Aether ne sessfully fusing into Earth. But it was hard to say exactly what this would mean.


    The Woond Territory was in a unique situation due to his interference. Not only were the Runes in the region rapidly healing, but without the tug from several different locations on the Aether ne, a rubber banding effect had urred.


    The Woond Territory had been trying to return to its appropriate coordinates for a long time now. When it was suddenly set free, it created a snap-back effect that caused its fusion to elerate.


    Ss hadn''t deduced this. Instead, he asked the Madness Key directly because this was far above his paygrade. He still didn''t quite understand how things worked.


    Why was an Aether ne even necessary? Why not just directly evolve Earth itself? Where did the Aether nee from? Had it always been a part of Earth? Or was it added after the fact, maybe by the system?


    All of these questions were apparently Taboos, though, so he could only specte.


    Hourster, the rumbling stopped and Ss was surprised to find that not much had changed at all. Or, maybe everything had changed depending on your perspective.


    The Aether ne had just directly disced thend of Earth. An abundance of Aether spilled forth, but this time, there was no beast tide effect.


    ''This might be a good thing... the underground city shouldn''t have been destroyed I don''t think. It''s probably buried in the same location. The Madness Key ims that there should be efforts to preserve structures that are already there; it''s mostly the nature itself that''s been changed. So the Aether Stone mine should also be there.''


    Ss returned to the Nexus and found the bird''s eye view of a certain location.


    As expected, in the original location, there were a horde of disoriented beasts, but they were already dispersing.


    ''The odds that Ragnar is now in my Woond Territory is also quite high.''


    Ss was still mulling over whether he should waste time cleaning up his territory or not.


    As with basically every Territory of the Aether ne, there were existences already here, various powers that had made it their own.


    They were undoubtedly unhappy with his actions, understandably. But there also wasn''t much they could do to stop him.


    Their movements werepletely under his control thanks to his bird''s eye view of the entire region, his strength was on an untouchable level, and he had the ability to Curse them on top of that if it came to it.


    On top of all of that, he had yet to conquer thisst System City, so all the soldiers and Generals within were fully under his control. That included the current acting City Lord.


    Meaning, if he really wanted to, he could order them to go raze a few cities to the ground.


    Normally, a System City wouldn''t be allowed to interfere with people taking part in the Summoning like this. But Ss was the one in effective control of them now, so it wasn''t a problem at all.


    All of that made it a waste of time to think about clearing them out now. They simply weren''t a threat to him at all.


    But on the other hand... he also wasn''t veryfortable with just leaving hidden dangers lying around.


    ''Let''s y it by ear for now... Maybe doing things this way will force Ragnar to show his tail.''


    The smart thing for Ragnar to do would be to just directly escape. However, Ss had a feeling he wouldn''t do that.


    The underground city was too important for him, and if he cut his losses now, he would be left with absolutely nothing.


    Using these powers to try and lure Ragnar out might be exactly the sort of mouse trap he needed.


    After making this choice, Ss chose to enter the Nexus again.


    First, he sent a connection request to Casstle Main, then he entered the stores again.


    He still had millions of coins to spend and many things he needed.


    Upgrading his knowledge of Runes, finding methods to elerate his Comprehension improvement, and maybe finding a few ways to improve his method of training might be good as well.


    Thest of the three was probably the least necessary. There were many facilities to take advantage of in the System City that he had yet to, including gravity rooms and the like outside of the Skill improvement rooms.


    So, Ss mostly focused on the first two.


    -


    [World of Runes (Secrets)]


    [Limited ess: Rune Visualization must be awakened]


    [Cost: 30,000 (F) coins]


    [Aether, Runes, and the Mind (Secrets)]


    [Limited ess: Rune Enlightenment must be awakened]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Cost: 100,000 (F) coins]


    [The Life of Runes (Secrets)]


    [Limited ess: Rune Breath must be awakened]


    [Cost: 3,000,000 (F) coins]


    Ss bought them all. The first two he had seen before, but thest was a new addition only avable in the Silver Nexus. Unfortunately, there was nothing for Rune Flesh and definitely nothing for Rune Soul, but maybe that was a good thing.


    Considering the price for ''The Life of Runes,'' even if there was, he certainly wouldn''t be able to afford it.


    Although he had a feeling that he might not learn much from the first two, he still wanted to go through them. There was too much misceneous information about Runes that he didn''t understand, and he didn''t want to rely on Nosphaleen to get them.


    It took him a while of poking around for Comprehension help before he found something he believed could help.


    As was a pattern for him, he found it in an expected ce.


    There was a certain section of the Nexus designed for those with Professions to set up shop. They were housed by either those with Merchant Professions or those that got Temtes for


    temporary usage.


    These stalls weren''t very filled as one might expect. Ss had to descend to the Bronze Nexus before he could find any at all.


    Among them, there was someone with a Martial Arts Instructor Profession who had used a Temte to set up a stall. He was selling generalpetency inbat, something that was invaluable to either City Lords who wanted to quickly build up the skill of their people or new Summons who had no idea what they were doing in this new dog-eat-dog world.


    It was when Ss saw this stall that he had a sudden sh of understanding.


    He was trying so hard to build his Comprehension toward some holistic martial arts, but he was basing it all on memories of professionals he had seen fighting on television...


    Why?


    Sure, it had worked because his memory was excellent, and many of those professional fighters of old Earth were certainly powerhouses by now.


    But... was that the best way?


    He only had one fist Skill and one Gene Talent that could somewhat be used with his legs but


    was more designed to be used with a tail.


    If he was really serious, he should be looking through more martial arts Skills.


    So he made a decision.


    Going back to the Skill libraries, he sorted by martial arts skills and began a buying frenzy.

 Chapter 528 Focused

    Chapter 528 Focused


    [Focused Punch (F-) (Skill)]


    [+10% Attack]


    [Focused Kick (F-) (Skill)]


    [+10% Attack]


    ¡ª


    [Focused Palm (F-) (Skill)]


    [+10% Attack]


    ¡ª


    [Focused Finger (F-) (Skill)]


    [+10% Attack]


    ¡ª


    Ss was surprised by the sheer number of them. They were clearly a series of sorts, but they were perfect for his needs. Each one was as simple as they got. They taught principles of strengthening one at the point of attack, gathering strength and exploding with it at the perfect instant of time.


    There were easily over a dozen of these Skills, ranging from moremon forms of attacks like punching to lessmon ones like w strikes or even knees.


    However, Ss realized that after the first one, he had wasted his money on the rest of the Focus Skill series. The principles were all exactly the same.


    For someone with a Lv12 Taboo Bond Path Talent supporting hisprehension of his body, it was easy for him to trante the principles of one to the next.


    He didn''t mind it because they were all extremely cheap, just a few hundred F-Coins each. But he kept this in mind for a future date.


    ''I see¡­ it seems that the use of the tendons is a much higher form¡­''


    Ss had once again skipped steps. He had mastered the ability to use his tendons as levers to make his attacks truly pop, but he had yet to excavate all the potential in his muscles alone.


    The Focus Series of Martial Arts was all about lending the entire body to one attack andbining that with the flow and movement of Aether.


    If Ss had to boil down its core secrets and distill them into a summary, he would say that it fell into two main categories.


    Leverage and timing.


    Leverage epassed not only taking into ount your body and that of an opponent, in addition to what changes might ur during the process of an attack, but also something that Ss had heard coaches of various fighting arts say many times before¡­


    Attacking a target through an opponent, rather than attacking the opponent him or herself.


    If you imagined yourself punching or kicking through someone, the power output would theoretically be much greater.


    The problem with that, though, is if you took this principle too far, you might end up dealing a blow that had yet to reach its apex strength.


    That was what timing was all about, striking a bnce between wanting to put a hole in your opponent and allowing your strength to peak at just the right times.


    When Ss understood this concept, he found that it was particrly easy to trante it to all aspects.


    Still, Ss felt that some of these Skills were just gimmicks. <Focus Finger> felt ridiculous. The amount of reinforcement he would need to add to his fingers so that they wouldn''t snap on contact made it far from worth it.


    Although the piercing power would be great, if you didn''t overwhelm your opponent in Constitution, you would only be able to use it once.


    Ss could circumvent this issue with his telekinesis, but he didn''t think it was strictly necessary for him to be able to attack in this way when his fist was so much more effective.


    <Focus w> was ridiculous for the same reasons. It wasn''t as though he had the sharp ws of a beast.


    Whether it was <Focus Finger>, <Focus w>, or any other Skills of a simr ilk, unless there was an additional protection oryer ofplexity in using Aether, they weren''t worth his time.


    But Ss wasn''t trying to just add new Skills to his arsenal. His main goal was to better his foundation so that he could awaken a truly powerful Comprehension.


    Even if he could find a Skill that could protect his fingers or form real ws for him, he wouldn''t be interested in it.


    Still, the improvement was basically immediate.


    ¡ª


    [Dormant Comprehensions]


    [>Boxing (FFF+)]


    [>Taekwondo (FFF+)]


    [>Muay Thai (FFF+)]


    [>¡­]


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (FF+)]


    [>¡­]


    [>zing Will (F-)]


    ¡ª


    Mixed Martial Arts had improved to FF+ from F+, and zing Will seemed to have reached F- from Unranked. Though, this was likely unrted to the Focus Series Skills.


    Ss was quite interested in zing Will, though he didn''t know exactly what it was. When he asked the Madness Key, it was incredibly vague, just making a general description of Will, which he had found odd.


    However, after feeling the changes to his Will and how simr it was to a Progenitor me, he seemed to understand why that was.


    The Madness Key likely couldn''t give him a solid answer because even his Will didn''t know what it was just yet. If it was on its way to bing a Progenitor me, then the ability it awakened was still up in the air.


    Ss wasn''t worried about it too much, though. Because of his Dual ss Constitution and the Fusion Crystal, he could add a third Comprehension to himself. So while he was waiting for his zing Will to manifest itself down a path, he could add another first.


    Usually, Silver Grade Fusion Crystals could only help you add a second Comprehension, but his Dual ss Constitution made such treasures doubly as effective.


    The real question was how to raise his Mixed Martial Arts to FFF+ as well, and he already knew the answer.


    ¡ª


    [Interlocking Chains (F-) (Skill Set)]


    [Serpent''s Embrace (F) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    ¡ª


    [Serpent''s Embrace (F) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Harmonizing Lock (F+) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Unity Hold (FF-) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Twisting Lotus (FF) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Synchronized Flow (FF+) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Fusion Grapple (FFF-) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Celestial Bind (FFF) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Phoenix''s Embrace (FFF+) (Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    [Vortex Capture (F-) (Gene Skill Set)]


    ¡ª


    Staring at the list of grappling Skills, Ss felt that he had made good choices. He would trade for them one by one, ignoring the expense.


    As so-called "Skill Sets," they were more expensive than normal Skills because they taught more general Aether application methods and several stances. As such, they were on average ten times more expensive than Skills and Gene Skills of the same level.


    However, because of that, he didn''t seem to have enough money to make it all the way through.

 Chapter 529: Interlocking Chains

    Chapter 529: Interlocking Chains


    ?


    After buying up everything he needed for his Rune Mastery path, Ss only had a little over seven million F-Coins left. That wasn''t enough to buy all of these Skill Sets.


    Well, he would only need a little over a million to buy all the ones from F- to FFF+, but the real problem was the Gene Skill that would cost him more than the seven million he had all on its own.


    Ss also hadn''t forgotten that trading for a Counter Gene Skill would remove the Warrant lording over his head right now. But as things were going, he wouldn''t be able to afford that either.


    After some thought, Ss shook his head.


    He nned on staying here for a month, and within this Woond Territory, he would be nigh invincible. The improvement of his foundation was more important than anything else right now.


    In fact, because of his senses toward his body, if a Grimde was nearby and using the Warrant to track him down, he was actually confident in reverse tracking them.


    He nned on making quite a great deal of money in theing weeks, so even if he didn''t have the funds now, that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t in the future.


    Taking this one step at a time, he traded for <Interlocking Chains>.


    [Interlocking Chains (F-) (Skill Set)]


    [Your arms and legs link as solid as iron chains. A dance with your embrace means frustration, suffocation, and eventually death for your opponent]


    When the Skill Set was taken into his mind, Ss found that his mind became flooded with various forms.


    ''Hm... this isn''t something I can practice on my own.''


    Not longter, Ss had a General of the City called in. He was a middle-aged man with a robust build, which was quite amon figure amongst the soldiers of the System City. He was known as General Ji.


    "We''ll be grappling," Ss said. "No need to remove your armor; I won''t be able to ask my opponents in the future to do so."


    General Ji seemed confused, but obliged nheless.


    Unfortunately, the city didn''t have any grappling experts among the strong. But most opponents Ss met wouldn''t be grappling experts either.


    However, what they would be was extremely strong, and General Ji met those requirements.


    <Interlocking Chains> was a Skill Set, so it didn''t teach a single powerful attack. Instead, it had two "death positions" and about eight transitions.


    The two so-called death positions referred to an arm lock and a leg lock, both around the neck. The transitions were where the real meat of the Skill Set was. It taught how to read and react to an opponent''s movements, using their weight and actions against them to pull them further and further into the trap.


    "All you have to do is focus on resisting. For now, use about half your Strength and don''t use a weapon."


    "Understood, Warlord," General Ji nodded.


    The two stood about a meter apart, and Ss took a breath, going over everything in his mind before he took a strong step forward.


    General Ji tensed as Ss'' palm reached for his chest. He pped down with a palm to hit Ss'' attack away.


    The solid strike reverberated against Ss, and his arm felt like it might shatter. He wasn''t using his crown right now, so even though General Ji was only using half of his Strength, the gap between their Physicals while the Warrant was still active was too great.


    However, Ss had already expected this; his second half snaked forward as his stance shifted. It was hard to describe the feeling for General Ji, but it was almost as though Ss'' movements had be softer, more flexible.


    He already learned from the failure of the first palm. This time, when General Ji pped out, he missed, hitting against the inside of Ss'' elbow.


    Ss'' arm bent naturally, continuing to flow forward. Though its trajectory had changed, he still managed to grab a hold of General Ji''s pauldron, gripping tightly into a seam and pulling the man closer.


    General Ji struck out at Ss'' chest to force some distance, but Ss had already spun to the side, using General Ji''s pauldron as an anchor to spin himself around to his back.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The General''s strong body was nothing more than a detriment to him at this point. He didn''t even tilt to the side as Ss used him like this, allowing thetter to elerate his movement to his back without worrying about sprawling away.


    Ss mped himself down on General Ji''s back, wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck.


    Panic set into General Ji''s eyes as he grabbed a hand toward Ss'' arm. But it felt like he had suddenly tried to grip onto a sturdy chain.


    His throat felt constricted and his body shuddered.


    In a desperate attempt to change the situation, the General elerated backward, mming his back along with Ss into a wall.


    Ss coughed, all the air in his body being forced out in a single sudden burst.


    His grip loosened, and General Ji used the opportunity to rip himself free, looking to flip Ss over his shoulder.


    Ss felt the world spin around him, but he kept his senses about him. He had been through much worse than losing a little air from his lungs. This wasn''t enough to shift his focus.


    His arm twisted in the grip General Ji had on it, grabbing onto the General''s forearm at the same time. As he soared over thetter''s shoulder, his legs shifted in the air and his body


    contorted.


    General Ji suddenly found himself soaring through the air as well.


    BANG!


    The General''s back mmed into the ground, only to find another strong hold around his neck. This time, however, it was Ss'' legs. His throat was pinned by Ss'' inner thighs, and his face was already blue before he could react.


    He tried to use his full strength on instinct, but it was already toote. Between the back of his head mming into the ground and the cirction being cut off from his head, he stood no


    chance.

 Chapter 530: Grappling

    Chapter 530: Grappling


    ?


    Ss released his grip on General Ji''s neck, standing with a heaving breath.


    Grappling was dangerous.


    If not for the sake of his Comprehension, he wasn''t sure if he would do this. Plus, there was an obvious problem to it all... The fact that with howrge beasts got sometimes, what good was a leg lock if his legs couldn''t wrap around them at all?


    It seemed silly to work on a skill that wouldn''t be useful against such arge segment of his opponents. But he felt that if he couldn''t use weapons like most people could, then he should have every method of protecting himself possible within reason.


    Grappling was something most people didn''t understand and could be great when he was facing off against an opponent he couldn''t easily defeat through normal means.


    ''Keep going.''


    Ss practically ran the poor General Ji into the ground. The General lost count of the number of times he passed out.


    He thought that he would get a reprieve when he could finally start using his full Strength, but the ending was the same. When he thought that using his weapon would be his saving grace, he ended up almost taking his own head off several times. When Ss finally allowed him to use Skills, he might as well have not had the opportunity to use them at all.


    He found the skills getting constantly canceled, and even when he managed toplete his Aether cirction, Ss was restricting his movements in a way that he would have to kamikaze them both to get any sort of damage in.


    The more Ss fought, the more he felt that grappling was practically a poetic sort of experience.


    He could feel his opponents breathing, movement, even panic in a way so intimate that nothing couldpare. The kind of control it gave him over someone''s life was intoxicating in its own way, and he seemed topletely forget the hatred he had for the movement.


    It only took him three quick spars with General Ji to master <Interlocking Chains>. When it hit Legendary Mastery, he could feel its limits intimately, so he moved onto <Serpent''s Embrace>, not bothering to try to improve it to Progenitor Mastery.


    Progenitor Mastery required not just understanding, but improvement on a technique. Ss didn''t have the time to invest in it, and it was just an F- Skill Set regardless, so it wasn''t worth it even if he did have the time.


    Although he had given himself a month, he took every day like it was his veryst.


    <Serpent''s Embrace> improved the rigid movements of <Interlocking Chains> a great deal. Compared to <Interlocking Chains>''s eight transitions, <Serpent''s Embrace> had only four, but they were all streamlined and focused on flexibility in a way that made them applicable to a vast array of situations, far more than <Interlocking Chains>''s eight transitions couldpare to.


    Sometimes Ss even moved as though he didn''t have any bones at all, and he learned how to use the muscles of his torso to move around his opponent''s body with more fluidity. That process of movement allowed the pressure on his arms and legs to lessen so they could focus ontching onto vital points and squeezing down. Even when General Ji thought that he had control over Ss'' limbs, a light twist and shift could find him spinning through the air again.


    <Harmonizing Lock> and <Unity Hold> were extremely simr in their actions. They focused on using the opponent''s methods against them, almost like constrictors; the more General Ji struggled, the more it seemed like he was suffocating.


    The difference, though, was that <Unity Hold>, the first FF-Skill Set of the bunch, was where the suffocation tactics truly became shocking.


    <Unity Hold> transitions and death holds blurred into one another. The transitions became part of the suffocating process, focusing on applying pressure onto an opponent''s chest, constricting their ability to breathe easily, and timing transitions with their breaths to force asphyxiation.


    By the time Ss was mastering <Unity Hold>, General Ji was practically crying real tears. It was like no matter how hard he tried to breathe, he would get a face full of humid air and carbon dioxide.


    By the time Ss got to Legendary Mastery, a half dayter, General Ji passed out before Ss even got a hold on his neck. He struggled to the point of turning blue in the face, and his heart almost burst out of his chest.


    At that point, Ss was forced to give General Ji a break.


    He stood slowly, his breathing heavy and his body drenched in sweat.


    He left the region, took a shower, ate a mountain of beasts the System City army caught for him, and then went to bed.


    In this month, he wouldn''t just take his training seriously, but his recovery as well. When he woke up, he sent a signal for a new General to make their way to his training ground in a few hours. But first, he nned on spending some time on his Rune Mastery.


    As pleasurable as grappling was, he couldn''t lose himself in it indefinitely. If there was going to be anything that could fix the main weaknesses of grappling, it was going to be Runes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Plus...


    [>Mixed Martial Arts (FFF+)]


    He had only mastered up to <Unity Hold>, and only had a rudimentary Fragmented Mastery of <Twistling Lotus>, the FF Grade Skill. But that seemed enough for his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension to reach this level.


    This made Ss realize that he truly wasn''t satisfied with these Comprehensions.


    He had managed to raise his Boxing Comprehension to FFF+ just by remembering television he had watched, and now it only took mastering an FF- Skill Set to Legendary to gain an FFF + Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension.


    It just felt... hollow.


    Compared to the mystery and intrigue surrounding his Madness Comprehension, even though it was "only" FFF, these Comprehensions seemed a far cry from that.


    He wasn''t really sure how to proceed, and the Madness Key wasn''t helpful with such broad questions, so he chose to shift gears for now.


    [World of Runes (Secrets)]

 Chapter 531: Rune Visualization

    Chapter 531: Rune Visualization


    ?


    The world spun around Ss, and he found himself on yet another long, foggy path ented by doors. This time, there were ten of them instead of nine. But the location felt pretty


    identical to the first Secret Realm he had entered.


    Rune Sight. Rune Visualization...


    The first Secret Realm, Introduction to Rune, Rune Patterns, and Rune Geometry, was rted to Rune Sight. It taught him the fundamentals of Runes and how to interact with them before describing the concept of Strokes and Foundations to him.


    He memorized a great deal of Strokes and their culminating Foundations from that Realm before he handed it to his sister. Now it seemed that it was time for him to finally improve.


    Ss entered the first door, but it was only a few seconds before it vanished, and he appeared on the road again.


    He stood in silence for a moment, his eyes closed.


    The Rune Sight Secret Realm was all about getting him familiar with Runes. It was titled appropriately. Those with Rune Sight could see and interact with Runes, but it wasn''t on an exceptionally deep level.


    Byparison, those with Rune Visualization could begin to "feel" Runes. They didn''t just interact with them through a single sense but rather through multiple.


    Upon seeing a Rune, it was possible to formte this Rune in one''s mind and imprint it into memory, understanding it implicitly in exchange for a good amount of study.


    However, Ss had long reached this level. When he stamped his Runes into the air to pass the first door of the Rune Sight Secret Realm, he was already using an advanced application of Rune Visualization.


    Most with Rune Visualization were only able to etch Runes in part; only those nearing Rune Enlightenment could do as he had done. But even then, it wouldn''t be nearly so quick.


    ''So this Secret Realm is a game of memory. Easy enough.''


    He took a step forward and vanished into the second door.


    When he appeared inside, he found a moreplex formtion of what had been in the first door. There was a quick sh of a few Strokes, and he was meant to recall them.


    It was too easy.


    When he got to the fourth door, the test changed a bit. The Strokes came faster, but then at the end, he was presented with three Foundations. He was meant to recall the Strokes he had seen earlier and point out the Foundation they formed.


    The ancient cursive that formed the Foundations was incredibly simr. Ayman might not even realize that there were three different Foundations before them in the first ce, and they might even assume they were looking at three identical images.


    Ss only gave them a nce before picking one.


    The room was cleared, and he moved onto the fifth door, then the sixth...


    When he got to the seventh, it was no longer Strokes flying at him. Instead, it was Foundations. Remembering a flood of Foundations was obviously many times more difficult, but as Nosphaleen had said, with Rune Soul, Ss was capable of grasping a Rune with his Sixth Sense. In an instant, he could get a full 3D rendering of the Rune in his mind in its full form.


    Even with his dinged Wisdom, he sliced through the challenge, not struggling at all.


    At the end of the ninth door, the Foundations fused into true Runes that looked nearly identical to one another. But the Runes themselves were hardly made up of 10 Foundations when Ss was used to working with 50 Foundation Runes by now.


    Considering Runes became exponentially more difficult to manage every 10 Foundations, it was hard to even fathom how much more difficult dealing with his slow and Freeze Ice- Poison Runes were over this.


    He cleared the ninth door with lightning-like efficiency, his eyes darting around with an ease that belied their speed.


    He stepped out and moved to the tenth and final door.


    When he entered, there was a sh in his eyes, and an enormous Rune appeared before him. "Hm?"


    Ss was a bit surprised. That was because he saw that this Rune was easily tens of times moreplicated than any Rune he hade up against previously.


    He was starting to feel a bit disappointed in this Secret Realm. At least the Rune Sight Secret Realm had taught him something new, but he honestly hadn''t learned much this time around. Well, other than some useful configurations for Strokes.


    Ss raised his hand, about to clear the door. After the novelty wore off, he realized that it was not veryplicated at all. All he had to do was replicate this Rune with his Rune Visualization, and it would be considered a pass.


    However, he paused after a moment, giving the Rune another long nce.


    ''Rune Visualization... is it really true that it isn''t trying to teach me anything?''


    He thought back to the previous doors and how they progressed. Namely, he thought about the choosing challenges where he would get a choice of three Foundations or Runes he had to choose from depending on the Strokes or Foundations he had interacted with earlier.


    When he came to this point in his thoughts, he had a sh of realization.


    ''Those Foundations and Runes were nearly identical; they only had small differences between them. I thought that that was the challenge and just picked the one that perfectly matched the previous Strokes and Foundations. But... what if thereiny the secret...?''


    Ss realized at that moment that the Runes and Foundations during those choosing challenges weren''t just somewhat identical; for all intents and purposes, they were identical.


    If he used his Rune Soul to form any one of them, they would all perform the same exact function. So what was the difference between them?


    The obvious answer was that the small quirks were identical to the Strokes and Foundations that preceded them. But staring at this plex" Rune before him, Ss realized something


    else.


    He had almost missed something profound.


    This Secret Realm wasn''t just teaching him how to visualize and memorize Strokes, Foundations, and Runes... it was also teaching him the most efficient configurations of them.


    On the one hand, it was a memorization exercise, but by the same token, the methods you could use to remember Runes with greater ease were the same methods you could use to draw them with greater ease, the same methods you could rely on to expend less Wisdom and Aether per Rune, and most importantly...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The same methods you could use to construct them the fastest.


    Ss'' gaze shed, and his intention moved. With a nce, he memorized therge,plex


    Rune, and in the next instant, an identical one was formed right over it, shattering the


    original to pieces and recing it with a far more perfect form.


    Not only had he cleared the tenth door, he had improved upon its design, creating something unprecedented for someone with Rune Visualization.


    [You have pleased the system]


    Ss looked at this message and shook his head. Last time he received a System Reward, but


    it seemed that he wouldn''t be so lucky this time around.


    The Demerits hanging over his head were too heavy.

 Chapter 532: Rune Enlightenment [Bonus]

    Chapter 532: Rune Enlightenment [Bonus]


    ?


    Despite his feelings, Ss felt that he had grown a great deal after exiting the Secret Realm.


    If he applied the rules of Rune construction, then he would be able to draw Runes twice as fast with half the effort. In addition, the struggles he had with dealing with higher Stroke and Foundation Runes would be greatly diminished.


    Before, it took him a great deal of time and effort to master his slow and Freeze Runes, and they both only had 50 or so Foundations. But ording to Nosphaleen, the limit of the F- Grade was 100 Foundations.


    If you factored in therge leap in difficulty there was every 10 Foundations, Ss had a hard time being confident in drawing a 60 Foundation Rune, even if he was given several days, let alone 70 and above.


    But what he never realized was that there were rules to putting Runes together, almost like nomenture for molecr forms and atoms. There was an order to how things were supposed to go together.


    A single Rune might have dozens of "technically" urate ways to put it together, but only one most efficient way.


    Ss had missed this because he skipped steps in his Rune Mastery. He went right from constructing Runes slowly to stamping them out in whole. But because of that, he forgot the importance of individual Strokes and Foundations along the way.


    There were certain Strokes that worked best when incorporated first and certain Foundations that were more like cherries on top, as opposed to the root of a Rune.


    These rules would change depending on the Rune in question.


    For example, his Ice-Poison Rune had a Foundation that he had named something akin to sovereignty in the past. He had named it as such because this Foundation was very overbearing and it was responsible for suppressing and oppressing other forms of Aether it came across, making it difficult for an opponent to expel the poison from their bodies.


    This was a core and foundational Foundation of the Ice-Poison Rune on the surface. But in reality, it was actually secondary in character. It was more important to draw the Ice and Poison characteristics first. In the case of the Slow Ice-Poison Rune, the Poison Foundations were more important. In the case of the Freeze Ice-Poison Rune, the Ice Foundations were more important.


    Every Rune had to be approached in this way, and only by finding the most efficient configurations would you find the easiest method of drawing them.


    Ss held out a hand and stamped it down.


    A Freeze Ice-Poison Rune took shape in the blink of an eye. Despite the fact that Ice Aether wasn''t prevalent in this dry and harsh climate, he hadn''t even needed to use his <Woond Frost Domain>.


    The strain wasn''t great at all, and he didn''t rely on his Woond Warlord Title to aplish it either.


    If he continued to draw Runes like this, hisbat efficiency would reach an unconscious level. Skills would be like y putty in his hands.


    After this, he would need to see if he could take the evolved Mana Path Wand for a spin again to see if he could incorporate the Wood Element into it.


    But first... he wanted to enter the Rune Enlightenment Secret Realm.


    It hadn''t even taken him ten minutes to clear the Rune Visualization Secret Realm. He had more than enough time, and he was eager to see what he might gain this time.


    His interaction with the Clypsians at the Great Celestial Wall taught him that there was far more to Rune Mastery than just elevating it to higher Realms. If his foundation was even half as good as that Clypsian woman Elyndor, he would have shattered their protections in the first instant.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This time, it took Ss half an hour to clear the Secret Realm.


    When he stepped out, his eyes were glowing with a bright light as though they were still analyzing and thinking through something.


    Rune Enlightenment was all about making Runes intuitive. Even if you hadn''t studied a Rune before, just observing one for a moment would allow you to have a general idea of its function and a guess as to how you might piece a simr one together.


    This was the finalyer of foundation for theing Rune Breath Realm, which gave Runes life...


    Well, this wasn''t exactly the right way to describe it. Rather than giving Runes life, it was more like Rune Breath allowed a Rune Master to sense the life of a Rune andmunicate with it, making controlling, forming, and guiding them much easier.


    This subtle difference was its own enlightenment to Ss because he realized something else.


    The burden of forming a Rune didn''t have to be on his shoulders entirely.


    Strokes were the fundamentalws of the world, and Foundations were the natural and simplest configurations they could enter in order tomunicate something about saidws.


    Runes themselves would take effort to forge because they were moreplex. The world tended toward chaos, but Runes were the epitome of order. A lot of work had to be done to form them.


    However, if you could offload the effort of forming Strokes and Foundations to the world and only had to worry about bringing them together to form Runes after the fact, wouldn''t forging Runes be even easier?


    If before Ss could form Runes twice as fast, it was easily ten times as fast now. This wasn''t just because of Rune Enlightenment, but because he had a naturalprehension of how to incorporate Rune Breath into what he grasped as well.


    This time, when he pressed a palm to the air, there was a rush of ice that surged around him. In an instant, dozens of Freeze Ice-Poison Runes took shape, and the entire room became a world of ice and cancerous blue Runes.


    Ss exhaled a breath that frosted the air, minor particles of wood in the air.


    Just as he was about to see what the Rune Breath Secret Realm had for him, a notification


    caught his attention.


    ''Cassarae.''

 Chapter 533: Cocky Bastard [Bonus]

    Chapter 533: Cocky Bastard [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' lip couldn''t help but curl a bit when he saw her. She looked like she wanted to take a bite out of someone''s neck, half irritated and half anxious.


    It was only when he suddenly appeared at her table that she noticed his appearance.


    "You..."


    Cassarae didn''t know what to say.


    Ss looked perfectly healthy, as though he had been living the good life. Honestly, it could be said that he had been. He had had his first night of excellent rest in a while, he had eaten a mountain''s worth of food, and he had people waiting on him everywhere he looked.


    In fact, because he knew that he wasing here, he was wearing the same outfit he had when he touched down from the helicopter to Paradise: a turtleneck, a pair of jeans, and a nice trench coat on top.


    At the moment, he looked nothing like the man who was in the news everywhere... nothing like the man who had murdered a General and his steed with nothing more than his fists... nothing like the man that was now wanted for killing a General of the Celestial Republic... nothing like the man who had a warrant out for his arrest...


    Nothing like the man who had somehow lost all his Merits at once.


    Thisst one was the one that Cassarae worried the most about. When she saw Ss'' name disappear from the Merit Leaderboard, how could she think anything other than the fact he had died?


    But since he was here alive, that only meant one thing...


    Just how many Demerits did he have right now?


    Cassarae suddenly wanted to punch his smiling face. Didn''t he know how dangerous this was?


    The Grimde''s Warrant was the least of his worries. At least only Grimdes could partake in that. But having Demerits, especially heavy Demerits, was like being pegged as Earth''s number one enemy.


    If they weren''t in a virtual setting right now, she might have gotten a Quicktime Event to kill Ss right here and now.


    It wasn''t just the fact that the system would target Ss, but it might reward people for targeting him as well.


    He had gone from the hero of Earth to public enemy number one of Earth.


    "You seem worried," Ss finally broke the silence.


    "Fuck, Ss. What did you get yourself into?"


    "The usual."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to worry about this bastard. Only good people died early, and he was far from it.


    Still, seeing how casual he was being, she rxed.


    "Where''ve you been for four months?"


    "I got stuck in a Dungeon outside of Earth. I thought it was only a day and a bit that passed. When I got back, it was four months."


    Cassarae''s gaze flickered. This was the first she had heard of such a thing, but she nodded, taking it in stride.


    "What did you want to talk about?"


    Ss almostughed. This woman was a tough nut to crack, indeed.


    If he hadn''t contacted her so soon, she would have thrown a fit. But now that he had, she sounded like she wanted to shoo him away already.


    "How is Casstle Main?"


    Cassarae grinned. "Didn''t you notice? My little Casstle is back at the top."


    "And the Sylphs?"


    Cassarae frowned. "That''s trickier."


    "What happened with Merchant Guatum?"


    Merchant Guatum was the so-called Memory Merchant that Ss had... coerced into helping out Cassarae and the others.


    He was a tricky person to deal with as well. Ss could see that he had a great deal of ambition. It was hard to say if he had continued to be loyal after Ss had been gone for so long.


    "He and Dad have actually hit it off. The two of them control about 20% of Guiz City''s economy. In fact, they control over 40% of the economies of the other two System Cities as well. I''ve managed to reach a Countess Noble Title-." Cassarae stopped talking as though she had just remembered something. "You son of a bitch! How did I forget!? Who told you that you could just unterally marry me?! Did I agree?!"


    The smile in Ss'' eyes deepened. "Does it make much of a difference?"


    "What is that supposed to mean?!"


    "Whether we marry now or in the future, it''s all the same to me."


    Cassarae was speechless. When had this guy be sopletely and utterly shameless?


    No, he always had been. He always moved to the beat of his own drum. Unless he decided on something himself, it was practically impossible for any outside forces to change his thoughts and opinions.


    Realizing this, Cassarae changed tactics.


    She leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over another.


    At the moment, she was wearing a full set of leather armor. There was no scant clothing to be seen, and in contrast to the elegance of Ss'' dress, she seemed a bit out of ce. However, her demeanor made it hard for anyone to call her out on such a thing. She seemed to be right at home regardless of the atmosphere.


    With the way she stretched back, the outline of her torso tugged against the leather, stretching it taut and revealing the outlines of her curves... not that they were very well hidden to begin with.


    Even with everything perfectly covered, it was hard to hide such a proud chest and wide hips, especially not when she crossed her arms over her chest.


    Seeing Ss'' not-so-shy gaze, her sneer only deepened. This man really had be a littlen/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    pervert.


    "You have a wife that you can''t touch. Doesn''t that fill you with frustration?" Cassarae asked in a teasing tone.


    "Frustration? No. Anticipation is more urate," Ss replied casually.


    "I don''t remember saying I would give you a chance."


    "You already have once, and you more than likely will again."


    "You''re a cocky bastard, you know that?"


    Ss lifted his gaze from the outline of Cassarae''s body, and she felt her breathing hitch in


    her throat for a moment. There was something about the intensity of Ss'' gaze that almost


    threw her over the edge.


    Then, he suddenly smiled. A real smile. Not that half-cocked nonsense he usually pulled.


    "I think you like that about me very much. Don''t you?"


    Cassarae stared at him in a daze.

 Chapter 534: Bad Karma [Bonus]

    Chapter 534: Bad Karma [Bonus]


    ?


    The smile was almost blinding.


    Sometimes Cassarae forgot how handsome Ss was, but that wasn''t because his stoicism washed it away. It was rather because she had grown up with him, making it easy to forget.


    Ironically, it was something the both of them dealt with. Ss hadn''t seemed to realize just the sort of bombshell Cassarae was until recently, having practically erased his 17th birthday memory from his head.


    But looking at his smile now, it was hard for Cassarae to ignore it... even if she preferred when he was being aggressive and pushy.


    Ss didn''t have what she might describe as movie star looks. If that was the case, she might cringe instead. She didn''t favor men like that very much.


    That wasn''t to say hecked in the looks department. Instead, it was to say that he looked more like he should have a spot reserved in an old western town, sitting at a bar and rotating a ss of whisky in his hand slowly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He had an aura to him that was almost smoky and smoldering, one ented by the sharpness of his green eyes in a way that any other color might not have been able to match.


    "It''s the fucking five o''clock shadow," Cassarae mumbled absentmindedly.


    Ss was always clean-shaven, but the Summoning had made him fall off the wagon with his normal routines. It was no wonder she had noticed his looks more this time around; he didn''t even look like the normal Ss.


    Just this slight change was enough to send her gushing.


    "I can''t make it too easy for this bastard."


    "You know, you''re speaking out loud."


    "Shut up and let me," Cassarae replied without missing a beat andcking the slightest bit of shame.


    After a while, Cassarae regained her bearings and shook her head. This really was a bit too embarrassing, but her libido and dripping innards aside, how attractive Ss was to her was quite low on her "take seriously" priority list right now.


    There were attractive men all across the world. And she was sure that at least a handful of them had a personality like Ss'' that was likewise to her liking.


    The matters of all those years ago weren''t so easy for her to forget. And honestly... it really didn''t seem like Ss had changed much at all since then.


    He had changed his mind not because he felt bad, and not because he had had a change of heart about his treatment of her, but purely because he decided he wanted her now.


    And honestly...


    That just wasn''t good enough.


    She spent ten years looking for a way to fill the hole he left behind, even if she had never admitted it to herself. If she fell into his embrace again, what would she do the next time he decided that he didn''t want her anymore?


    ...


    The two got down to business, neither mentioning the earlier matters again. For a moment, it didn''t even look like they had once shared a romantic rtionship at all.


    Cassarae had somewhat expected Ss to keep pressing, but she had almost forgotten the kind of man he was. His pride was ced above everything.


    If he could fluster her a bit, he would. But the moment he sensed that she had made up her mind for the moment, he pretended as though nothing at all had happened.


    It was enough to leave her one part frustrated and another part relieved.


    Honestly speaking, if Ss really decided he wanted to be pushy, she wasn''t sure how long she could say "no" for.


    Of course, if anything happened between them, she would be sure to deny it all the next morning. But the moment that Pandora''s box was open, there would be no closing it again. So she would prefer to avoid that at all costs.


    It wasn''t long before Ss got a firm understanding of the sort of situation Cassarae was in.


    She had managed to raze The Enve to the ground, which had opened up the path for Casstle Main to return to the top ten. In addition, she had managed to clear the Common Leg of her Chain Quest as well.


    There were about two and a half years remaining in Cassarae''s Quest, and the fact she was still working on the Bronze Leg even now was truly worrying. It would only get more difficult from here, and a four-month pace for a Common Leg of a Chain Quest didn''t bode well for the rest. This was especially troublesome because after listening to Cassaraein about her troubles, Ss remembered something extremely important...


    [Path of the Executioner (Bronze) (Quest)]


    [You have disyed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy; following your own is much more difficult.]


    [The Executioner is the Reaper of All. But wreathed in bad karma and a grant temper, their Luck also tends to be particrly bad. Taking up this mantle will put you in untold danger, and many more will chase you down for your arrogance.]


    [Open up the Path of the Executioner or die trying.]


    [Bronze Reward Requirements]


    [>Behead 10,000 enemies 10 or more Levels above you.]


    [>Extinguish a Bronze Evil Cult.]


    ''Wreathed in bad karma and a grant temper, their Luck also tends to be particrly bad...''


    A deep-seated worry sprouted in Ss'' heart.


    After taking down The Enve, pretty much nothing had gone well for Cassarae. Professor Broussard, the traitor pegged by Ss, was ramping up efforts, coordinating with Guiz City to help suppress the Memory Merchant and Cassarae''s father. Cassarae''s Steward summon, Gregory, was slowly wing back power with the help of a new summon who went by Mathilda, throwing Casstle Main''s civil war into a cold one. And, with the ocean still pouring into the Amazonian Wilds, there was pretty much no usablend around any longer.


    No one had found a method to close it yet.


    Of course, Ss now knew the perfect method, but it would require conquering the System Cities. If it was that easy, Cassarae would have done it already.


    ''Her Luck... it''s the problem...''

 Chapter 535: Listen [Bonus]

    Chapter 535: Listen [Bonus]


    ?


    The Path of the Executioner was one that came with great strength but at the cost of low Luck. Cassarae must have been particrly favored because the Quest gave her the ability to offset that poor Luck out of the gate.


    Unfortunately, that treasure was stolen away, taken by Lauren, who now had the number one spot on the Merit Leaderboard all to herself. And ording to Cassarae, her rewards for the Common Quest Leg were actually far less than what she received for the Fragmented part of the Quest.


    Ss hadn''t really considered this aspect of things before, but what if the use of the ne wasn''t to give Cassarae great Luck, but to instead ce her on a level ying field with everyone else?


    Although everyone was facing problems of their own, Cassarae''s seemed to be outsized. This sounded ridiculous to say when Ss was facing the rage of two heir candidates and a government, as well as the system on top of that. But most of the problems Ss had gotten into were forced by his hands or inevitable due to his starting circumstances.


    Byparison, Cassarae''s bad luck seemed much more random and coincidental.


    After all, Cassarae wasn''t born into a family like the Grimdes, and she wasn''t scouted by Legacy, as far as Ss knew, when she was young either. She had started off her vige in the middle of nowhere, and it didn''t seem like a particrly strategic point either; she just ced it down as soon as she could so that she would have some method of self-protection.


    And yet...


    She had ended up with not just one, but twopromised spawns. There was a System City right next to her that not only had Sylphs but ones that wanted to target her specifically. The Enve had been close enough to affect her progress, but far enough away that they were a headache to deal with, and the cherry on top of all of that was that a portal had appeared right above her head, leading right to a government official wielding way too much power who also happened to want to deal with her.


    And not a single one of these things was a result of any prior action or background on the part of Cassarae.


    If Ss was correct and things continued like this, it was likely that her Luck would only boil over and grow worse.


    In fact, this bad Luck was likely proportional to her current ss Grade. It had only gotten worse after her ss progressed to Common.


    ''I have to get the ne back for her.''


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    "Okay. Go back now and be sure to protect yourself."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "I don''t need you to tell me that."


    Ss would have replied, but his mind was already elsewhere. He was trying to build out a n in his mind. Even if it meant standing against Legacy and forging yet another enemy for himself, he needed to get that ne back. Or else...


    He was certain that Cassarae wouldn''t survive the fallout.


    He vanished soon after, leaving Cassarae alone in the small coffee shopndscape.


    She shook her head and sighed. She had trouble reading Ss sometimes, but at others, he might as well have been an open book to her.


    This was one of thosetter times.


    When he was worried, he didn''t say anything. He just worked harder.


    And right now he was worried about her.


    Maybe that was the one constant. Whether they were together or not... he had always been overprotective.


    Cassarae couldn''t help but smile lightly.


    **


    There was a silence that had hung over the office for a while now.


    Lucius sat behind his desk, reclined in his chair, taking a sip of what looked like a hard, brown liquor from time to time. Though he didn''t seem to be abusing the substance considering his calm demeanor and unhurried sips, the half-empty bottle on the table told a different story. Still, all things considered, he was still well-dressed; his expression, though a bit flushed, was still healthy, and his breathing was steady and rhythmic.


    However, if one could see his status window, one would see that he was staring at the same System-Wide Message. In fact, he had been staring at it just like this for thest two days.


    There was a click at his door, and Nathan walked in. He carried the same carefree demeanor and had clearly recovered long before Lucius had. But that was because the next steps weren''t any skin off his back.


    It had only taken Nathan a minute to tell Lucius what to do if he wanted to survive. It couldn''t have been simpler, really: Give up his right to thepetition of heirs and return to the Grimde family.


    If Lucius insisted on staying in the Evergreen Territory, he would die. If he tried to escape and rebuild in a new Territory, he would die. Pretty much anything he did that required having his cake and eating it too would result in death.


    He had sacrificed a great deal in exchange for Ss'' death, and now that he had failed, he would have to sacrifice more to avoid his own.


    "Bloom is awake now," Nathan said.


    "What did she say?"


    "He''s alive."


    "We know that much already. The rest, I mean," Lucius said calmly.


    "The Warrant worked. Or, I should say that it''s working even now."


    "A full 50% reduction?"


    "Yup."


    "What about his Professions?"


    "It was suppressed for what looks like two hours or so before rebounding."


    "So you mean to say the n went quite smoothly?"


    "Precisely."


    "And it still didn''t work."


    "Exactly right."


    He had given up the city he spent half a year of his blood, sweat, and tears on. He had given up the right to im ownership over the Evergreen Territory; he had even harmed Bloom, who would likely be unable to use her Profession in such a way for months, if not years...


    All for nothing.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Lucius stood, pouring the rest of his whisky into the pot of a nearby nt. He had enough.


    "I will listen to you this time. Let''s return to the Grimdes. I will give up my heirship rights."


    Nathan nodded in silence, but he couldn''t help but wonder if this was really where it would


    end.

 Chapter 536: Rogue

    Chapter 536: Rogue


    ?


    Ss left the Nexus with a frown on his face and a hint of darkness to his aura.


    He didn''t particrly have an opinion about Lauren before. He wasn''t the sort of person to get angry just because someone betrayed him, because if the shoe was on the other foot, and it benefited him, he would surely do much the same thing.


    During this Summoning, he had already killed many people that didn''t quite deserve it, and as things progressed, and beasts began to exhibit intelligence closer and closer to that of humans and the Basilisk King, the moral quandaries that might affect others would continue to have no impact on him at all.


    As such, though he hadbeled Lauren as an enemy, it wasn''t to the point he felt the need to hunt her down to the ends of the Earth.


    But now things had changed.


    She was affecting someone he cared for, and there would have to be hell to pay for that. However, he would need to find her first.


    The Africor Continent had a somewhat unique system of governancepared to olden Earth, but it was moremon nowadays.


    Because the entirety of Earth had been split into just seven countries as opposed to the hundreds of the past, there were certain unique measures that had to be taken so that suchrge bodies ofnd could be ced beneath one umbre.


    The Africor Continent''s approach was a quasi-Constitutional Monarchy where there were actually three acting Monarchs and royal families.


    There was the Serano family of the north, the Kintara family of the middle ins, and the Talira family of the south.


    These three families were led by Queen Amara Serano, King Roderic Kintara, and King Thorian Talira.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Should these three figures make the same decision, the country would almost certainly follow suit. Their united power could overwhelm the parliamentary system.


    In the past, this power of theirs was executed rarely and was much like the Ennd of old. Their families acted as figureheads, and though they would encroach from time to time on normal government function, they would mostly be in ceremonial roles.


    After the Summoning, however, things had changed a great deal. The three royal families took the reins and stirred the country forward. But their forcefulness also caused the Africor Continent to be one of the best-positioned countries in the world currently.


    While the United Coalition of Terranova was being bogged down by democracy and the logistics of coordinating the thoughts and actions of several figures in positions of power, the Africor Continent had circumvented much of that.


    Still, this might have been good news for them, but it was less so for Ss, who was now situated in the middle of King Roderic''s territory.


    The saving grace was that the poption of all countries, regardless of governance style, was at an all-time low, leavingrge swaths ofndpletely unmanned.


    However, it still wasn''t long before King Roderic''s men had pinpointed the likely location of the Woond Territory.


    The location was a room surrounded byrge concrete tiles, each one of which must have been at least two meters in length and width. They lined the room in a way that would make any handyman worth his salt wonder just what kind of manpower it took to do this, and also what kind of craftsmanship it took to hide the door.


    There certainly had to be one. After all, in this box-shaped room, there were several figures present, all of whom were surrounding another concrete piece. This time, it was a table adorned with a three-dimensional map of the Africor Continent.


    This map was quite interesting because only the central in was detailed, while the intricacies of the craftsmanship on the north and south of it were much murkier.


    King Roderic sat at the helm of the table. He was a man with fierce amber eyes, tanned skin, and a beard that looked almost like it was chiseled out of obsidian rather than grown onto his face.


    He didn''t wear a normal crown, but instead had a thin metallic band of bronze around his head. The rest of his style of dress was casual, just a pair of dress pants and a shirt with rolled- up sleeves.


    "It should be around here. It''s still a decently sized area, about a 100-kilometer radius, but we''re certain that this is where the Territory has appeared."


    "A tricky location to be sure," another official spoke up. "That region is rife with poisonous beasts."


    "Targeting it would be tricky no matter what, but that''s certainly another problematic wrinkle. It''s outside of our calctions that a Warlord would appear so quickly. Several things about this Summoning aren''t going as we might have thought before..."


    A silence fell over the room.


    King Roderic''s forearms rippled with veins and muscles as he tapped his finger on his crossed arms. He seemed to be lost in thought, half listening to his officials, and half focused on something else.


    He let his officials speak for a while longer before saying something himself.


    "Have we heard back from Amara yet?"


    "Yes, my liege. The excavation is almostplete. Within a month, there will be movement and time for us to set out."


    "This timing isn''t great, then," King Roderic said, as though speaking to himself.


    "What should we do?"


    "Ss Grimde..." King Roderic said slowly. "... His name has appeared many times now, but his actions are erratic. Originally, we believed him to be one of the Grimdes, but the more I learn about him, the more it seems that the Grimdes have no jurisdiction over his


    actions."


    "He''s a rogue?"


    King Roderic nodded.


    The officials seemed troubled. If Ss was really a rogue, and they re-contextualized all of his previous feats, it made him far greater of a threat.


    A rogue didn''t have nearly the same constraints to worry about.


    "We won''t interfere in this matter directly, we do not have the time. Instead, we''ll use the powers that are already there. Divert some resources and give them a bit of support. They''ll have a vested interest in keeping him constrained. Take advantage of that for the moment until we return."

 Chapter 537: Rune Breath Secret Realm (1)

    Chapter 537: Rune Breath Secret Realm (1)


    ?


    [The Life of Runes (Secrets)]


    [Limited ess: Rune Breath must be awakened]


    [Cost: 3,000,000 (F) Coins]


    Ss stood in the first door, gazing ahead with a calm expression. He seemed to have never been so focused before, and hisprehension of Runes was quickly getting fuller and sharper.


    Without the influence of the System Cities, the Runes of Earth, at least in this region, were healing somewhat.


    It seemed impossible for them to turn all the way back to what they had once been, but the small changes alone made Ss feel what he should from Rune Soul with much more rity. This left him confused in part, though.


    If there was such a drastic change between a partially healed and unhealed Earth, then why didn''t he feel this difference so clearly while he was in the Sylph Dungeon? Wasn''t it located off Earth?


    It was either that that location was influenced by the connection it formed with Earth... or Earth wasn''t the only world targeted by this figure in the background.


    Ss didn''t find this to be too surprising. Considering the odd urrences that took ce after he left the Sylph Dungeon, and his run-in with the Sylph prince he had reced for the event, it was clear that the Sylphs very clearly weren''t a single cohesive power.


    Someone had tried to target him and suffered for it, and there were likely others that didn''t take too kindly to their interference.


    The question was... just which of those factions had the upper hand, and how could he take advantage of it?


    These questions, though, were too far from him for now. He instead just basked in the rity of the Runes. Theymunicated with him with much greater strength now.


    As he moved through the doors one by one, he took his time. He didn''t want to identally miss the core purpose of his Secret Realm like he almost had in the World of Runes.


    This Rune Breath Secret Realm was truly no different; it too held a profound truth, and the challenges were much more taxing on Ss. It took him an entire hour just to pass through the first door.


    If Rune Enlightenment was gaining the instinct for what a Rune could do just by seeing it, Rune Breath was a step further, building up on the first three stages to create a holistic feel for Runes.


    It was said that the "Breath" of the title Rune Breath referred to the life of the Rune, and some often mistook that for a Rune Master breathing life into a Rune. However, this wasn''t quite urate because the entire hidden truth of this Secret Realm was that...


    Runes already had a life of their own.


    Ss entered the second door, finding himself in an even moreplexndscape.


    In the first door, he was presented with a three by three grid of Runes for a total of nine. This time, it was a four by four grid for a total of sixteen.


    In order to pass the first door, he had to arrange the nine Runes in such a way that they would spontaneouslybine into one. If the Runes had tangible purposes, it would have been easier, and maybe he would have seeded in a few minutes.


    But the trouble was that the Runes were... well, nonsense, forck of a better descriptor.


    Theypletely skirted the geometry rules Ss learned in the Rune Visualization Secret Realm, and they made use of Strokes and Foundations that wouldn''t even get off the ground if not for the fact the Secret Realm was forcefully stabilizing them.


    If one did the math, a three by three grid of an arrangement of nine different objects could be put into almost 400,000 different configurations.


    Still, this number was something you could brute force if you really pushed it.


    However, a four by four grid with sixteen different items could be arranged in the order of 20 trillion different ways. If you didn''t know what you were doing, you could spend your entire life here and still make it nowhere.


    Ss stood in silence for an entire three hours. He hardly blinked, his arms crossed over his chest as the 16 Runes before him became his entire world.


    He didn''t seem to bore or tire as he allowed this world of Runes to swallow him whole. Then, his hand suddenly moved.


    He swiped down, pulling the top right Rune down to the square just above the bottom left


    corner.


    The moment he made a decision, he didn''t slow. In a blink, he made several movements.


    This even row x column grid was harder than the first, not just because of the number difference, but because it didn''t have a core Rune. Because there were an even number, there was no "middle" square.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As such, Ss had to find a way to bnce the repulsion of the four middle squares.


    But the problem was that he had found 136 different configurations that worked to bnce the core, but most of them didn''t have a bnce that would allow the outer core to fuse everything together.


    Then there were the particrly tricky ones that seemed to allow some fusion, but it would be iplete or imperfect.


    However, the configuration that Ss settled on...


    WHOOOSH!


    The Runes trembled as thest one snapped into ce.


    The four core Runes, as though they had been infused with mas, snapped together, forming a Frankenstein Rune that spun once and then sucked the surrounding Runes into it.


    SHHOOO.


    A blinding light echoed out, and when Ss'' vision cleared, he was standing on the white, cloudy path outside.


    Still, his gaze was unfocused. He absentmindedly walked to the next door to find a five by five grid waiting for him.


    He stared at it for a long while, but this time, he wasn''t calcting anything.


    Ss knew that he was missing something. If he continued to calcte like this, he would eventually seed, but it would take months to make it to the end.


    What would he do when he reached a ten by ten grid?


    This five by five grid was easier, and it would only take him half an hour because it had a core Rune he could make use of. But the even grids would take him months by the time he got to


    ten by ten.


    He didn''t have that kind of time.


    But that didn''t make sense. Why did a core make a difference?


    Unless...


    "I see..."


    Ss'' green irises zed with a furious light.

 Chapter 538: 999

    Chapter 538: 999


    ?


    Ss felt that he finally understood.


    The reason for starting with one core instead of an amalgamation of cores was that it set the precedent and tone for the rest of the movement.


    But without this, there were too many potential cores to choose from. Just the first even grid had over 130 options. This made Ss unsure of which direction to take things in.


    He got lost in trying to find the properbinations but didn''t spend enough time trying to understand the guiding principle that allowed it all to work.


    What was it that drove the Runes to fuse into one?


    It was like Rune Visualization and Enlightenment all over again, but an application at a much higher level. In the Rune Visualization Secret Realm, he learned about geometry and how to "listen" to Runes and fit them into configurations their Strokes and Foundations most liked to be in.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    In the Rune Enlightenment Secret Realm, he built on this, learning how to use thews of the world around him to form Runes more naturally and fluidly.


    Now, Rune Breath was just asking him to apply what he had already learned. Take it a step further, build on those principles, and disy the true power of Runes.


    Even if these were nonsense Runes, there was a guiding principle that brought it all together.


    And if he stopped observing these Runes one by one and took a step back to observe them as a whole instead...


    This time, Ss only observed for a short while before his aura burst. He didn''t even use his hands any longer, using his Rune Soul to apply pressure on the Runes before him so that they naturally flowed the way they were meant to.


    WHOOOSH!


    The 16 Runes shed and were sucked into a vortex. They didn''t even bother to arrange themselves properly, flowing in a three-dimensional spiral pattern until they mped together.


    A blinding light, even fiercer than thest door, echoed out, and by the time Ss'' vision cleared, he was once again on the outside.


    This time, he had still cheated a bit. He used the one core Rune to guide everything else. But still, it was much faster than before, where it took him an entire hour for a much simpler puzzle.


    Now, however...


    He stepped into the fourth door, facing off against the six-by-six grid in front of him. Now, there were no core Runes. He would once again have to find the two-by-two set that would work for the core... but this time it was even more difficult.


    That was because encased around the core two-by-two grid was a four-by-four grid, all before the surrounding six-by-six.


    He needed to find two working cores this time, increasing the problems several fold.


    Ss could feel his Wisdom really being pushed this time.


    He knew that he couldn''t have found the perfect method just yet. This Secret Realm was designed for those that had just grasped Rune Breath, but he was an entire two levels beyond that; it didn''t make sense that he was struggling so much at door four when there were still five more.


    However, giving up wasn''t exactly in his vocabry.


    There was definitely something here. There was no doubt in his mind.


    What Ss didn''t know was that he was struggling so much only because the Runes of Earth were so warped and twisted. What he was trying to do was the equivalent of getting an elite marathon runner to run in the Olympics with a weighted vest that doubled what he had to carry.


    How could you use Rune Breath effectively when all the life of your world''s Runes had practically been ruthlessly snuffed out?


    The only reason Ss could even begin to progress so much was because he had Rune Soul. But the more he pushed himself, the more his Wisdom began to tick up. He was so focused that he didn''t notice his mind pressing against its barrier and leaping over its limits.


    He pushed his Rune Soul to the limits, looking and searching for a breakthrough.


    He didn''t find it in the fourth door. It took him over an hour, even with his new insights, to make it to the next door.


    Yet, the fifth door, as a result, took him no more than three minutes, even with the addedplexity of a seven-by-seven grid.


    When he faced off against the sixth door, his eyes were zing as he faced the eight-by-eight grid.


    He felt he was close. The Runes were calling out to him, almost begging to spring free of the


    cocoons.


    But they were stifled and boarded up. They couldn''t show their true selves off, suffocated by the cancers growing through them and the damage to theirws.


    >[Wisdom: 955]


    >[Wisdom: 957]


    >[Wisdom: 962]


    The numbers of Ss'' unsuppressed Wisdom continued to rise. Although the Wisdom he could ess now was only half of that, he didn''t have a mind for it, trying to see through more, understand more.


    Subconsciously, his Rune Soul and his Sixth Sense began to fuse in ways they weren''t meant


    to.


    The world of his visualization changed, and instead of seeing things in shapes, size, and color, his visualization began to see them as arrays of Runes.


    He didn''t see the color blue; he saw what Runes caused every other color to be absorbed. He didn''t see walls; he saw the veryws and constructs that made them so sturdy. He didn''t see people; he was starting to peer beyond, seeing the mesh of Runes that formed their Genes, the underlying specialness of their Blood Essence, and deeper than that...


    Their very souls.


    >[Wisdom: 997]


    >[Wisdom: 998]


    >[Wisdom: 999]


    There was a sudden surge as Ss crossed the 1000 Wisdom barrier without realizing it in the slightest.


    The suppression on his Mental rippled, and he shattered it, still not noticing in the slightest.


    But he did suddenly find that his analysis elerated, and then all of a sudden, he broke free of the sixth door.

 Chapter 539: Push Through

    Chapter 539: Push Through


    ?


    Ss took deep breaths as he appeared on the cloudy road once again. He felt as though he had already hit his limit. Despite the sudden surge at the end, his brain was almost entirely drained. It was difficult for him to even breathe properly. It was like all the nerves in his body were overloaded.


    Without knowing the exact reason he was struggling so much, his gaze couldn''t help but be solemn. It was no wonder Nosphaleen took Rune Breath so seriously. Excavating one''s potential in this Rune Mastery Realm wasn''t easy by any means.


    Even if he knew he was struggling so much because of the suppression on Earth''s Runes, his reaction wouldn''t be much different. That was because whoever could do this-suppressing a generation of Rune Masters-was definitely on a level he couldn''t fathom.


    He would have to push himself even harder.


    With his jaw set, he walked toward the seventh door.


    When he entered, he exhaled a long, cold breath.


    It wasn''t a nine-by-nine grid like he was expecting. Instead, it was a three-by-three grid once again... or so it seemed until it was multiplied three times over.


    Before him, a three-by-three-by-three cube floated, each cubicle within carrying a different Rune.


    Although there was a core Rune he could take advantage of this time, the configurations were so much more numerous that it was impossible to fathom.


    Now that he needed to consider not just the two-dimensional aspects but the three- dimensional, it was like there were far more than just 27 Runes before him.


    If each of the Runes had dozens of configurations they could be rotated into, then he was being asked to arrange that many Runes. Rather than 27 Runes, there might as well be thousands in front of him now.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This cube might seem to be on a smaller scale than the eight-by-eight grid he had justpleted, but its level ofplexity was on a whole other level.


    Ss took a breath and felt that he was at a crossroads. His mind was mush, and there were still two more doors after this, which were undoubtedly severalfold moreplicated.


    But for some reason, he didn''t want to give up. He felt like he was letting someone else win, even if it didn''t make any sense.


    The feeling of difort was subtle, and he somewhat felt like it was an itch at the back of his mind. Something inside of him was stoked, and he almost red at the cube-shaped grid hovering before him.


    A flicker of a me danced within his eyes, and he focused on the task at hand.


    At that moment, it was like a dam had broken in his mind. He didn''t have a sudden breakthrough. It was instead like he was a person who was staring at the answers he needed right in front of him yet hadn''t noticed until now.


    With Rune Soul matched with his visualization, he was already naturally able to see Runes in a three-dimensional form. But why was it that he had only been considering one aspect of them until now?


    He had been lulled into that sense of security because the grids until now had all been two- dimensional, so he was only considering what the Runes looked like straight on. He didn''t even think to rotate them.


    He closed his eyes, going back as he tried to think through something.


    When he returned to the puzzle of the second door, he realized the 136 configurations for the core Runes could all be used. All he had to do was likewise change the configuration of the surrounding Runes, rotating them here and there.


    He had always been under the assumption that these grids only had one solution. Maybe there was only one perfect solution, and that was the solution he had been chasing all along, but there were certainly several other possibilities as well.


    However, just because those other possibilities weren''t perfect didn''t mean that they wouldn''t help in finding the best solution.


    When you were working with thews of the world, a single Stroke or Foundation could have several functions that it could possibly execute. There was just one water molecule in existence, but that didn''t mean that it could be in a state of liquid, solid, or gas, nor did it mean that it couldn''t have different ways it acted while under high pressure or low pressure.


    But each one could be considered water no less than any of the others.


    Hydro dams and steam engines both used water to generate power, but the methods in which they did so couldn''t have been more different.


    The various configurations of a Rune and how he could fit them together were much the same. Trying to fit himself into one box would have always been foolish.


    However, because the Runes were nonsense Runes without form or function, Ss'' analytical mind had a hard time looking at them like he normally did, so he tried to brute-force it through other methods.


    Ironically, whether it was his disposition or the fact he already had Rune Soul, they had only held him back in this respect.


    First, he tried to calcte it rigorously, then when that was slowing down, he used his Rune Soul to force them to flow to the correct configuration. When instead...


    Ss pulled on thews of the world, and the Runes shifted and began to spin.


    CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.


    As though gears snapping into ce, they resonated at each step until they settled into one position. Then, the Runes began to swap and shift in rtion to one another.


    At that moment, a piercing light shot up, striking a hole through the canopy of the Secret Realm.


    The glow of Ss'' eyes only grew fiercer. He didn''t care to see the end of the phenomena, leaving and entering the eighth door, only to leave it soon after and enter the ninth.


    The Secret Realm shook.


    Ss finally awoke from his state of focus, blinking.


    ''Something is happening...''

 Chapter 540: (???) [Bonus]

    Chapter 540: (???) [Bonus]


    ?


    [The Rune Master Guild has taken an interest in you. Would you like to ept a System Conference?]


    ''A System Conference?''


    Ss wasn''t sure what that was, but after convening with the Madness Key, he realized that it was just a formal method of connecting two separate branches of the system. Essentially, it was a voice call...


    Obviously, though, whoever was on the other side was footing the bill. And judging by the hints that Madness Key dropped, this bill certainly wasn''t a small one.


    Not only was it a matter of distance, but the fact Earth was still in the middle of its Summoning meant that its connection with this tier of the universe wasn''t solidified yet. Meaning, the cost was easily thousands of times more than what one would expect.


    [What is the Rune Master Guild?]


    [The Rune Master Guild is not a single Guild, but rather awork of them. They work under the same umbre, using the moniker of Rune Master Guild as a facade to allow free exchange of ideas and trade.]


    The exnation was quick, but Ss got the gist of it. So it wasn''t actually the Rune Master Guild that was contacting him, but more than likely one of its many understudies.


    The Rune Master Guild would probably be more urately seen as an alliance of various smaller guilds.


    His thoughts only seemed to be proven more correct when there was a second notification, and then a third.


    ''I see... They''re probably using the official umbre of the Rune Master Guild as a little white lie.''


    It was almost like a subsidiary mentioning their parentpany. Technically, it was true that they were one and the same, but in practice, were they really?


    The same notification repeated again and again, and Ss was quickly finding it annoying. They had probably found out that he was from a world in the middle of their Summoning and wanted to take advantage of him.


    But to Ss, every connection made with the outside world cost him time he couldn''t afford to lose.


    The bncing between the time dtion here on Earth and in the outside world would have to bepensated for somehow.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And by now, he had already asked enough questions to the Madness Key to know that there was a great deal of danger lurking on the other side if he made a deal with the wrong guild.


    Young and talented Rune Masters getting locked up into contracts that practically signed their souls away wasn''t an umon urrence at all.


    If it was just as simple as reading the contract and calling it a day, Ss would certainly do so. But these people were experts in Runes that were far beyond him. His experience in the Rune Breath Secret Realm had made him realize that there was a far taller mountain to climb out there.


    The contracts of the Rune Master Guild weren''t written in innguage; otherwise, anyone smart enough to be acknowledged by a guild would be able to see through the tricks.


    The problem was that the contracts were constructed in Runes, and unless it was formed by two parties with equal skill, it was like handing control of your life over to another.


    And Ss certainly wasn''t going to try to rely on his Will to form a contract. Who knew how many quadruple, quintuple, or sextuple digit Will masters there were lurking around in the universe?


    No matter how he looked at it, whether it was the time he would lose to the dtion or the danger involved... even if there were benefits to be gained, until he was more confident in himself or had a better understanding of the scope of the world on the outside, he couldn''t afford to take this step.


    In the end, he rejected all of the invitations he received.


    [A Rune Master Guild Verified Member has taken an interest in you. Would you like to ept a Conference?]


    When Ss saw this in the string of notifications, he was even more certain in his earlier assessment.


    There was a string of invites first that only mentioned the Rune Master Guild, and now there was suddenly this Verified Member...


    He shut it all down, closing himself off to these notifications from the Rune Master Guild. If they were going to keeping like this, he would never get any peace.


    Luckily, the system had a function for muting only certain types of notifications.


    What Ss didn''t know was that the very first notification he received wasn''t a scam. It was well and truly from the Rune Master Guild.


    As for why...


    **


    In amon hub of the universe, there was a great deal of hustle and bustle. The city seemed formed of countless floating, oblong pods that orbited around in fixed intervals.


    It was said that this was meant to be based aroundplex concepts of city nning, moving highly frequented pods toward locations with more ess and morenes of traffic during their peak hours, and away from those locations when they closed down or were off-peak.


    It was a magical sight to behold, and near the central core of this city was the one standing building that never moved anywhere. A towering monument of curving ss structures, it stood tall and proud.


    This was the headquarters of the Rune Master Guild of this quadrant of the universe. And right now, there was a great uproar taking ce.


    -


    "District Head, something big''s happened."


    A middle-aged man who looked to be getting on in his years looked up. There was a slit in the middle of his forehead and an almost dull, careless sort of arrogance in his eyes as hezily


    looked up.


    He seemed annoyed to be interrupted, but he still waited for the exnation.


    "There''s a new addition to the top thousand. He''s human on an Unsummoned world."


    Only now did the man seem to arouse from his annoyance, his eyes shing with brilliance.


    [341. Ss Grimde (Lvo) | Human (F) | (???)]


    [342. Ulrik Vecunish (Lv37) | Thryskai (F) | Thryx (Grade 2 Silver)]

 Chapter 541: Smarts Arent Enough [Bonus]

    Chapter 541: Smarts Aren''t Enough [Bonus]


    ?


    The Breath Master List was based on one thing and one thing only: how fast the Rune Breath Secret Realm was cleared. Any existence younger than the age of 51 and within the F-Grade was allowed to be on it. Though there was no universal list, the logistics of documenting so many Secret Realm entries across so many quadrants were far too great.


    Instead, this list was based by District, while there were probably hundreds of Districts in just a single gxy and about four to five sr systems to a District.


    To Earth, it seemed as though most sr systems were lifeless, but this was only because most of the universe was closed off to them due to their failure toplete the Summoning.


    In reality, of the thousands of sr systems in the Milky Way, all of them had at least one with life on them, maybe multiples and moons at that.


    Each one of these sr systems would have anywhere from millions in poption due to situations like Earth, where the Summoning was not long ago and most had died, to tens of billions.


    Situations like Earth were still rtively rare because it wasn''t every day that a world underwent a Summoning. As such, one could expect about 10 to 30 billion people a sr system, which meant about 50 to 150 billion people a District. When you elevated the scale to a gxy, there were probably upward of a few hundred trillion people.


    This was all to say that making it into a top thousand list for one of the mostmonly challenged Secret Realms was no joking matter...


    However, to make it as an Unsummoned was another matter entirely. To do so as a Human, well...


    There were probably a dozen or so Races on the list, many of whom could be found dotted across the universe, appearing in many gxies and Districts.


    But the number of Humans? Or more specifically, as they were known across the universe, Primitive Humans?


    Ss was the only one on the list.


    There was not a single other Primitive Human.


    This reality made Ss a hotmodity. As he had expected, the number of individuals who wanted to take advantage of him could wrap an entire line across the District.


    In fact, there were some spies from other Districts who had spies within theirs who perked up as well, wondering how they might take advantage of this situation.


    The trouble was that in this sea of fishermen fishing in troubled waters, there were those that genuinely wanted to bring Ss into their fold as well.


    Unfortunately, Ss simply didn''t have the time to properly vet these people and could only make the one choice he could.


    And in typical Ss fashion, his action of directly ignoring this throng of invitations was poorly received.


    The scammers from unverified guilds were one thing; they just shrugged their shoulders and moved on to their next target.


    But as the messages from Verified Guilds began to pile up, and then Named Guilds began to get involved soon after, followed by Ranked Guilds...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The legend of Ss'' arrogance piled up.


    No one seemed to care about his reasons. In fact, those that could be Rune Masters were all smart enough to see through them. However... did they have a reason to care?


    Not only did Ss ignore them, but he didn''t bother to respond to even a single one of them. And soon enough, news of this began to spread around as well.


    -


    District Head Mospheral sat in his office, listening to the reports. His face seemed to be just as expressionless, but there was a keen light in his eyes that betrayed a smile.


    He knew things about the world that most of these Rune Masters didn''t-enough to know that Ss wasn''t just being overly cautious for the sake of it.


    If Ss could make the guesses Mospheral thought he might, then this matter would very quickly get blown out of proportion very soon.


    This matter would reach the ears of those Ss likely hoped it wouldn''t.


    This level of fanfare was practically equivalent to a change in the top ten, all because of the circumstances surrounding Ss.


    "You''re smart," District Head Mospheral suddenly spoke.


    All of his attendants fell into silence, none responding. They knew of Mospheral''s habit of speaking to himself.


    "Unfortunately, in this world, being smart alone isn''t enough. Sometimes you have to be smart enough to know when to take a loss on purpose. Not every situation can be a perfect win


    for you...


    "It''s too bad. You''ve probably gottenfortable with being number one on your little. If you can manage toplete your Summoning, we''ll see how far that takes you..."


    What District Head Mospheral hadn''t said was that it had been a very long time since a worldpleted their Summoning in the nine tries given. So long, in fact, that thest to seed had already be the overlords of his District.


    There was a reason they called this the Skai Gxy. They might not have perfect dominion over every District, but there was no District that couldn''t feel their influence.


    The slit on Mospheral''s forehead suddenly opened and a blinding red light filled the room.


    **


    Ss had no idea about what was happening on the other side of the District, but he was smart enough to make guesses. The possibility that his actions could infuriate people wasn''t lost on him; it was just that he didn''t have the luxury to care right now.


    It was now just yet another future problem he would have to deal with. But if he ended up in someone''s clutches right here and now, his race against time would likewise end here and


    now.


    If he could push off benefits to the future for the sake of his foundation, he could push off problems too.


    Right now, he was only interested in what the evolved Mancer Wand could give him.


    With a thought, he brought out the crystalline tree.

 Chapter 542: Mancer’s Blossom

    Chapter 542: Mancer¡¯s Blossom


    ?


    [Mancer''s Blossom (Silver) (Aether Treasure)]


    [The Paths of the Mancer are long andplex. There is no one Path that is superior to another, but the distance one can travel depends greatly on your strength of heart. The Mancer''s Blossom allows you to feel and sense your Path of the Mancer, how to progress it and how to improve it.]


    [Feed the Mancer''s Blossom Aether and it will bear fruit to enlighten your path.]


    [Meditate beneath the Mancer''s Blossom to improve Aether Recovery and gain a chance to Level up.]


    Ss stared at the tree for a long while. He could feel the fatigue of the Rune Breath Secret Realm slowly being peeled away under his cirction of <Maddened Enlightenment>. But he was also somewhat aware that unless he went to bed, he likely wouldn''t get back to 100%.


    It was a shame because he had already called another General in for his next round of grappling practice. It seemed he would have to send them back and hold off until he woke up from thising nap.


    But before he did that, he still had an urge to check the evolved Mancer''s Wand.


    It had to be remembered that this evolution of the Mancer''s Wand was triggered because it saved him from being forcefully Leveled up to Level 50.


    Since then, he hadn''t had a chance to take advantage of it. But technically speaking, if he meditated beneath his Mancer''s Blossom Aether Treasure, he should be able to sense Runes far more powerful than his current Slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes. Maybe he would find Runes approaching 100 Foundations.


    But the problem with this was obvious.


    His affinity was no longer just purely Ice and Poison. He had a third affinity now: wood.


    Part of him wanted to hope that since Mancer''s Blossom took the shape of a tree, it would have a natural affinity to the element that he could take advantage of. But a single nce told him that that wasn''t going to happen.


    When he asked the Madness Key how he would go about adding another affinity to it, it gave him two possibilities.


    Either he would need to reach the same level in Wood Aether on his own, or he would need to find a source at the same level as what triggered the evolution in the first ce.


    While Mancer''s Blossom was a far greater treasure than Mancer''s Wand, by extension, it was also less flexible.


    There was one thing he was right about, though...


    ''So Mancer''s Blossom might not have a natural Wood Elemental Aether affinity to it, but it does have a natural proclivity for the element...''


    Mancer''s Wand was a wooden branch that grew into Mancer''s Blossom, a tree at its root.


    But there was still a subtle difference.


    ording to the Madness Key, Wood was actually a version or mutation of Earth Aether that incorporated a higher form of Aether that could nurture and give life.


    Ss wasn''t able to learn what this special Aether was because the cost of Genes to learn it was too steep. It wasn''t worthwhile to learn it now, not when he wouldn''t be able to use it anyway.


    ''This must be why my new ss came with an Earth affinity as well. That means thatpared to other elements, Mancer''s Blossom should have an easier time incorporating Earth and Wood. But I need to find something that''s worthy of it...''


    Ss took a breath and the frosty air fueled his body.


    There was also something else...


    Mancer''s Blossom was a tree. Using it like this, bncing it on hard floors, not allowing it to seep its roots into soil, also caused its effects to be weaker than they should be.


    Before, Ss had nowhere to nt it, so he didn''t even consider it.


    But now that he technically had his own territory here... maybe he should consider it.


    ''This is the Woond Territory. I don''t believe that I won''t be able to find something to help it incorporate this new path.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Feeling somewhatfortable in the cold, Ss returned to his bed and fell asleep once again.


    His mind seemed to be massaged by the hands of angels while he was resting because when he woke up, he felt like apletely new person.


    When he exhaled, a string of icicles came from his lips, and he was shocked to find that Ice- Poison Runes were naturally forming.


    He was even more shocked when he looked beneath his feet. Every step he took came with another blossoming of ice. They almost formed a lotus tform for his personal use.


    ''This isn''t Aether... Not really...''


    Ss was stunned, but he was certain of what he was seeing. Sure, the density of Aether in the surroundings had something to do with it, but this wasn''t because of his Rune Mastery.


    He had reached a point where he subconsciously formed Runes, without effort and without even the input of his Wisdom. In fact, the formation of the Runes seemed to have no impact on his mental fatigue at all.


    This would be impossible if the Ice-Poison in the air hadn''t grown so thick while he was asleep. But this meant that so long as there was an abundance of Aether he had a close affinity


    with...


    It wouldn''t take any stamina at all to have Runes heed his call.


    Was this Rune Essence?


    No, that wasn''t right... Rune Essence didn''t have a description like this one. This felt a lot more like Rune Spark ording to what he understood...


    But had he really leapt another three levels in his sleep? That didn''t feel right either.


    It took Ss a half hour of contemtion and the Madness Key''s help before he understood exactly what was happening. And from what he understood, there was both a simple answer and aplicated one.


    The simple answer was that this was a result of abination of efforts including Mancer''s Bloom, his Rune Soul, his Warlord Title, and the healing of the Runes in this region thanks to the destruction of two System Cities.


    As for theplicated one, it could be summarized in a single line.

 Chapter 543: Interesting

    Chapter 543: Interesting


    ?


    This was a window into Rune Spark.


    It could indeed be summarized in one line, but the implications were both heavy andplicated. It meant several important things.


    First, Rune Spark and Aether affinity and Aether control could not be separated from one another.


    Second, part of Rune Spark''s formation incorporated the very same Kingly aura that Bronze Beasts and above had.


    Third, he might very well never touch upon even Rune Essence, let alone Rune Spark, if he couldn''t manage to heal the Runes of Earth to a better point than this.


    Rune Essence. Rune Vitality. Rune Spark.


    These were the three levels beyond Rune Soul, and each one was more difficult to grasp than thest.


    However, for whatever reason, Ss didn''t find it to be very difficult. Instead, what was really holding him back was the world around him.


    What Ss didn''t know was that there were many talents across the universe who were much like him... it was just that these talents were born into far higher Races.


    The reason for this was that because Rune Mastery was divided into Grades much like Aether or Levels might be.


    Being a Rune Breath Master of the F-Grade didn''t guarantee you''d be able to replicate the same feat in E-Grade.


    Every Grade was another challenge, and there were many Rune Masters that never made it to the end of the road in one Grade. Making it to Rune Soul was already an exceptionally rare event.


    That was why the Unique Gene of the Dogons was even more shocking.


    If they could manage to elevate themselves to the E-Grade, or maybe even the D-Grade beyond, and find the materials they needed to likewise upgrade their Genes, they would immediately reach Rune Flesh.


    The more one understood about the power scaling of the universe, the more ridiculous these feats became.


    To the current Ss, however, not only was this a great distance away, but it also represented a great deal of work for himself.


    There was good news, though. Within his Woond Territory, not only would he have the ability to suppress others and increase his strength, he would have a Quasi Rune Spark under his control in certain regions where the Poison and Wood Aether were in especially high concentrations.


    And in this specific territory...


    That was in quite a number of ces.


    However... that didn''t mean that there was absolutely nothing he could do right now.


    Ss took a seat under the tree and entered a sort of state of focus.


    Soon, his mind had entered the world of the Mancer''s Blossom. It reminded him a lot of the scene near the Ice-Poison pond in the tundra regions north of the Evergreen Territory. But the difference was that this time Mancer''s Blossom carried this world around it wherever it went, whereas Mancer''s Wand had to be in the presence of high Ice-Poison concentrations to allow him to enter.


    Ss walked deeper into the world, and soon enough, he was surrounded by Runes with 40 to 50 Foundations.


    These were the absolute strongest Runes that Ss had been able to find in the Mancer''s Wand before, but now...


    He headed in deeper until his eyesnded on the first 60 Foundation Ice-Poison Rune he had ever seen.


    The pressure in this region was absolutely astonishing. Ss could even feel that if not for the fact he had Rune Soul, his mind would have already frosted over.


    ''This is really the limit, huh?''


    He was a bit disappointed. If he could get his hands on a 100 Foundation Ice-Poison Rune, just how much more powerful would he be? Regardless of Aether quality difference, the Woond Spider Queen would have died at his hands in just a few minutes at worst.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, the quality jump between a Rune of around 50 Foundations and one with around 60 was clear to see.


    Ss didn''t feel any pressure at all around thest region. But in this one, he somewhat feared for his life. If he pushed it too much, he would end up harming himself.


    It seemed that he had severely underestimated Runes before, and now that he was learning more about them and recalibrating somewhat, he understood just how impressive it was for him to be able to use 50 Foundation Runes at all. Even the Woond Spider Queen had only had Runes around 30, closing in on 40 Foundations.


    Ss pushed down his disappointment.


    A 60 Foundation Rune was easily two to three times more powerful than a 50 Foundation Rune. And unlike the Mancer''s Wand where there were only a handful to choose from, there were hundreds here.


    The volume of choice was astounding.


    However, Ss felt that he already had a path he was envisioning for his Mancer Path. It would take a shocking change for him to divert from it.


    So, he stuck with that path, choosing two Runes he called Advanced Slow and Advanced Freeze. They were exactly what they sounded like, souped-up versions of his current slow and Freeze Ice-Poison Runes.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t just swap out the Aether in his body for it now because his ss wouldn''t allow it. But, with his Rune Mastery, it was easy for him to incorporate it into his


    Aether skin.


    Thanks to that, his Aether skin went from having 400 natural Defense to just over 1000. Someone would have to be capable of attacking with a Strength of 1000 before they could even begin to stress his Constitution.


    This change alone was worth it. But the changes to his skills were substantial as well.


    Ss exhaled a breath and put Mancer''s Blossom away.


    Over the next two days, Ss pivoted back to grappling, refining all the way up to


    <Synchronized Flow>, the FF+ Skill, to Legendary Mastery.


    He nned to continue, but unfortunately, it seemed that spending an entire month moving


    at his own pace wasn''t going to be allowed by his enemies.


    Nosphaleen came to him with news.


    It turned out that there were a few leaders of the Woond Territory that had sent representatives to speak with him.


    Ss'' first thought wasn''t apprehension or shock. Instead, he thought of just one question...


    How did they know he was staying in this System City? He had never announced his dominion


    at all. Was it just a guess because this was thest System City that remained in the Territory? Or was it something else?


    ''Interesting.''

 Chapter 544: Mine

    Chapter 544: Mine


    ?


    Ss stepped into thergemon room where there were three individuals waiting for him.


    [Tasia Banks]


    [Virgil Wright]


    [Austin Beck]


    Not a single one of them had a Level above zero. Ss doubted that it was because of a treasure. The odds of such a treasure being effective in his Territory were next to nothing. That meant that these people simply had no Levels at all. They were probably being nurtured to earn Professions. Though he could see hints of nervousness in them, there was a professionalism there that made it obvious they had done this sort of thing for a living before the Summoning.


    The difference was that before the Summoning... Ss would have been thrown in jail for killing them. And now, there were no guardrails in ce for them at all.


    Each one was hoping that Ss would have some etiquette in not killing the messengers. But they were likewise all willing to risk their lives for a chance to move up in their worlds.


    They were bold people. Ss kind of liked that.


    As for how long he would, time would tell.


    The only woman among them reacted first. She quickly stood, taking the initiative toe to Ss'' side. Her eyes seemed to carry hints of brightness in them as she appeared before him, extending her hand.


    "Hello, I''m Tasia Banks, as you''ve probably already seen. Tasia, like Anastasia, without the annoying fluff. I''m here representing Gothamshire."


    Tasia seemed to be in her early twenties. She wore business formal well, and her hair was done up into a tight bun. Ss noticed the single button she had undone. It was enough to see some soft flesh, but not enough to feel like she was overdoing it.


    She was riding the line between flirtation and business well, andpared to the others, she was first to react and first to take advantage of the situation.


    However, Ss was more focused on the name of the city. It told him a lot more about this situation than most knew. This wasn''t because it had been in the top ten; it was likely never close. But rather, the name itself had a simr tone and feel to the top ten ones during the trial.


    He remembered seeing that list for the first time and thinking that it was kind of sad. So many had chosen names from pop culture and based on puns because they didn''t realize just how serious these matters would be. By the time they did, a majority of them had already died.


    Gothamshire was certainly another one of these. Meaning, he was unlikely to be dealing with a powerful family right now.


    But that was also contradictory.


    ''If they''re not from powerful factions, then how did they find me? The only exnation is that they''re getting help from the dark. Ragnar shouldn''t have the ability to do this. Right now, he''s heavily injured and cut off from his usual resources.


    ''The Ravenw family is definitely located in the Africor Continent, but if Ragnar returns, he''ll be giving up his Heirship. After going as far as to betray the Human Race, he definitely knows that there''s no going back now. He won''t give up so easily, so him returning to the Ravenws now is unlikely.


    ''If I had to guess, he''s probably somewhere in my Woond Territory, likely near the location of the underground city, biding his time, healing his injuries, etcetera. He won''t make a move for at least another week, likely longer. He has no idea that I''ve given myself a one-month timer.


    ''If I was him, I would assume that I''d want to build up a faction. Who would want to abandon their Warlord Territory? He likely thinks that he has time to set up and find a method to deal with me. So he''ll keep an eye on the underground city because he knows that that''s the one thing we have inmon...''


    Ss found that his thoughts were moving much more fluidly. He had always been sharp, but it wasn''t just that he had be sharper; rather, that sharpness was flowing with more agility, more speed.


    Tasia hadn''t even finished speaking when he deduced all of this.


    As for his conclusion?


    It could only mean that they were receiving help from the Africor Continent Constitution Monarchy.


    ''They sure move fast.''


    Though there was still a possibility that it was Legacy, Ss felt that the government of this continent definitely edged them out.


    Ss reached out a hand and shook hers. "Ss Grimde."


    "Of course," Tasia said with a happy smile. "Everyone knows you; you''re world famous by


    now."


    She held Ss'' palm for an extra half second before letting go, looking every bit the part of an excited fan girl.


    She chatted away for a bit before Virgil and Austin couldn''t stand by the side anymore.


    Virgil cleared his throat. Being the shorter of the two men, and even a bit shorter than Tasia herself, he seemed to have the smallest presence. But his voice was quite booming and deep. He sounded like he had been an announcer before the Summoning.


    "If we could get down to business, we could get this over with quicker so that we can all be out of one another''s hair."


    Ss'' expression didn''t change, but Tasia apologized with a smile and took a step to the side.


    ''Indeed, she is smart. She did it on purpose. This way, any animosity I have will be directed toward these two, even though she likely came to say the very same things they did.''


    Despite already realizing this, Ss didn''t say anything. He wasn''t the type of person to care


    about such things.


    "Sure. What have youe here to say?" Ss asked.


    Virgil looked toward Austin.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "We believe that we can have a working rtionship. There isn''t a need to butt heads over the Woond Territory," Virgil began.


    "Is that so?" Ss asked. "There indeed isn''t a need. After all, the Territory is mine."

 Chapter 545: Information

    Chapter 545: Information


    ?


    The atmosphere couldn''t help but turn a bit tense. They knew well that their lives were on the line here. If they stepped over the bounds too much, Ss could very wellsh out. Even if there was a fallout and revenge was eventually taken on their behalf, they wouldn''t be here to enjoy it. At that point, what would the point be?


    Virgil took a breath.


    By the same token, though... if they didn''t say what needed to be said and just scurried off with their tail between their legs, then there wouldn''t be a chance for them to move up.


    "We are authorized to tell you that if a working rtionship cannot be formed, then it may cause friction-."


    "Because you want to rely on the Africor government?" Ss asked inly.


    The three froze.


    "If you''re smart enough to make it this far, then you also know that they''re just using you. The fact that they are means that either they want to use you all to probe my bottom line, or they''re upied with something more important than the sudden appearance of a Warlord Territory.


    "Regardless of which it is, you''re at most receiving superficial support right now. Maybe some information, some scouting, some treasures... but ultimately you''ll be castaways. "Really, you would be forced to choose between myself and the Africor Continent, and in the eyes of your leaders, the governments are still supreme. So I won''t try to convince you of which side to take. But if your n is to try to get me to back down, then you''reing at this from the wrong angle.


    "The reason you''re so confident is because your scouting has told you that I''m rtively alone... True enough. But you''re free to test my bottom line."


    Ss looked at them calmly. "If that is all, you can leave now."


    Virgil gulped, feeling like he was walking on tenterhooks. He had realized already that he was dancing a line between life and death, but this was the first time he realized just how deep he was in it.


    This was no normal man.


    Virgil and Austin lowered their heads and made their way back with quick steps.


    Ss cast a nce over to Tasia before walking away himself. She seemed to be hesitating about something, but it wasn''t Ss'' problem to deal with.


    In the end, she took a step toward Ss.


    "Ss!" she started enthusiastically. But when Ss actually turned back toward her, she felt a shudder run through her. There was something particrly oppressive about Ss'' gaze that made her feel it all the way down to her toes, almost like she had been thrown into an ice -cer.


    She had been trying to be just as cheery and casual as before, but it was hard to do so when Ss was bearing down on her.


    The best thing for her was to continue to be oblivious and take advantage of her charms to try and get closer to Ss. Didn''t men like ditzy, clueless women?


    But it only took her a moment to realize that this sort of shtick wasn''t enough to entice Ss. His analysis from earlier had made his meticulous mind obvious enough, but she had thought that if she randomly changed her personality in the middle of their first meeting, it would leave a bad impression.


    "What''s wrong?" Ss asked coolly.


    Tasia took a breath, gazing toward Nosphaleen, who was still by the door.


    "Can we speak somewhere more private? I have additional information for you."


    To her surprise, Ss nodded quite easily. "Sure."


    ...


    Ss walked into the City Lord''s office. By now, the City Lord had already vacated the premises, taking up one of the vacant Duke houses ready for heroes of Earth to buy them up.


    The office was pretty spacious and grand. There were panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows in the circumference and arge desk in the center that lookedrge enough to be a dining room table for 12.


    There was a seating area to the side and even a small greenhouse by the side that had the function of multiplying the amount of Aether in the air.


    The difference between this ce and the outside was like night and day.


    Ss took a step forward, but he heard the door click behind him, and he felt two arms wrap around his waist, a pair of something soft squeezing onto his back.


    Looking down, he found a pair of small hands resting where they definitely shouldn''t be.


    What surprised him wasn''t the action. He had somewhat expected something like this. What he didn''t expect was his reaction to it.


    Maybe he should have, though. Every time he had a great breakthrough, especially in Genes, it was like his will to pass on those very Genes multiplied several times over. After he gained his Dual ss Constitution, it only became worse. And from what he could see, it would only continue to do so.


    The heat in his lower belly almost red out of control.


    Almost.


    He stood in silence, taking a breath and squashing the fiery heat.


    "Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Ss asked.


    Tasia bit her lip. She had already expected that something like this wouldn''t work on a man like Ss. Even if she was ten times as beautiful, it likely wouldn''t make a difference.


    But she at least had to try.


    She gritted her teeth and chose to be a bit shameless. She removed her hand from Ss'' crotch, not wanting to push her luck, but she didn''t move very far away.


    "If I return now, the odds they will kill me are high. Those two are probably already dead. "They don''t want you to send someone to follow us back."


    Ss didn''t respond. It would be a smart action... if he didn''t already know the exact location


    of their viges thanks to the City Stele''s ability.


    "Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Ss asked again, not changing his tone in the


    slightest.


    "No. I really do have information. It''s just that... I can''t return. I have no family, and they will lord my life over my head every step I take."


    Tasia thought that she could pull on Ss'' heartstrings since he didn''t push her away. In reality, the only reason he hadn''t was because he was trying to make sure the heat in his blood had calmed downpletely.


    The truth was that he was interested in Tasia for apletely different reason. Her performance this time was quite good. If she had a Profession to match it, she could do some


    good things.


    Most importantly, he was looking for a Steward that could rece Gregory for Cassarae. She had the rightbination of meticulousness and boldness, a conclusion he hade to in


    just a few interactions.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, she was going to have to stop this habit.


    Ss finally calmedpletely and took a step out of her arms, turning to face her.


    He looked her up and down to find that she was actually still surprisingly calm. Maybe it was


    because of the evolution of his Will, but he could also feel that she had something else


    interesting inside of her.


    ''Hm... is that the real reason I''m drawn to her?''


    The Greed Seed... it could sense something it wanted.


    But by the same token, what it wanted to devour would alsoe from people who could be


    quite useful.


    "What is this information of yours?"

 Chapter 546: One Woman [Bonus]

    Chapter 546: One Woman [Bonus]


    ?


    "I..."


    Ss didn''t press her because he could easily guess what she was thinking.


    To him, she didn''t need to go so far. He had already been interested in taking her under his wing. Though he had definitely nned to test more.


    That said, between her performance and the odd actions of the Greed Seed, he was already leaning toward being just fine with protecting her. He had no issues going the extra mile if someone was useful.


    He had saved the shieldman from his military duties and military supervision, he had practically kidnapped Morgan from the Celestial Republic, and he still hadn''t forgotten about Archibald. Now that he and Lucius had had a falling out, he was very much interested in taking that man as well.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Although Ss couldn''t and likely would never start a city himself because of all the restrictions involved, he knew that he would definitely have to nurture a force of his own eventually.


    Of course, the obvious path was to rely on Cassarae. She had already done much of the legwork. He just had to put the right pieces around her.


    Unfortunately, many of those pieces had ended up getting scattered. Morgan was stranded in the Evergreen Territory along with Sunniva, he still had to find a way back to Lone Star to retrieve the kid and Professor Fembroise, and the problem with Nosphaleen was its own tricky endeavor.


    From Tasia''s perspective, though, she had no idea what his ns were or what his thoughts of her were. Anything he said now would just make it seem like he wanted her to give him the information so he could kick her out.


    It seemed like she would have been much more at ease if he actually took her in the way she expected him to.


    "You understand that even if I sleep with you, I could still abandon you."


    Ss eventually spoke, trying to get a full picture of what this woman was thinking.


    Tasia looked up at him, her eyes still full of hesitation, but her expression calm.


    "I don''t believe that."


    Ss'' eyebrow raised. "Why not?"


    "I can feel what type of person you are."


    "Can you? It doesn''t seem that way."


    If she had known what type of man he was, she wouldn''t have tried to seduce him at all.


    "You are very possessive. If I slept with you, you wouldn''t allow me to be with anyone else. That would be a form of protection for me."


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    Was this true? Probably. But...


    "There''s another way for me to make sure of that too."


    Tasia paled and looked away when Ss said these words. She had thought of it, but she didn''t want to believe it. If she showed some use, surely Ss wouldn''t kill her. Which was also why she hade with information.


    ''There''s something odd about this woman,'' Ss thought. ''She has no Level, no ss, no Profession... so where is this intuition of hersing from? And why is the Greed Seed interested? No...''


    Ss realized that it wasn''t just the Greed Seed. The Gluttony Seed seemed to have sensed a subtle Destiny as well, so faint that it wasn''t until he had truly begun to pay attention to his Seeds that he felt anything at all.


    ''Then maybe...''


    Ss tried to trigger a System Contract. And as he expected, it worked.


    Tasia was taken off guard when she saw the screen. She had just been about to make one final push when this happened. She didn''t even know that this was possible, and now that she did, she felt a bit embarrassed about her earlier disy.


    [System Contract Offered]


    [Contract Originator: <Ss Grimde>]


    [Offer: Working Terms]


    [Details: ...]


    Tasia felt at ease after reading through things and immediately epted.


    Of course, what she didn''t know was that because her Will and that of Ss'' were so far apart, Ss could terminate or break the agreement whenever he wanted.


    Maybe she would be smart enough to figure this out in the future, but in that case, she would also realize that since Ss was willing to do this "dance" with her, he was at least not interested in killing her just for the sake of doing so.


    Now whether or not he would continue to invest in her... that was apletely different matter.


    After rxing, more of Tasia''s real personality came out.


    "Are you sure you don''t want to sleep with me? The offer is still on the table," she said jokingly.


    Well, it seemed like half a joke. All things considered, if she was going to have to sell herself, Ss wasn''t a bad option.


    She hadn''t had such a misfortune during the Summoning yet, but she wasn''t a fool. There were probably women all over the world forced to do exactly this. The problem was only made worse by the fact men had been most likely to ept the Trial, causing the poption disparity and strength disparity between the two genders to take a turn for the worse. That said, that was only among themon people.


    "I''m only interested in one woman." Ss replied, thinking through his next steps.


    "Oh?" Tasia blinked. "Is it Nosphaleen?"


    She had done her due diligence and had at least learned Nosphaleen''s name. Her instinct was to call her that "alien" woman, and seeing her for the first time had certainly been a surprise she had to suppress. But she was also smart enough to know that calling Nosphaleen that might offend either one of them, and she didn''t want to undo all the progress she had made.


    "No. Nosphaleen is just my Beast Contract."


    Tasia''s brows shot up, but Ss spoke before she could make any more flirtatious jabs. "Now, should we get down to business?"


    "Ah, right. Almost forgot." Tasia chuckled for a moment before she too became serious. Ss nodded inwardly. If she had no off-switch, he might have to rethink this.


    "You are right that the Africor Continent is supporting us. What you might not know is that this isn''t the only request that was made."

 Chapter 547: Tasia [Bonus]

    Chapter 547: Tasia [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss raised an eyebrow.


    Honestly, all this time, he was trying to figure out what Tasia might know. He didn''t expect it


    to be something super important, but he also felt that it had to be something worthy of bringing to his attention.


    For Tasia to be sent here, it meant that she wasn''t very valuable to the higher-ups of Gothamshire. They didn''t care one way or another if she was killed, and as Tasia said, they would probably act to kill them on the way back so Ss couldn''t track them.


    Ss honestly didn''t expect any one of the envoys to even be aware of the Africor Continent''s involvement in the first ce.


    So how did Tasia know not only this, but even more information than that?


    Tasia blinked, seeing through Ss'' thoughts.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "It''s very easy to get information out of men who feel the need to prove themselves


    everywhere they go," she said with a smile. "It just made it harder on me that you weren''t one of them."


    "Is that so?"


    Tasia''s smile didn''t waver. "When you go to Gothamshire, you''ll see that although it has its ws, it''s built on a system of rules. What you''re thinking of isn''t likely to happen." "And what am I thinking of?"


    It sounded like Ss was flirting with Tasia, but he truly wanted to understand her thought processes.


    It was honestly hard to tell if she was someone of great intellect, or if she just had high EQ, or if she had somebination of the two.


    "I didn''t have to spread my legs to get this information," Tasia said cheerily.


    Ss shook his head. This woman really always had sex on the brain.


    "Jokes aside, I was a maid for much of my time in Gothamshire. I''ve overheard quite a number of things through thin walls and small serving windows. The City Lord, Enes, also had a habit of writing down everything into notepads. He once said that he preferred voice notes, but he obviously can''t use them in this situation."


    "I see." Ss nodded. She exined it simply, but Ss knew that this bold woman had likely risked life and limb several times. "And what is the request?"


    "An Aether stone mine..." Tasia said in hushed tones.


    She hardly knew anything about this world; she hadn''t even leveled up before. But what she did know was the value of Aether. When she matched that with what she knew about the value of unrenewable resources, it was a no-brainer just how important this information was.


    Ss'' gaze shed. ''Is it the Aether stone mine I already know about? If that''s the case, their ability to case a region and find valuable targets is greater than I gave them credit for. ''Somehow, they already figured out my location and the fact I have no faction backing me. That alone is enough to be wary. But this is an extra mile.


    ''It''s more likely that this Aether stone mine and the one I know of are one and the same. Otherwise, the government would have acted to secure it already.''


    Ss knew even more about the value of Aether stone mines than Tasia did, obviously.


    Right now, they were still in a bit of a lull period, but in the future, as technology began to catch up to the Summoning and the Humans of Earth recovered and advanced, Aether stones would be the cornerstone of energy.


    Even now, they were shortcuts to leveling up and could produce arge number of experts in a short time.


    A single Fragmented Aether Stone would probably be enough to take someone without a ss or Unique Gene all the way to Level 5 in a single bound. In fact, Ss was only specting, but it might be even more exaggerated than that.


    "This information is good." Ss nodded. "Do you know anything else?"


    Tasia''s eyes lit up before she shook her head. She had already stuck her neck out to learn this much. If Ss was expecting more, she really didn''t have it.


    "That''s fine. You''re one of my people now. For the moment, I can''t do much for you but make your lifefortable and rtively safe. As for what the next steps will be, it will depend on your background and experience. Before the Summoning, what did you do?"


    Tasia smiled bitterly. "I was a student. I didn''t get to do much of anything yet. I was working on getting an internship at Goldmann''s."


    "Investment banking?"


    "Well... sort of." Tasia rubbed her nose. "But not really. I wanted to be one of theirwyers."


    Ss would have given her a weird look if he had that expression in his repertoire. Bing a corporatewyer wasn''t the odd part, but trying to get an internship as a corporatewyer from an investment banking firm was... well, ridiculous.


    Those sorts of firms only hired the best of the best. They weren''t going to take on a newbiewyer. They also already had aw firm that they likely favored and had a many-years-long rtionship with.


    How was Tasia expecting to make it there?


    "Don''t look at me like that. I was close, okay?"


    "Where did you go to school?" Ss asked.


    Tasia cleared her throat again. "Logiers..."


    Ss looked confused. He had never heard of this university before. That meant that Tasia was two orders off from her dream.


    First, an investment banking firm would never take on a rookie to fight for them. And second, thew firms that she would have to get hired by in order to even have a chance at Goldmann''s usually only hired from legacy, blue-chip universities.


    How was she expecting to make it?


    Looking at her appearance, Ss had a guess. Could she have been expecting to seduce


    someone again?


    Ss couldn''t help but be speechless. This woman... she was a beauty, though a step or two below Cassarae. Of course, he was biased, but that was beside the point.


    What he was most concerned about was whether she was a one-trick pony and his senses had failed him this time.


    However, it wasn''t long before Tasia gave him an unexpected surprise.

 Chapter 548: Psychological Biologies (1) [Bonus]

    Chapter 548: Psychological Biologies (1) [Bonus]


    ?


    "What was that?" Ss asked.


    He had already had Nosphaleen help Tasia settle down. The two of them now shared the same home in the Duke District. Considering the size of the lot, it would have been more than enough for twenty people, let alone two.


    What he didn''t expect was that Nosphaleen woulde back on her own to speak with him. They had been here for almost a week already, but this was the first time she had done this without it being triggered by outside interference.


    Ss had already realized that she was avoiding him somewhat. But it wasn''t out of subterfuge... she was scared of him.


    He was just fine with that. The more apprehensive she was around him, and the more respect she held in her heart, the less likely she would be to ever betray him.


    "She''s odd..." Nosphaleen said again, not quite knowing how to exin further.


    This time, Ss just waited for her to sort her thoughts. Eventually, she spoke again. "As you probably know, my charm works subconsciously. I don''t have to try to trigger it." Ss nodded. The first time he met Nosphaleen, he had almost lost himself in her beauty, something he never did. He managed to snap out of it, but he was always cautious with guarding his mind around her now.


    If he wasn''t cautious, he could end up slipping.


    That had be less of a possibility after the most recent evolution of his Will, but he still had his guard up in a lot of ways.


    And yet...


    "For some reason, it doesn''t work on her. But that''s not exactly right either. I can feel that if I was more active in my attempt to charm her, I could make her fall. But it would have to be a slow and gradual process.


    "Her mind is oddly tough for someone without Levels. She''s potentially dangerous."


    Ss knew some of this already. The fact the system agreement process worked with her could only mean that her Will had a more tangible form than most.


    But this was still a surprise. Even Ss couldn''t fully resist Nosphaleen at the start, so how had Tasia done it?


    "And you know nothing about this?"


    "I have a guess, but..."


    "Go on."


    "The odds are just too low. If she was a descendant of my Clypsians, it would make sense. But for her to look so human, her blood must have been considerably diluted, at least four, maybe five generations removed.


    "The only way for her to have such innate charm, then, would be for a mutation to trigger.


    "I don''t know much about Earth, but the odds one of my people would get away with copting with one of your kind is next to zero. The child would almost certainly be killed. But for the child to not only survive, but then make it through several generations..."


    Ss fell into silence. For some reason, Archibald shed in his mind.


    ''Is it rted?''


    His mind worked in odd ways, sometimes connecting things that even he didn''t grasp immediately.


    ''Maybe?''


    A sudden thought came to him.


    Archibald spoke in a very old-timey way. It was the sort of thing Ss would only see in ancient literature, and it didn''t make sense at all for someone of the modern era to speak like that.


    He had thought of all sorts of possibilities, all the way from Archibald being an alien in the facade of a human who had learned theirnguage through the wrong means, up to thinking that maybe Archibald arrived from the past.


    Neither conclusion was ridiculous given the current state of the world. Aliens were everywhere now in disguise, and he had experienced time warps several times now.


    But Tasia''s appearance and Nosphaleen''s spections made him think of another possibility. The Humans from the Sixth Summoning... or rather, the Eighth Summoning as he now knew it as... technically speaking, if they were still around in some shape or form, and they had managed to hide for so long, they would be the exact sort of ce that Tasia''s lineage could hide.


    But this was too much of a leap, even for Ss. Though he thought about it, he didn''t have nearly enough proof or information. By now, it would also be far too difficult to get his hands on Archibald again.


    He didn''t fear Lucius. The problem was that he had to find a way to get back to the Evergreen Territory.


    "Do you have any way to confirm your spections?" Ss asked.


    Technically, Ss could do it himself by using Extricate to check Tasia''s body. But he was curious.


    "If she really is a Clypsian descendant... well, she will have some problems..." Nosphaleen pointed to her head.


    "She''ll be mentally challenged?" Ss asked.


    "Um... not exactly. The reason my Clypsian Race is so against copting with your Human Race is in one part due to racism, but there''s also a functional reason as well.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "As you''ve seen already, our Clypsian Race has some very peculiar habits. Well, they are peculiar to you. I''ve observed how your Race works now, and I''ve realized that my actions with Sunniva were very off-putting to you. I apologize for that. I''ll try not to do it in your presence again-."


    Ss waved a hand. "I have no issues or care about things like that so long as it''s effective." Nosphaleen let out a sigh of relief when she heard this before continuing.


    "To make aplicated matter simple, the mating patterns of our two Races are too different. Our Clypsian women have a period once a month where we ''pass'' an egg. We do not carry our children; we allow the ocean to do so. As such, we are free to have many male


    partners.


    "Byparison, Human women are more selective because they have to be. Getting pregnant once consumes their vitality for up to a year between gestation and recovery.


    "The sh of these two psychological biologies causes... problems."

 Chapter 549: Psychological Biologies (2) [Bonus]

    Chapter 549: Psychological Biologies (2) [Bonus]


    ?


    "What do you mean?" Ss asked.


    "Well... Clypsian women have periods of heat. Our bodies encourage us once it''s mature to seek out partners. We test our men one by one until we find a suitable match. Only if the male''s seed triggers certain changes in our bodies will we allow them to fertilize our eggs. We then allow the ocean to carry our eggs to term.


    "Human women have these periods of heat as well, but they are much more frequent,ing once a month, whereas ours might onlye once a decade, if that. As a result, they''re also much more subdued and subtle, while ours are much fiercer; it practically consumes our minds and there''s nothing we can think about other than coption."


    Ss listened to this seriously. He could already guess where this was going and what the problem here was likely to be.


    "When these two biologies sh, well... if there''s anything the Human Race is good at, it''s adaptation. Their biology is very good at fusing with that of others, and they are the Race that can copte with the widest variety of other Races.


    "My Clypsian Race cannot copte with the Dogons. Even if there wasn''t a hatred between us, our biologies wouldn''t be able to produce a child 99 out of 100 times.


    "But Humans can copte with both of our Races, and the result is almost always the Human biology bing the foundation. This not only makes the offspring weaker than fully fledged Clypsians and Dogons, but it also leads to some... undesirable mutations.


    "The libido of female Half Clypsians is especially high. And those periods of intense heat, rather thaning once a decade or every few decades,e instead every month."


    Ss fell into silence. That would exin a lot of Tasia''s habits. But...


    "She''s not a Half Clypsian, though?"


    "Yes. If she did have Clypsian blood, it would be very dilute, probably only a sixteenth of her blood. I''m not 100% sure, but that should make things easier on her. But the intensity of a full-fledged Heat Cycle is quite high. Even if it''s diluted by that degree, dealing with it once a month... would definitely not be ideal."


    "It feels like you''re leaving out a part of this story," Ss said after a while. "Why would this be enough to cause problems?"


    Sure, having a bunch of women in heat wasn''t ideal. But it wasn''t to the point of being the serious situation Nosphaleen was making it out to be.


    "The other part of the story is male Clypsians. If female Clypsians are less selective than Humans, then male Clypsians are the vice versa of male Humans as well.


    "Although male Clypsians can still impregnate many Clypsian women at once, they have a hierarchy of sperm cells as well. They can perform what we call an Alpha Fertilization just once a decade. This process is rare and it also requires ultra sensitivity.


    "This is the one example where a female Clypsian won''t expel her egg first, and instead allow it to be fertilized within her womb. Only then will she expel it into the ocean.


    "Usually, a male Clypsian will be highly selective with the women they use their Alpha Genes on. But...


    "Half Clypsians were found to have a biology that triggered this without the consent of the males. This was found to be because Half Clypsians don''t expel eggs like full Clypsian women do."


    Ss finally understood.


    Half Clypsians were weaker than full Clypsians, and they entered their Heat Cycle once a month on top of that. One could imagine that if these women were loosed amongst the male poption of Clypsians, they would snatch up arge number of Alpha Fertilizations in a very short time.


    Given the short turnaround of their Heat Cycles, and the fact the Clypsian Race as a whole was quite open with sex, a strong poption of Half Clypsians probably set the Clypsian Race back decades, if not centuries.


    So many Alpha Fertilizations were wasted on weak offspring.


    For the Clypsians, who were already on the decline after failing the Second Summoning and were barely hanging on, this sort of loss was uneptable. Ss could understand why they would take such drastic measures.


    But that then only left the question of how Tasia, if she truly was part Clypsian, had made it to this point. Where were her parents? Her grandparents? Her great-grandparents before them?


    She had said that she had no family, so she likely didn''t know, or she had lied... and now Ss was suddenly very interested in finding out why.


    This woman, who only seemed to have sex on the mind, might be a key to unlocking yet another secret of Earth.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The more information he had, the more likely he would be to turn this around.


    "If we can confirm that she is part Clypsian, what would that do for us?" Ss asked.


    "She has an odd mutation to her Unique Gene. Usually, Half Clypsians are much weaker than Clypsians, but if there''s a mutation... although she''s quite weak now, there''s a chance that we can make her something great. But it will depend on what you want from her."


    "I think she has great potential to be the manager of a territory, a steward, a negotiator," Ss exined simply.


    Nosphaleen nodded. "She doesn''t have the body of a Clypsian, so battle definitely wouldn''t be her strong suit. But her Charisma and Will should scale well. If this is all you want from her, I can try to help. I can teach her how to use her abilities, but her Profession... I cannot help with that."


    "Leave that to me. I will find something," Ss said, looking off into the distance.


    ...


    In the Duke Estate, Nosphaleen and Tasia shared, there was the ssh of water apanied by the sound of pping skin and muffled moans.


    Tasia gripped the side of the bathtub with a palm and forearm, her other hand moving up and down with such speed it practically blurred in the air. Her back was so arched that her clenched ass just barely touched the surface of the water as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her skin glistened with water and soap, her breasts jiggling around as her torso flexed, revealing a toned belly.


    Her fingers slid in and out of her slit, their ridges grinding into her clit as she unleashed a half-grunt, half-screech that made her earlier attempts to be quiet feel more like a joke.


    She copsed into the water, letting it ssh onto the polished marble.


    "Fuck... he''s so hot..." she spoke between gasping breaths, rubbing her legs and rolling a breast in her now free hand. Images of Ss shed in her head again and again, and before she knew it, her hand had slipped between her legs again. "So strong... so masculine... his body... his smell... ugh..."


    She didn''t seem to consider the possibility of being caught, or maybe she didn''t care in the


    slightest.


    Her fantasies carried her into the night, only bing more degenerate as she wished for something thicker than her fingers.

 Chapter 550: Phoenixs Embrace

    Chapter 550: Phoenix''s Embrace


    ?


    Ss dashed through the forest, moving with a smooth pace. By his side, there was the Basilisk King and the Bone-Tailed Lizard, while Nosphaleen trailed behind them. Given the weakening of his physical stats, though they still struggled a bit, they were capable of keeping up with him. Though, the Bone-Tailed Lizard was somewhat amusingly clumsy.


    This could only be med on Ss, though. The lizard was still a baby, and though its state was exceptional given it was a Level o, its coordination wascking.


    Even Ss had to work diligently at using his body; of course, a baby would have to.


    After his first week in this ce, he had already managed to fully master up to


    , the FFF+ grappling technique. So, he had decided that it was about time to start applying some pressure on his enemies.


    Plus, part of his strength was also his beastpanions. Letting theme to train was an aspect of Beast Mastering that he had neglected too much.


    Most Beast Masters had to take the long and arduous path to help their beasts improve, going through constant battles and drilling Skills again and again.


    Just because Ss didn''t have to do that, thanks to his array of Legendary Path Talents, didn''t mean that he shouldn''t try to use these methods from time to time.


    Still, as he moved, his thoughts were consumed by


    . It was such a magical technique, one that enlightened him to the fact that grappling was far more special than he had given it credit for.


    The growl of a bear came from ahead.


    Ss pressed a foot down on a tree trunk, elerating forward. He could tell with a nce that this beast was too powerful for the Basilisk King and the Bone-Tailed Lizard, so he took the initiative himself.


    [Andean Bear (F-)]


    [Level: 22]


    [Physical: 330]


    [Mental: 217]


    [Will: 101]


    The bear was actually a very pale color from head to toe. It would have almost looked like a pr bear if not for the slight hints of brown and the fact it was much too smallpared to that dangerous predator.


    Ss shed before it, an illusory pair of wings appearing at his back. He stretched out a hand in a wing motion, fast and deadly.


    The bear reached out to meet him, but there was a sh of red-gold light before his hand appeared at its elbow. His body slid to the side as he mped down on the arch of the bear''s arm, pushing down.


    He seemed to have targeted a perfect weak point, copsing the creature''s arm toward the wrong direction.


    A roar of pain echoed, but Ss'' grip on the arm only tightened as he circled to the bear''s back and ripped its shoulder out of alignment.


    Ss mmed his back against the bear, now forced to its hind legs. With a flex of his torso, he shoulder-threw the creature over his head.


    BANG!


    The ground shuddered, plumes of dust and soil kicking up.


    The bear was belly up andpletely disoriented, its head having mmed into the ground much too viciously. But Ss'' movements were just as fluid, the illusory wings pping once as his legs almost magically appeared around the bear''s throat.


    The creature''s muffled roars were stifled to silence as a sickening crunch echoed from a flex of Ss'' quads.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The bear''s body convulsed and then stopped moving entirely.


    Ss stood, feeling that he was still missing something. He had reached Legendary Mastery in


    , and yet he still felt like he was just shy of true perfection.


    After reaching Legendary Mastery in so many Skills, Ss understood the gap between them and Progenitor Mastery. Maybe you could never truly disy the real might of a skill unless you made it your own.


    But there was something else as well, like a thin veil that obscured the truth of a Skill just the slightest bit.


    seemed to be all about speed and leverage. It was a Skill Set that seemedbined with a movement technique. When activated, Ss'' ability to maneuver around an opponent was unmatched. The advantage of having short burst speed in close quarters was invaluable.


    The bear couldn''t even react to him despite having higher average Physical than he did in his current state. This was where the illusory wings came from.


    But the Skill consumed a great amount of Aether. Even at Legendary Mastery, every burst was another Aether Unit down the drain. In that one short battle, he had used it four times. The consumption was far too much.


    But that was only one aspect of


    . The other was a subtleprehension of the body of the opponent you were facing, allowing you to target weaknesses, snapping bones out of ce, and flipping over opponents with much greater strength and weight behind them.


    ''Phoenix''s Embrace...''


    Ss looked down at the beast beneath his feet and casually put it away. Then, he continued forward.


    Sometimes he would allow the Basilisk King to fight; sometimes he let the Bone-Tailed Lizard have a go.


    The little guy was still trying tomunicate with him with incoherent babble from time to time. Ss found it fascinating, but he hadn''t managed to find anything else impressive


    about it.


    It seemed he would have to let the lizard out more often so that it could develop itsnguage


    skills.


    The Bone-Tailed Lizard rushed back to Ss after killing a beast, its tail swinging with flesh and blood. But it didn''t seem to notice at all as it nudged its head against Ss'' leg, looking


    for praise.


    Ss patted its head absentmindedly.


    ''It should be close. I''ll bring these guys back in for now.''


    He had an entire Territory to himself and a map of all the best resources in it. Of course, these didn''t include the ones deep underground, but that didn''t mean he didn''t still have a shocking


    number to choose from.


    First... he would have to add to his team.

 Chapter 551: Dynamic

    Chapter 551: Dynamic


    ?


    Up ahead was a nigh deste area. The leaves of the trees seemed wilted, and the soil was cracked and dry. It looked as though all the vitality of the region was sucked away.


    This wasn''t normal for this region. Although it was called a dry rainforest, it still had quite a great deal of vitality to it. This was anything but normal.


    And that was because there was a particr beast here that had made it its territory, and it was Ss'' target.


    [Ground Boa (FFF+)]


    [Level: 22]


    [Physical: 792]


    [Mental: 763]


    [Will: 522]


    This beast wasn''t very powerfulpared to the others that Ss had faced. In fact, it almost feltckluster.


    It hung in the distance on a far-off tree, and it must have been at least 40 meters in length. It looped its length around the aged bark; for a moment, if one wasn''t looking too closely, it almost felt like the boa and the tree were one and the same.


    There were several of these creatures around. None of them were as powerful as the Woond Spider Queen, unfortunately, so there were none he could use to gain a Bronze ss... But Ss had another idea.


    The death of the Arctic Emperor Cobra hadn''te with a penalty. Even if it did, if that penalty was less than the gains he made, it would have still been worth it.


    What if he created his own enemy to elerate the pace of his Path of the Mancer Quest?


    It made sense that this region didn''t have another beast as powerful as the Woond Spider Queen. If there was, then he wouldn''t have been able to get the Territory Key from it.


    If the Level 30 creature he needed was here, such a Treasure would almost certainly only be under its protection.


    When Ss epted this, he pivoted another way.


    Originally, he wanted to use the overview abilities of the System City to find more Serpentes to contract. But whether any of them had as much potential as the Basilisk King, Nosphaleen, or the Bone-Tailed Lizard was highly unlikely.


    He then remembered how he had been able to help the Arctic Emperor Cobra improve so quickly. If he could do that again, with the resources of an entire Territory at his disposal, what could he create this time?


    The best part was that with the help of the System City, his Insight Path Talent could pick up on exactly the ces he needed to go to find the resources he needed to aplish this.


    So then he just took the next logical step forward.


    Elevating weak beasts was easy, but there was a reason for that. Their potential would never be as great as true pinnacle beasts. Maybe it would even be impossible to find a method to evolve them to the E-Grade and beyond.


    But right now... those weak beasts were exactly what he needed. He was running out of time on his Quest and he needed a quick, sure victory.


    Ss dashed forward, ready to engage the boa in battle. Although he could use his Beast Totem to suppress it by 100% now, he wanted to stretch his limbs for a bit first.


    The more practice he got with


    , the more he felt like there was something deeper hidden within it.


    But to his surprise, he had only just gotten close when the python began to tremble fiercely. It rocked the tree it was sitting on back and forth until it copsed under its own weight.


    Ss slowed to a jog and then eventually stopped altogether to find the python having basically pressed its head into the ground, not daring to look up.


    It seemed that he wouldn''t get the fight he wanted after all.


    He pressed a hand down on the python''s head and took it away.


    The next two days were spent repeating much the same actions. The Woond Territory, as all Territories did, had a massive span to them. The number of small-scale BOSS creatures hanging around was numerous, and if he ounted for just the Serpentes alone, it was still a decent number in the dozens.


    Unlike the other regions he had been to, this one had a thriving snake poption.


    That said, not all the BOSSes Ss targeted were Serpentes. Some could actually put up a fight against him, and some of them he had to rely on Nosphaleen and his Fusion.


    This wasn''t because they were so tough, but rather because he had to bnce how much of his stamina he used and ensure that he didn''t get needlessly injured.


    There was a time for hard training, and it had already passed. Right now, he was trying to gather up the resources he needed.


    Nearing the end of the second day of the second week, he finally reached hisst and final destination. This would be the hardest of the bunch to deal with.


    The region was encased in a thorny overhang. Violet wood in the shape of petals twisted around themselves, forming what looked like roses.


    This was the number one danger zone of the Woond Territory.


    Though Ss had taken over three System Cities, disbanding two of them and upying one, the people who used to frequent them didn''t just up and vanish. As such, he was able to learn quite a lot when they weren''t busy cursing him for ruining two of their safe havens.


    He heard about the Violet Rose Brush, as they called it, long before he even saw it on the overview map.


    The air was set with a heavy white fog, and the dome of thorns and vines seemed to move and breathe like a real living being.


    Deep inside, there was a Dungeon. And yet, there were no beasts rushing around. That was because entering this space meant death to 99% of them.


    The fog was a dense poison that emitted from the violet wooden roses. But that was only part


    of the equation.


    The atmosphere itself had changed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This ce was a Field Dungeon, but it wasn''t a normal one by any means.


    [You have entered the Dynamic Field Dungeon <Violet Rose Brush>]


    Ss had only taken a single step in when the vines around the walkway twisted behind him, trapping him inside.

 Chapter 552: Violet Rose

    Chapter 552: Violet Rose


    ?


    [You have entered the Dynamic Field Dungeon <Violet Rose Brush>]


    Ss didn''t turn back to the closing path, mostly because he didn''t have the luxury. The moment he entered, a slicing wind almost cut into his cheek.


    He reacted fast, his hand snatching out at the air and snagging the thorned vine.


    He could feel its thorns try to extend into his palms, but it couldn''t make it through the Scorned Wraps.


    ''It''s more aggressive than I thought it would be...''


    A Dynamic Field Dungeon wouldn''t necessarily have a BOSS like the Woond Spider Queen. Instead, the main challenge here was the environment itself.


    But thereiny an obvious question. If the enemy was thendscape, then how could you defeat it?


    The answer was ironically just as obvious...


    You didn''t.


    A Dynamic Field Dungeon would be a danger zone where you would be highly likely to lose your life, but it was also a ce of opportunity.


    Those that could find those opportunities would benefit, while others would end up dying.


    This Dynamic Field Dungeon''s current opportunity was the Dungeon hidden deep within it. This made it much more troublesome because the Dynamic Field Dungeon itself fed off of the constant pool of Aether being pumped into the region.


    The good news was that beasts didn''t dare toe nearby thanks to the poison fog. Even the poisonous ones with good immunity couldn''tst very long.


    But the bad news was that this had allowed the Dynamic Field Dungeon free reign to do as it pleased.


    Ss twisted his wrist and snapped the vine off, causing toxic juices to ssh everywhere. ''These vines aren''t very powerful. I could break them with my current sub-300 Strength. The toxicity is definitely the greatest issue, but the Poison Runes here are just shy of 40 Foundations, just like the Woond Spider Queen. It isn''t a problem.''


    The poison fog couldn''t even approach Ss. His Poison Affinity had taken another tick up after his ss upgrade, and he had touched the edges of Rune Spark.


    They couldn''t harm him.


    He walked forward, pushing his way through.


    As he did so, the vines became more aggressive. But every time he snapped a vine, it seemed to be more docile and fearful.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder if this was an example of vegetation gaining consciousness. It seemed impossible, but he had seen a lot of impossible things in this world already.


    ''The Dungeon is quite deep.''


    It took Ss half an hour before he got to the likely location of the Dungeon, but he found that it waspletely wrapped in a cocoon.


    Near the outside, only the wooden flowers were violet. But here, the entire vine was, and it was dripping with a toxic smell that made his nose tingle. It almost smelled like septic wash, a dense mix of chemicals.


    Ss could tell with a nce that these vines were definitely tougher than the others, and they also had a much tougher poison.


    ''52 Foundations...''


    Ss was surprised. This was about the best he could do before he gained Mancer''s Blossom. Had hee here before, he would have truly been helpless.


    Suddenly, one of the violet vines shot for him.


    Ss thought about rolling to the side, but he dismissed the thought and tried to catch the vine out of the air again.


    SHIIII!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The vine ripped into his hand and burst right through. His grip was too weak to keep it in ce.


    He ducked his head to the side, but a cut was still sliced across his cheek.


    A stinging, bubbling pain poured through him, and he could feel that his wound wanted to fester already.


    The ground wiggled around him as the violet color began to spread. The Dynamic Field Dungeon was pouring more effort into killing him.


    It diverted Aether away from its long-term growth to its immediate strength, feeling threatened.


    ''It really is acting like a living organism. It probably doesn''t want me to enter the Dungeon because if I clear it, its source of Aether will disappear. It might even be hoping that there''s a Dungeon Break...''


    Ss forced the poison out of his cheek with one thought and stamped down with a foot with another, stopping a vine from piercing through his lower body.


    He activated


    , his short burst movement elerating as he ducked and dodged, ripping vines out and squashing them when he could.


    At a moment like this, he reallymented not being able to use a weapon. Having to fight an enemy like this one without a de was a nightmare.


    However, his movements became sharper and sharper.


    The attacks were onlying from one direction, and even when they came from the back, the vines had to slither underground first.


    It was clear the main body of the Dynamic Field Dungeon was ahead of him and nearer to the


    Dungeon.


    However, he wasn''t interested in finding it... at least not just yet.


    He needed the Dynamic Field Dungeon to stick around for longer, and taking it out


    completely wasn''t necessarily going to be all that easy either.


    Finally, he reached the body of the cocoon. All the while, the Dynamic Field Dungeon had been reluctant to pull vines away from this main body.


    It was only when he got close that it couldn''t hold back anymore,shing out.


    Ss was ready. The illusory red-gold wings on his back pped once, and he shed to the


    side.


    Taking advantage of the opening in the poison cocoon, he grabbed the vine that had just jetted out and pulled himself forward, mming down a foot on the bottom of the narrow entrance and ripping the hole openrger.


    His jaw set as the pain of the sole of his feet being ripped through set in, but he didn''t stop his actions for even a moment.


    There was only a small window to take advantage of, and that was exactly what he did.


    Leaping through the hole and into the Dungeon.

 Chapter 553: Salamander Minions

    Chapter 553: Smander Minions


    ?


    [Violet Rose Brush (FFF+) (Mutant Dungeon)]


    [Level Maximum: 35]


    [Entry Limit: 2]


    [Rmended: Physical 1100; Mental 1100]


    [Description: This Dungeon has entered a state of symbiosis with a Dynamic Field Dungeon, changing itsndscape and the nature of the challenges within]


    [Warning: Changes may ur to this Dungeon at any moment]


    Ss hardly looked at Dungeon Grades anymore. By now, he knew that the grading system of Earth was useless.


    In the outside world, FFF+ would hold some real weight. But a Level 35 Dungeon, when the highest Level on Earth right now was 29... well, it didn''t take much for this to be an FFF+ Dungeon.


    All that really mattered was the rmended stats, and Ss felt that he could deal with this more than well enough.


    When his vision cleared, he found himself in a maze of carved bushes. He wasn''t new to maze Dungeons; he had been in one before. In fact, he had found the Basilisk King in one.


    But back then, he had a map to rely on. This time, he didn''t have such a thing. And he also had a feeling that the maze would...


    He had only just had the thought when it happened right in front of him. What had once been a wide-openne shifted. A wall of green appeared out of nowhere and blocked it off.


    Then, a path opened up behind him instead.


    Unsurprisingly, he went from having no enemies to worry about to hearing the growls of one in that same instant.


    He spun around to see


    browns, snarling at him.


    two-meter-long spotted smander, colored in green, violet, and


    [Spotted Smander Minion (FFF)]


    [Level: 29]


    -


    [Physical: 787]


    [Mental: 849]


    [Will: 722]


    It had incredibly bnced Physical stats, but its Intelligence was off the chartspared to its others, being over a thousand.


    Why that was became clear when a line of poison shot for Ss, lighting on fire mid-air.


    ''An attack that turns into an area of effect attack...''


    The moment the poison lit on fire, fumes billowed into the air and started to poison it as well. Ss couldn''t help but wonder if there was anyone who could deal with this Dungeon on Earth outside of himself.


    There probably were, but they would almost certainly need to prepare great armors and arge number of healing consumables.


    He dodged the line of poison, only to hear it hit the ground and start sizzling behind him. It turned out that being poisonous, the fire made it act like quite a corrosive liquid as well.


    As much as he wanted to continue working on his grappling...


    Ss didn''t want to end up getting heavily injured in this Dungeon. These beasts were too powerful to y around with.


    [Woond Poison Lance (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 1]


    [+300 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce; Erode]


    [Strength is doubly as Effective]


    [Destroy structural integrity of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <10 Bronze> Genes]


    [Durability: 50/50]


    Ance suddenly appeared above the smander''s head, but at the same moment, so too did


    an enormous stone.


    Thence drove down first, then the stone followed, driving into its butt in a single fluid motion.


    BANG! BANG!


    The smander''s head sttered with blood and bone, thence shooting right through the top of its skull and down through the bottom of its jaw.


    [Spotted Smander Minion]


    [Gene Detected]


    [Bronze Gene: (6) Intelligence (F)]


    [Attempt Assimtion?]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Yes][No]


    He remembered a time when he would have been very excited to see this stat screen. But he was at a point now where Bronze Genes simply couldn''t move him anymore.


    It might be useful to advance thence. But...


    [Durability: 49/50]


    He only attacked once, but he had already lost one point of Durability on it.


    He knew why. The style he chose was very aggressive. Smashing a 200-pound rock onto its back to drive through an enemy with over 700 Constitution, not including any Aether protections, was a recipe for disaster.


    This was the same reason he hadn''t used his three Kunai in so long despite the fact there had once been a point where they were his favorite weapon to use.


    If he used his Kunai any more, they would shatter, and there would be no recovering them. He had yet to find anyone capable of repairing them.


    The System City had cksmiths, but they could only work on normal weapons. There were none who could repair Legendary Path weapons that could upgrade with Genes.


    Ss had already ended up shattering his illusion sword in the Sylph Dungeon; he didn''t want


    to lose another.


    ording to the Madness Key, such Legendary Path Treasures only appeared so frequently now because it was the Summoning. Once the Summoning was over, they would be treasured family heirlooms that would be passed down for generations.


    Every loss of one meant one less.


    However, Ss knew that he had to bnce saving these weapons with using them. He couldn''t leave such a useful tool gathering dust in his Madness Key.


    Speed clearing this Dungeon was more valuable to him right now than anything else, so he was going to continue using this method until he felt like thence couldn''t handle it


    anymore.


    He set off after putting thence and stone away.


    Every time he came across an enemy, he killed them with the exact same sneak attack. His


    control became more efficient. However, he still lost a Durability point every time he


    attacked.


    After he had killed seven of the smanders, he chose to upgrade thence. If its stats were higher, maybe it would take more to ding its Durability.


    [Woond Poison Lance (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 3]


    [+400 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce; Erode]


    [Strength is doubly as Effective]


    [Destroy structural integrity of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <30 Bronze> Genes]


    [Durability: 43/50]


    After the eighth smander, he still lost a Durability point. But he chose to continue


    improving it. It wouldn''t cost him much anyway.


    He was facing a much more troublesome problem. The maze around him kept shifting and changing... it was like it was forcing him to clear all of the minions when usually taking out the BOSS would be enough.

 Chapter 554: Legendary Path Treasure [Bonus]

    Chapter 554: Legendary Path Treasure [Bonus]


    ?


    [Woond Poison Lance (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 4]


    [+450 Strength]


    [Ability: Pierce; Erode]


    [Strength is doubly as Effective]


    [Destroy structural integrity of Aether]


    [Level Up Requirement: <40 Bronze> Genes]


    [Durability: 40/50]


    A sh echoed from thence and its power progressed once again.


    ''So I was right...''


    The maze was a huge problem for Ss. If not for the fact his spatial orientation was excellent, and he was able to ensure that he was constantly moving in one main direction, he would have long be lost.


    Essentially, he was constantly calcting in his mind exactly how many meters he moved north, south, east, or west. Only this way could he pick a direction.


    But ultimately, he wasn''t aputer. There would eventually be small errors that stacked on top of each other. If this went on for long enough, he would bepletely lost. Even counting his steps wouldn''t help.


    Luckily, for now, his measurements were only off a few centimeters at most. But that also meant that every few hundred meters came with meters of error.


    Ss already realized by now that he would have to find another way through this Dungeon. It would be one thing if the number of enemies was limited; then there was only so much time that it could spend leading him around by the nose.


    But... the Dungeon Description had warned him of mutations. Who was to say that more enemies weren''t spawning for every moment he was in here without defeating the BOSS? And what if he dyed for too long and the Dungeon ended up evolving beyond something that he could handle?


    It was already on the verge of a Dungeon Break. If the influence of the Dynamic Field Dungeon was added on top of that, then there was no way of predicting what would happen to him.


    As such, in this time, he had been looking for other methods to deal with this situation. The obvious answer seemed to be to plow through these walls and make a beeline for the center. But although these walls seemed to move easily, he didn''t have the means of sting a hole through them consistently.


    Not only were they sturdy, but they were self-healing. Thetter should have been obvious by the fact they could morph and move so easily in the first ce, but any hole that he did make would end up with a twisting spiral of churning vines before it was swallowed up. If he was too slow, he would even end up trapped inside.


    That was when Ss turned to an unexpected source.


    He had been feeding thence with Genes now for thest little while, but then it hit him... Why did this even work?


    Were Legendary Path Treasures living organisms?


    It didn''t seem so. But how could they absorb Genes? And if they could absorb Genes, then could Genes be pulled out of them?


    What if he used Extricate on a Legendary Path Treasure?


    Ss didn''t act on this impulse immediately. Instead, he observed another Gene absorption to see if it was simr or not.


    The short answer was... kind of.


    The long answer was that the Gene absorption of thence was only simr up to the point the Gene was actually taken in.


    At that point, something changed. It was incredibly subtle, so much so that it took all of Ss'' focus before he realized it.


    Wanting to make sure he wasn''t making things up, this time Ss used Extricate. Rather than taking a Gene out of thence, he moved to put one in.


    This time, the change was much more obvious to him.


    Everything was normal up until the absorption point, and then the Gene suddenly copsed into its Foundations and Strokes, and then copsed into something even more fundamental before it was sucked into the weapon.


    At the same moment, faint Runes on the Legendary Path Treasure grew more realistic. It was only just the slightest bit, clearly enough to make a small change, but not enough to lead to a Level change.


    ''It''s dposing Runes into a fundamental energy. But that''s not nearly the most shocking part, not by a long stretch. What''s really shocking is the Runes on it. These Runes... they''re the real living creatures....''


    Ss realized something shocking. The Legendary Path Treasures weren''t alive, but rather their Runes made them alive.


    As they absorbed some odd fundamental energy from Genes, they incorporated it into themselves and thus grew more real and lively.


    ''This is Rune Spark as well...''


    With Rune Spark, one could practically breathe Runes into Existence. But Ss had never considered how...


    What he didn''t expect was toe across the answer before he could even begin to think of it


    seriously.


    This was the second time he had alreadye into contact with Rune Spark.


    However, what was even more shocking was that he was wrong.


    When he used the Madness Key to attempt a confirmation, it told him that the best Legendary Path Treasures were forged with Rune Vitality, a step below Rune Spark, while the vast


    majority were forged with Rune Essence.


    That said, that was only one part of forging a Legendary Path Treasure.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Another part was alloy formation or metallurgy. Not only did you need special flexible materials that could grow with the weapon over time, but usually one needed a fusion of them that could best match the Runes of the Treasure in question.


    The third part was the rare treasures needed to inscribe the Runes in the first ce. Much like Ragnar would certainly scream from the rooftops, inscribing permanent Runes required a great deal of wealth.


    The fourth part was the blueprint. Even if you had all the skill in these separate parts in the world, and you had more wealth than you knew what to do with, there were some blueprints that would be rejected by the system for unknown reasons.


    That meant you either needed to buy a functional blueprint for an astronomical price or waste a mountain of resources until you researched one that would work yourself.


    That said... even if all of this lined up for Ss, he was entirely uninterested. His thoughts were attracted by something else.

 Chapter 555: Another Challenge of Will [Bonus]

    Chapter 555: Another Challenge of Will [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss couldn''t use Treasures, and he wasn''t even sure if he could have a second Profession. His Dual ss Constitution didn''te with such an allowance, and he already had three Legendary Paths which technically counted as three separate Professions already.


    Though it would help Cassarae quite a bit if he became a cksmith of some sort, it wouldn''t add to his strength much. Well, it certainly would to some extent, but it just wasn''t the most efficient use of his time, not while these Scorned Wraps were still around.


    The reason he was so interested in this was because of the scorpion statue that still rested in his Madness Key.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had been studying off and on thesest few days, but he hadn''t made any progress at all.


    Although he had already forcefully memorized all the Runes, he didn''t understand them the way he should.


    By now, if he had the resources Ragnar had had, he could definitely already start inscribing the Runes onto his body. But he still hadn''t figured out what those resources were, nor did he understand how Ragnar had figured them out either.


    The main issue was that he didn''t understand the Runes.


    Rune Enlightenment should have already allowed him a vague understanding of any Rune heid eyes on, let alone the fact his Rune Soul was three tiers above that.


    But he still felt stonewalled.


    Now, he had found a breakthrough in an unexpected ce.


    ''The mostplicated part of the statue is... the entire statue. Studying just one Rune isn''t enough because it works on a Rune Mesh System. Every part links into another and they rely on one another. It''s hard even to figure out which Runes I should inscribe first, and which ones I should leave for the future.


    ''And because I don''t understand them, manifesting them mid-battle would take up far too much stamina, not to mention take too much time.


    ''There''s almost certainly systematic guidance or a method that Ragnar picked up somewhere, or else it''s impossible for him to have made any progress at all.


    ''But... if I change my approach to how I see these Runes, and start analyzing them from a growth and regression perspective...''


    With a thought, the statue appeared in the middle of the maze.


    Ss'' mind felt overloaded almost instantly.


    The Rune Mesh was formed from almost 10,000 Foundations. That was a hundred times what was possible in the F-Grade.


    He was trying to do an analysis of the Rune Mesh that allowed him to backtrack, almost like reversing the age of a nt and watching it return to a seed in the ground.


    Before, he had been trying to analyze the statue like he did any other Rune, not realizing that he was missing fundamental concepts that only appeared above Rune Soul.


    Normally, he wouldn''t be able to do this. But he was still technically in his Woond Territory. His abilities shouldn''t work in a Dungeon, but who asked the Dynamic Field Dungeon to influence it? As a result, the Dungeon had a perpetual connection to the outside that let Ss'' Warlord influence remain.


    Thanks to this, his sense of Runes was at a Quasi Rune Spark level, and his ability to sense the organic flow of the Runes was exceptional.


    Unfortunately, his Wisdom was far toocking. The moment he began the analysis, he felt a splitting headache, and the seemingly normal statue began to feel like a zing inferno in his eyes.


    What Ss didn''t notice was that the moment the statue appeared, the surrounding maze also stopped moving entirely... almost as though it was scared off by something.


    Ss continued to strain. If not for the breakthrough his Wisdom had a couple of days ago, he would have already copsed. Veins popped across his forehead and a searing burn began to harm his eyes almost as though he was staring at the sun for too long.


    Slowly but surely, the zing fire reflecting in his eyes began to shrink and the Runes blinked out of existence one after another. From 10,000 lit Foundations, it dropped to 9,000, and from 9,000 to 8,000.


    The more the fire shrunk, the more concentrated the burn became until Ss'' irises practically became white. If things continued like this, he might truly go blind.


    But that same stubbornness he had felt when he thought about taking a break in the Rune Breath came back.


    It wasn''t just false pride. Every time he ran into a wall like this rted to Runes, he felt as though someone was looking over his shoulder, sneering.


    He could feel their arrogance, he could feel their casual disregard, he could feel... that they were the exact same sort of person he was.


    And that was thest sort of person he wanted to lose to.


    Ss unleashed a roar and blood spurted out from his nose. The same would have happened to his eyes, but the burning intenting from the statue turned the crimson into a foggy mess that evaporated into the air.


    Deep within Ss, his dormant Will churned and a tangible intent covered his eyes in a sheen of green.


    All of a sudden, as though he had put on a pair of sunsses, the sun before him wasn''t nearly so zing.


    He made a final push, shrinking the burning me down from 2,000 Foundations to 1,000, and then from 1,000 to 500.


    The smaller the grew, and the closer he came to finding the core Runes, the more difficult it grew. But reaching 1,000 had been a tall mountain to climb, and now that he was approaching 100, that burning intent was only growing fiercer and fiercer.


    It felt like his Will and that of an unknown existence were continuously shing. And deep inside, heprehended something.


    These mes, this spark, this tangible Will that was shing against his own... this was the Spark, this was the special spurt of energy that differentiated Rune Soul, Rune Essence, and Rune Spark even further beyond.


    He shattered through a barrier, and he knew in that moment he had reached Rune Essence. At the same exact moment, the zing intent shrunk down to just 100 Foundations.


    BOOM!


    An explosion sounded off in Ss'' mind, and the statue before him shattered into countless pieces. The destruction almost sent him flying backward.


    But he was so focused on the crystal hidden within it that he didn''t even notice thecerations that cut into him from all sides.

 Chapter 556: Sparking

    Chapter 556: Sparking


    ?


    [Scorpion Warlord (???) (Inheritance Crystal)]


    [???]


    There was no other exnation, as though all the information about this item had been wiped from existence. Maybe it was a surprise that he got a name for it at all.


    In the end, he had to ask the Madness Key about it.


    [What is an Inheritance Crystal?]


    [Inheritance Crystalse in two forms: Complete Inheritances and Partial Inheritances. Partial Inheritances are often tests, seedlings that an expert might spread throughout the universe in order to find worthy sessors. Complete Inheritances are most often left behind by dead experts and are the rarer of the two. An expert is unlikely to hand out their full Inheritance without testing the character of their student first.]


    -


    When Ss saw this, he was almost 100% certain that this was a Partial Inheritance.


    This statue was left to the Dogons and had been studied by what was likely quite a number of people. It was more than likely a test or the first hurdle for bing a student of whoever was in the background. Or...


    It was a form of control.


    Ss was instantly very wary of this crystal, and his next question confirmed it.


    [What are the dangers of Inheritance Crystals?]


    [Some Inheritance Crystals have no lingering danger at all, some may immediately kill you if you circumvent their requirements somehow, and some might only show their true colors after centuries of usage.


    The danger is ultimately dependent on the temperament of the expert that left the Crystal behind.]


    Ss sighed inwardly.


    If it was based on temperament, and his assumption that whoever left this statue behind was the same person who turned Earth''s Runes into a cesspool of cancerous garbage, then the answer was all too obvious.


    -


    [Who can I use this Scorpion Warlord Inheritance Crystal and avoid alltent dangers at the same time?]


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 3 Silver Genes]


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    Did it hurt that the answer he needed would cost three Silver Genes? Definitely. In fact, the answer itself might be even more expensive depending on what resources he would need to gather based on the reply.


    However, the fact there was such a reply left him with elevated spirits.


    He needed to gather 10,000 Silver Genes for the sake of saving Earth from its Fate andpleting the Summoning without the help of System Cities. If he was going to need to go so far anyway, what was three Genes to such a shocking number?


    Careful not to touch the Inheritance Crystal directly in case it triggered something he definitely didn''t want, he wrapped it in his telekinesis and Aetherflow, pulling it into the Madness Key.


    Ss might not be sure of what was in the Inheritance Crystal just yet, but what he did know was that he didn''t have to have it just yet to have benefited from it.


    He had already memorized all 10,000 Foundations. The reason this was possible was that the Rune Mesh system was actually just formed of Runes with only about 20 or so Foundations. They were several orders of magnitude easier to draw than his current 60-plus Foundation Runes.


    This Rune Mesh system could even be considered a simplified super-tier D-Grade Rune. The only difference was that the Foundations were connected by the mesh system and not just fused into a single Rune, where it would surely be much stronger.


    Of course, Ss'' body also couldn''t withstand so many Runes at once. There might not be a single F-Grade existence that could withstand it.


    At least... that was Ss'' assumption.


    All that mattered now, though, was that Ss understood the first set of Runes intimately now. He finally well and trulyprehended them.


    There were 100 total Runes to the Rune Mesh system: 68 for the limbs and 32 for the torso alone. The secondyer was the linkages between them, and the third was a mesh that aided them to work together with greater ease.


    Justpleting the firstyer would require dealing with 2,300 or so Foundations together.


    This was well beyond Ss. But...


    Ss'' gaze shed for only a moment before a searing headache threatened to force him to his knees.


    He gasped for breath, pressing a palm to his forehead. He had forgotten just how drained he was in his excitement. There was no way that he could do what he wanted in this condition.


    He sent a wary gaze around him, only to be surprised that there hadn''t been any changes to the maze in a very long time. How long had he been focused on this task?


    ''Something''s changed...''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss walked to a wall of greenery, only for something shocking to happen.


    The wall shrunk back.


    Taken aback, Ss took another step forward, only for the wall to shrink again.


    When he took his third step, a hole appeared in the shrubbery.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder if this was a trap or not.


    Bending his legs, he suddenly sprung forward at his fastest speed, a sh of red gold


    appearing on his back for an instant.


    He had alreadynded on the other side of the wall in a blink, but there was no movement at


    all.


    ''It''s scared. It can''t be so afraid of me, can it?''


    Ss didn''t have a mirror. If he did, he would have noticed that there was a ckened violet hidden deep within his green eyes. This didn''te from his irises but rather his flickering


    Will hidden within.


    His Will now carried a poisonous sort of aura to it. However, he wouldn''t notice this for a


    small while... that was because he was advancing too fast, so fast he actually began to slow down on purpose, worried that he would run into the BOSS before his mind had fully recovered. At that point, he might be throwing himself to an early death.


    He took his time to circte <Maddened Enlightenment>, and when he reached a certain


    threshold of recovery...


    [Title Upgraded]


    [A Tangible Will > A Sparking Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind and has begun to forge its own Path. While immature and still


    growing, it carves out its ce in the world. Continue to forge it, young man]


    [+50 Will]


    [+50% Will]

 Chapter 557: Sparking Will

    Chapter 557: Sparking Will


    ?


    [Your Will has reached 1999]


    [Gene-Stat Limit Reached. Absorb a Silver Will Gene to increase your Will further]


    For the first time, a Title change wasn''t enough to break the threshold of a Stat Limit. But then again, this wasn''t a Stat Limit; it was a Gene Stat Limit. His body truly didn''t have the capacity to improve any further.


    Finally, Ss noticed the changes to his Will.


    He used his telekinesis on a bit of air ahead of him, only to notice the maze walls move away. He didn''t even try to touch them, but the walls were so afraid of his Will that they didn''t even want to be close.


    ''It can''t be my Will itself, can it...''


    Ss didn''t even finish his thought when he saw the oddity.


    His Will had always been green when it manifested. So where had this underlying darknesse from?


    It didn''t feel sinister, but it felt... dangerous. Not to him, of course, but rather to those that mighte into contact with it.


    ''Scorpion Warlord... did my Will gain a poisonous character to it too?''


    The realization overcame Ss, and suddenly he had yet another breakthrough inprehension. Though it didn''t elevate his Rune Mastery beyond Rune Essence, it did firmly solidify him in the camp.


    ''The original reason for my breakthrough was observing thence. Watching the liveliness and almost organic nature of the Runes made me realize that the reason I couldn''t analyze the scorpion warrior statue was that I was treating Runes too rigidly.


    ''Runes can act like living organisms as well, and the gap between those at Rune Soul versus Rune Essence is dependent on whether you can manipte this liveliness... with your Will.


    ''This Scorpion Warlord Inheritance tainted my Will with this poison because this is the specific Path of Will I need to take on the Scorpion Warlord Inheritance.''


    It all settled in for Ss as he grasped one thing after another.


    This was precisely what separated the strongest Rune Masters from the weakest. To incorporate Will into your Runes was one thing, but to have a unique signature of Will, one of its own Path, capable of Sparking your own Runenguage...


    That was a different matter entirely.


    ''Then in all likelihood, what''s really scaring this maze isn''t my Will itself, but rather the specific type of Will I have... It fears my mastery over poison.''


    The moment Ss had this thought, he pushed out a palm and his telekinesis surged.


    The maze walls copsed one after another, rushing off to the sides to give him a clear line of sight ahead.


    He no longer needed to consciously use Rune Soul to dispel poison. His Will seemed to now have dominion over the Laws of Poison themselves. Poison Runes behaved obediently around him because they had no other choice whatsoever.


    So long as he didn''t run into any Poison Runes forged by a Will of a superior Poison Path to himself...


    Poison would never be able to harm him again.


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Poison (Gold)]


    [Ice (Quasi Gold)]


    [Ice-Poison (Silver)]


    [Wood (Quasi Silver)]


    [Wood-Poison (Bronze)]


    [Wood-Ice-Poison (Common)]


    [Earth (Common)]


    His Poison Affinity had crossed the threshold into Gold.


    Ss rushed forward, reaching the end of the path swiftly.


    [Spotted Smander Master (FFF+)]


    [Level: 35]


    -


    [Physical: 1121]


    >[Strength: 1000]


    >[Constitution: 1149]


    >[Dexterity: 950]


    >[Speed: 1288]


    [Mental: 1247]


    >[Intelligence: 1801]


    >[Wisdom: 950]


    >[Charisma: 994]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Will: 911]


    The creature was five meters in length. mes of ck and violet danced around it like motes of light, its tongue slithering out and thering a toxic liquid onto the ground.


    Ss took a breath and his body was shrouded by a shuddering aura. His Will took tangible form and the Basilisk King seamlessly fused into him in no more than a blink of an eye.


    There was the slightest trace of fear that flickered in the Smander Master''s eyes before it attacked out of fear.


    A spurt of liquid shot across the air, appearing before Ss in an instant, but that very moment, Runes formed in the air and Ss was suddenly shrouded by a second skin.


    A ckened purple aura enveloped him. His Basilisk tail became covered in a carapace as an illusory scorpion tail snapped into ce around it.


    Ss'' tail flickered, pping the jet of liquid out of the air.


    The corrosive attack that burned through even the ground was practically like a ssh of water against him. Only the fire characteristics had a chance, but without the poison underlying it, it wasn''t even half as powerful.


    Ss shot forward and thence appeared above the Smander Master''s head at the same instant, smashing down with a great deal of force.


    The smander unleashed an ear-splitting screech, a defensive Skill activating as it sensed


    the danger.


    BANG! BANG!


    Thence fell first, followed by the heavy stone. But then...


    BANG!


    A second stone fell and the defensive Skill of the smander cracked.


    Ss punched out, a fist aura shuttling through the air and colliding with the cracking


    defenses.


    The smander was forced onto its belly, its body losing control as its knees gave out beneath the overwhelming pressure.


    And then Ss finally closed in.


    He dodged out of the way of a desperate attack with a spurt of


    ''s wings, sliding to the side and feeling the cobblestone ground beneath the soles of his feet.


    His tail pierced out, fast and precise, right through the crack formed by thence the very same moment the stones andnce vanished into his Madness Key once again.


    PUCHI!


    The pincer of his tail split the smander''s head, jetting right through its skull.


    ck veins appeared all across the smander''s body in an instant. Foam bubbled from its


    maw and its body convulsed.


    Once its eyes rolled to the back of its head, itsst chance to live was over and done with.


    The poison of Ss'' tail was on a level the Woond Poison simply couldn''tpare to. It


    turned even the poison inside the smander''s body against it.


    Just as Ss was about to rx, his Luck sent ring warning signs to his mind, and he


    hurriedly took a fierce leap backward.


    BANG!

 Chapter 558: LUBDUB

    Chapter 558: LUBDUB


    ?


    The ground beneath Ss exploded. Cobbled stone flew out in all directions.


    Ss protected his head with his forearms but couldn''t help but grunt as he felt his bones and flesh strain beneath the impact. Luckily, his Aether skin alone now had 1000 Defense. But under the continuous pelting, he was draining his energy fast.


    Luckily, this didn''tst for long.


    Unluckily, the danger wouldn''t end here.


    Vines wiggled up from the ground, and the sound of arge, beating heart echoed in Ss''


    ears.


    LUBDUB. LUBDUB. LUBDUB.


    The vines converged, and through his forearms and the cloud of dirt, Ss watched as they formed arge humanoid figure of thorny vines.


    The head snapped into ce, and a twin pair of wood-shaped rose petals bloomed to form two eyes.


    It was a creature that was oddly beautiful and disconcerting at the same time. It felt both ufortable to look at and almost as though you didn''t want to look away at all.


    A Chewba-like, resonating call came from its throat as it mmed down a palm.


    Its hand expanded with wiggling wooden vines, thick smoky poison descending from it.


    The dome of poison was repelled the moment it even thought to get close to Ss. However, the palm was too fast.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Not good.''


    <Cryobane Elevation>. <Madness Control>.


    Ss activated both at once, his body shuddering and veins pulsing through his body. His skin reddened and smoke practically billowed out from his orifices.


    [Cryobane Elevation (F-) (Gene Skill)] (Quasi Legendary Mastery)


    [<20> Units of Aether a minute per use in exchange for a <220%> increase to Speed and Dexterity Stat Limit]


    The changes to Cryobane Elevation were shocking, and Ss immediately knew what the problem was and why his body was overheating like this.


    The Skill used poison to push his body into a berserk state, pushing it past what it could handle. Then it used ice to forcefully cool it down and keep him level.


    However, his poison control had suddenly shot through the roof, but his ice control had remained stagnant.


    Suddenly, he was able to push his body much further than he had the ice to cool down, causing his body to overheat and billow with smoke like this.


    Unfortunately, not only did he not have the time to fix this imbnce, but he had no choice but to rely on it.


    This creature was too powerful.


    [Violet Rose Heart (Bronze)]


    [Level: 32]


    [Physical: 1864]


    >[Strength: 2201]


    >[Constitution: 2399]


    >[Dexterity: 1600]


    >[Speed: 1256]


    [Mental: 2071]


    >[Intelligence: 2999]


    >[Wisdom: 1500]


    >[Charisma: 1713]


    [Will: 984]


    [System Curse Activated]


    [Sudden Evolution Triggered]


    [The first King Beast of Earth has been born]


    Suddenly it all made sense... why this creature had suddenly appeared, why the Dynamic Field Dungeon suddenly wasn''t afraid of his Will anymore, and why this damned thing was so


    pissed.


    When a System Curse was activated, it was like pushing all the pots of a poker table to the middle. Someone was going to lose big. And someone was going to win big.


    With his body steaming, a crown appeared high above Ss'' head.


    He stomped a foot into the ground and elerated out of the way as his body flooded with power.


    His suppressed Physical was about 270 or so. With the Basilisk King, it improved to over 600 under the influence of the Beast Totem. His Speed was still just above 400 because this stat wasn''t the Basilisk King''s strong suit, but a suped-up <Cryobane Elevation> still brought him to over 1200 Speed. When heyered an additional 20% boost from <Madness Control>, it caused his Speed to soar over 1500.


    Unfortunately, his Woond Warlord Title was useless again. Yet even still, in the blink of an eye, his Speed dwarfed the Violet Rose Heart by 300, and itsrge, lumbering body just missed him.


    BANG!


    The force of the wind sent Ss tumbling backward. His momentum was taken advantage of by the fierce air pressure of the palm, and he almost lost control of his body.


    He just barely managed to stop himself before he fell into an open maw that formed from the wall of the maze. It snapped at him, almost catching his tail.


    ''It can still control the surroundings, but to much less of a degree now that it''s formed its own body. Otherwise, it would have definitely swallowed me up already.''


    Ss looked up. The first thing he saw was the humanoid nt lumbering back up to its feet. It was clumsy, and after putting all of its strength into that palm attack, it had almost tipped


    over.


    The second thing he saw was that the ck skies of the Dungeon had disappeared, reced by


    a mesh of vines.


    That told him one thing very clearly.


    The Dungeon had already been cleared. Right now, he was just stuck underground.


    When Ss realized this, he saw his path to victory. It was going to be tight, but if his Woond Warlord Title didn''t work on this thing, he was going to have to try something


    else.


    After stabilizing his footing, he stomped down on the ground hard.


    Ice surged.


    [Woond Frost Domain (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 200/second]


    [Restrains and traps]


    [Special Buff: +40% to all Wood and Ice Skills; +210% to all Poison Skills used]


    Ss didn''t care about the changes to the Skill. He was only interested in one thing.


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: Woond Warlord]


    --


    [Quasi King Crown: The Territory obeys you]


    The Violet Rose Heart was a true King while he was only a Quasi King. That might be true. But


    the Woond Territory was his.


    Mancer''s Blossom appeared behind Ss and embedded itself into the ground. At the same


    time, roots and branches covered in crystalline blue ice pulsing with blue Runes surged into


    the underground.


    The concentration of Ice in the air multiplied.


    Before the Violet Rose Heart could even react, Ss sent out several fists pulsing with 60-


    plus Foundation Ice Runes.


    .


    BANG! BANG! The first fist hit and a of ice formed over the humanoid nt''s chest.


    The second hit spread a sheet of ice over its shoulder.


    The two connected and continued to spread, but Ss didn''t even look, as he already knew


    what would happen.


    By this point, he had alreadyunched himself into the air, using <Surfing Frost> to surge to the of thorned vines above him.

 Chapter 559: Pleasure

    Chapter 559: Pleasure


    ?


    Vines shed like whips through the air,shing out at Ss from all sides. However, the moment they rushed toward him, they found themselves coated in frost.


    Ice heeded Ss'' call, and his evolved Slow Ice-Poison Runes pierced into their bodies. A frosty energy rushed out from him in all directions as he took advantage of the small area of effect abilities of <Surfing Frost> to influence the environment.


    Creating a road of ice to surf upon required umting this frostiness from the


    surroundings. And since that was the case, why wouldn''t he embed these vines into the very road he needed to surf?


    CHI! CHI! CHI!


    The vines became trapped in Ss'' wave of ice, and in what felt like a blink, Ss had already reached the dome of vines above him.


    A thin sheen of ice had already covered it.


    Ss'' gaze shed and a frosty breath left his body as small shards of ice covered him. He was pouring as much Ice Aether into his body as he could to offset the heat. But he knew that it was only a temporary measure.


    His body was being stressed beyond its limits. If not for his State of Wealth and Dual ss Constitution, his heart would have already given out.


    But he needed this victory.


    BANG!


    Ss felt a ripping pain in his shoulder as he cast


    once again. But this time, he made use of his Beast Totem.


    The world seemed to pause for a moment before a hole was torn through the canopy.


    Ss burst to the skies above, falling away from a curve of ice that rose dozens of meters into the air.


    "Nosphaleen! Come!"


    His voice pped like thunder, and in that same moment, the poison fog that covered the Dynamic Field Dungeon was forcefully constrained by him.


    With an inhale, his Will surged, and the poison was pulled toward him, condensing and solidifying into a new Rune.


    The scorpion tail on Ss'' back became more solid as he suddenly pivoted into the air, spinning with a tightening of his torso that sent his tail shing out at an oing vine. BANG! SHIIIIII! CHING!


    Scorpion tail and vine met. Thetter was woven from three others intertwining with one another and forming a piercingnce. Comparatively speaking, Ss'' scorpion tail was like a needle facing off against a heavy de. And yet...


    It tore right through.


    Nosphaleen surged over from the distance, using <Glide>.


    The moment Ss realized that he had already cleared the Dungeon, he understood that he had truly returned to the Woond Territory now.


    The only thing stopping Nosphaleen froming with him was the poison in the air. But now that his control over poison was so absolute... between his Warlord Title and his Will, he could forcefully make this region habitable.


    Ss was knocked further into the air by the force of the woven vine. Taking advantage of the moment, he deactivated <Surfing Frost> and circted <Chilled Rise>.


    His Quasi Rune Spark took advantage of the higher concentration of Ice Aether and Runes in the air, lowering the requirements to use the skill.


    He performed a double jump, leaping even higher in the air.


    From high above, he could see everything, and for a moment, it hit him just how fantastical his abilities were now.


    A surge of an unknown emotion came from his heart... at the very least, it was unknown for a short while until it clicked for him...


    Pleasure.


    He loved this.


    Sometimes, there didn''t need to be aplicated reason to exin things. He didn''t need to know exactly why he loved Cassarae; he just did. He didn''t need to know the exact reason he loved to battle; he just did. He didn''t need to know the exact reason he adored a challenge... He just did.


    [Your Comprehension of Madness has deepened]


    [Madness has reached Gold Mastery]


    [Madness (F)] - Gold


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+500% Charisma]


    [+300% Will]


    BANG!


    Ss felt a powerful feeling rip through his body as the suppression from Bloom''s Warrant was torn to shreds. His control over his body reached an unprecedented height, and his stats more than doubled across the board.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Woond Frost King (Common)]


    [ss: -]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 6 122 (F)]


    [Titles: A Sparking Will; Slight of Hand; System Rebel; Legendary Tamer; Skill Progenitor; Woond Warlord; Baron of Guiz; Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-);


    A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 536 (911)] (Basilisk Fused Stats)


    >[Strength: 520 (1048)]


    >[Constitution: 585 (1176)]


    >[Dexterity: 520 (706)]


    >[Speed: 520 (715)]


    [Mental: 714 (1053)]


    >[Intelligence: 806 (1259)]


    >[Wisdom: 1001 (1124)]


    >[Charisma: 335 (776)]


    [Will: 1999 (2812)]


    [Luck: 101]


    [Skills: ...]


    [Gene Skills: Cryobane Elevation (F-); Madness Control (F)]


    [Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]


    [Gene State: Flexible]


    [Fragmented Genes: Grimde Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]


    [Common Genes: (20) Strength (F); (20) Constitution (F); (20) Dexterity (F); (20) Speed (F); (20) Intelligence (F); (20) Wisdom (F); (20) Will (F)]


    [Bronze Genes: Enchanted Scribe (F); (40) Strength (F); (40) Constitution (F); (40) Dexterity


    (F); (40) Speed (F); (40) Intelligence (F); (39) Wisdom (F); (17) Charisma (F); (40) Will (F)]


    [Silver Genes: Aetherflow (F)]


    [Gene Talents: Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Winter''s Edge (FFF-); Aetherflow (FF+)]


    SHIIIIING!


    A bright burst came from Ss'' eyes as he activated Winter''s Edge.


    Winter''s Edge and his Poison Spark Willbined into one, forming a rain of blue-violet


    des that shot out in all directions.


    The poison of the Violet Rose Heart turned against it beneath Ss'' power, and his telekinesis surged, disying almost 2000 Physical under the influence of Gold Mastery Madness.


    The Violet Rose Heart unleashed a howl. It was truly enraged, and the result was a rumbling that came from deep within the ground.


    With a burst, nine pirs of thorny vines erupted out from the earth, locking down the region.

 Chapter 560: Finished [Bonus]

    Chapter 560: Finished [Bonus]


    ?


    The moment the nine pirs took shape, Ss felt like something was pressing down on him. He was still high in the skies, surrounded by a shattered rain of splintered vines, wood, and wooden roses, but all of a sudden he felt as though <Chilling Rise> lost all of its effects. At the same time, the Ice-Poison Aether that was quickly spreading from Mancer''s Blossom suddenly slowed considerably.


    It was a great risk to take Mancer''s Blossom out in the first ce. Ss had no idea how good the defenses of the Aether Treasure were, and if the Violet Rose Heart was smart, it would almost certainly go all out to target it first.


    But the Violet Rose Heart was an unintelligent existence that acted on nothing more than instinct. This much Ss had already confirmed, which was why he dared to take such a risk. Diverting its attention away from the crystalline tree while he bombarded it from other directions was more than easy enough.


    What wasn''t good would be taking such a risk for no return, and these nine pirs seemed to be inching him closer to such a reality.


    King Beasts... King Threats...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They were existences that forced entire cities to fight them, powerhouses that shook fear into the hearts of even the greatest experts, world-ending threats so shocking that the system granted merits for killing beasts even with the slightest potential of bing one...


    There was simply no way that Ss could kill one just by destroying a few vines. And it would seem like his task had only gotten harder because Nosphaleen was now trapped outside of the nine pirs.


    Ss'' gaze shed as a hand pped out at him from below. The clumsy Violet Rose Heart''s palm surged up, extending like it had beenunched out of a rocket and appearing before Ss in an instant.


    Ss himself was already falling from the skies due to the influence of the nine pirs, and now he was being elerated toward the palm.


    The wind stung against his cheeks, and his scale-covered body almost felt as though some would peel off beneath the high pressure.


    Even with his Constitution having received such arge upgrade, Ss felt that thest thing he wanted was to face this palm head-on.


    His Constitution was almost 1200. His Aether skin gave him an Effective Constitution of 2200. Layered on top of that, both received a 20% boost from <Madness Control>, which now influenced every aspect of his body, and none of that included the mysterious enrichment of the Scorpion Warlord illusory armor.


    And yet, Ss wanted absolutely nothing to do with this palm.


    Realizing that Nosphaleen wasn''t going to be able to make it through in these conditions, and also understanding that the longer this battle dragged out, the more familiar the Violet Rose Heart would be at controlling its body, Ss shed all distracting thoughts.


    It was impossible to ount for every variable, every change, every little tweak and sudden bump...


    All that mattered was to be strong.


    So that was what he would be.


    His gaze red, and he struck out with a <Focus Palm>.


    Suddenly, his hand was wrapped by a green and violet energy. Aetherflow activated, and he received a 60% boost from his hidden Comprehension infused into his Gene Talent.


    The energy that wrapped his hand expanded violently, and in a blink, it was no lessrge than the palm of the Violet Rose Heart.


    A twin pair of palms met in the skies, Ss'' own illusory green-violet palm from above and the humanoid nt''s from below.


    A shockwave spread out from their collision.


    BOOM!


    Ss used the rebounding force to send him back into the air, countering the suppression of the nine pirs for a moment.


    His visualization reached out, only to realize that the range of the pirs was so wide that he was only within 100 meters of a single one of them, but that was enough.


    He saw through the Runes that formed the pir in an instant but didn''t have the time to analyze them just yet as a second palm streaked toward him.


    Ss struck out again, using the very same arm. His other was still affected by the


    he sent earlier, but he didn''t let it slow hisbat pace in the slightest.


    BOOM!


    The shockwave was even fiercer this time, and Ss'' Aetherflow palm copsed in on itself. ''It can only use some of its Strength properly because its control is too poor, limiting its Effectiveness. But it''s learning fast. Too fast.''


    Ss spun through the air,nding perfectly on the pir he had observed earlier just as he predicted.


    This pir was definitely formed by a skill, but the Skill itself manifested in Runes as all things did. There probably wasn''t anything in this world that didn''t function on Runes.


    It was why Ss could bolster the strength of his skills with his Rune Mastery, and it would also be why he could do this.


    ''47 Foundations, but the Aether used to form it is powerful. Unfortunately...''


    Ss'' Will pierced down and shattered the Rune.


    His current Sparking Will was the bane of Runes, and he had already deduced why the Violet Rose Heart feared it so much.


    The answer was in the name of the creature.


    It wasn''t the vines, nor was it made up of vines. Instead, it was controlling the vines, using them as a medium.


    Everything this creature was happened to rely on Runes and the control of them... even its existence itself.


    Meaning, if Ss could find a way to target its main body, he would have a way to kill it.


    However, that was far easier said than done.


    One thing was for sure... this pir was finished.


    Ss punched out, tearing through what should have been a nigh indestructible construct as


    though it was formed of wet tissue paper.


    His arm ripped all the way through the pir, crumbling it to ash.

 Chapter 561: Aether Suppression [Bonus]

    Chapter 561: Aether Suppression [Bonus]


    ?


    Nosphaleen burst through, the barrier on the region gone.


    "Use <Charm Veil> on me. Stay as high in the sky as possible for as long as you can withoutpromising your stamina and staying within 100 meters of me. Be prepared to use


    at any moment," Ss called out on his orders as hended on the ground.


    The vines surged toward him again, but Ss had already swapped to <Surfing Frost> from <Chilling Rise>, riding on a curving wave of ice through the air.


    At that moment, he felt a sparkling Aether coat him.


    <Charm Veil> was an illusion technique capable of shrouding the presence of someone and confusing the senses of those that saw them.


    When it was used on Ss, the trajectory his real body was taking and the trajectory his illusion was taking deviated in the sight of the Violet Rose Heart.


    Vines snaked through the skies, but they were no longer aimed at Ss himself at all. The Violet Rose Heart was continuously hitting nothing but air, and in its poor intelligence, it thought that Ss was truly dodging so well despite the fact the illusion was moving far more erratically than the real Ss could ever manage.


    Ss dove down toward the ground again, and from high above, Nosphaleen followed suit, realizing why it was Ss wanted her to stay within 100 meters. Only like this could he stop the poison from influencing her so she couldpletely focus on the task at hand.


    ''He''s grown much stronger again...'' she couldn''t help but think.


    Watching Ss'' valiant back, she felt an odd emotion growing in her heart. Slowly but surely, the shadow of Ss in her mind was bing just as overwhelming as it was in the Basilisk King''s.


    Ss had no idea what Nosphaleen was thinking. He was instead basking in a feeling he had never experienced before.


    Despite the danger as he shot down from the skies, he had never felt more alive.


    He pulled on his Gluttony Seed, and his nearly 2000 Physical Telekinesis surged. He ducked and weaved through the mess, truly flying for the first time.


    SHUU! SHUU! SHUU! SHUU!


    He shot through the waves of attacks, appearing below the humanoid nt.


    At that moment, the crown above the Violet Rose Heart''s heart pulsed, and Ss felt as though the illusion Aether around him shattered.


    The howl of the creature echoed again as it realized that Ss was already between its legs. However, the foolish thing realized toote that its legs had already been frozen into the ground. It was so focused on the battle above that it had let the Mancer''s Blossom sink its own roots into the ground.


    At the same time, Ss'' Domain had been steadily growing all this time. Other than movement skills, he hadn''t cast any others because all of his Aether had been diverted to <Woond Frost Domain>.


    His frosty wood wiggled through the Domain of the Violet Rose Heart, seamlessly integrating as though it wasn''t there at all. And then...


    He erupted.


    <Woond Frost Spike>.


    [Woond Frost Spike (FFF-) (Skill)] (Bronze Mastery)


    [Damage: 400]


    [Special Damage: 120/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Wood-Ice-Poison]


    That was the base strength of the Skill. However, between all of Ss'' boosts, the existence of Mancer''s Blossom, the activation of his Domain, and <Madness Control>...


    -


    [Woond Frost Spike (FFF-) (Skill)] (Bronze Mastery)


    [Damage: 960]


    [Special Damage: 300/sec for 5 seconds]


    [Attribute: Wood-Ice-Poison]


    The frosty fists that Ss had used to attack the humanoid nt earlier had already sunk deep. Although not as deep as Ss would have hoped, as powerful as the Violet Rose Heart was, the vines were just extensions of its body, and between Ss'' Poison Sparked Will and his 60-plus Foundation Runes, it didn''t stand a chance.


    CHII! BANG!


    The spike rose up from between the humanoid nt''s legs. It wasrge, its base being at least five meters in diameter, while its body was a twisting mass of several roots.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They came together to form a frosty tip that tore through the frozen exterior of the humanoid nt right through the groin.


    The creature had been distracted by Ss in one instant and was overwhelmed in the next.


    LUBDUB. LUBDUB.


    A wave of pressure mmed Ss down to the ground.


    He had just been about to follow up and into the gap his attack created, but just a single normal pulse from the heart sent him flying.


    [Violet Rose Heart (Bronze)]


    [Level: 32]


    [Physical: 750]


    >[Strength: 0]


    >[Constitution: 2999]


    >[Dexterity: 0]


    >[Speed: 0]


    [Mental: 2071]


    >[Intelligence: 2999]


    >[Wisdom: 1500]


    >[Charisma: 1713]


    [Will: 984]


    The stats were the exact same. No, they had even weakened as this heart had no physical whatsoever. And yet Ss felt like he had just run into apletely different enemy.


    He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body shuddering under the pain.


    High above, Nosphaleen''s expression changed.


    "Aether Suppression! Not good!"


    Ss vaguely picked up on these words. He didn''t have the time to find out exactly what it


    was.


    SKKKKREEEEEEE!


    Ss felt his Aether rolling in his body, fighting its way to get out as though it would rip a path out of his pores if it was given the slightest chance.


    His torso grew a size, and blotches of blood appeared beneath his skin. In that moment, several of his internal organs ruptured, and his heart nearly imploded beneath the pressure.


    A pain that nearly caused him to ck out took hold of him, but his Will red up, forcefully taking control of his mind.


    The bacsh of his <Cryobane Elevation> was starting to set in, and the battle of hot and cold in his body was quickly reaching an end he didn''t want to see.


    In one moment, he felt like he was flying high, and in the next, there was a savage sort of p


    from reality.


    However, Ss'' intent zed.


    The woven tale between Aether, Runes, and Will had been percting in his mind for a long


    while.


    And just now, he saw a door open.


    How many times had he seen opponents use a pulse of Aether to disperse his telekinesis? How did Aether counter Will? And why couldn''t the opposite be done if the vice versa had worked? He unleashed a roar, and his Will was forcefully integrated into his Aether skin.

 Chapter 562: Die

    Chapter 562: Die


    ?


    Ss'' Aether was forcefully reined back into his control. It was so easy that it almost felt like a rubber band had snapped within him, and he nearly sent his Aether reversing in the opposite direction.


    He coughed again as the pressure building in his body was released, but terrible bruises had already begun to blotch beneath his skin. If not for the ck scales that coated his body, he would have begun as a man of purple-ck right before the eyes of the Violet Rose Heart and Nosphaleen.


    The aching of his body came in rapid pulses, but he didn''t have the time to nurse his injuries.


    With a shove of his elbow to the flexible ground of vine beneath him, he pushed himself to the side and up. Gritting his teeth, he brought out one of the many smander corpses in his Madness Key. His fingers fleshed and dug into their open wounds, the Greed Seed shing with life as veins crawled up his arms.


    Blood Essence flooded Ss'' body as he ran, knowing he didn''t have much time left at all.


    The Violet Rose Heart was frozen in ce, not just because of his <Woond Frost Spike>, but also because of the fact Ss had destroyed its body. It was trying to rebuild its lower half, yet another foolish decision to make in the middle of a battle, but the impact of Ss'' Advanced Slow Ice-Poison Rune was making it a living nightmare.


    Ss'' wrist flickered, and the smander''s body turned to ash. He brought out another one and swallowed its Blood Essence as well. The bloating and bulging of his torso lowered, but it was clear that the smanders weren''t nearly as effective at healing Ss as the Sylphs had been. But this would have to do for now.


    Making it back to the space beneath the Violet Rose Heart, Ss did something that made Nosphaleen''s expression change.


    He jumped into the open cavity of its body.


    Pulses came from the heart, but Ss ignored them entirely.


    SKREEEEEEE!


    The Violet Rose Heart gave up on trying to reform itself finally, instead controlling the vines inside of it to attack Ss one after another.


    Each one carried a shocking amount of strength, moving so fast that Ss could swear they were maybe only a few dozen miles an hour from breaking the sound barrier.


    The outer shell of the Violet Rose Heart was heavily influenced by Ss''s Ice-Poison, but the inside wasn''t nearly as much.


    However, Ss still didn''t hesitate to take this step. His body billowed with alternating currents of steaming heat and flowing frost. Ice coated in scales in one moment, only to be melted into water and steam soon afterward.


    He pushed himself to his absolute limit, abandoning his <Chilling Rise> and <Surfing Frost> in favor of


    .


    His short burst movements became sharp.


    A vine burst from his right and he reached out and grabbed it. His wrist twisted around its form until he braced it against his forearm.


    The vine ripped into his skin, its thorns pumping him with poison he didn''t even give a second nce to.


    His body used the momentum of the vine to dodge a more lethal blow. Ss bent, twisted, and rotated, jumping from attacking vine to attacking vine like a man possessed.


    Every maneuver he made brought him closer to the heart, and the pulses only became more powerful.


    LUBDUB. LUBDUB. LUBDUB.


    Ss'' eyes darted around, his senses using abination of his visualization, his sight, and his Luck to form a of sensory perception that had him reacting long before attacks reached the point of lethality.


    He unleashed a roar and jumped into the air, reaching the deepest part of the Violet Rose Heart''s body''s chest cavity.


    For the first time, he got a true look at the heart.


    It looked no different from a human''s heart in shape. However, it stood twice as tall as Ss, its chambers covered in a protective violet-brown bark that revealed an stic, rubbery flesh between every time it pumped and pulsed.


    There were no veins or arteries that extended from it. Instead, there seemed to be roads of Aether that formed illusory pathways that extended across its body of vines.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss looked at it with zing eyes, his leap having taken him right into the middle of the air. He extended a palm forward slowly and pulled back a fist at the same time. His torso flexed and a fiery intent zed in his eyes as a pair of golden slight eyes appeared to his back.


    .


    His legsnded on a solid sheet of ice in midair, so thin it lookedpletely transparent from all angles. And yet, the moment his feet collided with it, a burst of power came up Ss'' torso, following through to his legs, up the torque of his hip and the winding of his torso before exploding out from his shoulder.


    There was a whipping sound that came from Ss'' tendons, and all his skill in the art of the fist was concentrated into a single blow.


    All he could imagine was punching right through the heart.


    Aetherflow.


    His fist collided with the heart, and then a fist aura extended past it.


    At that moment, the Scorned Wraps emitted a pulse that resisted the destructive might of the Violet Rose Heart.


    ''Die.''


    BANG!


    The heart deformed like a bowling ball meeting a trampoline. Itpletely lost its form and shape, ttening out before curving into a concave shape.


    A great amount of destructive might ripped through it in a torrent.


    Ss had given it everything he had, unleashing his absolute strongest attack. And yet...


    The heart rippled, rebounding away from Ss... and then rebounding toward him exactly like


    a trampoline would.


    Ss'' pupils only had time to sharpen before the stic walls of the heart collided against


    him, sending him flying so fast that he left a sharp whistle in the air.


    All the bones in his arm shattered, and his ribcage went with it.


    And that was all before he collided with the wall of vines behind him that formed the inner lining of the creature''s chest.

 Chapter 563: 71

    Chapter 563: 71


    ?


    Ss had only about 30% recovered from his earlier injuries. But now he didn''t just revert; his situation was probably even worse.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A vine tried to skewer him from the back; however, it ran into his Scorpion Warlord tail, the dividing line between his life and death.


    He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his mind swimming with darkness as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.


    Another spike of pain sharply caught his mind as he bit his tongue, trying to recover. He had to be ready for another attack. Anything, something.


    But when his visualization finally cleared enough to lock onto the heart, he realized that it was oddly not taking action either.


    Ss realized what the problem was immediately. It was struggling to reconnect itself with the world around it.


    His punch hadn''t been useless. It didn''t kill the heart, but it had injured it. However, those injuries were minimalpared to everything else.


    The rebounding force had caused many of the Aether tubes and connections it had formed to the world around it to snap and break loose. Now, it was struggling to reconnect them.


    The reason it hadn''t acted was because it couldn''t. Its weakness was that it needed to form these connections to do anything. Otherwise, it was just a heart.


    ''A heart? No... It''s a nt. A parasitic one that happens to have taken the form of a heart.''


    Ss coughed up another mouthful of blood. He pierced his scorpion tail into the wall of vines to stop himself from falling. From time to time, some vines would attack him, but they were greatly weakened, clearly unable to get the full array of Aether from its supplier.


    Soon, however, the heart would sessfully reform its connections. At that point, Ss would truly be finished.


    Ss took deep heaving breaths, staring daggers at the heart. It wasn''t a coincidence that it had 2999 Constitution and Intelligence. Those were almost certainly limits of some sort, which meant... it more than likely had the first Silver Genes that he would ever see.


    There was no running from this. Not after everything he had given to reach this point. He needed a solution.


    He thought for only a moment before he suddenly closed his eyes. When his vision cleared again, he was once more in a world of Ice-Poison. White-blue snowkes fell from the skies around him.


    Ss only gave them a nce before dashing forward.


    The pressure around him was only increasing, but he gritted his teeth.


    The gap between 50 Foundations and 60 was enormous. But now, he had only walked into the 65 Foundation Range and was already finding himself breaking down.


    However, he continued to trudge forward.


    Since thest time he hade here, he had a great breakthrough in his Will, and most importantly, his Rune Soul had evolved to be Rune Essence.


    Unfortunately, his time in the Rune Breath Secret Realm had told him that just the breakthrough alone wasn''t nearly enough. Unless he knew how to make use of his


    breakthrough, it wouldn''t make the world of difference it should.


    That said... the gap between Rune Enlightenment and Rune Breath was enormous, and yet not nearly asrge as the gap between Rune Soul and Rune Essence.


    Before, Ss was at the edge of his limit even standing before the 60-plus Foundation Runes. But now, despite being in a heavily injured, greatly fatigued state, although he was slow, he was steadily walking toward the 70-plus Foundation Runes...


    Until he burst right through.


    His jaw set, and his senses shed around, looking for what he needed.


    He had already picked his path, that of Slow and Freeze. But now it wasn''t just a matter of preference, but necessity. He didn''t have the time to learn apletely new Rune from scratch. He needed one that was already very familiar with what he already knew.


    ''Found them.''


    Ss ignored the Freeze Rune for now. He needed something that more heavily relied on poison aspects, leaned into it, made use of it.


    He felt his Rune Essence Mastery churn, and he grasped the core being of the Rune after just a single nce.


    ...


    Ss'' eyes shed open and his aura churned around him. It had barely been a few minutes, but thest of the connections that the Violet Rose Heart wanted to form were almost


    complete.


    By now, his Aether skin had several cracks in it. There was even a vine sticking out of his shoulder, continuously pumping poison into him in a vain attempt to take his life.


    His <Cryobane Elevation> had already tapped out, and his body was ready to tap out itself. But his mind, his Will... that was something else entirely.


    Ss'' scorpion tail flexed, pulling his body back and up until the soles of his feet pressed flush against the inner wall of vines.


    His quads flexed as he gathered thest of the strength he had, digging deep.


    BANG!


    He shot out, his tail unhooking at the same time.


    The heart was caught off guard. All the while, Ss hadn''t moved, and it had even half- thought he was dead. The low intelligence of this nt creature was showing, and it once again yed to Ss'' benefit.


    He closed the distance in a blink before his tail suddenly shed down right toward the softened flesh his fist had collided with earlier.


    From the outside, the heart looked just fine. But Ss knew that that location was the more soft and tender. The hidden inner walls had certainly been damaged considerably...


    Making it the most perfect target.


    Determination shed in Ss'' eyes as he shed down. The pincer of the tail sparkled with a radiant blue light that suffocated the violet and pierced downward.


    PUCHI!


    SKKKKRRRREEEEEEEEEEE!


    Ss pumped everything he had into the creature, suffocating its poison resistance with his Will and drowning it in the violent intent of a 71 Foundation Rune.


    KACHA! KACHA! KACH!


    The heart shuddered and attempted to beat to repel Ss, only for arge segment of its surface to crack apart continuously. It was harming itself in its own attempt.


    Ss raised his injured arm. He had already thrown two


    ''s today. If he tried again, he would certainly lose control of this arm as well.


    But he had nothing more to lose.


    "Die."


    Ss almost never spoke in battle. In fact, he truly never did at all.


    But this time, his emotion spilled over, and the eerie call of a reaper came from his lips.


    .

 Chapter 564: Toxic

    Chapter 564: Toxic


    ?


    Ss'' fist careened through the air, its speed so fast and its power so great that the frosty winds around it spiraled out of the way, moving with a sharpness that seemed to add to the power of the blow rather than detract from it.


    BANG!


    Fist and heart collided, both wreathed in the chilliest of winds and the densest of cold.


    For a moment, it looked as though nothing happened. Ss'' fist met a resistance it couldn''t st through, and unlike before, where the sticity of the heart made it somewhat more manageable, this time, the heart felt almost like a solid brick wall.


    However, that was when the power traveled through the heart, and the portions of the creature that had yet to ice over rebounded.


    That spelled the Violet Rose Heart''s death.


    There was a ripple through its flesh, and the rebounding force bounced back toward the frozen portions.


    They sheared right at their connection point, the overwhelming Constitution of the creature bing the root of its destruction.


    KACHA! CRACK.


    With a sudden burst, shards of ice exploded in all directions, and Ss was sent flying back once again.


    But this time, he was ready for it. His Aether was running on empty by now, but he was still able to use his Rune Essence Mastery to form a tform of ice that he glided back along.


    Eventually, he slowed to a stop, gasping for breath.


    Up ahead, the heart hung in silence from its own Aether veins and arteries. A fleshly pulp fell from its edges, and the silence almost felt dreary in a way.


    It looked as though some sort of frost monster had taken a huge bite out of it. There was arge piece of its "body" missing, and the wound was lined with jagged edges of icy blueness. It was dead.


    [Dungeon <Violet Rose Brush> Cleared]


    [Dynamic Field Dungeon of <Violet Rose Brush> Cleared]


    [System Curse Evaded]


    -n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss took deep, heaving breaths.


    The leap from Quasi Bronze to a true Bronze creature was farrger than he was expecting. He had had so many advantages, and yet he had still almost lost.


    Setting aside the fact that he was the Warlord of this territory, he had immunity to the creature''s great strength; the creature itself wasn''t used to using its power, whether that be because it wasn''t a humanoid to begin with, or the fact it had only just progressed to Bronze through the forceful maniption of the system and not by its own merit...


    Ss was practically the perfect counter to a creature like this one, and yet it took a 71 Foundation Rune that most on Earth would never get a chance to even see, let alone use, Nosphaleen''s help, and the near destruction of his body and life before he squeezed out a victory.


    There was truly no doubt in his mind that if he had faced off against a King Beast of any other affinity, he would have lost his life here.


    And this was just a Bronze King Beast... how powerful would a Silver one be? Forget Silver, what about just a Quasi Silver one?


    And just how many creatures even beyond that were there in the universe?


    Ss took a breath and slowly exhaled.


    [Dungeon <Violet Rose Brush> Cleared]


    [Rewards]


    [>guefire (Gene Skill)]


    [>Toxic Coat (Treasure)]


    [>Soft Gene State Elixir (Consumable)]


    The Consumable spoke for itself, and the Toxic Coat was just yet another Treasure that Ss couldn''t use. It was an armor that gave one passive poison damage and it actually had a Domain attached to it just like Nosphaleen''s did.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t a Legendary Path Treasure, so it couldn''t upgrade.


    That said, it was still a Lv35 Treasure, which made its stats quite exceptional nheless.


    [Toxic Coat (FFF)]


    [Level: 35]


    [+405 Intelligence]


    [Ability: Toxic Touch; Toxic Domain]


    ...


    [Durability: 350/350]


    This was also the first time that Ss had seen a Treasure with such high Durability. It was likely as a result of its high level.


    On Earth now, this sort of armor would have people chomping at the bit. Now that Ss had ess to a Nexus, he would have to start taking the option to sell more seriously.


    He had run out of money before he could exchange for the grappling Gene Skill, and that was still bothering him a bit. Maybe this would help him get over that threshold.


    Plus, if there was anything that he was going to sell, an armor like this one was perfect. After all, even if he ran into the person who he sold this armor to, it would be useless against him. At this point, there was probably not a single poison on Earth that would work against Ss.


    guefire was the most interesting, and it would definitely help shore up one of his greatest weaknesses... if he could use it, that is.


    Well, it wasn''t that he couldn''t use it. He certainly could. The main issue was that it would use up arge amount of Aether and take an obscene time to raise the Mastery of. guefire was a Poison-Fire Gene Skill. So the issue couldn''t have been more obvious.


    Ss didn''t have a fire affinity and he didn''t n on ever getting one.


    Although it seemed like he could just lump any and all Mancer Paths together, that wasn''t the case. In fact, he had already sensed some shing between his Wood and Ice affinities. Wood and poison matched well, but Wood and Ice were too antithetical to one another. Thetter restrained the growth of the former, and the former broke the restraints of thetter.


    Wood wanted to be flexible, but Ice wanted to be rigid.


    The choice had already been made, so there was no going back. But Ss was already trying to find ways to fix the issues he was dealing with now.


    One of those possibilities was increasing his wood affinity further. A second he thought of was


    pivoting from wood to earth...


    But the potential first solution came to him first.


    His gazended on the dead heart before him.

 Chapter 565: Choice

    Chapter 565: Choice


    ?


    Ss had originallye here with two purposes in mind.


    The first was to get thest bits he needed to finish up the evolution of the Serpentes Contract he was creating toplete the Bronze leg of his Path of the Mancer Chain Quest.


    The second was to hopefully find a treasure good enough to help Mancer''s Blossom gain a Wood affinity that he could make use of toprehend a Wood-Ice-Poison Rune.


    However, there was a bit of a dilemma here now. Sort of.


    The Violet Rose Heart itself seemed to qualify to clear his Quest, but only in part. He would still need to go and find an Ice affinity creature of Level 30 and above to finish it off.


    This would be too much of a hassle, especially since his original goal was toplete this leg quickly. He was much too far away from any location he might be able to find such a beast in.


    If he wasn''t to find an Lv30 Ice Beast, he would have to either hope he stumbled across a portal that led him to a cold Territory or he would have to literally cross the Africor Continent, heading far north or south. It certainly didn''t help that he was smack dab in the middle of the continent right now.


    However, if he followed his original n, he would be able to deal with it all right here. He already had the prepared Serpentes ready to go; he was just missing this final piece.


    So the question was why was he hesitating?


    The reason for that was because the quality of the ss he received was obviously dependent on just how good the target was.


    All the Quest asked him to do was kill a Level 30 or above creature with the appropriate Paths of the Mancer. That was it.


    However, as he had seen from his time with the Arctic King Cobras, the sses the normal Level 10 Arctic King Cobras gave him, and the ss the Level 12 Arctic Emperor Cobra gave him were like night and day.


    The Serpentes he created with his Legendary Path Talents would only be Quasi King creatures at best, and that was only if he went as far as sacrificing these invaluable pieces of True King creatures to them.


    How could the ss they gave him, and the ss the Violet Rose Brush gave him, everpare?


    This was Ss'' dilemma.


    Should he chase the perfect Bronze ss? Or should he just ept the Bronze ss he could have right here and now?


    It only took him a moment to make a decision.


    He would take thetter path, even if it meant sacrificing much of the Violet Rose Heart''s valuable body.


    When he made the decision, he didn''t feel much of a loss.


    For one, even if he chose a weaker Bronze ss now, there would be nothing holding him back from going all out in the higher sses still waiting for him.


    Second, he was on a time crunch. He had no idea the next time he would run into a creature of ice, but he only had seven months remaining. If he spent months for a Bronze ss, how long would it take on his Silver or higher?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Third, there was no guarantee that raising his wood affinity would fix the imbnce between his ice and wood. In fact, if he used the powerful Violet Rose Heart toplete one half of his Quest, and then couldn''t find an equally as powerful Ice affinity creature to match it, then he might end up with yet another imbnce.


    And fourth... His new Bronze ss was only an extra reward that he was seeking out for himself here.


    There were still the rewards of the Dynamic Field Dungeon to look forward to.


    Ss collected all of his rewards and stored them away. It would be foolish to take stock of everything here given the state of his injuries and everything else.


    He would return to the System City first. Then he would rest, heal his body, and then begin the next steps. Because that would require his full and undivided attention.


    **


    With a thought, the Ground Boa appeared on the training grounds.


    [Ground Boa (FFF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    It had grown eight Levels since Ss first met it, and that had taken no small bit of effort. The amount of resources that Ss had to collect to get it to this point dwarfed the tens of millions.


    He didn''t really feel it in his pockets because he had just used the City Stele''s ability to feel out these locations, and then his Insight Path Talent to find the triggers for the boa''s evolution. But that didn''t change the fact this creature was a huge investment.


    It had started with an Earth affinity, but that made it verypatible with wood. Allowing it to gain poison and ice after the fact was rtively easy as well.


    The Ground Boa was like the perfect nk te. It had a sturdy body, its Earth affinity wasn''t overwhelming, and it didn''t have any higher lineages tugging it in certain directions.


    That was what made it perfect.


    Ss took out the Beast Core from the Violet Rose Heart and forced it into the boa''s stomach. Then, he pressed a hand to its forehead and began to slowly guide things.


    Groundbreaking changes shook the Ground Boa''s body. It was incredibly docile, not daring to lift even a finger. Even if Ss wanted it to kill itself right here and now, it would do so. There was an innate sort of respect that these creatures had for Ss. And even though he had yet to spend the two million Free Experience he got from his other two System Cities, just his presence alone seemed to subdue Serpentes.


    He even had a feeling that part of the reason Nosphaleen hadn''t even considered betraying him yet was also because of this.


    But no matter how much this Ground Boa respected him, it wouldn''t stop him from doing what he needed to do.


    The moment he sensed the Ground Boa break through a threshold, the palm he had ced on


    its forehead trembled.


    The head of the Ground Boa shattered.

 Chapter 566: Stack [Bonus]

    Chapter 566: Stack [Bonus]


    ?


    [Bronze Beast Destiny Consumed]


    [Gluttony Seed has strengthened]


    [Quest Rewards changed]


    [Woond Frost Emperor (Bronze)]


    [The tundra is your Domain and poison adorns your chalice, the trees are your friend and the


    earth warms your bed]


    [+75 Intelligence]


    [+75 Constitution]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +21 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +10 per Level]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [ss Modifier: 0.3 Intelligence; 0.3 Constitution]


    [ss: Woond Frost Emperor]


    [Level: 0]


    -


    >[Basic Skills]


    [Woond Frost Domain (F-) (Gene Skill)]


    [Special Damage: 100/second]


    [Restrains and traps]


    [Special Buff: +70% to all Wood, Ice, and Poison Skills used]


    -


    [Woond Spirit Summon (F-) (Gene Skill)]


    [For <100> Units of Aether, Summon a Woond Spirit with 75% of your stats to fight on your behalf]


    [Attribute: Wood-Poison]


    -


    [Woond Spirit Swallow (F-) (Gene Skill)]


    [Swallow Summoned Woond Spirit to elerate Healing proportional to Constitution. For


    every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by <+500%>]


    -


    [Woond Frost Spike (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Damage: 500]


    [Special Damage: 100/sec for 10 seconds]


    [Attribute: Wood-Ice-Poison]


    -


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Poison (Gold)]


    [Ice (Quasi Gold)]


    [Ice-Poison (Silver)]


    [Wood (Silver)]


    [Wood-Poison (Quasi Silver)]


    [Wood-Ice-Poison (Bronze)]


    [Earth (Common)]


    -


    >[Unlockables]


    [Level 20]


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Physical: 555]


    >[Strength: 520]


    >[Constitution: 660]


    >[Dexterity: 520]


    >[Speed: 520]


    [Mental: 739]


    >[Intelligence: 881]


    >[Wisdom: 1001]


    >[Charisma: 335]


    [Will: 1999]


    [Luck: 101]


    Indeed, the ss was much weaker.


    His Common and Fragmented sses both gave him a full Mental boost, but this Bronze ss only gave him an Intelligence boost. In addition, the ss Modifier likewise only targeted one-third of the Mental stats, and the modifier itself wasn''t as high as expected.


    However, Ss took it in nheless.


    He would be able to make this up in the future.


    ''I did lose the chance to stack more stats, but that will just have to be a necessary evil for now. I''ll focus on clearing the Silver Grade Chain Quest as soon as possible.''


    Unlike with his Titles, when Ss upgraded his ss, the stats granted from his previous upgrade remained. That meant that because he chose a weaker Bronze ss this time, he had missed out on stat increases that he would have otherwise been able to stack.


    That was especially troubling because he could have really used the Charisma stats.


    The good news was that his newly minted Gold Mastery Comprehension had somewhat fixed the imbnce between his Charisma and Will. The bad news was that that wasn''t a viable long-term solution.


    However, as with all things, there would have to be sacrifices and trade-offs made.


    Ss stood to his full height. When he made a decision, he wouldn''t bother to regret it.


    ''The Mancer''s Blossom will take at least a week to finish absorbing the remaining bits of the Dynamic Field Dungeon. When it finishes, I will be able to gain the Wood-Ice-Poison Rune I''ve been looking for.


    ''In the meantime, it''s about time I look at the rest of my rewards.''


    [Dynamic Field Dungeon <Violet Rose Brush> Cleared]


    -


    [Rewards]


    [>Violet Rose Root (Symbiote)]


    [>Violet Rose Whip (Treasure)]


    Ss remembered being surprised when he saw just two rewards. He had, after all, gone through a great deal of trouble. The Woond Spider Queen had given him five rewards, all of which were shocking. This Dynamic Field Dungeon should have been even more difficult with the system putting its weight on the scale.


    However, it was far more interesting than he thought it was.


    He directly ignored the Violet Rose Whip. It was a Silver Grade treasure with stats even more shocking than the Basilisk Skin Armor had been, but he didn''t care if he couldn''t use it.


    It was this Symbiote that intrigued him.


    [What is a Symbiote?]


    [A Symbiote is a special biological Treasure capable of either changing andscape or parasiting a creature. This process causes thisndscape or creature to gain the characteristics of the Symbiote and share in its strength. Whether this is a positive or negative matter depends on the Symbiote itself.]


    Ss of course knew what a Symbiote was in a vacuum, but he didn''t understand what it meant for this world in particr.


    Even after this exnation, he didn''t quite get it. It was a bit vague. It was only after asking several more much more pointed questions that he got a vision of what he was working with.


    In the mostyman''s of terms, a Symbiote was almost like a Unique Gene. It could be stacked onto something and force said something to take on its characteristics.


    But from another angle... it was like the Temte of Rune Flesh. That was because if you were bold enough, you didn''t have to pick andscape or a creature. What the Madness Key hadn''t made clear originally was that it considered all Races "creatures." Meaning...


    Ss could fuse with this Symbiote as well.


    Of course, Ss dismissed the idea. The trouble with fusing with a Symbiote was that it would make tangible changes to your body. It would be hard to tell what would happen to his Genes


    as a result.


    However, Ss was thinking of something else entirely.


    [Frostbane Feather (Silver) (Consumable Treasure)]


    [Sacrifice to trigger an upgrade in Mount or Combat Mount, or turn beast into Mount or


    Combat Mount]


    [Mutate or rece Aether affinity]


    [Improve Grade to FFF-]


    [Note: Function of Consumable Treasure will depend on the Gene Constitution of target


    beast. More control will be granted depending on Brand Grade]


    [Uses Left: 1/1]


    The Frostbane Feather had been rotting in his Madness Key for a long while, and he hadn''t


    been able to find a chance to make use of it just yet. None of the creatures he hade across


    really suited him because he was highly focused on getting himself a flying beast. The use of them would be more than he could put into words right now.


    However, the Frostbane Feather was also a great disappointment. That was because it could only raise the grade of a Mount or Combat Mount to FFF-, and it likely wouldn''t work on a


    creature that was already stronger than that.


    But...


    If the Symbiote was stacked with it...

 Chapter 567: Peafowl [Bonus]

    Chapter 567: Peafowl [Bonus]


    ?


    The moment Ss got the idea, he couldn''t shake it off. He didn''t need to find some beast that was extremely strong. He just needed to find a beast that could do what he needed it to do.


    A beast that could fly, one that hopefully had at least a small bit of Serpentes blood or potential in it, and one that was weaker than FFF-.


    With his requirements being so low, actually finding such a creature was far easier than Ss could have ever expected, especially with the City Stele''s ability by his side.


    Ss found what he was looking for and left the city without a word, rushing off with a shocking amount of speed now that his stats were no longer suppressed.


    ...


    Four hourster, Ss had arrived at his destination. The sun was high in the skies, beading down with a great amount of force.


    Thankfully, there was also a decent amount of shade in the region as well, making things easier to deal with.


    For Ss, temperature was rarely a problem anymore. His Ice affinity made cold temperatures useless against him, and in the heat, his Aether itself kept him cool. Right now, his focus was the creatures ahead of him.


    Peacocks.


    They were gorgeous creatures, with necks of vibrant blue and tails of green and gold.


    Most of them were of normal size, being barely a meter or so tall. However, there were others that had mutated a great deal, reaching upward of two meters tall.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Blue-Green Peafowl (F+)]


    [Level: 11]


    This was the strongest of them. A male that stood taller than even Ss, but didn''t have the impressive stats to back it up.


    Most creatures in the Summoning were like this. It was just that Ss often targeted the most powerful of them because they were the only ones that could give him a proper return on his investment in time. He couldn''t remember thest time he had cared to target such a weak creature.


    But now... it was the perfect time.


    Ss rushed forward and caught the male peacock by his long neck. His hand wasn''t nearlyrge enough to wrap all the way around, but it didn''t have to be.


    The peacock unleashed a rain of sounds that were more akin to a cat''s meows than such arge creature''s howl.


    This pack of peacocks wasn''t a Mount pack, but it didn''t matter to Ss considering the feather could do that for him. What was most important were his base requirements.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t find a creature as convenient as the Bone-Tailed Lizard that hid such a lineage. However, the genes of birds were quite close to reptiles. If there was a chance in the future where Taboo Bond deepened much more considerably, maybe he would find a chance to make this peacock a Serpentes. But for now...


    The screeches of the peacock''s peahen mates filled the air as they charged for Ss in an attempt to protect their husband. But Ss just summoned the Basilisk King and the Bone- Tailed Lizard, giving them the chance to finally fight an easy battle.


    Their stats were more than enough to overwhelm this pack of peafowls.


    Ss calmly took the Frostbane Feather out.


    Here, everything would be decided by his Brand Grade. He was meant to leave a Brand on the Frostbane Feather that would force the creature to ept him as its master after the fusion process was finished.


    Honestly speaking, the process wasughably easy. Even if he hadn''t had Rune Essence, it would have gone smoothly.


    The so-called Brand was already inside of the feather. He was supposed to infuse his Will into it and piece it together like a puzzle while the creature was fusing with the feather.


    This was difficult for those without tangible Wills or Rune Mastery. But for Ss, not only was he able to forge the Perfect Brand with ease, but his Will actually made the Aether flow smoother.


    When he sensed the changes urring inside the peacock''s body, Ss even realized that his Extricate Path Talent could help along the process and even shift and change it somewhat.


    Unfortunately, without Insight, there wasn''t much he could do. He didn''t have an intuition for bird creatures that he would for Serpentes. But, he was still able to help the Treasure save a great deal of energy.


    ''I see... most of the feather''s strength would be used up as it peels back theyers from Gene to Blood Essence. But if I open up the path for it, it will manage to keep more than 80% of its energy, when before it would have had less than 20% left. I wonder what will happen now...'' The Treasure''s FFF- Grade estimate was likely based on how much energy it would end up wasting. But if it ended up keeping much of that energy...


    Large, sweeping changes began to take hold of the peacock as its aura skyrocketed.


    Soon, its colors began to change. From a blue-green palette, it became an icy blue, its long, slender neck being painted in a silvery sky blue and its tail feather opening up to reflect a deep, crystalline light.


    The beast was already beautiful, but at a moment like this one, it was truly one of a kind. Nature had its way of disying its might in the most gorgeous of ways, and this case was


    truly not much different.


    However...


    ''It''s going to die...''


    Ss realized the problem quite quickly.


    Sometimes, not all things were meant to be circumvented. His Brand was exceptionally powerful, resulting in the peacock not even being able to resist, so that was good. Even with it growing so much more powerful, and at a quick pace at that, it was still tightly bound to


    Ss.


    However, the energy was too much given the foundation of the peacock. If this continued, it would freeze to death.


    The current state of the peacock was akin to Ss back when he attempted to integrate stronger Ice-Poison Runes into his body when his affinity was too low.


    In this case, however, the peacock was too far from a State of Wealth to ept this upswell of


    energy.


    ''It seems that it''s time...''


    Ss took out the Symbiote.

 Chapter 568 Violet Rose Peacock

    ?568 Violet Rose Peacock


    [Violet Rose Root (Bronze) (Symbiote)]


    [An insatiable parasite.]


    The information that his <Master Scouter> Skill could give him about this Symbiote was minimal. Yet, although he had seen several Silver Treasures until now, he didn''t dare to underestimate this Bronze one.


    When he shattered the orb it was within, it almost immediately lunged for him. It was just a small root covered in tiny, sharp hairs. It looked no different from any other nt, except for the fact it moved on its own.


    It was clear that between the peacock and Ss, the Symbiote preferred Ss several times over.


    However, although Ss knew that it would likely benefit him, he had no interest in taking this route.


    He caught the Violet Rose Root with ease. It tried to burrow into his palm, wiggling about wildly, but it couldn''t even make a dent in his Scorned Wraps. In fact, it ended up hurting itself.


    Realizing that it might harm itself beyond repair if this continued, Ss mmed it into the chest of the peacock.


    The Symbiote couldn''t survive for long without a host now that it was outside of the orb. Now, behind it, there were the Scorned Wraps that harmed it every time it tried to tear into them, and before it was the much more malleable flesh of the peacock. There was only one choice to make.


    The root tore into the body of the peacock, shredding a path down to its very heart. And yet, there was no blood at all. Half of the lifeblood of the peacock had been frozen to ice while the other half had been greedily sucked away by the Symbiote.


    And then the changes began to be triggered once more.


    The beautiful fanning feathers of the peacock fell one after another. There was a burst that came from its back as ck-violet branches began to extend from its body.


    Its eyes snapped shut while it struggled in pain, but the feathers of its body were continuously falling off. Soon, the once gorgeous bird looked like a zombie, its flesh atrophying and what remained of its skin sticking close to its bone.


    Ss didn''t react much to this at all, watching the process silently, his palm still ced on therge creature''s chest.


    The hollow bones of the peacock were being drilled into by a densework of roots. Ss could only imagine the kind of horrible pain it was in. However, luckily for the peacock, soon enough, its nervous system wasmandeered as well, cutting off its


    senses.


    From the outside, the situation only seemed to be going from bad to worse. But just when it seemed like the peacock would lose its life entirely, something almost magical snapped into ce.


    The Symbiote reached an equilibrium with its new body, and the peacock''s shuddering stopped.


    And then the rapid healing process began.


    All of the blood the Symbiote had forcefully taken was expelled once more along with arge amount of energy.


    The peacock had grown to three times its original height. Its long, slender legs and ws now looked as though they had been carved from wood until thorns of violet began to grow from them.


    These violet thorns increased in density until they snapped downward and into ce, forming a shingle system that looked like the scales of a reptilian beast.


    The tail feathers of the peacock had already fallen, littering the ground with a gorgeous array of icy-blue plumes. All that had been left were the spindles that had once fanned them out into an eye-catching array, but now those spindles were reced by long, wooden vines that waved about in the air.


    They waved back and forth in an almost mesmerizing pattern, but the moment one became lost in their cadence, the eyes began to appear.


    Soon, an array of feathers radiating colors of ck, violet, and icy blue took shape, fanning out sorge that they covered over ten meters.


    With a single shudder, the trees in the surroundings crumbled to ash, their essence pouring into the bird beast.


    The flesh of the peacock regained its vitality, and its skin was covered in thorns that quickly formed a shingle system of scales before they were covered by even more feathers.


    Thest to take shape fully were its wings.


    It spread them out in a fleshly mess. It was a truly grotesque sight for just a moment before it became just as mesmerizing as the rest of it.


    SHIIING! SHIIIING! SHIHING!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Like the des of a sword, one sharp feather after another formed, and yet they danced with the flexibility of silk in the wind.


    The final touch was the growth of feathers on its head.


    It raised its proud neck to the skies and unleashed a cry that shook the leaves of the trees that had managed to survive its ire.


    And then it opened its eyes.


    Like the swirling madness of chaos, blues, violets, and cks danced within like exploding nebe before they too settled down.


    LUBDUB. LUBDUB. LUBDUB.


    The creature slowly lowered its wings that kicked up fierce winds for dozens of meters, its gaze looking down to meet Ss!


    The oppressive might of the Symbiote Peacock wasn''t to be sniffed at at all. Ss could feel that if his Will wasn''t so powerful now, he would actually feel some of it as


    well.


    Now this... this was a creature worthy of being his mount.


    The Symbiote Peacock lowered its head and roared into Ss'' face, the violent uprising of wind kicking his hair back and nearly causing him to take a step back.


    But he stood there in silence, his arms crossed, his body unmoved.


    He stared at the peacock that towered over him. It might have been over three times his height, but to Ss, it didn''t make one lick of difference.


    And then, slowly...


    The peacock obediently lowered its head.


    [Violet Rose Peacock (Bronze) (Symbiote Mount)]


    [Level: 1]


    [Attribute: Poison, Wood, Ice]


    [+200% Speed and Dexterity]


    [Limit: 500 Speed and Dexterity]


    [Talents: Replenish]


    [Absorb life force from wood, poison, and ice affinity to replenish its stamina and heal


    itself]

 Chapter 569 Time

    ?569 Time


    This was the very first time that Ss had seen a Mount that was graded with the Legendary System rather than the modern one, and it showed.


    The strongest Mount he had ever seen only had +50% Speed and Dexterity, while its Limit was mere 308 despite being Level 12.


    Of course, the fact the Violet Rose Peacock''s Limit was only 500 was a problem. After all, Ss'' own Speed and Dexterity were higher than that now.


    But this wasn''t as bad as it seemed for two reasons.


    First, the Symbiote would fix this issue very soon. Unlike other Mounts that would have a great amount of difficulty leveling up, the Symbiote likely wouldn''t.


    And second... Speed and Dexterity on the ground versus Speed and Dexterity in the air were twopletely different things.


    When the Violet Rose Peacock was on the ground, sure, it would be more convenient for Ss to run on his own unless he was trying to conserve stamina or rest.


    But if the Violet Rose Peacock was in the air...?


    There would be noparison at all.


    It had taken Ss four hours to run here. Even at a slower pace, if the peacock flew the entire time, Ss estimated it probably wouldn''t even take half the time.


    Unlike him, the peacock wouldn''t have to avoid trees and decide whether to run up or around mountains.


    This was why he had wanted a flying Mount so badly.


    And yet this was still just the tip of the iceberg.


    Right now, the Violet Rose Peacock was just a Mount, and it only scaled with Speed and Dexterity as a result. But it had a Talent, something that only Combat Mounts- and rare ones at that-should be capable of having.


    This meant that there was a strong possibility that given time and leveling up, the Symbiote might be able to break free of the mold the peacock it was possessing had forced it into, bing a true Combat Mount.


    For now, Ss could already feel that using it in battle wouldn''t be allowed by the system. But who was to say that that would still be true at Level 10? What about Level 20? 30?


    Only time would tell.


    Ss took a step onto the peacock''s lowered head, feeling the connection between the two of them solidifying as it rose up proudly once again.


    Against Ss, it could only lower itself because the Brand Ss had formed was simply too powerful for it to even begin to buck again.


    But against the rest of the world, its arrogance seemed to blossom.


    With a wave of his hand, Ss retrieved the Bone-Tailed Lizard and the Basilisk King. "Let''s go."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Violet Rose Peacock spread its wings and pped downward once hard.


    Soil kicked up and a powerful downward force took shape as they shot into the air and spiraled past trees.


    Ss took a breath and closed his eyes as they soared into the air, feeling the wind kicking up against him. This feeling of power was truly intoxicating.


    **WHOOOOSH!**


    The peacock streaked into the distance, leaving a line of violet, ck, and icy blue in its wake.


    The journey back to the System City didn''t even take a single hour. It cut the time down by an entire fourth.


    When the majestic peacock appeared above the city grounds, it undoubtedly brought many eyes along with it. However, who would dare to stop the Warlord from doing as he wished?


    When Ss was seen on the creature''s back, no one said a single thing.


    The peacock touched down into the City Lord mansion''s courtyard, right in front of Nosphaleen, who had been waiting.


    The Clypsian restrained her curiosity and shock. This was also the first time she had seen such a powerful Mount, but she was getting a bit tired of looking like a fool in front of Ss. Subconsciously, she had begun to try to find ways to look better in front of him and please him.


    "Did something happen while I was away?" Ss asked.


    Nosphaleen usually wouldn''te here without reason, so he made his own assumptions.


    She had been about to answer when Ss waved a hand. The Violet Rose Peacock actually twisted into a feathered vine, shrinking down and wrapping around Ss'' exposed arm.


    Nosphaleen''s mouth remained partially open, speechless about what she was seeing.


    One of the most inconvenient things about Mounts was having to buy powerful enough storage treasures to keep them in. For one as powerful as Ss, there enough storage treasures to keep them in. For one as powerful as Ss, there probably didn''t yet exist a powerful enough beast pouch to hold it in on the entirety of


    Earth.


    And yet...


    Nosphaleen shook her head, refocusing herself.


    "I''ve definitely confirmed that Tasia is part Clypsian."


    "Oh?" Ss nodded. He had pretty much already epted as much.


    Luckily, Nosphaleen had gotten used to Ss enough to know that this would be the response. So she hade with much more.


    "As we spected, she has a very unique mutation that makes her very resistant to my charms and very adept at impressing her own onto people. Considering how poor her Charisma stat is right now, the fact she can influence anyone at all is a miracle."


    Ss nodded again. He had thought of this as well. Though he much more easily shrugged off Tasia''s charmpared to Nosphaleen''s, just how high was Nosphaleen''s Charisma?


    It was well into the thousands, and Tasia''s was just 10. There was a shocking gap. The fact he could feel Tasia''s charm and Will at all spoke for itself.


    "But finding her a Profession is much harder. I know you said that you would handle it, but I decided to do some poking around anyway, just in case."


    Ss didn''t mind it. It wasn''t as though she had much else to do anyway. She certainly wasn''t ignoring other tasks he had given her.


    "Just from what my elders have told me, the most powerful Professionse from self-triggering them or being a product of a System Reward or Inheritance. On a Summoned world, there''s no better time to im a Profession.


    "Usually, people have an array of Professions that are best suited to them. If you can connect with them, the system will establish a bridge for you and allow you to nurture


    it.


    "Tasia needs an opportunity to sense those Professions. She could use a Teacher Profession to help her, but that will be somewhat less effective until it''s a truly


    high-grade Teacher Profession.


    "But because she''s part Clypsian, I think that I can help her with my Mesmeryx Totem. It''s just that... I can''t seed unless I''m in the ocean."


    "Mm..." Ss nodded. "In that case, let''s te this matter for now. We''re quite far away from any oceans. Instead, I think it''s about time we dealt with those powers." Nosphaleen''s gaze flickered. It seemed that Ss was growing tired of waiting for them to make the first move. Since they had allowed him enough time to both gain a Mount and a Bronze ss, then he might as well repay the favor.


    He would crush them here and now and wait for the response of the Africor Continent


    government.

 Chapter 570: Moose

    Chapter 570: Moose


    ?


    "So Tasia never returned."


    The man spoke perfunctorily. He already knew the answer as it had already been several days since they had sent her. There was no need to confirm it because the answer was obvious.


    This man was the current City Lord of Gothamshire, City Lord Braxwell. He had a deep scar running from the left corner of his lip through his right eye, even going as far as to take a portion of his scalp with it, leaving behind a sharp bald patch. It was clear that the Summoning had taken its toll on this man, but the fact he was still here standing spoke volumes all to its own.


    "It doesn''t matter," his right-hand man, Shah, spoke. "That just means we''re dealing with a man who''s easily manipted."


    Braxwell didn''t reply to the jealousycedment. He wasn''t a fan of allowing crime to run rampant in his city because that sort of disorder could easilye back to bite him.


    As much fun as it sounded to have as many women as he wanted, whenever he wanted, cities that ran themselves that way quickly found themselves running into the ground.


    Who would have thought? If you surrounded yourself with toxic men, some of the sludge would eventuallye back to bite you.


    There were plenty of his close soldiers who wanted him to "gift" Tasia to them, hinting so in obvious and also not so obvious ways. But the moment he took one step down that path, he would inevitably take another, and then another.


    By then, how would his city live up to its name?


    That wasn''t to say that he thought himself to be some moral arbitrator of justice. After all, he had nned to kill Tasia on her way back so that their exact whereabouts wouldn''t be leaked. He had also thought that he had treated her well enough and even protected her more than enough times that she would trust him in this matter.


    But who would have thought that Tasia was actually a step ahead of him?


    Braxwell was quite meticulous. He picked Tasia not only because she was charismatic but because they had enough rapport that he believed she wouldn''t think twice to take his words at face value. In fact, there was even a time in the past where he had to punish Shah for trying to take things too far with her.


    But it seemed that he had been yed by her charms as well.


    As for Shah''s words... well, he wasn''t sure if he could take them at face value either.


    Although the logic was sound on the surface, there was no denying that Tasia might have useful information as well. And who was to say that she was even still alive right now?


    They were also just making the assumption that Tasia distrusted them. What if it was Ss who just didn''t allow her to return?


    "Brax, we''ve hit paydirt."


    A gruff voice opened the tent p to enter. He was a man who looked like a lumbering giant, standing at almost eight feet tall. And yet, despite his size, his hands and feet still looked twice the size they should have been to remain proportional.


    This was City Lord Moose. No one knew his real name or if his parents really had named him that.


    He was actually quite a rare existence because hemanded not a city of Humans but one of Demons. Not only that, but before the Summoning, he had a gic condition that resulted in his giantism. And obviously, while that was a problem on an Earth without a cure... in this world, it made him someone most would avoid fighting at all costs.


    Braxwell stood. "The mine?"


    "Yup."


    "You came personally? What happened? Why didn''t you send a runner?"


    City Lord Moose looked like the gentle, simple giant type, but anyone who was fooled by that appearance would quickly find themselves in a pile of mush. Of the three of them, Moose was probably the smartest, and that was precisely because he yed into the stereotype so well.


    As expected, Moose blinked in confusion as though he didn''t understand why Braxwell would ask such a question.


    Inwardly, Braxwell sneered. If he hadn''t seen certain things that day, he would have fallen for this act as well. If he wasn''t cautious around this man, he too would find himself dead.


    Braxwell didn''t choose to press. He signaled to Shah and they both stepped out of the tent to find a group of bear demons standing off to the side.


    The bear demons, a lot like the pig demons, had the heads of the animals in question. The rest of their bodies were mostly humanoid, but the bear demons had dense hair coating their bodies. They didn''t look like bears standing on their hind legs, but rather like mountain men with the heads of bears, and yet were also probably twice as hairy as the hairiest human on Earth.


    Their eyes were dense orbs of ck fog, and if one looked at the ws on their hands and feet, and even their teeth themselves, it would look the same.


    This gave the demons a particrly sinister edge, and yet for whatever reason... they followed Moose without question.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There was no doubt that this was highly confusing to the likes of Braxwell and thest of the three City Lords, Ditya-a short man who looked more merchant than warrior. Demons were even fiercer than beasts. A beast might ignore a Human given the circumstances, but a Demon''s one and only goal was the eradication of the Human poption.


    So why did one of them follow Moose?


    What was even more shocking than this was the fact that Ss was still unaware of this.


    Moose had sent a normal human to negotiate with him. On top of this, he had a facade city up that Ss had assumed was his only city.


    It was rare that Ss made a mistake like this. But the simple giant had seeded.

 Chapter 571: Strong Winds

    Chapter 571: Strong Winds


    ?


    City Lord Ditya stood with two guards by his side. They weren''t nearly asrge as Moose, but they had quite some heft to them nheless.


    His eyes gleamed as he looked down at a rush of white energy spiraling into the air.


    This was the Aether Stone Mine.


    However, he, much like the others, didn''t dare to move. As for the reason...


    The charred remains of a bear demony scattered on the ground, the pickax it had been wielding likewiseying in a strewn-out pile of splintered wood and dented metal.


    By the side, there were other bear demons that had been in the vicinity that suffered from the impact as well. They were currently licking at their wounds. But some of said wounds were so ghastly and gaping that one could only wonder what kind of help licking at them would provide.


    There was one bear demon whose left arm was gone, along withrge patches of flesh from its left chest. Ditya and the others were even quite sure they could see its ribcage. And yet it continued to lick at itself as though it wasn''t bleeding out.


    As for Moose, its leader, he seemed blissfully unaware as though it had nothing to do with him.


    Finally, Braxwell understood why it was Moose woulde personally. He had already suffered a loss.


    Though the bear demons he had working on the mine were certainly the weakest in his charge, every City Lord that had made it this far could tell you that the tightest resource wasn''t food, water, or even treasures and resources...


    It was people.


    Finding good people, powerful people, loyal people...


    That was the struggle of every City Lord.


    Moose definitely had a way of ensuring the loyalty of even these demons. But whatever that method was, Braxwell bet it came at a high price, and he wasn''t unwilling to lose even a few miners.


    "What happened?" Braxwell eventually asked.


    "We were just mining as normal, and one of the bear demons must have hit a vein or something. There was an explosion-an oddly contained one-and then this white steam starteding up. The working theory is that the demon ruptured an Aether Stone. But now that we know this is possible, we need to be more cautious..." Ditya exined slowly.


    The Aether Stone Mine was invaluable. Although they didn''t know about all its uses, these three had done their own research. While only having touched the tip of the iceberg, they knew that it was something they had to have.


    Of course, they wouldn''t be able to monopolize it. The only reason they even knew this mine was here was because of the Africor Continental Government. However, in return for mining it for them, they would be able to keep a portion of the profits, and they were very much looking forward to that.


    However, they had not realized that those two kings and the queen of the continent weren''t just handing them free money because they werezy. In all likelihood, they knew how dangerous these mines could be and were more than happy to pawn the danger onto someone else.


    Ditya''s spection was correct.


    Mining an Aether Stone Mine was akin to mining for lithium batteries... if lithium batteries were about a hundred times more explosive.


    Aether Stone Mines were formed when a high concentration of Aether was trapped underground. Without being able to find an escape route, the Aether would begin to burrow into the normal rocks and eventually saturate them. This process would turn otherwise normal rocks crystalline.


    As the Aether''s concentration increased, the rock would begin to atrophy from the inside out. It could even be said that Aether Stones had a shelf life that had to be taken into ount because of them. Which was also why the Africor Government had provided special containers to deal with them.


    To make a much moreplicated geological process simple, the Aether Stones were practically ticking time bombs of energy looking for an outlet to escape.


    Nine out of ten times, the exterior of the stone would be sturdy enough to withstand a hit or two. But if you happened to hit an Aether Stone that was on the verge of bursting... well, this was the result.


    One dead bear demon and about a half a dozen more lightly to severely injured ones.


    As for why the explosion was more contained than a normal one, even to the point Braxwell hadn''t heard it, it was because Aether in its natural state, at least neutral Aether like this one, was quite docile.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The moment this Aether entered the atmosphere, it could integrate seamlessly. As such, the danger was short-lived, abrupt, and had no sustained peak.


    Unless, of course... there was a chain reaction triggered in the mine.


    Whether it was Braxwell, Ditya, or Moose, this was what they were the most concerned about.


    What would they do if they hit a ready-to-burst Aether Stone that was near others like it? Would that chain reaction explode the entire mine, taking them all with it?


    The obvious choice was to keep having Moose sacrifice his bear demons. But even Ditya didn''t believe the simple giant was stupid enough to ept that.


    A silence fell over the encampment until all one could hear was the haggard breathing of the injured bear demons. The wind howled around them as though it were trying to suck the atmosphere clean of it all.


    Moose was the first to frown. Their breathing alone couldn''t be influencing the wind to this extent. His gaze shot up only to find a sight that made his eyes widen.


    Above, there was the body of arge peacock. It must have had a wingspan of at least 15 meters, its feathers of violet, ck, and icy blue shimmering beneath the high sunlight.


    It was so high in the skies that it didn''t even cast a shadow over them, almost vanishing


    within the rays of the sun.


    Ss was here.


    WHOOOSH.

 Chapter 572: Unexpected

    Chapter 572: Unexpected


    ?


    The peacock descended from above with a strong p of its wings. Ss hardly gave these City Lords a look before a crown flickered above his head.


    Instantly, they all felt the horror of having their stats suppressed by 50%. No matter how hard they circted their Aether or their Wills, it didn''t change things in the slightest.


    ''Unexpected...''


    Ss looked at the bear demons who seemed prepared to battle already, but they were all looking toward Moose for his orders. As for Moose himself, he was in a bit of a shocked state as well. None of them had ever expected that Ss would appear here.


    None of them knew about the City Stele''s ability. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have gone as far as to kill their own messengers in the first ce.


    But that was still only part of it.


    Even if they had known about the City Stele''s hidden aces, they would have stille here. The reason being, a Territory was much toorge. There were easily tens of thousands of people who called it home and several times that number in beasts.


    Even if you had an aerial view of it all, how could you ount for it all?


    It was like staring at a satellite map. Unless you zoomed in, you wouldn''t be able to find anything of interest. And if you were looking close enough to make out details, it would take you an impossibly long time to scan the entire region.


    The only reason why Ss knew exactly where their cities were was because picking out arge structure on the map was far easier than picking out individual people. If thetter was so easy, he would have already found Ragnar.


    But how could these people know that he had been eyeing the Aether Stone Mine this entire time? Not just because of the mine itself, but also because of the city hidden underneath it. There would have never been anything that happened here without him being aware of it all. However, this sight alone made Ss deduce many things in an instant.


    His gaze shed as hended on them one by one.


    "So. Which one of you is going to tell me where Ragnar is?"


    There were several changes to their expressions, but they were all colored with confusion. Ss didn''t mind it at all.


    They had all already realized that he was the Ss Grimde they had been hearing so much about. Though they weren''t ready to meet him now, those among them smart enough to set all of this up would be...


    Unfortunately for this person, they weren''t smart enough to realize that they were being


    used.


    Ss scanned over them one more time beforending on Moose.


    "Are you going to keep up the act?"


    Moose blinked, his simple giant personaing out so smoothly that it was difficult for even Ss to find fault with it. Ss had always thought himself to be a person who read others


    well, but Moose''s antics, well...


    They were certainly something.


    "If you''re as smart as you think you are, you''ll know that while you didn''t expect me to appear here, Ragnar certainly did. So why don''t you ask yourself why that is?"


    These three didn''t know that Ss was aware of the existence of the Aether Stone Mine, but Ragnar should have been there when Ss unearthed it.


    Of course, Ragnar didn''t know that Ss had guessed he would remain in the Woond Territory. From his perspective, Ss should think him to be long gone.


    However, Ragnar had underestimated Ss far too much once again. When you were vying for positions at the top of the world, only risk-takers would have a ce at the table; anyone else would just be kidding themselves.


    Someone like Ragnar certainly knew how to take risks... and he also knew how to set up traps. Moose''s expression finally flickered somewhat. He knew that fooling Ss any longer would be a waste of time. If Moose hadn''t sent a human and killed him on the way back, he would still have some usible deniability. But now?


    In front of someone else, he might have some wiggle room. After all, he could say that Braxwell had done it for him or that it had been the idea of one of the other City Lords. But for some reason, Ss had already locked onto him and him alone.


    What Moose didn''t know was that the reason for that was his bear demons.


    The ck fog they were emitting... they carried shades of the Scorpion Warlord inheritance''s


    aura.


    Ragnar likely believed that Ss wouldn''t be able to make much headway at all, not without the items he likely had in his possession. What he could never expect was that Ss might not know what materials he needed to permanently etch the Scorpion Warlord runes, but he would sense them when they were in action.


    Now the question was, why had Ragnar wanted him toe here?


    Was it as simple as luring him into a trap and forcing these three City Lords to throw everything they had at him?


    Ss clenched his fist and suddenly threw out a punch.


    BANG!


    Ditya''s head exploded. His headless corpse fell to its knees before it toppled over in a rain of blood.


    ''I see. That''s the final piece, hm?''


    All three of these men were City Lords. So the question was... why did they dare toe here? How long could they leave their cities without ending up like Lucius?


    Ditya''s corpse suddenly morphed into the headless corpse of a naked woman. From a short


    man to a slender woman. Or most urately, a slender female Sylph.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''This isn''t a simple disguise. It''s almost like a projection. Their bodies were taken over by the


    soul of another and controlled from a distance...''


    Ss made his deductions based on the dispersal of runes in the air.


    ''... So, the only real one here is you...''


    Ss looked toward Moose once again.

 Chapter 573: With Ease

    Chapter 573: With Ease


    ?


    Ss'' punch came fast and sudden, sharp and ruthless.


    Moose had a violent change in expression as he hurriedly punched out as well, but his mind was whirling with the horror of it all.


    This wasn''t a normal battle, not by any means. Ss was over 20 meters in the air. Moose simply didn''t have any easy way to target him at all.


    And yet, his fists were practically like they were right in front of his eyes.


    BANG!


    Moose was sent flying.


    ''He actually defended decently with his stats cut in half. Not bad.''


    The Violet Rose Peacock shook beneath Ss'' feet and then vanished into a slithering vine that wrapped up his leg.


    ''Interesting...''


    Ss was only half paying attention to Moose. The other half of his attention had been on the peacock because he had realized something interesting.


    His Symbiote Mount didn''t count as a Combat Mount, at least not yet. That meant that he wasn''t allowed to enter a state of battle with it.


    When he attacked Ditya, there shouldn''t have been some resistance, but there was none. In fact, he directly killed the man without much effort at all. Or, rather, he killed his projection.


    Originally, he thought that it was because it happened so quickly that the system didn''t consider it a fact. When Moose managed to resist, that only proved his point.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, Ss felt that there was a slight hint of something different.


    The system was too smart to be tricked by something so simple.


    The fact Mounts couldn''t be used inbat sounded like a ridiculous video game mechanic arbitrarily decided by the system, but Ss was smarter than to make such an assumption. If there was a rule here, there was an underlying mechanism to it.


    And after observing, he realized that he was correct.


    Mounts didn''t have stats of their own. Instead, they had Limits. Otherwise, their stats were decided by their owners. This was why Mounts gave percentage boosts to Speed and Dexterity rather than having a t rate.


    The system took on the burden of controlling this connection, which obviously also included aplex Rune Maniption that Ss couldn''t even fathom. Right now, he still couldn''t even look at Gene Runes for extended periods of time without feeling like his mind was splitting in half, let alone coordinating and controlling what was certainly a much deeper connection.


    Obviously, then, the system limited ess to its brain power based on the ease.


    If a person wanted to attack, they were co-opting their body''s Genes for things other than just riding in silence. For the system to allow the connection between Mount and rider to continue in that situation would be several orders of magnitude more difficult, especially if said person also wanted to start using Skills, Gene Talents, or other abilities on top of that.


    Combat Mounts likely had a set of special Genes that made it easier on the system. As such, the burden was lesser and the system could more easily coordinate both.


    Just now, there were several factors that helped Ss out.


    For one, his Rune Flesh, and especially his Rune Soul Mastery, lessened the burden on the system as well, allowing him to even go as far as using Aetherflow and not having the connection snap.


    Second, his Mount might not be a Combat Mount, but it wasn''t a normal Mount by any stretch either.


    When these two factors came together, although Ss hadn''t been able to break the rules entirely, he had been able to bend them considerably.


    In fact, Ss bet that if he just sat on the peacock''s back and only controlled his telekinesis from a distance, he could probably get away with it for at least several seconds more, if not minutes.


    And now, Ss was falling through the skies precisely because of that.


    However, it was only for a brief instant before his ice red and a curved road of crystalline beauty formed in the skies.


    Ss'' speed elerated, and Braxwell, along with Shah, both instantly felt that they were out of their depth.


    They were both barely over Level 20, and even without their stats halved, their best stats would barely be in the 600s, let alone the others.


    Ss could have killed them just as easily as he had Ditya, but they knew the reason he didn''t. He preferred them to be alive.


    He didn''t even care whether they were going to run or not, nor did he spare them a second nce. He just fell from the skies like an icy meteor, careening a fist toward Moose''s head.


    Moose unleashed a roar and his bear demons reacted in kind, rushing for Ss.


    But it was useless.


    If Ss was charging from the ground, maybe they would have had a chance to stop him. But what use was it to try and stop him when he was falling from right above Moose''s head?


    <Focus Punch>.


    BANG!


    Moose felt a sickening crunch in his forearm as his arm bent the wrong direction. His knees copsed beneath him, and he was driven into the ground.


    Blood flew from his lips as his back gave way.


    The overwhelming might of Ss made all the boosts from his armors seem entirely worthless. And for some reason, the poisonous darkness within him felt almost...


    Scared.


    In the presence of Ss, his Aether wasn''t circting properly at all, and he couldn''t even use


    it to attack.


    This was the might of a Warlord.


    Not just a Warlord either...


    But a Warlord with a Will Spark.


    Moose was a looming giant of a man. Even though he hid his stats, Ss was certain that his Strength was over 1500, a shocking number for someone who was only Level 20.


    Unfortunately for them, Moose''s real body had toe here because he was the only one that could control the bear demons, and these demons were a key part of Ragnar''s ns.


    After all, how could Ragnar dare to face him without a great number of backers?

 Chapter 574: Unfair (1)

    Chapter 574: Unfair (1)


    ?


    Moose spat out another mouthful of blood, chuckling out a grittyugh. His voice really made one feel as though they were vibrating from the inside out.


    "What? Do you want the same thing he did? Neither of you will get it."


    Ss calmly stood above the giant man. The bear demons didn''t dare to move with their leader''s life in the hands of another.


    However, this leader of theirs seemed like he was on the edge of breaking down. He wasughing quite calmly, but with Ss'' sensitivity, he could tell that the man was on the verge of a mental breakdown.


    He didn''t expect the giant to be so emotionally fragile.


    Truthfully speaking, he obviously didn''t kill them because they were useful, but this man especially.


    In a world of beasts mutated from their own homegrown animals, and humanoids that likewise evolved from Earth, the demons were sort of a curveball that didn''t quite fit anywhere.


    Why were they here? And why did the system feel the need to spawn them in the first ce? If it was just about a challenge, weren''t the beasts and the Dungeons enough?


    Come to think of it, the Dungeons were odd as well. Unlike the beasts on the outside, beasts within Dungeons didn''te from Earth. The Basilisk King certainly wasn''t born on Earth; it should have been spawned by the system as well.


    These were curious thoughts that were percting in the back of Ss'' mind. But anything rted to the system''s quirks was almost certainly Taboo, and a slight intention toward the Madness Key proved that.


    Moose was actually the first chance he had at looking into such a thing, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn''t curious.


    The more he knew about the system, the better.


    Who would have thought before he realized it that the System Cities, havens that everyone on Earth adored, were actually the hubs of their very own downfall?


    Who knew how many other things there were lurking around just like this?


    "So I take that to mean that whatever is so special about you is on your person."


    Moose froze for a moment when he heard this before he began tough once again, this time much less calmly and with far more of a manic re.


    Ss didn''t know him, but he could understand his reaction. He could also quite clearly understand why Braxwell and Shah hadn''t dared to move a single inch despite the fact he hadn''t cast them a single nce.


    The unfairness.


    Moose was doing well. With his momentum, he was guaranteed to be the overlord of the Woond Territory. All he needed was more time to gather up his power. Within three months, he felt that he could have done it.


    And Ss believed it. After all, there were no Sylphs in this region, at least not until Ragnar got here.


    But then, just when he had everything in the palm of his hands, it all came crashing down. Ss imed the Territory. The government came knocking at his door. And as though that wasn''t bad enough, Ragnar somehow exposed his greatest issues, feeding him a poison pill that left him without options to turn to.


    Of course, this wasn''t a literal poison pill, but rather a figurative one. Only he knew the details for now, but Ragnar had certainly not allowed him toe here and interact with Ss without contingency ns.


    Moose couldn''t help but feel naive.


    His simple mind wasn''t an act. At the very least, it hadn''t been for much of his life. That was why it came so naturally to him.


    It wasn''t until after the Summoning that he underwent changes, and much of the ailments of his gic disease eased, allowing him to see the world for what it truly was.


    He thought that this would allow him to soar up in a single bound, and things had been going well.


    But now it all felt utterly worthless.


    He couldn''t help but revert back to his former mental state, wanting to call for his mother but knowing that she was already dead.


    How could she not be? She had followed an idiot like him into the Trial because she knew that he was too foolish and would click [Yes].n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He hadn''t been there at the time, but now that he was intelligent, he could y out that scene as though he had been there personally.


    The giant began tough so hard that tears flooded out of his eyes.


    It was over.


    All of it was over.


    Ss watched from start to finish indifferently. Or maybe it couldn''t be said that he was entirely indifferent. Otherwise, he would have been pressing and questioning the man for the answers he wanted.


    How many people had experienced these same exact things already? This world wasn''t fair. No, the world had never been fair in the first ce.


    All that mattered was growing strong enough that the odds being stacked against you simply


    didn''t matter.


    The giant fell into a heaping pile, and Ss seemed to have finally had enough.


    A wave of suffocating Will descended, pressing down onto Moose.


    Reaching down, Ss picked him up by the cor of his armor until they were eye level. Considering Moose''s height, even with him being on his knees, he truly wasn''t too far away to


    begin with.


    The man looked like a sniveling mess, but Ss'' oppression seemed to have snapped him out of it.


    "You have two options," Ss began calmly. "Either you can learn to follow my orders, or you can die. Which one will it be?"


    Moose stared at Ss with red eyes, a fiendish, almost demonic light sparking in their depths. He seemed about halfway between going all out even if he died here, and falling to his knees


    again.


    But in the end, he said something unexpected.


    "I told you already... neither of you are going to be able to get what you want..."


    BOOM!

 Chapter 575: Unfair (2)

    Chapter 575: Unfair (2)


    ?


    Ss'' gaze flickered, his heart skipping a beat.


    At that moment, he immediately felt like something had gone terribly wrong. And soon, he was proven correct.


    [Your Territory, <Woond>, has been Corrupted]


    [Demon Aether concentration has risen above allowed limit]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Gate to Demon World has been opened]


    -


    [Warlord Quest Triggered]


    [Warlord Quest Received]


    [Woond''s Demon Gate (Warlord Quest) (???)]


    [The battle of Worlds and Demons has been waged for generations. A Spawn of a Demon has appeared in your Territory and has established a Demon Gate. Lead this crusade against the enemies of humanity. Protect your Territory from its invaders]


    Ss looked up into the air to find that it wasn''t just the Aether, but the very Runes that were different. There was a flood of a Rune system that he had never seen before, and that his Rune Mastery didn''t quite seem to be very effective against.


    In that moment, it felt as though his Rune control had been suppressed by at least half as Runes that refused to listen to his call became arger andrger piece of the puzzle.


    Just as Ss was trying to figure out exactly what was going on, Moose unleashed a howl, and a ghostly hand ripped out from his chest.


    The hand seemed more illusory than it was real, and yet not only did Ss still quickly jump away from it, Moose''s chest exploded into a rain of blood.


    More hands began to explode out from Moose''s body, and thest look he gave Ss seemed to be one of reluctant subterfuge.


    He would rather take everyone down with him than fall so silently.


    BANG!


    Moose''s body copsed into a pile of blood, and soon the bear demons near him suffered the same fate.


    Neither one even had the slightest bit of flesh and bone remaining, almost as though they had always been pools of blood rather than living beings.


    Ss stood in silence for a long while before a pir caught his attention in the far-off distance.


    ''That''s probably where it is...''


    He inwardly shook his head.


    This Quest didn''t seem to have any rewards. The fact it was tagged as a Warlord Quest likely meant that it fit into his responsibilities as the head of this Territory, and the system felt no need to give him extra benefits for doing what he was supposed to do.


    The benefit itself was having the Territory. It seemed that this time he was just truly unlucky. The good news was that the system was unlikely to target him while this was ongoing.


    The bad news was that the system would certainly punish him for failing to clear the Quest.


    But the main issue was that...


    He didn''t have a solution.


    He was a Warlord only in name. The only army he could takemand of was the System City''s army, and he was doubtful that their numbers would be enough.


    If even the ten-thousand-strong army of the System City wasn''t enough, then Ss alone certainly wouldn''t be.


    This was the sort of challenge that should only appear when a Territory was truly established.


    Even if Ss had been doing his best to build a cohesive government all this time, he would still not have had enough time.


    Let alone when he had made no such effort at all.


    Ss took a breath and then exhaled.


    It seemed that he would likely have no choice but to abandon this Territory. It was a shame. He felt like he had made great progress here.


    However, before he made such a decision, he would definitely have to check the Demon Gate out first.


    [How do you close a Demon Gate?]


    -


    [Destroy the Demon Shrines connecting both Worlds]


    It was a rare, simple, and straightforward answer from the Madness Key.


    Ss casually waved a hand, and Braxwell and Shah were shredded to pieces by their own weapons.


    Right now, he didn''t have the time to deal with them.


    With another wave of his hand, the peacock appeared again, and they shot into the skies.


    ...


    The Demon Gate.


    A spiraling swirl of ck, violet, and dark silvers formed the pir that rose into the skies.


    There was no flood of Demons that came out just yet. However...


    The bear demons of the city seemed to havepletely lost their minds.


    They howled into the skies like werewolves, their bodies morphing, growingrger and more


    substantial.


    Their Levels began to increase by leaps and bounds.


    Before, the weakest of them weren''t even Level 10, while the strongest were only just barely


    Level 20.


    But soon, that flipped.


    Even the weakest of them soared past Level 20, while the strongest began to knock on the


    door of Level 30.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two bear demons did exactly that.


    Their bodies grew to over three meters tall, their backs rounding into grotesque humps of


    hairy flesh.


    They became less and less human-like, and far more demonic. Their auras growing darker, their ws growing to the length of short swords, and their explosive power causing deep dents in the soft soil.


    Ragnar, who had been in the not-too-far-off distance from this city, was taken aback by what


    he was seeing.


    But soon, there was also a light of ambition and anticipation in his eyes.


    This was something that he had simply never heard of before. At the very least, it hadn''t


    happened so soon.


    This was a chance, an opportunity, a light at the end of his tunnel-


    PUCHI!


    A de ripped through Ragnar''s chest and he froze.


    He looked down in horror to find a ck de ripping through him...


    Or so it seemed to be a ck de.


    In reality, it was a w, several of them. His vision had just already begun to blur so terribly


    that it looked like one.


    He couldn''t believe it.


    Was he really... going to die like this? In a nameless corner of the forest, with no one to


    witness it, without even the chance to fight back?


    It... wasn''t fair...


    These were Ragnar Ravenw''sst thoughts before his consciousness faded.

 Chapter 576: Not a Single One [Bonus]

    Chapter 576: Not a Single One [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss stood on the peacock''s back in the far-off distance, his brows tightly wound into a frown.


    He had known that things would be bad, but this was even worse than he expected.


    The reaction of the Demons to the Demonic Aether was outside of his calctions. He thought that the main problem would be the influx of new Demonsing from the other side of the Demon Gate, not realizing that the main horror was the Aether itself.


    The Demons here had been in a state of repression. They were using Aether that they weren''tpatible with, and as such, they were several orders of magnitude weaker.


    Now that they had their own Aether to use and pull upon, they were far stronger not only in Level but in rtive strength as well.


    Every single one of them had be an FFF+ threat.


    And this was all before the Demons on the other side even set their sights on this region. Ss truly wasn''t sure what to do.


    The smart thing was exactly as he had decided previously...


    Leave.


    This situation was far too much for him to handle alone. Getting the Africor Continental Government to deal with it would be ideal. After all, they couldn''t let Demons rampage through their country like this.


    But if this Demonic Aether continued to spread like this, the Territory would be overrun much faster than Ss ever expected.


    On top of that, there was another problem.


    The other side of the Demon Gate... could it be considered a world off of Earth?


    In that case, could it be that if he went over in an attempt to destroy the Shrine, would he lose months at a time again?


    It was all bad no matter what angle you looked at it from.


    ''Maybe...''


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    If the Demon Gate really was another world, maybe for the first time, he would be able to benefit from this time dtion instead of suffering as a result of it.


    Because of the time dtion, any Demons on the other side would take quite a while to begin making their way over. This might actually give Ss more time than he thought he had.


    ''From what I''ve seen, a day or so is about three to four months... That means even a few minutes is quite a dy.''


    [What happens if you destroy just one of the two Demon Shrines?]


    [The Demon Gate will be unstable. On the one hand, this will make it more difficult for Demons to cross, but on the other, it will increase the flow of Demonic Aether]


    ''It seems like there''s only one choice, then.''


    Ss took a step off of the peacock''s back, free-falling from the skies.


    He would destroy this Demon City and the Demon Shrine they hid. Then, he would wipe out all of the Demon Cities in his Territory.


    And he gave himself a week to do it at most.


    Could he destroy 236 Demon Cities in a week?


    There was only one way to find out.


    BANG!


    Ss'' knees bent as hended on the ground and he erupted forward into a zing eleration.


    He didn''t waste a single moment, appearing before the first bear demon and punching a hole through its chest.


    ''Not good.''


    Ss used the stop in his momentum to take a step back, dodging out of the way of a long array of swiping, ck ws.


    The bear demon actually wasn''t dead, but that wasn''t the main issue. It was only Level 20, but


    it had been much more difficult than Ss expected to rip through its body.


    Its Constitution must have been at least 800, and it wasn''t even yet finished with its evolution.


    [How do you kill a Demon powered by Demonic Aether?]


    [A True Demon can only be killed through the destruction or separation of their Demon Core. Though, they can be weakened or slowed through the use of injuries]


    Ss took a deep breath.


    This made this matter even more troublesome than he thought. Something that was quickly bing amon urrence in thesest few minutes.


    ''I can''t y to conserve my Aether. I need speed. Before they all reach their peak, I need to kill


    them all.''


    311 Demons.


    ck scales erupted across Ss'' body and his will bloomed.


    <Woond Frost Domain>.


    His new Gene Skill erupted.


    The trees in the surroundings shook, their roots erupting from the ground in a ckish, violet deluge that surged over the city.


    Ss found that his Woond Warlord Title was much weaker in the presence of the Demon Gate. However, that didn''t stop him from using up over half of his Aether in a single go.


    50 Units of Aether poured into his Domain, his Aether moving so fast through his body that he could feel it ripping into his Pathways. The pain was excruciating, but nothing that Ss had never faced before.


    He shrugged it off, dodging out of the way of the bear demon again as he continued his


    maddening pace.


    And then it all snapped into ce.


    What did he get in exchange for 50 Units of Aether?


    His Domain now covered a mere five-meter radius around him.


    However...


    There was a bounce at Ss'' feet as the Domain formed a beneath him. At the same time, the bear demon found itself tripping forward, its ankles wound by the tough, poisonous ice-


    wood.


    Ss hopped back, his torso torquing as his fist unleashed a vicious left hook.


    BANG!


    The head of the Demon exploded beneath the savage aura, its Aether having been eroded by


    the pressure of Ss'' poison.


    Ss'' hand ripped into its skull, pulling the Demon Core out and throwing it into the Madnessn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Key.


    Ss didn''t even give the demon another nce.


    The roots of the trees around him wiggled about as he dashed forward.


    Ahead of him, the city gates of the Demon City loomedrge.


    They burst open, a fog of eerie darkness looking like corpses crawling out from the ground


    appearing.


    Ss dashed in without hesitation, using his telekinesis to m the gates shut behind him.


    He wouldn''t let a single one of them escape.

 Chapter 577: Druvok and Balgros [Bonus]

    Chapter 577: Druvok and Balgros [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss found himselfpletely surrounded. The maddened howls of Demons almost seemed to attack his mind.


    All the worst fears one might have had as a child seemed forced to pour forth from the heart.


    The savage air was devastating to both the psyche and the body. The psyche because of the fear and oppression it pressed onto one''s Will, and the body because...


    They were truly powerful.


    [Feratoo (FFF+)]


    [Level: 21]


    -


    [Physical: 1092]


    [Mental: 888]


    [Will: 712]


    The bear demon lunged forward, its ck hair bristling like steel needles and rippling with a dense ck fog that almost made it formless.


    Its body arched forward so far that it looked like it had tensed its entire torso purely to avoid running on all fours.


    Given its posture and how top-heavy it was, it should have fallen over long ago. And yet, it was blindingly fast, its ws syed out in both directions.


    It opened its maw to take a bite out of Ss, its arms shing forward at the same time.


    Ss was finding it hard to even breathe in this dense Demonic Aether. A weight pressed down on his chest, but his Domin shook and rumbled.


    A small space was cleared around him.


    The instant the bear demon stepped into his Domain, he erupted. A pair of red-gold wings appeared on his back, and he elerated forward.


    A wooden spike shot up from the of wood, ripping into the bear demon''s chest as Ss slipped to the side, grabbing its arm and driving a knee through its elbow.


    A sickening crack echoed as the demon''s limb fell limply.


    Ss grabbed onto its steely fur with a hand, ripping down on its shoulder and using the momentum to send himself propelling upward.


    He could sense that the Demon was already beginning to heal from the earlier wound, but he hardly reacted to it.


    His arms locked around the bear demon''s neck as the wooden spike that ripped through its chest snaked around its uninjured arm.


    In that moment, the bear demon found one arm too injured to move and the second immobilized as poison pumped into it, slowing it down further.


    But none of that was worse than the twist and violent upward pull of Ss'' torso.


    The bear demon''s head was torn from its shoulders.


    Ss let the creature go.


    Feeling an attacking from his back, ice glided beneath his feet and sent him to the side.


    He grabbed the arm as the des that once aimed for his back just barely slid over his shoulders, his body movingpletely on instinct.


    His hip mmed into that of the second bear demon, and his abs flexed as he sent it flying over his shoulder and into the dense of wood.


    Several spikes formed at once.


    The instant the creature''s heavy bodynded on the ground, it was skewered several times


    over...


    Including right through its head and Demon Core.


    Ss unleashed a rampage on the Demon City, not caring for his own personal stamina at all. Even when his lungs began to scream at him, he pushed and pushed, seeking after nothing more than speed and more speed.


    And then he saw them. Two monstrosities that loomed over all the others.


    They must have been at least five meters tall even with their backs hunched forward like all the others. Their eyes had an eerie redness to them, and their maws dripped with a thick saliva that sizzled when it hit the floor.


    [Balgros (FFF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    -


    [Physical: 1111]


    [Mental: 1279]


    [Will: 888]


    [Druvok (FFF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Physical: 1048]


    [Mental: 1301]


    [Will: 879]


    Ss took a heaving breath that might have been maybe 10% oxygen. The density of the Demonic Aether so near the Demon Gate was so exceptional that it could be said his stamina was less impacted by his fight than it was the fact there wasn''t enough air to breathe. "Human... do you think we fear you..." Druvok unleashed a rumblingughter. "... We allowed you to kill our kind only because it would give us time toplete our evolution."


    "Here is where you will die." Balgros'' rumbling cadence lost out in no way.


    Ss didn''t speak a word. He didn''t have the care for it at all.


    Instead, his mind suddenly moved.


    He had been going all out just to get to this point, but there was one thing that he had been saving. That was because he knew that if he used it too early, he really would have nothing left


    by the time he got to this point.


    But now...


    Rune Essence bloomed.


    The world was suddenly forcefully shaken and the darkness in the region was forcefully expelled around Ss'' Domain.


    He took another breath.


    This time, his lungs practically cheered in happiness as real oxygen poured into him.


    His haggard breathing, his steaming skin, his pale countenance all seemed to reverse in a


    single instant.


    His body might still ache, and his Aether might be running dangerously low.


    But...


    He was ready.


    Ss took a step forward, closing in the distance in a single bound.


    Before he even did, the two bear demons seemed to choke on the air. The concentration of


    poison in the region had increased several times over.


    Under normal circumstances, Ss'' poison caused 100 Damage a second. This could only be mitigated by using and continuously replenishing one''s Aether skin.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However...


    Ss was going all out. He had increased the concentration to a point where the Damage was


    over 500 a second.


    Although his Wisdom was also quickly being depleted, he didn''t expect this battle tost very


    long at all.


    By the time he crossed the distance between them, the Aether protections of the two bear


    demons had already shattered.


    His fist drove into the chest of one.


    Druvok coughed up a mouthful of blood and found his Aether skin replenishment attempt


    disrupted by a violent tug of Ss'' telekinesis.


    The arrogant bear demon was sent flying into the distance.


    By the time it fell to the ground, every ounce of flesh in its body was saturated with poison.


    It bounced up once and then fell back down.


    Dead.


    Ss turned toward the wide-eyed Balgros, his expression indifferent.

 Chapter 578: Web

    Chapter 578: Web


    ?


    Ss took deep breaths. Balgros'' head dripped with blood from his hand, sorge that it seemed to have as much mass as half his body.


    His Aether had hit rock bottom, and his mind waspletely drained. Slowly, the pocket of poison he had formed around himself copsed, and it wasn''t long before he was practically suffocating again.


    ''There''s no way this is sustainable. Dying this was definitely the right option.''


    But it wasn''t lost on Ss that this was just the beginning. It had taken him three hours to clear this vige, and that put him well behind schedule.


    Unless he could clear viges at a rate of 30 minutes or so, including travel time and sleep, he wouldn''t be able to make it.


    Ss was about to turn to leave, but his steps hesitated.


    ''There''s something else I can do.''


    The Demon Gate looked muchrger than it actually was. It was a pir of energy that connected the ground to the clouds above, at least on the surface. But in reality, this was mostly just the Demonic Aethering from it.


    Ss took a step into it and felt the pressureing at him from all sides.


    The Greed Seed began to stir, seemingly sensing something that it liked. But Ss pressed it down. If the ring warning signs from his Luck weren''t enough, he was already aware that he had to control the growth of the Greed Seed. He had no intention of allowing it to outpace himself and eventually lead to his downfall.


    Soon, Ss found what he was looking for in the murky darkness surging around him.


    The City Lord''s cabin.


    He took a step inside and found the City Stele and the Demon Shrine.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The energy around here was particrly vtile, so Ss could only restrain his Rune control to a minor segment around himself, simr to a second Aether skin.


    Then, he stepped toward the City Stele.


    The City Stele of demons was clearly different. For whatever reason, Moose had been able to move out of his city freely without worrying about it copsing on him.


    But this wasn''t what Ss wanted to take advantage of. There was no point in him conquering a Demon City Stele because every time a Demon spawned, he would have to kill it. After all, he didn''t have the ability to control them like Moose had.


    While the City didn''t have an active City Lord, though, ording to his understanding, the spawns shoulde to a pause.


    But...


    [Woond Web (Silver) (Fortress)]


    [Protect your City with the Spirit of the Woond Spider Queen]


    Ss brought out an orb.


    The Fortress was originally something that he wanted to use on Cassarae''s or at least an ally city. But there were too many problems with it.


    Unless every citizen of the city had high poison resistance, it would just slowly kill the entire poption. It was ironically not something that Ss could even use unless he formed an army of poison affinity elites and never raised up any normal citizens.


    That was obviously impossible.


    However, if he set the Woond Web here, he would gain a huge advantage.


    For one, poison would saturate the air, so any existences that happened to step out of the portal would find themselves in a continuous state of perpetual Damage.


    There were likely Elixirs that could be used to deal with this, and the Demons might have poison resistance masters of their own. But Ss bet that this would dy them for an even longer time.


    If he was lucky, then the first group would only appear after a day or two. Due to the time dtion, that would be upwards of six to eight months.


    By then, he would certainly have his first Legendary ss already.


    He didn''t believe that E-Grade existences would be able to make it across the portal from everything he had asked the Madness Key. So he would definitely be confident enough to deal with the situation when the time came.


    If they were dyed a day or two on top of that, trying to figure out a way to deal with the dense poison, Ss might have bought himself over a year of time, even more if luck was on his side.


    As such, the sacrifice of the Woond Web was a necessary evil.


    Plus, he had noticed several things more...


    Poison Aether wasn''t obstructed by Demonic Aether in the slightest. In fact, it almost seemed at home. Or at the very least, it wasn''t as rejected as usual Aether was.


    In a situation where the Poison Aether concentration was continuously increasing thanks to the Web, the Demonic Aether would have a much harder time spreading and overtaking normal Aether in the region.


    This was essentially killing two birds with a single stone, and Ss couldn''t pass up the opportunity.


    He allowed the orb to float forward and fuse into the City Stele.


    A rumble shook the ground, and tree roots began to spring up and out of the ground, wrapping around the already wooden walls of defense and sinking into them.


    Usually, a Fortress would need to fuse with an encampment building. But this was a Demon City. The entire City was an encampment.


    There were no women and children, and militia units directly spawned from the City Stele. As such, this was all that needed to be done.


    However, while this much was expected, Ss'' expression flickered when he sensed that the Woond Web Fortress was actually mutating.


    Influenced by the Demonic Aether-not present in the air, but rather present in the City Stele itself¡ªit morphed and changed, bing darker and more potent.


    Ss suddenly felt that even he wasn''t 100% immune to the poison that began to pump itself


    into the air.


    ''I need to leave.''


    Ss looked toward the Shrine and punched out.


    Originally, he didn''t know if it would be worth it to destroy the Demon Shrine. Although it would slow those from the other side, it would also increase the flow of Demonic Aether.


    However, with the Fortress here, it was less of a worry.


    ''Dammit...''


    Ss shook his head. This Shrine was sturdier than it looked.


    It reflected his blow as though it was thrown by a child.

 Chapter 579: Blackened Claw

    Chapter 579: ckened w


    ?


    Ss rushed out of the city, coughing and wheezing. Veins of ck and green crawled up his jaw and out of the corner of his eye.


    Every time he hacked and wheezed, anotherrge globule of poison would be coughed out, burning a hole through the ground between his feet.


    That had been close.


    He knew that the Shrine would be sturdy, but he hadn''t wanted to destroy it before the Fortress was in ce.


    Who would have thought that such a mutation would ur?


    It was truly too difficult to take into ount every variable in a world like this one.


    Luckily, in this case, Ss was strong enough. The fact he was hacking and wheezing was actually a good sign. It meant his body was smoothly expelling the poison, and he would be fine very soon.


    ''So very odd. The number of Foundations of that Demonic Poison was only 40 or so, just like the Woond Spider Queen. Yet, it was actually able to impact me so much. Just what is the difference?''


    Ss took heaving breaths.


    He didn''t have the time to waste.


    Once his body had recovered enough, he summoned the peacock again. He had to unexpectedly restrain it, stopping it from rushing toward the Demonic Aether.


    But ultimately, his Brand was too powerful.


    ''We''ll start with those near the System City.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss made this decision for only one reason: Nosphaleen.


    It would be an exceptionally tight race if he did all of this alone. He needed help.


    If he didn''t manage to clear all the Demon Cities in a week, the concentration of Demonic Aether would grow great enough that they would all begin to mutate. At that point, it would take far too long to deal with them all.


    There was also a question of if they could evolve even further.


    The bear demons had only benefitted for a few hours at most, yet they had grown so powerful. What if they had more time? What then?


    He couldn''t allow that to happen.


    The return to the System City took extra time because Ss was skipping over Demon Cities to make it back. But he felt the extra time wasted was worth it.


    Aftermunicating with Nosphaleen and giving her the task of the simpler cities to target, they split up, and the carnage began.


    The cities had yet to truly benefit from the Demonic Aether, and Ss'' Woond Warlord Title was still especially effective against them. As such, he ripped through many cities at an average of barely five minutes.


    Many of the Demon Cities only had Level 11''s as their strongest; even the medium-tier ones only had Level 15''s.


    With the main Demon City taken out, taking out these ones was a breeze inparison. Ss didn''t struggle in the slightest. The recovery he got while on the Violet Rose Peacock''s back was more than enough to deal with these small fry.


    The only main worry would be the Demons he missed. Even if he destroyed all of those present in the viges that were easy to find on the map, there were bound to be hunting


    parties and the like that had been away during his assault.


    However, Ss chose to deal with one problem at a time.


    Ultimately, even if there were such survivors, their numbers would be few.


    Plus... during his travels, he found something else that was very interesting.


    [+300 000 coins]


    [ckened w (FFF+)]


    [Genes Detected. Convert to Pure Aether?]


    [Yes] [No]


    Demons were the only existences that Ss could kill that directly tranted to Coins. He wasn''t sure why, but it was likely that the system wanted to particrly incentivize their deaths.


    But not only did theye with Coins, they sometimes spawned Treasures on top of Genes. As though that wasn''t enough, you could even use their Demon Cores to Level up.


    It could be said that the only thing more lucrative than killing a normal Demon was killing a


    BOSS.


    But even inparison to that, this was on another level. It almost felt like the system wanted to give him Merits as well but felt that Balgros and Druvok still weren''t quite worth that.


    However, Ss had a feeling that had he continued to allow them to evolve, the heads of these two would have certainly been worth at least a Hollow Merit.


    But the Coins and the potential Merits weren''t truly what caught his attention. Instead, it was something else.


    [ckened w (Demonic Treasure) (FFF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Soul Remnant of Druvok]


    [+506 Strength]


    [Durability: 30/30]


    ''Soul Remnant... Demonic Treasure...''


    The normal Demons didn''t spawn anything like this. In fact, only Druvok had. Even his


    partner hadn''t.


    What was also different was that this Treasure didn''t seem to have a physical form at all.


    Instead, it was just a ball of fog.


    Ss touched it, feeling curious.


    Everything had pretty much settled down now, and he was on his way to the next Demon City. Feeling the cool night air streaking against his skin, he felt that he might as well check this


    out now.


    It was the result that was out of his expectations.


    The fog surged and then drilled into his finger, slipping past the Scorned Wraps.


    SHIIIING!


    All of a sudden, a set of four ws jetted out from the back of his hand. The Scorned Wraps


    didn''t interfere in the slightest.


    Ss looked at it with a bit of shock on his face, but this didn''tst long.


    The Scorned Wraps, as though only now finally sensing something, shuddered.


    Ss felt a tearing pain in the depth of his hands, and the ckened ws turned to ash


    before his eyes.


    His hands didn''t escape the pain either; severe burn marks crawled up his arm and down the


    tips of his fingers.


    However, rather than reacting with pain, Ss was instead enamored.


    ''That feeling...''


    It was like Runes had been etched into his bone... Rune Flesh!


    And with his memory, he remembered the process perfectly. He had already observed the


    entire process.


    He shook his injured hand, and a Rune began to take shape again.

 Chapter 580: And Then...

    Chapter 580: And Then...


    ?


    Ss felt a world of possibilities swimming about in his mind. It was like he was experiencing something fascinating for the first time, only to realize that that wasn''t exactly what he was thinking.


    This wasn''t the feeling of experiencing something new. No, it was the feeling of something that had once been an overlyplicated, amorphous blob of everything in his mind suddenly finding a root in something tangible and very real.


    The feeling of the ckened w fusing into his body was very simr to what he had experienced with the Scorpion Warlord Runes.


    The difference was that the ckened w was far simpler, not just because its Runes were lessplex, but also because it had taken a part of the process that Ss struggled with- the integration portion-and executed it for him.


    This was one of the biggest issues that Ss faced with the Scorpion Warlord Rune Mesh system. He didn''t quite know how to integrate it into himself.


    The first time he used it, during his battle with the Violet Rose Heart, he had integrated the Rune into his Aether skin.


    Originally, he had wanted to try and etch it directly onto his body, but the slight attempt he made to do so was troublesome. He felt the Runes slipping away before they could seed.


    The Runes would only survive with a continuous flow of Aether to them unless he could etch them permanently. So thepromise ended up being using his Aether skin as a proxy.


    This had its own obvious cascade of problems.


    For one, the continuous flow of Aether was obviously an extra consumption, and second, it took a great deal of Wisdom to ensure that everything remained bnced.


    Even worse than that, the benefits were there, but not as obvious as they should have been given the effort.


    He was only able to inscribe a portion of what made up the scorpion tail, and it was only able to carry about 20% better defense than his usual Aether skin. And that was before his recent upgrade to 71 Foundation Runes.


    Right now, it wasn''t even worth it to inscribe the tail at all other than for the stronger poison. But by now, he could draw Runes with stronger poison than it with ease.


    Because of all of this, Ss didn''t even use the scorpion tail during his battle with the


    demons. But this definitely feltpletely different.


    The Runes themselves he wasn''t sure if he could inscribe because his Rune Essence didn''t seem to work on these Demonic Runes.


    But the process... he could learn from that.


    Runes began to float around Ss'' hand, gathering and reshaping themselves before copsing.


    Ss shook his head. ''These Demonic Runes truly don''t want to listen to me... but I also can''t see any real tangible difference between them and normal Runes other than a different coloration. Everything from the foundation of Strokes to Foundations seems the same. I can even guess their purpose and use. So why won''t they listen?''


    This made Ss very confused, an emotion he rarely experienced. Usually, an answer would be jumping out at him by now, but nothing was clicking.


    The only exnation seemed to be that he couldn''t use them because he couldn''t use Demonic Aether.


    The strength of Runes was inextricably linked to the Aether that formed them. If Ss had mature Aether and leveled up continuously, his 71 Foundation Runes would probably already be enough to sweep all of Earth. This was how powerful 71 Foundation Runes were.


    The likes of the Woond Spider Queen were so powerful even with just 40 Foundation Runes, so one could imagine the sort of advantage Ss was dealing with now.


    Unfortunately, there was no easy way for Ss to control Demonic Aether.


    The system rejected it, and his body did as well. There was a reason he had struggled breathing so much. His body simply wasn''t built to ept Demonic Aether at all.


    And when he turned his attention to the Madness Key to see if it could give him an answer, the question was unsurprisingly Taboo.


    COOOO.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward the peacock beneath him. It wasn''t infrequent for it to make random sounds from time to time, but this felt different.


    There was a sudden snap, and one of the long wooden branches that formed the spindles of the creature''s gorgeous tail shot up and snatched at the Demonic Aether in the air.


    This was the lingering fog from Ss'' failed fusion with the Demonic Treasure from earlier. From the beginning, the Symbiote Mount had been doing its best to get closer to Demonic Aether, but Ss had rejected its attempts. This time, it seemed to lunge at its opportunity. Ss caught the branch out of the air, stopping it again.


    The peacock settled down, Ss''mand over it still being absolute. But he did sense something peculiar.


    ''This Demonic Aether listens to it.''


    Ss didn''t want the Symbiote to gain Demonic Aether not out of paranoia, but because he could clearly feel that if it did, his control over it would be much less sturdy. Although the Symbiote and the peacock still seemed to be one creature right now, Ss hadn''t forgotten that the Symbiote was technically its own existence.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The peacock itself wouldn''t do well with Demonic Aether, but the Symbiote, for whatever reason, seemed to be all over it.


    ''Interesting... I wonder...''


    Ss still had no intention of allowing the Symbiote to have its way. But he felt that he could use this to his advantage.


    Through the Symbiote, he forced it to control the Demonic Aether in his stead. It was clumsy, but it worked.


    Between Ss'' Rune Essence and the Symbiote''s natural affinity for Demonic Aether, they formed a resonance with the Runes that was just barely at the Rune Flesh level.


    Although that was three tiers below Ss'' current level, it was still enough.


    The ck fog was forced back into Ss'' body, etching in the very same regions the pain was


    emanating from.


    And then...

 Chapter 581: Realizations

    Chapter 581: Realizations


    ?


    SHIIIING!


    The ws shot out from Ss'' knuckles once again, and a power flooded into his body.


    ''It''s weaker... but...''


    The original w gave a +506 boost to strength. This one gave barely +250, and the Durability was also already half gone, leaving it at 15/30.


    However, the feeling was amazing. Ss could feel the Greed Seed stirring as though it had sensed something that it really liked, and a resonant connection formed between the two.


    Ss'' gaze flickered. ''Can it?''


    A wild thought danced in Ss'' mind.


    ''Excellent timing.''


    The peacock appeared high above a Demon City, and Ss immediately hopped off of its back, his arms spreading out wide as one of his hands gained four ws the size of short swords.


    Ss fell directly onto the city wall formed of thick logs. The sentry couldn''t react before the four ws ripped directly into its chest.


    With a movement of his intent, the Greed Seed shuddered, and a great deal of blood was drawn in through them.


    It was foolish on its face for Ss to use these ws like this. The boost to his Strength only activated when the ws were active, and he only had one set of them, so killing their Durability on such weak opponents wasn''t something someone as smart as Ss should have done...


    Or so it seemed until something clicked.


    [Durability: 16/30]


    Ss shook his head, feeling a swirl of emotions ripple through his body as a feedback loop formed between the ckened ws and the Greed Seed.


    ''Clever...''


    This was all Ss could say. Whoever had created this Greed Seed hadid quite the trap.


    Ss was almost certain that the Greed Seed in his body and what was meant to be the original Greed Seed were not the same.


    There was no reason for the Gluttony Seed to be so benign inparison to the Greed Seed otherwise. Plus, the method through which he gained both were too drastically different.


    He gained the Gluttony Seed through the action of the Madness Key. But he gained the Greed Seed through a random dagger that couldn''t even survive the process.


    The gap in the treasures was too drastically different. He had been almost certain from the beginning that his Greed Seed had been tampered with.


    Originally, he was very confident nheless. His Will was improving so much faster than the Greed Seed that he didn''t have to worry about it.


    But this might change things.


    Demonic Treasures now finally presented an opportunity for him to level the ying field with everyone else.


    When he fought normal existences or beasts, it wasn''t as obvious. But when he had fought powerhouses like General Aleen, the weight of not being able to use armor and weapons was heavy.


    That gap would only growrger with time, and he had a feeling that it would rear its ugly head very soon.


    In fact, Ss didn''t know how lucky he was. There were restrictions on what the Sylphs of the Frostbane Dungeon could bring in. Otherwise, he would have been drowned out by their wealth alone.


    Now, the Greed Seed seemed to want to use this opportunity to open up a new path to its improvement.


    As difficult as it would be to find someone who would repair Legendary Path Treasures, it would probably be even more difficult to find someone that could repair normal Demonic Treasures.


    The ability to increase its Durability just by killing was absolutely invaluable. But increasing the ckened w''s Durability in this way also seemed to strengthen the Greed Seed much more considerably than usual.


    Ss could almost imagine a floating smirk in front of his eyes.


    ''Indeed, clever... just not clever enough.''


    Ss'' arm swung out to the side, and the head of a charging Demon was split into five. Before it even hit the ground, its blood was sucked into the ckened ws, and the Demonic Treasure''s Durability increased to 17.


    With a step, Ss fell into the vige and unleashed absolute carnage. By the end of the battle, rather than his Demonic Treasure losing Durability, it had returned to perfect form. Though the Strength it gave him was still only half of the original, and this Strength only seemed to be applied to his right arm''s attack alone, there was no doubting just how much more efficient Ss had be in killing.


    And this only continued.


    Ss went from Demon City to Demon City, leaving rivers of blood in his wake, and sometimes, leaving not a single drop of it at all.


    If there really had been such a smirking smile, it would have almost certainly turned stiff by


    now.


    Ss didn''t fear the Greed Seed in the slightest. His Will had left its ability to influence him so far behind that it was still ying catch up...


    And he still had no intention of ever letting it even see his footsteps, let alone grow strong enough to influence him...


    This wasn''t because he nned to stall its progress either.


    It was because he didn''t n to stall his own.


    ...


    SHUUUU!


    The peacock shot through the air and appeared over the System City once again.


    By this point, the fatigue on Ss'' face was palpable, but he had seeded in what he had set


    out to do.


    There were no longer any Demons in his Territory, and to his surprise, he gained a Hollow


    Merit for it.


    The effort to pay off ratio certainly wasn''t worthwhile. But it was nice to know that that was


    possible.


    ''They will continue to spawn eventually, though... I''ll need to find a method to deal with them, or I might have to leave Nosphaleen here... No, actually, there''s a better solution. I willmand the System City army to do it.''


    If Ss sent a General after every newly spawned Demon City, the issue should be handled.


    Normally, the System City was quite slow at handling these matters, mostly because the system decided it should be that way. But Ss'' rule ofw took precedent here.


    Now, he could finally rest... and then it seemed that he would have to face off against a


    government.


    On his ride back, Ss had caught the escaping Braxwell. This time, their real bodies. Oddly enough, he also learned that Ragnar had died.


    This didn''t leave Ss feeling relieved. Instead, it left him frowning. For two reasons.


    First, he had been around the area where Ragnar should have died, but there was no corpse,


    nor were there any remains.


    Second, he had been nning on killing Ragnar for the secret to permanently etching the


    tattoos into his body. Although he had opened up a new doorway with the Demonic Treasures, that method was still only temporary.


    This raised some rm bells in Ss'' mind. Everything revolved around the question of how Moose had managed all of this.


    Whether Moose was really alive or dead was irrelevant to Ss. No matter what the answer was, there had to be someone else behind him one way or another.


    But Ss wouldn''t even get the chance to look into this any further because Braxwell also had information that made his eyes light up.


    If he was correct...


    The Africor Continental Government was now targeting the very same location he was.


    [Rune Enlightenment (Silver) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage


    epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this storied heritage. As an


    Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment]


    [Silver Requirement]


    [>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]

 Chapter 582: 210,100,000

    Chapter 582: 210,100,000


    ?


    Ss slowly opened his eyes.


    Sleep was hard toe by these days, so he took advantage whenever he got the chance. He didn''t even get a chance to look over his gains before he passed out.


    Now, however, he would have a chance to reset... at least for the moment.


    [Coins: 67,823,452 (F)]


    The most lucrative part of Ss'' excursions was most definitely the Coins. The death of every Demon came with several hundred coins at worst, while some of the more powerful ones came with as much as thousands.


    Of course, none gave as much as Balgros or his partner in crime, but with so many dead Demons, it added up. Ss realized that he had neglected this too much. If he had thought to do this long ago, he would have been able to sessfully trade for <Vortex Capture> already. However, this wasn''t all he made...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A knock came from Ss'' door. He stood to answer it, only to find Tasia on the other side.


    "Finished?" he asked.


    "Yes, I''ve done it. Here."


    There was a flicker and then...


    [Coins: 277,923,452 (F)]


    Ss'' gaze flickered. This was way more than he was expecting.


    But he also noticed something else.


    ''210,100,000 Coins exactly? Interesting.''


    Before he passed out yesterday, Ss had given Tasia her first task. In reality, he was trusting her with a lot by doing that.


    Aside from the Coins granted by the system, Demons would, from time to time, drop Treasures. These Treasures could be exceptionally lucrative, far more than the Coins that they dropped. But the problem was getting rid of them.


    Ss had thought about selling his Treasures for a long time already, but he just didn''t have a method of doing so easily. He had neither the time nor the appropriate Profession. And the fact hecked thetter made the former issue even worse.


    But somehow, Tasia had managed to sell so much in just the half-day or so he had spent asleep? He couldn''t help but wonder how she had managed it.


    "Is this everything?" Ss asked.


    "No. The moreplicated stuff is harder to sell off. I could probably double that amount... but finding buyers for them is much more difficult."


    "How did you manage this time?"


    Judging by the round number, Ss already had a guess. He was a bit ufortable with it, but he also had never told her that she couldn''t do things this way, so it certainly wasn''t her fault.


    However, her answer still surprised him.


    "I set up a stall and used your video against that general as an advertisement. Then I set up a lottery, loot boxes that cost 100,000 Coins each. I also made them cover the transfer fee."


    Ss'' brows raised. She only sold 2,101 of the Treasures he had given her when the real number was easily three times that. On top of that, they probably didn''t even include the truly good treasures either. Because if she was smart enough to think of this, she was also smart enough to...


    "I will hold another loot box session tonight, and then another tomorrow, and that''s just to set up the auction that will be a week from now. I left some good loot, and everyone who bought had to agree to a live opening, so the anticipation should be building well."


    Ss nodded.


    He didn''t have the time to wait out all of this, but once again, that wasn''t Tasia''s fault. She had executed this perfectly and had given him more money than he knew how to spend in a short time.


    But he was sure he''d find a way.


    Tasia smiled. She could tell that Ss was satisfied and didn''t need him to do much more than nod just like that.


    "Here." Ss gave her back ten million.


    Tasia''s eyes widened. "Do you need me to do something specific?"


    "No. Spend it on whatever you would like."


    Tasia didn''t even know what to say. Wasn''t this too extravagant?


    But then she realized that it truly wasn''t much to Ss at all. By her calctions, if she managed to get rid of everything, they would be around three billion or so.


    One would definitely have to look to the most powerful factions on Earth to find capital at that level.


    Ss wasn''t doing this just to be nice. Tasia was smart enough to continue working for him even if he gave her nothing at all. But if he paid her on top of that, he would gain her loyalty as well.


    Someone as smart as Tasia was a useful asset, but their intelligence was a double-edged sword. Ss wasn''t naive enough to believe that her attraction to him would be enough to keep her by his side as he helped her to raise her power.


    She wasn''t like Nosphaleen, who had no choice but to rely on him.


    He had to give her both anticipation for the future and benefits in the present.


    As for what she would spend the money on, he didn''t care. That was because he had a certain confidence in himself as well. The amount of money he could generate now wasn''t something business acumen and intelligence could make up for.


    After his conversation with Tasia, Ss left for the Nexus and sent Cassarae a hundred


    million. Then he spent 32 million on <Vortex Capture>.


    Ss took his time going through it, and as expected, it was worth every penny.


    He closed his eyes for a long while and then suddenly reached out. A suction force formed on his palm, and a minor bit of wind kicked up. If one looked closely, it was possible to see veins popping up across his forearm as the strain caused his blood to pump furiously.


    ''I see... it forms a vacuum by suddenly and forcefully evacuating all the Aether in a small area. That vacuum sucks an enemy toward you, and that''s the foundation for this Grappling Style.''

 Chapter 583: Bolts

    Chapter 583: Bolts


    ?


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    What fascinated Ss the most about this technique was that it didn''t work with a unique Aether. It used neutral Aether, and it was also an advanced application of Aether skin.


    Ss had to learn how to apply Aether skin himself by observing others and had never really had systematic training. But looking at the concepts in <Vortex Capture>, he realized that he had quite some room for improvement.


    ''I should also change the way I view Aether as well. It''s not just a separate energy of the world; it is the world. It''s the very energy that decides even how much particles vibrate in the air.


    ''When I expel Aether from a region, I form a vacuum because all the air in the region is Aether and Aether is the air...''


    That made Ss realize something else.


    In that case, if space was a vacuum, then there was likely no Aether betweens.


    By extension of that conclusion, that must also mean that there was something special abouts, or most urately, Summoned Worlds, that allowed them to create or store Aether. ''Maybe this is rted to what I''ll need to help Earthplete the Summoning...''


    Ss'' gaze shed as he remembered something else important.


    If the Ninth Summoning failed, a wasn''t just booted into eternal damnation. Instead, it was forced under the leadership of another world.


    Ss was very curious about how that process worked. Maybe if he could observe it, he would be able to find the answers he needed without paying the Madness Key.


    But if he was in that situation, all hope would be lost anyway. So in all likelihood, he would never get such a chance.


    ''Hold on...''


    A sh of inspiration hit Ss in tidal waves.


    ''Overlord Races! There has to be some sort of connection...''


    Ss stood in silence, his mind mulling over several things.


    Overlord Races were chosen by the system to lead a into their new age. Because they were favored by the system, they could level up with ease. All Ss needed to do to reach Level 1 and beyond was just absorb a Demon or Beast Core. It wasn''t difficult at all, though depending on his ss it might take many more than others.


    The reason this was important was that it felt so analogous to the situation with worlds.


    If Earth failed the Ninth Summoning and became a subordinate to another world, then they would surely lose their Overlord Race status.


    By extension, didn''t that mean that the favoring of the system was inextricably linked to the sessful Summoning of a world?


    Ss had just experienced some of that favoritism and how it might work firsthand with his Symbiote Mount. That partnership perfectly encapsted the "help" of the system.


    He could observe it, feel it, learn from it, and even manipte it somewhat.


    So, if he could find what separated Overlord Races from Subordinate Races and extrapte that to Summoned Worlds versus Subordinate Worlds...


    Would he find the answer he needed?


    But the question was... how deep did he need to go?


    Did he need to raise Taboo Bond to Lv50 before he could sense it?


    Ss slotted these thoughts to the back of his mind.


    All he knew was that right now, Taboo Bond was still far too weak to sense what he needed, and even if he could sense it, he had a feeling that his Rune Mastery would need to be much higher in order to understand it.


    F-Grade Gene Runes were soplicated that he couldn''t even look at them without getting a splitting headache. Whatever this was... it was certainly even moreplex than that.


    However, the feeling of having a path was good.


    He liked having ns, and flying blind wasn''t his style. Now that he knew what he likely had to do, he could take steps toward it.


    ''Now it''s time to prepare.''


    Ss didn''t n on buying anything groundbreaking with the rest of the Coins he had. Instead, he nned to prepare.


    He was about to face off against maybe his greatest challenge yet, and for once, he had the benefit of preparing for it in advance rather than being randomly thrown into it.


    This was the first time Ss would have a chance to do this.


    The bad news was that he didn''t actually have much information about his enemies. But the good news was that...


    It wouldn''t matter if he was strong enough.


    And right now, against the people of Earth, he believed that he had the capital to stand toe to


    toe with anyone.


    ''First order of business... ballista.''


    Ss had run out of ballista bolts, but even before that, he had had to stop using them because they were far too weak. Now he had an opportunity to stock up again.


    [Explosive Bolt (F+)]


    [Level: 20]


    [Ability: Explosive Surge]


    [Damage is doubled]


    [Limit: 2000 Attack]


    [Durability: NA/NA]


    [Cost: 2,000]


    [Ice Bolt (F+)]


    [Level: 20]


    [Ability: Ice Surge]


    [Ice encasement forms in a 10-meter radius with Defense equivalent to Attack]


    [Limit: 2000 Defense]


    [Durability: NA/NA]


    [Cost: 2,000]


    Ss bought the most of these two bolts.


    They were designed to be used with ballistae and scaled as such. Explosive Surge, for example, was meant to scale with the Attack stat of a ballista unit. If a ballista unit had 1000 Attack, the bolt would allow it to exhibit twice that and do 2000 Damage instead.


    As for the Ice Bolt, it froze everything within a 10-meter radius within an ice prison that had a Defense that scaled with the Attack of the ballista unit. That meant that if a ballista unit had 1000 Attack, then the ice prison would also have 1000 Defense.


    Unless someone could generate 1000 Strength or Attack while frozen in ce, it would be impossible to escape, and they might even die from the chill itself.


    Ss didn''t hesitate to buy 10,000 of each, plowing through an entire 40 million Coins in a


    single sitting.


    But these were just meant to be his most basic and frequently used ballista bolts.

 Chapter 584: Preparations (1)

    Chapter 584: Preparations (1)


    ?


    [Drilling Bolt (FF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Ability: Drilling Surge]


    [Damage is tripled]


    [Limit: 30,000 Attack]


    [Durability: 30/30]


    [Cost: 50,000 (F) coins]


    Ss bought 800 of these Drilling Bolts for 40 million Coins.


    Although he wouldn''t be able to get anywhere near the cap of 30,000 Attack, the value of tripling Attack was far too great to pass up on.


    It was not only thergest boost that Ss had ever seen, but the way it worked would mitigate one of the biggest weaknesses of his telekinesis.


    Drilling Bolt generated a lot of forward, twisting momentum. Ss'' telekinesis tended to get stuck after the initial puncture because that point was the equivalent of lifting a heavy weight. His telekinesis could only exhibit about 200 pounds of force when his Gluttony Seed was activated, so if a bolt got stuck in bone and flesh, it would be severely weakened.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This bolt, though, would form a spiraling drill that could remove that worry from Sspletely. For once, he might even be able to use these bolts to cut through several enemies at once.


    Ss was now satisfied with his attack repertoire, having used up 80 million of his over 160 million.


    Was it extravagant to spend so much on what were mostly one-time use weapons?


    Almost certainly.


    But Ss felt that it would work out in his favor in the long run. He had a feeling that what he would gain from this Dungeon would be unlike anything he had ever gained before. Otherwise, the power of an entire government wouldn''t be moving just for the sake of its benefits.


    ''Now I need methods of defense and recovery...''


    Recovery was a bit tricky because Ss was both unwilling to rely on Elixirs these days and also didn''t really have a need for them.


    He had experienced sickness caused by the overconsumption of Elixirs before, and if he could avoid them, that would definitely be for the best.


    At the same time, he had the Greed Seed and the Transmutation Beast Skin, thetter of which was by far his best trump card in this regard.


    So, Ss decided that before he set out officially, he would create arge stockpile of Transmutated Pills for his own personal use.


    There was arge number of poisonous beasts in the Woond Territory, so that would make the pills he got from them particrly effective.


    Luckily, he didn''t have to set out personally to do this. He used the soldiers of the System City to hunt down arge number of beasts. They had already been gathering up arge number of beast carcasses for Ss.


    The trouble was then converting them to pills. That required either Aether stones or personally pouring Aether into the Transmutated Beast Skin.


    That issue was also fixed by relying on the soldiers of the city. They were alternating in crafting these pills by pouring their own Aether into the skin.


    Another issue they might run into is Durability.


    A Permanent Temte didn''t have Durability issues in the way a normal Treasure might. The Temte would always be there, thus the Permanent in its name. But it might need to be transferred to a new medium or something of the like.


    Ss had a feeling that after this, he would need to find a new beast skin for the Permanent Temte. But he would cross that bridge when he got there.


    [Simple Healing Elixir (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar, the caress of a mother in liquid form. Drink this and heal yourself. For every


    20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +50%. Effectsst a single day.]


    [Coins: 1,000 (F) coins]


    [Healing Elixir (F+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar pulled from Heavenly Dew. Drink this and heal yourself. For every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +100%. Effectsst a single day.]


    [Coins: 10,000 (F) coins]


    Although Ss would have these pills, he thought that he should at least try to touch all his bases to see if he could find anything that might be worth it.


    The Transmutated Pills were great, but their effect on healing was much milder than usual Elixirs. He would probably need to consume three to five to form the same effects.


    Though there wouldn''t be any side effects, at that sort of pace he would run through them very fast even if he started off with thousands.


    He wanted to see if he could find an Elixir to use in a pinch if he really ran up against a wall. Relying on the Greed Seed consistently probably wouldn''t be very smart, and the Greed Seed''s healing capability was unlike the others in that he had to split some of his Wisdom to use it properly, which wasn''t ideal and could lower hisbat effectiveness for a while.


    ''Oh? So there is something...''


    [Healing Elixir (FFF+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar pulled from Heavenly Dew. Drink this and heal yourself. For every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +10,000%. Effectsst a single day.]


    [Coins: 10,000,000 (F)]


    ''This might be worth it...''


    Ss'' Hibernation Realm gave a 51,200% boost. With his current Constitution, though, this Healing Elixir would speed up recovery by 330,000%.


    But...


    ''It''s still not enough. If I broke a bone that would take three months to heal usually, it would take almost three minutes of battle before it fixed again, and that wouldn''t include potential re-injury mid-battle. It''s not worth the price...''


    What Ss hadn''t factored in was the fact his natural healing factor was much greater with his current Constitution and his Dual ss Constitution stacked on top of that. It would probably take him less than half the time to heal with this Constitution, and another half less than that thanks to his Dual ss Constitution and State of Wealth.


    But even then, 40-50 seconds in the middle of a battle was still far too long, let alone if he broke a more substantial bone that would usually take six months or so to heal.


    Just as he was about to give up, though, he found something interesting.

 Chapter 585: Preparations (2)

    Chapter 585: Preparations (2)


    ?


    [Targeted Healing Elixir (FFF+) (Consumable)]


    [A sweet nectar pulled from Heavenly Dew. Drink this and heal a specific location of your


    body. For every 20 points of Constitution, boost healing capacity by +100,000%. Effectsst a single day.]


    [Requirements: Wisdom must be +50% of Strength]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Coins: 10,000,000 (F)]


    ''I see. Good.''


    The usual Healing Elixir was a general-purpose Consumable that healed the entire body at once. But with a Targeted Healing Elixir, he could focus in on a very specific part of his body. That would concentrate the healing strength and thus make the Elixir far more effective. The requirement of high Wisdom wasn''t much of a surprise either. The Elixir wouldn''t be able to guess where you wanted healed, so you would have to do it yourself. Ultimately, the end result would be up to you and your skill level.


    If you had poor control, you would end up wasting this Elixir or targeting the wrong area by ident.


    Ss bought five.


    He was highly confident in hisprehension of his own body. He bet that while the threshold was +50% for everyone else, he could even get away with his Constitution being much higher than his Wisdom and still seed.


    In his base form, that wasn''t a problem. But when he was fused with the Basilisk King, his Constitution did be greater than his Wisdom, so the fact he had used Extricate to study his own body so thoroughly would definitelye in handy.


    Now, he should be able to heal from any injury in the middle of battle in just a handful of seconds at worst.


    ''A defensive method is thest thing...''


    Ss had about 30 to 40 million Coins left. This probably wasn''t enough to buy a shocking treasure, but he wouldn''t have done that anyway.


    It was very difficult for him to use defensive Treasures with his telekinesis because of already known limitations. So, he was actually leaning more toward getting himself a Skill.


    By now, Skills like <Solidify> or <King''s Shield> were far too weak. They only had a few hundred Defense, and that could be far outstripped by Ss'' Aether skin alone. It wasn''t worth it. Not in the slightest.


    At the same time, he was missing the use of Skills like <Astral Bind> and <King''s Bind> as well. Being able to freeze an enemy for a split second was invaluable in battle.


    Unfortunately, everyone had Counter Skills these days, and they were barely good enough as disruption Skills. Ss didn''t even use them against enemies that were too powerful because they could sense them ahead of time and react ordingly.


    With this amount of money left, Ss definitely couldn''t buy two powerful skills or both. But... he didn''t need to.


    [Frosted Menace (FF+) (Skill)]


    [The things that go bump in the night carry a Frosted edge to them.]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    [Cost: 8,000 (F) coins]


    [Icy Shield (FF+) (Skill)]


    [Crystalline and beautiful, but sturdy and unmovable.]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit]


    [Defense: 550]


    [Cost: 8,000 (F) coins]


    Both of these skills had an ice elemental foundation to them, and that was exactly what Ss needed.


    <Frosted Menace> was interesting because it was a more firm application of Will. It waspatible not just with his Ice Runes, but his Mutated Freeze Ice-Poison Rune and <Astral Will Fission> as well.


    Ss had experienced something odd thest time he split his Will. His stat didn''t plummet the way it should have. Even after observing it for a long while, he realized that nothing changed.


    Instead, his Will went from feeling somewhat hollow to recovering until it felt no differentter on.


    That made Ss realize that his Will had actually recovered all on its own. Though it had taken time, over half a month, he had also used arge amount of Will in a single sitting as well.


    But this time, he bet that <Frosted Menace> would work well even if he only used a couple dozen Will points at most. And it would be almost impossible for anyone to counter it because his Will was simply too powerful.


    In the end, he ended up turning <Frosted Menace> into...


    [Frosted Nightmare (FFF+) (Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [The things that go bump in the night carry a Frosted edge to them, and your Will is their whetstone.]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit AND 10 Will per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    Ss was actually a bit surprised that it didn''t count as a Gene Skill. The power of this newly forged Skill couldn''t be underestimated. It would have even frozen a King Beast like the Woond Spider Queen for a while.


    But then again, maybe it couldn''t count as one because the cost was too high. Only Ss would be able to use a skill like this one freely, at least on Earth. Who would take a permanent -10 reduction to their Will to cast a skill just once?


    The improvement to Icy Shield was far more straightforward.


    [Ice Banned Shield (F-) (Gene Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [Crystalline and beautiful, but sturdy and unmovable. Banned from its territory are Attacks.]


    [Cost: 10 Aether Unit]


    [Defense: 5,000]


    This was maybe even more surprising than the first. That was because Ss had done nothing but swap out the Ice Runes for 70 Foundation ones. He didn''t even change the cirction pattern of the Skill because it would take far too long.


    But in the end, he had been correct. This skill was verypatible with his Runes, and it


    showed.


    It would be even more powerful if not for the fact his Aether was still immature.


    The only shame was that it didn''t have the same freeze on attacks effect that <Arctic Howl Mutant> did. But Ss had expected this tradeoff as well.


    This was what he exchanged for a speedy evolution. He didn''t have the time to slowly refine


    this skill.


    What he didn''t consider was that the number of people who would tweak and change Skills


    like he could were next to none. His Rune Mastery had impacted so many aspects of his life by now that he felt that it was only natural... he didn''t even realize that even what he had done this time would have still taken him hours back when he had yet to form Rune Essence.


    But now, his mind was elsewhere.


    It was time to set out.

 Chapter 586: Restaurant [Bonus]

    Chapter 586: Restaurant [Bonus]


    ?


    The feeling of sand beneath Ss'' feet was an oddly grounding one. It had been a very long time since he had the inclination to go to the beach, so he would have never thought that he would miss such a pleasing sensation.


    It was as the saying goes... you didn''t know what you missed until it was no longer there.


    What made it more amusing was that this was as far from a beach as you could get. There was no water in sight and the sand was absolutely scalding to the touch. A normal human walking across this desert barefoot would lose all theyers of skin on their feet.


    Ss had made it pretty deep into Africor Continent territory... not that he had ever been near the edge at all. His portal had dumped him right in the middle of everything.


    However, right now, he was headed toward the northern point, so he had to travel quite a distance.


    After relying on the peacock for as long as he could, he had no choice but to let it rest. The Symbiote Mount was able to replenish itself by swallowing greenery and nt life. But, well...


    There was none of that to be found in an endless in of sand.


    The feeling of having endless sand dunes facing you from all directions while the sun beaded down in a mighty tempest should have been despairing. But the day felt not much unlike a cool summer day to Ss.


    ''There it is...''


    Ss took a chug from his water spatial device as he elerated a bit. His feet had been buried deep within the sand before on purpose as a form of resistance training. But now he glided across the top of it as though it was practically level ground.


    The best part was that the ice he used was almost instantly melted by the sun above, leaving no trace of him at all.


    By the time Ss made it to the city he had spotted in the far off, he was already wrapped in arge, tan-brown cloak and blended in with the locals perfectly.


    From the information he had gathered, this particr city didn''t have much security. It was still a long way away from the pyramids, and there were no portals or items of interest nearby. The only reason Ss could use Aether a small bit was because Earth was already beginning to change.


    In addition, because the Africor Continent was practically a true monarchy by now, their strict control over their citizens ironically allowed them much more leeway than the citizens of other governments received.


    As such, in a minor city like this one, Ss was actually able to enter without much effort at all...


    Only to find himself face to face with something unexpected.


    A Wanted Poster.


    For him.


    Ss gave the photo only a nce before he continued on as though nothing at all had happened. His heart rate didn''t even change.


    But inside, he was annoyed.


    He could guess why the Africor Continent did this, but this would make the next step of his n far more difficult.


    Cairith City, his real target, most definitely had far higher security. It was a city so close to the pyramids you could practically reach out and touch them from the window of a local restaurant.


    Not only was there far higher security, but the government would certainly be ready.


    ''This is a warning...''


    The reason there was no effort in trying to catch him out here was that it wasn''t worth it. The Africor Continental Government was smart. They knew he was supremely powerful, and unless theymitted arge number of resources, they would know that taking him down was impossible.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Trying to do both that and cover a vast continent like Africor was basically impossible. So they didn''t even try.


    Instead, they left these posters in every city as a warning to Ss, a deterrence.


    Here, Ss might not be frisked or harassed... But in Cairith?


    That would certainly be a different story entirely.


    Ss found a local restaurant and paid for a meal. Earth had already worked on just a single currency after the changes caused by the Sixth, or rather, Eighth Summoning. But Africor was even more forward-thinking than that.


    Since everyone had the system, they had already begun to exchange F Coins.


    Everyone, even in this small city, used F Coins to buy what they needed and get paid for their work.


    ''And I bet the government still gets their taxes on top of that... the number of F Coins they have in their arsenal is certainly shocking by now.''


    Ss silently ate his meal. He didn''t put much effort into hiding his face at all, just keeping a shawl above his head. The more effort he put, the more he would stand out.


    What he didn''t expect was for someone to suddenly sit directly across from him.


    Ss hadn''t been using his visualization just in order to keep a low profile. Plus, it consumed his Wisdom to keep it active for too long. It also seemed to consume more of his Wisdom when Aether was scarce in the region.


    However, he had maintained a vignce of his surroundings nheless.


    This person had only just entered the restaurant and then made a beeline toward him.


    If the ce was packed and this was the only seat left, it would make sense... but that certainly


    wasn''t the case.


    This person hade here for him.


    And when Ss looked up, his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    Alex.


    Dressed in a simr getup, Alex gave Ss a beaming smile. He looked as though he was smiling so hard he might even identally crack his own jaw.


    Several thoughts swirled in Ss'' head. Was he being tracked? How had Alex found him so easily? Was it rted to the stuff he had stolen from Alex before? And most importantly... Did this mean that Legacy was involved in this matter as well?

 Chapter 587: Quasi [Bonus]

    Chapter 587: Quasi [Bonus]


    ?


    [Alex Reynolds (FFF+)]


    [Level: 31]


    Ss couldn''t see the rest of his stats, but the Level was enticing enough.


    "Long time no see, Psycho Syl."


    Ss gave him a long look before taking thest bite out of his steak. It wasn''t a bad dinner and seemed to be made from the body of a very weak beast, probably only Level 5 or so. But it was still definitely more filling for him than a normal steak would have been.


    "How did you find me?"


    "Of course because I''ve been looking for you."


    Ss didn''t reply, still waiting for an answer to his question.


    Alex chuckled. "I''ve been waiting at this city. I was pretty sure that you woulde by this one."


    "Oh?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    After some thought, Ss nodded.


    The government should know where his Woond Territory was by now if they were able to send aid to the likes of Braxwell and the others. So the fact Legacy would know wasn''t too shocking either.


    Tracing a path from the Woond Territory to Cairith wasn''t very difficult at all, so guessing what city Ss would pop up in wouldn''t be too surprising...


    If not for the fact Ss had not taken the obvious route. He chose the third most obvious route. He neither went entirely out of his way, nor did he take the most direct path.


    But Alex had still guessed he would appear here.


    It was either he had stationed clones at multiple cities again, he had made a decent guess, or there was something that he still wasn''t telling Ss.


    Ss had a feeling that it was thest of the three, but he chose not to press on it.


    "What were you looking for me for?"


    "To work together, of course. Isn''t it about time we team up? Think of how much we could aplish."


    "What does Legacy have to do with this?" Ss remained straightforward and blunt.


    This time, Alex didn''t seem to know how to answer. He scratched his head, looking a bit sheepish.


    "To tell you the truth, I don''t know. I''m just a luggage carrier."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    If he remembered Alex''s tier system correctly, he was considered to be Bronze tier in their organization. For him to be just a luggage man, then who else hade?


    "Don''t ask. I don''t know anything, really. When I say luggage carrier, I''m pulling your leg a bit. I came here to scout the region andy some groundwork ahead of time. But I''ve been part of these sort of missions several times already. If I haven''t been told anything by now, it means that I won''t be told ever."


    "And you''re willing to step on Legacy''s tail like this already?"


    Alex grinned again. "It won''t count if they don''t know, right?"


    "And how do you n to pull that off?"


    "Who would report it if everyone''s dead?"


    Ss fell into silence, looking at the man across from him deeply.


    The two of them were more alike than it seemed. One being stoic and the other happy-go- lucky... those were just two outward facades.


    What sort of true happy-go-lucky person could talk of death so easily?


    "If you know nothing, why should I work with you?" Ss asked.


    Alex became sheepish again.


    It really was hard to deal with someone like Ss who was practically a one-man army. Taking someone along might only be detrimental to him.


    Even Nosphaleen was now crammed into Ss'' Hibernation Realm once more. It seemed like this might be thest usage Ss got out of the cancer Gene, so he would need to be cautious with when he took her out, because he certainly wouldn''t be able to put her back in.


    Against anybody else, Alex would give them a weird look. Who wouldn''t want the help of a Level 31? He had already sensed Ss'' scan before.


    But if it was Ss, it just might make sense why he wouldn''t care for such aid.


    "You want information about Lauren, right?"


    Ss'' gaze remained level, but inwardly he had confirmed all he needed to know about Alex. If you took this man''s smile at face value, you would be the one to suffer in the end.


    It was only a simple sentence, and not even really a threat considering Ss had probed him


    just now, and yet it carried so manyyers to it, and even more questions.


    It even made Ss wonder if Alex was already aware of Cassarae''s greatest weakness.


    Or even worse than that, that Cassarae was probably a weakness of his own.


    However, Ss feigned ignorance.


    "Is she participating in this excursion?"


    "I can''t be sure, but she does y a very important role for the organization. For something


    as big as this where they mobilize Bronzes like me just for scouting, then there''s a very good


    chance that she''s involved."


    "What information do you have about her?"


    "I know that she spent months away on a secret mission and only recently returned sessfully. And due to the result of that mission, she was promoted from Gold to Quasi


    Legendary."


    "Quasi?"


    "I was surprised too. It''s a rank we didn''t have before. Normally the Golds that are very close to those Legendary characters are only given slight privileges, but not enough to set them apart. It was very odd for Lauren to be given this special rank."


    Ss nodded.


    Her being gone for months was just as he expected. He wasn''t the only one who had to suffer through the time dtions. Everyone who stepped off of Earth did.


    He was almost certain that this was the ploy of whoever was in the background. If all the best resources, chances, and opportunities were located off of Earth, by the time you benefited from them and came back, you would loserge segments of time.


    If Ss had been any slower in the Sylph Dungeon, rather than losing four months, he would have lost an entire year or more.


    "Then let''s get right to the point." Ss suddenly said. "Do you have a way into Cairith?"

 Chapter 588: Still [Bonus]

    Chapter 588: Still [Bonus]


    ?


    Alex''s gaze flickered. "Do you still have my Beast Bewildering Amulet? You didn''t sell it off in that auction, did you?"


    Ss wasn''t surprised that Alex knew about Tasia''s auction. He might not have known for 100% certain that Ss was truly involved-after all, it might be someone trying to use him as a facade to hide their identity-but he could definitely confirm this way.


    Ss would have never allowed Tasia to auction off a Legendary Path item. They were too rare and valuable.


    [Beast Bewildering Amulet (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 20]


    [Target the mind of a beast and feed it illusions]


    [While the beast is Bewildered, +10% Physical]


    The value of such items was more than could be put into words. The only reason Ss hadn''t used this treasure was obviously because the Scorned Wraps wouldn''t allow it.


    The amulet needed to form a connection with his Wisdom first, and that required him to put it on. For obvious reasons, that was a huge no-no.


    However, Ss didn''t confirm or deny. Instead, he asked a question.


    "Why?"


    He wanted to understand. How would this amulet help them at all?


    It wasn''t lost on him that this was likely a Dungeon, so there was a good chance that there would be arge number of beasts around. But as far as he understood, this Beast Bewildering Amulet only worked on one beast at a time.


    Unless there was just onerge guardian beast blocking everything, which Ss doubted for various reasons, it wouldn''t be useful enough for Alex to mention as though it was the core piece of his n.


    When Alex began to exin himself, though, Ss found his gaze flickering with understanding.


    ...


    The two left the small city and headed out the next day. On the road, it was mostly Alex doing much of the talking, and Ss found himself surprised at how a man could talk so much and yet say so little of substance at the same time.


    Alex was either very good at talking nonsense, or he was clever enough to say a lot without giving away much of the information he knew.


    It was probably a bit of both.


    "-So what do you think, Syl? Do I have a chance with the dommy mommy?" Alex''s eyes lit up like a child on Christmas Day. He looked like he really valued Ss'' opinion.


    To Alex''s surprise, though, Ss actually looked over at him. Well, it wasn''t the first time Ss had done such a thing, but this time it felt like he was actually looking at Alex rather than through him.


    "Not a single ounce of one."


    Alex blinked and then his eyes widened as though he had just made some shocking discovery.


    "Fuck me! You let me talk about her like that all this time and didn''t say she was yours?! You''re trying to kill me here, man. Be honest. Are you nning my death already?"


    Ss looked away and shook his head. "Words are meaningless."


    "Really? So if I said I really wanted to bend her over a desk, you''d be fine with that?"


    Ss didn''t react even as Alex got more vulgar.


    He truly didn''t care.


    Why would he waste his time going around policing words and gazes? If he did that, he would probably have to spend all his energy in the future just killing men who looked at his woman for a little bit too long.


    Was there a difference between Alex saying it out loud and thinking it in his mind? If there was one, it was negligible in Ss'' eyes.


    If Alex tried to act on it, though...


    A flicker of killing intent sparked in the depths of Ss'' green irises that caused Alex to jump back and hold his hands up. It was even a bitical because the entire time, the man never stopped running across the sand along with Ss. He looked ridiculous.


    "Okay! Okay! I won''t say anymore! You lucky bastard." Alex clicked his tongue.


    Ss didn''t say anything. The killing intent certainly wasn''t because of Alex''s words, but he couldn''t be bothered to distinguish it.


    "You know," Alex jogged back up to Ss'' side, "you''re a bit slow given your strength. Well, you''re actually a lot a bit slow. How do you do it?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' stamina was decent enough, but his speed was far too slow considering the strength he had disyed. Alex himself could speed up another 50% easily and still have a lot left in the tank.


    "I''m still Level o."


    Alex''s eyes widened again. "... Son of a bitch..."


    Ss didn''t mind exposing this because there were many, including the Sylphs, who knew


    this.


    "Holy fuck, this is crazy. I feel like I''m losing my mind."


    Alex elerated, wrapping around Ss once, then twice, as though he was trying to find the power cording out of him.


    "There aren''t other Level o''s in Legacy?"


    This was the true reason Ss exposed this.


    "Uh... I guess I wouldn''t know, huh?" Alex blinked, understanding something. "If there were, they would definitely be in that Legendary tier."


    "Lauren isn''t on the Leaderboard. Is that because she''s Level o? Or is it because she rejected the chance?"


    "Probably thetter. I''ve seen her use Aether before, and it was mature. I should have realized before, but your Aether iscking something, almost like it''s missing a heartbeat. It''s been so long since I was Level o that I didn''t connect two and two."


    Ss nodded.


    "We''re here." Alex suddenly said.


    The two came to a stop at the same time.


    There was nothing around them but more sand dunes.


    By now, the hotndscape had be quite chilly, a biting wind dancing about as the


    crescent moon hung high in the skies.


    Alex became oddly concentrated, his smile fading. The two of them waited in silence until the


    wind suddenly became stronger.


    The sand kicked up and a spiraling wind formed a small circle in the sand.


    A portal was forming.

 Chapter 589: Glass [Bonus]

    Chapter 589: ss [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss was intrigued about Alex''s n originally, not because it was overly clever, but because it required something that fascinated him.


    Portal prediction.


    ording to Alex, Legacy had a database of locations portals would appear in as though they had a pulse on the entire world. Of course, it was impossible for one Bronze tier individual like Alex to have ess to the full map at all times. But, because he was assigned to this mission, he gained ess to information for nearby regions.


    Legacy was truly organized.


    Alex, being as thorough as he was, caught all the tidbits of information he could and he found something interesting about this portal in particr.


    In the future, or maybe in the past, portals like this one would be known as Winking Portals. They were portals that, for whatever reason, weren''t particrly stable and could form, deform, and even move within a certain range.


    The moment Ss heard of this, he had a pretty good guess why. This shouldn''t be a natural inclination of the system, but rather a product of what happened when the connection points between the Aether ne and Earth were too forcefully twisted.


    This wasn''t the portal''s natural opening location, so it wasn''t stable outside of certain times in the day.


    Because of this, even the Africor Continent hadn''t yet found this new Winking Portal. But somehow, Legacy had.


    Regardless, that wasn''t what was important. What was important was the creature on the other side.


    The two acted the moment the Winking Portal appeared, vanishing into its fluctuating form.


    ...


    The world on the other side waspletely unlike what one might expect.


    If Ss was correct about Winking Portals being the result of two points being too misaligned, then he should have walked into andscapepletely opposite that of the one he had just walked out of.


    But instead...


    He found yet another world of endless sand.


    The deserts of the Africor Continent certainly weren''t the only ones on Earth, though. Who was to say that this region wasn''t meant to connect to another one of them?


    This surprise didn''tst for long because of that thought and something else.


    Normal sand was mostly a tan grey, but this sand... it was so pale grey that it almost looked white, more like the sand of a tropical beach than one forged for a desert.


    And... it was perfectly t.


    Ss looked above his head to find that clear blue skies above. At least from one angle.


    There was a sudden flicker of light that made him realize that there was actually a clear ss dome above his head.


    This wasn''t a normalndscape. It was a cave.


    Ss was already on high alert, but he raised this rm in his head even further.


    The creature that Alex was targeting should be a Quasi King, and its abilities would be key to giving them an opportunity. But it would be no good if they died first-


    The ground rumbled and a sinking sensation came from the grey sand beneath their feet.


    Both of them leapt upward at the same time.


    Ss formed a tform of ice with <Surfing Frost> and was instantly surprised that it was so easy. Why was the Ice Aether here in such high concentrations? It wasn''t that cold.


    Soon he got his answer.


    Alex couldn''t leap into the skies like he could, but he was swift and agile. The amulet dangled from his neck and began to glow while he took out arge chain.


    ROAR!


    A scorpion tail suddenly swung for Ss.


    It almost appeared out of nowhere, the carapace of the creature blending into the air as though it wasn''t there at all.


    ''Wow...''


    Ss found himself fascinated. The reason he couldn''t see the creature clearly was that it was made entirely of crystal so clear it shone through to the skies.


    Or rather... at least this attack of its was.


    Ss'' ice tform easily curved around the attack, his body leaning forward and his hips swinging like a true surfer riding a wave.


    Hended behind the tail, grabbing onto its body with a hand as ck scales erupted across his body.


    His torso flexed and his arms bulged with a pulsing might. A green aura erupted across his skin as he activated Aetherflow and one projection of his body after anotheryered on top of


    each other.


    Then...


    Ss grunted, his power exploding all at once.


    He ripped the creature up and out of the ground, sending it flying toward the ss dome above.


    [ss Monkey (-)]


    [Level: 22]


    The scorpion tail Ss ripped out was actually attached to the back of a white-furred monkey.


    It wasn''t veryrgepared to other powerful beasts, only around Ss'' height. But it seemed very agitated now that it was out of the ground.


    ''I see. That makes things easier.''


    Ss'' arm flexed and his torso torqued in the skies. Then, as though he was throwing ance,


    heunched the creature right for Alex.


    Alex was taken aback. This wasn''t part of their original n. For a moment, he thought that


    Ss had chosen to kill him after all.


    But the result was different from his imagination.


    The ss Monkey shrieked out in pain, a horrifying, high-pitched screech filling the air as its tailbusted into ash.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Instantly, the creature was heavily injured. If not for the fact this tail was just an extension of its body, it would have died directly.


    Alex blinked in surprise, but his reaction was fast. The chain in his hands shot out and captured the beast. Inwardly, though, his heart was beating fast.


    What was that? Was Ss really so powerful?


    That was a Quasi King beast! It was worth a hollow Merit! And he could have killed it just like that? They didn''t even need to rely on the amulet very heavily at all. If anything, using the


    amulet had made it harder due to the boost in Physical it gave the beasts.


    Alex''s inner thoughts danced wildly, their truths only known to himself.

 Chapter 590: Meditation

    Chapter 590: Meditation


    ?


    Alex kept looking at Ss'' side profile as they ran.


    "Pay attention to yourself." Ss said, suddenly snapping Alex out of his thoughts.


    The man looked ahead to find that Cairith was alreadying into view...


    As did the pyramids.


    Many who had never been to this part of the Africor Continent underestimated just how intertwined the pyramids were with the citizens of Cairith.


    The pyramids were practically a part of the city line, integrated into the very fabric of the city itself.


    One could also see the sheer amount of respect that the people here held for it. Despite having the technology to do so, there wasn''t a single building here taller than the pyramids, as though acknowledging their superiority in a silent, somber sort of way.


    As expected, though, Alex and Ss couldn''t even get close... at least not without getting into a battle or finding themselves another identity. These robes weren''t going to cut it.


    However, they had their own n for that.


    Stopping a long distance away, Alex pulled out the ss Monkey.


    Cairith was an interesting ce for more reasons than just the proximity to the pyramids and how city life seemed to blend perfectly into it. There were two more reasons to be specific.


    First, the Aether here was quite exceptional. It wasn''t quite as good as what one would see from the Aether ne, but it was about 80% simr, making it more than good enough for battle.


    And second, they seemed to have still managed to find a way to perfectly control the beast poption so that it didn''t influence things.


    Alex forced the ss Monkey''s jaw open and poured a Healing Elixir down its throat. Then, after getting as close as they could, they buried it into the ground.


    ording to their n, the ss Monkey, much like all beasts, would make its way toward the higher concentration of Aether. Once it did that, all hell would break loose.


    That was because, unlike the two of them, the ss Monkey had a fondness and ability to do two things...


    The first was traveling underground, especially sandy ground.


    And the second was a desire to form its own territory, going as far as to terraform it to its liking.


    These two pieces would be key to everything.


    After burying the ss Monkey deep within the rolling sand dune, they separated themselves.


    Now, all that was left to do was wait. Once the ss Monkey awoke from its injuries, it would definitely follow along with their n.


    ...


    Ss sat in silence in the middle of his tent. He couldn''t hear even the howling winds outside, and the chill of the night air didn''t influence him in the slightest.


    His Aether calmly circted within his body and he felt a sense of calm.


    He had just had a chat with his sister. Her calls had beening more and more often these days. It seemed like after he fell off the Merits Leaderboard, she felt like he might die any time.


    Unfortunately, the little munchkin was too smart for him to wave off with a few words, so he had to burn through his Aether just to satisfy her.


    She had always been the most sensitive of his family. There was a reason that she was the only one waiting outside his door when he returned from the Trial.


    However, there was something about having people worry for you that made Ss feel at peace.


    He didn''t think himself to be an overly sentimental person, but he was human. He had much the same thoughts and emotions as everyone else, even if they seemed to be somewhat distorted.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> circted calmly. And though there wasn''t any Aether in the surroundings, somehow the hollowness of it all made Ss view the Skill in apletely different light.


    This was the skill he always relied on for the sake of replenishing his Wisdom and Aether, but without any Aether around, he found that he could sense the changes to his Wisdom much more intimately.


    It was almost like a tangled mess in his mind that was being slowly unwound and straightened out, exactly like a muscle being smoothed and massaged out of its tightness.


    When Ss looked deeper, he was shocked that he could actually feel it... the neurons of his mind firing...


    Some neurons were coated in small fat deposits and others were unsheathed. The more they fired, the less reliable they became and they almost needed a reset.


    Ss snapped out of the feeling as a headache pulsed through his skull.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However...


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has deepened]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Legendary Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has deepened]


    [<Maddened Enlightenment> has reached Progenitor Mastery]


    [Your understanding of <Maddened Enlightenment> has been temporarily raised by Madness Comprehension]


    [Maddened Enlightenment (FF+) (Skill) -> Maddened Enlightenment (F) (Gene Skill)]


    [Maddened Enlightenment (F) (Gene Skill)] (Common Mastery)


    [You are deeply in tune with the Madness of your Ancestors. It helps you to focus, rx, and form a oneness with the world. Understanding yourself is a form of peace, but understanding your ce in the world makes you Enlightened.]


    [Passively replenish Aether at a rate of 1% per ten minutes for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Passively replenish Wisdom at a rate of 1% per ten minutes for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Actively replenish Aether at a rate of 10% per minute for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Actively replenish Wisdom at a rate of 10% per minute for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Maddened Enlightenment (F) (Gene Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [You are deeply in tune with the Madness of your Ancestors. It helps you to focus, rx, and form a oneness with the world. Understanding yourself is a form of peace, but understanding your ce in the world makes you Enlightened.]


    [Passively replenish Aether at a rate of 7% per ten minutes for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Passively replenish Wisdom at a rate of 7% per ten minutes for every 1000 Wisdom]


    [Actively replenish Aether at a rate of 30% per minute for every 1000 Wisdom] [Actively replenish Wisdom at a rate of 30% per minute for every 1000 Wisdom]

 Chapter 591: Perpetrators

    Chapter 591: Perpetrators


    ?


    ''Passively...?''


    Ss was surprised. The Gene Skill worked without his input at all. As he moved around, slept, or even took a break, it worked all on its own. This was aplete change from what he was used to.


    7% of his Aether and six Aether Units. That wasn''t a ton, but it also wasn''t anything to sneeze at either.


    In addition, this skill scaled with Wisdom and didn''t seem to have a limit on his Intelligence either. That meant that so long as he continued to grow the two, he would be able to benefit from this for as long as he was in the F-Grade.


    But this was still what Ss felt was only the tip of the iceberg. That was because he sensed something else hidden within the skill, something vague and almost intangible, but something that was certainly there nheless.


    Ss was certain that when he actively circted <Maddened Enlightenment> now, he would actually be training his Wisdom like a muscle.


    He didn''t know what to call such a thing, but he was absolutely certain that it wasn''t just a "mere" Gene Skill. It felt like it was something beyond that.


    However, his current <Master Scouting> Skill wasn''t good enough to see through it. Either that, or the Skill itself hadn''t truly budded into what it was meant to and designed to be.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The ground suddenly rumbled beneath Ss even as the headache he was experiencing subsided.


    He opened his eyes and a sharpness gleamed within. It seemed like it was time.


    He stepped out of his tent and waved a hand. The ck, irregrly shaped vessel folded itself up magically into the form of a small pyramid that hovered above Ss'' palm before disappearing into the Madness Key.


    Items like this were what Ss spent much of the rest of his money on. This tent alone cost over ten million. Not only did it iste sound, it alerted him of threats, and it also concentrated Aether to help speed up recovery and better sleep. With it, you could get three hours'' worth of sleep out of just one, and with Ss'' current Constitution, that was more than a full night''s rest...


    If he wasn''t holding off on sleep for days at a time, that is.


    His water bottle was another item that cost over ten million. It concentrated Aether as well, speeding up natural Aether recovery with every sip and refreshing you.


    These were certainly extravagant purchases that Ss believed he would outgrow in less than a couple of months at worst. But he was in line with most business-savvy people. If your money wasn''t working for you, you were losing it.


    Over time, the value of Coins would only further depreciate, and this tent might bemon that even the weakest of warriors could buy it.


    If he didn''t benefit from it now, when would he?


    But thereiny the crux of the matter. If this tent, capable of isting all noise and sound, rumbled...


    Just how bad was the situation outside?


    The bright lights of Cairith in the distance were already flickering as the earth swayed from side to side.


    Screams echoed through the night and Ss could see buildings beginning to fall and crumble.


    The poption density of Cairith was far higher than it was anywhere else that Ss had seen. There was no doubt that there would be a great number of casualties as a result.


    Alex stepped out of his own tent and gave Ss a look before nodding.


    Both of them shot off into the distance.


    des of ice appeared beneath Ss'' feet and he shot by Alex, moving so fast that thetter''s lip twitched.


    Wasn''t this guy super slow?


    Alex looked down to the ice covering Ss'' feet, feeling something speechless. But then scales covered Ss'' body and Alex found himself looking at the former''s back from a far-off distance.


    "Shit! Wait for me!"


    There was a re of darkness around Alex and he seemed to be three times lighter. Like a rocket from a cannon, he shot out, leaving trails of wispy ckness behind him.


    The two, one streak of icy blue and another of dark ck, surged across the desert, appearing near the city line swiftly.


    The defensive perimeters were already in shambles. The appearance of a Quasi King was enough to force an all hands-on-deck sort of situation. Even if they could guess that this was some sort of enemy ploy, there was no easy way to deal with the situation.


    Most people weren''t even Level 10. And even if they were Level 20 or closing in on 30, a creature of the ss Monkey''s caliber would only need to breathe in their direction for them to die, even as a mere Level 22.


    When you factored in the change ofndscape on top of that, it was like hell on earth.


    Ss had realized after interacting with the ss Monkey that his Ice Aether only flowed so smoothly because the ss Monkey was actually a Path of the Mancer creature of Sand and Ice. Unfortunately, it was only Level 22 and not Level 40. Otherwise, it might be a perfect candidate for his Silver ss Upgrade.


    However, seeing its abilities had tickled something deep within him. That was because, much like Wood, Sand was an Earth Variant Aether...


    And this variant was about to be a headache for the Africor Continental Government.


    **


    Deep within Cairith, a group of government officials woke from their slumber, gathering together quickly.


    "It''s just as the Kings and Queen said, there''s movement."


    "A Quasi Bronze Beast is trouble. How did they manage this?"


    "Do we have any idea who the perpetrators are?"


    "Stop!"


    A growl came from a stalwart woman with a waist as thick as a man''s. She had wild hair that looked as though she hadn''t washed it in years, and her thick forearms were actually covered in a mesh of hair itself.


    She stood at only 5''10", which though tall for a woman, seemed shortpared to the sheer width and mass of her body.


    The Kings and Queen had already gone ahead toplete the task, leaving behind their trusted generals to man the situation, and she was none other than one of them...


    General Thora.


    "The first priority is to kill that damned monkey. As for the obvious intruders, there''s only one ce they could be heading. All hands on deck."

 Chapter 592: Unnecessary

    Chapter 592: Unnecessary


    ?


    Ss shot past the city limit, entering the chaos of the city itself. He lost immediate sight of Alex, but he was sure that the man could take care of himself. He wasn''t interested in babysitting him.


    He kept his visualization contained to an immediate ten-meter range, and it felt like every little detail was in his grasp.


    At his speed, this was just enough to keep things in perspective without over-running his senses. Plus, he still had his eyes to rely on.


    A building to his left trembled as the paved, concrete roads quickly became soft piles of sand.


    It tilted over and Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but narrow. This sort of devastation was beyond his expectations.


    Rather than trying to outrun the building, he nted a foot and shot to the side. His fist ripped through the ss and the screams of civilians filled his ears.


    He slipped through the tall office building, ripping his way up the stairs.


    By the time he got to the second floor, he was practically running up a 45-degree hill that was only getting steeper with every passing second.


    He rocketed out of the stairway door, shattering an office door and the floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side.


    With a press of his foot to the window''s ledge, he jumped across the street, soaring through the skies and through the windows of a second building.


    Ss nted a foot and shot to the side, sliding out of the way of a man who tried to punch him for seemingly no reason. He could vaguely guess that this man was the owner of this building and hated to see his hard work go to waste. In fact, he had the strength of a rich man as well, being what seemed to be Level 7...


    Unfortunately, he had no idea who he was dealing with.


    Ss moved so fast that the man broke his own ankles trying to keep up.


    On a normal day, it would mean a sprained ankle for a few weeks.


    On a day like this one...


    He slipped along with his copsing building, falling out of the window Ss just shattered.


    By the time he hit the ground and his building fell toward him, Ss had already scaled to the fourth floor and leapt out from the window again, reaching the next building with a BANG!


    In order for a city to be built in the desert like this, they had surely put quite some effort into excavating and preparing thend.


    For the buildings to just be falling over like this wasn''t the fault of poor nning. It could only be due to the impact of the ss Monkey.


    But was a Level 22 existence really already able to causerge-scale destruction on this scale? Was this the true power of a Quasi King Beast?


    Why had he never felt it to this extent before?


    There was a somberness that took root between Ss'' brows. It felt to him like he was missing something.


    And then it hit him.


    This was the weakness of humanity.


    This was the difference between a world of Aether and one without.


    To the ss Monkey, manipting this city into his ideal world was easy because the Aether here was only 80% simr to the Aether ne. That one 20% difference was already enough for it to act with impunity, imposing its kingship onto the surroundings and forcing it into submission.


    What then of a 100% difference? The gap between worlds that sessfully summoned and those that did not?


    A determination shed through Ss'' eyes and his Will seemed to further solidify.


    However, he soon found his stepsing to a stop.


    He looked out into the distance to find a woman standing in his path.


    The pyramids seemed perfectly integrated with the city, but the truth was that they were still historical artifacts. Even with the chaos, there were only a few paths to use to get to them, and all of them led down one path.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ultimately, these pyramids were still far too important to be entered casually.


    And now, a certain General Thora and what must have been several others stood in his path.


    As for Alex? He was nowhere to be seen.


    Ss didn''t look around, his expression quite calm.


    With a thought, his visualization rippled outward and covered its full 100-meter range.


    The world seemed to sink into the palm of his hands.


    His Wisdom was now over 1000. In the past, just a Wisdom of 11 had allowed him the ability to split his mind three ways. What did his current Wisdom allow him?


    The unfortunate truth was that things didn''t scale so simply. That was because as his Wisdom increased, so too did his other stats and abilities, and they began to consume more and more of his Wisdom by extension.


    As such, increasing one''s Wisdom always felt like a constant game of catch-up. Having more was never a bad thing... but ironically enough, one felt that way about all of their stats.


    That said...


    SHUU! SHUU! SHUU!


    Nine flickering bolts appeared behind Ss, trembling only slightly in the skies before they solidified and seemed to be permanent fixtures of the air.


    General Thora''s eyes narrowed, feeling hints of danger. Giving a casual nce to the bolts, she felt like they weren''t normal by any means.


    "Ss Grimde, it isn''t necessary for you to be an enemy of our government. We''ve seen your skill and you could be one of us. You may not be an Afric, but we are all human at the end of the day. If you are a man without a home, we can give you one."


    General Thora began to speak slowly, but at that moment, an energy that seemed to target Ss'' eyes shattered and there was a cough that echoed from the distance.


    The instant this happened, Ss took a step forward, one of his bolts shooting out as he elerated.

 Chapter 593: Slowpoke

    Chapter 593: Slowpoke


    ?


    There was an explosion in the darkness and General Thora''s eyes widened.


    Those hidden away had protections of their own, the kind that Ss'' visualization couldn''t see through easily. But the moment she coughed, Ss had acted first, ripping his bolt through the air with a Physical of 1715.


    With that sort of pace... how could those lurking in the dark even be able to react?


    The charred corpse of a woman, still lit on fire, plopped to the ground. The Explosive Bolt had pierced right through her chest with a full 2000 Attack, erupting with explosives from the inside out.


    She never stood a chance.


    And the moment she copsed, so too did the veil of those hidden around, and they found themselves assaulted by the very same bolts.


    Ss didn''t even look at them directly, appearing within a meter of General Thora.


    He didn''t have much to praise this woman about as he hardly knew her, but if nothing else, her reaction was still sharp despite her surprise.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A heavy pair of twin axes appeared in her palms as an amulet danced around her neck.


    She shed down with both at the same time, as though trying to take Ss'' head from his shoulders twice over.


    Ice shed beneath Ss'' feet as his body ducked down. He could practically hear the sharpening of the des swinging over his head as he popped back up, leaning his head to the side and driving a knee into General Thora''s body.


    His knee felt like it had run into a solid wall, the armor that the General was wearing nearly cracking his kneecap.


    This was precisely it. The advantage of treasures.


    General Thora''s Physical wasn''t bad; however, it was still only about 60% of Ss'' current 1251 Constitution, not to mention the fact Ss had protections from his Aether skin on top of that.


    Yet, this was the result.


    General Thora was sent flying backward, iling as she felt the wind almost entirely knocked out of her. But she recovered swiftly,nding on her feet and digging her axes into the ground to slow her backward progress.


    She unleashed an almost manic roar and her body exploded in size. Rather than rising to her feet, her axes dug into the ground further and her hunched back bulged out.


    Suddenly, her arms flexed and using her axes as an anchor, she shot forward like a speeding bullet. Herbat style became wild, her axes iling about and her body moving like a raging gori.


    SHIING! SHIING! SHIING!


    Ss dodged, and then dodged again before his gaze shed with a red-gold light. A pair of illusory wings appeared on his back and he slipped through a duo of swinging des.


    He appeared in the midst of General Thora''s crossing arms, and she didn''t pause her movements for even a moment, pressing down as though she wanted to both hug him to death and pierce both of her axes into his back.


    But Ss shot an elbow out to one side, blocking her swing and knocking the de.


    CLANG!


    Both axes shed behind Ss, having intercepted one another''s path before they could puncture his skin.


    Ss took a step forward despite the two of them practically being chest to chest, hooking his leg behind General Thora''s ankle and driving his second elbow into her head.


    General Thora''s Aether skin, likely supported by the armor she wore, protected her nose cartge from being driven up to her brain. However, that didn''t stop her head from being knocked back viciously. And because of the hook of Ss'' leg, instead of being sent flying back, she fell right to the ground.


    The timing was perfect. Just as she fell, the nging of her axes sent them and her arms flying apart, causing them to miss Ss entirely.


    Ss'' foot drove down from above, once then twice in quick session.


    A sickening crack echoed, but it was nothing more than Aether skin. It was the third crack that truly made one feel as though something was crawling beneath their skin...


    And that was the crack that came from Ss driving the heel of his foot into her neck.


    General Thora''s eyes widened in shock, not thinking that she would die like this. She had so many more skills and abilities that she hadn''t used. But by now...


    It was far toote.


    Ss threw her corpse into his Madness Key, not to hide it, but because he would most definitely look through it to see if she had anything goodter.


    He scanned the battlefield to find nine charred corpses around him. There was nothing worth salvaging.


    There was no time to waste, so he rushed ahead.


    ording to the preparation he had done, there were several entrances into the Mountain of Giza, but it was hard to tell which one he was supposed to go to.


    He doubted that it would be one of the most obvious entrances, but the less obvious ones weren''t so well-documented either.


    In the end, Ss chose to forego all theplexities and directly entered through a ground


    passage.


    He immediately found himself in a ustrophobic space. He had to duck and his shoulders barely had room for him to face straight forward and walkfortably.


    He moved as fast as he could, as best he could, until he made it to an opening in the chambers where he found Alex just standing and waiting there.


    Looking back with a grin, Alex gave him augh. "Took you long enough, slowpoke."


    Ss didn''t know how to respond to this, so he just waited for Alex to lead the way.


    "What a downer," Alex said with a shake of his head.


    It wasn''t that Ss didn''t know how to interact with jokes; it was more so that he wasn''t familiar with Alex and he also didn''t have the care to put up pretenses in a situation like this


    one.


    Now wasn''t the time for a sense of humor, so he didn''t waste brain space on it.


    "Be ready," Alex said. "The pyramids are normal when there''s no Aether, but they''re aligned with the stars for a reason. Once Aether is active, they''re able to gather and concentrate it far better than most Temtes could imagine, and because of that..."


    There was a sudden ripple from the sides and a Winking Portal formed. "... There''s probably hundreds of these in here."

 Chapter 594: Enter [Bonus]

    Chapter 594: Enter [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss was shocked by the sudden appearance of the portal because he had sensed nothing at all. There was no rush of Aether or wild fluctuation. In one moment, there was nothing. And in the next instant, it had poofed into existence.


    ''This is bad.''


    It wasn''t hard to imagine all the potential problems that could pop out because of this alone. Silent Portals that led to who knows where might not mean death, but if he was thrown off course again and again, not to mention forced to fight a bunch of unnecessary battles, he wouldn''t end up getting anything he wanted out of this experience.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Clear the Mountain of Giza Dungeon...''


    That was supposed to be his task, but there was no Dungeon to be seen. In fact, judging by the situation outside, it didn''t feel like there was any Dungeon nearby at all. Otherwise, there would probably be more than just the ss Monkey wreaking havoc.


    In fact, now that Ss thought about it, he had never seen a Dungeon take form on Earth; they were always on the Aether ne itself.


    ''Then could it be...?''


    Ss'' gaze flickered, realizing that maybe the Dungeon he was looking for would precisely be in one of these Winking Portals.


    He stood in silence, his mind churning.


    [Age 9: Deciphered Ancient Ithkuil text andpleted puzzle. This has helped advance ourprehension of these matters by severalfold. This child can no longer be tested by normal means]


    Ss hadn''t forgotten about the puzzle he hadpleted when he was nine years old. But the irony of it all was that because he had seeded back then, Legacy would surely have ess to a simr array of information.


    Although he had more perfectlypleted the puzzle recently, he didn''t believe it was a hard enough solution that no one coulde up with it as well.


    The fact the puzzle hepleted when he was nine and this Quest aligned with one another was truly a stroke of fate. But now that he truly was here, he realized that things wouldn''t be so simple.


    ''The Lost City of Gold Points Toward the Sea... The Mountains of Giza Point Toward the Stars... Alex just mentioned the stars just now. It was casual and almost fleeting, but clearly he has some understanding of this as well.


    ''The Udjat eye, the pinecone, and the Tree of Life...''


    Ss gathered his memories for what was almost two decades ago now, his thoughts continuing to spin.


    By the side, Alex didn''t say anything even though Ss had dropped their conversation to think.


    It was obvious to anyone paying attention that since Alex had read Ss'' file, he would know tidbits about what Ss had discovered when he was nine. It was just that Alex didn''t have all the details. Only Ss knew what the puzzle was and what his trantion of the Ancient Ithkuilnguage had been.


    However, the reason Ss wasn''t so confident was that he wasn''t 100% sure that these things were linked with one another.


    His trantion did mention the Mountains of Giza, but they also mentioned a Lost City of Gold. Thetter didn''t seem to have much to do with Egyptian heritage at all.


    In addition, it was clearly plural. It mentioned "Mountains," whereas his Quest only referred to a single Mountain of Giza. For someone as detail-oriented as Ss, this was a huge difference.


    [Silver Requirement]


    [>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]


    As such, when he came here, he didn''t make the immediate assumption that everything he knew would map onto it one to one.


    Ultimately, he was already proven correct. He saw no aspects of the puzzle he hadpleted, and he had yet to see any Ancient Ithkuil.


    ''Ancient Ithkuil...''


    When he recalled those matters, his first thought about thisnguage was how much it reminded him of Runes. Back when he was nine, he didn''t know the name of thenguage; they just gave him some materials to trante.


    Usually, when tranting ancientnguages, one had to have a reference of some sort, and Ss could remember having been given a stone with ancient carvings on it. It had looked like it was a moment away from beingpletely eroded by time.


    Using the stone, or rather a 3D rendering of it because they presumably didn''t trust a nine- year-old with the original, he was able to decipher it.


    But today, Ss found that he would be able to do it even without the stone. That was because thenguage was far too simr to Runes.


    Were they Runes?


    The current Ss would say no. But they clearly descended from Runes, and Ss even had a feeling that if there was a universalnguage across gxies that Rune Masters might use to speak to one another, it would definitely be thisnguage.


    However, even as Ss was lost in this whirlwind of thoughts, he found himself not making any progress.


    There was nothing to decipher around him, no passage that seemed to lead anywhere deeper, and he was just surrounded by aged stone walls that looked like they might copse at any


    time.


    Ss turned his attention toward the Winking Portal as it blinked out of existence and seemed to understand that there was only one way forward here.


    He turned back to Alex to find the man was wearing a ck mask that made it look as though he had no nose or mouth. Even his eyes were reced by two spinning white orbs. It was eerie in a way that was difficult to describe. If Ss wasn''t sure that no one hade in or out while he was lost in thought, he would begin to question whether it was truly Alex by his side


    or not.


    "We''re going to enter," Ss said after a while.


    Alex nodded, seemingly having already expected this result.


    Since they were here, there was no way they would leave because of a little uncertainty.


    The moment the Winking Portal appeared again, they moved.

 Chapter 595: Janga [Bonus]

    Chapter 595: Janga [Bonus]


    ?


    The world spun around Ss and he found himself standing on a ck ice mirror. In fact, all around him were broken, fragmented reflections of himself and the world. It was hard to see if he would run headfirst into a wall with a step or fall into an endless abyss.


    Ss had thought he might run into a lot of things when he stepped into the portal, but this was thest thing he expected. He thought he might find some clues on the other side, but instead he found more confusion.


    He looked around to find that Alex was a distance away. It wasn''t far, only three meters or so. But in a world like this one, it might as well have been a world.


    Neither of them dared to move without first understanding the situation. But then the world began to shift around them.


    Silvery lights bounced around endlessly, changing the geometrical shapes of the fragmented ck ice. They became more rapid until Ss'' eyes had a hard time keeping up.


    He realized that if the changes to these shapes were also rted to the shifts in danger, they might not have a choice of whether they ran into problems or not.


    Alex''s body suddenly flickered and became a shadow that appeared by Ss'' side just as thetter felt the world spin around him once again.


    ...


    Ss found his feetnding on smooth limestone. He didn''t bother to wear shoes these days because they would only get destroyed, and he couldn''t wear Treasures, so he felt the difference even before his vision cleared.


    He thought that he was back in the pyramid, only to find that the world around him was nothing like what he might expect.


    It looked like he had been thrown into the middle of a floating, Jenga-like maze of thick limestones.


    Ss ducked as one of the pieces almost took his head off, and his heart skipped a beat as the reverberating sh of two in the distance echoed like a bomb through the space.


    The heft of these floating stones was easily in the several tons. Even with his current Strength, he couldn''t lift one of these over his head. But now they were floating around erratically.


    Ss jumped up, grabbed one by its ledge, and pulled himself up.


    From this vantage point, he could see Alex in the distance, but it still wasn''t enough, so he continued to scale them, getting higher and higher.


    But by the third one, he realized something strange.


    ''I don''t feel like my view is changing much. It feels the same...''


    Ss'' head turned. He scanned the region step by step before looking straight up. However, it was the same no matter where he looked.


    The Jenga-like limestone pieces were somewhat spaced apart, and it felt like there should be more than enough room to see through them all, but if you looked far enough into the distance, they would eventuallypile in a way that was no different from a stone wall.


    No matter how high he went, or how close he moved, Ss had a feeling that he would never reach the end of these puzzle pieces. They were moving in rtion to him, and though their movement seemed somewhat random, they were stuck in a configuration thatyered across his line of sight just enough to obstruct his views from all angles.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So the question was... how should he get out of here?


    ''A puzzle? Is that it? Is this entire pyramid one big game? To what ends?''


    If that was all there was to it... Ss didn''t believe that this would be all that difficult at all.


    His gaze shifted and hended on a limestone that looked just like the others. With a few hops, hended on it.


    When he first got here, he heard a loud booming sound that was the result of two limestones smashing into one another. However, since then, he hadn''t heard anything.


    Plus, if all of the limestones were moving in rtion to one another, then how could they crash?


    That could only mean that there was something special about at least one of the limestones, and it would be the key to getting out.


    Alex appeared in a sh by Ss, but thetter didn''t give him a look. It seemed that Ss was already prepared for Alex to freeload... at least for now.


    Ss'' gaze shed and, as expected, he found something. He pressed a foot down slightly harder and a rush of Aether lit up a Rune.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The limestones continuously crashed. Ss had only rammed the limestone beneath his feet against one of the others, and yet it had resulted in a cascading effect where they all continuously rammed into one another until...


    An opening.


    The two men shot forward at the same time, scaling through the limestones and soaring out of the Jenga pce. They felt like they were falling through darkness and might have made a mistake until, once again, they suddenly felt the ground form beneath their feet.


    Ss looked back to find a spherical blob of floating Jenga-piece limestones in the far-off distance. It bobbed slowly through the air, moving without much speed, and yet it was a steady mass.


    He looked away and forward.


    There was a perfect straight stone path ahead that bulged out to form a circr pattern around an altar before continuing ahead in its usual straight form. No matter how far ahead he tried to look, it seemed like the path was endless. Either that, or his eyes simply couldn''t see that far ahead.


    Ss walked toward the altar, observing it for a moment. But it didn''t have anything special other than a bowl filled with nothing at all.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss reached forward and touched it. Right then, he felt his Aether being sapped away before a light shed and then vanished.


    It wasn''t much Aether at all, maybe the equivalent of a prick of the finger. But the result was


    intriguing.


    ''Ancient Ithkuil. Just one symbol?''


    [Author''s Note Below!]

 Chapter 596: Shortcuts

    Chapter 596: Shortcuts


    ?


    The Ithkuil symbol before him only meant a single word: Enlightenment.


    Well, it didn''t precisely mean Enlightenment. Instead, it meant illumination.


    Ss could remember getting interested in Ithkuil in the past. It was anguage that he thought was designed by a modern philosophizing psychologist in order to take the ambiguity out ofnguage.


    As anyone walking around in day-to-day life could tell you, it was often hard to understand someone''s exact meaning without also being adept at reading their tone, inflections, and even sometimes their state of mind. It could even be said that without being able to read someone''s mind, the idea of knowing exactly what they meant by a statement was nigh impossible.


    Thisnguage sought to take the ambiguity out of dailymunication. But it was¡ª rightfullyplex as a result.


    The short of it was that every word in Ithkuil had its own unique fingerprint to be used in very specific situations, making their meanings as clear as possible.


    While it was "technically" right that this word meant Enlightenment, it was instead more urate to trante it as Illumination. In this context, it meant lighting up a path. It was a much more physical manifestation of Enlightenment, one taking ce in a metaphysical world rather than just in one''s mind.


    But it did also touch onto the faint edges of the so-called "light bulb moment."


    This was the beauty of Ithkuil.


    Ss looked up toward the path ahead. ''I see.''


    He stepped around the altar as Alex followed along. He waved a hand and the Illumination Rune appeared in his palm.


    At that moment, the straight path ahead suddenly split into countless.


    ''Still not enough.''


    Ss refined the Rune and suddenly some of the paths ahead became sharper and more focused than others.


    With a clench of his fist, Ss shattered the Rune and shook his head.


    He turned back and then drew an Ithkuil symbol instead, driving it into the body of the altar.


    A pir of light rose out of the altar and the empty bowl began to fill up with golden liquid that poured out and slipped onto the grey cobbled stone.


    The cracks were filled in by this liquid before jetting off into the distance and suddenly curving off of the main path.


    Ss and Alex didn''t need tomunicate. They both shot after the overflowing liquid, racing down the path for what felt like hours.


    It was hard to measure time in a ce like this one as even the system seemed somewhat disoriented. But when they were a few minutes in, they already began to modte their pace so as to not overshoot their stamina.


    Three hourster, the golden liquid came to a stop and the two stood before a tall set of doors.


    The doors were formed of smooth grey stone and must have been at least ten meters tall. The golden liquid stopped at its base before suddenly rocketing up the small crack between them. With a crack, the doors slowly opened and a golden light spilled out.


    The two walked through, but when their vision cleared... what they saw left them quite speechless.


    It was the same stone room they had started in. In fact, if they strained their ears, it felt like they could still faintly hear themotion going on in the city. Though, thetter was extremely faint.


    They had ended up in the same ce?


    ''No, not the same ce. The patterns of erosion on the wall are slightly different. But it might


    as well be the same ce. There''s no functional difference.''


    Ss'' gaze flickered, trying to piece something together.


    However, even after a long while, he realized that there was only one sticking point in all of this.


    That world of ck mirrors.


    It was the only ce they had been where he had passively allowed everything to happen to him. But...


    ''I understand.''


    Enlightenment shot through Ss'' body.


    When those fragmented pieces of ck ice floated around, it was like they were in the middle of a fun house of mirrors that was far more erratic and shocking than usual. In fact, if you took a step further, it was like they were in the middle of chaos as reality itself fragmented and broke apart.


    However, if he took a step back from all the disorientation... what did those mirrors remind him of?


    If he focused on just the fragmentation and the cracked lines themselves... wasn''t it exactly like that paper of scribbles they had put in front of him when he was nine years old? The very same paper of scribbles that he solved by wrapping yarn around pins?


    Ss'' mind recalled that image once again. Then, he recalled the changes he made to it as an adult...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Not only did he pull those strings into a two-dimensional image of an eye and a pinecone, but if he pulled from above...


    It formed a pyramid.


    ''I understand. That world of ck and silver represents the various nodes across the pyramid in a one-to-one fashion. If I want to make it to the core of this mystery, I need to move quickly when we enter the world of mirrors. The node I stand on in the end will decide where we end up next.


    ''The question is if there is a systematic way to do this or not...''


    Ss'' thoughts ran much smoother with how high his Wisdom was now. And the passive nurturing of <Maddened Enlightenment> only made his mind all the more potent.


    It wasn''t even a few seconds before he had an understanding.


    ''I see. There''s no way for there to be enough time to make it through the entire world of mirrors. Given how much time we hadst time, at most I would have as much time to move about as far as Alex did to approach me.


    ''This means that the process of moving through the pyramid has to be done incrementally. I can''t just jump to the end. But... I can pick out shortcuts... by shifting my position little by


    little...''

 Chapter 597: Thought

    Chapter 597: Thought


    ?


    Ss and Alex appeared in the world of ck ice once more. But this time Ss was swift and decisive. The entire image reflected in his mind and he took a step forward,nding on another crack.


    Alex reacted in kind, moving like Ss did andnding on the node as well.


    Soon, the world shed around them and they found themselves in yet another puzzle world that Ss almost carelessly solved.


    These puzzles were undoubtedly far simpler than what was the overall puzzle. It was almost a shame that Ss had solved the toughest puzzle for Legacy. But there was no going back now. How could he have nned this out when he was just a kid?


    However, he was confident that even with his solution, no one would understand the world of ck mirrors better than he did. No one would be able to pick a more efficient path than he did, and if they had to rely on a child to solve the puzzle for them, he bet he would be the fastest in solving these simpler puzzles as well.


    Of course, it wasn''t lost on Ss that there was a possibility that Legacy had long since solved the puzzle and just gave it to him as a test. After all, it had to be remembered that Legacy wasn''t his only enemy here. There was also the Africor Continental Government. So unless the Constitutional Monarchy was flying blind, or Legacy had given them the solution, they would likely have answers of their own.


    Since there was a very real possibility that this was the case...


    He would just have to be faster.


    The reason he didn''t take this possibility very seriously, though, wasn''t just the confidence he had in himself, but also the fact they had taken so long toe here.


    If they were so confident...


    Why wait?


    He bet that he would receive that answer very soon.


    --n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss and Alex moved through a world of overflowingva. The rhythm of the eruption was perfectly timed by Ss before they came to a stop at the bottom of the overflowing volcano ahead.


    With a calm gaze, Ss analyzed what he was seeing ahead.


    ''I see. The puzzle''s already ended. I just need the altar.''


    He bent down and pressed a hand. As expected, another Ithkuil Symbol appeared. This time, it was "Enlightenment" again. Or more specifically: Awakening.


    Ss drew the symbol and drove it into the hidden altar. At that moment, the volcano seemed to go to sleep, but the world around them erupted.


    Pirs of molten fire shot into the skies, but that process seemed to drain the volcano of all the magma it had, leaving the structure itself much safer.


    The duo dashed into it, falling into the volcano to find a wide set of doors waiting down at the bottom.


    Ss could feel that the puzzles were getting trickier and more dangerous. This was the first time the altar had been hidden in in sight like that, and you also had to trust your judgment; otherwise, you would end up hesitating to take the leap.


    It was still nowhere near asplex as the world of ck ice, but... the more Ithkuil Symbols Ss collected, the more he felt that there was an even deeper puzzle hidden in in sight that he wasn''t seeing.


    The reason he kept thinking "Enlightenment" when the symbol didn''t read that at all was because of his Quest. It was known as the Rune Enlightenment Quest.


    And for some reason, when he saw these Ithkuil Symbols, there was something that triggered inside of him to be reminded of that Quest.


    Normal Ithkuil was precisely designed to target the deepest psychological, innate understandings of humans and trante them into symbols that could be easily digested.


    But Ithkuil in the presence of Aether seemed to be even more poignant than that. Every symbol he came across almost stroked his brain in a way no othernguage could...


    After interacting with so many of them by now, Ss realized what it was.


    ''If I think in Ithkuil instead of Earth''snguage... would I be smarter?''


    When the thought came to Ss, he found it difficult to hold himself back and he began to do so slowly.


    He was a genius, but he wasn''t aputer. Thinking in anguage he was only vaguely familiar with wasn''t something he could do at the drop of a dime.


    But he found that with his Rune Mastery, and the oddpatibility Ithkuil had with it, it was far easier than normal.


    Every time he came across an altar, it was like another piece of his mind was enlightened to thisnguage and things progressed more and more smoothly for him until he felt like a solid link between his thoughts and his Aether was formed.


    A shudder rippled through Ss'' body as he blinked in surprise.


    What was that?


    There was no Title, no change to his stats, no sudden system notification.


    It was like nothing at all had changed, and yet like everything had.


    Just as Ss was trying to understand what was happening to him, thinking in a fluent Ithkuil as though it was his native tongue, he felt the ripple spread to his visualization.


    All of a sudden, the world of vibrant colors around him wasn''t just one of colors, but also one of Runes. He didn''t even need to activate his Rune Mastery or Enchanted Scribe. It was like he could just naturally see the world in its Runic state.


    Ss stood in that nd stone room in silent shock as though this was the very first time he was seeing the world clearly.


    But it wasn''t just this.


    He couldn''t just see the world... he could see the world as it was meant to be... as though no one had ever messed with Earth''s Runes.


    Ss was forced to pull himself out of that state when the next Winking Portal appeared.


    The two went in and repeated the same routine.


    But this time...


    They found people on the other side.

 Chapter 598: Possession

    Chapter 598: Possession


    ?


    The moment their vision cleared, they found themselves facing off against an unexpected group. This wasn''t because they were part of Legacy or the government, but precisely because they were part of neither.


    Ss was fairly certain of this conclusion because they were a ragtag group of three, or so it seemed.


    They were led by a gruff man whose eyes were red with fatigue. To his left was a middle-aged woman with short cut hair and a tightly held pearly white crossbow, and on his right was a young man who couldn''t have been more than 17 or so years old.


    They immediately struck Ss as a family, and right now they were in the middle of a cascade of danger.


    Swinging scythes fell from the air and swiped at them from all directions. They were trying to make their way to the other side, but given how things had gone in this world until this point, Ss didn''t believe that this overly simple "trap" was all there was to it.


    If it was just about avoiding the swinging scythes and making it to the other side, any one of them could do it in their sleep. But with the trend of the puzzles of this world only bing more difficult the further he descended, Ss didn''t believe that that was the end.


    Since Ss didn''t move, Alex didn''t move either. Both didn''t seem to care that there was a family about to lose their lives.


    The middle-aged man noticed them, but he only grit his teeth. He understood the ways of this world well enough to understand that it was impossible for him to expect anything of Ss and Alex. In fact, had he been in their position, he would do the same-observing from the side and waiting to catch something that might help him and his family protect their lives.


    Ss, though, wasn''t observing the family very much. He had already seen through the mystery of the puzzle. The real reason he didn''t move was because he didn''t want to be interfered with. Who knew what people on theirst legs might do out of jealousy? If he could avoid the confrontation and let this pyramid kill them instead, he would be more than happy with that.


    He closed his eyes instead, feeling out the differences caused by Ithkuil to his psyche. They were still quite shocking to him.


    But if he had to guess why there were so many, it must be that thews of the world had a lot of filtering to do when it wasmanded through normalnguage.


    As much processing as humans had to do to understand other humans, wouldn''t the system or the world itself have to do the same?


    When Ssmunicated what he wanted the Runes to do, how exactly did that process work?


    He always described a lot of what he did with this world as moving his "intent." When he opened his notifications, he did it with his "intent." When he chose an option from the system, he did so with his "intent." When hemunicated with the system to trigger the activation of a Skill, he did so with his "intent."


    But if he boiled it down to what it truly was, wasn''t he just thinking a thing?


    His intent was just aplicated formtion of thoughts, and ultimately, his thoughts were formed in thenguage of Earth even if said thoughts didn''te out with words themselves.


    As any linguistics expert would tell you, just the act of thinking in anothernguage changed the intent behind things. Different cultures, back when Earth used to have many hundreds ofnguages, would even have different types of humor and sense of what was and wasn''t funny just based on how they thought. And this went beyond just wordy.


    This kind ofnguage you had could dictate so much.


    Every time Ss came across one of the words on the altars, his mind kept going back to the word "Enlightenment," when in reality it was apletely different word before him.


    He realized now that hisnguage was actually too simple and ambiguous by extension of that.


    Thinking in Ithkuil gave his thoughts a sharper edge to them, greater refinement. It was something that was hard to exin, but he could think more clearly and even understand himself with greater rity.


    The most shocking thing Ss realized was that had he been thinking in Ithkuil since the very start of his journey, it would have taken him half the time to raise his Madness Comprehension to Gold.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Just thenguage itself made him feel like he could deduce things with greater speed because the neural connections linking every word in his vocabry were so granr and focused that he had no choice but to refine his thought to the greatest levels of specification.


    If he didn''t, it was almost like he didn''t have the right to have a thought at all.


    ''Truly amazing...''


    This was the trantion of Ss'' thought, but in reality, the raw emotion of his words was far more than anything he would have ever expressed before.


    It was almost like Ithkuil was also making him more emotional at the same time. And that thought alone made Ss think of something more profound.


    Why was it that intelligent creatures evolved to have emotions? Was that the natural state of the universe?


    Why was it that thisnguage that allowed him to hear the rhythmic beating of the Earth''s heart so much more clearly also made him so much more in tune with his own heart?


    " ¡ª Please! I am in possession of something that will be of great help to you, I am certain. If you save my family, all of my possessions are yours! If not, I will let these guillotines destroy


    it!"


    Ss opened his eyes and only now seemed to tune the world back in. His gaze sharpened when he saw therge gold coin in the man''s hand.


    With a step, he suddenly elerated into the line of swinging des.

 Chapter 599: Golden Coin

    Chapter 599: Golden Coin


    ?


    The puzzle here was much more dangerous than the others he hade across, including the volcano. The reason for that was that the mere act of trying to dodge these scythes in the first ce would end your life.


    The scythes were incredibly thin and there seemed to be Runes that colored the mechanisms they hung from and the ground that matched their resonances to the movements of the people who tried to pass through them.


    The des, as a result, would elerate to cut anything it sensed. The only way to deal with this seemed to be to be faster than the mechanisms could swing the des in the first ce.


    However, by Ss'' calctions, you would have to have over 5000 Speed to do that, something not even he could touch, let alone everyone here. That kind of Speed was already approaching speed of sound territory, and likely beyond it.


    The next thing to do would be to try and dive. If you leapt past every guillotine, then it wouldn''t be able to sense you through the Runes in the ground, and that would obviously keep you safe.


    Unfortunately, that only worked for the first half of the roadway. And even then, it was incredibly dangerous.


    The Runes were made to sense pressure changes, so it could obviously also sense when someone was pressing enough force into the ground to jump arge distance.


    However, one would be able to get away so long as you were fast enough.


    And then everything changed.


    The Runes became more refined at the halfway mark, and their sensitivity increased. The mechanisms that swung the scythes also became more responsive and had lessg to them, elerating faster and beginning their swing with much sharper instincts.


    The family had tried to execute the very same maneuver they had earlier to make it, but it had ended up with them almost losing their lives.


    In fact, their son now had a bloody wound that cut across his back, one that seemed to be at least three inches deep. For a normal human, that sort of wound was nothing short of a death sentence. But even as someone over Level 20, their son wasn''t going to survive very long like that unless an Elixir or someone with a special Profession or ss intervened.


    However, even with their son in such a situation, they could only look on in absolute shock.


    That was because the scythes they had taken so much effort to leap past and across, spending hours just to reach this point, seemed like children''s toys to Ss.


    They crossed behind him, in front of him, some even came to aplete stop before they cut into him at all.


    It was like Ss was in his own backyard and there was nothing these mechanisms could do to stop him in the slightest. It was the most ridiculous thing they had ever seen.


    The middle-aged man slumped to the ground andughed.


    It should have been augh of relief, but it was anything but. Instead, it was a self- deprecatingughter.


    When he and his family had gotten this token, it took a great deal for him to decide toe here. But ultimately, he crossed the canal into the Africor Continent and chose toe here nheless.


    Their experience made him realize that without power, there wasn''t much they could do in this world. And maybe he had also let some of his own ego be involved as well.


    But in the end, his son was lying half dead here, and there was this young man barely much older than the very son in his arms who seemed to treat their life-and-death matter like a joke.


    The puzzle they took hours to cross took Ss 30 seconds. In fact, he would have been faster if he cared to use his true Speed supported by Aether or the Basilisk King, or... if he wasn''t thinking about other things.


    Like the fact the tone of the puzzles had changed.


    They were no longer just visual puzzles that anyone could figure out with enough effort.


    They had be Rune Puzzles.


    Ss reached the family and looked back. Alex was still somewhat helplessly standing on the outside. He had tried to follow Ss, only for a guillotine to almost take his head off.


    Turning back to the family, Ss held out a hand.


    The middle-aged man hesitated, but in the end, he sighed and handed the golden coin over.


    Ss looked down at it, scrutinizing it deeply.


    The coin was beautiful and almost too bright to look at. On one surface, it had the etching of what looked like a Mayan temple with beams of lighting down from the sun above it. On the other side, there was...


    ''A pinecone...''


    Ity there, beautifully etched in detail that made it look like it was stamped out by the finest machinery. But Ss had a feeling that that was definitely not the process that created the coin.


    Another odd thing was that the pinecone was floating above the etching of what looked like


    an ocean or sea.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    This was one half of the puzzle hepleted, no? The pinecone?


    It was a symbolic item of the Ancient Egyptians and seemed toe from the Tree of Life.


    But this coin in particr, it felt like it came from...


    ''The City of Gold?''


    ... The Lost City of Gold Points Toward the Sea. The Mountains of Giza Point Toward the Stars...


    [Quest Token Sensed. Would you like to steal their Destiny?]


    [Yes][No]


    Ss epted.


    [Quest Upgraded]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    -


    [Rune Enlightenment (Silver) (Chain Quest) -> Rune Enlightenment (Gold) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.]


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this stories'' heritage. As an


    Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment]


    -


    [Silver Requirement]


    [>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]

 Chapter 600: Twin Moon [Bonus]

    Chapter 600: Twin Moon [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    This was outside of his expectations, but he had already found the Quest itself to be quite odd. The first three legs, the Fragments, Common, and Bronze parts, had all been extremely easy, rtively speaking.


    However, this Silver leg had had a drastic rise in difficulty.


    ''Well, that might not be true either...''


    Technically, the Silver leg only asked him to clear the Dungeon. But all things considered, he hadn''t even made it to the Dungeon yet. All of this was just a lead-up to it.


    But to think that there was still a Gold leg after it. Would there be another Legendary leg that he was missing to all of this?


    Ss had already realized that the grading of the system was a bit wacky sometimes. Two things that shared a Silver Grade might not necessarily be of the same quality. For example, a Silver Treasure like the Mancer''s Wand versus a Silver Aether Treasure, Mancer''s Blossom.


    But this was still the oddest application of these "odd" grading standards.


    ''It must be then that...''


    The system wasn''t perfect, Ss had seen that. It could be exploited, fooled, and it had far too many things to ount for at once to possibly give everything the same amount of energy. So it often took shortcuts.


    Sometimes, those shortcuts would even cause Ss to suffer quite a bit.


    But most often, those shortcuts would be most prominent when it came to matters rted to the system that existed before this current one.


    Could it be, then, that the system was struggling with grading this Quest properly because of that? Or did it just not factor in the difficulty of reaching the Dungeon in the first ce?


    That said... Ss was having a very hard time believing that a Dungeon protected by all of these mechanisms could possibly be all that simple to clear.


    He might be having a rtively easy time making it through, but how many others could boast such a thing?


    Ss lightly tapped a foot and a ripple of his intent spread out in all directions. Now, he found that controlling Runes had be even easier than they had once been in the past, and he sent a vast array ofmands in a single brief instant.


    At that moment, all the Runes in their of swinging guillotines were cleared.


    Ss had a feeling that from now on, while the puzzles had only be more difficult for others, they had actually gotten much easier for him.


    If they didn''t get far moreplex than this, they wouldn''t evenpare to the Rune Enlightenment Secret Realm, let alone the Rune Breath Secret Realm.


    Ss suddenly blinked. ''It can''t be that the Quest is called Rune Enlightenment because of that, right?''


    If that really was the case, this would be worse than a cakewalk. It would be a joke to Ss.


    Alex swiftly caught up after Ss dealt with the scythes.


    Ss only gave the family a nod before he prepared to go on ahead. As for how they got out of here, he didn''t really care one way or another.


    The fact that they had made it so far at least meant that they werepetent, but if he was correct, unless you had a Rune Master following you in this ce, you were as good as dead.


    "If you''d hold on for a moment, young man."


    Ss turned back at the middle-aged man''s words. He didn''t say a word, waiting to hear what he had to say, but to his surprise, he got a notification and a system-bound contract appeared before him.


    -


    [Contract Invitation Received From Cole Farren]


    The terms were quite simple. Cole would subordinate himself to Ss for three years and do whatever was asked of him that didn''t harm his wife and child.


    But what was more interesting than that was the fact that he had shared with Ss his entire status screen.


    Thest time Ss had seen a status screen, it was actually Cassarae. Though Nosphaleen probably also counted, it wasn''t exactly the same because she was his contracted beast.


    Cole was going so far as to show his use, and that he was.


    Ss looked toward the deep gash in Cole''s son''s back only to find that it was actually already half healed.


    [Name: Cole Farren]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: -]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [ss: Twin Moon Healer (Gold)]


    [Profession: Herbologist (F+)]


    [Level: 27]


    [Coins: 32 (F)]


    [Titles: Golden Touch (FFF-); Insightful Eye (FF+); A Patient Eye (F-)]


    [Physical: 520]


    >[Strength: 504]


    >[Constitution: 497]


    >[Dexterity: 511]


    >[Speed: 566]


    [Mental: 752]


    >[Intelligence: 1111]


    >[Wisdom: 1021]


    >[Charisma: 123]


    >[Will: 902]


    [Luck: 3]


    [Skills: ... Twin Moon Divide (FFF); Twin Moon sh (FFF); Twin Moon Radiance (FFF)]


    [Gene Skills: ... Twin Moon Resonance (F-)]


    [Gene State: Rigid]


    [Fragmented Genes:...]


    [Common Genes: ...]


    [Bronze Genes:...]


    [Gene Talents:]


    Ss was immediately attracted to the Gold ss. It was the first time he had seen one so high, though it was hard to tell considering he couldn''t just read what level of ss a person had from the face. He could only infer a bit through their stats, and usually, someone who had exceptionally high stats to begin with would have protections even his senses couldn''t see


    through.


    But that was what made it so odd...


    Cole''s stats were far too low for someone this high leveled.


    The only exnation for that would be if he only recently upgraded his ss to this Level.


    But... that didn''t feel like the right answer either.


    Suddenly it hit Ss and he looked over to Cole''s wife. There was a hint of panic in Cole''s eyes that he quickly hid, but Ss had already grasped onto it.


    ''Twin Moon? Is it possible that...''


    Before, he hadn''t been paying much attention, but it had looked as though Cole''s wife was the one doing the healing. But why was Cole the one with a Healer tag added to his ss?


    If they were both Healers, then shouldn''t Cole be working with his wife to heal their son?


    Unless...

 Chapter 601: Shared Class [Bonus]

    Chapter 601: Shared ss [Bonus]


    ?


    "Do you and your wife share the same ss?"


    Cole''s heart skipped a beat, shocked that it only took Ss a single nce at his status screen to understand this. It hadn''t even been more than two or three seconds. He couldn''t fathom how something like this could even be deduced.


    Cole took a breath. "We do."


    "It''s symbiotic." Ss said more as a statement than a question.


    "It is."


    "And your son?"


    "He has a ss of his own..." Cole said a bit bitterly.


    His son''s ss was what had gotten them into this mess in the first ce. Or, rather, it was the reason their son was lying half dead on the ground while his parents were just fine.


    After they got the Twin Moon Healer ss that they shared, their son had ended up choosing a ss that could be used to protect them, insisting on it. He gained a much weaker Common ss as a result, and his main focus was just ying the vanguard so that he could protect his Healer parents.


    However, it wasn''t untilter that they realized this Healer ss wasn''t nearly as simple as it looked and their son had made an unnecessary sacrifice.


    The boy, though, was stubborn. Plus, it was already much toote to change things, so they could only support him to the best of their abilities.


    Most of their resources ended up being poured into their son to help him grow stronger. If they had absolute strength like Cole felt Ss did, he would just protect his son to his back. But after their government learned of their ss and wanted to take them in and control them, their lives were flipped upside down.


    "Your stats are halved." Ss said again.


    Cole was almost numb to the surprise, but once again, he nodded.


    "Interesting..."


    Ss had never heard of such a thing before, but when he gazed at Cole''s wife, he could feel the subtle link between the two. At first, he had mistaken it for just the normal closeness between husband and wife. It was only natural that they have some synergy and resonance between one another in normal day-to-day interaction.


    But to think it was actually this.


    "Why did you send me this?" Ss asked.


    "You are the only one that can take us out of here."


    "Don''t lie to me." Ss said coldly.


    Cole grit his teeth. "You took the gold coin and nothing else. That''s more than I can say for what most others would do."


    It was true. The moment others saw that he had one valuable thing, what would be there to stop them from checking on their other valuable things?


    Anyone who could make it here was sure to have several trump cards, but Ss had just let them go.


    Honestly speaking, Cole was overestimating Ss. Ss wasn''t above killing for the sake of gain or profit. The only reason he hadn''t considered it this time was because he was in a race against time, and he was also pretty sure that the three of them were running on empty.


    Cole''s mere 32 F Coins told the entire story. This family had likely traded in everything they had to give themselves the best chance at this Dungeon, and they had still ended up failing.


    On top of that, Ss was pretty sure they would leave this ce empty-handed because they hade to the wrong location.


    If he was correct, their real target was this so-called City of Gold, not the Mountains of Giza. Though, it was possible that they were even more unlucky than Ss was and had to go through all of this just to find a path to this City of Gold.


    "That is only half the truth." Ss said again.


    Cole''s heart skipped a beat. He was really starting to think that Ss had some sort of mind- reading ss. Anything was possible in this world, right?


    However, that wasn''t the case. Ss just found that he was even better at reading intentions now than he had been in the past. The changes to his mind that Ithkuil had triggered were still beyond his understanding.


    "... You also have abilities that I don''t understand that I would like to observe..." Cole finally said.


    At that moment, Cole''s wife wiped her brows with a forearm, their son''s condition stabilizing. As he groaned awake, the two began to pay attention to what was happening as well. But it was clear by their actions that they trusted Cole to make all of the decisions. They were clearly a package deal.


    Although the son was useless, Cole''s abilities couldn''t be maximized without his wife anyway. And he certainly couldn''t throw the son away and expect his parents to work for him properly. So this was the only way forward.


    But Ss still hesitated, wondering if it was worth it. He didn''t know what dangersy ahead, and he was already dragging Alex along; was it really a good idea to bring more people?


    Ss gave Alex a look and then nodded to the family.


    The reason he was letting Alex freeload off of him was that when the time came, he would be a key part of their fighting force. There was no way that he could keep fighting one-man army battles and expect to seed.


    Though the son might be useless, he had a feeling that the abilities of this couple weren''t simple at all.


    Not only did they have a Gold ss, but it was a unique one that worked in ways most couldn''t fathom. Maybe because of the drawbacks, it had even greater strengths that Ss didn''t know


    about just yet.


    What they werecking was a Rune Master to help them make it through to the end. In that case, he would be that person.


    "Alright."


    Ss epted the contract and suddenly their part of two became one of five.


    Most often, he preferred to be alone... but this time he would have to sacrifice some of his ownfort for the bigger picture.


    As for what would happen when they stared down the big prize at the end of it all...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' gaze shed with a dangerous light.


    ... That would depend on their actions.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 602: Form [Bonus]

    Chapter 602: Form [Bonus]


    ?


    It wasn''t just the new tag-along, ragtag group that was surprised by the next events. Even Alex, who had be quite stoic and absolutely silent since they entered the pyramid, was rendered speechless.


    They began to move from puzzle to puzzle as though it was nothing more than a joke. They zed through the dangers so quickly and suddenly that often they didn''t even get a chance to observe before Ss had already seen through the solutions and led them through.


    By this point, even the ck mirror world had be simple to navigate. None of them could tell how Ss chose the next node to enter, but there was something about his method that seemed holistic and so sure that they didn''t even have it in themselves to second guess it.


    Thistter half that should have taken substantially more time became like a game. They refueled their stamina and health far faster than they used it up, and not a single one of them ended up with new injuries or extra fatigue.


    And that somehow included Ss, who was taking on the brunt of the tasks moving ahead. But why would it burden Ss at all? The difficulty of these puzzles wasn''t beyond the Rune Enlightenment Realm, while he had Rune Essence, a tier of Rune Mastery that was an entire four levels above.


    On top of that, any Wisdom he used up was so insignificant that his now passive <Maddened Enlightenment> Gene Skill covered for it.


    In a shocking turn of events, the group of five reached the bottom of the ck mirror world, finding themselves no longer standing on a node at all.


    And...


    There was nowhere forward.


    It looked as though they had run into a dead end.


    For a moment, Alex and the family even wondered if Ss had been too random with his choices in the nodes to follow. Ss was wearing a calm expression, but that was the expression he wore no matter the given situation. It was hard to look at it and use it as a reason to rx.


    Also...


    sa


    Why were they at the bottom of the ck mirror world? It felt logical that if there was a destination to reach, it should be at the very top. Had they been going in the wrong direction?


    There was silence for a long while before Ss nodded as though he had understood something.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Back when Ss solved the puzzle, he used a pin board and yarn. He wrapped the yarn around the pins he stuck into the board to recreate the scribble pattern that had been on the sheet of white paper. Then, he cut it from two points, pulling the yarn until the shape of the string formed an eye and a pinecone.


    This was the solution he hade up with as a youth.


    It wasn''t until muchter, and after his meeting with Alex, that he redid the solution and pulled the yarn up instead of across, causing it to form the body of a pyramid instead.


    A three-dimensional solution.


    However... that didn''t mean that the two-dimensional solution was incorrect. In fact, the two-dimensional solution was actually the harder solution to find. That was because it was the most important.


    The nodes that Ss chose while making his way down here weren''t just the ones that sped up his downward approach the most; they were also the nodes that formed the outline of the Pinecone of the Tree of Life and the Udjat Eye!


    At every single one of those nodes, Ss found an altar. And each one of those altars carried with it a different word that meant something like "Enlightenment," but instead meant something just slightly different.


    Illumination... Awakening... Epiphany... Realization... Insight... Awareness... Understanding... Perception... rity... Transcended... Revtion... Wisdom... Discernment...


    Ss had gathered dozens of these Ithkuil Symbols together, and he had grasped a slightly different definition from each one of them. And each one of these Symbols corresponded to a node that formed the Pinecone of Life and the Udjat Eye.


    The question was...


    What then should you do with them?


    Ss'' gaze shed and one after another, the Symbols began to appear in swirls of Aether. The world of ck lit up with delicate silver-blue hues that eventually burned with a fierce green and violet instead. They had been tainted by Ss'' Will, driven by his intent.


    The symbols popped up all across the air and Ss scanned them quickly one by one, looking for the final solution that he undoubtedly needed.


    ''I''m missing some. Because we entered from a random location, I didn''t get the perfect start. That makes this list of words iplete, and Illumination, the first Ithkuil Symbol I found, is unlikely to be part of the overall solution. But...''


    He had enough of them to reverse engineer the answer.


    Someone else might have to backtrack to find the rest of the words, putting their lives in danger all over again, while also wasting time.


    But Ss...


    He had Rune Essence. He could feel the Runes whispering to him in ways now that they never had before. It was like he had peeled the veil of Earth''s cancerous undertones away, looking into the world of Runes the way it was meant to be looked at.


    And now, with the Symbols floating in front of him, and the countless crisscrossing patterns of ck and silver above his head that formed aplex web of spatial nodes, he could practically see how it all fit.


    The reason you had to make it to the bottom was because only by looking up at the pyramid and these spatial nodes from this vantage point could you see the eye and the pinecone. In all likelihood, afterpleting this, the pyramid expected you to go back upward while following those nodes.


    This was why there were random entry points. They were meant to waste your time in the first


    ce.


    But...


    "Form."


    Ss'' eyes shed with a dense green light. The Ithkuil Symbols were stripped down, bing Strokes, and then reformed to create Foundations, which then formed together to create...

 Chapter 603: Useless [Bonus]

    Chapter 603: Useless [Bonus]


    ?


    An Enlightened Rune.


    The Rune shone, illuminating the space. The pyramid trembled and quaked. The movement beneath their feet was so fierce that Alex and the others even began to somewhat fear for their lives.


    Even with their Levels, they weren''t capable of weathering the copse of a structure this big. They would surely die.


    However, at that moment, the lines in this world of ck mirrors began to glow more and more brightly, moving and shaping around them until the pinecone and eye became so bright that they could be picked up by even the more unobservant of individuals.


    And then, they vanished.


    ...


    "NO!"


    Standing in the middle of a puzzle, a furious roar echoed.


    This wasn''t the only location that such a roar resonated. They had spent days inside of this pyramid, scraping by from challenge to challenge. The idea that they would lose out at thest moment was more infuriating than they could put into words.


    ...


    In a world of floating ice shards, Lauren looked up and blinked with surprise.


    ''Someone... was faster than me?''


    She seemed to be genuinely surprised. She had gotten herete, but she didn''t think that she would be outpaced.


    "What is it, Lauren?"


    The question had only juste from a young man by her side before the rumblingmenced. Then, everyone''s expression changed just the same.


    Of them all, only Lauren seemed to remain calm.


    When Ss first met her, his evaluation of her was that she was a calm, secretary of a CEO type. He noted that she had the air to be a CEO herself if it wasn''t for the fact that she was so soft-spoken.


    But it seemed that now that she was no longer pretending, she lived up to the potential that Ss thought she had.


    Her short-cut dirty blond hair, tanned skin, and sharp gaze made for a formidable presence. "We need to leave."


    "But-."


    "Someone seeded before us."


    The expressions of those around changed, and they quickly put two and two together. "Then..."


    "Mountains."


    Lauren gave them a look and a single word, but that seemed to reveal everything they needed to know.


    Indeed... there was more than one.


    They had missed this cycle, but that didn''t mean that they would miss out on the next.


    And when that time came, she would have to see who had managed to outpace her like this.


    ...


    Ss'' vision cleared, and what he saw left him shaken.


    He stood on a small tform not even wide enough for him to stand at shoulder width. This might have been fine if not for the fact he was standing amidst the clouds with nothing more than this small piece of limestone separating him from a fall to perpetual doom. However, it was quite easy to get over this, not because he had any sort of confidence in surviving such a fall if the peacock couldn''t be summoned for unknown reasons, but because he was looking ahead at what seemed to be the chest of a statue too enormous to fathom. He craned his neck upward to try and see its face, but it was too high up and shrouded by clouds. Much the same, when he looked downward, he couldn''t even see where its feet connected with the ground.


    The scale of this statue made the mountains of Earth feel inconsequential. Even the feeling that it was so close and looming was nothing more than an illusion. Ss felt like he would likely have to run for hours, maybe even days from his current location just to touch its surface.


    And something told him that even if he could, he probably shouldn''t.


    There was this heart-shuddering aura about this statue, the kind that exuded a presence that made it unapproachable, untouchable, something that shouldn''t be sphemed...


    Will.


    Ss realized that maybe if a normal person was standing here, they would just find the statue to be shockinglyrge. But only someone who had trained their Will to his current point could truly feel the weight of what they were witnessing.


    ''Just what is this ce?''


    Ss took a breath, realizing all toote that he hadn''t taken one in a while. The pressure on his chest made it difficult for him to take a second, but he forced his body toply, closing his eyes to try and regain hisposure.


    Finally, he opened them, ripping his gaze away from the statue ahead to look at his surroundings. He found that Alex and the others were here as well, floating on their own tforms.


    However, nothing was happening. It was like they were summoned here only to be stranded.


    Ss frowned after several seconds had ticked by. If there was a puzzle to be found, he was pretty sure that he would have already done so. But there was nothing at all.


    It just wanted them to...


    Wait.


    But time was the resource that Ss had the least of. He had already lost seven months of it; he couldn''t afford to lose any more.


    Unfortunately, there didn''t seem to be anything that he could do.


    Ss looked down and then tried to summon the peacock. A bit to his surprise, he seeded.


    He didn''t know why, but for some reason, he felt very constrained here as though his every movement was being suppressed in some way. He really hadn''t expected it to seed.


    The wooden branch unwound from his arm and formed the pping wings of the peacock. But Ss'' expression changed immediately.


    With quick reactions, he summoned the peacock back, reaching forward and grabbing its branch before it could plummet.


    ''It can''t fly here...''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His instincts had been telling him that it was too easy, but now it was confirmed.


    Was he just supposed to stand here? How long could he even stand on a small tform before fatigue got to him? Two or three days at most?


    Ss'' brain was working on overdrive in an attempt to find a path out, but no matter what he


    tried...


    Everything was useless.

 Chapter 604: Sleep

    Chapter 604: Sleep


    ?


    Ss took a breath.


    His usual control over his emotions and psyche seemed to be skewed right now. It was no doubt the influence of the statue before him. If he wasn''t careful, he would spiral quite quickly until he began to act irrationally. At that point, he might as well be throwing his life away.


    After his thoughts reached this point, Ss took a seat on the tform, allowing his legs to dangle to the ground below. He tried several methods of making it morefortable, like using Ice affinity Aether, or maybe casting a domain of wood that used the tform as a sturdy foundation, but nothing worked.


    In the end, this was his only option, so he took it.


    Staring out ahead, he felt that smirk lingering behind him once again.


    It wasn''t the first time he had felt it.


    When he was in the Secret Realms, this smirk appeared every time he was about to fail, almost like it was taunting him. No... exactly like it was taunting him.


    And now, here it was again, even fiercer than before.


    The rules of this sky they were stuck in weren''t here for any functional reason; they were here for no other reason than to force them to respect the statue of this man whose face they couldn''t even see.


    Ss closed his eyes, regting his breathing.


    Whatever the purpose of this was, he wasn''t going to be such a willing participant of it.


    Ss'' actions, though, began to throw off those that hade with him. Alex, Cole, and Cole''s wife and son all didn''t know what to make of this. However, they were hesitant to question Ss at the same time.


    After several minutes passed of nothing at all, though, it was Cole''s son who couldn''t help but speak.


    "Um, sir... do you need us to do anything?"


    Cole''s son was quite soft-spoken, seemingly getting that from his wife. He hadn''t said much on the journey at all, and Ss only knew his name because of a casual scan he had done.


    Jake.


    It was a surprise, then, that Jake was actually the first one to speak up. At least, it was a surprise to Ss and Alex. As for his parents, they could only smile bitterly.


    Their son tended to do stuff like this. During usual times, he wouldn''t speak if he didn''t have to. But he was always the first to take a leap when those he loved were facing a dilemma.


    He knew that his father didn''t want to question Ss because Cole was currently subordinated to him, and his mother was very much aware of this as well. They were already taking a risk by trusting Ss; giving him a reason to be annoyed by them wouldn''t spell good oues for their futures.


    Jake could only try to use his youth and naivete as an "in." And hopefully, since he was the only useless one of the three, even if Ss wanted to deal with him, it would be fine.


    "There''s nothing to do but wait," Ss said lightly, seemingly not minding. "There is no puzzle here. I''m not entirely sure what the purpose of this ce is, but at least for now, this is the only answer I have."


    The answer was much more fleshed out than any of them were expecting. But while the


    answer itself was refreshing, the contents were anything but.


    Could they be stuck here? Had Ss made a mistake after all?


    Another silence fell between them all, and Alex ended up taking a seat much like Ss had. However, after a while, he frowned and stood.


    Ss'' eyes opened and he looked toward Alex, finding his actions odd.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "When I sat down, I felt my stamina draining much faster than when I was standing."


    "Is that so..."


    Ss gave the statue another nce before closing his eyes. He had felt it too. It was just that it was such a minor change that his pride didn''t allow him to stand back up.


    If it was just a matter of aplishing this task and clearing this "Dungeon," he would do it. But whenever he felt his Will provoked, somewhere deep inside, he knew that if he took even one step back, he would regret it for a lifetime.


    He didn''t have the words to exin it, but he knew that his decision was the correct one nheless.


    An entire hour ticked by.


    The difort of the group was only growing. With their stats, standing for an hour wasn''t a problem at all. But not only had they already been on their feet for several days now, the statue was attacking them in ways they didn''t understand.


    They might not have had Ss'' Will and couldn''t feel the process clearly, but as more time passed, they were able to understand that something odd was happening here.


    Something was grinding away at their psyches, slowly and subtly, but surely nheless. After the second hour, they had grown somewhat pale, but Ss'' rhythmic breathing echoed. He had actually fallen asleep.


    He sat there slightly tilting forward. It made all of their hearts skip a beat. If Ss fell to his death, they would all be finished.


    They weren''t fools. If it took Mastery over something they didn''tprehend just to get here, without Ss, they would surely die when the final challenge inevitably came.


    Ss slept for a full four hours before he woke up slowly.


    His dreams had actually been so vivid. He wondered if that was rted to thinking to Ithkuil or not... it must have.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Dreams usually had vague boundaries, and nonsensical things urred all the time. But Ss, despite being aware that he was in a dream, felt that everything was logically consistent, although still somewhat frayed at the edges.


    ''They can''t hold on for much longer,'' he thought to himself, looking over at the state of Alex and the family of three.


    However, he felt that he was still no closer to a solution to this problem. He was starting to believe that the statue wanted at least some of them to die... maybe that was the purpose the


    entire time.

 Chapter 605: Long Time

    Chapter 605: Long Time


    ?


    Ss had been asleep practically the entire time, so he was sure that he wasn''t the first to think of this. The others may have already guessed at such a thing, but they didn''t know what to do about it. Should they try to knock one another off? But what about the family? What if this statue only wanted one person to remain?


    That was enough to exin why Cole and his family hadn''t acted. Well, that and the fact Cole was bound to listen to Ss'' orders for the next three years, and that also stipted him not doing anything to harm Ss.


    Alex was the true wild card, but he hadn''t acted either, just standing in silence. And with his face covered by the mask, he was difficult to read even for Ss.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss looked up to find something interesting.


    ''We''re closer to the statue now than we were before. Higher as well. Is this a boiling frog situation?''


    Ss liked to think that his observation skills were sharp enough that he would have noticed if he remained awake the entire time. But he had been awake for about an hour before he fell asleep, and he hadn''t picked up on anything at all.


    Unless their tforms had only moved while he was asleep, that meant that he had missed it too.


    Ss also realized that he was feeling quite refreshed right now. That seemed only natural since he had woken up from a deep sleep, but given the fact that Alex had felt his stamina draining faster when he sat down, this was definitely not something that Ss could take for granted.


    ''Interesting...''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss gave a look toward Cole. "Do you have telekinesis?"


    Cole was somewhat slow to respond, the sudden words in the endless silence still not enough to shake his fatigue.


    "... Telekinesis? No."


    "Mm..." Ss nodded. With a wave of his hand, he sent out a casual pulse of his own.


    He had tried everything during the first few minutes of being in this world, including using his telekinesis, but nothing had worked. The Aether in the air didn''t respond to him, the Enlightenment Rune couldn''t be drawn, Skills couldn''t be cast, and his telekinesis didn''t properly respond.


    But properly responding versus not responding at all were obviously twopletely different things.


    He had felt his telekinesis; it just wasn''t good enough to do anything.


    This time, nothing had changed. The pulse was still weak.


    When he tried to use his telekinesis on the tform under him once again, it hardly budged.


    But...


    ''So it did move. It''s just that the increments were so weak I couldn''t even pick up on it.''


    The tforms were moving slowly on their own, and he could speed it up by a small margin with his telekinesis. But at this speed, it would take years to reach the statue. And over that course of time, the pressure would only grow great in all likelihood.


    Was this task really meant to be so difficult?


    Ss looked back toward the other floating tforms, and he noticed that they were moving at different rates in rtion to one another as well.


    He didn''t pay much attention to this at first because the cement of the tforms was a bit erratic. It didn''t have rhyme or reason, and initially, they were practically in a semi-circle around one another, with each of them separated by about three meters or so.


    However, now this semi-circle had blurred somewhat and looked more distorted than Ss remembered.


    ''Mountains of Giza...''


    Ss still recalled that it was plural, but he still wasn''t sure what that meant.


    ''Unless multiple people were supposed to be here?''


    He was always obsessed with finding the perfect solution all on his own. But what if the solution was actually to work together?


    But the question was... how?


    He had already asked Cole, and though the man had strong enough Will to send a System Contract, he didn''t have strong enough Will to use telekinesis.


    Or maybe that wasn''t the right way to look at it...


    Ss had met plenty of people with strong Wills and Charisma, but only Nosphaleen of them all had telekinesis like he did.


    Reaching out with his telekinesis, Ss targeted one of their tforms and pulled. He observed it silently and found that it was still moving at the same rate his was.


    ''Hm...''


    Ss'' gaze suddenly sharpened, and he looked off into the distance as another group appeared.


    ''Lauren.''


    Separated by about ten meters or so, Lauren and a group of four others appeared on their own sets of tforms. Their tforms were just as small, and the trouble they were facing was


    just the same.


    This group was a little behind Ss and the others, and this seemed to show how far forward they had moved. But it was so incremental, over such a long time, that none of them had


    noticed.


    However, they were now facing another problem.


    Alex and the others were immediately on high alert, but Ss didn''t bother to move an inch. All he did was observe, waiting to see if Lauren had another card up her sleeve.


    Lauren''s pupils shrunk when she met Ss'' gaze. However, after a moment, she rxed and then gave him a light smile.


    "Long time, no see."


    Ss didn''t respond, his gaze descending to Lauren''s chest. It was covered by tight leather armor, and he couldn''t tell whether she was wearing the ne or not. With something so valuable, he wouldn''t find it too shocking for her to hide it at all cost, especially if that cost was just some slight difort to her skin.


    Lauren didn''t mind Ss''ck of a reply as she looked around, observing Alex and the others. But maybe to Alex''s credit, she didn''t seem to recognize him at all.


    "You''ve only made this much movement in a week... It seems that though we''ve split our first two battles, I will be the victor of this one," Lauren said lightly.


    Ss inwardly sighed. As he had feared. There was yet another time dtion here.

 Chapter 606: Unfathomable

    Chapter 606: Unfathomable


    ?


    "We were a step toote once again..."


    The three Monarchs of the Africor Continent didn''t seem perturbed at the words. The world shook around them, and it seemed that the pyramid was going to be reset once more.


    King Roderic stood with his usual obsidian beard and bronze band across his forehead, his fierce amber eyes more a reflection of his usual state of stoicism rather than any fear or apprehension at what was happening around them.


    By his side, there were the other two Monarchs of their nation.


    King Thorian seemed quite feminine and softpared to Roderic. His frame was slight, and from time to time he would extend a long, slender finger from therge sleeves of his robes that looked more woman than man.


    This finger drew across the air as though he was calcting something before shifting his sses slightly and vanishing into hisrge sleeves once more.


    Of them all, he was the only one not dressed in armor, including Queen Amara.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Queen had a head of fiery red hair and a valiant air to her that was quite shockingly reminiscent of Cassarae. Those that knew her would likely agree. Though her tongue wasn''t nearly as fierce as Cassarae''s, herrge, heavy great sword she carried on her back told its own tale.


    It was quite the contrast to see a woman clearly in herte thirties disy such a demeanor, but she wore it well. Her retainers respected her all the more for it.


    Amara''s braided ponytail swayed as she looked up into the skies.


    "We will start again," she said lightly. "This should be the third and final."


    "It is only troublesome because we do not know who the third party is. I''m presuming that one of them is a representative of Legacy. But the other..."


    "General Thora died and was unable to let us know who the one who infiltrated our city was. But there are eyewitness reports that a ck-scaled man appeared in several locations, jumping from building to building."


    "Then Ss Grimde."


    "Not confirmed, but likely. The odds that there would be someone with the same abilities, who would also be nearby like he was, are unlikely."


    "He is more of a danger than I thought," King Roderic interjected into the conversation between Amara and Thorian. "If I had known, I would have done more."


    "It''s unlikely that it would have changed much of anything," Thorian shook his head. "There are only two exnations if it is really him. Either we underestimated his ability to gather people around him, or... he is the Rune Master himself. In which case, that is incredibly troublesome."


    Amara''s eyes narrowed. "A Rune Master with such skill andbat prowess at once... but it would make sense. For anyone to make it so far on their own, they would either have had to rely on secret help and were thus not as alone as we assumed, or... they were a jack of all trades."


    "Jack of all wouldn''t be enough," Thorian disagreed. "He''s a master."


    The three spoke about these matters casually, still not panicking in the slightest.


    They and their entourage calmly left the pyramid and then began once again. The stress of the situation didn''t bother them at all... as though there was nothing to be stressed about to begin with.


    Legacy''s greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. It was too obsessed with secrecy to the point that even the governments of the world couldn''t quite see through them all.


    However, because of that, they nevermitted too much to a single mission and were always working on too many things at once. Even if they felt this situation was important, there were probably a half dozen other important pivot points in the world that they were trying to im for themselves.


    As far as these three Monarchs were concerned... they had overestimated themselves, and they had also underestimated the value of this Dungeon. At least, that was the assumption of these three.


    Then there was Ss...


    They had high opinions of him, and their words reflected that. But to put things bluntly... there were levels to the way the world functioned, and the moment it was proven to them that Ss didn''t have the backing of the Grimde family, though their opinions of him only rose as a result, he ceased to be someone that they took very seriously.


    How could the might of one personpare to that of a nation?


    The governments hadn''t been preparing for as long as Legacy, but they had a more focused approach to preparation. The sudden end to the Trial had caught them off guard, but it had already been over eight months since then.


    Everything that they had put in ce for decades, no... centuries, were finally starting to bear fruit. The City Steles hadn''t been used just yet, but ss Steles, special Professions, unique Legendary Path Treasures, some of which had already been leveled up beyond reasonable standards...


    The number of trump cards they had was unfathomable.


    And it wasn''t just a matter of foundation and nning either. Or maybe it was precisely because of those two things that the personal strengths of the highest individuals in the various governments couldn''t be underestimated.


    There was a reason that the Leaderboard was upied by the hidden families alone, and there was no one of the governments and Legacy to be found.


    In fact, if not for the fact that the hidden families were having apetition between their heir candidates, they wouldn''t be on that list either.


    If one took the Level Leaderboard as the end-all, be-all of strength... well... one wouldn''t be


    too far from ending up like Ragnar Ravenw, the former tenth ce.


    And the way the three Monarchs walked around exuded precisely that confidence in themselves. But it wasn''t just them... each one came with four retainers, and each one of them exuded the very same confidence.


    The power of these people was unfathomable.

 Chapter 607: Answer

    Chapter 607: Answer


    ?


    Ss didn''t respond to Lauren''s words. He only calmly analyzed that she was a person capable of speaking such words but didn''t take them very seriously. In fact, he only began to calmly observe her.


    Lauren''s gaze flickered. There was something about Ss'' gaze that made her feel


    particrly ufortable. He was staring at her like he was analyzing any other thing; she might as well have not been a person at all.


    She could see through his thoughts. He, in one part, wanted to keep an eye on a dangerous enemy, but he also wanted to observe why she was so confident.


    When she got here and saw the state of their progress, Lauren was quite confident that even if Ss observed her actions, he wouldn''t gain anything from it. That was why she had spoken so boldly. Though... that wasn''t entirely just to take jabs at Ss either.


    She knew the kind of pressure this ce put on the psyche. Words that some might be able to easily shrug off in other situations would be amplified to the umpteenth degree here.


    Even though Ss was sitting there calmly, she had no way of knowing if he was truly so calm on the inside. Plus, even if the words were ineffective against him, what about those following him?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She could easily see that not a single one of them was as calm as Ss.


    However, now she felt like she was the one being pressured.


    Lauren took a calm breath. From start to finish, none of these apprehensive emotions of hers showed on her face. She knew that it wasn''t entirely because of Ss that she was feeling this way. That statue in the distance... it yed arge role.


    "Let''s begin," she said, no longer paying attention to Ss. She could feel his gaze still on her face, almost like a burning sensation trying to bore a hole through her, but she pressed those feelings down.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed as he felt a resonance forming between Lauren and the fourpanions that she had brought along with her.


    All of them wore various armors, but there was something distinct that he couldn''t miss. There was a sh of gold between Lauren''s brows, and deep hues of silver between those of her followers. Somehow, Ss was fairly certain that he wasn''t supposed to be able to see these marks. But now, though it couldn''t be said that they were as clear as day, Ss felt that they were a very obvious fixture of their faces that couldn''t be ignored.


    These marks danced as the resonance continued to grow in the air. Then, all of a sudden, their tforms began to move forward.


    ''I see...''


    Ss realized then that he was correct... at least in part.


    They were working together to fight against the oppression of the Will here. But they were doing it in a very unique way.


    It should be abination Skill of some sort that made Lauren the core of their formation. But as for what they were relying on Lauren for, that was far more murky.


    It seemed in one part her Aether and in another part her Will, but it also seemed her telekinesis, which was a fusion of her Will and Charisma.


    ''Rune Mastery.''


    The final piece of the puzzle slid into ce.


    The words seemed simple, but the very first thing Ss had tried to do when he got here was find a method of using his Rune Mastery to move forward. But there were no Runes here to manipte, and his attempts to draw Runes had all failed, much the same way his attempts to cast Skills or fly with the peacock had.


    But what he realized now was that he had been doing it wrong.


    Lauren and her group weren''t moving fast. It was probably only ten or so kilometers an hour. Butpared to the slow crawl of Ss and his group, they might as well have been moving at the speed of light.


    However, it was in this situation that Ss suddenly stopped paying attention to Lauren entirely, closing his eyes in focused meditation.


    If one were to look into the depths of his mind, it would be possible to see the Ithkuil Symbols lighting up one after another. But he didn''t seem to be doing anything but observing them in silence.


    It seemed that until now, he had been looking at Will too simply.


    The reason he could draw Runes was that the Will of the statue stifled it. The reason he couldn''t use skills wasn''t because he couldn''t circte the Aether within him, but rather because the Aether in the outside world was suppressed by the Will of the statue. The reason his telekinesis was so weak was not only because his Charisma and Will were unbnced, but once again because its presence was being suffocated by the Will of the statue.


    Some of these things made sense to him. It was only natural that one will could suppress another if it was powerful enough.


    But what about his Aether? What about his Runes?


    What Ss hadn''t considered was what Ithkuil had already taught him. Anything that had to be triggered by his intent relied on his Will in some form.


    When he cast a skill, he did it with his intent, even if he relied on the system toplete the cycle for him. As he increased his Mastery over the Skill, his intent would be more refined, and he would rely on the system less and less until the skill itself was being driven by his intent entirely. Or...


    His Will.


    It was no wonder the system had such a hard time quantifying Will properly. From the start, Ss had been correct. Will wasn''t something you could just put a number cap on. And it was also precisely because of this that his telekinesis had so many odd variations and variables to it that he couldn''t quite grasp.


    If Ss wanted to aplish what he needed to here, he had to start using his Will as it was


    meant to.


    A re came from him, and he suddenly opened his eyes.


    Aetherflow permeated through him.


    He had had the answer in him all along.


    All at once, a green-violet glow enveloped all five of their tforms, the Ithkuil Symbol of Illumination shining forth as they suddenly elerated.

 Chapter 608: Destination [Bonus]

    Chapter 608: Destination [Bonus]


    ?


    Alex and the others were taken aback by the sudden change beneath their feet, but Ss'' voice echoed to steady them.


    "Protect your mind. The pressure you''ll face will only increase from here on out. If you can''t make it, I can''t help you out any more than this."


    Their tforms continued to elerate until they were moving even slightly faster than Lauren and her group''s.


    Lauren waspletely focused on the task ahead. After passing up Ss and the others, she didn''t mind the situation behind her at all. She knew that attacking in this ce was impossible if Ss couldn''t even figure out how to move.


    It was also clear that whatever method she was using tobine her thoughts and efforts with her group likewise took a lot of focus. So, she didn''t even notice when Ss changed his mind about overtaking them and instead took up a position right behind them, adjusting their tforms and almost using them to drift.


    ''It really is slightly easier. Then we will stay here.''


    Ss would have preferred to elerate past them, but they were already at a disadvantage because he hadn''t been able to grasp things quickly this time. If he could take an opportunity for Alex, Cole, and thetter''s family to rest, even a small bit, he should do so.


    After seeing Lauren show up with so many people, he had a feeling that Alex and the others would be more useful to him than he initially believed.


    It wasn''t until several minutester that Lauren and her group seemed to feel like something was off. The pressure was increasing on them faster than it should, and just as they were wondering why, Lauren turned back to find that Ss was calmly following after them.


    A flicker of shock passed by her gaze, and she almost lost control of her skill.


    BANG!


    There was a sudden attack from one of the five, but before Ss could think to take action, a rippling barrier of ckness extended from Alex.


    The crossbow bolt reflected off of the shield, being sent spiraling into the distance.


    Ss didn''t say anything, but it seemed that he was right to let Alex freeload for so long. Whatever Alex''s ss was, it was powerful. And right now, with his telekinesis so severely weakened, one of Ss'' best attack methods was useless.


    Without the use of the ballista bolts, Ss was heavily outmatched when it came to firepower, and since he was pulling everyone along, the drain on his stamina was already high enough without the addition of battle on top of that.


    It could be said that if Ss had to take any more of a physical load, it wouldn''t be long before he tapped out.


    Luckily, it didn''t seem like he would have to.


    Lauren was once again surprised, her eyes narrowing as she looked toward Alex. She had given him a once-over before, but she hadn''t found anything particrly special, so she hadn''t said much.


    But anyone who could block an attack from one of their Silver Tiers, even if it was just a casual strike, wasn''t someone to be trifled with. Especially since Alex didn''t seem to have tried his very best either.


    The crossbow wielder frowned and was about to attack again when Lauren waved a hand. "Focus."


    In a battle situation, they would only be at a disadvantage. Even if they stopped moving now, they were still blocking much of the pressureing from the statue.


    Plus, the statue seemed to have a pecking order that it abided by. The pressure you faced while standing was less than what you faced by sitting. And by extension, the pressure you faced while attacking was less than what you faced from defending.


    If those two were stacked upon one another, they''d be suffering losses from all sides, but they also couldn''t just continue to take on their own pressure and much of Ss'' group''s either.


    Lauren drifted to the side, trying to peel back and out of the way, but Ss controlled the tforms nimbly, sticking to their tails. He calcted that even with the added effort of doing this, it would be worth it.


    It seemed that Lauren came to the same conclusion because she didn''t try that maneuver again. She knew that the effort to do so would drain her group far faster than it would Ss''. A part of her even began to wonder if from the very start Ss had been waiting for a group to use like this.


    Realizing that this wasn''t a situation that was easy to escape from, Lauren calmed down. She no longer paid attention to Ss and his group and continued to move forward.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A silence fell over both groups as they shifted through the skies. Even as time passed, it felt like they weren''t making much progress at all. The statue was simply far too enormous.


    Ss, though, was focused on the feeling of Aetherflow as though he was using it for the first time.


    The purpose of the Unique Gene and the Gene Talent that came with it wasbining his Will into his Aether to begin with. But its description had pulled the veil over his eyes, not allowing him to see that immediately.


    [Aetherflow]


    [Aetheres naturally to you, even when it''s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others. You have now reached a new step of mastery]


    It seemed far more about Aether than his Will itself. But what he hadn''t realized until now was that this use of his Aether precisely relied on his Will.


    He had never noticed because much like with skills, when he triggered this Unique Gene, he was just relying on the system. He had never seen Unique Genes have Mastery levels, so he never looked into it.


    But who was to say that he couldn''t move away from relying on the system with his Unique Genes as well?


    As he basked in the feeling, the statue became sharper in their sights. And soon, they saw a winding staircase that spiraled through its body.


    Their destination.

 Chapter 609: Toppled [Bonus]

    Chapter 609: Toppled [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss no longer found the pressure to be an issue. The closer they got, the more refined his fusion of Will and Aether became until they meshed as though they were just a single existence. He had a feeling that the previous limits on his telekinesis, though still there in part, would most definitely be lessened by a good margin.


    A part of him even wanted to see what sort of effect it might have if he used the Gluttony Seed right this moment. However, he chose not to bring it out.


    He was already forced to slow his speed down in order to remain behind Lauren and her group, and he also didn''t know how much someone at Lauren''s level could sense from him. If it wasn''t necessary, he would keep his Gluttony Seed hidden for now.


    If he was correct, Lauren was a person who had also had her fair share of experiences off of Earth. In that case, her eyes were much sharper than those that Ss hade across until


    now.


    Unfortunately, these weren''t the only problems that Ss had to contend with.


    He turned his attention to Jake.


    By now, his parents had seemed to have recovered a bit, but Jake himself was struggling. The boy had quite some tenacity, holding on with grit. But it was also clear that he might copse at any moment.


    And while Cole and his wife seemed to be doing somewhat better, that was only rtively speaking. Cole''s wife seemed to be performing better than he was, but Cole himself didn''t seem to have improved very much.


    ''Interesting... in that case, their Twin Moon Healer ss works a bit differently than I thought. I can see why he would want to hide that from me as well. But regardless, it isn''t a big deal.''


    Ss wasn''t a fool. He didn''t expect Cole to outright trust him with everything. The status screen move was clever, but only someone ipetent would think that that meant he had a grasp of all of Cole''s cards.


    His wife might be precisely the reason Cole dared to do such a thing. And if their ss worked like Ss thought it did, he might even have some clever cards up his sleeve.


    However, regardless of what they were thinking, their weakness was obvious and still on the tail end of puberty.


    Unless Jake was an actor so great he could fool even Ss'' eyes, nothing about this situation would change.


    ''It doesn''t matter.''


    Be strong...


    Those were the only words that mattered in the end.


    Jake suddenly coughed and swayed.


    "Jake!" his mother called out to him, trying to get him to stay focused, but she had already done this several times by now. Eventually, it would just fall on deaf ears.


    Ss gave Alex a look and thetter understood.


    The two had been working together seamlessly all the while. The only reason Alex could use Skills in the first ce was because Ss'' Aetherflow had taken control of the region and allowed him to.


    Tendrils of darkness caught Jake before he fell off of his tform, tying him down.


    Unfortunately, this didn''t help the young man''s situation very much. Although his life was saved, because he was no longer standing on his feet, the pressure increased on him.


    It was like he was a runner who had already reached the end of his road, copsing to the ground, but someone was artificially forcing his heart to continuously pump again, again, and again.


    Ss knew that he could do something about this. He could help them more directly deal with the pressure by increasing the power of his Aetherflow.


    But he didn''t.


    If Jake died here, then he died here. As far as he was concerned, it would be one less burden to consider.


    The teenager proved to be quite tenacious, though. He couldn''t seem to control his body anymore, but he was protecting the flickering me of his Will fiercely.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss found himself watching the boy more than he was the road ahead.


    Jake didn''t say a word, and he seemed to have tuned out the world, even the worrying voice of his mother who continuously spoke in hopes of giving him something else to focus on.


    ''Interesting...''


    By this point, Jake should have unlocked a Flexible Will by now, the first stage of evolution. His tenacity was certainly there. It had only taken Ss one brush with death to reach that level.


    But for some reason, Jake couldn''t leap over that hurdle. It was like his Will was stuck in a permanent state of inferiority.


    Ss looked toward his parents and then seemed to be enlightened by something.


    His Madness Comprehension was his greatest trump card, and the greatest boost to his overall battle strength. At this point, it provided him with telekinesis so powerful that it made his Physical stats look like a joke.


    But did he ever truly understand it? He still didn''t even quite understand why some people could use telekinesis while others couldn''t.


    This time, though... if he was correct, the reason Jake couldn''t take that step was because he was living in a shadow. Ironically, that shadow was his own parents.


    Madness grew more powerful as one came to understand themselves more. But how could a teenager truly understand themselves? And how much harder would it be for them to do so if they were constantly being coddled by their parents? And how much harder than that if their parents were so much more powerfulpared to them?


    The interconnected nature of Will, self-belief, and understanding of one''s own thoughts and feelings was something that Ss had almost taken for granted.


    Maybe it wasn''t even that he had great talent for Will, but rather that he had such self- assuredness that it manifested in that way. Maybe that was the only "talent" for telekinesis


    that you needed.


    Jake had the Will. He justcked the maturity.


    Ss gave Alex another look. But this time, Alex didn''t seem to understand what to do immediately, mostly because he didn''t think Ss would choose to offend the parents of Jake


    so soon.


    But when he saw that Ss was sure, Alex hesitated for a moment before heplied.


    The dark tendrils snapped off and Jake tilted off the side of the tform, toppling over toward his death under the sudden screams of his mother.

 Chapter 610: My Son! [Bonus]

    Chapter 610: My Son! [Bonus]


    ?


    Jake could feel himself falling from the skies. He was a bit surprised, but his reaction was different from what one might expect.


    Sadness.


    Not fear, not anger, just sadness. And it wasn''t even for the sake of himself.


    He had wanted to hold on for the sake of his parents. They had already lost so much ever since this Summoning began; he didn''t want them to lose anything more. But he also saw how much they suffered trying to keep him safe.


    Maybe it was a good thing if he died now. They would feel some pain for now, but then they would eventually get over it. They still had each other, and the fact this was a dangerous world meant that they would have no choice but to continue relying on one another even if their marriage was strained.


    With their Twin Moon Healer ss, they would be tied together until they died. At least he didn''t have to worry about bing the impetus for his parents'' divorce.


    Soon enough, his parents'' rtionship would heal and they would have another child when they were more established. They weren''t too young anymore, but that was the beauty of this world. It probably wouldn''t be long before people began to age in reverse.


    Jake smiled, though he could hardly control his body, so it was nothing more than a slight quirk of his lips, something that no one but Ss could see as he plummeted to his death.


    "JAKE!" Cole roared, his Aether erupting as he tried to dive down to his son.


    "Stop." Ss said calmly.


    The bounds of the contract began like chains that wrapped around Cole''s throat. He couldn''t even breathe properly anymore as he looked toward Ss in horror.


    Looking into those steely green eyes, Cole realized just how naive he had been. From the start, Ss had already seen through him.


    Their Twin Moon Healer ss didn''t split their stats in two. Instead, they had a pool of stats that they could pass between them freely. So long as one of them remained with at least one stat point in every category, the other could take everything.


    Ss'' assumption that Cole had exactly half of their stats at the beginning was an oversight on his part. But he saw through it the moment he realized just how much better Cole''s wife Lara was performing.


    Given the fact Cole had strong enough Will to form a contract with him through the system, if there was any difference between the husband and wife, it should be that Cole was performing better than Lara, not the reverse. If the assumption was that their stats were equal, that is.


    But Lara was far more ruddy and healthy than Cole was to this point. That could only mean one thing...


    Their stats weren''t equal at all.


    But an imbnce in their stats didn''t make much sense. There were some convoluted exnations, but Ss chose to take a bet on am''s razor...


    They could choose the distribution of their stats as they pleased.


    As expected, when Lara exploded with her strength to try and save their son, her momentum was much greater.


    Unfortunately for her, whether she could sessfully cast a skill or not was dependent on Ss'' Aetherflow... and why would he allow it?


    "NO!"


    Lara shrieked, realizing that the Aether in the surroundings wasn''t listening to her.


    To her credit as a loving mother, she didn''t make a second attempt after the first failure; she just directly lunged after her son, leaping off of the tform without the slightest hesitation.


    Cole''s eyes bulged, crimson veins leaping from his body. Ss''mand to stop was so overwhelming that he couldn''t even move a single inch. The gap in their Wills was too far apart.


    Originally, he had thought that when the time came, his wife would just pour all of their Will into him and he would be able to break the contract with ease. Right now, theirbined Will was over 3000.


    But to his horror, he realized that even if he had 3000 Will concentrated onto himself... the difference and disparity in quality was so great that there was simply no chance of sess.


    He would be a ve to this man for these next three years, and after that, there might not even be a functional change. All the while, Ss himself could break the contract as he pleased.


    Cole could only stand there, watching his wife and son fall to their deaths.


    However...


    A tendril of darkness reached out before Lara had fallen more than five meters, snapping her back into ce on her tform.


    "NO! Let me go! Let me go!" Her screeches filled the air, her hair bing disheveled as blood and tears pooled around her chin. "My son! MY SON!"


    Jake was already more than 20 meters from them and only elerating. Even if Alex wanted to save him now, it was simply impossible. But when he looked toward Ss, the man had turned around. The only thing they could see was his back as he sat in silence.


    Themotion had obviously caught the attention of Lauren and the others, but they had no idea what to make of it. Only Lauren seemed to realize what this meant, but even she could only conclude that this group wasn''t as close as they seemed. Ss was only using them. As for Ss'' intentions now, she couldn''t see through them at all.


    She could only guess that Ss was only throwing away useless dead weight since he was taking toorge a hit on his stamina by carrying them all.


    Down below, Jake could only faintly hear the shouts of his mother. He tried to tune them out, but the pang of pain in his heart wasn''t something that he could ignore.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    At least... his death would be quick. You wouldn''t feel the ground kill you falling at this speed,


    right?


    He released a sigh as his heart slowly suppressed the pang.


    But it was soon reced by a deep unwillingness. He really didn''t want his parents to feel this


    sort of pain at all... he really didn''t want to die...


    And for the first time, his parents had failed to save him from such a fate...

 Chapter 611: Opened [Bonus]

    Chapter 611: Opened [Bonus]


    ?


    This wasn''t the first time Jake had faced death like this. But every time, his parents would inevitably pull him out of it.


    Unfortunately, this time, they were facing an enemy that was far too strong... an enemy that could treat the puzzles they risked their lives against like it was nothing more than a joke. There was no one who could save him but himself.


    The thought was odd to him. Despite how often he threw himself into danger, this was the first time he had experienced this thought. His parents had always been there to catch him, always there to care for him, always there to wipe sweat from his brow and give him a pinch on the cheek.


    Tears pooled in Jake''s eyes.


    Would his parents be able to be so carefree ever again? When would they be able to escape from Ss'' clutches? Even if they had a child after him... no, would they even be able to have such a child in the first ce? Could they calm their hearts to take such a step while they were beneath Ss'' thumb?


    He didn''t want that for them... he was unwilling... he really was unwilling...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''I don''t want to die...'' he thought.


    [Title Unlocked]


    [A Flexible Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind, but it is immature and still changing. Continue to forge it, young man]


    [+10 Will]


    [+10% Will]


    Ss'' eyes suddenly snapped open, striking out with a palm that surged down.


    A green arm wreathed in Aetherflow covered his own before surging downward.


    Jake had already fallen over 70 meters, and barely a few hints of a second had passed. Everything happened so fast, and the various changes were too much for most to keep up with.


    And yet, Lauren still reacted quite quickly as well. She didn''t know what Ss was doing, or why he would take these series of actions, but what she knew was that standing opposing to a man like this meant that she would never be able to retreat.


    In that case... oppose him in all things.


    Even if it was just saving a teenage boy that he had allowed to fall for some reason.


    A pulse of Will came from Lauren''s direction and Ss'' gaze sharpened.


    At that moment, Ss no longer held back. He pulled on the Gluttony Seed and his green arm elerated.


    Lauren''s intent moved like lightning sparking through the skies, carrying a shocking intent with it.


    Ss'' Will had a poisonous character to it, and hers actually carried tendrils of what looked like pink lightning.


    The moment they came into contact with one another, there was a booming sh in the air. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Sparks of pink and spiraling green-violet wrapped around one another in the air and ripples spread out in all directions.


    The tforms threatened to overturn, violently shaking as the Wills tugged and pulled for


    supremacy.


    Jake plummeted beyond 80 meters and he was still only elerating. If he fell beyond 100 meters, even if Ss wanted to save him, there would be nothing he could do. That was the end of the range of his telekinesis.


    His range and Will were far stronger than Lauren''s. While it seemed that his and Lauren''s Wills were at the same stage of evolution, Ss'' Will stat when boosted by Madness was almost less than four points shy of 7000. That could drown Lauren several times over.


    The problem was that Lauren was too smart. She wasn''t trying tobat him at 80 meters; she was targeting the point on his arm where the extending green arm connected. Not only did this mean she didn''t have to have nearly as much range as he did to make it effective, but it also meant that she didn''t really need to destroy his Will either. All she needed to do was dy him.


    Plus, while Ss'' Will was so shocking, his Charisma was too unbnced to make full use of it, while it was clear to him that Lauren''s Will and Charisma stats were far more bnced.


    Jake plummeted beyond 90 meters. At this rate, it would be less than a split second before he was out of range.


    But from start to finish, Ss didn''t have a change in expression.


    At that moment, just as Jake was about to truly fall to his death, a green hand manifested from nothing, grabbing him out of the air. It used the final 10 meters to decelerate him beforeing to a strong stop.


    Ss'' chest heaved and he exhaled.


    It was just as he expected. His telekinesis with the help of his Aether could easily pressure with double the weight. If before it was only around 200, now it was over 400 pounds. Jake wasn''t even 200; stopping his fall like that was difficult, but not impossible.


    However, just because he had caught Jake didn''t mean that he was out of danger. Lauren didn''t seem to have given up.


    Her group finally reacted and they sent several attacks at the young man.


    Alex stepped up and a battle erupted in the skies. Darkness and an array of elements from the other sides shed.


    The tforms were swept up into a storm as they unleashed their barrages beneath the gaze of the statue.


    Ss took a breath and he yanked upward on Jake''s body.


    The young man''s parents seemed to finally react to the trouble and they quickly took action as well, a resonance humming between them. Whatever pressure there had been on Cole was released by Ss and a glittering golden moon appeared between the couple.


    A sh of Aether surged out in a golden streak that seemed to slice the world in two.


    Lauren''s expression changed. She hadn''t thought that this weak couple would be capable of


    such an attack.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Shields rose and copsed, formed and then cracked.


    The group seemed to havepletely forgotten that they were beneath the mighty pressure of this statue. And it was then that, high in the skies above, the head of the statue obscured by


    the clouds suddenly trembled...


    And then...


    Its eyes opened.

 Chapter 612: Wall

    Chapter 612: Wall


    ?


    A sound akin to a hand smashing on the left end of a piano resonated. It was like all the ring dark notes hidden in one''s heart hade out all at once.


    Red lines filled the skies like stretched droplets of blood, reality shaking and warping beneath its might.


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood and felt like his heart almost exploded. He could faintly feel the Gluttony Seed pulse for a moment to save him from that fate, but the action alone drained a considerable amount of his Will, something that he didn''t even think could reach the end of its rope.


    Lauren was sent flying off of her tform just as Jake slipped from Ss'' grasp.


    Ss was sitting on his tform and didn''t suffer the same fate. But even he had to quickly tighten his core to regain his bnce, almost falling as well.


    Jake began to fall from the skies once more, this time even faster than before. It was almost as though another hand had forcefully destroyed the projection of Ss'' own, taken his body, and hurled him downward.


    It only took a moment for Ss to regain his bearings, but his first reaction wasn''t one of shock; it was instead one of rage. A fury he couldn''t quite understand bubbled up within him. He ruthlessly suppressed it, regaining his calm. Somehow, he felt that the rage was both entirely his own, and yet also had the influence of another. Until he could figure out which the true answer was, he had no ns of allowing such a thing to roam freely.


    However, none of that stopped his reaction speed.


    He pushed himself off his tform with a palm, backflipping off of it and kicking at the air.


    Thatst action was hardly needed. The moment he lost the support of his tform, it was like he too had been hurled down from the skies. But Ss immediately felt that it wasn''t fast enough.


    His Will felt like it was running on empty and his telekinesis was no longer working for him. As he soared down, he wasn''t exactly sure how he would evene back up. All he knew was that he would save Jake.


    It was one thing if the young boy had fallen off on his own and there was nothing he could have done to stop it. It was another matter if it was his fault that he had fallen and that he had even pushed him to such extremes.


    If he allowed the boy to die now, it wouldn''t just be a matter of saving himself; he would lose that kernel of himself that was still very much human.


    A part of him that Ss cherished more than he knew how to put into words.


    When Ss first met Lauren, they had a conversation about not allowing the changes caused to the world by the Summoning to warp who they were as people. The words Ss had spoken then were quite profound, and even after he felt he had changed quite a bit, he didn''t believe that he had fundamentally changed the kind of person he was. Instead, he only felt that he was bing more and more of himself.


    Now, he didn''t feel like he was acting out of character at all.


    He was a man who took responsibility for his actions. That''s why he was so obsessed with controlling himself and his situation so perfectly. He hated to be put in a situation where he couldn''t do that.


    And now...


    He found this to be nothing more than an extension of that.


    Ss kicked at the air again, and then again, the look in his eyes zing. He no longer paid attention to just how far from the tforms he was; he didn''t even pay attention to what had happened to Lauren after she too fell off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    All he cared about was the boy coughing up blood and falling from the skies.


    ''Come on. More.''


    It felt like the red lines painting the skies had already pushed them to terminal velocity, and trying to elerate beyond that forced Ss to bear the weight of wind pressures andws of reality that he wasn''t ready to handle.


    Even with his downward speed, the gap between them remained identical, and because he had been slow to react, it was just outside of his 100-meter range. Even if it hadn''t been, he didn''t know if his Will could even properly react in this dense mesh.


    The dense coldness in Ss'' eyes only grew thicker as though he couldn''t sense that his own life was on the line as well. He had sworn that he would never allow himself to feel such humiliation in the face of death again, and that promise was etched into his very heart even until this moment right now.


    ''Faster. Faster. I need to be faster.''


    Ss'' Madness Key flickered and ance appeared in his palm. The wind pressure at this pace was so much that his arm was ripped backward and almost came tearing out of its socket.


    A sh of pain pulsed in Ss'' eyes for only a moment before he unleashed a roar, the distortions to the skin of his face being forcefully constrained by the flex of the muscles beneath. His jaw steeled, and then with everything he had, heunched the spear just as it began to crack and crumble to ash.


    He had no choice in the matter. He knew this would happen the moment he touched the weapon, but in this sort of harsh wind, this was the only way.


    Ss'' Aether exploded into a cone shape through the body of thence, forming an upside- down dome that he hid behind.


    With another kick at the air, he elerated again and again beneath the force of his Aether, explosions of ice erupting beneath his feet.


    He closed the distance.


    From over a hundred meters to just 80, and then from 80 to 60, and then from 60 to 40, and


    then 20.


    But then...


    BANG!


    The cone of Aether shattered as thence blew apart in a rain of ash.


    A wall of wind mmed into Ss.

 Chapter 613: Red

    Chapter 613: Red


    ?


    Ss felt like all the bones in his body were about to shatter, a dense friction burning atyers of his Aether skin and real skin beneath, trying to turn him into a falling ball of me.


    But the intent in his eyes didn''t shift or fail for even a moment.


    In the instant he had shortened the distance to just 10 meters, his intent pulled on his Madness Key and a stone attached with a chain appeared beneath Jake.


    The boy mmed into the stone just as Ss violently pulled the chain back with a palm.


    Jake was sent rebounding upward and into Ss'' arms. Ss caught him beneath his armpit, releasing a haggard breath that exuded the air of his fatigue.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the time to rx. He might have had Jake now, but he was also still plummeting fast.


    However, this time, a second stone and chain appeared in his hand, but this time from above him.


    He suppressed his intent to use it as a weapon, suffocating the Will of the Scorned Wraps and erupting with all the torque he could muster from his torso up to his hand.


    Then, he hurled the stone beneath him with all the might he could muster.


    This time, he would rely on Newton. If every force had an equal and opposite reaction, he would have to bet his life on it.


    The stone was sent hurtling downward and Ss found his downward momentume to a near stop.


    He didn''t allow himself to lose the momentum. He kicked at the air, leaping across tforms of ice again and again.


    His Aether was running dry and his Will had already mmed into a hard wall, making it more and more difficult to summon skills and execute them, but he pushed, minimizing his usage to the greatest extent until he was once again within 200 meters of the tforms above.


    Normally, this sort of distance was easy for him to see through, but with the ring bass in his ears and the lines of red coloring the skies, it was hard to see much of anything. He could barely make out the outline of people, but it was hard to understand the exact situation.


    However, that was exactly the sort of thing that he needed to take advantage of. If they could see himing, Lauren and her group would almost certainly attack him. But like this, he could even potentially take advantage...


    If he didn''t run out of Aether first, that is.


    Whatever these red lines were, he found it difficult even to use his visualization in this region, let alone the others.


    Ss'' head suddenly snapped backward as he felt a great amount of dangering. He reacted on instinct, punching out with all his might.


    A red ball erupted against him, but rather than causing physical damage, it seemed to seep into his psyche, trying to corrupt his mind.


    Ss'' mind shook and the corruption of the red ball shattered apart. He was going to expel it from his body entirely when the Greed Seed pulsed and swallowed it up.


    A great amount of energy poured into Ss'' body and he felt refreshed. However, by the same token, he felt like the Greed Seed had grown a great deal more powerful, even more so than when it had absorbed those Sylphs.


    Another ball hurtled over, and then another.


    Ss threw the extra thoughts to the back of his mind, aiming his fists downward and using the momentum to elerate up even faster.


    The balls began to fly around faster and faster, until they appeared all over the skies.


    And then, at that moment, the red lines that clouded their visions suddenly opened up.


    Furious red eyes looked down everywhere, covering every corner of the world.


    The eeriness was enough to make one''s blood run cold. Even though the eyes were incorporeal and Ss could pass right through, every time he did, the chill only deepened.


    That moment was when Ss finally locked eyes with his tform.


    With Jake in one arm, and his other continuously punching out to protect him from the red orbs, he bounded upward.


    He could feel the shudders of Jake''s body every time they passed through one of the eyes, but neither said nor did anything. He had done enough to protect his own conscience. Whether Jake could make it the rest of the way would be entirely dependent on him.


    Ss soared up and finally grabbed onto his tform, gasping for breath.


    When he checked the situation of the surroundings, he found that no one had the bandwidth to even worry about if he was alive or not. They were all stuck in a battle within their own heads, the pressure of the red auras around them suffocating them.


    ''Let''s go.'' Ss thought to himself.


    The Greed Seed had pumped his Will up until it was almost spilling over. His Aether might not be in the same quantities anymore, but it was still enough.


    SHUUU!


    Their tforms shot out of the encirclement.


    Lauren, who had likely been saved by one of her team members earlier, couldn''t even spare the attention as she too was trying to rush toward the statue as quickly as possible.


    At this point, not a single one of them could spare the time to fast.


    Ss left them in his dust, more than doubling their speed as he rushed through thest leg.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Barely 10 minutester, he leapt forward,nding on the staircase that wound around the statue and feeling a cold aura seep into his bones.


    However, that was where it stopped. The red lines and balls couldn''t seem to affect them anymore where they stood.


    Lara and Cole rushed toward their son and Ss let him go, looking up seemingly without the intent to exin himself.


    Something about this ce worried him. If he was correct, then this might not be the great opportunity he thought it was. In fact, he might be rushing himself right into the lion''s maw.


    If the Greed Seed reacted like this... could it be that this statue was rted to the person who had corrupted and tampered with it in the first ce?


    ...


    As Ss was having these thoughts, there was a shudder many miles away from the statue. The three Monarchs had appeared.

 Chapter 614: Boiling Blood

    Chapter 614: Boiling Blood


    ?


    Ss looked up at the long, winding staircase, feeling somewhat confused on the inside. As far as he could see, there was no pressure on him, at least not like there had been on the path to make it here.


    So where would the dangere from?


    "Let''s go," Ss said coldly, taking a step.


    "Wait!" Lara seemed to have snapped. Her tears from the incident still hadn''t dried, and though her husband tried to hold her back, she couldn''t control her emotions any longer. "Don''t try and stop me, Cole! If we''re going to die at his hands, we might as well die now!" Cole was taken aback by his wife''s sudden snap. He had known her for over twenty years, and the instances of her losing her temper could be counted on a single hand for him.


    He wanted to tell her that it wasn''t worth it, that they just had to endure, but the words seemed constrained in his throat by a mysterious power. And this power certainly wasn''ting from Ss... it was his own dissatisfaction.


    Ss looked back at that moment, and Lara felt as though her furious tempest of rage was stifled all at once.


    There was an overbearing presenceing from Ss, and it was only now that they seemed to realize that the Will they couldn''t even stand beneath was one that Ss had taken on for the sake of all five of them at once.


    If they couldn''t withstand that Will, how were they going to withstand Ss''?


    Lara grit her teeth, her anger bubbling in her chest with nowhere to go, but she was having a very hard time even finding the words to speak right now.


    "Don''t dy me," Ss said coldly.


    With a step, Ss began the trek up the mountain. Quickly, he was already in a run.


    Alex followed after him and the family could only shudder as they realized they really had no choice in the matter.


    "Mom...e on," Jake said weakly. "It''s not what you think."


    Jake''s body still felt weak, but he grit his teeth, standing to his feet and pulling his mother into a run as well.


    Cole took a breath, looking at his son''s back.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As Ss had spected, Cole''s Will was actually beyond that of his wife''s. The only reason she had withstood the pressure better than he had was because he gave her the lion''s share of their Will so that she could hold up.


    As such... he was far more in tune with the changes to his son as well.


    Maybe... Ss had a purpose for what he did. Cole could make up the deficits of his wife, but he couldn''t share stats with his son. If Jake remained too weak, then if not now, their son


    would just end up dying the next time they ran into such a challenge.


    But like this, Jake had more capital to protect himself.


    Plus, his wife was too hysterical to see the subtleties, but after Lauren stopped Ss the first time, the situation seemed hopeless already. Even if another person had had Ss'' n in mind, the moment a hup like that happened, it would have been natural for them to


    abandon Jake and cut their losses at that point...


    But Ss hadn''t.


    He put his life on the line for the sake of saving his son, not because Jake would be some trump card he could use, but because he was a man who had his own principles.


    That was what Cole had seen when he first exchanged the golden token with Ss for their lives, and it had borne fruit now.


    Cole took a breath and looked toward Lauren''s group that was quickly approaching from the distance. He would have to find an appropriate time to exin these matters to his wife. Did he like it? No.


    How could a father ever be alright with their son''s life being used in a gamble?


    But ultimately... maybe it was because they were unwilling to do so that Jake had ended up in such a rut. Maybe they were harming him more than helping.


    Clenching his jaw, Cole chased after them.


    ...


    Ss'' steps were swift. He maintained a level pace, one that he believed the family should be able to keep up with if they pushed themselves a little bit.


    At the same time, he maintained a high level of vignce.


    There didn''t seem to be a catch to these stairs, but he hadn''t thought that there was a way to make it here with the tforms either, only to be proven wrong.


    He knew that he still had a lot to learn about these matters, so he was now always on the lookout for the other shoe to drop.


    But there was nothing. Even as they raced up and around the chest of the statue, reaching its neck, and then increasing their pace beyond, there was nothing.


    And then Ss finallyid eyes on it.


    The dungeon that all of this was here for.


    ...


    Lauren and her groupnded on the stairs finally. In the end, they had actually ended up on a much lower starting position than Ss and the others.


    The group''s best trump card against the red Will was Lauren, but unlike Ss, Lauren hadn''t been able to use them to replenish the stamina of her Will. As such, she waspletely useless while her teammates protected her from the rain and even saved her life.


    When they finally got to the stairs, she waspletely pale. But she quickly took a seat in meditation, circting a skill to replenish herself.


    Her teammates looked down with a somewhat worried expression. They knew that Lauren would be fine. But that Ss Grimde...


    Why were his abilities so shocking?


    Each and every one of them thought themselves to be standing at the top of humanity. But... what was this?


    The two men and two women stood side by side, their eyes glowing with a fierce light of


    competition.


    There wasn''t a single member of Legacy that was normal. They were the savants of Earth, and suddenly running into someone who made them feel so inferior...


    Made their blood boil.

 Chapter 615: Split Realm

    Chapter 615: Split Realm


    ?


    [The Mountain of Giza (-) (Split Realm Dungeon)]


    [Level Maximum: 50]


    [Entry Limit: 5 (Split)]


    [Rmended: Will 5000]


    [Description: The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.]


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this storied heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Light the fires of war and stoke your suppressed history, rise up as your ancestors once did, and face the oppression of the wider world.]


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat.


    The highest-ranked Dungeon he had ever seen was FFF+. He had always assumed that that was the limit. But the fact this Dungeon was asking for 5000 Will, something he didn''t even have half of, and his <Master Scouting> skill couldn''t even see through it...


    He began to hesitate.


    Taking risks was fine. But this was several orders of magnitude beyond just a risk. It was life and death, where death almost seemed guaranteed.


    However...


    He looked out into the distance. Was there even a way to retreat right now?


    [What is a Split Realm Dungeon?]


    [A Split Realm Dungeon is a fragmented Dungeon formed not by the random splicing of the current system, but rather lingering-]


    [Question has touched upon a Taboo. Glutton Curse activated. Hunger has increased.]


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains a small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <8 Bronze> Genes.]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <32 Bronze> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <5 days> remaining until Hunger increases.]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped.]


    Ss'' brow trembled. Before, the Madness Key had been at 16 Bronze Genes a day, and just four Bronze Genes per question, but it had suddenly doubled for the first time in a long while. And this time, his Luck didn''t warn him.


    Just as he had that thought, his Luck''s warning came inte, and Ss'' pupils constricted. This ce... it could restrict Luck?


    The bad feeling welling up in his chest only grew heavier.


    [What is a Split Realm Dungeon?]


    [A Split Realm Dungeon is a fragmented Dungeon formed not by the random splicing of the current system, but rather lingering attachments formed by a World. In the past, this was how the Legendary Path System operated and how Dungeons used to be formed. However, these Dungeons are much rarer, and as such, didn''t give many opportunities for growth.]


    [The rules and regtions of Split Realm Dungeons tend to be random, and they often disy a distorted retelling of history in cases that they are reflections of the past. Though they can also be the product of resentment from a particrly powerful expert or the cumtive resentment of many who died during a bloody war or battle.]


    [Split Realms are unlike normal Dungeons in that they can be cleared many times and often have very specific requirements for a perfect clearance. As such, many groups can enter a Split Realm Dungeon at once.]


    Ss exhaled a breath, and he finally understood what the Entry Limit represented now. It seemed that the Entry Limit for one group was five, but several groups could enter at once.


    It seemed he had lucked into the right number of group members, but whether they would actually be useful or not...


    That was another matter entirely.


    He could only hope that the Will rmendation was for theirbined number.


    There was no way to go but forward.


    Ss gave everyone a nce.


    Alex seemed to be unreadable as usual since he had put that mask on. As for the family, they were a bit haggard, but the time they spent riding behind Lauren''s group had given them a slight chance at recovery. At the very least, they weren''t on theirst legs.


    With a nod, Ss locked eyes with the Dungeon entrance swirling with colors of red and ck before taking a step forward.


    ...


    The first thing that hit Ss was the sound of shing weapons and roars of battle and pain. However, the scene he actually saw was much different from that.


    He sat at the helm of a table. Looking down at himself, he found that he wore a robe-armor sort of function. It seemed to have inspirations from the Roman Empire if the short skirt that rode up his thighs and the satchel across his waist were anything to go by. However, he found that his Madness Key and the Scorned Wraps were still very much there. To his left and right were Alex and Cole, along with Lara and Jake respectively.


    In the middle of them all was arge table that held a map and some moving pieces that could almost be perfect for a game of chess. But rather than a normal board, they sat on a two-


    dimensional battlefield.


    BANG!


    The room shook, and dust fell from the ceilings.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss looked up and found that they were likely in a bunker of sorts. But the limestone that


    etched the walls reminded him very much of the pyramids.


    He quickly stood to his feet just as an attendant came rushing through the door.


    "Great King, they''ve breached the eastern gates."


    [Leg 001]


    >[Repel breach of Eastern Gate]


    A notification popped up for Ss, but it was murky and not too clear. It was almost like the modern system was trying its best to give him some insight and guidance, but the Legendary Path System was interfering somewhat, or at least making it very hard.


    Ss could see why they gravitated toward the modern system. The old system was much more hard-nosed and difficult to deal with. Its instructions weren''t nearly as clear.


    Still, Ss took everything in stride, and the others followed him out, finding themselves standing near the top of a coliseum very soon.


    From this vantage point, Ss could just barely see the situation at the Eastern Gate, and his


    eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    "Demons."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 616: Focus [Bonus]

    Chapter 616: Focus [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss gave Alex a look, and they both shot forward at the same time. Somewhat to his surprise, Cole followed right after them. He could sense a great deal of resonance between him and his wife before his physical stats took arge leap upward.


    Together, the three formed an aerodynamic line rushing for the Eastern Gate.


    ...


    The gate was swarmed. Trolls and Golems as tall as the city walls formed the helm at the breach, while Rotten Wolves and Liches formed the bulk of the force.


    The scent of death hung heavily in the air, and every time a Troll swung its club or a Golem unhooked their jaw, unleashing a beam that assaulted the city walls, it was as though they were witnessing the end of the world.


    This world was such an otherwise beautiful ce. The skies were blue, and the grass was green. However, what should have been a gorgeous scenery was marred by the battle.


    The once green grass was torn up and twisted by the marching army, the forest that had once been in the distance was cut down for lumber and material in an attempt to build more siege weapons for both sides, and even the blue skies were being quickly darkened by a fog of death and the scent of blood.


    [Common Liche]


    [Level: 32]


    [Common Liche]


    [Level: 32]


    [Rotten Wolf]


    [Level: 37]


    [Rotten Wolf]


    [Level: 36]


    [Fortress Troll]


    [Level: 30]


    [Fortress Troll]


    [Level: 32]


    [Berserk Golem]


    [Level: 33]


    [Berserk Golem]


    [Level: 33]


    These warriors littered the battlefield. Ss scanned as many as he could as he joined the fray, but he immediately noticed a problem.


    He couldn''t see their stats, nor their Grades. He had no way of knowing if they were F- weaklings or King creatures of the Bronze or above rank.


    However, he didn''t panic. That was because...


    He could feel their strength.


    When he pushed his Will against theirs, it was like their entire beings opened up to him. He had already begun to develop a vague ability to use his Will to analyze the stats and abilities of others. And now...


    It seemed that this would have to be what he relied on the most.


    BANG!


    Ss stomped a foot onto the ground and suddenly elerated in a ze of green light.


    His body''s weight was cut down to almost nothing, and a single leap from him bounded across over ten meters.


    Hended on the head of a Rotten Wolf, his fist drilling down with a mass of poisonous Will that ripped through its skull.


    With a leap, he dodged out of the way of a ck arrowing from a Common Liche. He grabbed it out of the air with a re of his telekinesis and sent it flying forward so fast that it pierced the open maw of a Berserk Golem just as it snapped its jaw down to unleash another


    barrage.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The head of the Golem imploded beneath its own power, a rain of stone, ash, and fire falling from the skies above.


    Ss leapt upward, nting a foot on one of the stones and leaping into the rain of fire. The stone spiraled downward with an aura of green surrounding it. It suddenly elerated, its descent tripling in speed and hitting terminal velocity in the blink of an eye.


    It fell in the wake of three Liches, crushing them before they could even properly react.


    Ss could feel a peculiar force surrounding the air with every kill and then surging toward him. It was one part of that manic red energy that the Greed Seed wanted to feed on, but it was in another part a mature Aether that had the sole purpose of doing one thing...


    Leveling him up.


    Ss didn''t slow when he realized this. That was because he felt that he also had far more freedom here than he had ever had in the modern system.


    His aura red up, and roads of ice appeared all around him. He used his skill tomunicate with the mature Aether surging toward him, and suddenly Ss felt like he was standing on


    top of the world.


    Skills triggered by rotating Aether in your body in a specific pattern allow it tomunicate with the Aether in the outside world to trigger a strong effect.


    Ss'' Aether had always been immature because he was still Level o. As such, he didn''t maximize his skills the way he should be able to, and he could only trigger weaker Aether to act on his behalf.


    That only changed after he gained Rune Mastery and began to take control of Skills after then/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    fact personally.


    When he did that, his skills finally began to disy a might worthy of them. But in the end, his Runes stillcked the powerful Aether they would need to make their presences known.


    But in this world, as the Mature Aether of existences dozens of Levels above him surged toward him, granted to him by a mysterious power...


    This Aether finally listened.


    Ss immediately took advantage, his Will pouring into this surrounding Mature Aether and


    taking it for himself.


    <Surfing Frost> surged, and Ss'' body seemed to blink across its slippery surface. In what


    felt like a single instant, he had already crossed over 20 meters, appearing before a Troll raising its club high into the air.


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    Aetherflow.


    <Focus Punch>.


    BANG!


    The air exploded, and a ring of broken Aether and wind spiraled in all directions as a fist ten


    times asrge as Ss'' own erupted from his punch.


    A hole was sted right through the body of the Troll, and a rain of gore poured down,


    drenching the battlefield.


    In that instant, Ss had already used up all of his Mature Aether, but in the very same split moment, another, evenrger wave surged toward him.


    Ss spread out his arms, his hair whipping in the air as he stood on a tform of ice high in


    the skies.


    Dozens of Ice Bolts took shape, fueled by 70 Foundation Runes, with Mature Aether shaking


    the skies.

 Chapter 617: Inside [Bonus]

    Chapter 617: Inside [Bonus]


    ?


    The Ice Bolts rained down.


    Everywhere they crashed into, waves of ice would spread for dozens of meters, and under the influence of Ss'' 70 Foundation Ice Runes, it was as though the bolts had instantaneously be several times more powerful.


    Before, it took 2000 Attack to break their best defenses. But now, it took over 5000, and Ss hardly changed a thing.


    In an instant, the battlefield had be a world of ice, many of thebatants having gotten caught up and crushed within it. Some instantly froze over and died where they were, unable to manage under this kind of chill.


    As for those that survived...


    Ssnded on the ground in the sea of ice, switching over to a more low-profile <Surfing Frost>. His speed increased by over 50% as he glided from ce to ce, dodging arrows, shattering skulls, and erupting with a might that firmly pressed his imprint down on the battlefield.


    Alex''s gaze couldn''t help but flicker as he watched this sight, but it was Cole who could hardly manage his emotions. He had just fought against one of thesebatants and had to put in a decent amount of effort. If not for the fact that his wife had handed him over so many stats, he would have never been able to kill them with such ease.


    And yet, Ss, to his knowledge, didn''t have such methods. What he also didn''t know was that Ss had yet to even fuse with the Basilisk King, something that Alex was all too aware of.


    This disy of strength...


    Simply didn''t make logical sense.


    But then Alex thought of the requirements for the Dungeon. Could it be rted to that? Could Ss'' Will really be so high? What was the difference here?


    Neither could see that the reason Ss was so powerful was because he was relying on his Will tomandeer the Mature Aether around him. The only reason he could do this was that the Legendary Path System in this Split Realm had granted him ownership of this Aether.


    Of course, he was originally supposed to use it to level up. But the Legendary Path System wasn''t going to quibble with him over that. What he decided to do with the Aether after it was given to him was up to him...


    And Ss chose to use it to absolutely destroy and wreak havoc wherever he went.


    The morale of the troops in the city suddenly shot through the skies.


    Every time Ss leapt into the skies andnced down those mighty giants from above, it was as though they were watching a deity descend.


    How could they not feel an upswell of confidence?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ...


    Ss seemed to overturn the situation on the battlefield single-handedly, but Alex and Cole, though much slower, were dealing quite a bit of damage themselves.


    Cole, with over 90% of his wife''s stats handed to him, had several stats over 2000. Even if an exchangested more than a swing of his sword, it would only rarelyst a second.


    The difference was that hecked all the flexibility of the methods that Ss did, so he could only stay in hisne, remaining near the army so that he wasn''t surrounded. He also had no easy method of dealing with the Trolls beyond that.


    Alex, however, though his stats were inferior to Cole''s, had a much wider range of attack methods.


    The darkness that surrounded him was both a helping hand and a suffocating presence. From tendrils of whipping ck to sudden shifts in his location, to a swallowing force that rendered attacks useless.


    He shifted and seamlessly transitioned his way through the battlefield with only slightly less grace than Ss himself, and his kill count wasn''t too far behind...


    Rtively speaking, that is.


    Ss would check in on their status from time to time, taking note of the abilities that Alex and Cole disyed in case he would need this information in the future. Of course, this wasn''t necessarily for the sake of taking them down, but also for the sake of future ns they might need for this Split Realm.


    Knowing his allies was just as important as knowing his enemies.


    But speaking of enemies, he had a feeling that he didn''t understand these enemies much at all. He was thrust right into this spotlight and wasn''t even exactly sure how it happened. Why was he called Great King? What was this ce? Who was attacking? Was it really as simple as just a raid of Demons?


    And most importantly...


    Why did these numbers seem so endless?


    Ss had killed more than he bothered to count, but the waves continued toe.


    It was lucky that he had practically formed an ice barrier at the gate that slowed them down from overrunning the city considerably. But how long could hest like this?


    Ss leapt to the side of a swinging club, erupting with an Ice Bolt that froze it to the ground. He was just about to repeat something he had done several times, running up the side of the club to the head of the Fortress Troll to deal lethal damage, but that was when he felt a shocking wave of danger.


    Ever since he felt the statue suppressing his Luck, he had been consciously paying attention to it, so he had sensed this one even before it had time to settle in properly.


    A beam wasing from a Berserk Golem.


    ''They''re coordinating.''


    Until now, they had shown no such thing. Only the Liches showed the slightest hint of intelligence. Other than that, the only sort of coordination they showed outside of that was that the golems didn''t usually attack areas where their army was dense.


    From this, Ss had already spected that they had some sort of marching orders, but now he felt that it was certain.


    That was when Ss remembered thest time he had run into Trolls. Hadn''t there been someone controlling them back then as well?


    Ss strained his senses as he watched the oing beam. He didn''t move an inch as though


    he was trying to lock onto something.


    And then he felt it.


    His gaze sharpened, and his head snapped toward a certain location...


    But it wasn''t outside of his city.


    It was inside.

 Chapter 618: Trouble

    Chapter 618: Trouble


    ?


    ''Trouble...''


    Ss immediately realized that things wouldn''t be so easy. But the moment he grasped onto the tendril of Will this person hidden in the darkness was using, he also knew that the moment heid eyes on them in real life, he would be able to see through them in an instant.


    As for now...


    Ss clenched his teeth for a moment and flexed all the muscles in his body. His diaphragm expanded and became as solid as a rock before he roared out with a majesty that covered the battlefield.


    <Arctic Howl Mutant>.


    The beam of light crashed into Ss'' defenses, freezing in the air beside itself. Before, <Arctic Howl Mutant> could only freeze attacks for up to 2000 Defense for a split instant.


    But now...


    It blocked even this beam entirely. At the same time, the unfortunate Fortress Troll found itself frozen as well.


    Ss took a step, nting a foot on the iced-over Troll club frozen to the ground. <Surfing Frost> surged, and a pir of frosted blue shot him into the skies.


    He reached back with a w, and for a moment, he seemed to pause in the air, his steely green eyes meeting that of the Fortress Troll.


    It was a Demonic creature of great strength, a monstrous beast that would level even city walls. And yet, at that moment, meeting Ss'' gaze, it felt as though it was the small character between the two of them.


    <Focused w>.


    Ss'' hand descended, his fingers piercing into the thick skull of the Troll.


    His body flexed, and his veins pulsed across his body as he pulled down with all his might.


    He spun in the air, his hips torquing and his torso forming thin wiry strands of muscles that bulged along one another as though jostling for position.


    And then he erupted with all the strength he could muster.


    BANG!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Troll''s head tilted forward, its body leaning slowly for only a moment before Ss used his hold on the fractures in its skull to send it flying downward.


    The Fortress Troll only had time to feel the beam of light from the Berserk Golem unfreeze. The moment after that, its head was swallowed up by the beam of light, a trench being formed after its body.


    When the beam blinked out of existence, leaving a line in the skies that slowly grew thinner, all one could see was the headless corpse of the Fortress Troll rebounding against the ground.


    The smell of burnt, rotting flesh filled the air, its neck sizzling over with a burning scab.


    Ss, though, hardly gave it a look. He had soared even higher into the air, having used the Troll''s skull as a rebound.


    Two Exploding Bolts shot through the air but were too slow to enter the maw of the Golem. Ss also didn''t have any Fire Runes to make use of, so they were only of normal, average strength.


    However, he didn''t n on relying on it to begin with.


    The Golem stumbled back as two bolts exploded on its body. The first cracked its Aether shield, and the second crumbled it to pieces.


    Rains of fire fell from the skies once more, but Ss was focused on something else entirely. The Golems of this battlefield were war weapons, not living creatures. They had been built by someone, and they were powered in ways that living beings wouldn''t be...


    And they likewise had to be controlled.


    Normally, the only easy way to take them down was to wait for them to attack so that they had to distort their Aether protections themselves, like when Ss had sent a bolt flying into one of their mouths.


    But outside of this, they were the hardest to target on the battlefield.


    However... now that Ss knew what was likely going on behind the scenes, he knew exactly what he had to do.


    He had learned this method of Will and telekinesis usage when he met the snail beast of the volcano all those months back. Since then, he had been working and refining it, but the opponents he came across only had stronger and stronger Aether, making it more and more difficult for him to use his Will to interrupt their skills.


    But he had a Counter Skill that he had traded for long ago after his talk with Alex enlightened him to the fact that he would need one to fool the eyes of the Grimdes.


    Unfortunately, it was too low in Mastery, and it cost far too much Aether for him to use it casually. Plus, if he was casting it on an opponent and not on himself, it took too long precisely because of these two factors and wasn''t viable in battle. This was why he never added it to his battle rotation.


    Right now, however...


    He didn''t need it.


    His normal Will was more than enough.


    Now that the Golem no longer had its Aether protections, it was finished.


    Ss'' overwhelming Will blossomed forth, and a palm of green and violet plowed into the Golem from above.


    BANG!


    The Golem was driven into the ground. But what was odd was that its body seemed perfectly fine. It hardly had a crack on it.


    Instead of Ss driving it into the ground, it might even be more urate to say that it copsed after it lost connection with the one controlling it.


    ''Good.''


    Ss thought.


    Then, a path of ice appeared before his feet as he sent out Exploding Bolts toward every Golem. He surfed through the skies, sending out palms of Will that caused one Golem after another to fall from their high perches.


    At some point, their owner seemed to realize what was happening, and all of the Golems turned to Ss at once. Forgetting everything else, they unleashed one beam after another. Ss ducked, curled, and slid through the skies. As though he had eyes on everything, he dodged one beam after another. Even when they crossed in his path, he seemed to see through


    it in advance.


    The Golems only fell faster.

 Chapter 619: Sweeping

    Chapter 619: Sweeping


    ?


    The battlefield looked like rising tides of frozen water. Paths snaking through the skies, almost akin to flood dragons rising out of the earth. It was a scene that one would likely not forget in their lifetimes... if it wasn''t somonce in a world like this one.


    Ss took deep breaths, looking off into the far-off distance with a calm gaze.


    [Leg 001 Cleared]


    [Leg 002]


    >[Stabilize the city]


    Ss looked at this notification calmly. His thoughts were still on the individual hiding in the city, and seeing this notification, he realized that it just might be rted.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    On the surface, it seemed like his only task was to clean up the battlefield and fix the gate, but now he had a feeling that this Leg 002 had a much deeper meaning to it.


    However, he still knew far too little about the situation here to make an assessment. He didn''t even know who to startmanding to get things done.


    ''There are still some clues. The fact this person controlling the Golems wasn''t here personally means that they''re unlikely part of the army.''


    Luckily, he would have an excuse to summon these sorts of logistical people very soon. And if this was a case where the person in question wasn''t part of their government at all, even easier. That way, Ss would face no issues with killing them directly.


    Since he had been drafted into a kingly role, the only way out of this was to keep ying that role until the very end. Until he figured out exactly what he was dealing with, he couldn''t go off script.


    What he didn''t expect was to meet the person he was looking for so soon.


    ...


    "This Great Priest has seen the Great King," an older man half bowed to Ss.


    He wore minimalistic grey robes and a crown of thorns on his head. Judging by the dried blood on his face, they were no doubt real thorns. But what was most interesting to Ss was the fact that this crown of thorns wasced with what looked like miniature pinecones.


    This man was none other than the individual controlling the army. Ss was sure.


    It was just his luck too. Because this man, other than himself, wielded the greatest power in the city. In fact, just from the feeling that Ss had picked up in his short stay here, this man''s prestige was by far and away beyond his help.


    Although his battle feats were strong, it seemed that Ss was seen as caught somewhere between ipetent and a figurehead. Originally, the reason why he was in that basement room rather than on the battlefield was because he wasn''t expected to participate. The fact he had was a surprise.


    The runner had onlye to inform him of the situation, and then Ss went on to act on his own. And, obviously, a mere runner wasn''t going to tell the Great King what he should and shouldn''t do.


    It had only been half a day or so, but Ss had managed to scrounge up quite a bit of information to this effect. But that left him realizing that he might have been too eager.


    He wasn''t used to Dungeons needing a soft touch. All of the ones he had been in mostly required strength to get through.


    If he had known this ahead of time, he definitely would have at least hidden his identity before he went to the battlefield and only stepped on if it was absolutely necessary.


    This time, he had overextended himself, and it couldn''t be helped.


    Now, this Great Priest, who wielded a great deal of power and influence, was on guard against him. He was probably wondering if Ss had seen through him already or not.


    "Have a seat, please, Great Priest. I would like to have a correspondence with you about how we might bolster public morale. I am not the best at these things."


    Ss had the Great Priest sit at the other end of a very long dining room table. The two sat, sipped their wine, and ate their food while having idle chatter.


    Most of the things Ss talked about were matters that he had only learned about in thest day, before he finally spoke on this topic.


    "Oh? What does the Great King ask of me?"


    "Today is the first time in our great history that our gates have been breached. I''ve had no choice but to show my power today to stabilize the hope of the people, but I never nned to do so this early. Now our enemies wille more prepared.


    "I have several thoughts in mind. But the main two are rted to the Golems, and the second is rted to a more general state of public morale."


    "The Golems?" the Great Priest asked.


    "Yes." Ss nodded, gazing at the Great Priest calmly. "I noticed during the battle that they were under the control of someone''s Will. Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to find this person, and I alsock the skill to control the Golems. But I have heard all my life that the Great Priest is adept at sorcery. I would like to see if you canmandeer these Golems and make them work for us instead.


    "If the people could see that we''ve taken control of such powerful weapons of war, they would surely feel much more at ease, don''t you think?"


    The Great Priest seemed to be surprised, and then hesitated.


    "I... cannot say that I am confident in this matter, Great King."


    "If not you, then it can be no one else," Ss said firmly.


    "I see... I can only say that I will do my best. The realms of sorcery are deep and fathomless. It


    is difficult to say what paths our enemies have delved into."


    Ss nodded in understanding. "That is of course not a problem. I only ask that you do your


    best."


    "And the topic of a general morale boost?"


    "Yes. The Star Festival ising up. I would like your help to do something big."


    Ss said calmly in his seat. Just because he had made a mistake originally... didn''t mean that he couldn''t turn it into a sweeping victory.

 Chapter 620: Grand Holiness

    Chapter 620: Grand Holiness


    ?


    Ss stood in the middle of a hall as a great amount of hustle and bustle was moving around him. There were workers getting things set up for tonight''s festival, some were only arranging flowers, while others were buildingrge podiums or even positioning heavy stone pirs.


    When he entered this Dungeon, thest thing he expected was that he would be organizing what was essentially a grand party. He, Ss Brown, a man who had never even seen a party invitation that he thought about epting. And now he was in the middle of creating one.


    But he honestly didn''t mind it. He wondered that if in the future, if he ever settled down to be an actual City Lord, would these be the things he spent his time doing?


    Honestly speaking... maybe it wouldn''t be so bad.


    At least that was what he thought for a few brief instances.


    And then he thought about the meetings, the demands, the constraints... Would it be that different from the time he spent as a professor?


    Maybe it was alright to do from time to time, to give his body a rest and flex his mind a little bit.


    But all the time?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He remembered that feeling of freedom he had felt when he faced off against the Violet Rose Heart...


    He was addicted to that feeling.


    He wanted to feel it again and again, to experience what it was like to soar through the skies and disy a might that didn''t just shock others... but also himself.


    He wondered just how far he could push himself.


    But for now, he wouldn''t lift much of a finger and clear this second Leg instead.


    Even as the streamers were going up and the flower decorations were dotting the city...


    [Leg 002 Cleared]


    [Leg 003]


    >[Investigate the lingering danger of the Temple and quell future troubles]


    Ss nodded, not feeling surprised at all. Just as he suspected, stabilizing the city to clear Leg 002 wasn''t just about clearing the gate or fortifying it.


    It had required death.


    **


    ~Hours ago.


    The Great Priest stood in a wide room of the temple not quite understanding his luck. Then he began tough so hard that the echoesyered onto one another and the room started to quake.


    It was impossible for an F-Grade existence to possibly have a voice so powerful, but it was also unknown just what kind of shocking secrets were hidden in this room to force such a thing.


    "What a fool!"


    The rumbling of the temple suddenly became even more fierce, but this time, in response, the Great Priest who had just beenughing uproariously came to a sudden stop.


    The Great Priest fell to his knees and pressed his head against the ground, not daring to look up or even to breathe too harshly. He had just beenughing hard and was somewhat out of breath, but even with his face as red as a tomato he didn''t dare to inhale as deeply as he wanted.


    When he felt a shadow sweep over him, his body shook to its very core, as though he could feel even his very soul about to crumble.


    The shadow above him became deeper, darker, heavier. And then he began to smell that acrid breath.


    The smell of sulfur and burning ash filled the air, a smoke consuming the oxygen, and suddenly it became obvious why it was the Great Priest hadn''t been eager to take breaths.


    The Great Priest more than feared for his life; he feared for his soul, his very being, his chance at ever seeing the light of day again.


    But it was ambition that continued to drive him. Ambition for something that rested beyond the mere Human Race.


    "Heel, Aki boy."


    A somewhat feminine voice echoed, but it was clear at the same time that it likely came from a man slurring his speech in azy pattern.


    Even as the shadow retreated, the Great Priest didn''t dare to raise his head up.


    "Tsk, tsk, tsk... it seems you''ve forgotten just how sacred this ce is, little priesty boy."


    The Great Priest trembled but still didn''t say anything.


    "Tell me. What has you so riled up?"


    After some hesitation, the Great Priest began to speak about the matters and how the golems had been returned to him to "research."


    "Is that so? So you mean to say that you lost so many golems in the first ce?"


    The Great Priest froze just as he was feeling pleased with himself, the chilly wind threatening to prate to his heart and freeze it over.


    "I fail to see what there is to celebrate so much about. If he can sever your connection so easily with them once, why couldn''t he do it again..."


    "I... I... your grand holiness... if they believe that the golems are ours, I can trigger a ''malfunction'' when the time is convenient and deal a lethal blow to the city."


    "Mm... do you think I cannot think of the possibility of such a n...? If I wanted a dead city, I would simply do it myself..."


    The Great Priest knew that this was aplete lie after everything he had observed. These people couldn''t step foot outside of the temple. But he also didn''t dare to voice his opinions.


    "I need worshippers... I need humans to grovel at my feet and do my bidding... I do not need corpses. Do you understand me, priesty boy?"


    "Yes, your grand holiness. I understand."


    "Good. Now think of a n better than just springing a little trap. Make them despair. Make it so that they have no choice but to give their lives over to me."


    "I understand."


    The Great Priest didn''t dare to move even for several more hours. It was only when the acrid


    scent finally faded from the room that he dared to stand.


    Exhaling a breath, he reminded himself to never do that again, before hurriedly rushing to the


    golems with his mind churning with thoughts.


    What he didn''t expect was that these would be thest moments of his life.

 Chapter 621: Below

    Chapter 621: Below


    ?


    Ss already knew what happened the moment that fool of a priest epted the golems back.


    In truth, Ss didn''t know or understand how the golems worked initially. But between the time that he summoned the Great Priest and the end of the battle, he had had almost half a day.


    In that time, he had analyzed the golems, only to find that they might have beenplicated mechanisms... but at the end of the day, they were built off the same fundamentalws that he was used to.


    Runes.


    The moment he understood that, he was able to deduce the locations through which the golems were controlled and imnt his own Will into them.


    To be clear, he couldn''t control the golems. That would take significantly more study and time he didn''t have. Although controlling golems wasn''t as difficult as knowing how to draw every Rune in its body like he would have to for the scorpion army, it was only two or so steps beneath that.


    However, something as simple as finding the location the Grand Priest would have to pour his Will into in order to control it? It was as easy as breathing for Ss.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had found it with a single nce.


    At that point, it was only a simple matter of pouring his own Will into it first and tweaking the Rune slightly so that it wasn''t too obvious.


    When the Great Priest tried to pour his Will into the golem, he found that he needed much more than usual. Once that happened, he would think that the golem was likely damaged by Ss, so he would pour more of his Will in to attempt to find the root cause and maybe fix it, while also testing to see just how much stamina it would take.


    By the time he made such a decision, his death was set in stone.


    That was because all Ss had done was pour arge amount of his own Will into the same location... his Sparking Will... with a poison character.


    When he had seen the Great Priest, he had already deduced that his Will was much weaker than his own in terms of realm. The moment their two Wills came into contact, the Great Priest found himself swallowed up.


    The poisontched onto his Will and seeped into his mind. Before he could even understand what was happening...


    He was dead.


    Ss looked up as though he hadn''t done much at all, staring at the moon that hung high as the festivities began to roll.


    He had a cold chill sweeping through his heart right now, and he had a feeling that he knew where it wasing from.


    After doing his "kingly" duties, he slipped away.


    This party served dual purposes.


    For one, just killing the Great Priest wasn''t enough to stabilize the city as Leg 002 asked of him. He also needed to restore the faith of the people and make them feel much better about their lives.


    But it was also a distraction.


    The death of such an important figure wouldn''t go unnoticed. He not only needed a reason for the Great Priest to disappear, but he also needed an opportunity to investigate this so-called temple.


    ...


    Ss slipped through an alley and found Alex and Cole waiting. Given the stat requirements of this Dungeon, he wouldn''t ever go in alone. It was especially troublesome because this time, he wouldn''t have easy ess to Mature Aether in all likelihood.


    Though it was hard to say what sort of enemies he mighte across, and he also did have some other contingency ns in ce, it was better safe than sorry.


    By now, the two had gotten some real rest, as had he, and they were refreshed and prepared for the next Leg.


    Ss nodded and they rushed through the night toward the temple.


    He had set up the main core of the festivities away from the temple. On the surface, it looked like a sign of respect for the Gods these people worshipped, but in practice, it was only to give him an easier time right here and now.


    There were still some stragglers on the streets, some drunk men, some rowdy couples trying their best to keep their moans in hushed whispers, but for the most part, the city was rtively empty on this side.


    That only became more so as they weaved through the densely packed streets toward the temple.


    However, once they were within range of said temple, there were no longer any densely packed homes and buildings to hide between. There was arge open space, and in the center, before the temple, there was arge statue.


    Ss narrowed his eyes upon seeing this statue.


    It looked human... for the most part. But it seemed to have a handsomeness to it that couldn''t be captured perfectly in stone, as though the artisan couldn''tpletely capture the nature


    of the person.


    And this statue had a pair of horns that curled back onto his hair almost like a pair of smooth braids, along with a slit right down the middle of its forehead that barely separated a subtle


    fold of skin.


    The group didn''t stall for the statue, moving toward the temple.


    "The temple is now closed to visitors. Please return-"


    A tendril of darkness came from Alex that sliced the clergyman''s head from his neck, sending


    it spiraling into the skies in a spurt of blood.


    Plumes of darkness surged as they rushed into the temple, killing anyone they saw.


    Ss wasn''t sure who was on the Great Priest''s side and he didn''t have the care or time to find


    out.


    It was best to directly kill them all.


    Alex did the heavy lifting as they rushed forward, clearing away everything in their path one after another until they ran to the end of the temple.


    Rivers of blood flowed, but Ss still hadn''t found what he was looking for.


    ''Down below...''


    Ss looked beneath his feet and almost seemed to be looking through the intricately carved marble beneath his feet, realizing that that was where his targety.

 Chapter 622: Gaudy [Bonus]

    Chapter 622: Gaudy [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss'' gaze swept through the region. He could feel that the location he was looking for was beneath his feet, but how could he get there?


    ''Runes...''


    When the thought came to him, Ss stopped using his eyes and relied on his visualization. Soon, he had found exactly what he was looking for.


    The inside of the temple, if one ignored all the blood pooling around everywhere now, had quite a minimalistic and earthy vibe to it. The colors were warm, and stone was used pretty much everywhere. There were even some locations where elements of the outside were brought in.


    Grassy walkways, walls of greenery, and even some open-air windows that shone the moonlight down from above.


    However, when Ss found a nook in a hidden corner of one of the temple''s libraries, the contrast was immediate.


    From minimalistic, wealth was continuously thrown at his face to the point it felt almost gaudy.


    The walls of the winding staircase downward were covered in leaves carved from gold, the stairs beneath their feet looked as though they were forged from literal diamond, and gems of various colors and kinds dotted the region everywhere you looked.


    Ss didn''t know why, but looking at this ce... he felt sick.


    It was almost like he was smelling something too sweet, a fermented fruit that had gone from ripe to nearly rotten.


    He couldn''t describe why he was feeling this way immediately until he realized what it was... There was a power Will here other than his own. One that was colored with this disgusting stench, so much so that even Ss, whose Will had a poison character, couldn''t stomach it. "Prepare yourselves," Ss said coldly.


    Alex and Cole were already on high alert, but when they heard this, they realized that the danger they had been brought here for was likely right around the corner.


    Ss clenched a fist and ck scales erupted across his body, his gaze growing more focused as he led the way with a wall of Will surrounding him.


    When they made it to the basement floor, the gaudiness only became more extreme.


    There were three paths of stone embedded in streaming waters that all led to the same location. The stones were formed of white marble, but they were outlined and bedazzled with rubies.


    From the ceiling above, streams of sparkling diamonds and rubies hung from heavy chandeliers, and the walls to the side were lined with what looked like vines and roots once more forged from gold.


    If one looked through the water to the bottom beneath, it was possible to find more diamond embroidery that made it almost hard to stare at for too long with the chandeliers beaming down from above.


    And then there was therge, circr tform that the three stone paths in the water led to.


    It was enormous, and it must have been at least a hundred meters in diameter alone. It was so muchrger than the diameter of the temple above that it could only mean that this gaudy underground basement was actually carved out of arge segment of the city that spanned even outside the range of the temple itself.


    But even worse than that... the entire tform was carved from gold, intricate Runes that Ss couldn''t immediately piece together being etched across its outer ring in amethysts.


    The sh of colors and the overabundance of wealth only made that sick feeling in Ss'' stomach grow worse... even when he finallyid eyes on the golems that he had been expecting to be there.


    The Great Priesty dead in the middle of the tform, ck veins pulsing across his body as his swollen tongue hung outside of his mouth.


    As expected, he had died working on a golem. Even now, the jaws of the golem were hanging open wide, and the Great Priesty in its mouth as though it was about to eat his corpse.


    There were easily a dozen or so golems sprinkled around the region. Presumably, after the Great Priest dealt with the first, he nned to go and deal with the others after the fact. But he never got the chance.


    Ss didn''t move immediately, standing and observing the ce in silence. The uneasiness was only growing, so much so that he no longer held back.


    He summoned Nosphaleen.


    Honestly, he wasn''t sure what would happen if he summoned Nosphaleen now. Within his Hibernation Realm, she would count as his contract and presumably not be an extra entry. But once she was out...


    Ss failed.


    ''I see... I can''t summon her.''


    He exhaled a breath and his determination became steely.


    He gave Alex and Cole a look. They seemed to understand, and the three of them each took separate paths, one to each of the stone walkways.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    If they were going to battle, they were going to need their space.


    With steady steps, they moved forward as the feeling in Ss'' chest grew heavier.


    And then he stepped onto the central tform.


    For a moment, it was like there was a small ripple across his vision, almost as though a thin film had been peeled away. When his sight cleared, he saw something that he hadn''t been able to see before, and it made his pupils constrict into pinholes.


    There, sitting on top of the head of the golem that the Great Priesty dead in, there was a young man.


    His skin was especially pale, but it looked as though his face was caked on with white makeup and rouge lipstick as though he was a Geisha of ancient Japan.


    But more importantly than that...


    He had ckened horns that curved toward the back of his head like braids and a slit right down the middle of his forehead. But unlike the statue on the outside, his seemed to be lined


    with a bloody red.


    The young man was dressed in a mboyant robe popping with colors and intricate embroidery, and there was a smile on his face that belied the danger he gave off.


    But none was more eerie than the creature thaty before him.

 Chapter 623: Aki [Bonus]

    Chapter 623: Aki [Bonus]


    ?


    When Ss first saw the creature, his first thought was that it was another Rotting Wolf. But the more he looked at it, the more he felt the creature warp, shift, and change in his vision. It was only after he focused his Will that the changes to the creature came to a stop and he could finally see what it was he was looking at.


    It was a chimera.


    [Rotten Chimera]


    [Level: 42]


    The creature was almost a dense ball of ck, and the only regions it wasn''t were thick droplets of a foul green liquid that could have either been pus or venom. It was impossible to tell when this liquid both dripped down from the several maws of the beast and out from its gaping, open wounds.


    The Rotten Chimera had three heads, all of which were malformed and not properly attached to its neck. Two of them seemed to be fighting for supremacy over which would be the main head, and thest was practically attached to its back rather than its neck.


    It had the heads of a lion and turtle for the first two, and on its back, there was the proud head of a deer with horns that pierced toward the high ceilings above.


    On either side of the deer head, there were a pair ofrge ck bat wings littered with holes. They, on one hand, looked so fragile and paper-thin that anyone could rip through them with ease. But sometimes, when they moved, they would reflect the light just right, showing off their true mass...


    A pair of sharp, lethal weapons that could shred through the air as easily as they could stone or metal.


    This time when Ss scanned this creature, he felt his Will telling him one thing and one thing only...


    He was absolutely no match for it.


    Whether that was because of Level or because of its Grade, he had no way of telling.


    However, Ss didn''t feel like he was spiraling. In fact, when he finallyid eyes on the enemy making him feel so uneasy, it was like the weight on his shoulders hadpletely vanished.


    He stood straighter, his eyes zing brighter, and he looked straight up, ignoring the chimera and locking eyes with the Geisha man.


    [Aki Purvon]


    [Level: ???]


    He couldn''t see his Level. In fact, even his Will passed through the young man as though he wasn''t even there, as though he was far too beyond Ss to even think of measuring in such a way.


    Aki''s smile deepened. "You must be the kingly boy, right? A clever n you had here, I must say. What do you say to bing my new priesty boy? It would be a good deal for the both of us. I get what I want, and you get to not die."


    "How do I be your priest, and what are my duties?" Ss asked in a calm voice.


    "Ah, a man of purpose. It is too bad that my fondness for little girls is too great; otherwise, I would snatch up a handsome boy like you."


    Ss didn''t flinch at the man''s words. It was hard to tell if he meant little girls literally or not when he went around calling everyone boy. But the disgust he had for the man was already long since ingrained long before this.


    It wasn''t his mannerisms... Ss could just feel something particrly evil about him.


    "But I do not like to answer questions, you know? You would be serving me, kingly boy. Have you ever heard a servant question their master so?"


    Aki blinked innocently as though he was truly waiting for Ss to respond. However, Ss didn''t. Instead, he looked toward the tform again.


    The Runes were simply tooplicated and far above his paygrade. But he could feel something subtly calling out to him.


    Ever since he stepped into this Dungeon, he had realized something quite important...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There was cancer to the Runes still there, but it wasn''t nearly as severe as it had been back on Earth.


    Why was that?


    Regardless of the answer, it allowed Ss to feel the situation around him much more clearly, and his Rune Essence Mastery, along with the help of his Ithkuil, made him feel as though the Runes were almost taking the initiative to speak to him.


    "You are not here," Ss suddenly said.


    Aki''s eyes narrowed, but his wide smile was still there. The contrast made for a particrly eerie dichotomy, one that emphasized the darkness hidden within the young man all the


    more.


    "You are not the first smart person I''ve run into, kingly boy."


    Ss didn''t need an exnation to understand what Aki meant. The white-faced man simply didn''t care whether Ss knew or not. The situation would be much the same in the end of it


    all.


    The only way for Ss to forcefully end this connection was by destroying the tform''s Runes... and how could he do that if they were iid with diamond?


    Suddenly, the gaudiness of the region seemed to be much lessughable.


    He couldn''t even guarantee that he could destroy a thick b of marble; how was he going to


    destroy a stone that was several times harder and denser?


    And yet, he was still calm when he turned his gaze back to Aki.


    [What are the details of the Race of the man before me?]


    [This man is a descendant of the Thryskai Race. The Race is separated into three tiers of existence with further striations within every tier. There is their Mortal Tier, their Demi-God Tier, and their God Tier.


    [This man has horns butcks the feathered wings signature to the Demi-God Tier. It can be said that he is among the best of the Mortal Tier, but still leagues from the Demi-God Tier.


    [The Thryskai Race''s most known feature is their Third Eye, also known as the Skai Eye. This feature allows them to concentrate their Wills into a tangible form from birth. Depending on additional talents, this ability can mutate in a great number of ways...]

 Chapter 624: Thryskai [Bonus]

    Chapter 624: Thryskai [Bonus]


    ?


    [Mortal Tier Thryskai tend to be heavily reliant on Will-type skills and abilities, and often rely on Rune Mastery if they have the talent for it. However, their bodies are rtively weak and their Physical stats tend to be less than half of their Mental stats.]


    [...Demi-God...]


    For once, the Madness Key gave Ss even more information than he needed.


    ''Thryskai, is it...''


    He had yet to finish dealing with the Sylphs, but here he was facing off against yet another enemy far too grand for him to fathom.


    But for some reason, Ss felt like his heartbeat resonated deeper in his chest, and his blood churned.


    The disgust he felt turned into a righteous sort of indignation.


    For a long while now, he could feel someone or something smirking at him as he tried to deepen his Rune Mastery. Every time he reached a bottleneck, it was like that gaze would make its presence known, as though it wasughing at him.


    And finally... he felt that he had at least finally caught onto the tail of this individual.


    Was Aki them?


    Ss had no way of knowing.


    But he knew that this person was most definitely rted to the events that overturned the situation on Earth all those years ago. And right now...


    He wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug smile from his face.


    Sensing a threatening intent, the sleeping Rotten Chimera suddenly opened all of its eyes. One would think that there were just six, but there were nine, each one of the heads also having a split in its forehead.


    Beams of red light shot out and pierced toward Ss in a torrent.


    However...


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    They shed against a shield of Will.


    Sparks of red flew in all directions.


    Growls filled the air as the chimera stood to its feet, its wings spreading out and forming waves of pressurized wind in all directions.


    "Stay near me," Ss said calmly as he took a step forward.


    A frosty sort of energy pooled around Ss, his intent ring.


    <Woond Frost Domain>.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A chuckle came from Aki, and there was a sudden aura that descended from above at the same instant.


    Ss felt like he was cut off from the Aether in the surroundings, and his skill was likewise forcefully canceled. However, to his astonishment, his Aether reserves still fell by over 20%.


    He didn''t get to keep his Aether after his skill was canceled. It just dissipated into the air as though grasping at straws.


    Was this what normally happened when he canceled the skills of opponents? Or was it a special tactic of Aki?


    "Go on, Aki boy. Shred them to pieces. But leave the kingly boy a little alive. Who knows? Maybe he wille to his senses."


    SHUU!


    All Ss felt was a wall of wind. He didn''t even get a chance to breathe in the acrid scent before a heavy paw was already swinging down for him.


    The Rotten Chimera was at least three meters tall at its full height, and itsrge wings made it feel even bigger. When it swiped down like this, it was like the world was copsing around Ss.


    BANG!


    Ss reacted on instinct, hurling an Ice Bolt at the paw and circting <Arctic Howl Mutant> at the same time.


    His Skill was once again interrupted, and he lost his Aether for nothing. But he was ready for it as he rolled to the side.


    The Ice Bolt slowed the creature just enough for Ss to roll beneath its body. Ss didn''t trust a dodge to the side, at least not before he understood the full range of abilities that the chimera might have. In that case, it was best that he take the most unpredictable option.


    His choice was proven correct not even a momentter as three barbed tails snapped out from the chimera''s back,shing out in the directions it thought Ss might dodge in.


    The creature''s paw became encased in ice, but when it crashed down to the ground, the residual frost from the bolt shattered on impact.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. That paw swipe alone actually had more than 2000 Attack.


    The realization didn''t make him slow his movement. He wanted to use the opportunity he had beneath the chimera to attack its soft belly, or at least what he hoped would be a soft belly, but he was still rolling. There was simply no such opportunity.


    He sprang up behind the chimera, turning his back to Aki as though he wasn''t even there and unleashing a powerful punch.


    BANG!


    The chimera hardly took a step forward, and from what Ss could see, that was because it was off bnce due to the ice and the attack on its paw, not because his strike was so great.


    ''Its total Defenses are above 3000 between its Constitution and Aether protections.''


    Ss calmly analyzed what he could, using the rebounding force to elerate backward and out of the way of the counter of the tails.


    Coming to a stop, Ss was ready for the chimera toe after him again, but it actually changed targets, surging toward Alex.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. This could be very troublesome. He much preferred the chimera to attack him directly while the other two could support him from the back, but why would the enemy do exactly what he wanted?


    What he worried for wasn''t if Alex or Cole could hold up against the physical attacks; the problem was the Will attacks. Especially if their skills were being continuously canceled.


    But to Ss'' surprise, Alex sessfully used a shadow-moving technique, disappearing from his location and appearing beneath one of the chimera''s wings.


    It was a movement method that Ss hadn''t seen him use before. It instantly put him in a vulnerable location for the chimera as he unleashed a vicious strike at its wing, looking to cripple it with his dagger in a single blow.


    But...


    CLANG!


    Alex''s dagger sparked, and his arm was repelled.

 Chapter 625: Barrier [Bonus]

    Chapter 625: Barrier [Bonus]


    ?


    Aki''s eyes were only growing more narrow as his smile widened. He didn''t seem to care about the battle at all. He only had eyes for Ss, who was standing right before him with his back to him.


    Ss waspletely ignoring him as though he wasn''t even there.


    If Ss was locked inbat and just couldn''t manage to spare him a nce, that would be one thing. But to think that Ss would be standing right in front of the Great Priest''s corpse, and right beneath the golem Aki stood on, and not even look his way a single time...


    A chuckle came out in a lower, more bass-filled tone than he would usually use.


    "I''ve changed my mind, Aki boy... kill them all."


    Alex had just retreated from beneath the chimera''s wing when a dark pressure flooded out in all directions, sending him flying into one of the golems. Even Ss, who was a ways away now, was forced to take a step back.


    ROAR!


    Ss'' vision went nk. By the time he could see again, the chimera was already upon Cole.


    The Twin Moon Healer cast <Twin Moon Radiance> subconsciously, causing a bright and golden barrier to appear around him. But it onlysted for a moment before he was sent flying into the distance.


    The barrier shattered, and Cole crashed into a marble wall so heavily that his entire body seemed to deform. Blood flew from his mouth and his sword ttered from his hand.


    The Rotten Chimera crouched as though it was about to go in for the finishing blow, but tendrils of darkness appeared from its shadows and wrapped it up.


    Furious, the chimera shattered them apart with a single thought before pivoting toward Alex. Ss shot forward, realizing that he couldn''t just rest on his heels any longer. However, when he tried to cast a movement skill, he found himself interrupted again.


    Whatever Aki was doing, he was specifically targeting him. There was no reason that Alex and Cole should be able to cast skills while he could not.


    A bubbling distaste surged through Ss'' chest as he felt like he had no control over the situation. But his steely green eyes remained sharp.


    He ducked beneath a sharp p of the chimera''s wings, driving his shoulder into its ribcage with his entire weight.


    The chimera was knocked to the side and off course, giving Alex enough time to get away from its direct line of attack.


    ''It doesn''t have any reliance on Mental stats, or else it would have used them by now. That beam of red that came from its third eyes should be Will, but I don''t believe the Will is its own. The Thryskai should be using it as a conduit, which should also be how my skills are being interrupted.''


    As Ss organized his thoughts at lightning speed, a chain appeared around one of the chimera''s tails.


    Ss controlled the chain with his telekinesis in one part as he drove a fist to the side, shing with one of the chimera''s three barbed tails.


    His Aether skin shattered, and the ded tail pierced into his knuckles, only to be rebounded away by the Scorned Wraps.


    A great deal of power surged into Ss'' hand and almost broke it to pieces, but he expertly used his body control, whipping his arm back and sending the wave of pressure down toward his leg.


    Even if he couldn''t use his skills, he wouldn''t lose all of his training.


    BANG!


    His foot stomped into the ground, and he used the momentum to retreat, hurriedly wrapping the other end of the chain around a golem''s body.


    [Basic Barrier Chains (F+) (Treasure)]


    [Level: 10]


    [Surround a Portal on the non-Aether ne side with these chains and bury it into the ground. In three days, it will form a Barrier]


    [Defense: 10,000,000]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Replenishment Rate: 2,000,000/hr]


    Ss gained these chains the same day he dealt with the Arctic King Cobras for the first time from a group of Legacy members whoid it around a portal.


    He had originally been nning on using it to deal with the underwater portal that Cassarae was dealing with, but he never got a chance to before he was swept up by other things. The idea of using a Level 10 Treasure now to turn the tide of a battle against a Level 42 behemoth of a creature sounded ridiculous, but Ss didn''t pause his steps for even a moment, using his expert body control to dodge out of the way of the rampaging beast. As expected, the Grade of a treasure wasn''t the end-all, be-all. This might just be an F+ Treasure, but it was designed to hold thousands of Aether Units, and be the foundation of a barrier that had 10,000,000 Defense.


    It might be an F+ Treasurepared to other Barrier Chains. But in terms of sturdiness and power, it was beyond what even this chimera could destroy easily.


    And most definitely not if it couldn''t use Aether-fueled skills.


    BANG!


    Ss dodged around yet another golem andpleted the loop.


    The chimera found its body tied down at the edge of the looping chain, its ankle restrained whether it moved left or right.


    And at the same time, there was a WHOOSH! from the chains as it was forcefully activated.


    One of the reasons the chain was so low-ranked was because of the three-day waiting period. But if Ss forcefully took control of its Runes himself...


    "Kingly boy... you''re starting to make me angry. That''s not very nice..." Aki''s smile only grew wider, and by now, it could only be ssified as a grin.


    A row of teeth that were almost too white to be natural were disyed. But if one looked closely, it was possible to see that his gums were a sickly gray color that made it look as


    though Aki was rotting from the inside out.


    And maybe he was, because when Sspletely ignored him, the re of rage the Thryskai felt caused veins of ck to pulse across his otherwise pale white face.


    In a surge, the barrier was 10% formed in an instant before Ss felt a splitting headache nearly knock him out.


    His vision dimmed again, and he only barely saw the mouth of the deer open up and spit an


    arrow of green at him.


    Too fast.


    The arrow tore right into him.

 Chapter 626: Too Late

    Chapter 626: Too Late


    ?


    Ss'' body seemed to freeze. The pain wasn''t instant, and the arrow was so fast that it had already passed through him and collided against the ground before he could do much of


    anything.


    There was a pulse of a corrosive energy, and when his skin began to rot, it was only then that the pain truly set in for him.


    A heart-shuddering sort of ripping pain tore into his body. As though a pair of ghostly hands had taken hold of his brain and started to parse it into pieces, he couldn''t focus on anything other than that horrid pain.


    Something within Ss was on the verge of breaking when a small spark lit within him.


    A small green-violet me hidden deep within his body collided with the corrosion. The me was so weak and fragile, and yet the moment it was provoked, it morphed, its body bing the shape of a roaring beast.


    All at once, the attack on Ss'' mind was thwarted, and all that was left behind was the searing pain.


    Ss could barely look down to see the ghastly wound in his chest. It had already begun to fester and spoil as though he was more corpse already than man.


    His eyes blurred and a man appeared before him. Or rather, the man''s back.


    Alex''s tendrils of darkness looked to have pierced into the ground in a great showing of force. But in reality, they had anchored themselves in his shadow, entering a mysterious sort of world as he was wrapped in a cascade of shadowy figures that made his figure look twice asrge as it really was.


    The shadowy figure, standing at the same height as the chimera, locked its arms with the beast''s ws.


    The two shed in the skies, a reverberating BANG! echoing as they mmed their heads against one another.


    The snake head of the chimera rose up and bit into the shadow figure''s neck. Sparks flew and much of Alex''s projected body cracked. But then it just as quickly reformed, reshaping itself into a tight hold around the snake''s head and neck.


    Ss swayed before he regained his bearings.


    He unleashed a roar with what strength he had left to muster and his Rune Mastery bloomed forth. He didn''t even deal with the poison roaring through his body. Now that this part of his n waspleted, there was absolutely no need for him to hold back any longer.


    Aki''s smile finally froze.


    Unfortunately, it was toote.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The golems in the surroundings exploded one after another.


    Arge amount of Mature Aether rushed for Ss.


    Much like he had noticed on the battle, despite the fact these golems were manufactured goods, they still gave him a Level-up opportunity.


    And now it was time to use it.


    Ss stomped on the ground a single time and arge amount of Aether shot around him.


    At that moment, Aki''s gaze shed again, but his expression truly changed this time around. He failed to cancel Ss'' Skill this time.


    The golems outside of the looping chain had their Aether sucked up by the Basic Barrier Chains under Ss'' control.


    The golems inside the loop had their Mature Aether surge toward Ss, who had appeared in the skies with one palm facing downward and one fist pulled back as though he was steadying his aim.


    Aki''s attempt to control the chimera he had named after himself failed, rebounding against the barrier formed by the chains and the Mature Aether of the golems.


    And all the while, Ss didn''t even look over to him a single time.


    A pair of deep golden eyes appeared, hovering to Ss'' back. Their slit pupils seemed to peer into the depths of the universe''s mystery, and for a moment, even the chimera found itself shaking.


    Who knew just how many beasts this chimera''s body had been formed from? Regardless, its Serpentes Genes were far too few for Ss to even think of suppressing it normally.


    But now, with it pinned down by Alex, and facing off against an attack fueled by the eyes of a Vipermancer, it felt it more intimately now than it ever did before.


    At that very moment, a weakened Cole reached a bloody finger forward, aiming toward Ss the best he could.


    <Twin Moon Divide>...


    Ss felt his Physical stats increase by another 50%. His muscles bulged, pushing up against his ck scales and splitting them apart to reveal a stretched, golden hue beneath.


    His gaze sharpened and his fist was enveloped by a green-violet glow.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    SHIIIIING!


    The ckened ws appeared just as Ss'' momentum reached its greatest peak.


    Ss roared, his telekinesis driving himself down faster as he retracted his palm and exploded downward with his fist.


    The ckened w tore right through the deer head on the back of the chimera before driving into its body.


    BOOM!


    Ss'' arm exploded in a rain of blood and gore. However, whatever mangled mess it had be was lost in the eruption of the chimera''s body.


    Its belly exploded out from the bottom, sending spurts of foul green liquid and what looked like yellowed blood everywhere. Its rotting organs fell out and the odor became absolutely


    excruciating.


    It copsed so hard toward the ground that the hold Alex had on its snake head forced the two


    to separate.


    Spurts of yellowed red blood flew as the chimera was driven into the ground.


    "Aki boy!" Aki screamed out as though he hadpletely lost his mind.


    Ss stood on the chimera''s back, his mangled arm lodged into its body and his chest spurting with foul blood from the wound he had still yet to heal.


    However...


    He knew victory was theirs.


    Gasping for breath, he had more problems to deal with than the hysterical Aki who couldn''t


    do much other than scream and throw a tantrum.


    He now had a shocking amount of Mature Aether rushing toward him, and no Aether left to cast any skills to make use of it.

 Chapter 627: Sylas Brown

    Chapter 627: Ss Brown


    ?


    Ss gasped for breath, looking at the gross state of his arm. It was hard to tell what was his blood and what wasn''t, because just the act of entering the chimera''s body with an open


    wound had opened him up to all sorts of infections.


    The yellowed blood of the chimera began to taint his body and it was beginning to overwhelm him.


    The poison of the chimera wasn''t exactly like the poison Ss was used to. It was more demon than it was anything else, and Ss had already shown himself to struggle with poison like that a great deal, even when it came from Runes he intimately understood like the Woond Poison, let alone ones he didn''t like this one.


    Right now, it seemed that identally Leveling up was going to be the least of his concerns. If this continued, he would die.


    However...


    There was an eerie calmness to his gaze as he inhaled. Rather than pushing the Aether away, this time he swallowed it all, allowing it to rush into his body.


    He wasn''t sure if it was the gap between the Rotten creatures he had fought before and this chimera''s in Grade or if it was the difference in Level, but the sheer amount of Mature Aether this Rotten Chimera had was easily ten times more than any Ss had ever seen before.


    In fact, he was even somewhat disappointed. If Aki''s real body was here... maybe this would be his best chance to deal a death blow to him.


    But he knew that was mostly going to be a pipe dream. If Aki could control this chimera without even his real body being here, then it was only natural that he be able to easily resolve any attack that came from what was ostensibly just a small part of the Rotten Chimera''s body.


    Whenever Ss was granted Mature Aether from a kill in this world, he could sense the Legendary Path System cleansing it. That did away with the harm of absorbing another''s Aether, but it also weakened it.


    This was why Ss didn''t even try to fight the Level up this time.


    He had been trying to find his wall, and this was it. This fight was too difficult, and the next time, he wouldn''t have a set of golems to sacrifice to bridge the gap.


    He had to Level up now and consider other matterster. What good was a solid foundation if he got killed before he even managed to make use of it?


    There was no need for reluctance. It was a useless emotion to him.


    However, what Ss didn''t expect was that when he began to absorb the Aether, he would feel something else.


    ''I... can do that?''


    Ss had been looking for methods to help his Contracts for months. However, it almost seemed easier to increase their talent than it was to get them to Level up.


    The Basilisk King was still Level 5, as was Nosphaleen. The poor Bone-Tailed Lizard was still a measly Level 0.


    Ss didn''t think that he would stumble into the method of Leveling them up like this. Seeing another path, he didn''t hesitate.


    His body had already grown substantially more powerful. Between his new stats, his deeperprehension of his Taboo Bond Path Talents, and his Dual ss Constitution-not to mention the increase to his Fusion Talent''s Level-he felt that he could now fuse with the Arctic Emperor Cobra of the past without bursting apart at the seams.


    So... why wouldn''t he increase the strength of his fused creatures?


    The question was... which one?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The moment he had the thought, the answer was obvious.


    The Basilisk King.


    Although Leveling up the Bone-Tailed Lizard might gain more immediate rewards because it was FFF+ to the Basilisk King''s FFF-, the Basilisk King already had a Legendary Path Talent within it, while the Bone-Tailed Lizard at best had a Bronze Lineage within it.


    The longer the Bone-Tailed Lizard stayed Level o, the better, because it would be easier to upgrade it in the future.


    But the Basilisk King would not only be able to be upgraded now, it would Level further because of its lower Grade, and on top of that, it had to be remembered that Ss already had everything on hand for its next Grade upgrade.


    All he needed was the Basilisk Skin Armor in Cassarae''s possession.


    The only trouble was that he had no easy way to return. The only portals he knew of to get to Cassarae were now across an ocean from him.


    But that time woulde.


    As for why it couldn''t be Nosphaleen, that was because he couldn''t fuse with her right now because she wasbined with the cancer Gene, and he couldn''t summon her either.


    So that only left one obvious choice.


    Making his decision, Ss canceled his Fusion and poured everything into the Basilisk King.


    Then he sat and watched in anticipation to ensure that he was correct.


    The Basilisk King was injured during their Fusion, as expected.


    Fusions were canceled due to high injury, but that was only before the Fusion urred. During the Fusion, they both shared the burden of injury. If Ss died, then the Basilisk King would die as well.


    However, unlike Ss, the Basilisk King had the Hibernation Realm.


    Sspletely forgot about his own injuries as he watched the Basilisk King like a hawk.


    And then it happened.


    From Level 5 to 6, and then from 6 all the way to 10 in a sudden burst, and then from 10 to 16, and then from 16 to 23.


    All the while, it didn''t seem to show any signs of stopping.


    As the Basilisk King Leveled up, Ss realized that his Insight Path Talent was being


    tweaked.


    He realized that in this state, he would need a great number of Aether Stones alongside the three items he had already connected to allow the Basilisk King to Grade upgrade now.


    But that was just fine by him.


    It was worth it.


    The Basilisk King only came to a grinding halt at Level 29.


    "SYLAS GRIMBLADE!" Aki roared, his fury from being ignored boiling over.


    "Myst name is Brown," Ss said casually as Aki faded away.

 Chapter 628: Evolution

    Chapter 628: Evolution


    ?


    [Basilisk King (FFF-)]


    [Level: 5]


    -


    [Physical: 125]


    >[Strength: 176]


    >[Constitution: 197]


    >[Dexterity: 62]


    >[Speed: 65]


    [Mental: 113]


    >[Intelligence: 151]


    >[Wisdom: 41]


    >[Charisma: 147]


    [Will: 271]


    **[Basilisk King (FFF-)]**


    [Level: 29]


    [Physical: 725]


    >[Strength: 1021]


    >[Constitution: 1143]


    >[Dexterity: 360]


    >[Speed: 377]


    [Mental: 655]


    >[Intelligence: 876]


    >[Wisdom: 238]


    >[Charisma: 853]


    [Will: 1571]


    What shocked Ss the absolute most was the Will of the Basilisk King. Unlike his own, it didn''t face a cap at 999 at all. It shot right through it as though that wasn''t there at all. But best of all...


    These stats were only the stats of the Basilisk King when the Beast Totem wasn''t active.


    Ss had been storing the two million Free Experience he got from clearing two System Cities in his Woond Territory for a long while now. But now, he felt that it was finally about time that he use them.


    **[One Kind For Me]**


    [Level: 10]


    [Experience: 0/102400]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv10; Insight Lv10]


    **[Beast Totem (Path Talent)]**


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <100%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <51 200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <1000%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <200%>]


    [>Beacon of <1> kilometer radius]


    -


    **[Insight (Path Talent)]**


    [>Comprehend Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    **[One Kind For Me]**


    [Level: 14]


    [Experience: 0/1 638 400]


    -


    [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv15; Insight Lv15]


    -


    **[Beast Totem (Path Talent)]**


    [>Suppress <F-rank> Serpentes Beasts by <100%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <819 200%>]


    [>Increase Fusion speed by <1000%>]


    [>Buff Contracts by <200%>]


    [>Beacon of <5> kilometer radius]


    **[Insight (Path Talent)]**


    [>Comprehend Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    **[Were-for-the-Invincible]**


    [Level: 10]


    [Experience: 0/102 400]


    -


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv10]


    -


    **[Fuse (Path Talent)]**


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <2 seconds> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <128 minutes>]


    [>Semi-Fusion] (NEW!!)


    **[Were-for-the-Invincible]**


    [Level: 12]


    [Experience: 0/307 200]


    -


    [Path Talent: Fuse Lv12]


    -


    **[Fuse (Path Talent)]**


    [>Fuse with your Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with <1> Contract at a time]


    [>Fusion process takes <1 second> toplete]


    [>Fusionsts <512 minutes>]


    [>Semi-Fusion]


    Ss was a bit surprised that he didn''t receive an increase to how much he could buff his


    Contracts by. But it was still more than worthwhile to him.


    The increase in the power of the Hibernation Realm was substantial, and with how much he was going to have to rely on the Basilisk King in this Dungeon, that was going to be needed.


    Plus, the Fusion could nowst far longer than he should ever need in a single battle. Right now, upgrading the auxiliary abilities of Extricate wasn''t worth it. But this was.


    And now... with the Beast Totem fully activated...


    The Basilisk King''s stats looked like this.


    **[Basilisk King (FFF-)]** (Beast Totem Activated)


    [Level: 29]


    -


    [Physical: 2175]


    >[Strength: 3062]


    >[Constitution: 3428] >[Dexterity: 1079]


    >[Speed: 1131]


    [Mental: 1966] >[Intelligence: 2627] >[Wisdom: 713]


    >[Charisma: 2558]


    [Will: 4715]


    A true monster.


    Ss didn''t know if it would run into a bottleneck or not. As far as he knew, if Leveling up was really so easy, then the Heirs of the hidden families wouldn''t still only just be crossing Level


    30. But even if the Basilisk King was stuck here for a while...


    He had nothing toin about.


    **[Leg 003]**


    [>Investigate the lingering danger of the Temple and quell future troubles]


    Ss looked at his status screen to find that Leg 003 still hadn''t been cleared. He frowned for


    a moment and started looking around before he suddenly fell to a knee and coughed up a


    mouthful of blood.


    His vision swam and he shuddered weakly.


    In everything that was happening around him, he had forgotten just how severely injured he


    was.


    There was a hole through his chest with a dense corrosion looking to suffocate his heart, and


    now there was an infection on his mangled right arm that was about to send him into septic


    shock.


    It wouldn''t matter if his heart rotted if it stopped pumping blood first.


    Ss barely managed to keep himself up as he pulled out a Targeted Healing Elixir and


    swallowed it whole.


    In what seemed like a shocking choice, rather than using his body control to send the Elixir''s medicinal effect toward the hole in his chest, he sent it toward his arm instead.


    A +100 000% increase to his healing capacity for a single day was truly something. However,


    this Elixir wasn''t an anti-toxin. It had no ability to fight off the corrosion Ss was


    experiencing.


    That was dependent on him.


    Ss ignored Alex and Cole, stumbling toward the chain around the chimera''s ankle and


    undoing it.


    The moment the loop was undone, therge amounts of Mature Aether in the air lost their home and surged toward Ss instead.


    Gritting his teeth, Ss gathered up thest bits of Will and Wisdom he had, drawing Runes in


    the air.


    To his surprise, the process was far easier than he expected. He was in so much pain that he


    almost missed the fact that the ckened ws had still found something to swallow up from the Rotten Chimera''s body, fueling him just the tiniest bit.


    It was clear that the Rotten creatures didn''t have as much to take as true living creatures. But


    it was enough.


    With his Runes powered by Mature Aether, Ss became akin to a tiger with wings. The Demonic Poison in his body was ripped out, unable to fight back.


    And once again, Ss realized just how shocking a feat it was to be able to control 70


    Foundation Runes. Even this powerful Rotten Chimera was only wielding Runes bordering on 50 Foundations, still a full two leaps away from Ss.


    With this difference, even though Ss didn''t have an easy time dealing with Demonic


    Poison, it was still a matter without suspense.


    Ss exhaled a breath, using up arge amount of the Mature Aether to clear his body of the


    poison before allowing his true healing to begin.


    Once his body was stabilized... he would have to find out what was missing to clear this third


    Leg.

 Chapter 629: Pressure Lines

    Chapter 629: Pressure Lines


    ?


    Ss stood weakly. His arm was still a mangled mess, but at the very least, he was no longer oozing puss.


    The fleshly wounds were a secondary problem. The main issue was the fragmented state of his arm. He couldn''t count the number of hairline fractures he had suffered, and worse than that, the ckened ws seemed to be in a state of limbo.


    They had been somewhat saved by the Blood Essence it absorbed from the chimera. But as Ss had already seen, Rotten creatures were basically living dead existences. They had no Will of their own, and they certainly didn''t have Blood Essence in spades.


    As such, the ckened ws were in a state of dormancy, and for all intents and purposes, destroyed.


    But what made the situation troubling was that in order to increase the Durability once more, Ss needed to summon them to attack and kill something. How could he fix them if he couldn''t do that?


    ''I will have to find time to see if I can use Extricate directly. But...''


    This was the obvious solution, especially now that Ss could use Extricate on Blood Essence as well. But there was a reason why the intelligent Ss hadn''t thought of attempting to do this already.


    Demons and Demonic things seemed to have an odd path of their own, one that the system didn''t seempatible with.


    It couldn''t be forgotten that Ss didn''t drive his Profession Talents on his own, much like how he didn''t drive his skills on his own.


    It was the system that granted his Legendary Path Professions that he could make use of. Unless he could supercede the system, it would be useless.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But Extricate was tooplicated of a Talent, so much so that it made the Gene Skills Ss had mastered feel insignificant. It would have to be to have controlling something asplex as Genes as its lowest level ability.


    For now, it seemed that until he found a solution, or a work-around, the ckened ws would be out ofmission. At the very least, they had yed their crucial role well, giving him the boost to his Strength he needed in those final moments.


    Ss threw a gaze out at Cole and Alex who were nursing their wounds. Quite frankly, Alex seemed to be the only entirely uninjured one among them. Ss had to remind himself that The truly couldn''t underestimate the members of Legacy.


    ''There should be something else here...''


    Even after blowing up so many golems, the tform was perfectly fine. The bits and pieces of the golems had scattered into the waters, leaving the tform, aside from the regions that had been circled by the chains, rtively clear.


    Ss walked to the diamond-etched Runes that lined the outer ring of the golden tform. He frowned.


    ''Veryplex... but also very simple... it''s like the scorpion armor all over again...''


    A single etching wasn''t the full story. Any one of them couldn''t even be considered a full Rune. They only had ten or so Foundations each, and though there wereplete Runes that existed with that sort of low count of Foundations, these seemed purposely left iplete.


    It was another form of Rune Mastery that Ss had never seen before.


    ''I understand. This tform is only one half of the equation. There''s likely a connecting tform elsewhere that pletes" these Runes. If I look at it like that, then...''


    Ss'' gaze shed and his visualization enveloped the tform, taking into ount all the Runes at once.


    There were exactly 100 of them, drawn particrlyrge as well. Beneath the lights, they shimmered with a rainbow of colors, their diamond structure refracting everything that came into contact with it.


    Rune Essence whispered into Ss'' ears. Once again, he found listening to Runes in this world was far easier. It was like he had been running with a 50-pound weight vest on that had suddenly dropped to 10.


    Just seeing half the Runes, and knowing there was another side to it, his mind seemed to work on its own, understanding the Essence and filling in the gaps.


    ''Most of these Runes are here to amplify... they project Will from one location to another, the other side presumably being where the Thryskai''s real body is...''


    Ss separated the Runes into three tiers. Amplification, location, and finally... odd vessel Runes that stored and transported the Will.


    What was fascinating was that these transporting Runes had the ability to almost make Will more tangible.


    Ss forgot for a moment that he was supposed to be trying to find a mystery here. He was enraptured by this third tier of Rune.


    They were only 20 or so Foundations, but they opened up an entirely new world to him. Unlike the professionally trained Rune Masters on the list he had identally ended up on, Ss had never received systematic training. He didn''t even know foundational Runes but had somehow jumped to have 70 Foundation Runes in his arsenal.


    These 20 Foundation Runes, two halves of 10 Foundations, were like amp clicking open in his head.


    They taught the foundations on how to guide his Will.


    Contrary to what he had assumed, he didn''t need Aetherflow at all to guide his Will. It was just that that had been the only method he had.


    Ss'' gaze shed, but this time, it wasn''t just a random act of his Will. Instead, a pair of 20 Foundation Runes appeared in his irises.


    BOOM!


    The air before Ss'' face shuddered and almost seemed to crack apart.


    Thin lines of green-violet filled the space around him, and Alex, who had just been trying to meditate to steady himself, coughed up a mouthful of blood that was presumably blocked by his mask and swayed in his seating position.


    Ss was stunned.


    These lines that filled the skies as though a great gravitational weight was descending from above, like the world was about to crack apart beneath his presence...


    Hadn''t these been the same that appeared from that statue?

 Chapter 630: Big [Bonus]

    Chapter 630: Big [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss forcefully dismissed the Runes in his eyes and the pressure vanished. At the same time, he felt a wave of fatigue hit him and he nearly stumbled backward before he flexed his core and caught himself.


    This was only the second time he had experienced Will fatigue. The first time had been when they first entered the world of that statue, and now he had suddenlye across a second example.


    It made him realize something quite profound...


    He hadn''t been using his Will properly all this time.


    Until now, his Will had been trapped behind a dam with hairline cracks running through it. From time to time, sprinkles of water woulde out in tiny droplets, but in action, they didn''t have much strength to them at all.


    But now, he had control of a faucet and he had identally turned it on full st.


    Never did he think that a simple 20 Foundation Rune could lead to such arge change in him. Unfortunately, there was no easy way for him to learn Runes like this.


    The Inheritance of the Scorpion Warlord might allow him such a chance, but he would need to find Silver Genes first. This world seemed like a great opportunity to do so... but there were no Gene Cores in any of the creatures that he had killed.


    Still, he could maybe rely on Extricate, but all of the enemies he hade across until now werepromised in one way or another. The golems wouldn''t have Gene Cores because they were manmade, and the Rotten creatures had Corrupted Genes...


    When Ss had this thought, he froze as a sudden surge of enlightenment hit him.


    "The first time I met a Rotten creature, I failed to im its Genes because they were Corrupted, though the Madness Key absorbed them just fine. I wonder... would that work to suppress Nosphaleen as well?''


    Every time Ss used the cancer Gene, it broke apart and its Durability lessened. He had already estimated that this would likely be thest time he could bring Nosphaleen out. There wouldn''t be another opportunity to store her as a Contract again in the short term...


    Unless he could use Corrupt Genes in ce of the cancer Gene.


    For a moment, Ss forgot about Leg 003 as he was distracted by the corpse of the Rotten Chimera. He stood over it, and with his uninjured hand, he pressed a palm to the mangled body and used Extricate.


    As expected, a ck blob took shape. But what shocked Ss were the hints of Silver.


    ''Silver Gene...''


    Ss didn''t expect that he would find his first Silver Gene like this.


    ''Can I find more?''


    Suddenly, Ss felt somewhat anxious. He had allowed the Rotten wolf to sit there for a while, and his understanding of Genes had deepened to the point he knew that they would degenerate after death.


    He didn''t normally have to worry about why the corpses were in the Madness Key... well, aside from when he had to stop it from devouring everything in sight.


    But now Ss felt like something had lit a fire beneath his feet.


    If this was the kind of powerful creature it took defeating to get a Silver Gene, who knew when he would get another opportunity?


    Even with the strength increase of the Basilisk King, his body would only be able to take its unboosted stats on, and ultimately, the Basilisk King was still an FFF- creature. Its Will, for example, though high, was of far lower quality than the Will supplied to the Rotten Chimera. This was all to say that Ss wasn''tfortable with the current state of things. He still felt like danger was looming above him, ready to fall down like a guillotine.


    However, if he could get the Madness Key to exin to him how to take theplete Scorpion Warlord Inheritance for himself... that would change everything.


    He needed just three Corrupt Silver Genes to do it.


    And he found exactly how much he needed. Not one more and not one less.


    **[How can I use this Scorpion Warlord Inheritance Crystal and avoid alltent dangers at the same time?]**


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 3 Silver Genes]


    **[How can I use this Scorpion Warlord Inheritance Crystal and avoid alltent dangers at the same time?]**


    [ce the Inheritance Crystal within the Madness Key and only observe it through your senses.]


    The solution was so simple that Ss felt that he had been scammed. He spent three Silver Genes just to learn that the solution had been on him the entire time?


    But in the end, he almost smiled.


    Almost.


    There were two reasons for that.


    First, no matter what, he wouldn''t have been able to use the Corrupted Silver Genes anyway.


    Second, this solution was definitely transferable. If he ever ran into another such problem, he would know exactly what to do.


    Ss had known that he could observe the Inheritance Crystal through the Madness Key before. What he didn''t know was that this would protect him from any untoward aftereffects.


    ''Hm?''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With quick hands, Ss suddenly picked the Madness Key up off his neck, staring at it


    intently.


    He could swear that just now he had heard a childish giggle. But just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished again.


    It was that yful side again... but before, he had felt iting from the Gluttony Seed, and now he sensed it from the Madness Key.


    Unless...


    ''They''re one and the same? Could it be that the Gluttony Seed isn''t just a byproduct of the Madness Key, but that it was always meant to be symbiotic with it to begin with?''


    If that was the case then he had always been meant to unlock the Gluttony Seed. Did that mean that other Madness Disciples would unlock different Seeds depending on what kind of Madness Key they ended up with?


    If that was true, then Ss was even more sure of his previous assumption... the Greed Seed wasn''t something he was supposed to have, and the only reason he did... was likely because the Greed Madness Disciple was nning something big.

 Chapter 631: Compatibility [Bonus]

    Chapter 631: Compatibility [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss let the Madness Key rest to his chest and exhaled a breath. Although it was nothing but spection, he trusted his deductive abilities. The odds that this was the truth were quite good.


    Maybe he had some details wrong, but the skeleton should be correct.


    Ss walked back over to the Runes and knew exactly what he had to do now.


    ''This tform is meant to send Will projections one way. That means, if I reverse the flow...''


    Ss sat down, circting <Maddened Enlightenment>. Large amounts of Aether poured toward him, and his fatigued might was being quickly replenished.


    In not even a few minutes, his eyes snapped open, his gaze sharpening.


    The twin pair of 20 Foundation Runes appeared in his irises once again and his Will bloomed. But this time, it was much more focused.


    CRACKLE.


    The air bent and twisted, and then suddenly...


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The Runes on the tform, formed of the strongest material avable to Earth currently, shattered apart one after another, shards flying in all directions.


    However, the vast majority of what had once made up the Runes were ground into a fine powder, allowing them to escape a tragic fate.


    Ss copsed to his back, gasping for breath. He could feel his Will slowly replenishing thanks to the passive effects of <Maddened Enlightenment>, but he wasn''t paying much attention to that as something else hade to his attention.


    [Leg 003 Cleared]


    [Leg 004]


    >[Quell the unrest of Egypt]


    ''So this is Egypt... why do the buildings feel so much more like Rome? Has there always been such crossover?''


    Ss was intelligent, but that didn''t mean he knew everything. He wasn''t a historian, and much of ancient history was suppressed to begin with. The only reason he even knew some of these things was because of the System City Library.


    But this task was definitely troublesome. Until now, they had been simple, one or two action threads to insert. But now... he wasn''t even sure where to start.


    He would need to find out what his position was in Egypt. Was he just a Great King here? Or everywhere? What other powers were there?


    ''No... the scope can''t possibly be this wide, or else it would defeat the purpose of there being Legs to begin with. So why would it be so vague?''


    Ss frowned in thought.


    ''Quell the unrest of Egypt... Mountains of Giza...''


    It felt like it was on the tip of his tongue.


    And then his gaze shed. He remembered something important.


    Just because he was out of the Pyramids now, did that mean that it was all over? Wouldn''t there still be matters rted to it? Otherwise, why would the Dungeon be called the Mountains of Giza? Once again... plural.


    ...


    Ss found what he was looking for the next day when the festivities were through.


    In this world, Egypt wasn''t a country... at least not yet.


    Egypt was a temple. Or more urately, it was a religious library. And more urately than that, it was once a normal library that wasmandeered by the current religion of this world.


    It was also known by another name to the people of Ss'' time...


    The Library of Alexandria. The very one that Julius Caesar would identally burn many decades from now.


    Right this moment, however... this location was thergest collection of knowledge in the entire world. And it was known by the people here as Egypt.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss wasn''t sure if this was truly how it was in the past, or if this was one of the distortions in history the Madness Key mentioned might happen when you were dealing with a Split Realm, but the answer didn''t matter.


    It seemed that he would have to travel to this library now.


    After making sure that everything in his city was truly settled, he did exactly that, setting out with a convoy with Alex along with Cole and his family.


    ...


    Ss sat in silence in a luxurious carriage. His legs were crossed, his eyes were closed, and he had a peaceful countenance on his face. However, his mind was anything but.


    He delved into the Madness Key.


    [Scorpion Warlord (???) (Inheritance Crystal)]


    [???]


    [Would you like to ept this Inheritance?]


    [Yes][No]


    -


    Ss chose to trust the Madness Key. If he couldn''t trust it, then his entire journey might as welle to an end right here and now.


    He felt his senses warp, and when he appeared again, he stood at the bottom of the long, winding ck staircase.


    High above, further than he could see very clearly, there was the outline of a statue.


    If he was correct, it was a muchrger version of the Scorpion Warlord statue he had seen in the underground abandoned city.


    Ss looked around, and thought that there would be nothing left but to try and take the first step. But before he could, there was a shimmering ripple that took shape high above his head. An eye. A red one, slit right down the middle to reveal a flickering abyss of darkness.


    "Are you willing to take on my mantle? That of the Scorpion Warlord."


    "I am." Ss replied calmly.


    The voice sounded akin to hundreds speaking down at him all at once, but they didn''t sound particrly different. It was almost like mature and immature versions of the same voice were all talking at the same time.


    "Good."


    An aura descended from above. However...


    It was repelled the moment it touched Ss.


    The eye narrowed. "You... have the aura of a Master of Serpents."


    Ss was surprised by this answer. He thought that maybe the eye had tried to take over his body or something to that effect and the Madness Key had stepped in. But that didn''t seem to


    be the case.


    "You are notpatible with my master. Leave."


    "And if I don''t?" Ss asked.


    Lines of pressure suddenly filled the skies as the eye formed a furious momentum. Ss felt


    as though the world was ending around him.

 Chapter 632: A Deal [Bonus]

    Chapter 632: A Deal [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss felt his projection almost copse, an attack on his mind almost shattering his Willpletely. However...


    This time the Madness Key really did interject, and the force that rebounded toward his true body was repelled away. Or, rather... it was greedily swallowed up by the Madness Key.


    The eye froze, seemingly taken aback by what had just happened. It hadn''t sensed the Madness Key. All it felt was like its power had fallen into a fathomless well.


    And then it became very angry.


    "You dare to spheme the Scorpion Warlord like this?! Tell your master that if he wants to dere war, he doesn''t have to ask twice!"


    Ss wasn''t sure what the eye was talking about originally, but he managed to piece together a usible story.


    It was likely that the eye mistook the action of the Madness Key for a master that was backing him. As for war...


    ''Master of Serpents... if there is a Scorpion Warlord, maybe there exists a Serpent Warlord somewhere. Maybe it thinks this Serpent Warlord is trying to steal its secrets.''


    Ss wasn''t sure how much of an effect the rage of this eye would have on him getting his Inheritance or not, but he chose to try ande to a diplomatic solution.


    "I am not affiliated with this Master of Serpents you speak of."


    The eye''s roar continued to echo as it peered into what felt like Ss'' soul.


    "You dare lie to me?"


    "I do not even know of this Master of Serpents." Ss continued calmly. "My world is in the middle of its Seventh Summoning. There are many matters of the outside world that I have no knowledge of."


    The eye seemed surprised.


    "Seventh Summoning...? That''s impossible. No world in the middle of a Summoning could produce someone capable of opening this Inheritance. Even if you aren''t lying, you must have received the sponsorship of the Master of Serpents, in that case."


    "I have not. I just happen to have a Beast Master Profession tailored to the Serpentes."


    The pupil of the eye constricted. "I see... that doesn''t seem to be the case. But I have not heard of Beast Master ss capable of such precision and focused attention, unless..."


    Ss'' heart skipped a beat. It seemed that he had still said too much even though he made an attempt to hide what he knew. He had even gone as far as to say Seventh Summoning despite the fact he knew very well that this was the Ninth.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "No... maybe I''m muddled..." the eye shook. "Regardless, this changes nothing. You are ipatible. Leave."


    Ss didn''t reply, instead, raising a palm. There was a flicker and one of the Runes he had alreadyprehended from the statue formed.


    He didn''t pour any Aether into it, nor could he seem to, but it was still enough.


    The eye seemed taken aback again, and then it hesitated.


    Eventually, it shook its head again.


    "Your talent is irrelevant. The core of what it means to be a Rune Warlord is in the very core of your spirit. It is located in your Will Manifestation.


    "Your own Will Manifestation has already been tainted by the image of Serpents. You will never be able to reach the highest echelon of this Inheritance and I cannot afford to waste this on someone with no chance of bing a sessor."


    "What is a Will Manifestation?" Ss asked.


    "It is part of what constructs who you are. Genes are only the surface. Beneath that are Gene Talents, and then Blood Essence. Beyond even that is Bone Essence, Comprehensions, Soul Constructs, and then finally, Will Manifestations."


    Ss was surprised once more. He didn''t expect that he would find out what the further level of Extricate would target like this. If what this being said was true, then once he got Taboo Bond to Level 30, assuming it continued the process of unlocking a new ability every five Levels, he would be able to manipte Will Manifestations as well.


    Though, it was also possible that Extricate would never reach the level of being able to do so. Even if he could, who knew how long it would take to reach that stage.


    Taboo Bond was Lv12 right now and it would take 800,000 Experience to get it to Lv13. It was by far his most expensive Profession Path to level up.


    Unless he came into the control of several more Territories, conquering System Cities would never be easy. And even then, after making it to Lv13, he wouldn''t be able to level up continuously anymore as the upgrade to Lv14 would likely cost 1.6 million Experience, whereas a System City only provided a million Free Experience.


    Of course, Ss actually did have quite a bit of Free Experience left over now. He had cleared hundreds of Demon Cities, after all, and each gave around an average of 10,000 or so Free Experience. But even then, that was only enough for about another two million or so.


    Then, as though all of that wasn''t bad enough, what would he even do with an Extricate talent capable of working on Will Manifestations? Would he separate his own Legendary Path Professions from himself just for the sake of his Inheritance?


    Of course not. With how much potential his Legendary Path Talents had, that would be ridiculous.


    Did he just not have a chance at this Inheritance, then?


    Ss'' gaze shed as he seemed toe to a decision.


    "How about we make a deal?" Ss asked.


    The more he spoke with the eye, the more he understood that maybe this Inheritance wasn''t nearly so sinister as he had thought. At the very least, it hadn''t bared its fangs yet.


    "A deal?"


    "Yes. In truth, even if you make me leave, I have no obligation of letting your Inheritance


    Crystal go."


    "It would be foolish of you to keep it when you could sell it for so much." The eye said calmly. Clearly, it wasn''t a fool either. But it was suddenly interested in what Ss had to say.

 Chapter 633: A Deal 2 [Bonus]

    Chapter 633: A Deal 2 [Bonus]


    ?


    "That is true. But I have no intention of doing that."


    The eye narrowed once more, but it didn''t speak, waiting for Ss to continue.


    "You may not believe me, or you may think I am only using a psychological tactic, but like I told you, my world is in the middle of its Summoning. Who do you think I could sell this Inheritance Crystal to that would give me the equivalent value it''s worth?"


    The eye remained silent for a while. As expected, Ss could truly see the whole picture.


    "Then you can just sell it after you''vepleted your Summoning."


    "And die?" Ss asked calmly.


    His words were multiyered. It could mean that the eye would just wait for him to die first and for the Inheritance Crystal tond in the hands of someone else... but he could also mean that trying to sell this Inheritance Crystal to the wider world could just end up getting him killed.


    On Earth, Ss would still have some confidence. But he would never sell such a thing outside. He didn''t have nearly enough backing to even attempt something like that.


    And the eye knew it.


    "I''m sure you felt it, but even if you tried, you can''t target my real body from here. That''s because I have another treasure that protects me. And with that treasure, I can make it so that no one ever finds this Inheritance Crystal again. Or... we could make a deal."


    And there it was. The eye knew that it wasing. The crux of this entire matter was the mysterious method Ss had used to protect himself. Even now, the eye didn''t fully understand it.


    "What do you propose?"


    "I know too little about Runes. Earlier, you tried to pass something on to me that failed. I assume that so long as you keep whatever that was, you won''t mind me using this Realm as a method of study, correct?"


    The eye bobbed up and down slowly. Indeed... what he had tried to pass on to Ss was of true importance. If it was still here, it could be passed on to another any time.


    The trouble was that without it... Ss would have a very, very difficult time progressing even a single step in this world.


    "Then allow me to do so. Once I have run into a wall, I will pass you on to someone who can ept your Inheritance or sell you."


    "So your only promise to me is that you won''t perpetually imprison me? What a fantastic deal."


    Ss didn''t respond to the eye''s sarcasm. The fact it had even said this made it obvious which of the two of them had won.


    The eye chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you fail."


    With a flicker, the eye vanished.


    In truth, it didn''t believe that Ss would lie. It was too experienced to be lied to so easily. Plus, it could feel some of the imprint of Ss'' Will.


    Ss could guess what the eye was thinking. As many other things as he deduced, the fact the beam of light he failed to take in would be important wasn''t lost on him.


    But what else could he do?


    He looked down at the staircase before him and nodded to himself. He might as well start with step one.


    However, after taking the step... nothing happened?


    Ss became a bit worried, thinking that there was something wrong. Could it be that he couldn''t gain anything at all from this world without that beam of light?


    He chose to take a second step. But again, nothing happened.


    The eye was watching in silence from an unknown location. He hadn''t thought much about the first step because Ss had paused for a long while. Originally, he even thought that Ss was taking too long.


    But then, when not long after the first, Ss took the second and the third, the eye almost bulged out. Or... it would have had it had any eyelids.


    Those steps were tests of Will and Will projection. It was essentially a crude method of testing if Ss had the capacity to reach the level of Rune Mastery necessary for the first imparting.


    As for the beam of light from earlier, it was a primer. That was because this world had a dense poison characteristic to it, so while it was testing one''s Will, if one didn''t have a Will that could fight off the poison, one could die.


    Well, that was one use of the light, that is.


    The eye knew that Ss would be unlikely to die this way thanks to the protection of his treasure, but it was looking forward to seeing Ss'' Will projection copse.


    But that time never came.


    Ss was thinking about retreating. He was already on the ninth step, but nothing at all had happened. However, to his surprise, the tenth time was the charm.


    There was a vibrant rush through him when he took that tenth step and the world warped around him.


    When he appeared again, he was sitting at a kneeling desk. Across from him was a man whose face was obscured by shadows. Even his figure itself seemed quite vague and hard to fullyn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    grasp.


    On the table between the two of them were two sets of scrolls and two sets of calligraphy brushes.


    The man didn''t speak a word as he picked up the calligraphy brush and drew a stroke. No... it was a Stroke.


    Ss recognized it immediately.


    The man put his brush down and was about to speak when Ss subconsciously reflected his actions. Ss had never tried to just draw a Stroke before. He always used his mind.


    But this wasn''t his main body. It was his Will. In a lot of ways... this was the very same act with


    a half-step added.


    With a flick of his wrist, Ss drew a line across the page.


    To ayman, it didn''t look like anything special. If there was another to note, it was the fact


    that it looked like it had been ejected by a printer rather than drawn by hand.


    The Stroke had a small bit of a curve to it at one end. But other than that, it was almost perfectly straight.


    The man looked up, and though Ss couldn''t see his eyes, he could only feel them staring


    through him.

 Chapter 634: Scorpion Warlord Language

    Chapter 634: Scorpion Warlord Language


    ?


    The man didn''tment on anything in particr, instead beginning to speak about the Stroke, confusing Ss somewhat.


    "This Stroke is known as Kru."


    Without missing a beat, he drew another line. This one was shorter than the first, and it was more vertical. Though, probably more urately described as nted.


    "This Stroke is known as Zin... This is Vak... This is Tho... This is Gri... Shu... Dro... Mak... Tzu... Fen..."


    Seemingly understanding what kind of student he was dealing with, the man''s sleeve of darkness waved about faster as Ss almost robotically copied his actions.


    Every Stroke Ss drew was the exact same as the man''s, and they could have been perfect mirror images of one another if not for the fact they were even more perfect than that, being one to oneparisons.


    After drawing the tenth andst Stroke, Ss felt the characters on his pagee alive. It was like they were whispering to him, and the man, who had been about to speak once more, stopped, watching Ss in silence.


    The man realized that Ss could already feel it.


    There were thousands upon thousands of Strokes. However,pared to the number of Runes in the world, this number was miniscule.


    This seemed to make sense. After all, there were only a few dozen letters in an alphabet, but how many words could they form?


    The trouble here, though, was that there still weren''t a mere several thousand Strokes in existence. It could even be said that the number of Strokes was just as infinite as the number of Runes.


    That was because even the same stroke could have apletely different meaning depending on the intent behind it. Much the same way an inflection could change the meaning of a word entirely in aplexnguage, so too could a re of Will change the meaning of a Stroke.


    In thisnguage, these were known as the Scorpion Strokes. But if Ss had been sitting across a projection of the Serpent Warlord instead, these Strokes would look exactly the same, but havepletely different names.


    They would be known as Siv, Sha, Zel, Ris, Siu, Ves, Skai, Syth, Sra, and Fiz.


    The same strokes,pletely different feel,pletely different meanings.


    The reason the Warlords all chose these ten Strokes was because it could be said that these...


    were the true Inheritance. And Ss seemed to have already realized that.


    Every Rune Inheritance was built on a foundation of Strokes that built up the rest of thenguage. Only by understanding the Strokes could one then build the Foundations that came next, and the Runes that followed that.


    Even so... this was the simplest it would be.


    ''I see...'' Ss thought to himself. ''... These Strokes are perfectly suited to forming battle armors that elicit the call of a beast of some sort. They are simple, but sturdy. They don''t have much surface area to work with, but that makes them more solid, and they''re excellent at forming bridges, whether that be with your Will or between themselves.''


    Ss, like a child learning to sound out words for the first time, felt that he could finally understand the blobs of words that he had been experiencing before.


    "It seems that I do not need to exin the individual meanings of the Strokes. You may continue."


    Ss found the world warping around him before he could say much of anything. The eye was stunned to find him back so soon and he wondered if Ss was rejected already.


    ording to what the eye knew, without the beam of energy from earlier, even drawing the Strokes should be impossible. That was because a newbie to the Scorpion Warlord Inheritance wouldn''t even know how to infuse the right type of Will into their Strokes and thus fail to grasp the fundamentals of thenguage.


    However, when Ss took the eleventh step, the eye almost copsed out of the skies. How the hell was this possible?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss had no idea what the eye was thinking and he was still somewhat lost in thought. He walked up the next set of ten steps as though they weren''t there.


    The eye, still watching from a distance, felt that maybe it should check to see if the systems here were faulty after all these years. But something in his intuition was telling him that there was truly nothing wrong with it.


    Ss was just that difficult to fathom.


    ''Just what level is his Rune Mastery at?''


    This was the first time the eye asked this question to itself. The world here was designed for a newbie to enter. ording to the restrictions, they couldn''t be more than 50 years old.


    This was the usual threshold chosen for existences. This was because if one reached the E- Grade before 50 years old, aging would basically stop for a while.


    More aggressive Inheritances designed for the F-Grade would be even more draconian with their limits. But Rune Masters tended to be more forgiving because the Profession was simply too difficult.


    However, someone younger than 50, at best they could have grasped Rune Flesh, right?


    ''Even if he was from that Race, at best it should be Rune Soul... but... this feels like it''s beyond that... he can''t possibly have Rune Essence Mastery already, right?''


    As the eye was lost in thought, Ss appeared at a kneeling table once more with the same man across from him, and the same sheets of paper and calligraphy brushes.


    The man only seemed surprised by Ss'' speed for a moment before he pulled out the brush and began to draw. His wrist hardly moved at all as his arm swung vigorously. Every stroke was filled with a sharpness and conviction that pierced down to the soul.


    SHU! SHU! SHU!


    The man came to a stop, a Foundation appearing before them.


    Ss recognized it. The firstyer of the Scorpion Warlord statue had 100 total Runes, each of which had 20 or so Foundations. This was the one Foundation found in all of them.


    Without understanding this Foundation, you couldn''t grasp this Inheritance at all.

 Chapter 635: How Complex?

    Chapter 635: How Complex?


    ?


    Ss picked up his brush, but didn''t begin to draw immediately. His mind recalled the vigorous strokes of the man, his memory reying it again and again, but there was an eerie calmness to him that remained even so, as though he was still looking for something he was missing.


    It was just one Foundation, but in a rare showing, it was the only one of all of the Foundations that used all ten Strokes of the Scorpion Warlord Rune Language. The others usually only used three or so, and grasping the essence of this ten-Stroke Rune felt like an enormous jump in difficulty.


    The man knew this. He was actually supposed to start with a simpler Foundation, but he had changed his mind.


    Unlike the eye, this man didn''t have to follow the rules of the Inheritance Crystal at all. As he observed Ss, the glow in his eyes hidden behind the shadows only grew fiercer.


    Ss, though, remained lost in thought.


    ''It feels like if it appears in all of the Runes of the firstyer, it should be part of what links them together. But... why does this Foundation feel so... sacrificial? If it was meant to link them together, why would it feel so independent? Why does it almost feel like it''s ready to be lost at any time?''


    The more Ss thought, the more his aura seemed to embody that of a scorpion... a creature willing to abandon even its own limbs to survive a life and death situation.


    The thought came to Ss randomly as though it was whispered right into his very ears. It didn''t feel eerie, but rather only natural.


    The Scorpion Warlord. The Sacrificial Warlord. A savage warrior willing to cut off its own nose not to spite its face... but rather that of its enemy.


    The sharpness in Ss'' aura grew with a shocking immediacy and then his arm shook.


    Ink sprinkled into the air but the droplets seemed frozenpared to the speed of Ss'' arm. SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU!


    Ss finished the Foundation even faster than the man did and the paper began to corrode immediately. A mysterious power spread out in a ripple, and the man watched this scene inplete silence.


    He was capable of doing what Ss had as well... the reason he didn''t was because he was already making things difficult on Ss, so he didn''t want to go too far.


    What he didn''t expect was that he had somehow still underestimated the young man before him.


    Rune Mastery was often seen as a macro matter, from Rune Sight, to Rune Breath, up to the final three of Rune Essence, Rune Vitality and Rune Spark.


    But there was a micro version of Rune Mastery as well.


    Sessfully drawing a Rune could be considered to have reached the Sight Mastery of the Rune. At this stage, a Rune would work just fine. But inyman''s terms, it would only be about 10% perfected.


    The Visualization Mastery of a Rune would be 20%, and the Enlightenment Mastery of a Rune would be 30%.


    Don''t be fooled by the percentages. These wereparing what a normal fallible creature could do inparison to existences like the system and the widerws of the universe.


    No matter how robotic Ss was, just reaching 10% perfection was already considered to be a truly shocking matter.


    But just now... Ss had drawn this Foundation with Flesh Mastery of a Rune.


    40% perfection.


    What exactly did it mean to have reached this stage? It meant that the Rune could begin to gather Aether on its own, acting much more like Runes did in the real world.


    Usually, when Ss drew a Rune, he had to supply it with Aether of his own. This was why his 70 Foundation Runes were so weak when in reality, they should be able to solo practically the whole of Earth on its own.


    However, upon reaching the Flesh Mastery of a Rune, that glorious 40% threshold, a Rune would gain some capacity to gather Aether on its own like it would in the wild. As such, this not only took pressure off of Ss, but...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It made the Rune far more powerful.


    Of course, this was only a Foundation.


    Drawing a Foundation to Flesh Mastery was far easier than doing the same for an entire Rune.


    But Ss managed to reach this level, nheless, the very first time he had even the slightest modicum of guidance.


    The man stared at Ss for a long while. Even after Ss had finished analyzing his work and deciding what he could improve, the man continued to stare at him.


    The two didn''t make a sound, staring at the table across from one another. And yet, neither one felt awkward in the slightest. It could be said that these two men had personalities that were quite alike.


    "Would you like to be my disciple?" the man finally spoke.


    "What does that mean?" Ss asked.


    He wasn''t from this man''s culture. Earth had teacher-student rtionships, but there never had to be such a formal question. This man seemed to be speaking about an apprenticeship of some sort, but wasn''t he already here? Was there a need?


    "You will uphold my mantle in the future, and I will pass on everything that I know to you. You will receive my Rune Mastery Emblem, and when you step out into the world, everyone will know that you are under my protection."


    The words made Ss recall the matters of the Rune Master Guild. Would that help him with that situation?


    But he still had too many questions.


    He hade to his Inheritance Crystal expecting hostility and danger, but he had-mostly- received nothing but kindness. Even the eye, though it had been infuriated, seemed to have


    reasons that made sense to Ss, at least.


    But this kindness didn''t make sense to Ss.


    If Nosphaleen''s words were to be taken at face value, then the Dogons were traitors, and this statue had been ced where it was by someone who supported them in their treachery.


    Of course, he wouldn''t take the biased words of Nosphaleen seriously if he didn''t have to. It was just that he had personally experienced many oddities as well surrounding this statue.


    But now... he wasn''t so sure.


    Just howplex was the history of Earth?

 Chapter 636: Worth?

    Chapter 636: Worth?


    ?


    Ss hesitated for a long while, but the man before him didn''t rush him at all. He too sat in silence, simply waiting as though whether Ss answered one way or another didn''t harm him in the slightest.


    The benefits of such a thing weren''t lost on Ss, but he still didn''t know how hostile these people were, and he also didn''t know what their rtionship with the potential traitors of Earth were either.


    "I am willing."


    The man nodded. He had expected Ss to answer like this. It wasn''t because he was so arrogant in his own abilities, but because he had learned enough about Ss from his conversation with the eye to understand both this young man''s mind and his situation.


    Simply put, Ss couldn''t afford to be so cautious anymore, not in this situation.


    There was a line between caution and risk that Ss always had to ride. Otherwise, he would never make it anywhere.


    Whether this man was a danger to him or not, only time would tell. But until then... he would take everything he could from this world.


    "Good."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The world rumbled and the statue at the very top of the stairs began to shine.


    Outside, the eye was speechless. Why was this happening already? This should only ur when the Inheritance Crystal had epted its master. Ss hadn''t even climbed up 10% of the way yet, how could the Inheritance Crystal have epted a new master?


    Dammit, didn''t that mean that it would have to serve Ss after having already offended him? This was a nightmare scenario for a Familiar like him.


    ...


    "Until youe to my Scorpion Mountain, there is not much more I can give you other than what knowledge I have and this Inheritance Crystal. However..."


    The man waved a hand and the eye was forcefully pulled to the space, shrinking to hover above his palm.


    "In the Rune Master World, this is what is known as a Familiar," the man began to exin, knowing that these simple things were likely precisely the matter Ss was unfamiliar with. "This is only a rudimentary Familiar, but it has decent E-Grade growth potential. Though, you will have to rece it if you would like to reach my level one day. From now on, it is yours."


    The eye was sent over to Ss and forced to hover above his right shoulder.


    "While you are in this world, I won''t allow you to rely on the Familiar. However, I will tell you what they can do. How much you rely on them in the future will depend on yourself. I will not baby you, but if your progress is not to my liking, I will reserve the right to remove you from my apprenticeship."


    After allowing Ss to digest the words, the man continued.


    "Familiars are meant to handle the heavy lifting andputation thates with Rune Mastery¡ª" the man was about to continue when he paused for unknown reasons. "Have youpleted any Rune Mastery Secret Realms?"


    "I have."


    "Up to what stage?"


    "Rune Soul."


    The man paused again, but the eye trembled considerably.


    "Szorn, pull up the under-fifty rankings of this gxy for me."


    The eye''s slit pupil flickered and the reds of its irises deepened for a moment.


    "Master, I can only pull up the rankings from several weeks ago. Communication is being jammed by a treasure of Young Master''s."


    The man gave Ss a look but didn''t say anything on the topic.


    "That is fine. Pull them up anyway."


    Szorn obliged and the rankings appeared. It didn''t take the man long to find Ss'' name.


    [341. Ss Grimde (Lvo) | Human (F) | (???)]


    The man continued to stare in silence. He then pulled up Rune Flesh rankings and couldn''t find Ss'' name. Then repeated this action with the Rune Soul rankings, and once again didn''t find Ss.


    "Level o... I''m not sure whether you are lucky or unlucky..." the man said slowly. "Failing to get onto the Rune Flesh and Soul rankings means a failed opportunity, but it''s also likely the reason you still have your head right now."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He wasn''t sure what rankings this man was talking about, but it didn''t take him much of a guess to realize that this must be rted to the times the Rune Mastery Guilds tried to contact him.


    "If you had, even I could not protect you. Although you are my disciple, until you have formally joined the Beast Warlord Sanctum, the semantics will allow those with a vested enough interest to do as they please."


    "What is the issue?" Ss asked.


    "What level is your Rune Mastery?" the man answered with a question.


    "... Rune Essence."


    "Indeed..." there was a pregnant pause. "... There is no issue. If there is one, it''s that there will be a great deal of people who want to control you. In fact, just making it onto the Rune Breath list probably has already brought you a great deal of attention.


    "Rune Masters are a strategic resource, but they are also very difficult to control. Getting your hands on one early is the best method. Do you understand?"


    "I do."


    "Right now, they cannot investigate how many Secret Realms you have cleared because you have the protections of a Summoned World. But once your world is no longer under this veil of protection, they will see how many Secret Realms you have cleared and trouble will certainly


    come.


    "At that time, I would say that my only suggestion to you is to either find the best family you can to marry into, or if you are insistent on maintaining your freedoms... you will have to find a way to make it to the Beast Warlord Sanctum on your own.


    "However, judging by the location of your gxy, you will need to travel out of it. Without being in the D-Grade, this is adjacent to suicide."


    There was another long silence between them before Ss spoke this time.


    "Is it worthwhile for me to remain Level o?"

 Chapter 637: The Favor

    Chapter 637: The Favor


    ?


    This question had been brewing in Ss'' mind for a long while. However, other than knowing that it was beneficial like the Madness Key said, he couldn''t get any more details.


    Every rifying question he asked seemed to touch upon a taboo of some sort, and he felt that right here and now... would probably be the best chance he would ever have of answering this question for a long while.


    "Hm?" The man looked toward Ss and almost felt amused.


    Almost.


    Ss had still not asked him his name, his title, his strength. He didn''t seem interested in any of that, or maybe he felt that if he was going to find out, it would be the man who told him anyway, so he might as well wait.


    "You have asked a very loaded question, young man. You shouldn''t ask that question of anyone else. But since I have taken you on as a disciple, I guess it is somewhat appropriate.


    "No one can guarantee whether it is truly far more beneficial to raise your Foundation at Level opared to other Levels."


    Ss was surprised by this answer. The Madness Key had made it pretty clear to him that he should stay at Level o for as long as he could possibly manage it.


    Now it seemed to be a question of whether he trusted the Madness Key or this mysterious man


    more.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, he didn''t have the chance to make a decision before the man spoke once more.


    "That said... it ismonly epted that the benefits of an ancient system of methods and techniques can only be essed when you are still deemed ''pure'' by it. Once you begin to Level up, you deviate from that system too much and as such, lose rights and ess to it.


    "Though, truthfully speaking, unless you somehow manage to find Legendary Genes, this mostly has nothing to do with you.


    "As the first generation of a world in the middle of its Summoning, my advice to you would be to focus on survival first. The Ancestors of a world have a bevy of other benefits that can make up for theirck of a foundation. But you cannot take advantage of them if you are dead."


    Ss nodded.


    The ancient system this man should be speaking about was likely the Legendary Path System, and that answered something quite profound for him.


    As powerful as this man was... the Madness Key was something beyond him.


    "There is also another worry to consider. If you invest too much in your foundation, Leveling up will be extremely difficult. There are many who share the philosophy of Leveling up as quickly as possible, reaching the extremes of a Grade, and only then digging their Foundation.


    "There are many nuances to this that you should not consider. Take what opportunities you can get, use them how you see fit. Do not give up your life for long-term benefits, but do not give up long-term benefits for unworthy immediate ones. As an Ancestor of your world, you must strike that bnce yourself."


    Ss'' gaze flickered. ''This man isn''t giving me a direct answer. He''s trying to guide me in how to think first and foremost...''


    If he was guiding a normal disciple, this would be the right thing to do. But it only made Ss ufortable when others tried to mold the way he thought.


    They tried to do it in school and he just became a regr straight-A student as a result. Still tremendous, but he knew that he never bothered to reach his fullest potential.


    However, there was nothing to throw a tantrum about here. After all, he was the one who asked the question. He couldn''t then be mad about how the man chose to answer it.


    "Now, shall we return to Runes?"


    Ss nodded.


    ...


    The teachings of the man went on for about three or so hours, or rather that was how it felt. Ss wasn''t sure how much time actually passed outside since he had only sent his Will, but he felt somewhat exhausted.


    The man saw through this and decided to end things here.


    "You have already a foundational understanding of the First Layer of the Scorpion Warlord armor. The Second Layer will be much moreplex, so return only when you feel fluidity with the first and are well rested."


    "I understand." Ss nodded.


    "You may go. But first..." The man waved a hand and a suffocating Will took form, condensing into an emblem that had a two-dimensional etching of a scorpion''s tailing out of a crown of thorns.


    "This is my emblem. You will be able to create one when you reach a stage of Will Manifestation in the future. But for now, this will be your protection for what little it is worth.


    "When others see it, they will know that you are under the protection of the 713th Scorpion Warlord, Gralith Duskthorn."


    Ss caught the emblem and it felt surprisingly solid in his hand, carved out of an unknown heavy metal that oddly looked like a silver-violet wood and felt especially cold to the touch no matter how long he held it.


    By the time Ss looked up, Gralith was gone.


    **


    In a far off, distant world, a man sitting on a rock as ck as obsidian in the middle of ack of flowing violet opened his eyes. A flood of memories that seemed both foreign and familiar


    came to him.


    ''Is that so?''


    The man slowly stood and strolled forward, walking across the violet waters with light steps. He exited his courtyard, looking up at the bright skies above with a calm expression.


    "You seem to be in a happy mood today, master."


    The voice came from a young man who wasn''t anywhere present, almost as though he had projected his intent from another world.


    His words were also especially odd considering Gralith''s face was still as cid as ever.


    "You''ve gained a junior brother today." Gralith said lightly.


    "Is that so? He must be very talented if master''s mood is so good."


    "The odds he will die are very high." Gralith replied just as carelessly.


    There was a pause.


    "The favor?"


    "The favor." Gralith confirmed.


    "To think that a discarded Inheritance Crystal would end up in the hands of such a good


    seedling. Unfortunate... unfortunate indeed..."


    The two of them fell into silence.

 Chapter 638: A Path [Bonus]

    Chapter 638: A Path [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss opened his eyes to the bright rays of the sun, but the fatigue between his brows was clear and evident. He needed rest, real rest.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He allowed himself to drift off again and when he awoke, the rumbling of the carriage had stopped for the night and the moon beamed its silvery blue lights from on high.


    Although he felt hunger, he didn''t move immediately, recalling his experiences instead.


    As Gralith had said, he had mastered the firstyer of the Scorpion Warlord armor. But the problem with only grasping the firstyer was that without the secondyer, he couldn''t link them.


    It was the secondyer where all the connections between the various bits and pieces of the armor could be formed. Without them, the armor could only work on the merits of its individual pieces, which obviously made it far weaker than when it was working as a cohesive whole.


    Of course, even if he grasped the secondyer, it wouldn''t be until he grasped the third that the armor truly began to work as one unit.


    The secondyer were the linkages, but they could only connect adjacent pieces and try to smooth over themunication between them. It was only when the thirdyer, the meshyer, came into the picture that every piece of the armor couldmunicate with every other piece, resulting in a substantial increase to power.


    Ss was a bit disappointed because he felt that he still had so far left to go. Sure, he had grasped the Runes to all of the pieces of the firstyer, but the only part that he had grasped to 40% Breath Mastery was a single segment. The rest were all hovering between 20 and 30%.


    What Ss had learned was that he wouldn''t have to tattoo the Scorpion Warlord Armor onto his body if he could just reach Breath Mastery. At that point, the armor would be self- sustaining and wouldn''t be nearly as much of a drain on his body.


    But of the 100 Runes, only a single one of them had reached that 40% threshold. And to make matters worse, it wasn''t evenplete.


    There were 68 Runes for the limbs and 32 for the torso alone. Of those 32, there were eight Runes designated for the tail of the armor. Its segments needed four Runes, and its stinger alone had four more Runes to itself.


    Ss had only grasped one of the segment Runes.


    Rarely did Ss find himself struggling with things, but it was too much information in too little time.


    If he could seed, just the firstyer would give him +1000 to all of his Physical stats, a +10 boost for every 40% Rune he managed to sessfully draw.


    And this was just the base of the armor. Even without the secondyer, there were Skills that he could activate, namely ones revolving around theplexities of the stinger.


    Every +10% jump in Rune Mastery would give double the effect. Theoretically, even if Ss didn''t learn anything about the otheryers, and by some miracle managed to match the system and the universe in Rune drawing skill, he would have an illusory armor he could form whenever he wanted that came with +7000 Physical.


    When the secondyer was mastered, this effect would be double, for +14000 Physical.


    When the thirdyer was incorporated, there would be a five times difference on top of that, for +70000 Physical.


    Of course, all of these numbers were assuming 100% Rune Mastery, when in truth, Rune Spark, the highest level of Rune Mastery there was, only required 85% Mastery.


    In addition, it wasmon knowledge that unless your macro Rune Mastery was at a certain level, your micro would never reach such a level. This meant that as someone with Rune Essence, Ss would only ever be able to draw Runes at the Essence Mastery level. Or, in other words... 75% Rune Mastery.


    All of this was just spection on Ss'' part. Gralith had only told him how the armor scaled up to 60%, or Rune Soul Mastery. For all Ss knew, there was either no increase after that or arge leap instead.


    But what he did know was that the Physical boost was still just the foundational level of the armor. Unfortunately, without grasping the armor up to the secondyer at Breath Mastery, these thoughts were all useless to think about.


    And that was just the first of Ss'' worries.


    Being able to draw the Runes was one thing, but how fast could he do so? Even if Breath Mastery took a lot of the weight off of his shoulders, it would still take effort and stamina to upkeep the armor, even if only in part.


    He couldn''t keep it active forever.


    That meant he would also need to work on his speed drawing abilities so that he could deploy the armor quickly if he needed it in battle. Or at the very least, he needed flexibility so that he could summon them piece by piece without interrupting the flow of things.


    That would take even more practice.


    Ss had been hoping for an immediate jump in his battle prowess. But... it didn''t seem like he would get it, not at least for a while.


    ''No. I can do this.''


    Ss'' gaze shed with a dense light of determination.


    If he couldn''t grasp the armor to 40% Mastery, then he would have wasted his time, time he couldn''t afford to waste in a Dungeon like this one.


    But how could he quickly get 100 Runes to level?


    ''The Foundations...'' Ss quickly came to an answer. ''... No, the Strokes.''


    If something was tooplicated, break it down. Every aspect of this armor was formed by ten Strokes. In addition, there were 2300 or so Foundations that formed the firstyer and its 100 Runes.


    ''There''s a path... not just the Strokes are repeated, but the Foundations are as well... if I break it down...''

 Chapter 639: Sandy Dunes [Bonus]

    Chapter 639: Sandy Dunes [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss took a step back, looking at things from a macro perspective.


    ''Hold on.''


    His thoughts reached into the Madness Key and he pulled Szorn out. Was it a risk? Most likely. But Ss felt that it was a worthwhile one.


    "Ah, young master."


    "Separate 100 Runes of the firstyer into the Foundations. Eliminate all exact repeats."


    Szorn blinked before hurriedly nodding.


    As expected, Szorn knew the Runes like the back of his hand. Then again, they were just projections and not real drawn Runes. Szorn didn''t seem to have the ability tomunicate with the world like Ss could.


    Familiars could only interact with the world based on a connection with their masters, and Ss had yet to even formally take Szorn in.


    Soon, there were only about half of the 2300 Foundations remaining.


    Ss'' eyes shed as he scanned them.


    "Good. Now eliminate all mirrored Foundations."


    Szorn obliged and now there was just another half remaining.


    "Now eliminate all trantions."


    This time, more than just half vanished. Instead, there was only over a hundred Foundations left. These were the truly unique Foundations. And even among these, Ss could see several that were only slight tweaks of one another.


    Mirrors and Trantions were things that Ss had learned both in middle school and just this past day. Ironically enough, they both applied to geometry.


    He had touched upon the concept in the Secret Realm he visited, but it wasn''t until now that it truly set in for him.


    "Good. Now ording to my instructions, eliminate the rest. I want all those that differ by half a Stroke gone. All those that have segment eliminations gone. All those that arebination Foundations gone."


    Szorn obliged and soon there were only 51 Foundations hovering in front of Ss.


    ''Yes. This... this I can do.''


    If he could manage to bring these Foundations to 40%, or ideally 50% Mastery, then he was confident that he would be able to draw any one of the Runes of the firstyer with speed.


    And the mostplicated of them... he had already mastered.


    For reasons he didn''t quite understand, Gralith had only demonstrated the drawing of one Foundation for him, leaving everything else up to projections and Szorn.


    The one time Ss observed Gralith, he was able to instantly push the core Foundation to 40% Mastery. It almost felt like Gralith was purposely slowing Ss'' progress down.


    But Ss didn''t mind it. The knowledge was enough for him.


    He had a servant bring him a brush and several nk scrolls. In the Inheritance Crystal, he had grown a fondness for this method of Rune instruction, so he didn''t hesitate to do it once


    more.


    He stared at the Runes hovering before him for a long time, trying to capture some of the magic he had seen from Gralith.


    Focusing on the simplest of the Foundations before him, his sights grew intent.


    Szorn watched silently from the side, shaking its eyeball.


    Ss was clever, but he was maybe too clever for his own good. The reason Gralith could embody the nature of the Strokes and Foundations so well, even easily "dumbing" them down so that Ss could observe, was because he had already reached the pinnacle of mastery.


    The reason Gralith hadn''t done it again was because he could see that Ss was too sharp. If he started growing reliant on observation and copying, then he would weaken his own feel for Runes.


    The entire point of Rune Essence was to hone a sixth sense that allowed one to hear Runes. It was only after that that you could begin to zoom in and catch the details.


    There was a reason why in school teachers might often lie to younger students in order to dumb topics down, smoothing them over and only looking at them from a macro lens before teaching them the truthter on down the line in greater detail.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss was precisely a younger student, but now he was trying to grasp those details far too early before he understood the bigger picture.


    And when he ran into a wall and couldn''t quite grasp the Runes the way he wanted to, he actually doubled down and went to studying the ten Strokes.


    Ss was nothing if not stubborn. He sat there for a very long while, churning through the same thoughts, but his progress was mind-numbingly slow.


    Even as the morning sun wasing up, Ss hadn''t made nearly the progress he thought he should have. He thought that he had found a shortcut, but he felt that his progress might have even been much faster if he studied the Runes as a whole one by one.


    Trying to understand the small pieces of the armor was like trying to piece together why an engineer tried to put a screw in a particr ce on an engine without even knowing what cylinders were.


    For all Ss knew, one of these Foundations he was observing now was meant to y a key role in the function of the thirdyer, while he hadn''t evene to understand the second


    layer yet.


    How could he expect sess?


    Ss shook his head.


    He had realized that truth after the first hour, but he had kept going because he knew that the longer way wouldn''t give him enough time. Sometimes you had to make the stupid decision just in case it panned out, and this time, it didn''t seem like he was going to be so lucky.


    Just as Ss had this thought, he felt a spike of danger warn him.


    Despite his slight exhaustion, he hurriedly moved just as a vicious pincer tore through the roof of his carriage.


    Ss elerated back and barely out of the way, but the scorpion creature was sorge, and his carriage room so small, that he was inevitably harmed by the impact.


    He was sent flying backward and crashed through the wooden walls of his carriage and out into the sandy dunes they sleighed across.

 Chapter 640: Sand King Scorpion [Bonus]

    Chapter 640: Sand King Scorpion [Bonus]


    ?


    [Sand King Scorpion] [Level: 37]


    Ss found his footing was off in the moving sand and he couldn''t immediately regain his bearings. He spread out his visualization as he rolled to try andpensate for his disorientation, but it was hard to see anything withrge pirs of sand surging up into the


    air.


    The dust filled the skies and visibility hit near zero.


    The ground beneath Ss rumbled and for a moment he thought he had fallen into quicksand, only to realize that the scorpion had been lodged underground the entire time and was only not making its presence known.


    A foul stench made Ss'' nose twist with disgust. It smelled of rotting flesh and sulfur, making the delicate hairs of his nostrils feel as though they were being burnt away.


    ''Poison... again...''


    Ss knew that he couldn''t hesitate. If his entire party was wiped out because of this scorpion, there wouldn''t be any time to regret it. Although he could help them clear the poison, he couldn''t revive the dead. He would have to be fast.


    He immediately triggered Fusion and an overwhelming sense of power flooded through him. His body amodated the extra stats with far greater ease than he ever expected, and in the moment, Ss realized that this wasn''t just due to the increase to his stats.


    It should also be thanks to the fact he had upgraded his Fusion time. So long as he kept upgraded Were-For-The-Invincible, even if the gap between him and his Contracts continued to grow, he would likely be in a better position to deal with it all.


    Ss'' eyes became golden slits and a ck tail extended from his back.


    He flipped over onest time, ending in a crouch as his w dragged across the sand.


    Aether bloomed beneath his feet as he shifted into a different mode. Running across sand would be far easier than it was to run across water.


    BANG!


    Ss shot forward, icicles copsing beneath his feet as he surged toward the tail of the scorpion. Most of its body was still trying to unearth itself, waterfalls of sand falling in all directions.


    But Ss bet that since his visibility was so low, so too would the visibility of the scorpion creature.


    He pushed his Aether to the limit as a path of ice appeared beneath his feet. He soared upward, forming a curling path around the scorpion''s tail.


    CRACK. BANG!


    The scorpion shattered the pathpletely by ident, but Ss had already expected this to happen. His paths of ice were only meant for his movement; their defensive abilities weren''t great.


    But what they could do was slow the tail just enough that Ss could get a beat on it. Ss appeared high in the air just above the tip of the scorpion''s tail, his gaze shing. He knew he had no good method of executing what he wanted to do. However...


    Raising up a palm, Ss shed out with the most straight he could muster, a controlled chopping motion erupting against the thick, hairy tail.


    BANG!


    A great deal of pressure erupted and the scorpion howled in pain, its pincer nearly being severed.


    Ss could seem to feel the weaknesses of the scorpion before it manifested itself, an intuition that came from studying the Warlord armor bearing its own fangs.


    But he didn''t have the time to think about it for long as the injured tail swiped at him on instinct.


    Ss was far too close and the tail was far toorge for him to dodge.


    It felt like a wall mmed into him, but to Ss'' surprise...


    It didn''t hurt at all.


    How could it when hisbined Constitution even without his Aether skin was over 1600? With his Aether skin stacked on top of that, he was at over 2600bined Constitution?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A light of confidence bloomed within Ss'' heart and the disappointment of thest day''s failures seemed just the slightest bit paler.


    Hended heavily on the rocking dunes of sand just as the scorpion king finally unleashed itself fully.


    Members of their caravan scattered in all directions, a mess of a situation unfolding before his eyes. But Ss was entirely focused on the creature ahead.


    It must have been at least 20 meters long to ount for just its main body alone. If its tail was included, that count would definitely increase another 50%.


    It had a sickly sort of red and purple color to it that reminded one more of a bruise than the natural color of a creature, and along with its pincer that had been heavily injured by Ss, one of its ws looked to have been infected after a previous injury as well.


    Suddenly, Ss understood that the foul smell wasn''t from just the poison alone, but this foul infection.


    He didn''t have the time to care about what had injured this creature. Right now, there was only one goal.


    Kill.


    Ss shot forward again.


    By this point, the scorpion was entirely focused on him and its stinger pierced forward in retaliation.


    Ss dug his foot into the ground and a solid mass of ice bloomed around his feet as he dug in. If one looked underground, it would be possible to see a pir of ice that was still only extending itself deeper and deeper.


    Opening his arms, Ss twisted slightly to the side and roared, catching the thrust pincer.


    SKKKREEEEEE!


    Ss'' arms bulged under the infuriated screech of the scorpion before he unleashed a roar of his own.


    There was the sickening sound of ripping flesh and a spurt of foul blood before the tip of the scorpion''s tail was torn away by Ss.


    The scorpion reeled as the ice beneath Ss'' feet shattered. He took a heavy step forward and thenunched himself upward with <Chilled Rise>.


    He controlled his intent perfectly, so much so that it wasn''t until the final moment, just as the scorpion''s own pincer thrust through its head, that the Scorned Wraps finally reacted.


    PUCHI!

 Chapter 641: Breath [Bonus]

    Chapter 641: Breath [Bonus]


    ?


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    BANG!


    The pincer shattered into a rain of ash, but the burning only made the pain the scorpion experienced all the worse.


    The scorpion twitched and then copsed, falling t in a pit of its own creation. A spark of a me lit in its body before it winked out.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled.


    He had always realized that the Scorned Wraps actually burned things in a shockingly controlled manner whenever it destroyed something. There was no telling why that was or why it chose fire in specific. But what he did know was that whatever this me was... it was powerful.


    Ss dismissed his Fusion and stood from the back of the scorpion. He wanted to assess the damage. How many had died?


    He had only heard onerge collision, so hopefully that meant that only his carriage was targeted. But there was no telling.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that many were still scattering because visibility was far too low. Few were probably aware that Ss had already killed the scorpion.


    Ss chose to wait. There was no point in going around in this fog of sand; he would just be as blind as everyone else. He would wait for it to settle down first.


    He exhaled a breath and calmed his beating heart. Although the Fusion went smoothly, his heart rate was definitely more elevated than it should be. This had been a rtively easy battle and he hadn''t done much.


    The only reason his heart rate would be so high would be because of the strain of the Fusion. It seemed he should consider just pouring all the Free Experience he had left into Were-For- The-Invincible after all.


    Ss closed his eyes, circting <Maddened Enlightenment> to pass the time and make up for the small bits of Aether he had used.


    But he suddenly opened his eyes, a sense of something mysterious overwhelming him. Before he could even fully decipher his own thoughts, he had already activated.


    He pressed a hand against the body of the scorpion and then pulled upward.


    Arge mass of flickering, dense energy took shape in his hands.


    Now that Ss thought about it, this was the first time he had actually used Extricate to its full limits since he upgraded it. Usually, he would just target Genes, but this time, he had taken the Blood Essence of the scorpion.


    It feltpletely different, in both its raw presence and also its sheer size.


    Genes were the same size no matter what, but Blood Essence... not only did it take far more focus and much more of his Will to pull out, but it seemed proportional to the size of the target.


    There was more to Extricate, but Ss had to stop before it became too overwhelming.


    He hopped down from the scorpion''s back and found his wrecked carriage. Soon, he had pulled out the scrolls and brush from it.


    Ss dipped his brush into the blob of floating, sparkling blood and he immediately felt somewhat different. When his Will and the Blood Essencebined, it was like he could feel the Blood Essence tugging him in a particr way.


    The feelings allyered on top of one another until Ss struck down with the calligraphy brush.


    ''Yes... this is that feeling...''


    What exactly was Blood Essence? Ss still didn''t know... but what he did know was that the Greed Seed loved it and it was also somehow able to turn that into power that could both replenish and attack his Will.


    Even if Blood Essence wasn''t Will and vice versa, there should be a link between them for certain, one that couldn''t be easily ignored.


    So, if he used the Blood Essence of a scorpion andbined it with his own Will... would it bring him closer to understanding the underlying intricacies of the Runes he was working with?


    It had just been a fleeting thought, but the answer...


    Was yes.


    Through Extricate, Ss could feel the Blood Essence tugging his brush along. Every stroke underwent minor corrections and it was like his Legendary Path Talent was guiding his Rune Mastery along.


    Ss wasn''t drawing Runes or even Foundations... he was drawing the Strokes, the very same ten, again and again, relentlessly and without pause.


    Every time he dipped his brush into the blob, he would take more of the Essence, incorporating more of it into his Will, using his Path Talent to feed his Will.


    With just the same rity he had felt the intricacies of Genes with, he felt this Blood Essence. Every tweak, every change, every subtlety.


    Ss didn''t know how many times he practiced the Strokes, but it was like they had be ingrained into his very soul. It felt like there wasn''t a single aspect of them he didn''t understand, and yet he also felt like there was still a world of mystery waiting for him.


    ''I can do it...''


    Something about Ss'' aura seemed to sharpen and his brush moved across the air. But this time, he not only didn''t draw on a sheet of paper, he didn''t just draw a normal Stroke either.


    In what looked like a single fluid motion, he drew out one Rune in its entirety. But before it could even solidify in the air, he had already dipped his brush into the blob of Blood Essence once again and drawn a second, and then a third, and then a fourth.


    With every Rune he drew, Ss'' arm began to move more vigorously, more violently, and from afar, he almost looked like a scorpion striking down his stinger again and again.


    A small wind kicked up around him and the air he gave off changedpletely. SHUU! SHUU! SHUU! SHUU! SHUU!


    However, just as Ss got to the seventh Rune, the brush in his hand crumbled apart, unable to withstand the aura.


    Ss stood in silence for a long while before a sh of something else lit deep within him.


    Extricate and his Rune Mastery seemed to meld into one and the remaining Blood Essence shattered apart into a rain of crimson...


    Or so it seemed.


    Because right then, the sttering of what looked like random blood solidified into 100 perfect Runes that surged for Ss'' body.


    BOOM!


    A blood pir surged into the skies as an illusory armor took shape over Ss'' body.


    He had seeded.


    The Breath Mastery Scorpion Warlord Armor.


    And in response, Aether soared toward him in violent torrents.

 Chapter 642: Stares

    Chapter 642: Stares


    ?


    The illusory violet armor solidified over Ss'' body. It was still possible to see right through it, but the power it gave him was anything but intangible.


    Ss could feel the pieces of the armor working together to give him strength, but by the same token he felt that even if he lost any one piece, it would hardly impact its overall strength.


    Not only did he feel his Physical shoot up by a full 1000, but beyond that, he felt a strong boost to his Aether skin.


    The Scorpion Warlord Armor and his Aether skin worked seamlessly in tandem, taking an armor that was meant to be a ckened red and turning it into a dark violet instead.


    As a result, his Aether Skin, which had 1000 Defense on its own, increased in strength by a further 50% to have 1500 Defense when the armor was active.


    This was honestly not as impressive as Ss thought it would be. But when he thought about it, it made sense.


    It likely wouldn''t be until the pieces of the armor truly linked together that it could begin disying a strong defensive ability. Right now the bits and pieces were too disjointed even if it looked like a single unit.


    Still, even if it was "just" a +1000 boost to Physical, Ss would be more than content with that. But, there were two other things of interesting importance.


    The +1000 boost only referred to what the Runes provided themselves. What it didn''t ount for was the Blood Essence that Ss had used to draw them.


    The Blood Essence itself seemed negligible, and only added what seemed to be an extra +50 to +100 Physical on top of the +1000 Ss already received, but Ss knew why this was.


    For one, he had only used a small portion of the scorpion beast''s overall Blood Essence, there was still a great deal remaining. Ss bet that if he used all of it, or transferred it through a medium other than the air, it would be even more powerful.


    And the second thing of great importance was that the Scorpion Warlord Armor didn''t just provide a boost to Physical. It could be said that the most important part of the armor was the tail.


    The tail had only one ability for now, and that was to infuse the Scorpion Warlord''s Will into one''s poison, strengthening it considerably.


    The benefits to this weren''t obvious immediately. What was the Scorpion Warlord''s Will and how did it make poison more powerful?


    But of course, Ss also had a systematic breakdown of this as well.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    At 40% perfected of the firstyer, the Scorpion Warlord''s Stinger was able to forcefully elevate all 40 Foundation and below Poison Runes to the same level of Mastery.


    Meaning, if Ss were to draw a 40 Foundation Poison Rune right now, he didn''t have to worry about how perfectly he drew it at all. So long as it was sessfully drawn and projected with his stinger as a medium, it would be able to disy the same level of Mastery as his Scorpion Warlord Stinger.


    If he mastered the secondyer, he would be able to do this with 50 Foundation Poison Runes.


    If he mastered the third, even up to 70 Foundation Poison Runes was possible.


    This was absolutely massive.


    As powerful as Ss'' 70 Foundation Runes were, he could only use an insignificant sliver of their power without the Mature Aether to power them. And even when he gained Mature Aether, the Runes would still scale to his Level instead of disying their true might.


    However, the stinger was capable of circumventing this to arge extent!


    Ss had been thinking about how much more effort he should put into raising the Mastery of his individual Runes ever since he learned about the dividing line that was Breath Mastery, but he just hadn''t had the time. Not with the armor upying all of his thoughts.


    But now... even if the Scorpion Warlord Armor''s Stinger only worked with Poison type Runes, this would be a huge boon for him.


    The best part was that the armor was flexible. So long as Poison affinity was its foundation, it would work. Although Ss Advanced Freeze Ice-Poison Rune wouldn''t work with it, his Advanced Slow Ice-Poison Rune would!


    Well, his weakened versions of them would.


    At its current state, his Scorpion Warlord Armor wouldn''t be able to use 70 Foundation Runes. But Ss was confident he would be able to easily find 40 Foundation Runes for him to make use of.


    And the instant he did, he would have poison even stronger than the Woond Spider Queen. Yet, this was just the beginning.


    That was because the Warlord Stinger didn''t have a limit of just one poison type. What made it so powerful was that it could swallow several types of Poison Runes and emit something particrly powerful from the strengths of them all.


    So right now, what Ss was most interested in wasn''t even his own Ice-Poison Runes. He wanted to see just how powerful he could make his poison from a collection of 40 Foundation Runes.


    Ss exhaled a breath and felt much lighter all of a sudden. A new pathy out before him.


    Of course... what Ss didn''t know was that the use of Blood Essence to draw Runes wasn''t a new path at all. There were some very powerful Rune Masters in the universe that did exactly that.


    However, the ability to extract Blood Essence was rare and often hidden away in some very exclusive inheritances. It could be said that Ss had just stumbled into something truly


    shocking purely by ident.


    Finally, Ss awakened from his stupor and looked around him. The sand had finally settled down and he couldy eyes on the carnage.


    What was unfortunate was that many of the carriages were destroyed in the attack, along with the camels that had been leading their way.


    And yet, everyone seemed dead set on staring at him for some reason.

 Chapter 643: Scholars

    Chapter 643: Schrs


    ?


    Ss looked down at him and could feel why immediately. It wasn''t just the look of the armor. There were plenty of odd abilities in this world. Even when he fused with the Basilisk King they didn''t stare at him this hard.


    It was his aura.


    There was a dense and suffocating aura around him. The poison mist that had hung in the air was even swirling around him as though it wanted to be closer to him than it already was.


    In fact, Ss could sense the armor swallowing up the poison, using it to slowly grow stronger. If it had been injured or damaged in battle, he could even feel that this poison would have helped the armor to heal itself.


    Ss bet that when he mastered the thirdyer, even his own body could use this method to heal itself.


    This Rune Inheritance was truly worthy of being the Legacy of a powerful organization. So the question was...


    How had it ended up on Earth?


    Ss dismissed the armor and pulled the scorpion into the Madness Key.


    By this point, the Madness Key could no longer absorb any more Bronze Genes to getrger, so it was truly enormous. Well over 200 meters in diameter. Even as a home it was far toorge, let alone as a storage device.


    But if creatures kept getting this big, then maybe Ss would soon feel that it wasn''t enough.


    "Let''s clean up this mess and get ready to set out." Ss said.


    Since his armor had sucked up all the poison in the region, there was no need to worry about it any longer. He would just have to keep an eye out for anyone who had acute symptoms.


    Ignoring the reverence in the eyes of the people around him, Ss got to work.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    --


    Dayster, Ss finally set eyes on what they had been traveling toward all this time.


    It was a pyramid... but unlike what it was like on modern Earth, this pyramid was built on bs of limestone and granite that encapsted its surroundings instead of directly into the sand.


    Tall pirs of etched stone pinned the four corners of thisrge b, and on its surface, there seemed to be a few merchants, business men, and schrs that were making their living through various means.


    In the distance, not too far off, there was a wide river of water Ss could only assume was either meant to be the Nile in this depiction of history, or maybe it was an exact replica.


    By this point, it was hard for Ss to tell what was the truth and what was just fabrications of this world.


    However, what he did realize was that even as the supposed Great King of this world... the reception wasn''t nearly as grand as it should be.


    Ss stepped out of his carriage with light steps to find two schrs waiting for him. It was an older gentleman and a middle-aged one, both of whom bowed deeply and somberly.


    [Eldran Voren]


    [Level: 27]


    [Kalren Odrin]


    [Level: 29]


    Eldran, the older man, and Kalren, the younger, both greeted Ss respectfully.


    "We are graced by your presence, Great King."


    Ss nodded. "Lead us to the library."


    The two men hesitated then looked toward one another.


    Ss didn''t rush them, nor did he frown. He simply stood there in silence, and for some reason... the two felt even more pressure now than they would have had he spoken.


    Was this really the foolish King they had heard so much about?


    "Great King, there is a problem," Eldran began slowly.


    "Exin."


    "The Star Festival was not long ago and the Great Priests received signs of bad omens while reading the constetions. The Great Temple has decided that Egypt is the prime location for deciphering the details of these bad omens and also the ideal location for a sacrifice to the Gods."


    "And?" Ss asked calmly.


    "They... They have ordered that Egypt be cornered off."


    "Even from its King?"


    "I..." Eldran began to cough heavily, his old age getting to him. In the end, Kalren could only curse the old man in his heart, feeling that he was doing this on purpose.


    Kalren could only grit his teeth and finish the words.


    "There is news, Great King, that a Great Priest has died in your royal city... The... The Great Priests have deemed that for the safety of the kingdom, it is best if you stay away from Egypt until they can find the source of the bad omen."


    Ss nodded.


    He thought he had dealt with the Great Priest''s death adequately enough. But when he thought about it, did it matter how well he handled it if Aki was still around?


    So long as the Thryskai had his hand on the scale, it didn''t matter how clever Ss was. Ss also bet that whatever "bad omen" these Great Priests were trying to deal with were actually just more methods of helping the Thryskai sink their ws into Earth.


    While he might not have any personal experience with religious fanaticism as it wasn''t a very prominent part of Earth''s culture at the moment, Ss knew that dealing with this situation wouldn''t be easy. That was why he had dealt with the Great Priest as secretly as possible.


    Butpared to that, this felt severalfold moreplex.


    If he was too forceful, the entire country would likely turn on him.


    But if he was toox, then they would seed before he could raise a finger.


    It was troublesome indeed.


    "Okay. Then I will listen to the words of the Great Priest." Ss nodded.


    The two men were taken aback, but they also breathed out sighs of relief. This went much


    more smoothly than they expected.


    Until Ss walked by them.


    "Ah, Great King-."


    Ss looked back. "Is something the matter?"


    The two froze, a chilliness filling their hearts. They didn''t even know what to say.


    It was only after they confirmed that Ss was only strolling the markets that they somewhat rxed, but deep inside, they remained anxious.

 Chapter 644: Planetarium

    Chapter 644:arium


    ?


    Ss casually strolled through the markets and posts. True to his word, he didn''t show any sign of trying to break into Egypt.


    He circled through everything once, and the atmosphere felt odd. The merchants and schrs seemed a bit on edge, but Ss spoke with them as though he didn''t notice that anything was wrong at all. Then, he returned to the carriage for the day to rest.


    ...


    "Do any of you know anything about the Library of Alexandria?" Ss asked with a calm look in his eye.


    He was speaking with Alex and the others. Now that he thought about it, he didn''t really know their backgrounds at all. For all he knew, there was a historian in their midst that he could take advantage of.


    Though it was said that Split Realms had skewed reflections of what had once happened, that didn''t mean that such knowledge wouldn''t be helpful.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t so lucky.


    Alex had practically be a different person ever since he put on his mask. He only shook his head no and didn''t speak.


    Cole and Lana only looked at each other in confusion, seemingly having never heard of the library at all. Jake, byparison, was livelier these days, but his parents were even more overprotective now than they had been in the past.


    Lana was constantly circling the young boy like a hawk, while his father was usually the only one to follow Ss out.


    To Ss'' surprise, though, it was Jake who seemed to have an unexpected perspective.


    "Is that... the library Julius Caesar identally burned down?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss looked toward him and nodded, curious about Jake''s perspective. How would he know this?


    Ss had received the best education modern Earth had to offer, and yet even he didn''t know anything about this history before going through the System City Library.


    Unfortunately, that experience hadn''t given him a great deal. He was sure that if he had spent more time, maybe he would have been able to find out more.


    But back then, he had been on a time crunch, especially with Lucius breathing down his neck and demanding his return. He couldn''t afford to spend weeks to months going through all of that information.


    By the time he did have time and his own Territory tomand, he had already been focused on other things. His personal strength was far more important by then, and the danger he had faced since then only further proved his point.


    Feeling Ss'' gaze, Jake felt ufortable deep within his heart. He had always felt pressured in front of Ss, but it had be especially more potent after almost dying because of him.


    It was odd, though... this wasn''t because he feared that Ss would do it again, but because of another reason he couldn''t quite put his finger on.


    What he didn''t know was that this was because of his Flexible Will. He could feel aspects of Ss now that others simply couldn''t.


    But as the saying went... ignorance was often bliss.


    Jake gathered himself and exhaled a breath. He wasn''t sure if his parents were alright with him saying this, but contrary to what one might believe... he oddly trusted Ss.


    "The location we were sent to for my parents toplete their ss Quest was quite a special one, it was the same ce we received the golden token from..."


    Lana frowned, but Jake pretended to not feel his mother''s gaze burning a hole through the side of his face.


    Cole reached over andforted his wife, taking her hand in his.


    Seeing the actions of her son and husband, Lana didn''t even know what to say. Her distaste for Ss couldn''t just be wiped away because he cleaned up his own mess. Who cared if he saved Jake if he was the reason her son was in danger to begin with?


    But for some reason, her husband and son seemed to trust this man. Cole had already had more than one private conversation with her, and now her son was giving out information he normally never would.


    Jake might be young, but she knew her son was smart. He knew how important it was to protect what information they could in this world. Yet here he was sharing this basically unprovoked.


    So long as Cole and Lana didn''t know anything, Ss would be unlikely to press Jake of all people for an answer. But here he was offering the information of his own volition.


    In truth, both parents were surprised. They didn''t know what Jake had experienced during their Quest either. This was the first they were hearing of this.


    Ss nodded, waiting for the rest of Jake''s words.


    "It was a ce with arge ss dome, almost like a cross between a conservatory and aarium. There were tracts of gold above that looked like they outlined the movement pattern of stars,s, and on a wider scale, gxies."


    Cole''s gaze flickered. He remembered this ce as well, but he and his wife hadn''t been able to observe much before they were sucked away.


    Back then, they had been forcefully chosen for their Quest. Otherwise, they would have given their son the opportunity without a doubt. But it seemed that whatever hidden mechanisms there were had decided that the two of them were the most appropriate candidates.


    He remembered being worried about what might happen to their son while they were away, so he had tried to clear the Quest as quickly as possible and definitely left some meat on the bone...


    But in the end, when they returned, Jake was still there perfectly unharmed. It didn''t even look like he had faced any danger.


    In fact... it was Jake who found the golden coin.


    "Beneath the tracts and orbiting celestial bodies was a small scale model of something that I didn''t quite understand. But they were pyramids as well... some of them were more Egyptian in feel, some more Mayan and Aztec.


    "Among them, I''m certain I saw the Library of Alexandria mentioned."

 Chapter 645: Help

    Chapter 645: Help


    ?


    Ss listened to Jake''s story silently, allowing him to spill everything he could remember before asking more pointed questions.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t expect everyone to have a memory as good as his own. There was only so much he could ask Jake before his memories became fuzzy and his answers became much more vague.


    However, Ss had still learned something very important.


    All this talk of Star Festivals and tracking the movement of celestial bodies kept urring for


    a reason.


    He might not have spent much time studying this stuff in the System City Library, but what he did know for certain was that pyramids, whether Mayan or Egyptian, often acted like calendars for the stars.


    ''Twin Moon Healers... The Moon is also a celestial body, and now it seems that this couple received a ss rted to this matter...''


    The rest was nothing more than sheer spection. Too many things were possible because Ss still knew too little about this world he now called home. He didn''t yet have a good grasp of what was functionally possible and what was still in the realm of fantasy. In a world like this one, everything felt like it was a go.


    For all he knew, these pyramids weremunicating with the stars to provide direct transport to Earth by alien Races.


    Or, that could all be science fiction nonsense and that wasn''t even possible.


    There was only one way to find out.


    Ss looked out of the windows to find that night had fallen.


    "Alex. See what you can find out."


    Alex nodded and then vanished into his own shadow, disappearing from sight.


    As much as Ss wanted to sneak in personally, he didn''t have the stealth skills that Alex had.


    ''Maybe I can find a Serpentes in the future that can help with that.''


    He slotted the matter to the back of his mind and then waited patiently.


    It wasn''t long before Alex returned. Less than 10 minutes passed.


    "There is heavy security around the entrance. There''s only one way in-." Alex began.


    This was the first time Ss had heard Alex speak with his mask on, and for a moment, he thought that two people were speaking at once. One was Alex''s real voice, and the second sounded almost like a much deeper echo with the same cadence.


    It felt like he wasn''t facing a human anymore at all, but rather a Demon.


    However, Ss didn''tment on it.


    "I managed to slip inside, but the defenses do notx. Once again, there seems to be something happening in the basement, and there''s an odd concentration of silver light beaming down and umting from the moon above through the various windows. It feels like Aether, but also not like Aether at the same time. It is difficult to describe it in more detail than that.


    "I didn''t check any of their Levels because it would dismiss my stealth Skill, but there are several dozen guards just ounting for the depth I made it to, and the worst of them are probably high Level 20s. They only grow more powerful the deeper inside I went."


    ''Like Aether, but not quite, huh?'' Ss'' eyes narrowed as hetched onto the sentence. There were many things that could be, but if he were to describe his Aetherflow, that might be precisely how he broke it down to someone with no knowledge of the topic.


    His Aetherflow was a perfect fusion of his Will, Charisma, and Aether. And here, for a Dungeon that emphasized Will so much, it wouldn''t be surprising if this was what Alex was referring to.


    "Alright. Draw out ayout of what you saw for me. We will move soon."


    Alex didn''t question it and just borrowed one of Ss'' scrolls and brushes, drawing down a rough sketch of what he had seen.


    -


    The night was rtively quiet and seemingly uneventful. The merchants had packed up, the square was now mostly lined with tents and those resting for the night.


    And it was under these conditions that a sudden howl filled the skies.


    ROAR!


    It looked like a mass of ck beneath the sunlight, the faint golden etchings covering its body looking too faded to even notice under the dense darkness.


    Its massive, serpentine body must have been easily over 15 meters from the tip of its nose to


    its proud, swinging tail. And deep within the yellows of its irises, a slit that seemed to lead to the abyss of hell hung in thoughts of murder and rampage.


    The Basilisk King.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Deep within his carriage, Ss didn''t even move the slightest bit.


    He had given all of the Mature Aether from killing the scorpion king to Nosphaleen having used Insight to note that it wasn''t enough to get the Basilisk King to Level 30. However, he wasn''t worried about the Basilisk King itself in the slightest. With almost 3500 Constitution under the effects of the Beast Totem hanging above Ss'' head...


    If it couldn''t do this much, it wasn''t worthy of its lineage.


    The Basilisk King made its presence known and in the eyes of everyone present, it was yet another sand beast. It plowed its way out of the ground, sending a dune falling from the top of its head as it slithered forward.


    It bit, ripped, and shredded apart everything in its path. With Strength at over 3000, there wasn''t an individual who had appeared yet that could withstand even a single strike. Eldran and Kalren ran out, their eyes filled with panic. It was clear they had no idea that the Basilisk King was rted to Ss, and even if they did, whether that would make them feel better or not wasn''t clear.


    When the Basilisk King attacked to kill, the answer to that question couldn''t have been more obvious.


    Eldran found a tail whipping across his body. His spine snapped in two and his eyes widened in horror as he soared through the skies... hisst thoughts were realizations that his chances


    of survival...


    Were zero.


    ...


    Ss stood calmly within his carriage and stepped out with an almost careless re.


    It seemed it was time to "help" the schrs deal with this situation.


    [Author''s Note Below!]

 Chapter 646: No Need

    Chapter 646: No Need


    ?


    While everyone else was panicking, the movement of Ss seemed quite conspicuous. He had the calmest gait, and he was the only existence walking toward the danger instead of rushing away from it. Well, other than the schrs and guards trying to y hero.


    Alex and the othersgged behind Ss a bit. Until now, they hadn''t made their presences known, so their connection to Ss wasn''t nearly so obvious.


    Ss wasn''t sure exactly what his own n was just yet, so he preferred to give himself some flexibility, and this was the best way to do that.


    With a step, Ss began to walk up the wide steps that led to the entrance of the ss pyramid. Signs of the Basilisk King''s rampage filled the region, many stones scattering across the now misshapen path.


    When Ss got to the top of the stairs, he found the corpses of the two schrs who had blocked them when they first arrived strewn across the ground.


    He only gave them a nce before continuing onward.


    There was no satisfaction in his heart. For one, the schrs had only acted as they had because someone much higher up told them to do so. And second... Ss wasn''t the type to feel rage when others targeted him.


    He saw this as a simple way of the world. When you were weak, others would take advantage where they could.


    So long as he felt the situation was still under his control, he didn''t understand why he should waste energy on feeling angry. In the end, weren''t they dead while he was the inevitable winner? What, then, would have been the point?


    Evidence of the Basilisk King''s destruction filled the halls. As Ss walked, he could practically follow the trails of blood.


    Maybe he had underestimated the Basilisk King far too much. Its strength, especially with the Beast Totem activated, was shocking.


    Part of Ss felt that it might be regretful that he couldn''t use Beast Totem to cast Beacon and buff his Contract at the same time. He wasn''t sure before just how much chaos he would need.


    But the Basilisk King turned out to not need his help at all.


    ''It''s using its Skills with far more efficiency now...''


    The Basilisk King''s Skills had all progressed along with itsst upgrade. But after that happened, it had also begun to struggle using its skills.


    Ss, too, suffered as a result. When the Basilisk King was fused with him, how well he could use its skills was dependent on the Basilisk King''s Mastery level, and because it was too low, Ss never used Skills like <King''s Bind> or <King''s Shield> in battle, at least not since the Stabilizing Bracelet ran to the end of its Durability.


    This was also Ss'' fault as well. He didn''t focus nearly enough on systematic training for the Basilisk King, and he rarely let it fight battles on its own, so when could the Basilisk King ever have the time to improve its Mastery?


    But it seemed that along with leveling up, the Basilisk King''s Mastery had naturally progressed as well.


    Ss wasn''t sure if this was normal or not, but when he was going to ask the Madness Key, he shook his head. He had almost done something foolish.


    Anything he needed to understand about his Contract could be done through Insight. Why waste Genes?


    ''I see... so the higher Level you are, the easier it is to use Skills. Of course, adjusted by Grade. Higher Intelligence also makes it easier to Master certain skills as well.


    ''But it''s not just that for the Basilisk King. This is more general information. ''Going from Level 5 to Level 29, the Basilisk King surpassed two demarcating lines... Level 10 and Level 20. Although its Grade hasn''t increased, its Genes have still loosened considerably.'' What surprised Ss the most was that... The Basilisk King, despite only being an FFF-Grade monster, and "only" Level 29, actually already unlocked Silver Genes.


    Ss didn''t know all the secrets hidden in the Basilisk King''s body, but what was clear to him was that he had only touched the tip of the iceberg.


    Namely... the Basilisk King''s Voice of a King Gene Skill had reached a new tier entirely.


    [Basilisk King (FFF-)]


    [Level: 29]


    -


    [Skills: King''s Bind (FFF-); King''s Shift (FFF-); King''s Shield (FFF-); Voice of a King (FFF-)]


    -


    [Silver Genes: Voice of a King (F); ...]


    [Voice of a King (Gene Talent)]


    [A Gene Talent capable of cooling the mind and increasing the Effectiveness of Will and Charisma. Your Charisma activates Passively and those around you with weaker Will are pulled into your orbit. Your Skills and stats are more Effective]


    -


    The weight of this change couldn''t be underestimated. If Ss was correct, this Gene Talent had a simr effect to the Gluttony Seed. Meaning, it could increase the strength output of telekinesis as well.


    But this was only in part... that was because what it also did was give the Basilisk King a Spark.


    Ss'' Will Spark right now was a strong poison affinity. He could even use it to directly kill people who were too careless. Lauren''s Will Spark seemed to have been that pink lightning that she wielded.


    As for the Basilisk King''s...


    It was exactly what its title deemed it was.


    The Spark of a King.


    A Will that could suppress others and rip their power away from them.


    Slowly but surely, the Basilisk King was beginning to disy its true might.


    The library rumbled as the Basilisk King unleashed a savage roar.


    Ss''s steps came to a pause as he stood side by side with his contract.


    Its head stood tall and proud, overlooking the abyss thaty before them. Once again, theren/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    was a deep passage to the underground.


    "In that case, there''s no reason for us to hide ourselves any longer. Today, we kill."


    SSSSSSSSSSS.


    A low, rumbling hiss came from the Basilisk King.


    It lowered its head and Ss took a step onto its back before they shot downward.

 Chapter 647: Kill

    Chapter 647: Kill


    ?


    The powerful strokes of the Basilisk King''s body sent tiles ripping out of the ground and stairs copsing. However, its powerful Constitution caused these hard stones to deflect from its scales and rebound against the walls.


    Ss could hear the shouts of men and women down below, and soon he saw where the origin


    was.


    It looked like a scene directly out of a horror movie.


    Ahead, there was once again arge tform that looked almost identical to the one that was found in his city. But the difference was that there was none of the gaudiness. In its stead, there were piles of flesh and rivers of blood.


    This wasn''t a description exaggerated for effect. A foul stench filled the air, bones formed Runes that lined the tform, and the pathways that led up to the marble stone were formed by flesh and organs.


    In the middle of the marble stone tform, three Great Priests were locked in fierce concentration as they carved up a trio of corpses before them. All of the Great Priests around them seemed to be panicking, having already learned of the carnage happening above them. Ssid eyes on this scene with an air of indifference. Even if these had been real people, he doubted that he would care very much... let alone the fact that this was just an echo of history. But that didn''t mean that these people didn''t disgust him.


    For as long as he could remember, Ss didn''t like to be controlled. It was ironic because he was also a stickler for rules at the same time. But due to his boredom with the way of the world, following these rules was actually his own way of ignoring them.


    He didn''t strive to be as great as he could be because it was of no interest to him.


    These men and women here, though... embodied everything he hated.


    Using the trust they garnered from the people they ruled over from the shadows, preying on their weaknesses and fears before taking advantage of them.


    They were the very puppeteers of society that Ss hadn''t wanted to y into the hands of.


    [Richen Versuvius]


    [Level: 38]


    -


    [Eloren Surmon]


    [Level: 37]


    -


    [Kalvow Shun]


    [Level: 38]


    Ss looked down on the three priests from on high. The golden slits of his Beast Totem and the shimmering irises of the Basilisk King seemed to stack on top of one another, one below and the other above.


    "Kill them." Ss said coldly.


    BANG!


    The Basilisk King''s tail pped down and it shot forward.


    <King''s Shift> activated and it seamlessly used the skill on itself, allowing it to almost instantly reach its peak Speed.


    The Great Priests were taken aback with its Speed, not expecting a creature sorge to be so fast. But they were right... the Basilisk King''s weakest stats were its Speed and Dexterity.


    But that didn''t matter if it had overwhelming power.


    The Basilisk King directly rolled over three Priests before they could even get out of the way, using its heavy body weight to crush them.


    Attacks suddenly rained down from all sides, particrly aiming for Ss. However, <King''s Shield> was deployed in an instant. Fueled with Voice of a King, it seemed to weaken attacks before they even reached it.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The shield suffered three powerful attacks in a row, each one having easily over 1000 Attack each. In fact, from Ss'' estimation, they were approaching 1500.


    And yet...


    The shield only rippled.


    4500 Attack was absorbed as though it was worthless.


    The Basilisk King pped out with its tail. The Priests tried to dodge, only for it to cast <King''s Shift> again.


    The Basilisk King''s tail abruptly shifted in the air, going from a downward motion to a sweeping motion that shattered the body of a target into a rain of gore and blood. Their defenses couldn''t even remotely hold up against over 3000 Strength.


    The carnage was one-sided and unbridled. Under Ss'' direction, every movement the Basilisk King made was perfectly and wlessly executed, unmoved by the actions of the experts around it.


    By this point, Alex and Cole had finally caught up, only to watch on in shock and even a small hint of horror.


    Since when did Ss have such a powerful card? And why hadn''t he used it in theirst battle? Could he have been holding back?


    The two looked toward one another as they seemed to think of an even scarier possibility...


    What if Ss hadn''t had this card when theyst fought... and only recently gained it...?


    In that case...


    Just how fast did this man improve?


    ...


    The Basilisk King bore down on the final three Great Priests. They were in a protected formation, beads of sweat falling down on their brows as they brought out one corpse after another from their spatial devices to carve up and throw away in a very specific pattern.


    BANG!


    The attack the Basilisk King unleashed was repelled in a cascade of sparks. Ss could even tell that his contract had even somewhat injured itself on that attack.


    "Hold." Ss said before the Basilisk King could attack again.


    He looked down at the sphere of protection again. It didn''t take him long at all to find what heN?v(el)B\\jnn


    was looking for.


    "There."


    A projected, vivid image reyed in the mind of the Basilisk King. Its yellow eyes shed as its tail flicked outward.


    In a shockingly controlled motion, it focused all of its power on a single point.


    BANG!


    The three Great Priests didn''t even have the time to react before their shield was shattered to


    pieces.


    <King''s Bind>.


    Ss reached out a hand as the Basilisk King''s tail swung out.


    Two Great Priests were shattered into a rain of blood as the third had his neck sucked into


    Ss'' palm. With <King''s Bind> activated, he couldn''t even resist Ss'' telekinesis. The priest dangled from Ss'' hand, his face turning purple as his airways were being


    suffocated.

 Chapter 648: Unless

    Chapter 648: Unless


    ?


    [Richen Versuvius]


    [Level: 38]


    Ss held the man out as though he was nothing more than a strung-up chicken, his expression calm. It would take nothing more than a change of his intent to burn this man to ash, but there was a reason other than his own distaste for these Grand Priests that had caused him to capture him like this rather than allowing him to die with the others.


    "What were you trying to do here?" Ss asked calmly.


    The man''s throat was being mped down, and <King''s Bind> was still very much active, so talking seemed to be impossible. However, Ss wasn''t really expecting an answer... not just yet, that is.


    As expected, the man seemed to have no intention at all to speak.


    Ss'' gaze shed and a sparkling sort of murkiness appeared deep within it.


    Compelling Gaze.


    He activated semi-Fusion and triggered a Gene Talent of Nosphaleen''s. This was far more dangerous than just triggering a Skill as it required pulling some of Nosphaleen''s Genes into his body. But because semi-Fusion was so targeted, Ss was confident in pulling it off.


    He didn''t need this man to be supremely loyal to him for an extended period of time. All he needed was for him to answer his questions right here and now.


    And for that, Compelling Gaze was more than adequate.


    Unfortunately... Ss'' Charisma was too low.


    He felt the Gene Talent being rebuffed by the Great Priest and Ss'' mind was almost impacted by the rebound. Luckily, his own will was far stronger than the man''s, so other than some slight difort in his mind, he felt nothing else.


    This didn''t keep Ss down for long. Since this didn''t work, he would just fuse with the Basilisk King.


    He dismissed the Beast Totem and the Basilisk King was sucked into his body. Lightlynding on the ground, his skin burst with ck scales lined with gold and he used semi-Fusion once more.


    The process was much more difficult when the Basilisk King was already fused into his body. It felt like it was taking a great deal more of Wisdom to control everything. It was clear that there were limits to what he could do.


    Maybe when his Fusion Talent increased and he could get away with fusing with more than one beast at a time, it would be easier. But for now, it seemed that that was an impossibility.


    "Answer my question." Ss spoke calmly once again. His hand was still on the Grand Priest''s throat, but it had loosened considerably.


    "We were only acting as our Lord instructed."


    "Who is your Lord?"


    "We do not dare to speak his name."


    "Why?"


    Ss thought about just forcing the name out, but then he realized that it was unlikely that having the exact name would help him much. Instead, he felt that maybe there was something more to this rule.


    "To speak the name of the Lord is to evoke his Will."


    ''Is that so...'' Ss thought to himself, his mind thinking of several possibilities. But, none of them exactly fit what he was hearing here.


    He wondered how worth it would be to take the time to go through all the books in this library.


    This was a famous library of history that was a pivotal location of this Split Realm for a reason. If the information wasn''t distorted, it might even help Ss upon his return. But even the name of the library itself was distorted by this Split Realm, so how could he take the information in its books at face value?


    However, this mention of speaking a name to evoke a Will... if Ss was correct, this referred to a level of Will that he couldn''t fathom even now. How far beyond was a Sparking Will was


    it?


    "Who told you that?"


    "The Lord..." The Great Priest said after a while, his voice trailing off as though he was experiencing some confusion.


    Ss realized then that the time for Compelling Gaze was already running out. If he had to cast it a second time, it would be bound to be far less effective.


    ''The time is short. I don''t have forever...''


    "Where is your Lord now?" Ss asked.


    "... The Lord is always located in the World of Mirrors. He pulls on the levers of many realms, controlling the fates of countless worlds. We are just but one..."


    The words sounded practiced. It was the first time the Great Priest had answered a question with more depth than what Ss directly asked, and that told Ss that this was likely a speech that the Great Priest had given many that he had recruited over the years.


    "Where is this World of Mirrors?"


    "The World of Mirrors is located in all of our hearts. Open up your Wills to the Lord and he will guide you to a world beyond your imagining when the Stars shine brightest."


    Ss fell into silence.


    Although the answers of the Great Priest had begun to grow more fluid, that was only because Ss had found a niche in his memories and began targeting things the Great Priest had said many times in his lifetime before.


    But without this, he could already feel his control over the Great Priest slipping. There was no doubt that Nosphaleen would have been much better at this. It was just a shame that he couldn''t summon her.


    He knew that if he pushed for anything more concrete, he would probably push the Great Priest over the edge. But he had to try anyway.


    "Then what does sacrificing so many lives have to do with pleasing your Lord?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss could see the confusion turn to struggle, and the struggle seemed close to bing an emotion that directly boiled over. But he held strong, his Will pressing down firmer.


    ''It''s not going to work... unless?''


    Ss'' eyes shed as a pair of Runes appeared deep within his eyes. Shuddering pressure lines appeared in the region as the mind of the Great Priest was assaulted.

 Chapter 649: Black

    Chapter 649: ck


    ?


    "The Wills of the people are a tonic to the Lord. There is no greater concentration of Will than what is in one''s Life Blood."


    The words came out in a tumble and then Ss could feel an audible snape from the man''s mind. He already wasn''t holding onto the Great Priest''s neck with very much power, so when Richen suddenly copsed, Ss didn''t bother to catch him.


    The Great Priest fell to the ground dead.


    ''Life Blood...'' Ss thought. ''Concentration of Will? Is he referring to Blood Essence? Is that why they''re harvesting so many bodies here?''


    Ss found himself slowly piecing together something that likely held some resemnce to the truth.


    ''Why is the Thryskai so reliant on these clergymen? And why these altars? Now they''re looking for a way to distill and concentrate the Will of the people?''


    Ss'' mind churned.


    He had already experienced how possible it was to gather Will from blood. That was precisely how he had made his breakthrough with the Scorpion Warlord armor.


    So when Richen mentioned "Life Blood" he immediately thought of the possible distortions to names this ce might undergo and realized that he must be speaking about Blood Essence.


    If he was correct, these Great Priests didn''t have ess to abilities like his Extricate Talent. How could they? It was a Legendary Path Talent for a reason.


    Because of that, they had to rely on far cruder methods.


    Ss'' gaze shed and he began to look at the corpsesying around him in a new light. ''As expected... they''re wasting over 99% of the Blood Essence they''re umting. They''re targeting valuable organs, namely the heart and even digging into bone marrow to try and extract what small tidbits and pieces they can. To ovee the low quantity, they''re trying to make it up with the numbers, which is why they''ve killed so much.''


    When Ss used his Taboo Bond Talent on the region, he could see the separation of Blood Essence and normal blood before him. That confirmed his hypothesis.


    ''In that case, why do they need this Will?''


    Ss could only specte, but if the Thryskai were relying on religions to spread their control over the region, how rted would Wills be to that?


    Were they umting Will somehow through the faith of the people? And if that was the case, were they using it for the sake of forming a bridge to Earth like the Thryskai had? To what end?


    There seemed to be only one way to find out...


    ''This World of Mirrors...''


    This also reminded Ss of something else. The world of ck ice that had been hidden within the pyramids. Could these matters be linked?


    Ss turned back to Cole and Alex.


    "Call Lana and Jake here. I am not sure what will happen from here, but the likelihood that we will return is low. This is likely the final stretch of the Dungeon."


    The two seemed surprised.


    This Dungeon felt so endless and vast, but Ss seemed capable of always finding the pressure point and pressing.


    While it felt like they had done a lot, and been in a lot of danger as well, it had ultimately only been two days or so since they entered this Split Realm.


    Anyone else might have spent weeks figuring everything out and clearing all the Legs at least. It became clear to them that Ss'' power was only part of what made him so fearsome.


    His intelligence was probably his greatest weapon. Though... the fact he had such an array of talents to rely on only made it easier.


    ...


    Soon, all of them were gathered and Ss took a stand at the center of the tform, using his visualization to scan the Runes forged of bone.


    As expected, they were very simr to the ones that he had already studied with just a few tweaks here and there.


    The tform of his city only allowed a one-way flow of Will, which was why Ss was able to pour his own Will into it to destroy the tform by reversing the flow.


    But here, the tform was designed to incrementally take on Will from this side as well. Namely, the Will from the desecrated corpses.


    However, Ss also didn''t need to rely on that method to destroy this tform. That was because the Runes were formed of normal human bone here and not diamond. It would only take a whip of the Basilisk King''s tail to deal with all of it.


    But this time, he didn''t want to destroy this tform.


    If he was correct, this was the passage to the final challenge of this Dungeon.


    [Leg 004 Cleared]


    -


    [Leg 005]


    > [Sever the hold the Lord has over Earth]


    Ss felt that he had already observed everything he needed to.


    Standing back up to his full height, he pulled out the scorpion king''s corpse once again. A foul smell hung high in the air, but he ignored it as he used Extricate to pull out anotherrge segment of Blood Essence.


    His Will poured into it and he began to draw one Rune after another.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The blood warped and morphed in the air, and beneath Ss'' strength, they solidified into a pulse of light that covered his body in an illusory violet armor with a whipping scorpion tail.


    ''It won''t let me fuse with the Basilisk King in this state...''


    Ss could feel that if he tried to push Fusion to activate, his armor would shatter. But he was prepared for this. The moment Szorn had told him he wasn''tpatible with the Scorpion Warlord Inheritance, he knew that it was inevitable.


    But what surprised him was that he might not be able to fuse with the Basilisk King... but he could fuse with the Bone-Tailed Lizard.


    ''Good.''


    Ss'' body shifted and morphed, a long line of spikes appearing down his back as a bony tail grew from his spine, filling the empty space of the scorpion''s stinger.


    He clenched his fists and unclenched.


    "Let''s go."


    The tform rippled and suddenly...


    CRACK.


    The world fragmented into scattered pieces, like the image of a mirror copsing to the


    ground.


    Then, everything turned ck.

 Chapter 650: Thats It? [Bonus]

    Chapter 650: That''s It? [Bonus]


    ?


    The first thing Ss felt wasn''t a warp to his sight, but rather a violent pang of danger that made his chest feel as though his heart was doing backflips.


    Without hesitation, he summoned the scorpion king corpse.


    BANG!


    A wave of pressure hit Ss, a sttering of thick blood coating his body as he was sent flying backward. Several cracks appeared in his Scorpion Warlord Armor as though it was already prepared to copse right before his eyes.


    He tumbled along what he assumed was a hard stone ground before he flipped to his feet, digging his toes and a hand into the ground to grind himself to a halt.


    Finally, he could see the situation around him.


    Rather than the World of Mirrors he was expecting, there was nothing but an endless ck around him. And yet, he was able to see as though there was a pointed source of life illuminating every living being present.


    ''What is that? A snake?''


    A long, tall figure stood in the distance. It was clearly not human, but even though there was a pointed source of light on it, its body itself seemed a form of shadows.


    Ss was immediately filled with anticipation when he thought that it might be a snake. If he was so lucky, then this final Leg wouldn''t be nearly as dangerous as he thought it could have been.


    In front of his Beast Totem, no F-Ranked Serpentes could even put up a fight against him. The battle would be over before it began.


    But there was something off about this snake.


    ''Another Rotten Beast... its Genes are mutated and aren''t perfectly recognized as Serpentes. That''s why I didn''t feel its subservience immediately... that and the fact it''s under the control of someone else.''


    Ss looked around, ignoring the blood that now caked his illusory armor. But he didn''t find Cole, Alex, and the others.


    ''Did they get transported somewhere else?''


    Ss frowned. That wasn''t good. They would most likely die without his support.


    This Dungeon rmended 5000 Will for a reason. Without him, their odds of survival were next to nothing.


    They had also been useful to him several times. The convenience of having capable allies couldn''t be understated.


    ''Something went wrong.''


    A harsh hissing sound filled the air as Ss felt the snake lock onto him again.


    [Rotten Python]


    [Level: 42]


    Ss shook his head, the Beast Totem appearing.


    The sudden fierce momentum of the Rotten Python plummeted.


    With a step, Ss'' figure shed and he appeared by its head. His fist shot out like a rocket. BANG!


    The snake shuddered once and then copsed to the ground, its headless corpse writhing. Whether Rotten or not... at this point, Ss was already invincible in the face of Serpentes of the F-Grade.


    ''It has a Silver Gene.''


    Ss pressed a hand to it. The creature only had one Silver Genepared to the three of the Rotten Chimera, but it was invaluable nheless.


    The Madness Key finally broke free of its constraints, beginning to expand once again. It had long since reached its limits from absorbing excess Bronze Genes. Now that it could absorb Silver Genes, it had begun to grow once more.


    This would have been very useful to Ss in the past, not because of the size, but rather the help it would provide in meditating on Madness. But his Madness Comprehension had long left the Silver Grade behind. He would need Gold Genes before the Madness Key would be helpful in his meditation again.


    "Impossible..."


    The sudden voice caused Ss'' eyes to narrow. He looked up from the corpse before him, but he couldn''t find anyone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That was when a sudden realization overcame him.


    ''When I first got here, the snake attacked immediately, but after I moved, it took time to lock onto me again. Could it be...''


    Ss focused on his visualization again, this time training his Will.


    It was then that the world of ck around him began to clear up and he could seem to see in color again.


    However, that didn''t change much about the dreariness of the atmosphere.


    He found Cole, Alex, and the others. They were in a stun lock because they couldn''t seem to see or hear anything. Their Will wasn''t strong enough to prate the darkness. Or maybe they just hadn''t figured out what Ss had.


    Right now, though, Ss couldn''t spare them the attention. That was because he could finally see the mirror that Richen had been speaking about, and in each fragmented piece, the face of Aki reflected in them all as though there were hundreds of him.


    The hive of mirror pieces formed theyers of this world, making it look like they were trapped with nowhere else to go.


    Aki, though, was still in a stunned silence, looking down at his dead Rotten Beast as though


    he couldn''t believe it.


    How had... it died so easily?


    And what was that ability Ss had just used to take out its Gene? Why had he never heard of such a thing before? How could the pitiful Human Race possibly have such a thing?


    ''Is that... it?''


    Ss stood to his full height, exiting his crouch. He had been ready for danger toe in spades, but he could sense that Aki was nothing more than a projection, while the only danger


    that was here was the snake he had just killed.


    Let alone Aki, even he couldn''t believe it.


    What Ss didn''t know was that the Rotten Chimera was the strongest beast that Aki had had time to prepare for Earth. This Rotten Python was the second strongest.


    ording to the normal pace of the Split Realm, Ss was supposed to be toote to stop Aki from gathering all the Will he needed to manifest personally. Then, the final battle would be against Aki himself, and that would no doubt be a battle for the ages. But...


    Ss was simply too fast.


    In just two days...


    [Leg 005 Cleared]


    -


    [Split Realm Dungeon <The Mountains of Giza> Cleared]

 Chapter 651: SSS+ [Bonus]

    Chapter 651: SSS+ [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss stood in silence.


    It was rare that he was so lucky, so much so that he, quite frankly, was having a hard time believing it. But when he thought about everything that happened... he realized that it was only natural things went like this.


    During Leg 001, he was able to use Mature Aether to quickly clear arge number of enemies thanks to his high Rune Mastery. But that was hardly the most important part. Someone more powerful than him could have done that as well... But what they couldn''t do was locate and analyze the Will of the man controlling the golems.


    Because of that, Ss got an exceptionally fast start on Leg 002. All he had to do wasy eyes on the Great Priest and he would have been able to identify him.


    If not for this, the task of Leg 002 to "Stabilize the city" would have been so vague that he would have no idea what to do. If he hadn''t known that the danger was inside the city walls, who knew how long it would have taken him to figure it all out?


    By knowing that, it led him straight in Leg 003 which finally exposed that the lingering danger was in the temple.


    But that was where the difference between Ss and others really began to show. Setting aside how difficult it had been to kill the Rotten Chimera, the main issue of Leg 003 was figuring out how to destroy a Rune tform forged from diamond.


    Unless Ss had the Rune Mastery to analyze the Runes and know that reversing the flow would destroy things, he didn''t even know how else he might go about destroying diamond. He was sure that he could find a method, but how many days or weeks would it take him to prepare for such a thing?


    And then came Leg 004. This was probably the most time-consuming Leg only because of the travel aspect of it, but without the ability to control such a powerful beast and divert attention from himself at the same time, just how much time would he have wasted trying to find a way in?


    And then once again for Leg 005, without the ability to analyze Runes, he wouldn''t have been able to make it into this World of Mirrors so easily. And without Extricate, he wouldn''t have been able to sense the flow of the Blood Essence that allowed him to do it.


    It could be said that aside from those with absolute power... Ss was probably one of the most suited people to clearing this Dungeon. In fact, he was undoubtedly the fastest to ever clear it.


    In not even three days, this unranked Dungeon had fallen, and he didn''t even have to fight the Thryskai to do it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Easy. All he needed was three Legendary Path Talents, a Legendary Path beast contract, and Rune Essence Rune Mastery.


    Anyone could do it.


    Ss shook his head and exhaled a breath. Is this what the Madness Key meant by ''Be Strong''?


    When you were strong... did it matter what variables or curveballs you were forced to face? You could plow through them all with ease.


    Ss hade here ready for the fight of his life... only to steamroll everything in his path. The world warped around him.


    [Split Realm Clearance Contribution]


    1. [Ss Grimde - 92%]


    [Grade - SSS+]


    2. [Archibald Flowning - 23%]


    [Grade - AA-]


    3....


    [Grade - ...]


    ...


    27. [Alex Reynolds - 6%]


    [Grade - C-]


    ''Hm? That name.''


    Ss'' gaze suddenly sharpened. He didn''t even have the time to care about what these rankings meant or what they represented. His eyes were entirely glued to the number two ranked on the list.


    Archibald Flowning... he had definitely seen that name before.


    [Archibald Flowning (FFF-)]


    [Level: 3]


    [Profession: Master Tinker (Silver)]


    [Special Talent: Scrapyard (Upgradeable)]


    [One man''s trash is another man''s treasure. This ability allowed a Tinkerer to find the value in cast-off items and make more with less.]


    [Favorability: N/A]


    Ss'' memory was immacte. He recalled the status screen as though it was hovering right in front of him.


    He was certain. Archibald Flowning, unless it was a sheer coincidence and there was another man who carried the same exact name, was the Master Tinkerer he had saved from the pig demon city all those months ago.


    Ss had gifted Archibald to Lucius, who had ended up using him to receive great rewards from the Grimdes.


    Thistter part wasn''t something that Ss was in the know about. What he did know was that many of the fixtures of Lucius'' city were created by Archibald and he was arge part of the reason why it would be so difficult to attack Lucius in the future.


    Of course, what Ss also didn''t know was that his preparations to deal with Archibald''s creations wouldn''t be of much use because Lucius had already fled back to the Grimdes. Well... they wouldn''t be of much use unless he was forced to sh with the Grimdes themselves.


    But this was truly thest name Ss expected to see here. He had thought that he would see some royalty, maybe some from the government, maybe even some famous historical names


    from the past...


    But this?


    What did this mean? Just who was Archibald? Was the Olden daynguage he spoke in really a testament to the era he hade from?


    In that case, what did it represent? Had hee from the past? How had he lived for so long?


    How had he ended up in a Demon City?


    The more Ss thought about it, the more it settled in for him...


    Archibald had fooled him.


    There was no way that he was as clueless as he seemed to pretend to be. Either that, or the


    man had wiped himself of all of his memories.


    The thoughts ran wild in Ss'' head and the possibilities felt endless.


    But the answer he was looking for wouldn''t be here.


    What would be here, though...


    Was the light at the end of this Dungeon and the rewards that came with it.

 Chapter 652 Problem

    Chapter 652 Problem


    1. [Ss Grimde - 92%]


    [Grade - SSS+]


    2. [Archibald Flowning - 23%]


    [Grade - AA-]


    ¡ª


    [Split Realm Dungeon <The Mountains of Giza> Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Rune Enlightenment (Gold) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this story''s heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment]


    ¡ª


    [Fragmented Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Common Requirement]


    [>Use entry into System City''s Library to find information about Lost Civilizations and clues about an Ancient Dungeon]


    ¡ª


    [Common Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Bronze Requirement]


    [>Deduce the location of Ancient Dungeon]


    ¡ª


    [Bronze Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Silver Requirement]


    [>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]


    ¡ª


    [Silver Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Gold Requirement]


    [>Discover the City of Gold]


    ¡ª


    Under normal circumstances, the Quest would have already been cleared had Ss not received the golden token from the family of three. But now, he had a Gold Leg of the Chain Quest.


    Its description wasn''t much, just a single line. Discover the City of Gold. That didn''t give Ss much to go off of, so it seemed he would have to return to a System City Library to see what he could find.


    He did have some other things to take advantage of, though. For example, he was very much interested in the ce Jake had mentioned. If that was really where they had received their ss and the golden token, it just might have more secrets.


    Normally, Ss might assume that the family had already gained everything there was to gain. But judging by how unwilling Lana had been for their son to tell Ss about the ce, he thought differently now.


    That, though, was a matter for another time.


    From what he knew, the family was from the Eurpeia government. This country epassed what had once been Europe and Russia.


    In order to flee persecution from their government, they had crossed a river to make it to the Africor Continent on their own.


    Going back, then, would obviouslye with its own logistical issues.


    Ss was already an enemy of the Celestial Republic, and now he was certainly at odds with the Africor Constitutional Monarchy. His list of enemies would only grow if he insisted on returning to Eurpeia now¡­


    That said, he knew that he would have to eventually. The only reason that he didn''tmit to it was because he knew that the time dtion was active.


    Who knew how much time he had lost in the outside world this time? Who knew how many things had changed? He had to make sure the situation was still stable; otherwise, if he was too busy running away from his enemies, it would be toote to regret it if anything happened to Cassarae or his family.


    Ss took a breath and exhaled, pressing down those thoughts just the same as he had done with Archibald.


    The mysteries of Earth only seemed to be growing deeper, but what the Split Realm made clear was that maybe the enemy in the dark that he had been facing off against this entire time was none other than the Thryskai.


    After Gralith used Szorn to check the rankings, so too had Ss. He had seen many Races listed there, but the most frequent most definitely came from the Thryskai.


    There was no doubt that whatever this mysterious Race was, their influence was grand.


    Ss'' gaze became more focused as he exhaled a slow breath.


    Much like this Dungeon, there was only one way to deal with this situation¡­


    Be Strong.


    Ss finally focused on the world around him only to find that he was in a world of white. Although there didn''t seem to be any defining characteristics to it¡­ it felt familiar.


    This space had the very same feel as the world he had entered just before the Trial and just after.


    The first time he came he was able to decide between three Treasures, a City Stele, a Gene State Elixir, and a weapon.


    The second time, his Trial performance was assessed and he was able to trade for several things that ended up being a good help to him. Though, unfortunately, many of those things were no longer so. He was especially disappointed in his kunai. They were probably his best, most reliable projectiles, but with their Durability now so low, he didn''t dare to use them.


    And now, he had appeared here a third time¡­ but it waspletely unrted to the Trial, at least it seemed so.


    Ss looked around, but there didn''t seem to be anything at alling.


    And then came the change.


    A rush of Mature Aether came for Ss, sweeping toward him with great ferocity.


    ''It is enough.''


    Ss realized immediately that this Mature Aether would be enough to help the Basilisk King leap over the Level 30 hurdle. Until now, even with the powerful Rotten Python he had just killed, none of the Mature Aether was enough. For whatever reason, the Basilisk King had reached a bottleneck it couldn''t plow through.


    But by the same token¡­


    ''This should also be enough to get Nosphaleen beyond Level 10¡­''


    After realizing the Mature Aether he gathered wasn''t helping the Basilisk King much, Ss began diverting it all to Nosphaleen. But at some point, she became stuck at Level 9 and showed no signs of improvement as well.


    After realizing the Mature Aether he gathered wasn''t helping the Basilisk King much, Ss began diverting it all to Nosphaleen. But at some point, she became stuck at Level 9 and showed no signs of improvement as well.


    This was a clear difference between the Grades of these two Contracts of his.


    ''I will give this Mature Aether to Nosphaleen. ording to my calctions, the higher the Basilisk King''s Level, the more supplemental Aether Stones I will need to help it seed in its evolution. If I push it beyond Level 30, the Aether Stones in the only mine I know of might not even be enough anymore. I''ll find a way to get it beyond Level 30 after a sessful evolution¡­''


    Ss made his decision and poured it all toward Nosphaleen, but he was left speechless in the next moment.


    That was because even after giving all of the Mature Aether to Nosphaleen, she still hadn''t broken into Level 10.


    ''Oh¡­ I see. So that''s the problem¡­''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 653 On Purpose

    653 On Purpose


    Nosphaleen had more than enough Mature Aether, it was all stored within her body. But she was in an odd state. She wasn''t a beast even though Ss had cheated somewhat to get his Profession to recognize her as one. For all intents and purposes, Nosphaleen was a humanoid. The path of beasts wasn''t one that worked with her. It was a bit moreplicated than the way it was being described here, but the short of it was that Nosphaleen didn''t have a ss, and she needed one in order to take a step into Level 10. Ss had neglected this matter because the Basilisk King hadn''t needed a ss. But what he hadn''t considered was that the Basilisk King''s Lineage was its recement for a ss. Everything in this world acted on a set ofws known by experts as Gene Principles. Whether it was Skills, Professions, or even sses, they all functioned through a mesh of Genes and its deeper, underlyingyers. Beasts, or at least ones like the Basilisk King, had their own recements for sses, things that humanoids didn''t have normally. The good news was that the Mature Aether wasn''t wasted. As soon as Nosphaleen received a ss, she would be able to skyrocket upward through the levels. The bad news was that Ss had no idea where to get a ss for her. Ultimately, if he found a ss that was worthy of the talent of someone like Nosphaleen, he might want to take it for himself. After all, he had a second ss slot he had yet to fill. This would make things more troublesome. ''Maybe it isn''t too big of a deal that this failed. If I helped her too much before I figured out how to make her a permanent contract, it might cause me more trouble than not in the future¡­'' Who was to say that the only way to get Mature Aether was through a Split Realm? Ss was sure that the Madness Key would have other methods, and when he released Nosphaleen and she realized she had finally Leveled up after so long, she would be able to put two and two together as well. At least this way, he would have more time to read and react to the situation. What Ss wouldn''t have expected was that he was truly over-analyzing the situation. As for why¡­ that would bear out very soon. [Contributor Ss Grimde Detected] [Result Tabted] [SSS+ Rewards Earned] ¡ª A series of notification popped up across Ss'' vision as he read them one by one calmly. The sound of something that reminded him of a popping soapy bubble echoed and Ss reached out subconsciously to catch a tome that fell from above. ''Hm?'' Was this a reward? Why did it feel so¡­ used and worn? Ss was a bit confused. Normally, rewards were always brand new. This was definitely a different feel. It was like this tome had been passed down for hundreds of years. He used his <Master Scouting> Skill on it and was once more surprised by what he saw. ¡ª [Rune Enlightenment Fundamentals (¡ª) (Ancient Secret)] [An echo of the past to form the strokes of the future] ¡ª This was all there was to it. There wasn''t the slightest hint of any other descriptions. So, Ss had no choice but to open the thick leather binding. ''This is¡­ it?'' The first page had a detailed description of Strokes and how to analyze and understand them. They were all things that Ss had already understood on his own. However, Ss still seriously flipped to the next page. This page was still about Strokes, but it seemed to take a step forward inplexity. This step forward inplexity had nothing to do with Foundations, but instead began to speak of Strokes in abstract, esoteric ways that likely only those with deeperprehension of Runes might understand. When Ss flipped to the third page, he froze. He didn''t understand a single thing on this page, at least not at first nce. It was like he had been reading a book on simple geometry, and then flipped to a page on the specifics of Euclidean geometry, only for the third page to suddenly start speaking about high-level applications. ¡ª Ss flipped through the pages one after another, seemingly not realizing that his next reward was in front of him. His head was practically spinning by the time he got to the fourth page, and he felt a great, pinching pain in the center of his forehead when he tried to read the fifth. ''Rune Enlightenment¡­ is actually so in depth¡­'' Ss tried to flip to the sixth page of what was clearly a tome with several dozen thick pages, but the lines that appeared on it nearly made him pass out. And yet¡­ It was still just talking about Strokes. Ss mmed the tome shut, taking deep breaths. He somewhat understood what this reward was. It was a tome that was distilling the fundamental truths of Rune Enlightenment directly passed down from the ancestors of Earth themselves. Ss didn''t believe that someone had personally written this book. Rather, the system had distilled the information gathered by humanity into it¡­ And its value was unfathomable. Ss had Rune Essence, a full six levels above Rune Enlightenment. And yet, he felt like he was only just learning about Runes all over again. He felt that if he could grasp this tomepletely¡­ maybe, just maybe¡­ He would finally be able to analyze Genes. Finally, his gaze focused ahead once more and he found a pair of eyes staring right at him. They weren''t attached to anything, just floating there in a beautiful mass of blue, violet, and pink. Sky blue seemed to be the strongest, most overwhelming of the colors. But the ents of thetter two made them feel so ethereal and magical as one. Ss reached forward and popped the bubble they were in. ¡ª [Mesmeryx Lineage Blessing (¡ª) (Lineal Inheritance)] ¡ª This time, Ss'' <Master Scouting> wasn''t even powerful enough to receive a description. But the name alone left him stunned. Wasn''t this exactly what he needed for Nosphaleen? It wasn''t a ss, but his Insight Path Talent was screaming at him that this would be precisely what could help him make Nosphaleen a true Contract Beast of his. There was no way that he would suddenly luck into such a treasure. His Luck was high, but not high enough to sway the scales to this extent. That could only mean one thing¡­ This Split Realm Dungeon Reward system was tailoring its rewards to his specific needs on purpose. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 654 Opportunity.

    Chapter 654 Opportunity.


    [Mesmeryx Lineage Blessing (¡ª) (Lineal Inheritance)]


    ¡ª


    A Lineal Inheritance, ording to the Madness Key, was an Inheritance that could only be epted by those with the proper "Lineal Heritage".


    This felt vague to Ss, and he didn''t know the specifics. But his Insight Path Talent wouldn''t lie to him. He knew that this was incredibly important for Nosphaleen and this would be what decided whether he could take her in as a contract or not.


    Like this, he wouldn''t have to worry about finding Corrupt Genes to rece the function of the cancer Gene he had been relying on until now.


    But his Insight Path Talent was also telling him that it likely wouldn''t be so easy.


    Lineal Inheritances had far stricter requirements than Inheritance Crystals, and if one put that into perspective, it would be easy to understand the kind of trouble this would bring.


    In order to gain ess to his Scorpion Warlord Inheritance Crystal, Ss had to grasp Sparking Will. And even that wasn''t enough to perfectly gain its eptance. Without his exceptionally high Ruin Mastery, he wouldn''t even be able to climb the stairs of his Inheritance Crystal.


    Lineal Inheritances had an easier first bar to clear¡­ sort of.


    How rare was a Mesmeryx Bloodline? It was a creature with a Gold Grade Lineage. The number of people who could have it were all too rare.


    But technically speaking, so long as you had the Lineage, it was quite easy for you to gain initial eptance of the Lineal Inheritance.


    Unfortunately, it would be far more troublesome after the fact. And it would only scale with difficulty the rarer the Lineage in question.


    What Ss knew for certain was that he was going to have to help Nosphaleen prepare much more than she was now before he allowed her to make an attempt.


    ''The Lineal Inheritance will only trigger if she''s not yet Level 10, so it''s good that she isn''t. I''ll need to do more for her, though. The Frost Bane Armor she has needs to be Leveled up more, and I also need to try to find recements for her disk des. We''ll also need to increase the Mastery she has over her Skills¡­''


    Ss was willing to make a great investment this time because he knew that Nosphaleen would definitely not turn down this Inheritance. And the moment she became a true Mesmeryx, she wouldn''t be able to resist his Beast Totem.


    By then, a single nce from him would easily force her into a contract. So he simply wasn''t worried about betrayal.


    Plus¡­ this Lineal Inheritance couldn''t be used by him anyway.


    Well, it could¡­ if he was able to extract the Essence of Nosphaleen''s Lineage. But he wouldn''t do this.


    Why would he pigeonhole himself into this path when he would be able to ess it all anyway so long as Nosphaleen was one of his Beast Contracts?


    ''Hm?''


    Ss grabbed at the air and a tokennded in his hand. It was beautiful, more like a work of art or the emblem of a royal. It was so perfectly circr that it almost hurt to look at.


    ''Why do I feel like that¡­?''


    There was no denying that such a description was odd. Why would how circr something was make it difficult to look at?


    However, Ss was distracted by the etchings on its surface a momentter. Roaring dragons, flying phoenixes, mythical oceanic beasts rising from the ocean and subterranean legends piercing out from the ground¡­


    The circr token was so small, and yet it seemed to epass so many things at once.


    ¡ª


    [Mancer Scape Token (Gateway Treasure)]


    ¡ª


    Once again, there was no other description. It felt like every one of these Treasures was so far above Ss'' paygrade that he simply didn''t have the right to know anything other than their names. But the moment Ss saw this one, his mind connected it to another memory¡­


    ¡ª


    [Tamer of Dimensions (Legendary)]


    [The Beasts of Legend exist across all known and unknown Existence, impossible to find to all but you. Form a Dimension of your own to store your beasts, and open gateways to explore new worlds to find more]


    ¡ª


    Maybe it was arrogant of Ss to believe that without him, Earth would certainly fall through the cracks. But¡­ he had yet to see anything that could make him feel otherwise.


    This was one of the ten Legendary Paths that Ss had to choose from with his Profession. It had been an intriguing possibility, but the more Ss learned about the world, the happier he was that he hadn''t made this choice.


    If every time he opened up a portal he lost several months of time in a single sitting, then he wouldn''t even be able to make use of this talent. By the time he gained anything on the other side, Earth would have already failed its Summoning.


    Maybe it was arrogant of Ss to believe that without him, Earth would certainly fall through the cracks. But¡­ he had yet to see anything that could make him feel otherwise.


    But now this Mancer Scape Token seemed to be giving him the same opportunity.


    ''I could use this world to find the perfect creatures I need to finish my Legendary ss perfectly¡­ I might even be able to find Serpentes to target that could make an otherwise very difficult Quest almost superficially easy¡­ but I need more information first. How long does the gatewayst? Where will it lead me? How dangerous would it be¡­?''


    Ss would either need a stronger Scouting Skill, or he would have to rely on the Madness Key for the answers.


    Without an option for the former, he chose thetter. Luckily, the answer only cost him 10 Bronze Genes.


    ¡ª


    [Mancer Scape Token (Gateway Treasure)]


    [Open a Portal to the Mancer Scape, a virtual world that carries the Essence of Path of the Mancer beasts, creatures, and spirits.]


    [Uses Left: 1/1]


    ¡ª


    Ss wasn''t very satisfied with this answer alone, so he ended up asking more, and it unsurprisingly cost him even more.


    As he began to learn more about this Mancer Scape, his eyes shone brighter and brighter.


    This really was an opportunity.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 655: Why Not?

    Chapter 655: Why Not?


    ?


    When he read that the Mancer Scape was virtual, he was somewhat disappointed. After all, he thought he needed to kill real creatures in order for his Quest rewards to trigger.


    But this wasn''t the same.


    Although it was known as a "virtual" world, the Mancer Scape used very real Blood Essence. One would truly lose their lives if they weren''t careful.


    One of the reasons the Mancer Scape was so valuable was because its Rune Laws were incredibly unique and functioned very simrly to the Split Realm Dungeon Ss had just been in.


    When you killed a creature inside, their Mature Aether woulde to you just the same, but this wasn''t all. You would also naturally gain their Blood Essence.


    This world was so invaluable because it was a shortcut to improving one''s affinity. If you targeted beasts of your own Path of the Mancer, you could increase your affinity by leaps and bounds, not to mentiony a foundation for future Grades.


    Right now, Ss'' affinities seemed quite high. He even had a Gold Grade affinity to rely on. That was incredibly shocking.


    But useless the moment he stepped foot out of the F-Grade.


    What Ss hadn''t known until just now was that his affinities were very surface level.


    There was a difference between him, someone who gained affinities through an F-Grade ss, and someone born to a higher Grade Race who might naturally be in tune with Ice or anything of the like.


    If Ss entered the E-Grade without an improvement to his ss, his Ice, Poison, and Wood affinities wouldn''t even be Common Grade.


    Byparison, a Sylph, as a part of an E-Grade Race, could have a ss far worse than Ss right now, and stille out with a higher affinity purely because their Race Grade was


    superior.


    Theplexities of Genes were multiyered, so the strengths of people and their talents or potentials were all equally asplex.


    This Mancer Scape, however, gave an opportunity to change that and unlock a Legendary ss.


    Ss wasn''t a fool, so he could see the writing on the wall.


    In order to unlock his Bronze ss, he had to kill a Level 30 Beast... now, he had to kill a Level 40 one in order to unlock his Silver ss.


    If he took a step back, he had to kill a Level 10 beast to unlock a Fragmented ss, and a Level 20 one to unlock a Common one...


    Then wouldn''t that mean that he had to kill a Level 50 creature to unlock a Gold ss?


    But wasn''t Level 50 the limit of F-Grade already?


    Ss had already felt the vast differences between the F-Grade and E-Grade... it was only in passing, but the old man at the bonfire felt to him like an impossible-to-scale existence.


    If he needed to kill an E-Grade beast to unlock a Legendary ss... it would simply be impossible. Honestly, the gap was sorge that Ss wasn''t sure if Leveling up would help him all that much. It felt like there was a qualitative difference between the two.


    Ss had been trying to not think about this problem. He hadn''t even found a Level 40 creature that followed his Path of the Mancer yet, let alone a Level 50 one.


    But now it seemed that a solution had fallen into hisp.


    If he could target an E-Grade Serpentes beast, he just might have a chance at bridging the gap between the Grades with his Vipermancer Profession.


    This Gateway Treasure should give him the ability to refine what he needed from the Mancer Scape and target the exact beast he needed. If that was true, then now he just might have a legitimate way of clearing this impossible Quest.


    Ss clenched the token and then carefully put it away. This Split Realm Dungeon was truly giving him exactly what he needed. He wasn''t sure if this was on purpose or not, but it felt like a guiding hand was trying to help him.


    The feeling was so strong that it was hard to ignore.


    ''This Split Realm Dungeon... it feels like a warning more than anything else... The Thryskai...''


    If a Split Realm Dungeon was a slice of history, then maybe this wasn''t about the system at all. After all, the system hated Ss right now. The Demerits he was facing were still extremely heavy.


    Maybe, then...


    This was Earth itself helping him.


    Ss pressed a hand to his chest, feeling a flicker of something deep within. He knew what it


    was subconsciously.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    His Sparking Will... the starting embers of his Progenitor me.


    "I understand."


    These were the only two words Ss said, but they seemed to be enough for those flickering embers to burn just the slightest bit stronger.


    [Temporal Lock Point (Gold) (Gateway Treasure)]


    [Exchange 10,000 F-Grade Gold Aether Stones to set Temporal Lock on a region]


    [Durability: 999/999]


    Ss took a deep breath.


    He was sure that this was expensive, surely so. But if he somehow managed to find this number of Aether Stones at this level of quality, then all of his problems would be solved.


    Not only would he be able to leave to handle the Mancer Scape opportunity with ease, but he also hadn''t forgotten his rewards from his Quicktime Event. The only reason he hadn''t gone to that intergctic market was precisely because of worries about time dtion.


    But with this...


    ''10,000 F-Grade Gold Aether Stones...''


    Ss didn''t know the exact ranks of Aether Stones. Until now, he had just been using any he came across without much care.


    ''I see... all the ones I''ve seen until now have been Common...''


    It seemed that taking advantage of this wouldn''t be as easy as he hoped.


    ''No. Maybe if I dig deeper into the Aether Stone mine, I''ll find higher quality stones. I just haven''t had the time to spare to it. But I will have to now. And if not...''


    Ss hadn''t forgotten that he was deep in Africor Continent Territory. He didn''t know where their monarchs were now, but that hardly mattered. One way or another, he would likely be fighting his way out.


    In that case, if there was an opportunity to rob them...


    Why wouldn''t he take it?


    Ss looked up with a shine in his eyes as he saw what was likely the final treasure he would


    receive here.

 Chapter 656: Genesis Forge [Bonus]

    Chapter 656: Genesis Forge [Bonus]


    ?


    It was a beautiful reflective jade, so perfectly polished that it was almost as clear as a mirror.


    It reminded Ss of the ocean with its gorgeous blues. When light reflected across its surface, several hues mixed into it in the pattern of a rippling wave, making it feel almost as though he really was staring into the tides of the ocean.


    The blue jadended in Ss'' palm. Cool to the touch, it sent a shiver through him.


    After several seconds of looking at it, he found nothing special at all. Even after he tried to use <Master Scouting>, this time, he got no feedback at all. In fact, it was like his skill had passed through the jade as though it didn''t exist at all.


    ''Odd...''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss didn''t recklessly start probing around. Instead, he directly used the Madness Key to try and get a measure on what this was. But his pupils constricted when he saw the price.


    The highest value information Ss had ever seen from the Madness Key was rted to Earth''s Summoning. Though this was in second ce, the price was no joke.


    [What is this item?]


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 300 Silver Genes]


    Ss hesitated. He didn''t have 300 Silver Genes. Until now in his journey, he had only ever seen four Silver Genes total, barely 1% of that number.


    But he also didn''t want to leave the jade just lying around useless either.


    ''A risk. Take it.''


    When Ss made this decision, he began to probe around using various methods, and unsurprisingly, one of them worked.


    His Will touched the jade and it felt like his entire soul was ripped out of his body. By the time he tried to fight back, it was already toote.


    -


    When Ss'' vision cleared, he found himself standing in a foggy world of blue. But he couldn''t focus on the fog much at all because his entire vision was enamored by the enormous stone stele in front of him.


    It took the shape of an obelisk, thrusting its point toward the skies and radiating an imposing


    aura.


    [Genesis Forge: Progenitor Worldroot]


    The notification didn''t just randomly pop up like it usually did. Instead, it felt like a golden stamp had descended from the skies above, taking the form of the Ancient Ithkuil characters and searing themselves into Ss'' retinas.


    The suffocating presence of the name alone made Ss fall to a knee, a haggard coughing from his throat. He didn''t even have the time to resist because he wasn''t worthy of doing so.


    Nothing about the obelisk seemed to target him personally, and yet just its presence and the utterance of its name alone was like a p to his face, crushing him beneath its weight...


    Reminding him that he was still very far from Being Strong.


    [First Revolution]


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood, his inner organs churning.


    Then he passed out.


    When Ss awoke again, he found himself lying on limestone, his body still shuddering. Pain wrecked his body, his bones feeling like they were misaligned.


    He tried to pull himself up, but that was when the dizziness hit him. He realized then that the state of his mind was far worse than the state of his body.


    ''What was that?''


    Was that a Treasure? A Skill? A technique?


    It didn''t seem to help him at all. All it had done was injure him.


    Ss frowned, trying to get ay of thend around him.


    There was a chilly cold hanging in the air that was odd, but there was nothing else of note around him.


    He was alone.


    ''This is one of the rooms of the pyramid...''


    Taking deep breaths, Ss finally managed to push himself up. He stumbled slightly and pushed his back against a wall.


    Slowly, he began to circte <Maddened Enlightenment>.


    The pain began to slowly subside, though it got worse before it got better.


    He managed to push through, and after his mind regained its bearings, he was able to exhale and finally see clearly again.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> began to circte at its fastest pace and Ss finally settled into afortable rhythm.


    After 20 or so minutes, Ss found that his Wisdom, Will, and Aether had all recovered well.


    Opening his eyes, he exhaled a breath.


    ''That was dangerous. I definitely put the jade into the Madness Key first as an extrayer of protection, but I still ended up like this. How did something only my mind was sucked into hurt my body? Unless...''


    Could it be that his whole body was pulled into that world? If that was true, then...


    Ss'' expression changed and he hurriedly looked inside of the Madness Key.


    ''...''


    Out of habit, Ss had stocked up arge number of beasts in the Madness Key. On top of that, there were a ton of excess Genes he had from the Demons and the various beasts he had to deal with while clearing them all out as well.


    As such, Ss'' Madness Key, despite its now over 200 meter dimensions, was almost always


    stocked full.


    But now...


    Everything was gone.


    Other than his treasures, there wasn''t a single beast corpse left. They had all been drained away by the Madness Key, including the powerful beasts he had gathered from the Split


    Realm Dungeon.


    There was only one exnation that Ss could think of for this. Well, there was a second that assumed he had been knocked out for far longer than he thought. But he didn''t think that


    was it.


    ''I must have entered the jade with my real body. When I was expelled, I was ejected into the Madness Key... but the Madness Key can''t take on living things. It must have sacrificed all of these Genes in order to save me from an immediate death.


    ''But in that case... is my body so injured because of the jade? Or because of the Madness Key?''


    Suddenly, Ss wasn''t so sure of that answer.


    He exhaled a frosty breath and couldn''t help but frown.


    ''Why is the temperature here below zero? Something is wrong.''


    Ss stood to his feet and stepped out to find a scene that left him without words.

 Chapter 657: Glass [Bonus]

    Chapter 657: ss [Bonus]


    ?


    Cairith had be and of ice and snow... or so it seemed. If one looked closely, the ice wasn''t actually ice at all, but rather a beautiful, reflective ss.


    The once bustling city seemed more empty than not now, buildings had copsed, and a grey hue hung from the skies.


    At the center of the city, Ss could see aplex structure of crystals that seemed like a pyramid formed out of nted pirs of ss. It looked like it hade right out of aic book.


    ''This feeling... the ss monkey?''


    Ss'' gaze shed as he felt that he understood what was happening here. He had just made the assumption that the ss Monkey would be killed by the Africor Continent''s experts eventually. He didn''t think that they would somehow allow their capital to be overrun like this by a single beast.


    What could have possibly happened?


    Even if the three monarchs were upied by the Dungeon, and they took along with them four elites, would a nation as a whole really only have 15 powerful existences?


    Even if they had taken all of the elites with them and there were really none left, just by virtue of their sheer numbers they should be able to crush a beast that Ss had easily defeated without even much help from Alex.


    All of that pointed to the fact this couldn''t possibly be a simple matter.


    Ss found his heartbeat speeding up.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''What an odd feeling...''


    It was like something was drawing him to that scene in the distance, as though his Luck had changed from just passively interacting with the world around him, to feeling it was more real.


    ''Ithkuil...''


    Ss realized that this was the first time he had interacted with the real world after he began to think in Ithkuil.


    When he first started, he noted that his visualization was far brighter and grander than before. And his visualization, as far as he was aware, was an off-shoot of his Luck.


    Maybe the two worked off of one another like this, and now the Sixth Sense of his Luck was far greater.


    ''In that case...''


    Ss shot forward, pressing a foot against the side of the pyramid and plummeting down its side. He raised down its body with a smooth effortlessness until he suddenly caught air.


    <Surfing Frost> activated and a path of curving ice appeared beneath his feet.


    ''It''s so easy...''


    It felt like the cost of his skill had halved again, and that wasn''t just because the Ice Aether concentration in the air was so high. It was something deeper than that.


    He was being embraced by Earth in a way he couldn''t quite put into words.


    Ss got closer to the pyramid of ice swiftly, crossing over the remains of the city until he felt like he could practically reach out and touch it...


    But that feeling was nothing more than an illusion. The structure was so muchrger than he could have ever imagined that it was almost unsettling.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed as he felt the gravity of the situation. And then, his Will picked up on something.


    [ss Monkey (Bronze)]


    [Level: 41]


    Ss had yet toy eyes on the creature, but he could feel its power.


    ''Its Level actually increased by this much? How long has it been? It''s definitely less than a year...''


    Ss checked his system and his eyes narrowed.


    The time dtion wasn''t nearly as severe as he thought it was going to be. He had expected to lose at least eight months, but it turned out that it had only been a quarter of that. He didn''t know what caused him to only lose two months instead of the near year he was expecting, but he didn''t get much time to consider that before a howl filled the air.


    SKKKKRRRREEEEEEEEEE!


    The world of ss shook and a pir suddenly shot right at Ss.


    There wasn''t time to dodge through normal means, but Ss was quick on his feet.


    The path of ice beneath him copsed and the ss pir shot over his head.


    There wasn''t the slightest hint of panic in his eyes, but his gaze was zing with a fiery light.


    This was exactly what he needed. A path directly to his Silver ss.


    When he first saw the ss Monkey, he had thought it was unfortunate that it was so low level. It was the perfect creature to consolidate his affinities into one, singr path.


    He had felt that itsir was quite chilly before, but now that his senses were so much sharper, he knew exactly why.


    This ss Monkey had affinities of Ice and Sand. The fusion together formed this odd chilly ss that it could control like an extension of its body.


    The creature itself was quite shockingly small. But none of that mattered if it had a city at its beck and call to control.


    Sand was a Variant Earth affinity much like Wood was. It would easily overshadow his Wood affinity, taking it over and recing it. As for the Ice... it spoke for itself.


    But there was a hidden character here that was very much akin to Poison, but not quite. The uniquebination that formed the ss felt like it was tailor-made for Ss...


    And it just might fix his issues ofck of attack power.


    [You have entered the Dynamic Field Dungeon <ss Fortress>]


    A fiery intent zed in Ss'' eyes as the Basilisk King fused into his body seamlessly. Hended on a ground crunching about beneath him. His tail pped down and he shot forward.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss shifted quickly from side to side, his body leaving streaks of ck in its wake as he formed a zigzag pattern through to the heart of the ss Fortress.


    And that was when his eyesnded on it.


    The ss Monkey was just as small as always, but it seemed to have formed itself a mech


    armor of frosty ss. It formed arms for itself that wereicallyrge, and its tail was dozens of meters long now, pieced together by segments of ss.


    And its stats...


    [ss Monkey (Bronze)]


    [Level: 41]


    -


    [Physical: 2954]


    >[Strength: 2038]


    >[Constitution: 1778]


    >[Dexterity: 3999]


    >[Speed: 3999]


    [Mental: 3341]


    >[Intelligence: 4003]


    >[Wisdom: 3999]


    >[Charisma: 2022] [Will: 833]

 Chapter 658: Bronze Glass Monkey [Bonus]

    Chapter 658: Bronze ss Monkey [Bonus]


    ?


    [ss Monkey (Bronze)]


    [Level: 41]


    -


    [Physical: 2954]


    >[Strength: 2038]


    >[Constitution: 1778]


    >[Dexterity: 3999]


    >[Speed: 3999]


    [Mental: 3341]


    >[Intelligence: 4003]


    >[Wisdom: 3999]


    >[Charisma: 2022]


    [Will: 833]


    Ss sucked in a cold breath.


    This wasn''t going to be easy, not even remotely. He hade out with a lot of confidence, but the stats of this creature were beyond his imagining.


    There was also something particrly shocking about its Aether. It felt like there was a tangible difference between it and anything that he had ever experienced before.


    The fact that it was its only stat above 4000 was definitely not a coincidence. In fact, the fact it had so many 3999 stats also shouldn''t be a coincidence, much the same way the Violet Rose Heart had so many 2999 stats.


    It had met a Gene-Stat Limit. And somehow, its Intelligence had broken free of that.


    ''Does it have Gold Genes? Or is there something else I''m missing? No...''


    Ss had a feel for Genes most wouldn''t thanks to Extricate. He was somehow certain that the ss Monkey didn''t have Gold Genes, but then how did it break its Gene-Stat Limit?


    ''It''s Level... it crossed Level 40, another demarcating line.''


    All of these thoughts came to Ss in a whirlwind.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Even fused with the Basilisk King, most of his stats weren''t even half that of the ss Monkey. In fact, they would still be wholly inferior even if he could use Fusion and his Scorpion Warlord Armor at the same time.


    Ss took a deep breath, his gaze gaining an eerie calm to it.


    The ss Monkey was too perfect for him. He wouldn''t be taking a step back here. BANG!


    A spiked pir surged up beneath his feet.


    Ss was quick to react, sliding to the side and then pushing off. Distance was his kryptonite in a situation like this one. He couldn''t allow the monkey to set the tempo.


    But at the same time, he could tell that this beast''s level of intelligence might be high, but its character was not.


    It didn''t realize just howrge the gap in their strengths was, so it was ying it safe, trying to keep a distance while attacking him from afar even though that weakened its power considerably.


    Ss knew why this was.


    The beast was still traumatized from theirst encounter. It had thought it was going to die after Ss picked it up and threw it.


    Ironically, it was because of its intelligence that it was making such a stupid decision. It wanted Ss to stay at a distance and it was very hesitant to engage. But that was only because it was smart enough to recall theirst battle even though it had happened months ago... and that was precisely what would give Ss an opening.


    A surge of ssy shards pierced toward Ss from all directions, curling freely through the air and with a menace that should turn steel to shrapnel.


    Ss'' skin suddenly became a frightening shade of red as poison pumped through his veins. Icy, frosted air came from his lips as his body was suddenly overwhelmed by <Cryobane Elevation>.


    BANG!


    Ss'' sudden eleration caused the ss shards to pierce through nothing but air and themselves.


    His Speed instantly hit a top level of over 2700 from the mere 897 it had been previously. The strain on his body nearly tore him to pieces, but the ss Monkey couldn''t evade.


    Its Speed and Dexterity might have been 3999... but what good was that when it had weighed itself down with all those appendages, afraid to engage directly?


    The Effectiveness of its movement stats was barely half of what it should have been, allowing Ss to close the distance swiftly.


    With a leap into the air, Ss'' fist shed and a green-violet glow coated it.


    The ss Monkey unleashed a screech, a whirlwind of icy-blue sand filling the skies.


    Ss could feel its body deconstructing as it was about to sh to another location.


    However, he was faster.


    [Frosted Nightmare (FFF+) (Skill)] (Progenitor Mastery)


    [The things that go bump in the night carry a Frosted edge to them, and your Will is their


    whetstone.]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit AND 10 Will per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    A miniature, vaguely humanoid figure suddenly pulsed out from Ss'' head. There was a frosty edge to it that wrapped around the Runes of the world, taking 71 Foundation Ice- Poison Runes with it.


    Ss sacrificed over a hundred Will and 10 Aether Units in a single bound, sending the figure piercing into the head of the ss Monkey.


    The creature froze as it found its Skill interrupted.


    ''Not good enough.'' Ss realized.


    He was hoping for an easy victory since the ss Monkey''s Will was so low. But when you were dealing with a King Beast... it was apletely different matter.


    With Gold Madness Comprehension, Ss had almost 10,000 average Will and Charisma right now. It should have been enough to leave the ss Monkey frozen indefinitely.


    Unfortunately... <Frosted Nightmare> was just an FFF+ Skill and the ss Monkey had its


    crown.


    Ss could already see the countering as the ss Monkey''s Bronze Crown was about to


    manifest into existence.


    But he was ready.


    There were many skills that he couldn''t use at the same time because they upied the same Aether Pathways. However, <Frosted Nightmare> and


    were not among


    them.


    <Madness Control> bloomed and Ss'' power shot up by another 20%.


    A Beast Totem appeared behind his head, hovering with a glorious light that pierced through the shimmering crystals that filled the region.


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist collided solidly with the chest of the ss Monkey. He drove forward with


    everything he had, unleashing every ounce of Strength into a single powerful blow.


    A rattling pain shot up his arm and he felt several fractures form, but his eyes remained firm.


    Unfortunately...


    CRACK.


    The Aether skin of the ss Monkey just barely deformed before Ss was sent flying into the


    distance.

 Chapter 659: Risk [Bonus]

    Chapter 659: Risk [Bonus]


    ?


    Ssnded on the ground heavily, rolling back before hended on his feet. A throbbing pain pulsed through his arm, but it still managed to hold up. Luckily, while the Basilisk King''s Speed was weak, its Constitution was exceptional. Though pitifulpared to the ss Monkey''s stats, their Fused Constitution was still over 1800.


    The ss Monkey unleashed a shriek of pain as it was sent stumbling backward. Butpared to how far Ss had been sent away, a couple of steps hardly made much of a difference at all.


    Ss looked down at his arm and shook it out. He clenched his fists a few times.


    The ss Monkey might look like a ssic ss cannon, but if even Ss'' immature Aether could give him a +1000 boost to his Defense, then what could the ss Monkey, that had over 4000 Intelligence, do?


    ''This will be troublesome. After it survived that attack, it might grow more confident about facing me. I will have to take a risk.''


    Ss took a breath as the ss Monkey stabilized itself. He watched as the monkey


    frantically poured more Aether into its shield, even forming heavier and thicker ss around itself.


    ''Nothing to hesitate about.''


    The moment he had the thought, Ss took out two Targeted Healing Elixirs at once and poured them both down his throat with a single chug.


    Then, he activated Semi-Fusion.


    A burst of power threatened to split his head in two.


    [Charisma: 1188] (Pre Semi-Fusion)


    [Will: 3570]


    [Charisma: 3687] (Post Semi-Fusion)


    [Will: 3570]


    This time, Ss didn''t take on a Gene Talent or Skill, but directly took on one of Nosphaleen''s stats... her strongest stat other than Intelligence.


    Charisma.


    At that moment, Ss'' telekinesis was able to produce 3866 points of Physical.


    A green glow enveloped him as he dismissed <Cyrobane Elevation> before his body overheated beyondpare.


    A pressure was already building in Ss'' skull. He knew that this wasn''t just the pressure of his increased stats. With his Madness Comprehension, his body was already primed to have exceptional levels of Charisma and Will. That meant that the limitations he would have when fusing with the Basilisk King wouldn''t happen here.


    The reason for the pressure in his skull could only be one thing...


    A tumor was growing.


    Ss sent both streams of Targeted Healing Elixirs to his brain as he rocketed forward.


    He left nothing but a streak of green and violet in his wake.


    Finally, Ss'' Charisma and Will were on par. And the power it gave him...


    Was intoxicating.


    He appeared high above the frantically cowering ss Monkey. It seemed that he had overestimated its mental fortitude far too much. It hadn''t realized that it had had an advantage even after tanking his blow...


    And now it no longer had one.


    Ss sent out a palm that sent the ss Monkey flying. He pulled on his Gluttony Seed, soaring through the air with a pace so fast that the eyes of the creature could hardly hold up. He sent out fists from above, rocketing the head of the ss Monkey again and again.


    <Frosted Nightmare>


    Ss sacrificed a whole 1000 Will this time, sending a miniature humanoid tearing into the mind of the ss Monkey.


    The creature''s crown pulsed in resistance, but with Ss'' increased Charisma, it couldn''t even begin to dismiss it with nearly the same ease.


    CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.


    Ss'' fist pelted down, once, then twice, and then a third time.


    Each blow carried a powerful momentum, averaging out his telekinesis and Strength stats.


    His Aetherflow Gene Talent didn''t seem strong enough to sustain him any longer and failed to give the boost from his Dormant Martial Arts Comprehensions.


    But that didn''t stop him.


    He sent himself flying downward like a falling meteor.


    His feet crashed into the head of the ss Monkey, driving its skull into the hard ss that was of none other than its own formation.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss forcefully used his telekinesis to suffocate the ss Monkey, ripping it down when it tried to escape and forcefully dispelling all of its skills before they could even get going.


    A sh between the ss Monkey''s Bronze Crown and Ss'' Sparking Will rampaged through the space.


    BANG! BANG!


    However, Ss'' Sparking Will seemed to hold a superior re to it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss could barely grasp the fact that Earth was favoring him for whatever reason, but he gave the entirety of his focus to the beast right in front of him.


    His rampage was absolutely relentless.


    He got the ss Monkey beneath his feet again and drove a heel through its head.


    BANG!


    Finally, the Aether skin of the ss Monkey shattered to pieces and blood flew from its


    mouth.


    Ss didn''t hesitate to use his telekinesis to disrupt its flow of Aether once more.


    Red-gold wings appeared on his back as the ss Monkey tried to scurry away. <King''s Shift> activated along with it, making his body look as though he could elerate ande to a


    grinding halt with a single thought...


    Because that was precisely the truth.


    Ss appeared behind the fleeing monkey.


    It was fast. Having finally abandoned its extraneous limbs, it flew around even faster than Ss could keep up with. However, while its skills were being interrupted, Ss'' own


    weren''t.


    A pair of Runes appeared in Ss'' eyes and pressure lines suddenly appeared across the skies.


    The ss Monkey froze in ce before coughing up a mouthful of blood.


    Ss'' arms had already mped around the ss Monkey''s throat. Veins pulsed across his forearms as he unleashed a roar, pouring all the power he had into his squeeze.


    His jaw clenched, his eyes raging a fiery light. He didn''t even realize that from a certain


    vantage point, it looked as though he was swallowing the Bronze Crown of the ss Monkey.


    A King Beast that could wipe out an entire city on its own would fall to his hands today.


    He wouldn''t allow the conclusion to be anything else.


    CRACK.


    Ss'' torso violently ripped to one side and the ss Monkey''s neck was snapped in two.


    A violet torrent of gathering energy suddenly lost its home.


    [Dynamic Field Dungeon <ss Fortress> Cleared]

 Chapter 660: Glass Pinecone

    Chapter 660: ss Pinecone


    ?


    [Dynamic Field Dungeon <ss Fortress> Cleared]


    Ss took deep breaths, his arms opening up to allow the ss Monkey to fall to the ground.


    His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, but he still kept his wits about himself for long enough to dismiss his Fusion and Semi-Fusion.


    That constant bursting pain in his head finally dimmed away as he exhaled thest of his breath.


    He began to control the remainder of the medicinal effects to cool and heal the rest of the injuries lingering in his body. Whether it was the Fusion with Nosphaleen, or the after effects of <Cryobane Evolution>, his body would need time to recover from both. Luckily, there were still more than enough of the Elixirs left over. They were meant tost an entire day, after all. Ss exhaled a final deep breath and he finally bent down to retrieve the ss Monkey''s Gene Crystal. Unfortunately, he would have to sacrifice what Genes it had to the altar of his ss, but regardless, it would benefit him greatly.


    [Rewards]


    [>ss Pinecone (Aether Treasure)]


    [>ss Tail (Living Treasure)]


    [>ss Monkey yer (Title)]


    [>ss Desert Territory Key (Treasure)]


    [>ss Pyramid (Fortress)]


    Ss found it very interesting that the bottom three rewards were practically mirrors of the Woond Spider Queen Field Dungeon. There, he had also gotten a Title, a Treasure, and a Fortress. Here, it mirrored that perfectly.


    The Title was also something quite interesting...


    [Woond Spider Queen yer (FFF+) (Title)]


    [You have yed a Queen of Spiders. Hatred of beasts that follow Her charge increases, but you Fear them not.]


    [F-Grade Spiders below the Woond Spider Queen in rank suffer a -20% debuff to ALL stats when facing you]


    [ss Monkey yer (Title)]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [You have yed a King of Monkeys. Hatred of beasts that follow His charge increases, but you Fear them not.]


    [F-Grade Monkeys below the ss Monkey in rank suffer a -50% debuff to ALL stats when facing you]


    They were perfect mirrors of one another as expected. But more interestingly to Ss was the fact that they also somewhat mirrored his Legendary Path Talents.


    Of course, this was obviously a far weaker version.


    For one, his Beast Totem worked against all snakes of the F-Grade regardless of rank. Plus the fact that he could suppress them by 100%.


    Still, the odds that he would run into a monkey beast stronger than the ss Monkey, at least one on Earth, was very low. He had yet to run into a situation where such a Title would be useful, but he was sure that he could gain something from it in the future.


    Maybe one day it would save his life.


    ''A Living Treasure...''


    It wasn''t long before Ss figured out what it was. It was like a Symbiote, but far less intrusive. He also likely didn''t have to worry about it swallowing him up. In fact, it was like a perfect mirror to a Demon Treasure.


    It fused into the body and became a part of yourself. In this case, it was the ss Monkey''s tail.


    During their battle, Ss had practically made the tail moot because of his movement speed. Plus, it was very easy to predict because out of fear, the ss Monkey had made it far too long. With it swinging in such wide arcs, it wasn''t even a factor in their battle.


    Of course, this tail would be quite useful if you used it properly. It was just that...


    Ss already had too many tail abilities.


    It was ironic considering the second Gene Talent he had ever received was Tail Whip. But since then, he had gained his Basilisk Tail from Fusion, and the Scorpion Warlord Armor.


    In fact, just by virtue of his Vipermancer ss, he had a ton of tails to choose from. Soon enough, he''d likely have a new tail for each one of his Contracts. He certainly already had one from the Bone-Tailed Lizard.


    Plus there was the concern that this Living Treasure would react much the same way the ckened w would. It would be destroyed before he would have to rebuild it to form a much weaker Treasure than what was here... all for it to get in the way of his other forms.


    ''It''s not entirely a loss... The Scorpion Warlord Tail is a veryplex series of Runes, and the second and thirdyers are even more so. If I study this tail, maybe I gain some inkling toward what a moreplex form of the Scorpion Warlord Tail might look like...''


    Unlike the Demon Treasure, Ss could actually understand the Runes of this one. That would go a much further way toward helping him.


    [ss Tail (Bronze) (Living Treasure)]


    [Gain the abilities of a King of Monkeys, an extra limb and a scepter of great power. Wield the ss Elemental Mancer Path as though it was your second nature]


    [Durability: 100/100]


    He also wasn''t thrown off by the "poor" grade. As he had already confirmed, the type of item was often more important than the Grade.


    An Aether Treasure would always be more valuable than a normal Treasure, and the same was true of a Living Treasure. Especially since ording to the Madness Key, this Living Treasure had an ability that other Legendary Path Treasure might not necessarily have...


    It could progress to the E-Grade along with its owner.


    This should be a unique quirk allowed by it fusing into the body. This was, quite honestly, huge. So, Ss was unwilling to casually ruin it with his Scorned Wraps.


    Plus... he still had an Aether Treasure here, one that quite interestingly reminded him of the


    Mountains of Giza...


    And its Grade was truly something else.


    [ss Pinecone (Gold) (Aether Treasure)]


    [The Seed of Hope birthed from the Tears of Earth''s Ancestors. Once a beacon of humanity, it has be the symbol of endless strife and terror. The world sits upon a Throne of ss.]


    [Combine withpatible Aether Treasure to unveil something truly special]


    Ss'' first Gold Grade Treasure had appeared.

 Chapter 661 Bad Taste

    ?Chapter 661 Bad Taste


    There was only one clear answer for how to use this Treasure.


    All this time, Ss'' Mancer''s Blossom had only had the Ice and Poison elements to it. In addition, the substance that it used to elevate to this level wascking.


    It had to be remembered that his Mancer''s Wand had only evolved to Mancer''s Blossom after absorbing the blessings from the Frostbane Sylph Dungeon.


    The Frostbane Rune of the Sylphs wasn''t even 50 Foundations. Because of that, the Runes that Ss could benefit from werecking.


    Of course, there were still 70 and even 80 Foundation Runes within Mancer''s Blossom, But their scope and range were limited, while it would be impossible to find Runes with higher Foundations than that.


    Plus, there was another main issue: it didn''t have the new Wood affinity that Ss had gained.


    But this just might fix that.


    Ss looked around for a moment. But seeing that there was still no one around, and that Alex and the others were still nowhere to be seen, he chose to take a chance.


    It wasn''t as though he had a home to return to. At least he didn''t have one that was anywhere close to this ce. So he likely wouldn''t get any opportunity better than this


    one.


    The Mancer''s Bloom tree appeared and Ss immediately felt a resonance between it and the ss Pinecone.


    Thetter flew out of his hand and buried itself into the body of the tree, and then Mancer''s Bloom began to crack apart.


    Ss watched calmly. He knew that panicking now wouldn''t do much for him. Whatever was happening, it was already far toote to stop.


    He crossed his arms, his eyes focused on the scene before him, but his senses were primed onto the region, watching out for any changes that might take ce.


    These changes, though, didn''te from the surroundings. Instead, Mancer''s Blossom shrunk down until what was left was even smaller than the original ss Pinecone. In fact, it looked like only a single seed of the pinecone was left behind.


    The seed looked like it was blown from ss much like the pinecone it originated from. It reflected a rainbow of lights when the sun hit it just right, but otherwise... it just floated there.


    Ss reached out after nothing happened for a while. He was only trying to analyze it with his scouting Skill when...


    CHI.


    The ss seed shot forward, burying itself into his forehead before he could even react.


    Ss froze. For a moment, he thought that this might be what it felt like to get shot in the head. The destruction was so fast and sudden that there was no time to feel any pain before your brain was turned to mush.


    But then he realized the fact that he could have these thoughts at all should mean that he wasn''t dead... at least not yet.


    The seed burrowed itself into Ss'' body. He could practically feel it tearing through theyers of his very being until it vanished entirely.


    That was when Ss knew that the seed had gone deeper than what his Taboo Bond Legendary Path could analyze. It was now buried somewhere deeper than his Blood Essence.


    For a moment, he thought that he had lost. Maybe he would have to wait until he could upgrade Extricate considerably before he could manage. He even thought about using up thest of his Free Experience to see if he could find it.


    But soon, it became clear that that was unnecessary... because soon the feeling of its existence came from an entirely different set of senses from his Extricate Path Talent... His Will.


    A radiant, reflective light came from Ss'' eyes. For a moment, it looked as though his eyes had be frosted over by ss, like they were no longer formed of flesh and blood, but rather had been delicately carved by an artisan.


    Ss could feel that something was happening to his Will. It was shifting and changing, but in a way that was far more unnatural than ever before.


    ''Did I make a mistake?''


    Something about this felt artificial. It was making his Will stronger, but he didn''t like the method.


    Ss simply didn''t believe that external items should be able to impact your Will. He preferred it when all of his improvement, especially for his Will, was dependent solely on himself.


    The feeling of an external iteming in to spark a change within him left him feelingpletely disgusted.


    That sense only grew the stronger his Will became, and soon he was outright frowning. The bad taste in his mouth was practically tangible now.


    "Get out."


    Ss'' Will unleashed a push that rejected the fusion of the seed so strongly that it rattled in his mind.


    The energy of the seed was already quite gentle, and though it was quickly burying itself into Ss'' body, it wasn''t prepared to deal with such rejection.


    There was a tug, push, and pull. The seed seemed to put up some token resistance, but ultimately it didn''t know what to do.


    Ss even felt some of its sadness, as though it was disappointed by his choice.


    Rather than bing morefortable as the seed acquiesced to his rejection, though... Ss found himself feeling even more ufortable as though this wasn''t the right answer either.


    ''Gluttony...''


    Ss tugged on the Gluttony Seed and the energy of the seed was pulled up through theyers of his body, rapidly elerating toward regions Ss could sense more clearly. However, when it was about to be taken in by the Gluttony Seed, Ss felt a strong tugginging from the Greed Seed.


    A sh of rage sparked in Ss'' eyes.


    He hadn''t had any intention on letting the Gluttony Seed take the energy, he had had another n entirely. But it seemed that this Greed Seed was intent on provoking him.


    This was his body. His Treasure. He did as he pleased with it and no external item could change that.


    Ss'' rage seemed to fuel the embers of his Will.

 Chapter 662: Himself

    Chapter 662: Himself


    ?


    Ss felt a great deal of pressure on his mind, but his stubbornness bore its own fruit.


    He had gone through cycles of different schools of thought in this world. At first, he refused to acknowledge that a metric could decide his Will. Then he was forced to ept that maybe there truly was a technology out there beyond his understanding that could do precisely that. But the more he learned, and the more he came to understand that even the system was flying blind in regard to Will a lot of times, the more he realized just maybe... he had originally been correct in his stubbornness.


    There was a reason he had used up 1010 Will during his battle with the ss Monkey, and yet he was still standing here just fine without a single dip in his Will stats.


    But it was also because of this sacrifice that he wasn''t in the best position to fight such a battle of Wills... and the Greed Seed seemed to be very much aware of that.


    A tearing pain ripped through Ss'' mind and he found his consciousness was already fading. In this tug of war, he had started off on the losing end, and he had no one to me but himself. Had he just allowed the ss Pinecone to do as it pleased, this would have never happened. But instead...


    Ss clenched his teeth, barely holding onto the strands of Will he had left. But as he had also learned recently...


    There was a limit even to that.


    ''No. No, there is not.''


    Veins popped up across Ss'' forehead as he recircted the medicinal effects of the Targeted Healing Elixirs to his head and then did something he would have never tried in the past.


    His fury seemed to have gone to his head and he felt that smirk lurking to his back again, looking over his shoulder and sneering down at him as though he was a mouse stuck in their ypen.


    ''Not today. Not ever.''


    Ss forced his Fusion with the Basilisk King to activate once again and then used Semi- Fusion on Nosphaleen. But this time, rather than taking her Charisma, he took her Will stat. Ss roared, his Madness Comprehension blooming in a violent torrent.


    Then, as though he wasn''t even remotely satisfied...


    He used the Beast Totem.


    BANG!


    His outeryer of skin immediately splintered. Blood would have been pouring out of him in waves if not for the fact it sttered out with such force it almost formed a fine mist.


    [Will: 1999] (Base Will)


    -


    [Will: 3570] (+Basilisk King)


    -


    [Will: 4569] (+Nosphaleen)


    [Will: 9711] (Beast Totem Activated)


    -


    [Will: 33 989] (Comprehension Activated)


    -


    [Will: 19 999] (Comprehension Limit Reached)


    A zing light was practicallying out in beams from Ss'' eyes. He gave it everything he had, his Will stat jumping off the charts as the embers that remained suddenly truly caught fire.


    The Greed Seed reacted like it had been doused with a bucket of ice water, snuffed out akin to a wavering me.


    The ss Pinecone, byparison, was ripped apart in the struggle, the energy that had once been so pure and controlled spiraling until it almost dissipated into the air entirely.


    But Ss still managed to stay focused. Or maybe it was precisely because his Will was so shocking right this moment. Even with the pain jetting through his body, his mind maintained an unprecedented state of sharpness.


    His original n wasn''t to give the ss Pinecone over to the Gluttony Seed. Although the Gluttony Seed was a great asset to him, and it didn''t seem to want to harm him like the Greed Seed did, it was ultimately still an item that he knew too little about and one the Madness Key refused to answer for.


    However, during its trip through his body, Ss had sensed something very special from the ss Pinecone, something that reminded him very clearly of something he was quite familiar with...


    It was a Spark.


    Without even the consultation of the Madness Key, Ss understood the purpose of the ss Pinecone. It was meant to be a shortcut to forming a Sparking Will. If it was given to someone without a proper form or formation to their Will, they would instantly be on par with Ss.


    In fact, they would be better.


    Although the Path of the Mancer Quest imed that all Mancer Paths were created equal, the more Ss learned about things, the less convinced he was of this.


    Sure, technically speaking, all Paths of the Mancer could have 70+ Foundation Runes to support them. But that was a big technicality.


    An Ice Path of the Mancer, for example, would certainly have such powerful Runes. But it would almost have a shocking number of far weaker ones as well.


    Byparison, the moreplex the Path of the Mancer, the stricter the sessful Rune formations were, and the more likely you would be to have run into a powerful Mancer should you meet an expert of one of these paths.


    It was a simplew of probability.


    A Frostbane Sylph was more likely to be more powerful than a normal Ice Sylph because the selection of Frostbane Paths was far narrower.


    In this case, this so-called ss Path was precisely such a narrow one. It was an incredibly unique Path of the Mancer that incorporated Ice, Sand, and Poison.


    As Ss had said before, the Path of the Poison here was incredibly unique. That was because it was a Poison that was very good at targeting inorganic matter, but not so much organic


    matter.


    ss was incredibly fragile because of its chemical structure. A single fault could end up in arge crack, and this unique ss Poison could force such things onto any material it came


    into contact with.


    But that was less important for now. Or, it was only adjacently important.


    That was because the main point here was that this ss Pinecone was capable of evolvingn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss'' Will that currently only had a Poison Spark... toward this ss Spark instead.


    But rather than relying on the Aether Treasure to do it for him...


    Ss wanted to do it himself.

 Chapter 663: Ideal

    Chapter 663: Ideal


    ?


    Ss let the world fade around him. All he could feel was the energies of the ss Pinecone.


    His senses peeled it apartyer byyer, but he knew that what he was trying to do was quite foolhardy. He should have just taken what the ss Pinecone wanted to give him, but his stubbornness had won out in the end.


    The reason the ss Pinecone felt like it was buried inyers of his body that were far too deep to reach was because it was likely in ayer deeper than Blood Essence.


    If Ss was correct, then it was precisely theyer Gralith had spoken about before, the Will Manifestationyer of the body. That was a full fouryers deeper than Blood Essence, which was all he could currently control.


    He had to rely on a sudden enlightenment to grasp Sparking Will the first time. Now, he was trying to actively make the changes himself all whilemunicating with ayer of his body that he had no intimate familiarity with.


    At the same time, his body was practically falling apart. Because he didn''t want to take any risks, he ended up using the Beast Totem, not knowing that there was a Comprehension Limit to worry about as well.


    Now, the overwhelming stats of the Basilisk King were practically shredding him apart from the inside out. His inner organs had grown two sizes toorge and were splintering at the seams, his tendons were moments from ripping themselves clean from his bones, and the bones themselves were hardly holding up beneath all the pressure his tendons and muscles were putting on them.


    And yet...


    There was a look of deathly focus on Ss'' face, as though even facing off against a bullet wouldn''t change his expression in the slightest.


    Then... images he had thought of far too many times came to mind.


    That day in the volcano shed in his memories again, almost destroying his focus. However, when Ss rebuilt his concentration, it came back even stronger.


    He could still feel the humiliation of that day so clearly that it was indelibly seared into his mind.


    Once again, he found himself standing alone, with no one else to witness his failure or sess, and yet this was anchoring him down like a mass of infinite breadth.


    No matter what Ss did, he felt like he had failed his expectations of himself that day. And every time he faced a battle of Will, this memory would undoubtedlye up like a stain he couldn''t get rid of.


    His jaw set, his eyes burning with a furious light.


    Never again.


    Never again.


    Never again.


    [ss Pinecone (Gold) (Aether Treasure)]


    [The Seed of Hope birthed from the Tears of Earth''s Ancestors. Once a beacon of humanity, it has be the symbol of endless strife and terror. The world sits upon a Throne of ss.] [Combine withpatible Aether Treasure to unveil something truly special]


    ''The Seed of Hope... Tears of Earth''s Ancestors... Beacon of Humanity... Symbol of endless strife and terror... Throne of ss...''


    Thest words shook Ss to his core.


    ''Throne of ss...''


    Each word he spoke tranted themselves to Ithkuil, and the look and feel of the descriptionpletely changed before his eyes.


    He didn''t just see the words "Seed of Hope"... he could practically envision a mustard seed being nted into the ground, only to grow out into a canopy that pierces the skies.


    The Tears of Earth''s Ancestors became akin to a rain that fed the seed, nurturing it with their grief and indignation, their hopes for a better future.


    But then he could see the dichotomy between Beacon of Humanity and Symbol of endless strife and terror...


    On the one hand, they fearlessly charged into battle... but on the other, they knew that their blood would have to soak the sands they trudged through long before they could gain the justice they sought.


    They were men and women far braver than himself. At the very least, since that day in the volcano, Ss couldn''t shake himself free of the feeling that he had a coward hiding deep within himself. And maybe that was why he was so obsessed with control...


    If he could control everything, if he could be powerful enough to look down on everyone, if he could stand above the world, would he ever have to fear anything? Would the world even have a chance to make a coward of him?


    Was there a need for bravery if there was no fear at all?


    Throne of ss...


    Ss didn''t see the world. He gazed upon a fragile structure. Powers of all kinds scratched, fought, and wed for it, not realizing that whoever won the war would simply find themselves sitting upon a Throne that just might copse at any moment.


    It was a fleeting chase for power.


    But then he saw another perspective...


    A perspective where this clear-encased Throne disyed every bit of strife, anguish, and grief of the people that formed it. It wasn''t possible to even sit on this Throne without being forced to face those that had given their lives for your sake.


    That sort of weight could break someone''s consciousness, shatter weak and pull their Will


    apart.


    And then he saw a third and final perspective...


    A Throne of ss that forced you to face yourself. And right then, Ss was forced to gaze at himself, staring into the very depths of his own Will.


    Before him, several paths wereid out.


    He raised a bloody hand to his chest as he stared at the mirror looking back at him. His breathing was shallow and his body seemed like it was just about to shut down, hardly standing on whatever legs it had left.


    "Am I a coward?"


    Ss stared back at himself as though he would find the answer there.


    "I don''t know..." Ss spoke to himself softly. "... But what I do know... is that I fear little more than being one... No... what I fear is being anything less than the ideal version of


    myself."


    Ss felt a tremble ripple through him.


    It was ironic... he formed Fragmented Madness Comprehension by making fun of his exes for trying to date an idealized version of who he was as a man instead of who he truly was.


    And here he was, forming Legendary Madness Comprehension by realizing that even he was chasing an idealized version of himself.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    SHUUUU!

 Chapter 664: Glass Prism Art [Bonus]

    Chapter 664: ss Prism Art [Bonus]


    ?


    [Madness (F)] (Legendary)


    [The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it bes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]


    [+600% Charisma]


    [+400% Will


    A sparkle burst across Ss'' body. His Will danced like a ss me of green, looking gorgeous beneath the resplendent light of the ss Fortress around him.


    [Title Upgraded]


    [A Sparking Will > A Sparked Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind and has begun to forge its own Path. While immature and still growing, it has carved out its ce in the world. Continue to forge it, young man]


    [+100 Will]


    [+100% Will]


    A Throne of ss... I choose for it to reflect myself...''


    Like holding up a mirror to his face, Ss stared dead at the man that looked back at him. Beaten and bloodied, the only part of his reflection that didn''t seem to be on itsst legs were his eyes themselves. They stared ahead, unmoved and frighteningly cold.


    He had chosen the path the ss Pinecone certainly wouldn''t have. If he was correct, it would have definitely chosen the path of strife and grief, where the reflections of those that hade before him bore the weight of the Throne beneath him.


    However, Ss wasn''t that sort of person. He didn''t need external motivation to grind forward. His own worst critic was himself, and no one motivated him more than, well... himself.


    Ss still didn''t quite understand how a Path of the Mancer could possibly have so manyplexities tacked onto it. It didn''t feel like a normal Path of the Mancer at all, or maybe there was something that he was missing here.


    However...


    It didn''t matter to him. Not for now.


    With shaky steps, Ss walked to the corpse of the ss Monkey and pressed a hand onto it.


    [Bronze Beast Destiny Consumed]


    [Gluttony Seed has strengthened]


    [Quest Rewards changed]


    [Throne of ss Heir (Silver)]


    [The bedrock of your Monarchy starts in your heart and extends to yournds. Should your Will remain firm, you will rule for an Eternity. But a darkness lingers in your heart that suffocates your growth. Even an Emperor needs his Ministers]


    [+100 Mental]


    [+100 Constitution]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +36 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +18 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.48 Intelligence; 0.48 Wisdom; 0.48 Charisma; 0.48 Constitution]


    [ss: Throne of ss Heir]


    [Level: 0]


    -


    >[Basic Skills]


    [ss Prism Arts (F-) (Gene ss Form)]


    [Freely form and control your Path of ss Mancy with Prism Arts. Shields, Weapons, Projectiles of any sort, they are all within your purview, only limited by the skill of your Prism Arts]


    [Defense: 1000]


    [Special Damage: 100/second]


    [ssveil Shift (F+) (Gene Skill)]


    [Spend <20> Units of Aether to teleport <10> meters in any location you cany eyes on]


    [Attribute: ss]


    -


    >[Basic Affinities]


    [Ice (Gold)]


    [Poison (Gold)]


    [Sand (Gold)]


    [ss (Silver)]


    -


    >[Unlockables]


    [Level 20]


    --


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Throne of ss Heir (Silver)]


    [ss: -]


    [Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]


    [Level: 0]


    [Coins: 36,273 (F)]


    [Titles: A Sparked Will; Slight of Hand; System Rebel; Legendary Tamer; Skill Progenitor; Woond Warlord; Baron of Guiz; ss Monkey yer; Woond Spider Queen yer (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]


    [Physical: 580]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    >[Strength: 520]


    >[Constitution: 760]


    >[Dexterity: 520]


    >[Speed: 520]


    [Mental: 839]


    >[Intelligence: 981]


    >[Wisdom: 1101]


    >[Charisma: 435]


    [Will: 1999]


    [Luck: 101]


    Ss felt all the wounds on his body quickly mending themselves. As his body was being reformed, the almost ss-like, shimmering look in his eyes not only solidified, but it carried itself forward into his soul.


    In the depths of his eyes, the image of the Mancer''s Blossom tree dancing in the wind appeared. Runes began to naturally form around Ss as though blessing him with their presence of their own volition.


    These were all ss Runes, but what was most surprising was that although they were only about 20 Foundations at best... each and every one was drawn to 40% Mastery even without much input on Ss'' part, crossing the threshold of Breath Mastery.


    ''This should be <ss Prism Arts>...''


    Unlike his other sses, Throne of ss Heir only gave him two skills. Or, more urately,


    one Gene ss Form and one Gene Skill. But it was clear that this Gene ss Form was truly


    special.


    Ss waved a hand and shards of ss solidified in the air, forming sharp daggers that practically vanished within the sunlight.


    This was the ability of <ss Prism Art>. Even without his Rune Mastery, it allowed him to


    act as though he was a Rune Master, forging ss Runes as though they came as easy to him


    as breathing.


    Each one of these constructs had 1000 Defense. Meaning, they could hold up against 1000 Attack, and likewise, so long as Ss could manage it, he could use them to deal 1000 Damage


    before they copsed.


    Normally, these weapons would either have to be grown out of the ground and use it as an


    anchor to pierce toward an opponent, or they would have to be used like the ss Monkey


    used them: as an extension of the body.


    But with Ss'' telekinesis, he could both use those methods and just directly use them as


    projectiles.


    In addition, this 1000 Defense limit was only for Fragmented Mastery!


    What was most shocking about this Gene ss Form was that... it used no Aether at all! It relied on Wisdom to trigger the Skill and control it. Nothing more.


    It was like Ss had gained the ability to freely spawn weapons and defenses as he pleased.


    But this was hardly the best part. Ignoring the fact that he had gained a warp-type skill that


    he could finally use without a Race limitation, if he stacked his Rune Mastery onto <ss Prism Art>, how much more powerful would it be?


    He had the natural ability to form these Runes at 40% Mastery... surely he could do better with his Rune Essence Comprehension!

 Chapter 665: Blind [Bonus]

    Chapter 665: Blind [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss almost became addicted to the feeling. ss quickly formed around him in intricate patterns, but they would break apart into a storm of silvery-blue sand before reforming into solid shards of ss.


    He could freely decide between using the more solid form of ss and the more particle- sized form. Thetter drained Wisdom at a far greater rate, but it had its own uses and application.


    It had to be remembered that this ss Path still carried a poison character that was particrly good at attacking inorganic matter.


    If Ss used therge ss shards, it would be far more difficult to make use of this ability. But, if he used the ss Sand form, then he could bury it into the crevices and hidden nooks of his opponent''s Skills and Treasures, destroying them from the inside out.


    ''To think that a Silver ss would only use 20 and 30 Foundation Runes at best. Just how much potential is left over for higher level Runes?''


    Ss didn''t n on improving the Foundations. Instead, he nned to entirely focus on the Mastery.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Elevating the Foundations would be far too difficult and would defeat the ease of use of everything. If he had to put effort into controlling the Runes and forming himself, then what would be the point of his ss?


    Part of the power of his Gene ss Form was just how easy it was to use.


    With a thought, Ss formed a dozen shards of ss, each of which could deal 1000 Damage. In a single round of attacks, most opponents would be finished. They would have to somehow be capable of either offsetting 12,000 Damage or dodging.


    But just how difficult would it be to dodge when Ss had telekinesis? Something even the ss Monkey didn''t have?


    What about when his telekinesis was stacked with <King''s Shift> on top of that, allowing for sudden and abrupt changes in momentum?


    The ss left Ss feeling endlessly satisfied. A part of him even felt that even if he had to give up a path to Gold and Legendary, it would be fine.


    Of course, he would never do this. It would be far too short-sighted of him. If a Silver ss was this good, then he could only imagine how good a Gold one would be, and a Legendary one beyond that.


    And even then, he had room for a second ss.


    Ss was spending quite a lot of time thinking about the Gene ss Form, when in reality there were far more benefits than just this alone.


    For example, his Aether skin had undergone a drastic change. Not only was it capable of 2000 Defense all on its own now, but it even seemed to have a semi-reflective property.


    This reflectiveness wasn''t for Physical attacks, but rather just for Aether. It could repel pure Aether attacks beneath the 2000 Attack threshold, not only saving Ss from having to pour more Aether into it, but also forcing an enemy to deal with their own blow to some extent.


    Then there was the change to Ss'' Will itself. It felt more tangible now than it ever had before, changing from a flickering me to the form of a ss tree.


    What made Ss feel especially shocked was that now, all he needed to do was silently meditate and the whispers of ss Runes woulde to him naturally.


    He realized that this might mean that he could improve the Foundation of the Runes of <ss Prism Arts> without much effort on his part at all.


    But, it didn''t seem as easy to meditate on Runes as it was in the past. There seemed to be a cap ced not by Mancer''s Blossom any longer, but rather his own Will.


    From what Ss could see, he still couldn''t see 40 Foundation Runes through Mancer''s Blossom. Meaning, he wouldn''t be able to improve <ss Prism Arts> like he expected.


    But...


    ''If I strengthen my Will further, will I be able to unlock it?''


    Ss went through a wave of emotions before he even got to <ssveil Shift>.


    Ever since he saw the abilities of <Shadow Warp>, Ss had wanted such an ability. In the Frostbane Sylph Dungeon, he had gotten <Frostbane Escape>, but he had unfortunately been unable to use it.


    [Frostbane Escape (FFF-) (Race Skill)]


    [Deconstruct the body into Frostbane Runes and reappear in any location with <10> meters with sufficient Frostbane Aether concentration]


    [Note: Limited to Elemental Races]


    Unfortunately, that Limited to Elemental Races aspect had really pigeonholed him, making the skill entirely useless to him.


    But now he had a warp skill that he could finally use himself.


    ''I''ll need to find time to drill it properly. Warp Skills take a notoriously long time to cast and aren''t usually viable in the middle of battle. It''s also a bit disappointing that an F+ Gene Skill would not only cost far more than an FFF- Skill, but also have the same teleportation range at the Fragmented Mastery level... but I guess this is the price for being able to use an ability like this one without being of a special Race...''


    20 Units of Aether was more than a fifth of his current base Intelligence. But it was worth it if it would save his life at a critical point.


    Plus... once his Mastery increased, it wouldn''t be so steep a price.


    Ss'' head suddenly turned in a direction as he sensed several figures approaching. However, they weren''t enemies. He felt the presence of Alex immediately, and then there was Cole and


    his family.


    Ss wasn''t sure why they had exited so muchter than he had, but given the time dtion, even a difference of a split second could be quite a while, so though he slotted the thought to the back of his mind, he didn''t put too much stock into it.


    Alex gazed around for a moment before his gaze locked onto Ss.


    "You know the portals around here quite well, right?" Ss asked, recalling that Alex had a map of the portals in the region thanks to Legacy.


    "I do."


    "Then do you know of any that have shortcuts back to Terranova?"


    Ss already felt like the answer would be yes before he asked. In fact, he already had his next


    nsid out.


    The Woond Territory could wait. He would return for its Aether Stone Mine after he retrieved the Basilisk Skin Armor from Cassarae.


    It was time he got more aggressive with how he dealt with the powers of Earth...


    And he would start by robbing the Africor Continent blind.

 Chapter 666: Realization

    Chapter 666: Realization


    ?


    It wasn''t long after Ss made his decision that he found out that the ss pyramid they were in was precisely the heart of the Africor Government''s power.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing to rob.


    It seemed that the Constitutional Monarchy wasn''t as useless as they seemed. Though the city had been evacuated, it had likely been done systematically and with a set n of retreat. Ss wouldn''t be surprised if they were already nning for a return. The only thing dying these matters was the return of their monarchs.


    With his new ss, Ss was able to dismiss and move around the constructs of the ss Monkey with ease. So the hidden infrastructure beneath didn''t take much effort at all to make their way through.


    As they dug and made it to the hidden quarters of the Africor Government, Ss began to wonder if he should consider staying here. If he lied in wait for the return of the three monarchs, this den that the ss Monkey had spent the effort to build would give him a huge advantage.


    Ss wasn''t out for revenge, though that was a small tick at the back of his mind-after all, the Africor Government was responsible for the cities that targeted him back in the Woond Territory. Still, his real purpose was their wealth. Killing the monarchs of this government would surely benefit him greatly in that riches department.


    In the end, though, Ss chose to shelve these thoughts for the moment.


    It was easy to overextend yourself after so many sesses. Over-leveraging coulde to bite him in ways he wouldn''t easily be able to deal with.


    These governments were more powerful than he knew. It wouldn''t be smart to underestimate them too much.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss was thinking about returning after they found nothing for such a long while, but then he felt a fluctuation of Aether.


    ''So hidden...''


    He turned back to Alex, Cole, and the others, only to notice that they didn''t seem to have noticed anything.


    ''These walls, they''re Aether restraining...''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There were two reasons Ss pressed forward. For one, the explosive growth of the ss Monkey was still unexined. A part of him thought that it was rted to the ss Pinecone, but he wasn''t sure. The ss Pinecone had been a reward of the system. Could it have existed on the ss Monkey''s person ahead of time?


    The second reason he was pressing forward was because no matter how thorough the Africor Government was, it was impossible for them to truly escape with everything valuable.


    This ce was their headquarters. They likely nned to expand outward from here with this city of Cairith as their main core.


    If it was so easy to pick up and leave, then it wouldn''t be much of a stronghold, now would it? However, Ss still hadn''t found anything valuable. And what he sensed when he finally did find an oddity was out of his expectations.


    They descended into an underground stone pathway with so many turns and winding passages that it felt like they were also in a maze. But Ss'' steps were steady and he took every turn confidently until he saw it.


    There was a small opening in a random corner. The region was barely three by three meters and just enough for the five of them to stand with a small space of their own normally...


    If not for the fact there was a Portal right in front of them.


    Ss felt the Territory Key in his possession tremble.


    ''The ss Desert Territory, huh? Is this really all there is here? Could the ss Monkey just have had a random boost in strength and power in such a short time? Or is it rted to this Portal?''


    But that exnation didn''t make any sense. How could the Portal rted to the ss Monkey''s growth be so carefully hidden away here?


    The Level 22 version of the ss Monkey should have been very manageable for those left behind, especially since it was still a Quasi-Bronze beast back then.


    There was no way that version of the ss Monkey could make it so deep into Africor Continent Territory to benefit from the ss Desert with its previous level of strength. So this couldn''t be the reason for its sudden spike in power.


    ''Non-overlord Races should have a great deal of trouble leveling up normally as well. Nothing is adding up...''


    There was another problem on top of that.


    When Ss gained the Woond Territory Key, it was from defeating the Woond Spider Queen. All of that checked out properly and seemed to mirror this situation...


    Until you realized that the Woond Territory was perfectly mapped to that region of the Africor Continent. Meaning, that section of the Aether ne was designed to be matched with that region of Earth.


    But the ss Desert, although it had the word desert in it, couldn''t possibly map onto this region properly.


    The ss Path of the Mancer heavily relied on Ice Aether. Although they were firmly in the far north of the Africor Continent right now, and it got quite chilly at night, this still wasn''t a region of the world you could expect snow from, let alone Ice Aether.


    At the very least, when it did snow... it was very, very rare.


    On top of all of that, the ss Monkey wasn''t even a resident of this region like the Woond Spider Queen had been in its. Ss and Alex had plucked it out of a Winking Portal it was


    hiding in.


    In fact, the very notion they found the ss Monkey in a Winking Portal proved his point, because Winking Portals only appeared in regions where a point of connection between Earth and the Aether ne was far too misaligned. In this case... a desert of heat and a desert of


    cold...


    The more Ss thought about it, the more questions he had, but he stared at the portal before him like it would give him the answer he was looking for...


    And then it suddenly hit him.

 Chapter 667: Earned Wrath

    Chapter 667: Earned Wrath


    ?


    Ss looked around, his irises reflecting like ss as he paid closer attention to the walls around him.


    ''These walls are designed to keep Aether very restrained. The winding and twisting tunnels aren''t just here to confuse people, but it almost increases surface area for these Aether suppressing Runes. This entire undergroundwork functions simrly to the disk I risked my life to get for Lucius-it''s capable of restraining even Portals.


    ''What happens when something inherently vtile is forced to remain steady?''


    There was one main difference between the Woond Spider Queen and the ss Monkey... the Woond Spider Queen had been the helm of a Field Dungeon, but the ss Monkey had been the head of a Dynamic Field Dungeon.


    Thest Dynamic Field Dungeon Ss had cleared had also been an anomaly. It was the result of a Dungeon and a Field Dungeonbining into one, resulting in the creation of the Violet Rose Heart.


    What if, in this case, it was the sh between the ss Desert Territory and this maze that triggered all the changes?


    However, there were still too many holes in this theory.


    For one, the ss Desert had been several hours'' journey from this location. Ss and Alex had to travel quite a while to get to Cairith after capturing the monkey in the first ce.


    But Ss seemed to have thought of something for that as well...


    The Mountains of Giza.


    After Ss cleared it, there was arge change to the surroundings. A strong teleportation force warped him to a region that was likely off-Earth, which was why they faced the time dtion.


    Then there was the fact that after Ss cleared it, the pyramid reset and then allowed Lauren to follow after him, and then the monarchs after that.


    All of this was mere spection on Ss'' part. He didn''t have nearly enough understanding of spatial dynamics or time dtion to draw a concrete conclusion...


    Until that is he factored in one more thing: howte Alex and the others had been.


    It was something that he had originally dismissed as being no big deal, but with all of this context added to it, he realized that the reason they were dyed wasn''t because of an odd coincidence, but rather precisely because of this off-setting that urred between the expected teleportation locations and the actual teleportation locations.


    In fact, he was willing to bet that if he asked the four of them if they had appeared at the same time, they would say no. It was more likely that they had coincidentally met up on their way to him. Or, most likely, they had been waiting around for him to show up until themotion of the battle between himself and the ss Monkey, and then his subsequent fusion with the ss Pinecone, was too great to ignore.


    If there was this sudden shift in Earth''s spatial coordinate system, then it wasn''t impossible for an already out-of-ce Winking Portal to be transposed several kilometers away from its original location.


    But that still left the biggest question of them all...


    Why the hell was any of this actually important? Was it useful to spend so much time thinking about this seemingly worthless information?


    Ss suddenly did an about-face and ignored the portal, rushing through the underground maze. He was looking for something very particr, and Alex and the others followed him silently because they were very much used to it.


    ''No... No... Not this...''


    Ss ended up finding several more Portals. The Africor Continent had reeled in control of so many that it seemed that this wasn''t as much of a "coincidence" as it seemed. They were collecting these Portals on purpose.


    In fact, in this underground region alone, they probably had easy ess to almost all corners of the world. Even Alex found himself being taken aback by the sheer scope of it all.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''This is it.''


    Ss suddenly came to a stop in front of the seventh Portal they had run across. Just staring at the portal, Ss could feel it very clearly. This was a second forcefully stabilized Winking Portal to the ss Desert.


    The first one they hade across was the very same entrance to the ss Desert Territory that Alex and him had found the ss Monkey in.


    But this one... this was a new Portal, to the same Territory, but apletely different region of it.


    Ss'' mind could see exactly how things had yed out.


    The ss Monkey had left Cairith defeated by the remaining members of the Africor Continent Government, and managed to find its way back to its Winking Portal to lick its wounds.


    But then the changes to the Mountains of Giza caused the coordinates of the ss Desert to shift and change until it was ensnared by this constructed of the Africor Constitutional Monarchy.


    The ss Monkey likely then finished healing its wounds and either nned toe back for revenge or had sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough, or maybe there was a third reason that Ss hadn''t considered.


    But in truth, the reason didn''t matter now.


    Whatever it was, it caused the ss Monkey to leave through its Portal, only to find itself trapped in this maze. It likely relied on its senses and eventually stumbled onto this second ss Desert Territory Portal.


    And whatever it found inside... was the reason it had skyrocketed in power in such short order. Ss took a step forward and entered the Portal. No matter what was on the other side...


    He was willing to bet that he would have the advantage. He would be the ss Desert Warlord quite soon, after all.


    ...


    King Roderic stared at the contribution list before him. Ss sat firmly at the top, while he... was only second ce.


    This was a result that was far outside of his expectations. Everything was perfectly prepared, and things couldn''t have possibly gone more smoothly. He had even managed an unprecedented 51% Clearance and an S- rating to go along with it.


    Even Archibald''s barely 23% rating was enough for an AA- Rating. So one could imagine just how difficult all of this was, even though he had the knowledge of predecessors to rely upon.


    But now it was all for naught.


    ''The Genesis Forge is in his hands...''


    King Roderic closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For the first time, he lost hisposure. But he regained it quickly.


    ''It''s fine. Without the proper opportunity, he will never understand its value. Before then... I''ll


    crush him.''


    King Roderic and the other monarchs had not once taken Ss seriously. But now... the young man had sessfully earned his wrath.

 Chapter 668: Projecting

    Chapter 668: Projecting


    ?


    Ss felt his vision blur for more reasons than stepping through the Portal. His gaze unconsciously narrowed as sand riding on heavy winds buffeted against his face and cheeks, making him feel as though hundreds of tiny needles were pelting against his skin.


    The visibility of the region was low and goosebumps crawled over the length of his skin as the cold began to sink into his very pores.


    Slowly, Ss began to adjust the focus of his gaze to find that he was standing in the middle of maybe the most beautiful desert he had ever seen.


    It felt odd to describe what was essentially a hellscape to most organisms like this, but it was hard to call it anything else when the sand dunes in the distance sparkled like hills of miniature diamonds.


    When Ss held up a palm, the silvery-blue beads of sand glided across it with a subtle touch. It felt like somewhere between a cross of snow and sand.


    [Territory-Wide Message]


    [The ss Desert Territory has been imed. Ss Grimde will be awarded the Title <ss Desert Warlord>]


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: ss Desert Warlord]


    [The ss Desert Territory is now your Territory. Thend is yournd, the rain is your rain, its blood is your blood]


    [ss Desert Curse Seal: Suppress the stats of any target within your Territory to 50%]


    [Quasi King Crown: The Territory obeys you]


    The Territory Key slowly vanished into motes of light around Ss as he exhaled a breath. Behind him, Alex and the others had buffed up their Aether skin to the greatest extent they could, but it was clear that the cold was doing its number on them.


    ''I don''t see anything particrly special about this location... whatever the ss Monkey benefited from should be close, though. Unless it was a consumable item?''


    All the while, Ss was acting under the assumption that whatever the ss Monkey benefited from was still here, but that might not necessarily be the case.


    He closed his eyes and focused. In the worst case, he would go to one of the System Cities of the Territory to use their bird''s eye view. But he also knew that this wasn''t a perfect solution.


    The City Stele Ability of the System Cities had many weaknesses of their own, namely that they couldn''t be used to search very far underground if at all.


    In a world where this silvery-blue sand was blowing everywhere, Ss would bet good money that quite a number of good things were buried all the time.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss was expecting to get lost in another long sequence of deductions, but what he didn''t expect was that he would find it immediately.


    His eyes snapped open and he looked directly beneath his feet.


    A crown flickered into existence above Ss'' head, making the others feel greatly pressured as <ss Prism Arts> manifested, pushing away much of the sand that was around them.


    In a small region around them, it looked as though an invisible wall had been formed and soon Ss had dug three feet beneath them to reveal a smooth marble surface.


    The marble was an icy blue with veins of white running through it. It almost seemed to have a subtle glow of its own, shimmering with its own internal light.


    Ss bent down and passed a hand over it, feeling that it was cool to the touch.


    ''How far does this extend?''


    He began to clear away arger area, but the strain on his mind was bing substantial. Even with the support of his Quasi King status in thisnd, keeping up this level of ss Elemental control over arge distance was too much of a drain.


    But once again, Ss didn''t have to search for long. His hand suddenly ran over an engraving that wasn''t quite visible to the naked eye. It was easy to overlook, but the bumps grazing across the high, calloused fingers caught Ss'' attention.


    ''A Rune.''


    Ss could feel the difference immediately. And then he ran into a second and a third until he had revealed what seemed to be the entire tform.


    ''This is...''


    Ss found his heart skipping a beat because he had seen a marble tform exactly like this already, albeit on a muchrger scale. Those marble bs had been over a hundred meters in diameter, and this one was barely five, but the Runes....


    They were near identical.


    Was this also a Thryskai summoning tform? Right in the middle of Earth''s Aether ne?


    Ss had never said it in so many words, but he had truly dreaded a potential fight with Aki. The man had unfathomable depths, and Ss had known that the odds he would lose his life to the man were exceptionally high.


    But the implications of such a Thryskai appearing on current day Earth as opposed to in a Split Realm Dungeon reflecting a semi-inurate retelling of the path held twopletely different weights on the psyche.


    ''Wait... this isn''t the receiving end... it''s the projecting end.''


    Ss'' gaze sharpened. This tform sent you somewhere. Or, more urately, it sent your


    Will somewhere.


    Ss only thought for a moment before he took a seat.


    "I might be out of it for a moment. Keep a lookout."


    The others nodded.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss closed his eyes, but his attention was quite focused on his surroundings as he carefully stretched out his Will.


    To his surprise, what he had expected to take a lot out of him only took a tiny strand of his abilities. And the result left him floored.


    Ss'' mind immediately connected to not just one, but dozens of other locations. He could feel thework of connections between them, and like he was gazing at the map of aplex road map from above, he was given a choice of where to go.


    That was when Ss realized what he was dealing with. This wasn''t a Thryskai projection


    hub, it was a teleportation tform to yet another hidden city. One buried in these ssy,


    sandy dunes.

 Chapter 669: Wanted

    Chapter 669: Wanted


    ?


    Ss felt that so long as he chose one of these other several dozen hubs, his Will would instantly be transported there, and then his body would soon follow.


    Unfortunately, all Ss could tell was that the city was vast, but he couldn''t pick up on any other important information. But what he did know for certain... was that this city was beyond any sort of human ingenuity that Ss had everid eyes on. It made the hidden Dogon city he had stumbled upon before feel like a primitive wastnd.


    Just what was this ce?


    Ss couldn''t help himself and he vanished. But what he found on the other side left himpletely floored.


    ...


    Ss stood in front of a building of crystalline ss. Its walls seemed more sandy than not, formed of a grainy version of the silvery-blue sands that could be found on the outside. But it was also covered in a much clearer material as well, like a refined version of the ss element.


    The building was half this grainy texture and half this beautiful crystalline ss, forming an array of silvery-blue that was a cross between making one squint at the brightness and making one feel like they were being warmly invited.


    However, the oddity of the material was only one aspect of it all. The other was that the architecture felt like it hade from the future, and... it was simply enormous.


    Ss had stood beneath tall skyscrapers before, but this felt like it was truly on another level. It felt less like a manmade structure, and more like a feat of mother nature, like he was staring at the form of a mountain that had loomed for thousands of years.


    The architecture had an odd flow to it, opting for soft curves instead of the sharp edges and corners of a modern building. There were countless archways and looping structures, some sections even looking like water flowing from a cliff, while others were like flowery petals blooming for others to see.


    All the while, Ss felt like he was craning his neck just to look straight up and yet not see its very peak.


    And yet...


    None of that felt even remotely important given what was before him.


    A City Stele.


    It floated in the middle of the archways and there was a constant flow of Aethering from it that seemed to feed into the city around it directly.


    Somehow, the City Stele felt like it was the heartbeat of the city, a part of it in a way that Ss had never experienced anywhere else, not even in System Cities.


    System Cities felt robotic and almost inorganic in a way that this City Stele very much was not.


    Ss reached forward and tried to touch the City Stele despite the oddly far distance that separated them. He didn''t even know why he had, it was like something was calling him to it.


    But the moment he even had the thought and his hand had barely raised, spikes of danger practically drilled themselves into his mind.


    Ss froze immediately, stopping his actions.


    He took a breath, settling himself down. There was something about this city that was tugging at his heartstrings in ways he couldn''t exin. Somehow, he felt both at home and like he was a foreigner. He couldn''t quite square the two emotions.


    [What is this ce?]


    Ss thought that he might as well try and ask the Madness Key, but then he recalled that he had no Genes left to give. The hoard of beasts that he had gathered had been unfortunately wiped clean.


    But there was some good news... the Madness Key didn''t seem resistant to answering. If only he could find some Genes to make use of.


    Ss looked beneath his feet finally to find that he was standing on a tform. After some thought, he poured his Will into it one more and vanished.


    When he appeared again, he was standing in a new location. This time, he hadn''t picked the center of the city, but a random new location, and the result was finding himself in an odd garden of silver and blue nts.


    [ss Weed (FF+) (Aether Herb)]


    [Increase ss Aether umtion speed by +50%]


    [Duration: 1hr]


    Ss randomly used <Master Scouting> on one of the many things around him, not expecting to actually find something quite interesting.


    He almost moved from the tform again, only to feel yet another spike of danger.


    This one was much weaker than the spike he had felt when he reached out the City Stele before, but it was there nheless, making him frown.


    Would there be danger no matter where he went in this ce?


    ...


    Ss appeared in a new location only to find yet another odd ce.


    This one was surrounded by statues carved from what looked like a cross of ice and ss, taking the forms of all creatures.


    Ss used <Master Scouting> again, only to be rebuffed and not find anything at all.


    ''Last time <Master Scouting> was only capable of picking up a response from the ss Weed nt, obviously one of the weakest Aether Herbs there, and now this...''


    There was a moment of distraction while Ss thought about this. He realized that he needed


    a new scouting Skill as quickly as possible. Its limitations were starting to appear more and more frequently these days.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss'' eyesnded on a ss statue of a Serpentes and his mind trembled.


    ''An unknown mutated Serpentes... I see.''


    For the first time, Ss got real information about this ce.


    It was a Beast Training Facility of a City. It was simr to a Den, except for the fact that the City Lord had to produce the creatures themselves, and the Beast Tamers spawned by the Facility would nurture the beasts down a path unique to the Facility.


    Much like how Fortress Treasures could change the affinity of spawned militiamen, so too could this Beast Training Facility do the same forpatible Dens ced within its territory.


    And this Serpentes... Ss wanted it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 670: Glasirith [Bonus]

    Chapter 670: sirith [Bonus]


    ?


    ''A sirith...''


    It was a newly bred species sessfully formed by the Head Beast Tamer of this Facility. Or, more urately, they were known as a sswright Breeder, a Silver Grade Profession.


    The sirith was a new breed carefully curated by the sswright breeder and it had Bronze potential on the same level as the Bone-Tailed Lizard. The difference was that Ss still needed to help the Bone-Tailed Lizard return to its origins as a Bone-Tailed Serpent. Byparison, the sirith was already at its peak potential.


    All of this information came to Ss freely. It seemed that his Insight abilities didn''t just have to rely on existing species that had long historical records, but it could easily analyze any Serpentes in front of him, even those that didn''t necessarily have strong ancestral lineages.


    Ss'' Will reached out and as expected...


    The feeling of danger was no longer there.


    The appearance of his Will caused what looked to be a statue to shudder.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    **CRACK.**


    The outeryer of the statue shattered, but Ss continued to watch calmly.


    Out from within it, a silvery-blue egg appeared.


    Ss reached out with his telekinesis and brought it over. It was heavier than he expected despite the fact it was only about twice the size of his head. Still, the egg was easily over 300 pounds.


    The ability of Ss'' telekinesis to work on it properly was limited, so it could only very slowly hover over. But the fact that Ss could pick up something so heavy with his telekinesis at all went to show just how far he hade.


    Soon, the egg had reached Ss and he carefully took it.


    The weight that was heavy to his mind was nothing in his arms. He carried the egg with ease, observing it until he was satisfied that it was unharmed.


    He still didn''t know what this ce was, but the fact he had gained his first Bronze Contract without doing much of anything already left him satisfied.


    Ss forced a contract onto the egg-not that it showed much resistance at all. Then he pulled it into the Hibernation Realm.


    ''Oh, it will take quite a while to hatch...''


    If other Beast Tamers could hear Ss, it wouldn''t be much of a surprise if they tried to strangle him.


    This "while" he spoke of was just a single week.


    Ss'' One Kind For Me was now at Level 14, which gave his Hibernation Realm the ability to increase recovery by 819,200%.


    This was all to say that one week for Ss was the equivalent of over 150 years for practically any other Beast Tamer!


    Of course, all Beast Tamers had abilities to speed up the natural process of incubation. But even then they would be lucky to cut that time by half, let alone as much as Ss could.


    Ss, though, never really considered others when he made assessments of himself. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be so hard on himself.


    ...


    Eventually, Ss had visited every single one of the hubs of the city, all several dozen. Or, rather, all 27 of them.


    Each one was a different Facility, but each one seemed frozen in time somehow, as though someone had pressed a pause button on everything.


    However, each and every time, one''s Will could be the trigger to get that time flowing again.


    By the end of it, Ss had not only found the location he was fairly certain was the most responsible for the ss Monkey''s improvement, but he had also somewhat figured out where he was even without the Madness Key.


    ''If I''m correct, this ce is only one of two things. It''s either a special Quest City or it''s an abandoned city from a previous Summoning. Thetter is far less likely. If it was possible to preserve powerful cities like this under normal circumstances, the Grimdes wouldn''t have only a Bronze City Stele left, they would have an entire Bronze City...


    ''Still, it''s a possibility because this city itself is quite special. This freeze on time seems rted to the ss Element in specific. So it''s possible that this is a unique City Stele Ability, which is why I can''t dismiss the possibility.''


    Of course, Ss was referring to a literal freeze in time. Instead, it was more like this city was specially preserved.


    Even so, he felt that the first possibility was far higher.


    ''I''m not sure if a "Quest City" exists at all, but this city still feels like a ce that''s waiting to be imed instead of one that was once lived in...''


    For one-the most obvious reason-there was no sign of life here.


    Second, when Ss'' Insight Path Talent told him about the sirith, it mentioned a Beast Tamer, but this sswright Breeder wasn''t mentioned by name, nor were there any details about them, which was unusual.


    Ss had scanned several Serpentes by now, and if there was a Breeder in their past that yed a huge role in the advancement of the species, they were always mentioned.


    So how could the breeder that self-created this Race of Serpentes not receive such treatment? It was like they werepletely erased from history. Or...


    They never existed in the first ce.


    Instead, the sswright Breeder was a Profession that could be imed here after the City Stele itself was imed.


    And therein lied the final reason Ss was sure this city had never been owned before.


    Usually, when you conquered a City Stele, you had to touch it, open its options menu, and then click Conquer. But for this one... Ss felt danger the moment his hand reached out.


    Of course, it was possible that the dangers being triggered were rted to whoever had left this city behind for them to return to eventually...


    But Ss was inclined to believe that the reason there was such a feeling of danger was because the moment he interacted with the City Stele...


    He would trigger a battle for it. Much like the Bronze City Stele Quest Ticket in his possession.

 Chapter 671: Again [Bonus]

    Chapter 671: Again [Bonus]


    ?


    This only left a single mystery.


    What had the ss Monkey benefited from?


    Ss returned to the ssWright Breeder''s Facility, and his eyesnded on a region he had paid much attention to before. That was because it was nothing but an open space.


    However, with the statues neatly lined up and organized by species, this open space was conspicuous... especially since there were exactly two of them.


    One where Ss assumed there had once been a monkey.


    And the second where the shards of ss that had fallen from his new sirith Contract had already vanished.


    The ss Monkey must have found one of its kind here and devoured it.


    Although Ss couldn''t sense the other Beasts here clearly, he was sure that they were all probably at around the same level.


    ''A dozen Bronze King Beasts... well, there are only ten now, but to think that this would just be one of the hubs of this city. Is this really just a Bronze City? Or is it something beyond that?''


    Ss didn''t know if this was just a special Bronze City or if it was something above, but what was clear was one thing...


    This city, he had to have it. Setting aside the sswright Breeder Facility and the obelisk, there was still the Aether Herb Center he couldn''t even scan 90% of the nts within, Skill and Comprehension Training Facilities that blew the System Cities out of the water, and even an Aether Stone Mine Production Hub that Ss could clearly sense produced far more powerful Aether Stones than his own in the Woond Territory.


    It was just that he knew he wasn''t nearly strong enough toy im to it...


    Yet.


    -


    Ss appeared at another hub of the city, returning to it for the second time like he had with the sswright Breeder Facility.


    Before him stood an obelisk, one that was an exact replica of the one he had seen the Genesis Forge jade. But unlike the obelisk in thetter, this one felt hollow, like it wascking a spirit.


    Something told Ss that if he could conquer this city, maybe the secret of the Genesis Forge would open up to him.


    Ss went back to visit the City Stele one more time as though to sear it into his memory before he shed back to the surface world, appearing at the location where Alex and the others were waiting for him.


    "Let''s return now," Ss said.


    He had no intention of going to conquer the System Cities. Even though he would receive three million Free Experience from them, setting aside the time it would take to travel to them all, conquering the System Cities would destabilize the Portal, and Ss still had to return to the Woond Territory first.


    In addition, if he lost his understanding of where the ss Desert Territory was, it would be a nightmare trying to figure out how to return.


    There was a chance that the hidden undergroundwork of the Africor Continent would be able to keep the portal in ce even without the System Cities, but Ss doubted that.


    No matter how powerful the Africor Government, if circumventing the insidiousness of the System Cities was in their grasp, Earth wouldn''t have failed eight Summonings.


    ...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The group set off from Cairith soon after leaving the ss Desert and exiting the underground maze.


    The city still seemed barren, so the exit was easy. After the cold of the ss Desert, they embraced the heat of a real desert quite well, if for but a moment.


    However, soon, something that Ss had been expecting came.


    Alex was leaving.


    ...


    The two faced off against one another with the family of three waiting in the far-off distance.


    By now, Ss was pretty sure the reason Alex was still wearing his mask was to keep his face from Cole and the others. He had been quite cautious the moment he started acting against Legacy. It was clear that he took them very seriously despite the usual casual air of his personality.


    "... If you attack any Legacy headquarters, you can pretty confidently find maps of the Zones in the regions. Most will only have general information about surrounding Portals, but there are also rarer ones that have what we call the Plus-One Policy. That essentially means that their maps go to a depth of one. They know of where the Portals go, and where the Portals in the surrounding 100 kilometers of the inside of said Portal also go, but not further than that.


    "There are some headquarters that have a Plus-Two, and I know of one that has a Plus-Three. If you have the balls, you can go to that one," Alexughed.


    Obviously, the higher the Policy rating, the more confidence Legacy had in protecting that information, and thus the greater the danger.


    It seemed that he hade back down from the serious tirade he had been on thest few days. But his voice was still being doubled by his mask, so it made his amused tone sound more sinister than it should.


    Although he was joking around and definitely not rmending Ss go to the headquarters with the Plus-Three Policy, Ss still seriously considered it.


    A Plus-Three Map would practically have the entire map system of Earth drawn out. In an exponential progression like that, you could very quickly cover a lot ofnd. If Ss had that, he could conveniently travel from ce to ce across the whole of Earth.


    Alex, though, only knew of one route from the United Coalition of Terranova to the Africor Continent. Other than that, he didn''t even have a Plus-One understanding of the surrounding Portals, especially not after the Mountain of Giza shifted things.


    "... That is everything I know about the region. Even if the portals have shifted, we found this one close enough, so most should still be in the general location they were found in."


    Ss nodded.


    "Alright, I''m off. I gained a lot this time, I''ll be sure to partner with you again in the future, Psycho Syl."

 Chapter 672: Layers

    Chapter 672: Layers


    ?


    Ss stood over a familiar Aether Stone mine.


    Not much had changed in the Woond Territory at all. Because of Ss'' efforts, everything had remained stable, and there was no sign of an overflow of Demons just yet.


    If there was anything that changed, it was the fact that Tasia had sessfully made him a very rich man once again.


    ''The mines can be very dangerous,'' Ss said lightly.


    He had left Cole and his family behind in the System City for that reason. He didn''t have any real confidence in mining this Aether Stone mine himself, but he would have to at least give it a try. Maybe his Luck would be able to warn him.


    But he would only do this if he found what he needed down below.


    Ss needed two things from this mine. The first thing was enough Aether Stone to help the Basilisk Kingplete its next evolution, and the second was the 10,000 F-Grade Gold Aether Stones he needed to use his Temporal Lock Treasure.


    He was fairly certain the mine had enough for the first, judging by his Insight Path Talent, but not for the second. In fact, he wasn''t sure if the mine even had a single Gold Aether Stone to begin with. He had only seen Fragmented ones at the surface.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The only way to find out was to go in himself.


    Ss entered the mine and began to make his way deeper.


    ording to his understanding, the mine would only be dangerous if he started to dig. So he should be fine for now.


    ''Deadend...''


    Ss went another direction, but he continued to find dead ends.


    ''About as expected. If there were going to be any higher-level Aether Stones, they would be buried deeper. The ones nearer the surface had the chance to dissipate some of their strength somewhat...''


    Ss brought out a booklet.


    **[Introduction to Geomancy (F+) (Secret)]**


    The only requirement of this booklet was to have some level of Earth affinity, and Ss had that.


    A flood of knowledge entered his mind, and soon he was nodding to himself.


    It had to be remembered that Aether Stones were once normal rock. Much like how diamonds werepressed into their form by the pressure of the earth, Aether Stones were the product of stone being in the presence of pressurized Aether.


    This forced the Aether and the stone to fuse into one, resulting in these crystalline, shimmering rock formations.


    However, this made it more difficult to just use Earth-type Skills or abilities to deal with these stones. That was because the Aether neutralized much of the inherent character of the stone. It would take a lot of skill and talent to use Earth-type Skills on these sorts of stones anyway.


    The ability was so rare that even this F+ booklet had cost millions of coins. Luckily, that price was nothing to Ss thanks to Tasia''s efforts.


    Ss raised a foot up and stomped down hard. **BANG!**


    There was a rumble, and a ripple spread out in all directions. Of course, this wasn''t a ripple caused by a fracture in the earth, but rather the resonance of a pulse of Aether. Ss was using a geo-locating method mentioned in the booklet.


    The booklet was only an introduction, so it only spoke about three things: identifying Aether Stones, finding mines, and assessing the mines you found.


    ''Oh? This is good. It''s deeper than I can reach...''


    Ss'' skin bloomed with ck scales, and he raised his foot, stomping again.


    **BANG!**


    This time, the reverberating sh ran far deeper.


    ''Good. I can finally sense Common Aether Stones, there''s even a line of Bronze Aether Stones, and I still haven''t reached the end.''


    After seeing this, Ss made a decision and turned to leave.


    Mining this with a mere introductory booklet was far too dangerous. The eruption of a mere Fragmented Aether Stone had killed Demons with decently powerful bodies. What would the eruption of a Common or higher Aether Stone do?


    Instead, Ss nned to return to Cassarae to retrieve the Basilisk Skin Armor; only then would hee back here.


    He would then use the Basilisk''s evolution to drain the topsoil Aether Stones.


    Once they were nothing more than normal rock, there would be no danger in chipping them away.


    Depending on how much the Basilisk King took, he might be able to get down the Bronze Layer immediately and check again.


    ''Judging by the sheer thickness of the Fragmented and Common Layers, there''s almost certainly a Silver Layer. But whether there''s a Gold Layer is still up in the air... Luckily, the lower Layers tend to be much thinner. So after clearing the top, it will be far easier to confirm.''


    ...


    Ss returned to the System City and took Tasia and the family of three along with him on a trip into the desert.


    The peacock could at most carry one other person, so instead Ss splurged on a few FF+ Level 30 Mounts that were adept at moving across troubling terrain like sand. Each had a Speed and Dexterity Limit of over 1500, and that made things far more convenient.


    It wasn''t long before Ss had found the location Alex told him about. The group didn''t hesitate to enter the Portal.


    The location was an icynd that was quite familiar to Ss. This was the very same region he had found the Frostbane Sylph Dungeon in, and also the home of the Arctic King Beasts. This also happened to be the location of a Portal back to his hometown. It would just take some travel to get there.


    But he was also aware that his alma mater was in that location. And the reason that was important... was because it was also the stomping grounds of Legacy.


    Depending on how things had changed, he was going to have to be cautious. But first, he would pick up his fellow professor, Morgan, along with Sunniva. Luckily, that process went much smoother than Ss thought it would.

 Chapter 673: Scandalous Headlines [Bonus]

    Chapter 673: Scandalous Headlines [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss wasn''t very surprised that Lucius was nowhere to be found.


    It had to be remembered that the tundra region wasn''t far from the Evergreen Territory where Ss had left Morgan, and this was also the region where Lucius had set up his Territory.


    Now, there was no longer a convenient path to the Africor Continent, but the Portal to Paradise was still there.


    Ss hadn''t forgotten about Professor Fembroise, her family, and the skateboarding thief, but he couldn''t spare the time to go and get them right now. On the way back to his Woond Territory, he would. Or maybe he could task Cole with that job.


    He wasn''t even a City Lord, but he felt like he had too much on his te.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    **


    Before the Summoning, Ss fancied himself aw-abiding citizen. But after... well, he had done quite a few things that were far from so.


    Today, he found himself stealing a boat for the second time, tethering it to the Basilisk King, and having it carry them toward Cassarae''s ind.


    This time, despite his thievery, he found himself being quite luckypared to his first stint across the ocean. At least this time, there were no raging storms. And maybe, because the Basilisk King was so powerful andrge now, there were no attacks they suffered... at least not yet.


    Ss knew that the underwater Portal wasing up. The creatures here would certainly be attracted by it. Unfortunately, that wasn''t all either.


    Back in his Woond Territory, he had shot Cassarae a message, so he had a general understanding of what was going on here, and it couldn''t be said to be the best.


    His spections about there being a traitor in the Terranova government were bearing out. The System City was growing stronger, and it wasn''t just because of Level increases.


    A System City would always maintain a certain number of Levels above the citizenry of a world. However, they would remain capped at Level 50 for a while. Ss wasn''t sure just yet what would allow them the chance to break into E-Grade, but he knew that the moment they did, a lot of things would be far more difficult to manage.


    That aside, the main issue this time wasn''t the City Lord of Guiz, but rather therge number of humans joining.


    After Cassarae mentioned it, they both agreed that this was far from normal.


    Ss had been to several System Cities now, and not only had a poption of humans as thriving as Guiz City''s.


    Usually, those that had to rely on System Cities, to begin with, weren''t very powerful. System Cities were, by definition, crutches.


    Using them from time to time, especially when you could pay for their more premium services, was good. But it was the sign of someone poorly adjusting to this current world if they relied on it too heavily.


    That was to say that the most powerful of Earth''s warriors almost always had their own organizations, own cities, or own backers to rely on outside of System Cities.


    Ss actually felt that this was a push by the system. It tended to reward those that did things on their own, so that was where the strong would gravitate.


    This made sense. If the system was aware that the System Cities were tampered with, it was in its best interest to guide Humans toward other opportunities.


    That meant that if the reverse was happening...


    Someone was putting their thumb on the scale again.


    This would be fine under usual circumstances. After all, Ss was a noble of Guiz, a Baron to be precise. The power he had over the city should supersede most...


    Unfortunately, therein lied the problem.


    He was no longer the highest-ranked noble of Guiz. Well, that had always been the case, but now he was no longer the highest-ranked non-spawned Human.


    The good news was that Cassarae hadn''t just been sitting on her hands. She had improved her own Noble Title to Viscount, and this gave her a level ying field. But there was one other Viscount to contend with, and though this person hadn''t bared their fangs, the undercurrents spoke for themselves.


    ...


    Ss stepped foot onto the ind Cassarae''s Portal rested on, but this time, rather than wild beasts, he had actually been greeted by a patrolling unit.


    He couldn''t help but nod inwardly. Cassarae had done well.


    The ind was no longer easy to step on. It was surrounded by mutated Sperm Whales spawned from the Den. Although Ss didn''t get a clear look at any one of them, even his current self still felt some threat from them, albeit a very small one.


    On the ind itself, the Rotten Wolves were under far more control as well and directly led by militiamen with dark auras around them.


    This time, there was no odd urrence like there was the previous time. It seemed that Cassarae had reined in Gregory''s influence quite a bit as well.


    She was a firecracker, but she had already shown potential in leading a city. It was just unfortunate that her Luck was so bad.


    Ss had wanted to get the ne from Lauren for her... but he knew that with the time dtion, Lauren and the three monarchs would be dyed for several more months. He couldn''t just wait around in the Africor Continent for them.


    ''It doesn''t matter. However bad her Luck is, I will offset it with my presence.''


    Ss walked forward under the escort of the guards with calm strides. They entered the Portal and found Cassarae waiting with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face. By her side, Olivia was grinning wildly as though she was waiting to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.


    As for Ss... he didn''t seem to notice any of this.


    His lips curled into a genuine smile, and his eyes softened somewhat. She was just as beautiful as always. No amount of leather armor could hide that proud figure, and no amount of raging fury could change the cool blue of her irises.


    Cassarae''s pupils trembled before she forcefully controlled herself.


    "What are you doing grinning at me like that for? Do you think I don''t know what you''ve been


    up to?"


    Cole and the others were in a bit of a daze. Not one of them had ever seen Ss smile, so they didn''t even quite register Cassarae''s words.


    "Hm?" Ss mumbled, not quite understanding.


    Cassarae''s re shifted from Ss over to Tasia.


    Ss'' lip quivered a bit. He hadn''t even done anything with Tasia. Plus, how could Cassarae


    even know anything about it?


    Last time they spoke, she had also been doing fine, too. So why was she mad now all of a sudden? What could have happened between then and now?


    Olivia giggled and fluttered over to Ss'' side like a little butterfly before sharing something


    from her notification screen.


    Ss looked at it for a moment and shook his head.


    When did the Nexus'' start getting sensationalized headlines? He hadn''t even done anything


    wrong here.


    **The Mysterious Grimde! How did Tasia Win his Heart?? And the Auction of the Century!**


    Ss thought it was over before Olivia flipped the screen and another headline appeared.


    **Trouble in Grimde Paradise?! News of a Secret Mistress and Tasia''s Struggle for a Noble Title!**


    Ss'' eyes narrowed because he immediately realized that this headline wasn''t about


    Cassarae. It was about Nosphaleen.


    But who could have known that he gave Nosphaleen a Noble Title in the Woond System City? And why would they choose to use that knowledge like this?


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 674: Interesting

    Chapter 674: Interesting


    ?


    Ss stood lost in thought for a while. He didn''t take the jealousy very seriously, nor did he waste any time on it.


    "Who wrote these articles?" Ss finally asked. "Do they have a public-facing persona?"


    Olivia blinked. "You... why are you asking that?"


    She half expected that Ss wanted to find them and kill them. Although this might be a little annoying, it wasn''t worth killing someone over, right? She wouldn''t want what was ultimately just a little joke on her part to end so badly for someone clearly just trying to make a living.


    This was the era of the Summoning and there was no longer so-called "freedom of the press." And Ss had certainly made his stance on such things quite clear. He wouldn''t mind killing if it suited him.


    But that didn''t mean that she would feel any lessfortable.


    Ss ignored Olivia''s question and looked to Cassarae, whose own expression had already changed into something more serious.


    "No one knows." She replied.


    "These sensationalized headlines, are they only about me?"


    "No, there''ve been others."


    "How many? For how long? And what about?"


    "Many things, but mostly about the hidden families like the Grimdes."


    Ss nodded. He had thought as much since they kept calling him by hisst name. Clearly, there was a pattern here that this "journalist" was using.


    "In that case, this person is almost certainly from the governments. Let me see the other headlines."


    Cassarae obliged and soon Ss was seeing things about anything from affairs to more nd topics like critiquing fashion choices.


    But there was one thing that lined up with them all...


    All of this alluded to information that shouldn''t even be remotely possible to gather given the current circumstances of the world. This was more than just a red g, it was a ring warning siren.


    And Ss had a feeling that whoever was on the other side wanted to hide their cards and y them too.


    This was a silent warning. They were informing the powers that be that they were watching and they were capable. At the same time, they were dulling the halo effect that these hidden powers had over the world.


    And that obviously benefited one power the most...


    The government.


    The people had to know who the top dog was, and even if it was just subconsciously, the more they saw these headlines, the less seriously they would take these hidden powers, treating the likes of Ss and the others like mere celebrities.


    This would concentrate the power and authority back into the hands of the government.


    It was a fascinating chess move, but more importantly than that... it required a shockingly powerful Profession to pull off.


    "What are you thinking?" Cassarae asked.


    "Pay attention to these headlines. They''ll be useful."


    Olivia looked back and forth between these two and felt like she had be a third wheel again. The only good news was that everyone else seemed lost as well.


    These two were impossible to read. One would think they had the ability to read one another''s mind.


    And then that illusion shattered.


    "Oh, so you''re saying these headlines actually have some validity to them, huh?" Cassarae asked with a dangerous smile.


    "Somewhat, but not for the reasons you''re thinking." Ss replied in a casual tone.


    "Is that so? What am I thinking, then?"


    Ss looked up from his thoughts and into Cassarae''s eyes. "You look nice today."


    "Is that your way of trying to distract me?"


    "I''d say you''re the one distracting me instead."


    "Fuck, you really have been two-timing me. You were never such a smooth talker."


    "I think we both know that''s a lie. Also, two-timing?" Ss questioned with an arch of his eyebrow. He took a step forward and loomed over Cassarae, his gaze jumping between her eyes. "Isn''t that something I could only do if you said yes?"


    As usual, Cassarae had no intention of backing down. She crossed her arms over her chest, ring up at him.


    "Don''t get lost in your little fantasies."


    "Then how am I two-timing you?"


    "If I say you''re doing it, then you are. You can''t even keep it in your pants for long enough to pursue me properly."


    "Those sound like the words a wife would use. The position is open."


    "You''re such an arrogant bastard."


    "And you''re gorgeous. I would say when you''re angry, but when are you ever not?"


    "Unbelievable."


    Cassarae was rendered speechless once more. When Ss decided that he wanted to be shameless, she really couldn''t do much to him.


    She turned on her heel and walked away. Ss casually followed after as though it was only natural he do so.


    A silence was left hanging in the air after the two disappeared, most not knowing what to make of the situation.


    Olivia looked over toward Morgan, who seemed fascinated by what he had just seen as well.


    "First time?" Olivia asked.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Morgan blinked, looking over in confusion. "What do you mean?"


    Olivia patted his shoulder. "You''ll get used to it."


    Morgan was still confused, but Olivia had already moved onto the family of three.


    "Oh look, who brought this adorable kid?"


    Jake suddenly didn''t know where to look. Kid? He was 17 years old!


    Olivia giggled. Finally, someone she could tease. Ss was too insufferable, and everyone


    else was too old and mature. They were no fun at all.


    "Alright,e,e. We have amodations. I assume the two annoying lovebirds forgot that they have work to do and left me to do all the heavy lifting again."


    Olivia took charge of the situation and began to lead them toward their amodations. Morgan, though, still seemed lost in his thoughts, endlessly fascinated by the interaction he had just seen. Ss was truly an anomaly the likes of which he couldn''t quite wrap his mind around despite all his experience.


    Yet, oddly enough, Cassarae, who was so unlike him they couldn''t even be called direct opposites, seemedpletely in tune with his thought process.


    There was something very interesting going on here...

 Chapter 675: Warm

    Chapter 675: Warm


    ?


    Ss walked into Cassarae''s after her and closed the door. He took a seat on a couch, looking around casually.


    As expected, the City Lord''s mansion had grown considerably once more. It still wasn''t asrge as the functional castles and pces of the System Cities, but it was already at a size that would have taken a sizable fortune to build back before the Summoning.


    He cast a nce outside the windows and found that the city had also grown muchrger. But he could also see the problems at a nce.


    For one... the line of trees that had once been there were no longer present.


    Cassarae hadn''t really set her city up in the best location. It was in the middle of a swampynd and its foundation wasn''t the best. However, it had excellent soil for farming and there was room to expand. In addition, there was natural protection.


    Ss didn''t believe that Cassarae had just cut all the trees down because she could. It was more likely than not that this deforestation was rted to the saltwater pouring in from the portal in the skies.


    It seemed that he was going to have to find a way to close it as soon as possible. But... the damage also likely seemed to be done. With this much salt invading a region it wasn''t meant to be in, it was bound to happen.


    Unfortunately, Ss didn''t know of an easy way to fix something like this, and Cassarae herself also had her hands tied.


    The thing was that the less the people in this region could rely on the natural resources hanging around them, the more they would have to invest in the System Cities, and the cycle would continue.


    It seemed that all of these ns were feeding into one goal.


    Cassarae took a seat behind her desk, leaning back in her chair and giving Ss an annoyed look. But it was the kind of look Ss could easily tell would be several degrees more annoyed had he not followed her.


    "What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Cassarae asked.


    "What are you referring to?"


    Cassarae pulled a drawer open and tossed several documents onto the table. Ss couldn''t see them from this vantage point, but his visualization could.


    Warrants. All of them for his arrest. One from the Celestial Republic. Another from the Africor Continent. And thest, oddly enough... was from Eurpeia.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. Why would Eurpeia be targeting him?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Celestial Republic made enough sense. He had killed one of their top Generals. The Africor Continent made a little less sense than that, especially since he had never interacted with any of their monarchs personally, but it was easy enough to understand why they might have it out for him.


    What Ss didn''t understand was Eurpeia.


    ''It can''t have something to do with Cole and his family, could it?''


    Ss knew that Cole was wanted by the Eurpeia government. That was why they had crossed the waters separating the two behemoth-sizednds to escape into the Africor Continent.


    But that once again left the question...


    How could they possibly know that?


    He had met Cole inside of the Mountain of Giza. Since then, the only thing they had done after leaving was travel. He hadn''t even gotten involved in any conflict.


    Ss suddenly realized something at that moment.


    He couldn''t dy it any longer.


    He had to return to the Grimde family.


    Now.


    Suddenly, Ss stood and Cassarae''s expression became more serious. She could feel the shifts in Ss'' emotions more clearly than even his own parents could.


    "That''s the face you make when you''re about to do something stupid."


    "There''s a family of three and a young man living in Lone Star. I''ll give you their address. I''m not sure if they''re still there or not because I''ve left them for a long while, but the mother of the family was a high-priority target of Legacy in the past. She''s very important to us making certain advancements, now more than ever. So it''s worth the investment to go and get them." "Okay." Cassarae nodded. She didn''t feel the need to ask questions about it.


    Ss already expected this, so his thoughts were already being expended on other matters. Originally, he didn''t know how he would make use of Professor Fembroise''s expertise. But after finding that Quest City, he knew that there wouldn''t be anyone better than her to run the sswright Breeding Facility.


    Ss'' lips parted and then he began to speak about several things, alerting Cassarae to matters she might not be aware of before transferring an entire half a billion F Coins.


    "Are you trying to buy my affection?" Cassarae asked.


    "Is it working?"


    "Not in the slightest bit. I''m very expensive." Cassarae said with azy smile. "Then you wouldn''t be upset if I told you I have more than two billion left over?" Cassarae gave him a speechless nce. By now, the capital her father and the Memory Merchant raised, along with her city, was quite substantial. Easily in the millions a day.


    But they were working on a scale that a single person like Ss shouldn''t be able to match. And yet, this half a billion was more than they would earn in three months. How could he possibly manage to have so much more?


    Still, her surprise was one thing, her sharp tongue was another.


    "What? Are you saving them for your other mistresses?"


    "Other?" Ss asked with a subtle curl of his lip. But Cassarae only stared back at him as though he hadn''t asked anything at all, so he continued as though nothing was said, too.


    "I will also need the Basilisk Skin Armor back now."


    Cassarae nodded, standing to her feet.


    What happened next made Ss question if he still wanted to be so arrogant around this


    woman.


    Cassarae strolled to the curtains and closed them. Then with her back facing Ss, she began to peel her armor off.


    Her hair fell in a ck stream, covering much of her back. Even when there was nothing but the skin-tight Basilisk Skin Armor left, and she began to peel that off of her as well, it continued to do so, tantalizing Ss'' imagination.


    Cassarae wiggled her hips, slipping the skin armor down the curve of her waist and bending over to nearly touch her ankles. Ss could just barely see the side of her breasts as they swayed to the side, their arc jiggling into sight for the faintest moment before her back and


    hair hid them once more.


    Unfortunately... her chair was in the way of the only sight her hair couldn''t hide. Ss could just barely see the arch of something soft and plump before there was a swiveling patch of ck cushion that blocked the rest of his view.


    Cassarae stood to her full height, still not looking back as she carefully folded the armor and slipped her other clothes and armor back on. Then she turned and walked to Ss who was


    still standing in the same spot, staring at her with burning eyes.


    She handed him the bundle of neatly folded ck and smiled.


    "I kept it warm for you. You''re wee."


    And warm it was. Ss could practically feel the pulsing heat of the armor piercing into the


    palm that held it.

 Chapter 676: Win (1)

    Chapter 676: Win (1)


    ?


    Ss looked down at the Basilisk Skin Armor and shook his head. He had to admit, that ever since they were young, Cassarae had always been good at this sort of thing. Teasing him, that is. Even if she couldn''t win a battle of words-which was certainly not a given considering her sharp tongue-she had plenty of other ways to win.


    Looking away from it finally, he found Cassarae''s triumphant gaze. It really didn''t matter what he said at this point, the winner of this round was quite obvious.


    If she could just keep doing this, maybe he would never win at all.


    But then again, Ss wasn''t one to keep taking losses.


    He directly sent over another 500 million F-Coins.


    "Just a little tip for the show."


    Cassarae was so stunned her eyes opened wide. It looked for a moment like her tongue might fall out of her mouth.


    "You cheeky little... SYLAS BROWN! Do you think I''m some stripper?!"


    Ss blinked in confusion as though he waspletely innocent.


    "Aren''t you? Something something wheelchairs and baby arms?"


    Cassarae froze as she vaguely remembered saying something like that when her parents were around. She didn''t remember half of that rant because she had just been spewing any bullshit she could think of that would piss Ss off, but then he ended up saying that line about killing anyone who stood in his way and she didn''t even know how to reply to that.


    "You son of a bitch, you know that-!" Cassarae stopped talking as she realized she had just fallen into a trap.


    "I know what, now?" Ss asked.


    Cassarae grit her teeth. She looked like she wanted to peel ayer of skin off Ss'' face. This bastard was really starting to get on herst nerve.


    "I didn''t get paid to do any of that," she said through grinding teeth. "I did it of my own free will. A girl has needs."


    She was too angry to sound very convincing at all. And how could she feel any other way? It felt like she was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. It waspletely infuriating.


    "In that case, my apologies. Just take it as a token of appreciation, then. I can see that you''re not used to this. Could it be that they didn''t know your worth?"


    Cassarae was gritting her teeth so hard the grinding practically echoed.


    "Keep talking like that and I''ll snip your balls off."


    Ss only smiled and didn''t reply. That was enough teasing for today.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Protect yourself. How is your affinity with ice?"


    Cassarae snarled in reply, but Ss understood that that meant that it wasn''t very good, so he dismissed the idea of giving her the Frostbane Armor that Nosphaleen was currently wearing.


    It should be fine. It was impossible to buy an armor of this caliber even with a billion F-Coins, but the amount he had given her should be more than enough for her to protect herself.


    Ss was about to turn to leave when Cassarae''s hand suddenly shot forward and caught the Madness Key around his neck.


    She was quite fast, strong too. Ss was pretty sure that she was still Level o, but unlike his stats that were more skewed toward his Mental abilities, hers were heavily ced into Physical. Without the Basilisk King, her Strength stat superseded his own by quite a margin. Ss, her actions were well within Ss'' capabilities to react to, and with how fast his Fusion with the Basilisk King was, he could easilyplete it before her hand evennded.


    But...


    Cassarae tugged him forward forcefully, nting her lips on his own.


    Ss was caught halfway between amused and stunned, but before he could process things, Cassarae had already pulled away.


    Her hand was still on his Madness key, her breathing a bit heavy as though she was trying to process her own actions as well. But none of that stopped her from ring at Ss like he still owed her more money.


    Even pulled apart, their noses were still practically touching.


    "Don''t ask." She said with an oddly calm voice. "Like I said, I do as I please, whenever I please."


    "Some would call that sexual assault." Ss replied.


    "And what are you going to do about it?"


    Ss'' hand rose and it looked like he was about to grab Cassarae''s waist. She red back at him, clearly not nning on backing down in the slightest.


    A part of her mind already knew that she had fallen over the cliff''s edge. This was precisely what she was worried about. She was far too attracted to this man in ways she wasn''t able to exin.


    He was able to deal with all of her bullshit, and he was so effortlessly confident. Ironically, it was because they had been separated for so long that she knew the world didn''t have a second Ss Brown.


    It was only a matter of time before she lost control of herself exactly like this one.


    She sighed inwardly. She really didn''t know if she could resist anymore today, not because Ss was too strong... but she simply couldn''t find it in her to do so.


    However, the hand that she was expecting to wrap around her caught her wrist instead, carefully peeling her fingers off of the Madness Key.


    Cassarae was stunned once again, not quite knowing what to do or say.


    "I''m not sure why you''re so apprehensive around me. It feels like you''re trying too hard,"


    Ss said calmly. "But you figure that out first. I''ll be going now."


    Ss turned and left, leaving Cassarae in silence. She didn''t say or even think anything for a long while before the sound of her gritting teeth began to echo once again.


    Maybe what made this the most annoying was that Ss hadn''t done that to "win" a petty war between them, he actually felt that way. And that left her unable to shrug it off like she usually would.

 Chapter 677: Win (2)

    Chapter 677: Win (2)


    ?


    Even hourster, Cassarae found herself distracted and frustrated. Every few minutes, she would think of something else that made her grind her teeth in anger.


    ''What do you mean you''re not sure, you fucking bastard?! I''m trying too hard?! TOO HARD?!?!?!


    It felt like she had been broken up with again, which was an odd feeling considering Ss was the one pursuing her so vehemently, so why did it still feel like he was in control of everything?


    How could he not "be sure"? He was the one who broke up with her back then after she gave him everything. He was the one who didn''t even bother to reach out after 10 years. He was the one who strolled back into her life talking about murdering men she might have been with.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It was all so infuriating. She was certain that she had lost severalyers off her teeth by now. She practically stomped into a meeting with Gregory, her hair dancing behind her in the humid air.


    The humidity these days was far worse than it had been in the past, and the air was particrly salty. The oddbination had been causing problems for a while; some of the people of the vige were struggling with their skin drying out and such.


    On Earth, the easy solution would just be lotion. But in a vige like this one cut off from normal supplies, even the basics couldn''t be taken for granted.


    They had barely fixed the salty water problem from the wells, but they now had to set up logistics for a whole host of things that they wouldn''t normally need to care for.


    Getting a steady supply of lotion and adjusting the amount of water people would need on a daily basis were just two things on her te.


    When Cassarae entered the meeting room, though, she was instantly even further annoyed. That was because Gregory wasn''t the only annoyance here. There were two other Summons here to add to the festivities and annoyances.


    She didn''t know why her luck was so bad, but she just kept getting shitheads.


    One was a woman whose breasts were practically popping out of the dress she wore. She practically had every man in the vige drooling over her, and even Cassarae''s poor father had been stuck in the dog house for a few weeks after looking for a few extra seconds too long.


    Cassarae didn''t even me her father, though. The woman didn''t even have the decency to wear a bra. If you had a B or C cup, maybe that would be fine. But she was swinging around those melons everywhere she went in a damned thin sundress.


    This woman was none other than Mathilda.


    After Ss gave Cassarae the Gene Elixir Form, Cassarae had to summon an alchemist, and that alchemist was none other than Mathilda.


    Unfortunately, the sway an alchemist could have in this vige was especially heavy. She didn''t have any direct power, but after she seemed to form an alliance with Gregory, that changed.


    Gregory was just a steward, and suppressing him after gaining Ss'' support wasn''t that difficult. That was because after Cassarae managed to keep Maya, the seamstress, happy, Gregory lost his support... only to rece it with Mathilda and the second person here...


    The third summon was a man wreathed in darkness, and officially, he was a Military Official. He was the product of one of Cassarae''s rewards for the Bronze Leg of her ss Quest. The reason Ss had seen those liches, necromancer look-alikes, was because of this man right here, Veron.


    Veron was ssified as a Drill Sergeant. This was a branch of the teaching Profession that allowed him to give out Quasi sses and awaken the potential of those here.


    Thanks to him, Castle Main was able to make use of their Rotten Wolf Dens with greater ease. Between Gregory, Veron, and Mathilda, the hold they had on the vige was exceptional. If not for the fact Cassarae''s father and the Memory Merchant were responsible for all the flow of money in the vige, and Cassarae herself was the strongestbatant of that vige, this would already be a lost cause.


    "This is a meeting the two of you were not invited to," Cassarae said with an oddly calm voice.


    Mathilda flinched, Cassarae''s aura making her feel true fear. Even Veron was apprehensive, let alone her.


    "Apologies, City Lady. It was I who invited them. I thought it would be important for them to be here."


    The other nobles in the room remained as silent asmbs, not daring to even breathe too lightly.


    "Is that so? Please exin."


    "Yes, of course. Right away," Gregory nodded quickly, his respectful expression making it seem like Cassarae was being cruel without cause or reason.


    Cassarae was already quite used to this. It used to make her angry, but when shepared Gregory''s methods to Ss''... he felt far too inferior for her to care very much.


    But she knew that Ss wasn''t here to cover for her. Gregory had been slowly weaving his way into the depths of her vige for a long while now, and that was despite the fact she had been on her guard from the very start.


    This man might not be Ss, but he was dangerous. And the more time passed, the harder it was for Cassarae to justify killing him. Plus... the penalties that came with doing so were


    steep.


    "As you know, City Lady, thend is bing unfarmable, and the amount of investment we have to put toward desalinating the water is growing steeper every day between drinking, cooking, and bathing water. That only grows worse as the poption grows.


    "Mathilda here cannot get the raw materials she needs to push the alchemy division the way she believes could help bolster the vige. And as the census showed, the increase to living satisfaction thanks to Mathilda had been through the roof. It''s what keeps the dissatisfaction due to low-quality food and the Rotten Wolves down. They go hand in hand.


    "I was speaking of these troubles with General Veron and we believe that... the best solution is to expand our territory and start a discement n.


    "So long as the above-ground portal is open to the ocean, staying here long-term isn''t


    viable."


    "You want to dere war on Guiz City?" Cassarae asked, the sneering contempt in her heart


    boiling over.

 Chapter 678: Schemes [Bonus]

    Chapter 678: Schemes [Bonus]


    ?


    Nothing Gregory had said seemed to suggest dering war on Guiz City. What did a discement n have to do with that? But everyone here knew the context well.


    Veron had been pushing for an assault on Guiz City for over a month now. That was because Guiz City, ording to their intelligence reports, had both covertly and overtly been suppressing them in many ways.


    This wasn''t just through their businesses, but also by using their soldiers to coincidentally choke off their path toward natural resources.


    By systematically handing out missions that took ce in regions of interest, Guiz City was able to stop Cassarae from iming most of the resources in the region.


    The main issue was that they were using the Human poption to do it, and they had a huge advantage. After all, it had to be remembered that the System Cities had a bird''s eye view of the entire Territory. They knew where Dungeons, open-pit mines, and various other precious resources appeared long before Cassarae did.


    And then, they would release the information to the Humans that called the System City home. Thanks to that, they didn''t even have to fight themselves.


    If Cassarae was uncareful, her vige would end up overrun by the Humans of Earth. Most of them weren''t powerful, but they had shocking numbers, easily in the tens of thousands. And among them, there were some truly fearsome characters, including the one other Viscount outside of Cassarae.


    This was why starting a war was so foolish. City Lord Guiz would definitely find methods of agitating the poption to fight against them.


    In fact, he wouldn''t even have to do much. If they thought Cassarae was trying to im the city for herself, they would be livid like the Humans of the Woond Territory had been.


    The difference was that the Woond Territory hadn''t had a systematic effort to increase the poption of Humans in the region, and... Ss had had absolute power. Something Cassarae did not have.


    All of that proved why it was an idiotic idea she had firmly rejected, but it didn''t exin what the corrtion was here. But Gregory would surely have his own little spin.


    "That is but a certainty. You know as well as I do, City Lady, that discement will not be easy. The City Stele cannot be moved without losing a great amount of Experience. In addition, all of the buildings will have to be rebuilt at a significant cost.


    "Just picking up and leaving will do more harm to us than good. In addition, City Lady''s father has done us a great service in gathering as much capital as he had, but the portion of sir''s business in Guiz City is over 60% as we''ve had difficulty building trading routes elsewhere. "If we just move away from Guiz City, we''ll lose key ess to our wealth.


    "The only way to mitigate these losses is by preparing a rainy day fund, and with all our expenses, there''s no way to do that any way other than war.


    "Everyone saw personally just how much our wealth spikes after taking over The Enve. Unfortunately, back then the City Lady made the decision to sacrifice the City Stele in order to help upgrade our own vige. That was the right decision back then, but now..."


    Cassarae was entirely deadpan.


    Her decision?


    Back then, it was because Gregory lobbied for it that the City Stele was sacrificed.


    She had ultimately decided to fight other battles during that time, so she had let him win that since she had no use for the City Stele. After all, she already had too much to manage, and giving the City Stele over to their own had given a huge boost to their level.


    Because of that decision, they had gone from Grade 1 Common Vige all the way to Grade 7 Common Vige in such a short time. They were soon to upgrade to Grade 8, and would be just on the cusp of bing an Elite Vige.


    Normally, Cassarae wouldpletely lose her temper, but she just continued to listen.


    "..."


    .." Gregory sighed. "... In addition, although a migration is definitely the right move, because Guiz City has shown such antagonism toward us, will they let us leave even if we are willing to eat such losses? They will almost certainly attack while we are vulnerable. They have been angling to do so for a long while already. It''s the smartest decision to make a pre- emptive strike to deal with them in one go.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "It would be like killing several birds with a single stone. There is no escaping this." Cassarae stood at the door, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable. However, any person could see that she was once again being driven into a corner.


    Gregory''s arguments were sound, even if he had been shifting the puzzle pieces on the board all this time to force this.


    Ultimately, the saltwater was the biggest issue... and there was simply no easy solution for it. However... how could this war possibly be won? Setting aside the fact that City Lord Guiz would have the strength of a Quasi King Beast within City Limits, the Generals of Guiz City would already be upward of Level 40 by now, and there would be ten of them, not to mention thousands of other Level 30s under their charge.


    And none of that even counted the Humans.


    It was a suicide mission.


    But what was she supposed to say? That they had no chance of winning at all? What would that do to the vige''s morale when they felt the only other option was to stay here until they were eventually starved to death?


    As for why Gregory and the others would want them to take this path despite knowing better... well, that story wrote itself.


    These days, Cassarae was realizing more and more every day just how right Ss had been.


    And the worst part?


    Every self-created city across Earth was likely dealing with the very same thing.

 Chapter 679: Grasping Opportunity [Bonus]

    Chapter 679: Grasping Opportunity [Bonus]


    ?


    Cassarae left the meeting with a headache, having sessfully held things off. However, she could feel that she wouldn''t be able to dy this for much longer. She needed a solution.


    The obvious choice seemed to be to allow it. Ultimately, those three were the main problem. The other spawns seemed much more normal. If they weren''t, there wouldn''t be a point to Gregory doing all of this. He would just get them all to directly rebel.


    In that case, there was still a chance to win this war so long as she kept those three at arm''s length from anything important. And while doing so, she would be able to clear the Silver Leg of her ss Quest as well by making Guiz City her cult.


    But all of that was easier said than done.


    ''Fuck you, Ss Brown. If you''re going to give me ass pain like this, can''t it be from pounding me? At least you''d be worth the headache then.''


    Pining after a man who wasn''t even giving what Olivia would call "Mtonin Dick" was so high school freshman of her.


    She entered her office and closed the door, exhaling a breath.


    However, she had barely settled down when a knock came from the door. She was half a second from throwing her entire desk at the wall. It was made of a heavy wood, but she certainly could manage it with her current strength.


    Luckily, she managed to restrain herself.


    "Come in."


    Cassarae raised an eyebrow when she saw that it was actually Tasia.


    The woman carefully closed the door behind her after double-checking that she wasn''t being followed.


    "Do you mind if I sit?" Tasia asked.


    "Go ahead." Cassarae nodded, observing Tasia silently.


    Tasia smiled brightly. "You''re more easygoing than I thought you would be."


    Cassarae almostughed. She was quite good at reading people and she got a beat on Tasia immediately.


    "You don''t need to butter me up. I won''t eat you."


    "I understand." Tasia nodded with surprising seriousness. "Originally, I was worried because of the headlines and the rumors. I know how this sort of thing goes."


    Cassarae smiled. "I won''t hang you by your tits so long as you know that my man is off limits."


    Tasia almost jumped in her chair before she cleared her throat. Alright, maybe she shouldn''te clean about everything.


    This time, Cassarae didugh. That was the first genuine reaction Tasia had had since she came in here. Everything else was perfectly curated.


    She had seen women like this before, women that could be Oscar-worthy actors. There was nothing they did that wasn''t a form of maniption.


    Oddly enough, though... Cassarae seemed far more resistant to Tasia''s charm than Ss had been.


    "So what did youe here for?"


    Tasiaposed herself. "Ss originally wanted me to be your recement steward, but after being around here for a day, it feels like that transition will be harder than it seems."


    Cassarae nodded, bing more serious as well. Since this was something Ss wanted, she was already open to Tasia.


    Tasia had already proven her worth through those auctions as well. Even without Ss, she would have Cassarae''s ear.


    "I can definitely help you rein in the situation in the vige. But I''m still only one person, and I feel like you might need me somewhere else more."


    "And that would be?"


    "Guiz City."


    Cassarae''s blue eyes sparkled.


    It seemed that Ss'' foresight had won out again. He didn''t even give Tasia any instructions before he left because he knew exactly how this would y out.


    If nothing else... Tasia was a woman who knew how to seek out her own opportunities.


    **


    Ss stood across from Nosphaleen. The wind whipped against their faces as the peacock soared across the skies, cutting through the night sky.


    First, she was shocked that she was Level 9. This was the first time she had improved in so long it almost brought tears to her eyes. But before she could even deal with those emotions, Ss handed her the Lineal Inheritance.


    She held the crystal in both hands like it was the most precious thing in the world.


    "How is it?" Ss asked.


    He still didn''t know what epting the Inheritance required, or how much time it would be. He was also reluctant to lose Nosphaleen''s help now that he was returning to the Grimdes. But by the same token, he wanted her to be stronger precisely because of that.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The shortest path to rapid improvement for him was none other than Nosphaleen.


    The sirith would be awake in another three to four days. Ss had used what remained of his Free Experience to level up One Kind For Me just one more time, halving the time it needed. But he didn''t have enough for another.


    It was a gamble taking Nosphaleen out, because the cancer Gene had finally copsed. He wouldn''t be able to use it to put her back in the Hibernation Realm any longer. So if this didn''t work out, he would have to eithere with Nosphaleen out in the open, or he would have to leave her behind.


    Both woulde with their own sets of issues.


    "I..." Nosphaleen still seemed to be in a bit of a daze. Eventually, she managed topose herself. "I will need to enter andplete a series of tests. I have no idea how long it would take, but it is in stages. So I should theoretically be able toplete them piece by piece." Ss thought about it for a long while, even closing his eyes to specte for a moment. "Alright. Go. Is there anything you can bring with you?"


    Nosphaleen practically jumped with excitement. "I don''t think so."


    Ss stopped Nosphaleen just as she was about to trigger it.


    "Here."


    After some thought, Ss realized that Nosphaleen needed some sort of advantage. And for that... he settled on Ithkuil.


    Nosphaleen wasn''t a true Mesmeryx, so the Lineal Inheritance would be looking for reasons


    to reject her.


    To bridge that gap... he would distill his insights into the path of the Mesmeryx to her in


    language form.


    What he didn''t expect was just how profound an effect this had on Nosphaleen.

 Chapter 680: Fourth [Bonus]

    Chapter 680: Fourth [Bonus]


    ?


    Ssposed himself for a moment before he began to speak. But rather than wordsing from his mouth, the echoes of Ancient Ithkuiltched onto the Aether in the atmosphere and began to form one Rune after another.


    The change was shocking even to Ss, so much so that he suddenly stopped. It was only when he saw that Nosphaleen was in a daze that he realized he might have ruined that, and he quickly continued.


    Because of Insight, Ss''prehension of the Mesmeryx Serpentes Race was


    extraordinarily deep, so much so that he was easily the equivalent of a professor who hadpleted several graduate degrees in the field.


    All of that knowledge, though, was locked away deep within him and there was no easy way to share it with Nosphaleen.


    If he just spoke of it normally, he didn''t believe that this sort ofst-minute preparation would have any sort of helpfulness at all.


    However, when he tranted it to Ancient Ithkuil and began to speak out, it was like the entire world had changed.


    Nosphaleen''s blood stirred and her beautiful blue eyes became a much brighter shade, one that could match a night''s sky. And then it began to gain another mass of swirling colors... delicate pinks, gorgeous purples... they all swirled around until her pupils directly slit.


    Her Mesmeryx Beast Totem activated on its own, a pair of identical eyes appearing on her back. They were far weaker than Ss'' own Beast Totem, but Ss could still clearly feel that Nosphaleen would likely render most F-Grade Serpentes useless with her presence as well.


    As Nosphaleen fell into a deeper trance, Ss began to speak faster.


    He wasn''t used to speaking in anothernguage, and was relying heavily on <Madness Control> to change his cadence and inflections properly. But as he did so, he got more used to the process and the words flowed more smoothly.


    As a result, the Ancient Ithkuil symbols that formed became sharper and brighter, and Ss could feel that Nosphaleen was sinking into a further state of enlightenment.


    Nosphaleen''s Mesmeryx Totem, which had been at Common Mastery, suddenly leapt up, stabilizing itself at Bronze Mastery.


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He knew that Nosphaleen''s Mesmeryx Totem didn''te from her Bloodline, but rather her Comprehension.


    Much like everything else in this world, Comprehensions caused changes to the body directly. This was why without a special body, it was impossible to have more than one.


    In this case, Nosphaleen''s Comprehension had begun to subtly influence changes in her Race, which allowed her to be part Serpentes.


    Ss had thought of increasing Nosphaleen''s Comprehension in the past, thinking that this might allow her to be more easily recognized as a Serpentes and thus capable of bing one of his contracted beasts without the help of the cancer Gene...


    But he had no idea how to do that, maybe because Insight was still too low a level to help him in doing that.


    What he didn''t expect was to suddenly run into a chance here.


    Nosphaleen''s Comprehension broke into Silver Mastery.


    Realizing that this was an opportunity he didn''t want to miss, Ss began to focus, his words delving more deeply into the mysteries of the special Race.


    At some point, Ss expected that he would run out of things to say... but he had severely underestimated his Legendary Path Profession.


    Ss realized then that he spent far too much time waiting for Insight to trigger on its own, and not enough time actively trying to get it to trigger.


    He understood even more about the Mesmeryx than he could ever imagine, but it wasn''t just a random assortment of facts. He understood the very essence of the Race.


    His Insight Path Talent didn''t just give him a list of things he should know. It allowed him to intimately understand the Serpentes that was under his charge.


    And because of that, Ss was able to pick out the words of Ancient Ithkuil perfectly, tweaking them and carefully selecting the ones that gave the exact meaning he wanted.


    The Mesmeryx was a Race of Serpentes known for their beauty. Their scales varied in colors from light pinks to light blues and everything in between, forming a gradient across their bodies that mesmerized the masses.


    Their Charisma was especially strong, and because of that, they were rarely seen in the world. It was said often that even if a Mesmeryx appeared high in the skies, they would feel so one with the world that it would feel as though a mirage was passing by, almost like a mural painted into thews of the world.


    Their beauty wasn''t artificial... it was functional, a very part of their being and existence...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Nosphaleen''s Comprehension broke into Gold Mastery.


    The momentum of the breakthroughs was so strong that something Ss wasn''t expecting was happening right before his eyes.


    Could she really reach Legendary Mastery in a single bound?


    If he had a Serpentes Comprehension... just how fast would he be able to upgrade it?


    The delicate scales on Nosphaleen''s cheek grew in number and resplendency, a tail had begun to grow out from her skirt, shifting it out of position, and most shockingly of all...


    Wings.


    A pair of wings had begun to grow from her back, once again ruining her clothing.


    All Nosphaleen wore was a seal skin skirt and a band formed of a simr material across her chest. But with the changes to her body, it was impossible for these two fabrics to cover much


    of anything.


    However, Ss was far too focused on the final push. For some reason, he felt that if they lost this chance, it would be harder to get Nosphaleen to slip into this state of daze again.


    Luckily... it seemed that he had thought far too much.


    Nosphaleen''s Comprehension broke into Legendary Mastery.


    An aura of pink, blue, and violet rotated around her, her hair dancing in the wind as she looked


    off nkly into the distance.


    That was when Ss could feel that the change had crossed a threshold. Without hesitation, he made Nosphaleen his fourth contract.

 Chapter 681 Stir [Bonus]

    Chapter 681 Stir [Bonus]


    Ss felt a pain and heavinessing from his throat. He had only been speaking for an hour or so, and he didn''t believe that could be the cause. There must be a certain price to pay when he was speaking Ancient Ithkuil.


    However, it was all too easy to push this to the back of his mind because one of the biggest worries he had been carrying around with him all along had just been cleared.


    But more than that, he saw a path for the future.


    As far as he had seen until now, beasts didn''t have Comprehensions. But that might be because they didn''t have the blessings of the system necessary to trigger them.


    Nosphaleen might know of a method that allowed non-overlord Races to grasp Comprehensions, and if Ss could give his contracts such Comprehensions, he would have a path both to make them and their bloodlines stronger.


    Nosphaleen slowly awoke from her stupor, looking around in a daze.


    She subconsciously red out her wings and the harsh winds whipping by nearly sent her flying off the peacock''s back. Luckily for her, Ss quickly caught her wrist before she could.


    "You can go now." Ss nodded.


    Nosphaleen looked toward Ss with a grateful look as her confidence shot through the roof. Quite honestly, she had very much expected to die after entering, but she had nned to do so nheless.


    Nosphaleen felt like she was carrying a lot of burdens on her shoulders, all of which were rted to her Race and what remained of her family still stuck in captivity under the rule of the Sylphs¡­


    She was willing to do any and everything under Ss'' charge, so long as he gave her the chance for revenge. Even taking in that cancer Gene wasn''t even remotely her bottom line.


    But now¡­ what once was a faint hope actually shone quite bright.


    Nosphaleen couldn''t help herself as she hugged Ss tightly. She had already noticed that her clothing had been ripped apart, but the Clypsians had never been a prudish Race to begin with. She simply didn''t care.


    Ss let her do as she pleased until sheposed herself.


    "I''ll definitelye back." She said firmly.


    After that, her eyes zed over and her body went limp. Ss had to hurriedly catch her ability before his eyes sparkled with realization.


    ''If I put her in the Hibernation Realm¡­ would she gain time?''


    Ss shook his head. The Hibernation Realm could speed up recovery, but it wasn''t a time dtion as far as he knew. It was unlikely that things would work like that.


    ''Wait¡­ that doesn''t mean that it won''t be helpful. Nosphaleen sent her Will into the Lineal Inheritance. I''ve experienced that before and fatigue will be inevitable.


    ''But if her main body is in the Hibernation Realm, could it mean that she would have infinite stamina?''


    The only thing Ss was worried about was whether being in the Hibernation Realm might impact Nosphaleen''s trial. After all, the body of his contracts entered a state of limbo. If that impacted Nosphaleen''s mind, he could just end up wasting her time.


    ''Let''s try it.''


    Ss pulled Nosphaleen into his Hibernation Realm and observed for a while. A light sparked in his eyes as he nodded in satisfaction.


    As expected, there was no time dtion. But¡­ his n to give Nosphaleen infinite stamina seemed to be working. The Lineal Inheritance also hadn''t rejected his efforts.


    So long as Nosphaleen didn''t use more Will than the Hibernation Realm could replenish, she would never run out.


    However, the Hibernation Realm now had a recovery increase of +1,638,400%. Even Ss couldn''t burn through that much of his Mental stats so quickly.


    Ss looked off into the distance as harsh icy winds whipped around as he locked eyes with a familiarnd.


    The Grimdes were in the Appchians, a chain of mountains near the northeast of Terranova. As such, it was actually quite convenient to find an exit portal that was near them. The best one was locked away in the basement of Cassarae''s City Lord Mansion.


    Ss had long returned to Earth and was soaring at altitude. Snow-capped mountain ranges passed beneath him as he breathed in the cool air.


    Cardio was something that Ss had always liked to do, and runs on hiking paths were most definitely a guilty pleasure of his.


    Now it seemed that everything he did pretty much fit into that mold, so he hadn''t thought that he would miss it very much. But oddly enough, he felt the urge to have the peacock set him down so he could race across these icy hills.


    He wondered¡­ how far could he push this current body of his? How much did he have in the tank if he emptied itpletely?


    As he was lost in thought, the peacock suddenly red out its wings, swinging up and pping hard.


    Ss managed to stay on its back with an adjustment to his feet, looking out to see what the problem might be.


    ''A barrier¡­''


    Had the peacock kept going at this speed, it would have crashed headfirst and maybe even broken its neck. Ss was surprised by its sharp instincts, even he had missed this barrier.


    A part of that was because he was distracted and didn''t expect to find such a thing, but another reason was because it was so well hidden.


    Also, logically, there shouldn''t be such a thing here. After all, this was Earth, there was no Aether to rely on for the most part.


    Although that was changing as the Aether ne and Earth integrated more and more, there was still arge gap in Aether concentration between the two worlds. Certainly Earth didn''t have enough to form such arge-scale formation.


    As the peacock settled down, Ss was able to walk forward from its back and across its neck to reach out and touch the barrier.


    A ripple passed through and Ss felt a slight spark.


    ''It seems they''ve detected me.''


    Down below, still over a hundred kilometers away, the Grimdes began to stir.


    [Important announcement below]

 Chapter 682: Waves [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 682: Waves [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Ss didn''t seem to see the approach of the Grimdes; his focus was still on the formation. ''I see... they must have Aether Stone mines hidden somewhere within this mountain range. They''re drawing from them...''


    When Ss turned his attention back to the small squad rushing through the mountain toward his location, he was surprised to find that it was actually a familiar person leading them.


    Butler Joseph.


    The butler was the very man who had weed Ss and his family to the Grimdepound and even led them to their amodations, a location Ss'' family should be living in even now.


    Now, however, he looked far less like a posh butler and far more like an assassin weaving through the lines of trees.


    The group probably thought that they were well hidden, but they had no idea that their target was high above their heads. By the time they noticed the bird in the skies and the man that


    stood on its back, they were already within two kilometers.


    Their expressions changed.


    The distance was too far for them to get a clear look at Ss'' face. Even Ss himself only recognized Butler Joseph not through his face, but the cadence of his movement and his figure.


    The small elite group was shocked for a moment, but they were well trained and drilled on how to deal with every situation.


    Butler Joseph began to speak into what looked like amunication device and a shimmering sliver of light caught Ss'' attention.


    BANG!


    The echo of the sniper shot came toote. But the ring warning of Ss'' Luck did not.


    Ss'' head shifted to the side, a coldness blooming in his eyes.


    A sniper would usually aim for the chest, but with the peacock below him, they didn''t have the angle. It was also clear that this sniper was very confident in their abilities. If Ss didn''t move ahead of time, he would be dead.


    The heat whistled by his ear and blood trickled down from his lobe. His visualization couldn''t track the bullet at all, he had to rely on instinct purely.


    Realizing that this could be trouble, Ss'' mind flickered through several thoughts.


    The Aether in the region was too sparse. The next shot, after he managed to dodge, would certainly eithere from a closer location where even he wouldn''t be able to react, or it might target the peacock directly.


    Ss wasn''t very worried about the peacock dying. In its current form, it was practically immortal. For all intents and purposes, the peacock itself was already dead, and all that was left was the Symbiote.


    But that didn''t mean that it couldn''t be harmed and injured. If it lost the ability to fly, that would cause its own host of issues.


    Ss thought fast and he realized that the only solution was actually the formation in front of him.


    There was a sh in his eyes as the reflection of Runes danced within.


    His hand, still outstretched onto the barrier, suddenly shook with a pulse of his Will.


    The formation was powerful, but it was toorge and its centers of power were too far away.


    In addition, it was only forged with 30 Foundation Runes, impressive by normal standards, but all but worthless in front of Ss.


    BANG!


    The second echo came, and as Ss had deduced, it came for his peacock. However... BANG!


    A sh reverberated as the bullet rippled off of the barrier it had just once been able to pass clean through.


    Ss stood unmoving, watching as the bullet deformed, drilling against the barrier before it slowly fell to the ground.


    He hadn''t done much. After realizing that the formation could easily allow bullets to target him while he had no ability to pass through it, he just...


    Reversed it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now...


    Ss'' hand passed through the barrier like it wasn''t there at all.


    ''This takes quite a bit of effort.''


    Ss'' mind felt like it was tugging against a strong resistance band. The Runes he had manipted were twisted out of the locations they wanted to be in and had a tendency to want to flip back.


    That said, he could still easily expand the region and pass right through.


    He stood in silence, thinking for a moment as a third echo resounded for the same result. The bullet was stopped in its tracks, unable to harm either Ss or the peacock.


    The question was quite obvious...


    How much did he want to antagonize the Grimdes?


    If he passed through their formation and closed in on theirpound, it would no doubt be an act of antagonism. Right now, things could still be chalked up to a misunderstanding. But that was only if he chose to swallow the insult.


    That was just how things in the world went. Of course, things could be smoothed over if the little guy just rolled over.


    Ss, though... didn''t see himself as a little guy.


    That said, he also wasn''t someone who acted based on his emotions either.


    Ss'' lips parted and he spoke out with a booming voice.


    "I am Ss Grimde."


    The words passed through the formation and toward the mountain range. Using some of the Runes that formed and, Ss was able to project his voice so far and wide that the snow almost seemed to shake.


    And sure enough...


    There wasn''t a single Grimde in thepound that didn''t hear his voice.


    ...


    Lucius was sitting in his office when he heard the booming voice. There likely wasn''t a single person who hadn''t heard it.


    He looked up toward the windows, his eyes narrowing.


    Although he had known that this moment woulde, he didn''t expect that it would be right


    here and now.


    It seemed that he hadpletely misinterpreted the purpose of Ss'' visit. But whether he knew the real reason or not... the end result wouldn''t be changed much at all.


    Lucius stood to his feet, his expression calm.


    With his cousins not present, almost everything about the normal functioning of the family ran through him. He would go and see personally what sort of waves Ss could drum up.

 Chapter 683: Trigger Finger [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 683: Trigger Finger [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Hidden in the mountain range, a young man looked through the scope of a sniper rifle, his finger twitching slightly on the trigger. He had heard Ss'' words, but he didn''t lower his guard in the slightest. In fact, it looked like he was still trying to find an angle to shoot.


    But at that moment, Ss seemed to look over, his gaze piercing right through the scope. The young man subconsciously fired again.


    ...


    BANG!


    Ss frowned.


    He had already spoken out, but he still felt a danger locked onto him, so he hadn''t released his hold on the barrier. In fact, even if he hadn''t felt this danger, he wouldn''t have lowered his guard so easily.


    But he still didn''t expect a fourth shot to echo just as the echo of his own voice was still lingering in the air.


    Once again, the bullet rebounded against the barrier. But this time, faint cracks had begun to appear.


    The instant Ss saw this, his intention red.


    The peacock that had only been hovering in ce, pping only every so often, suddenly felt every fiber of its being flex. With a hard pulse of its wings, it shot out like an iron ball from a cannon, cutting a line straight across the skies.


    Another shot rang out, but Ss had already anticipated it. This sniper wasn''t using any special abilities. Likely using the unique environment provided by the barrier, the Grimdes were using modern weaponry.


    On the one hand, these weapons were still more powerful than anything the Summoning had produced just yet.


    But on the other...


    Theycked any sort of flexibility.


    Ss crouched on the back of the peacock as it barrel rolled through the skies, tucking its wings in tight and swerving out of the predictable path of the sniper.


    By now, the young sniper had already realized that it was toote to aim again. Ss was moving too fast, and lining up a shot in these conditions was impossible.


    He immediately stood, pulling a twin pair of pistols from his holster.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' eyes sharpened. He still didn''t have a clear line of sight to the sniper, and he obviously wasn''t in the 100-meter range of his visualization to pick him out, but by now, the faint streaks left by the bullets had appeared too many times.


    Ss'' visualization couldn''t track the bullets, but it could track their aftereffects, and that left him with an obvious line right to the exact location of the sniper.


    Without being able to see the sniper just yet, he had no way of seeing their exact actions. But he knew that any sniper worth their salt would already know lining up another shot was impossible. He didn''t know much about military affairs and weapons, but he had a general sense of timing.


    He also knew that if he flew in blind like this, he might find himself facing off against another rain of bullets... ones that he couldn''t dodge this time around.


    Judging by his calctions, a single sniper bullet had almost 10,000 Attack to it concentrated into a single point. Ss had no ability to block something like that.


    A normal bullet would be half that.


    But none of that would matter if Ss took the initiative.


    At that moment, three Explosive Bolts appeared a hundred meters from Ss just as his skin bloomed with ck scales and his Madness Comprehension bloomed.


    They ripped through the skies andnded in the region around the young sniper in what felt like the blink of an eye.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Snow, dirt, and rock erupted into the air.


    The young sniper was blown back by the impact, having managed to dodge the initial volley with ease, but remaining unprepared for the aftershock.


    To his credit, he recovered well, rolling back and onto his feet like a spring, and aiming his weapons forward.


    However, to his horror, he no longer had a line of sight on Ss. The air was filled with smoke and smog, and the heavy line of trees that had once been protecting him from Ss now protected Ss from him.


    SHUUUU!


    The young sniper''s head snapped in a certain direction as he opened fire, only for him to realize far toote that Ss was no longer on the back of the peacock.


    BANG!


    A powerful force mmed into the young sniper''s back, his head snapping forward with so much force that his vision spun.


    Ss hadn''t wanted to kill the sniper, so he hadn''t aimed for his head. But there was always a cost to ying around with mercy.


    The sniper, despite his dizzy state, spun while he was falling, turning both pistols toward Ss'' general vicinity.


    Still...


    Ss was ready.


    His tail whipped out, pping both arms to the side and shattering the bones that supported


    them.


    The sound of two gunshots pulsed by Ss'' ears as he raised a foot, stamping it down and onto the young man''s back.


    A grunt came from the young sniper as blood flowed out from his lip. Breathing became a luxury as the pressure on his ribcage was too much.


    Ss reached down and pulled the young man up by his neck, staring into his eyes coldly.


    He was much younger than Ss expected, not much older than Jake, and maybe even a little younger than that. Seeing such a thing, Ss added a little bit more to the fact that this was nothing more than a mistake, but it was still impossible to confirm for now.


    "Stop!"


    "Put him down!"


    Shouts came from all sides as redsers trained themselves onto Ss'' body. There were so many one would have thought that Ss'' scales were now crimson instead of ck.


    Ss, of course, wouldn''t listen. He stared at the young man before looking high into the skies. The peacock was there, hovering high above. That was the best contingency n that Ss could form in short order.


    However... he felt he was unlikely to need it.


    Soon, the reason for that became obvious.


    "Lower your weapons down."


    Lucius'' voice echoed through the chaos.

 Chapter 684: Empty Husk [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 684: Empty Husk [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Ss met Lucius'' gaze.


    Both men had quite a calm air to them. It didn''t seem like thest time they had met one of them had been out for the death of another.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Maybe it made sense for Lucius to be so calm, but seeing the measured gaze of Ss, Lucius himself couldn''t help but be inwardly surprised.


    No matter how level-headed the man, was it so easy to ignore the fact that an attempt had been made on your life?


    Although Lucius had never acted directly, he knew that Ss was more than smart enough to figure out what happened... especially since...


    Lucius'' gaze flickered up, but to his surprise once again... the beacon that should have been above Ss'' head was no longer there. His heart couldn''t help but skip a beat and his gaze became even more somber, a dark cloud hanging over his eyes.


    Somehow, Ss had undone the curse that Bloom had put on him. No wonder they hadn''t sensed him approaching thepound.


    "Ss, I''m sure you understand that this matter can''t be taken as a simple visit, correct?"


    Ss didn''t reply immediately, his gaze sweeping past Lucius to scan those that he had brought with him. He took note of the fact that none of these individuals were the ones that Lucius had drafted that day.


    ''I understand. Those that the heir candidates drafted were all valuable assets of the family. Now that Lucius has returned and given up his right to fight for the Bronze Stele, the family would obviously take the talents back.''


    This one scene told Ss a lot about the situation.


    Ultimately, the heir candidates were exactly that. Candidates.


    That meant that there was someone else in the family that had the authority to appoint a candidate to an heirship role to begin with.


    After a long silence, Ss finally looked at Lucius once more.


    "Bring out someone who can actually make decisions."


    The half-smile on Lucius'' face froze.


    A deep-seeded unwillingness and rage bubbled up deep within him, and though it didn''t show on his face, it took quite a great deal for him to remain so calm on the surface.


    "I don''t think you understand your situation well enough, S-."


    Lucius stopped talking as a de of ss appeared from thin air around him, the edge pressing against his throat.


    No, it wasn''t just him. Lucius didn''t dare to crane his neck, but judging by the fact no one else had spoken a single word, he realized that he wasn''t the only one.


    In a single brief instant, the situation seemed to have reversed. Every one of the figures within


    a hundred meters of Ss found a thin line of blood trickling down their necks.


    The ufortable stickiness that glided into their armors froze them all in ce. A cold sweat matted their backs, their hearts trembling.


    "If I hade here to kill, you would be dead. My visit has nothing to do with you. I have not thought of you in a long while."


    Lucius'' breathing hitched, a shuddering huping from deep within his chest.


    These words were probably the worst thing Ss could have said to him.


    As he was trying to figure out what to say, though, he realized that Ss was no longer looking at him. Instead, his gaze had focused on a man behind him.


    This man stuck out to Ss like a sore thumb. He looked like he was in just as much fear and panic as everyone else, but Ss saw right through him.


    He was calm. Deathly calm. As though everything was still under his control, like his life wasn''t in Ss'' hands at all.


    After the man realized Ss was staring right at him, he dropped the act, and Ss felt a cold shiver down his spine when he saw the man''s real eyes.


    Cold. Emotionless. Like a husk rather than a real man.


    If someone had told Ss that this middle-aged man was a puppet, Ss would believe them without the slightest bit of hesitation.


    What Ss saw wasn''t a strong Will... but the absence of one. Or maybe it was that the Will of this man had been reced.


    At that moment, Ss felt that he had made a mistakeing here. He knew that the waters ran deep, but this was much deeper than anything that he had anticipated.


    The cold, emotionless eyes of the man seemed to gain some color to them at that moment, but it only made Ss feel colder on the inside.


    "You wanted to speak with someone with authority? Then you maye with me."


    The man turned and walked away,pletely ignoring the de even though the process cut a deeper wound into his neck.


    Ss'' actions didn''t seem to show any of his hesitation. He tossed the young sniper to the ground and followed after. His shoulders brushed by Lucius'', the two being what seemed like mere centimeters away from one another at their closest.


    But from start to finish, Ss didn''t look at him again, and it was only after he was 50 meters away that he released the des, allowing them to shatter to pieces in a sprinkle of ssy sand.


    Lucius took in a haggard breath, touching his neck and looking at the line of blood that formed on his fingers.


    He didn''t know how Ss had done it. It was so subtle, so calm, so undetectable. In an instant, he had ced them all in a vice grip.


    Lucius clenched his jaw as he looked out in the distance.


    It seemed that this was his life now.


    **


    Ss was brought to thepound and wasn''t given the chance to see his family. He was sure that they knew he was here, and that would probably only make them more anxious.


    Certainly, it was a decent psychological tactic, one that wouldn''t change whether Ss saw through it or not.


    After a long walk, Ss was brought into an office where a middle-aged man sat behind a desk, looking at him calmly.


    A great amount of pressure washed over Ss.


    Mortimer Grimde.

 Chapter 685: Blade [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 685: de [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    The location looked much the same as it always did: a simple office that carried a hidden air of mature wealth and elegance.


    The desk was made of a solid oak b that would have cost hundreds of thousands, the white carpet that would sway like grass if there was a crosswind was made from a rare pr bear hide, and the pens that then stuck out from a carefully carved ornament easily cost thousands of dors each.


    Then there was the man himself, wearing the same things he always did, doing the same things he had always done.


    Mortimer wore simple silk robes and held a cigar, puffing out tufts of smoke from time to time. His eyes looked much older than his countenance, carrying a deep wisdom, his face itself carrying a mostly ck beard with strands of white and grey, his hair carrying a deliberate, slick style to it that gave him a modern touch.


    He was the sort of handsome man getting on in his years that women might call a silver fox. He had a gaze that made a person feel at ease, and yet unwilling to question his authority at the same time.


    And in that moment, if Ss discounted Aki and Gralith, he felt that this was the most powerful man he had ever stood across from.


    It wasn''t a matter of Aether or even Level; it was a subtle Will that hung in the air, one that Ss felt was actually beyond his own. This was an experience that even Aki hadn''t been able to give him.


    Though... unlike with Aki, Ss was meeting this man truly face to face. Byparison, Aki''s Will had been filtered through the tform and his distance away.


    The two men stared at one another in silence, but Mortimer had a smile on his face while Ss most definitely did not.


    And it was Mortimer who spoke first.


    "I guess by lineage, you can be considered my descendant. But I don''t really have a title to go by, otherwise what you called me would take longer to say than whatever sentence you wanted me to address. You can just call me Mortimer."


    Ss'' gaze flickered at the implication of the words. Was he trying to say that it wasn''t worth listing out all the "greats" it would take to make their rtionship urate?


    From what Ss knew, his grandfather''s father was already dead. Then who was this man? Obviously not his great-grandfather. But why was he implying that he was even older than that?


    "Tell me. Why did you take the risk toe here?" Mortimer asked, his smile still not fading. "The situation regarding the headlines. What do you know about them?" Ss asked directly. Mortimer''s gaze narrowed. "You... are about as good as Astrid. Unexpected."


    Ss recognized the name. Astrid Grimde, the only woman amongst the three Heirs, and though he hadn''t checked, she was probably still either number one or number two on the Level Leaderboards.


    Usually, she and Kael Darkmane would be constantly vying for that position. Ss just didn''t care enough to stay up to date on that, especially not after he understood that those Leaderboards were nothing more than a game to these hidden families.


    "But it''s interesting that she made such a mistake in not drafting you. Or maybe she did it on purpose. That little girl''s mind is quite meticulous. I wouldn''t be surprised if she allowed her cousin to take you in so you can aplish precisely what you have."


    Mortimer spoke as though he was just smoothing out his own thoughts, his gaze almost looking through Ss before he focused once more.


    "These aren''t things that you should concern yourself with, normally... But since you''vee here of your own volition, what do you say to doing something about it?"


    "What would you like me to do?"


    Mortimer chuckled; he had noticed that Ss used a turn of phrase. Now it looked like it was Mortimer asking Ss for a favor rather than the other way around.


    "The rtionship between our family and the governments is quiteplicated and ultimately boils down to the differences in our origins. Our family came from rogue warriors of thest Summoning, while the governments are exactly that, remnants of those powers. "We have never seen eye to eye. Our family has a belief that thest Summoning ended so poorly because the governments tried to micro-manage and control everything, suffocating the growth of potential heroes of Earth. While they believe that we undermined their authority at every turn, stopping them from properly consolidating all of our power under one unified banner."


    Mortimer stopped his speech, letting his words breathe.


    "What do you think about what I''ve said?"


    "I do not know." Ss replied.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Mortimer''s brows raised. He was used to questioning the three heir candidates for their thoughts and opinions, and they had always given him an answer in return. Or more urately, they were always eager to try and impress him.


    Ss didn''t seem to care to try and impress anyone. He moved to his own rhythm.


    Mortimer felt that Astrid was simr, but... the difference was that Astrid at least knew how to pretend when it was necessary.


    ''No. He knows how to pretend as well, that''s why he announced himself as a Grimde... but after seeing me, he realizes I have no intention of dealing with him right now and


    understands that even if he did want to pretend, it would be useless.


    ''Or maybe... I''m overthinking things. Maybe he truly means that he does not know...''


    Mortimer''s smile widened. He found the young man in front of him fascinating.


    "In that case, I will skip the history lesson and get to the point. I have sympathy for the governments, but the reason our families could not work with them is precisely because they wanted to work on toorge a scale. There are too many powers at y, too many variables in limbo... therger the power, the more room there is for corruption and traitors."


    Ss nodded, agreeing with this statement.


    Mortimer found himself feeling surprised again. Half of him believed that Ss would never side with the Grimdes in any matter at all.


    Truly interesting.


    "Then here."


    Mortimer waved a hand and a document appeared.


    "This has a list of all the targets we''ve identified. If you are willing to be a de of the Grimdes and kill them, I am willing topensate you ordingly. I''m sure this information itself is also quite valuable to you."


    Ss took the files and opened things up to the very first page.


    He was surprised to see that the target in question was actually someone he knew.


    Professor Fembroise.

 Chapter 686: Time

    Chapter 686: Time


    ?


    Ss didn''t show much of a reaction, only ncing down the page and then flipping to the next. One would have never thought that he knew Professor Fembroise at all.


    Everything about his actions was perfect.


    "What''s the deal?" Ss asked, still looking through the files. Everything he saw, his mind seemed to soak in like a sponge.


    The documents seemed to have everything. Name, experience, evidence of their corruption, and it was all capped off by a letter grade from C to S in terms of threat level.


    C. B. A. S.


    ording to this grading system, Professor Fembroise was actually an A Grade threat. Ss had already been through about 40 names, and among them, only two others were ssified at that level for a total of three.


    Ss'' hand paused before he could hear Mortimer''s answer.


    Professor Broussard.


    This was the marine biologist that had had a conflict with Cassarae''s mother. Ss already knew that he was a traitor, but this information... and his rating...


    ''S.''


    "The deal?" Mortimer chuckled. "I can give you a million F Coins per C-level Threat, ten for a B-level, a billion for an A-level, and a hundred E Coins for an S."


    Ss looked up. "Not enough."


    Mortimer paused. He had expected a lot of responses, but this was certainly not one of them.


    A million coins? Ten? Ss didn''t care for that paltry sum to begin with. A billion was decent enough, but ultimately, to Ss, this booklet of names and information was far more valuable than the marypensation, and that was a telltale sign of something quite obvious...


    Mortimer was trying to take advantage of him.


    As for E Coins, Ss truly didn''t know how valuable they were. But what he did have was simple logic.


    He had yet to run into anything that he could even use E Coins on. That meant that he would have to convert them to F Coins for them to be of any use.


    As any person who had ever converted currency in their life would tell you... the one benefitting the most from the conversion would almost certainly be the party doing the conversion itself.


    On a that didn''t even have a market for E Coins, whatever E Coins Ss got here would likely sit in his system inventory for maybe even years before he got around to making use of them. Either that, or he would have to take a huge loss.


    He would much rather have something that he could use right now.


    "Is that so? Then what do you want?" Mortimer asked.


    "Two things. Aether Stones and Portal Maps."


    "Hm..."


    Mortimer leaned back in his chair, a puff of smokeing from his cigar. He had expected Ss to ask for the moon, but once again, the young man surprised him.


    The request was very reasonable...


    And very smart.


    "What kind of Portal Maps do you want?"


    "You have the locations of these targets. I want clearly marked and outlined paths to make it from the Appchians to theirst known locations. In addition, I want one clearly marked path to each continent."


    "Alright." Mortimer nodded.


    "As for Aether Stones, I will only take payment in Gold Grade stones. Set your price based on that."


    Mortimer paused.


    It seemed that Ss knew his worth well.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    What was clear and obvious to Ss, but something that most would overlook, was that if the Grimdes could have done this with others, they would have


    already.


    Clearly, they weren''t willing to risk their heirs, and their other trump cards were things that they would prefer to keep hidden.


    Byparison, Ss was perfect for this task. He was already hated by a great deal of governments, and his strength was already exposed for most to


    see.


    Obviously, Mortimer wanted to use him like a sacrificialmb, running Ss into the ground until he either ran through all their enemies for them, or he


    died.


    At this point, Mortimer didn''t care much which one it was. This short interaction had already made it clear to him that Ss was too difficult to control.


    But by extension, Ss wasn''t a fool who would just happily be used as another''s tool.


    What Mortimer didn''t know was that just based on this list, even withoutpensation, Ss would still target most of these people. They were threats to what he wanted most...


    Earth''s sessful Summon.


    This was why he felt the list was more valuable than the original n for


    compensation.


    "Okay. For every three C-level Threats, I can give you one. Two for a B-level Threat, ten for an A Level, and a thousand for an S."


    Ss shook his head. "One for a C-level, ten for a B-level, a hundred for an


    A, ten thousand for an S."


    Mortimerughed. "Now you''re price gouging me."


    "Will you ept?" Ss asked.


    "Sure. I will ept if you kill them all within a year. Otherwise, I want


    every Aether Stone you earn back."


    "Okay." Ss said calmly.


    Soon, Ss had left with a handful of documents. It seemed that the information in the files he had originally received were only the tip of the


    iceberg.


    After he left, the office fell into silence.


    "Was that wise?" a voice echoed suddenly.


    Mortimerughed. "That boy just lied straight to my face without even


    blinking."


    "About?"


    "He has no intention of paying me back if he fails within a year."


    "Then kill him."


    "Why would I kill my own flesh and blood unless he gives me a good reason to first?" Mortimerughed.


    "But he will eventually. And you know that." Mortimer continued tough as though he hadn''t heard anything. He could tell that Ss had no intention of following through on things exactly as he hoped the moment he realized that there was no system contract involved. Unfortunately, just like Nosphaleen, Mortimer didn''t have the ability to form one, and no one with a strong enough Will was either here or capable of


    either.


    "The best schemes are the ones where your enemy has no choice but to dance to your tune regardless. This is one of those times. As for how things bear out, only time will tell."

 Chapter 687: Family

    Chapter 687: Family


    ?


    "Ss!"


    ra hopped into her big brother''s arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him like she was some sort of ko bear.


    Ss smiled lightly, catching her before she fell to the ground. He had barely stepped foot into the door when this little munchkin came barreling out.


    "You really are getting too big for this."


    Ss had been gone for almost a year and he had already missed ra''s fourteenth birthday. His little sister was already budding into a young woman, but she seemed to still insist on acting like a toddler when she was around him.


    In the end, Ss was forced to greet his parents with the little monkey clinging to him.


    For a while, he seemed to forget about a great many things.


    Sure, he hade here because the sensationalized headlines were troubling. It was the start of an undercurrent that would almost certainly lead to an all-out war between Earth''s factions, and that sort of thing was precisely the sort of matter that he had to get out ahead of.


    But while all of this was true, how long had it been since he had seen his family? How could he miss a valid excuse to do so?


    -


    "You look healthier," Ss said to his grandfather, taking a seat in the middle of the not on a family bench.


    "You say this like I had a foot in the grave."


    "Maybe not, but you definitely look ten years younger."


    Magnusughed heartily.


    There were many good things that Aether could do. The effects weren''t as exaggerated as Ss said, and there wouldn''t be such a helpful push to lifespan unless one could transcend the Grade barrier. But for a healthy old man like Magnus, the supplementation of Aether only made a good thing better.


    "It seems that you''ve taken advantage of the chance quite well."


    "Somewhat. I would still say that Luck yed a major factor."


    "You know what they say. Luck triggers when opportunity meets preparation."


    "Not in this case. I feel like I''m not in control of too much."


    How much would he have aplished had he not been forced to enter the Slithering Madness Dungeon? He couldn''t say that he was prepared to enter that Dungeon.


    Then again, maybe someone else wouldn''t have been able to grasp Madness Comprehension in that situation.


    Magnus was about to reply when another voice interjected.


    "I knew you two would be having your little secret meetings out here. Tell me the truth, dad. You''re making Syl do all of this, aren''t you?"


    Cedric appeared with a frown, his arms crossed.


    Ss wasn''t using his visualization much here, out of respect for both his family and in wariness of the Grimdes, but he had still sensed his fathering.


    "I''ve done no such thing," Magnus denied it immediately.


    "If you''re going to say that, at least try to hide the smirk on your face."


    "This isn''t a smirk of subterfuge, it''s a smile of pride. Can''t a grandfather be happy in his grandson''s aplishments?"


    Cedric was trying his best to hold onto a stern expression, but he didn''tst long as he began tough as well.


    The trio of men talked into the night before Magnus and Cedric headed off to bed. Their ability to stay up was severelycking whenpared to Ss, who seemed to go several days at a time without sleep these days.


    ''I should head to bed as well. This will probably be thest bit of good sleep I will have for a while...''


    He stood to leave, only to suddenly be alerted by something.


    His hand snapped upward and he caught something out of the air.


    He looked at it for a moment, his eyes narrowing before the item vanished. He entered the home without a word, took a shower, and then went to bed.


    ...


    The next morning, Ss guided his sister more seriously in Rune Mastery. He gave her the foundation she needed and even copied the pages of the tome he had received so that she could study them.


    He gave her warnings about the Secret Realm, telling her to take her time and to dy every step as much as possible.


    It was fine if he became the target of others because he had appeared on the under-50 rankings, but he didn''t want his sister to identally do the same.


    Whether she could or not, he didn''t know. But it was better to be safe than sorry.


    By the time they were done, he had be the obligatory "big brother bank," and he gave her some spending money. While it seemed like the Grimdes here were trapped on thepound, they all had ess to the Nexus through special means, so they were actually quite connected with the outside world. ra had even managed to find some of her friends from school.


    After learning this, Ss actually felt much better about leaving them here. They weren''t trapped pigeons.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    One of these days, he would take them away. But that day would not be today.


    ...


    Ss gave his mother a hug. Her tears were already flowing, but there wasn''t much he could


    do.


    Of all his family members, his mother seemed to be the one that took his absence the hardest. She looked healthy, but Ss could immediately tell she was about five pounds lighter than she was normally.


    Maybe that was because she was more active these days, but seeing the worry in her eyes, he knew that that was only part of the story.


    His mother cupped his cheeks, pressing her hands together maybe a little bit too hard.


    "Don''t do anything foolish, okay?"


    "I won''t, mother."


    Isolde smiled bitterly. "You''ve never been very good at lying."


    "I''m actually very good at lying. It''s just that mother always sees through me."


    The small joke made Isolde''s heavy mood lighten somewhat.


    "Okay, go go go before I chain you up."


    Ss nodded, grabbing at a vine in the air and hoisting himself up to the peacock above in a


    single bound.


    With a p, he vanished into the distance.


    Down below, the ice-cold gaze of Lucius watched as Ss became nothing more than a dot on


    the horizon.


    ...


    Long after Ss left the range of the Grimdes, he pulled out what had been thrown at him


    last night.


    It was a specialmunication device, but that wasn''t what was interesting.


    What caught his attention was that it was from Nathan, Lucius'' former right-hand man.


    In truth, Ss wanted to kill Lucius, but there were certain things that he couldn''t do just yet


    if he wanted to keep a working rtionship with the Grimdes. He also had to be mindful of


    his own family.


    For now, the Grimdes continued to treat Magnus and the others just like every other member of their extended family, and that was good enough for Ss.


    If he wanted to keep such a thing going, he couldn''t antagonize the Grimdes until he had


    absolute power.


    What he didn''t expect, though, was that Nathan would contact him of his own volition. Now


    this... was quite interesting.


    Ss was very interested in what this business mogul had to say.

 Chapter 688: All Roads

    Chapter 688: All Roads


    ?


    "Ah, to think that the famous Ss Grimde would ept my invitation. I am honored."


    Nathan''s voice came from the other line and Ss was taken somewhat off guard. He had used long-rangedmunication methods before, namely to speak with his little sister, but he didn''t even get the chance to feed it Aether Stones before everything just started working naturally. It was hard to tell if this was because Nathan had pre-loaded it, or...


    "No need to be surprised. This is a special device I created with my Profession. It makes it easier on us because it''s basically impossible to track, and there''s no use for Aether either. If things go well, and you trust me, I don''t mind giving such devices to your family as well. That way you can contact them secretly whenever you want without the cost."


    Ss didn''t answer immediately, adjusting himself to just what this meant.


    "... You corrected the technology issues of Earth?"


    Nathan chuckled. "I shouldn''t be surprised that you figured it out so quickly, but I can''t help myself. I thought I hid it decently well. But yes, you''re correct. At least for some matters, I''m capable of tapping into Earth''s technology of old. Though it feels odd to say this considering we had full ess to them little more than a year ago."


    Ss took a breath. This wasn''t just a small matter. It was huge.


    As powerful as F-Grade, and E-Grade beyond felt... could the current Ss survive a bullet at point-nk range? Well, he was pretty confident in dodging now, but that relied not on reacting to the bullet, but rather to the person firing it.


    If he was forced to withstand a bullet, he would need to rely on a defensive Skill and his Aether first and foremost, and at best he would be able to deal with a normal handgun. Although Nathan imed that he could only do this for some technology, the obvious assumption was that as his Profession progressed, so too would his ability to tap into these branches as well.


    Without even saying much, Nathan had disyed his value several times over.


    ''This Profession has to be exceptionally rare or exceptionally difficult to progress. If both of these are untrue, then the enemies of Earth are far more powerful than anything I''ve imagined until now...''


    "Then let''s get to the core of it." Ss said slowly. "Why have you contacted me?"


    "I think that we would be of great use to one another. If you''ve read my file, I''m sure you''ve seen that I''m very good at making investments."


    "From your vantage point, I shouldn''t be one."


    "Well, I wouldn''t be so sure... especially since making a bet on you now doesn''te with a


    lot of risk to me. After all, the Grimdes are currently in a state of limbo and ultra flexibility.


    I bet that the reason you left the Grimde familypound so freely is because you managed to strike a deal with someone quite important."


    "So you mean to say that you''re free to put your eggs in two baskets without losing out on much."


    Nathan chuckled. "It sounds arrogant when you put it like that-."


    "No. It''s just reality. You understand your worth. Should the Grimdes know of your abilities, even if they did have evidence of you betraying them, so long as you didn''t cross their bottom line, they would look the other way."


    Nathan''sugh echoed out once more, but he didn''t reply directly, feeling that Ss was going to continue. And that he did.


    "So why did you not use these abilities for the sake of helping Lucius?"


    "Lucius chose me. I didn''t choose him."


    The words were clear and concise, and they made everything quite obvious. These were about the response that Ss was expecting, but because of that, he didn''t know how much stock to put into it.


    Unexpectedly, though, Nathan surprised him once again.


    "That said, that''s only half the truth. The other reason is because I only unlocked this Profession very recently thanks to a man that you probably know. A certain... Archibald."


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    Suddenly, another piece of the puzzle came into ce and he realized that there was another reason Nathan had chosen to do this.


    "You need me."


    Nathan''s words paused before he sighed. "Indeed, you really are too sharp. It''s unfortunate, but someone like you can''t be my choice. I would never be able to aplish much of


    anything."


    Ss didn''t reply.


    "You are right. You''ve probably guessed it already from my words, though I don''t know how a monster like you can exist in this world, but in exchange for a foot in the door of this


    Profession, Archibald did ask me to contact you on his behalf."


    "For what purpose?"


    The moment Nathan mentioned Archibald, the truth was all too obvious to Ss. Although the logic earlier was sound, Nathan had failed to ount for one thing...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    What could Ss do for him?


    The implication seemed to just be a position amongst Ss'' inner circle, but Nathan knew nothing about Ss'' ns or his intentions. The man might be good at making investments, but those investments should be built on a mountain of research. Unless Nathan was that mysterious journalist, there were too many things about Ss that he didn''t know.


    But this... this made perfect sense.


    Archibald was an engineer from a time gone by, the fact that he could give out a ss was a surprise, but what this ss was rted to fit just fine.


    At the same time... Archibald had appeared on the Split Realm Contribtion List at the very top before Ss reced him. If his rewards were anything like Ss'', then he had gained


    quite a bit.


    That just left one question... what could Archibald possibly want from him?


    Well, Ss actually had far more questions than just that. But this would have to do for now.


    "He only told me to ry these words to you exactly and that you would understand: ''I know of the Silver City Steles. All roads lead to Legacy.""

 Chapter 689: Is That So?

    Chapter 689: Is That So?


    ?


    Ss'' gaze sharpened.


    Silver City Stele? He only knew of one. Or more urately, he only knew of a group of one. The System Cities.


    Was this a clue about System Cities? Was Archibald implying that he had figured out the truth behind them as well? But then what did he mean by "all roads lead to Legacy"?


    ''Rome... he''s making a subtle implication that he''s also aware of my appearance in the Split Realm as well. But at the same time, he''s pointing me to Legacy. Is he trying to say that Legacy is a traitor? No, that wouldn''t be useful information. At least, it wouldn''t be useful enough to riskmunication like this with me, even going as far as giving Nathan something so valuable in return.''


    At this point, there were so many traitors on Earth that Ss couldn''t even find it in himself to care whether Legacy was among them or not. He had long reached the point where he felt like he was surrounded by enemies.


    There was only one way forward when things had reached this point.


    Be Strong.


    Those words of the Madness Key rang more and more true every day.


    But if Archibald wasn''t trying to warn him of this, then of what?


    ''Legacy has the solution.''


    Ss'' gaze shed. That was the only answer.


    Why would Archibald mention the System Cities and then point him in the direction of Legacy? He also implied a connection through the Split Realm, which was a Dungeon surrounded by the mysteries of ancient Earth and inextricably linked to the machinations of alien Races in undermining their chances of a sessful Summoning.


    Legacy had the solution that Ss was looking for.


    The Madness Key required 10,000 Silver Genes to give him the answer he wanted. All things considered, Ss didn''t feel like he had a single shot at gathering that many Genes.


    Not only were the beasts mind-numbingly powerful, but even those he had once had to go all out against were not just rare, they also only had one or two to their names.


    Unfortunately, the ticket to the Mancy world he had gotten wouldn''t give him a chance. If he understood correctly, those beasts were virtual and didn''t have real Genes attached to them. Instead, they were formed by Blood Essence, which was a good enough recement for what Ss needed.


    Even if he could farm Genes from that world, would he have the time? There was a limit to how long his gate would stay open, he didn''t have forever.


    It also had to be considered that everyone on Earth was already rapidly approaching the limits of the F-Grade, and yet Silver Genes were still so rare.


    Reaching the E-Grade wouldn''t magically mean your Genes got better either. In fact, most alive on Earth right now would either never reach the E-Grade, that was something that future generations would have to pave a path for.


    And, reaching the E-Grade just meant that one would have to start fighting for Fragmented E- Grade Genes instead. By that point, even Gold F-Grade Genes would be useless.


    That was all to say that with the cap of the F-Grade rapidly approaching... Ss couldn''t see a path to gathering such arge number of Silver Genes. The fact that he had run into anyone carrying these Genes at all was a rarity amongst rarities.


    The "obvious" solution to this was to find an opportunity to go off-world. After all, he had managed to do this several times already. Maybe there would be better opportunities out there.


    But setting aside the fact that any world that had an abundance of Silver Genes would be far too dangerous for Ss, on top of the fact every time he went off-world he was constrained by the parameters of whatever Dungeon he was locked into...


    Would it really be easy even if he ignored that?


    His only interaction with individuals off-world, that being the Sylphs, came with heavy protections for their Genes.


    Thest time he had detected a Unique Gene from a Sylph, he was barred from taking it. It was safe to say that any Sylph that had Genes worth taking would have protections like this on their body.


    Although Ss had only struggled taking their Unique Genes, and took their Bronze Genes just fine, by his experience, those with Silver Genes were rare even amongst the Sylphs as well.


    If they could ce protections on their Unique Genes, they would certainly protect the Silver Genes they had just as tightly.


    Even the road to iming the 300 Genes he needed to find out what the Genesis Forge was could only be described as a tough uphill battle, let alone the path to gaining over 30 times that.


    Now it seemed that Archibald had information that would allow him to avoid all of this...


    "Is that all he told you?" Ss asked.


    "He says that if you understand, then it''s possible to work together. But in order to take the next steps, he will need you to do something."


    "And that would be?"


    "He says that the answers are in the remains of Lucius'' City."


    "Mm. Alright."


    Ss cut off the call without another word, tossing the device into the Madness Key, the only thing he trusted to keep whatever hidden mechanisms Nathan might have left in it at bay.


    With a p of the peacock''s wings, they shot a zing trail back to the portal of the Arctic Tundra Territory.


    ...


    Many hourster, Ss appeared above what should have been ruins, but were far neater and tidier than they should be in order to earn such a moniker. It was clear that Lucius had left in


    quite a systematic manner, taking everything of value away.


    ''In that case, where should I go to find what I''m looking for?''


    The answer was obvious the moment Ss thought about it. Standing high in the air, his gaze shed as he began to look for Runes.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He quickly found them.


    ''Is that so...? Unless you have a very good offer, I''ll have to reject this proposal.''

 Chapter 690: No [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 690: No [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Runes were very cleverly hidden. That was because they weren''t Runes at all, but rather hidden away in the arrangement of the buildings. It didn''t take Ss long to see through it, but afterward, he had still been confused.


    That was because the Runes themselves were nonsense. Normally, Ss was quite confident in himself to see through them, but this time, even with Rune Essence, he didn''t have an idea.


    Until it clicked.


    Coordinates.


    The only reason Ss was familiar with this was because he had seen simr Runes on his nar Convergence Gate. They weren''t Runes in the usual sense, but rather markers.


    What Ss didn''t know was that this was a special Runenguage used for teleportation and things of the like. It was a special ss of Runes that could only be used by spatial Professions, and unsurprisingly, it was a rare profession.


    Still, Ss had been able to see through them even though he couldn''t use them, and as though something was whispering into his ears, he subconsciously knew where the coordinates were directing him to.


    He was sure that it was a location on Earth. And the reason he knew that was because it was a very prominent location, one that he had already been to.


    The volcano.


    If it was just this alone, it would be fine, but then this realization allowed Ss to understand the rest of the message.


    Archibald wanted him to steal something from that location... again. Namely, he needed arge amount of raw materials that were being produced there.


    Obviously, Archibald wanted to build something. That was what his Profession was all about.


    But he wanted Ss to risk his life to go and pick up these materials while he was in the shadows pretending to be mysterious.


    Ss had no desire to do this.


    He had formed a partnership with the Grimdes, one he had no doubt Mortimer thought he was getting the longer end of the stick on. But he was just getting payment for something he wanted to do already, all while receiving information that would make it far easier to do.


    But byparison, this Archibald was directing him from the shadows to execute things that Ss had no understanding of.


    What reason did he have to trust Archibald? What faith should he have in the idea that this man''s ns would work?


    Ss contacted Nathan and said a single word.


    "No."


    After that, he hung up again and directly entered the Portal to Paradise.


    ...


    The small city was in chaos.


    At the start, Lucius had taken over this region entirely on both sides of the Portal. He controlled the small town of Paradise and the entrance to the Portal on the other side as well, forming a city around both barriers.


    But with his disappearance, there was now and order here anymore.


    The men, women, and children that had managed to survive the first wave of beasts couldn''t manage their way through the second. They were forced to migrate away.


    The only ones left were mostly adventurers. There had been some on the other side as well, it was just that Ss had directly ignored them. They could have reached him even if they wanted to.


    Ss looked off into the distance, his eyes locking onto the road to Lone Star in the far-off horizon.


    Although it seemed that he was about to go and do precisely what Archibald asked of him, the reality was that he wasn''t going to Lone Star for Archibald at all.


    He was going for Professor Fembroise.


    The peacock pped its wings and a whirlwind kicked up as they shot across the horizon.


    ...


    Ss had the peacock fly higher and higher into the skies until they were nothing more than a dot from below.


    All birds had a limit to the altitude they could withstand, but it was safe to say that Ss'' peacock wasn''t a normal bird. Though, the issues of Aether being so sparse up here, and the troublingck of oxygen, both yed a role in the difficulty.


    Ultimately, though, Ss was struggling far more than the peacock. But this was a necessary evil. At least now, he wouldn''t have to deal with barricades and other troubles.


    Every day, he was proven more and more right about how valuable a flying beast was. Unfortunately, Mature Aether hadn''t helped his Symbiote Mount to level up like his beast contracts, for whatever reason.


    Ss had a general understanding of Lone Star''sndscape by now and it wasn''t long before he was hovering over Carter''s home.


    Carter was the young man that Ss had seen thieving when he, Bloom, and Mark first came to Lone Star. Ss had ended up finding him at a skating park.


    Afterward, Ss saved Professor Fembroise from an attack from Legacy and entrusted her family to Carter.


    Ss had given Cassarae the task of bringing them back, but after seeing the Professor on the list, Ss knew that he had toe personally. This situation had be far more tricky than he knew.


    He didn''t outright dismiss the reports of the Grimdes.


    When he hadst seen Professor Fembroise, she was grieving over the loss of her son and had a great deal of pent-up anger toward the government. She believed that if they had gotten warnings first, this would have never happened.


    This was the reason she had joined Ss in the first ce.


    But then Ss disappeared for months. It wasn''t even fair of him to expect her to wait all the time without even knowing if he was dead or alive.


    Even if she gained ess to a Nexus and learned about him through those channels, she would have no reason to believe that he still had her in mind. Or even if she did, she might think that he was in too much danger to consider her at the moment.


    If Legacy wanted her... then others certainly would.


    And thereiny the problem.


    ''As expected, she''s not there.''


    Ss hovered high over the house, but he didn''t panic. That was because the report the Grimdes had given him had already confirmed that.


    In which case...


    He knew exactly where she was.


    But he would need the night before confirming that.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 691 Underground

    Chapter 691 Underground


    The situation in Lone Star seemed calm on the surface, but in the depths of the night, it was anything but.


    In exchange for the peace that the citizens experienced when the sun rose, many undercurrents had to be forcefully suppressed beneath the moon''s light.


    One such undercurrent formed from thebined might of several gangs.


    After Ss left Lone Star with the disk, the city lost the ability to control the expansion of the volcano Portal for several long months. By the time they gained a new treasure capable of recing its function, much of the damage had already long been done.


    The temperatures of the city skyrocketed, but more importantly, thendscape of their farnd changed.


    Much of the topsoil had been reced by currents ofva. This alone was fine if not for the fact that the oppressive heat had dug into thend, forming deep, cavernous caves, valleys, and trenches.


    Normally,va alone wouldn''t be able to do this kind of damage. The earth would be able to disperse much of its heat.


    However, in this case, theva was formed from a special location of the Aether ne, while Earth was not yet adjusted to these sorts of shocking environments. The end result was the very location Ss had barely escaped from with his life, and ironically also the region he had first gained his Path of the Mancer ss Quest, waspletely unrecognizable.


    It sat there as a mass of ckenednd covered in a thickyer of soot and ash. But the true danger was no doubt hidden deep underground.


    ¡­


    From high in the skies, Ss confirmed much of the things in the Grimde''s report.


    ''The opening to the volcano portal was also undergroundst time. I assume that this change only exacerbated the issue.''


    If the Portal was already underground, and then it began to grow uncontrobly after the disk was no longer active, then it was only natural that so many changes likewise urred underground.


    This region was highly monitored. There was no way for Ss to just drop from the skies unnoticed, even in the darkness. He would almost certainly be spotted.


    But at this point¡­ it simply didn''t matter.


    There was only one reason for that¡­ a beast that Ss was quite familiar with.


    The beast controlling snail.


    Unbeknownst to Ss until he read the report, but snails turned out to be mostly nocturnal creatures. And though this snail had clearly broken free of the normal constraints of its race, this clearly wasn''t amongst the habits it had shed.


    The peacock entered a freefall, piercing down in a steady streak of darkness.


    It was clear in an instant that Ss had either overestimated the abilities of these government officials, or he had underestimated himself. Either way, he found himself hitting the ground before sensing even the slightest hint of danger.


    It wasn''t long before he picked out one of the many potholes to the hidden world below. With a touch of his intention, he pulled the peacock into a vine that wrapped around his arm and then vanished.


    ss reflected across his skin as his Aether protected him from the wall of heat that hit him nearly immediately.


    The Terranova government had clearly used some special method of keeping the heat from overwhelming the city. Otherwise, Lone Star would have already be a microwave.


    These distracting thoughts were pushed to the back of Ss'' mind because he hadn''t taken more than a few steps when he heard the sound of conflict and battle.


    He controlled his visualization to wind through the tunnels covered in soot and ash, but the fight he saw on the other end didn''t seem to be anything special.


    On one side, there was a soldier and on the other, there was a textbook rogue. Neither seemed intent on actually trying to kill one another, as though they were trying to stall for time or maybe just acting.


    To hand it to them, the battle did look quite believable. Unfortunately, Ss could feel out their Wills maybe more clearly than they could themselves.


    ''They''re putting on a show. Neither one actually wants to be fighting. That confirms another thing in the documents. This has been a long, drawn-out war between the two factions. The subordinates are probably sick and tired of it, and have long forgotten what they''re actually fighting about or for.''


    There were several gangs that had hitched themselves to this ce, but there were mainly two of any sort of importance.


    The first was Second me, a gang that Professor Fembroise had allegedly be quite an important member of. In fact, from the context clues, it seemed that she was actually the founder.


    The second was the Grimy des. The information that Ss had on them was much lesser because they weren''t directly rted to Professor Fembroise, but it was enough for him to know that they had done some particrly vile things.


    The rogue fighting against the soldier was one of thetter gang members, and that made things less convenient for Ss. But he decided to work with the cards he was given.


    He calmly walked around the corner and his presence, unsurprisingly, instantly drew attention. Both the soldier and rogue were on full alert, revealing themselves as a pair of actors when they didn''t hesitate to stand side by side to face off against the unknown entity.


    Unfortunately for them, that left no one defending their backs.


    The swipe of a ck tail smashed them against a wall, practically shattering all of their bones in a single sweep.


    The two didn''t even get a chance to get a look at the Basilisk King before it was taken back into Ss'' Hibernation Realm.


    Walking over to their half-dead bodies, Ss picked one of them up by their cors, staring the rogue in his eyes.


    "The Second me gang, point me in the direction of their hideout."


    Ss didn''t believe that this Grimy de member wouldn''t have even a slight inkling of an answer¡­


    And he was proven right.

 Chapter 692: Metarock

    Chapter 692: Metarock


    ?


    Ss sat on his heels as he peered out from an array of honeb caves that surrounded a deep valley below.


    There didn''t seem to be much there, but that was to be expected. The rogue had only known the general location of the gang, but not an exact one. In addition, this location was subject to change, so it wasn''t guaranteed that they were still there.


    The battles that took ce in this underground world didn''t often take ce directly at headquarters. Instead, they were territorial battles fought for resources, and they were much more sporadic than normal.


    All of this tied back to the original reason Archibald wanted Ss toe here... a special ore produced in this region. Or more urately, by the volcano.


    Metarock.


    It was an odd name, but it was chosen as such for a very specific reason. The reports the Grimdes had given him didn''t tell him what it did, nor did Archibald. But... the Madness Key had.


    Metarock was an ore that was capable of tailoring itself to a previously held set ofws, tethering itself to them and allowing any Treasure forged from it to adhere to those sets ofws.


    That was a veryplicated exnation to say just one thing... it could be used to make functional guns.


    Essentially, the change to Earth''sws could be ignored if this Treasure was used in the hands of a talented crafter.


    In the wider universe, Metarock was an especially important resource, especially for more aggressive worlds that were established enough to invade others.


    Worlds that shared the same generalary systems and quadrants could have vastly different sets ofws that rendered sometimes entire systems of thought worthless. There were even some worlds where principles of Aether werepletely different, causing certain Skills to either weaken or be duds.


    One could imagine, then, why Metarock would be so important, especially now.


    The only way to tether Metarock to aw was by having it in the presence of such aw. As Earth''s Aether ne quickly fused into their reality, there were starting to be fewer and fewer locations this could be done in.


    Soon, Metarock wouldn''t be able to be used to produce weapons of old.


    At first, the existence of such an ore worried Ss. The governments and hidden families almost certainly had stores of Treasures forged from Metarock in their long list of trump cards.


    But... Metarock had aundry list of weaknesses attached to it as well, thergest of which was its piss-poor Durability. Weapons forged with Metarock had half the Durability of equivalent Treasures. So unless there was an abundance, or it was an emergency situation, or there was more profit to be gained from its use, it certainly wouldn''t be used easily.


    Ss doubted the two gangs even knew what they were fighting for, and neither did the majority of the soldiers.


    What they did know, though, was that the Nexus traded Metarock for astronomical prices. That was enough for most of them.


    This reality made Ss even more wary of Archibald, though... how did he know the value of Metarock? And most importantly, what did he want to use it for?


    ''There...''


    Ss'' wait finally bore fruit.


    An individual seemed to appear out of nowhere. In one moment, there was nothing but aplex terrain of ck and grey rock, making it difficult for anyone to get a full picture of what they were looking at, and in the next... poof.


    ''I didn''t see through it... a veil of some sort? A treasure? A powerful one, to be sure...'' Even the current form of this person was quite vague. Ss had almost missed it, and would have if not for him sensing a new Will in that location. Otherwise, the person was practically invisible.


    It wasn''t until this person entered one of the many caves littering the region that the veil that covered them finally truly vanished.


    Ss thought for a moment. Should he go after this person? Or should he try and make it through the veil himself first?


    The trouble was that there was no easy way to get to that person without first going through the veil. He was peeking in from one of many caves surrounding the valley below, and the cave entrance this person had left from was quite a distance from him.


    ''Take the chance it is...''


    If he just sat here hoping that someone would end up walking into his particr cave, he would die of old age. Since there was no easy way to follow and question that person, he was just going to have to take the plunge...


    The hard way.


    ckscales erupted across Ss'' body as he pressed a foot down.


    With a silent surge, he moved so fast that it looked like he was running vertically down the valley walls.


    He hit the ground smoothly and transitioned into an eleration forward, crossing the barrier of the veil quite easily. However, nothing happened.


    Ss already expected this. If just running into the veil was enough to reveal it, then it


    wouldn''t be a good enough treasure to fool his vision to begin with.


    That said, his appearance was almost surely noted by those hidden by said veil, and right now they were probably deciding exactly what to do about him.


    Unfortunately for them, Ss'' senses had just grasped onto something. It was faint, but now that he was in the veil, he could feel something tugging at his Will to pull the wool over his


    eyes.


    Ss'' gaze shed as a pair of Runes appeared within them. Lines of pressure filled the skies and suddenly...n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    CRACK.


    The veil shattered and Ss found himself surrounded from all sides, but there was a calmness to his gaze that seemed to belie that fact. There was a reason he had fused with the


    Basilisk King before even running into any danger.


    His gaze shifted as hended on the person he hade here for in the first ce.


    Professor Fembroise stood in a perfect disguise. There was nothing at all that gave her true identity away. And yet... Ss had seen right through her in the first instant.

 Chapter 693: Never [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 693: Never [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Professor Fembroise''s pupils trembled under Ss'' gaze, feeling as though a weight was bearing down on her.


    Everyone recognized this ck-scaled man by now. His face was all over the Nexus, and so long as you had one opportunity to enter one, there was no doubt that you''d know who Ss Grimde was.


    However, before Professor Fembroise could speak or try to exin herself, it was a man who stepped forward with weapon in hand, his aura quite valiant and dangerous.


    [Masquerade (???)]


    ''Hm?''


    Ss was a bit surprised by what he saw when he scanned the man. Rather than a real name, for the first time he saw what was probably a pseudonym of some sort. On top of that, even the man''s Grade was obscured.


    ''How does the system decide what your name is... Maybe...''


    The system always called him Ss Grimde even though his government name was officially Ss Brown. The only reason Ss could think of for this to have changed would be because of his Affiliation with the Grimdes.


    ''Interesting. I''ll have to look into this more. Maybe this man used his Affiliation as a proxy to change his name.''


    However, the veil over his Grade and stats was useless against Ss, not after his time in the Split Realm.


    ''Should be around FFF+, but that means nothing because Earth''s Grades are so skewed now and won''t mellow out until generations after the Summoning. What''s most important is that he''s Level 32.''


    Ss could feel some pressure from the man, but not enough to fear for his life. The real problem was that he wasn''t the only threat here and that Ss was outnumbered.


    But...


    Even the man didn''t dare to attack Ss.


    As Professor Fembroise had expected, Ss was too famous and the weight of his name was beyond his raw strength itself, especially since no one knew what his official Level was. Rumors that he was secretly Level 50 already, or that he was still Level o, circted around in equal measure. Unfortunately, no one, not even the man before them, could even scan him. What made Ss strike the most fear in their hearts was the fact that they could tell that he wasn''t relying on a Treasure to rebuff their scan attempt. He was relying on his Mental stats alone, and that was truly what scared them.


    Just how high were Ss'' Mental stats?


    Of course, what they didn''t know was that the real reason they couldn''t scan Ss wasn''t because of his Mental stats, but rather the quality of his Will.


    Even so... Masquerade had to show a strong front to everyone else.


    "You''ve encroached on our territory." He said slowly.


    "I came here for someone. Let me speak to them and I will be on my way. I''m sure you know that I''m not an ally of the government. Of course... if you want to exchange for the bounty on my head, you''re free to try."


    Masquerade''s pupils trembled and a cold sweat matted his back. He had watched Ss crush a General of a System City, a feat that no one had been able to replicate since, and that was already over half a year ago.


    Just how strong was he now?


    "We of the Second me are of one mind and heart." Masquerade said slowly. "If you came to just speak to one of our own, that is fine. But if you came to kill or harm them..."


    The man''s grip on his sword tightened.


    "Just talk." Ss said calmly.


    Masquerade sighed an internal breath of relief.


    "Come." Ss spoke again, looking toward Professor Fembroise.


    Masquerade''s expression changed, suddenly bing hesitant. He had been so filled with


    fear that he didn''t consider who it was Ss wanted to talk to.


    Now that he thought about it, it was obvious. This was the woman even the government was after. But how did Ss recognize her?


    "It''s fine." Professor Fembroise said slowly, stepping forward herself.


    "me, this-."


    Professor Fembroise shook her head.


    "I know him." She said.


    The gang members were taken aback by these words, leaving them unable to recover even as the two disappeared down a cave nearby.


    Masquerade slowly calmed after the danger of the situation settled down. As his thoughts organized themselves, he became harder to read. No one around could tell what he was thinking.


    ...


    Ss and Professor Fembroise stood across from one another in silence. Thetter seemed slightly ufortable as though she had done something wrong, but soon that difort became determination.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    From those split few seconds, Ss could tell that the Professor had already thought through everything for months during his absence. A smart person''s mind wasn''t easy to change because they already felt like they had already considered things from all angles. A smart person''s mind was even more difficult to change when they were already set on their path for


    so long.


    This small change in expression told Ss everything he needed to know.


    "So you did betray Earth."


    Professor Fembroise''s determination froze over, her pupils beginning to change once more.


    It was clear and obvious to Ss that just joining a gang wasn''t enough for Professor Fembroise to react like this. Likewise, a mere gang affiliation wasn''t enough for the Grimdes to ce the Professor as an A-Level target.


    Professor Fembroise exhaled a slow breath.


    "Betrayal assumes I received any sort of loyalty."


    "In that case, I should just kill you."


    The Professor froze again. Her eyes widened as a suffocating killing intent came from Ss, so powerful that her knees trembled. All of her ns, all of her thoughts of escape, all the experience that she thought she had built up by now was crushed by a single gaze.


    The Runes that danced in Ss'' eyes made her inner organs shudder and shift out of ce, and her lungs couldn''t seem to take in enough air no matter how hard of an inhale she took. There were a lot of ways Professor Fembroise thought that this would go. Maybe Ss would try to convince her to change her ways, maybe he would capture her and attempt to slowly torture the benefits he wanted out of her, or maybe any number of other things might be forced onto her.


    Never did she think that Ss would make the decision to kill her so swiftly.

 Chapter 694: Enemy

    Chapter 694: Enemy


    ?


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It wasn''t that Ss didn''t understand Professor Fembroise. She felt like her government had abandoned her, so what reason did she have to remain loyal?


    But this wasn''t how Ss saw things. He didn''t care if she betrayed the Terranova


    government. However, foolishly betraying Earth and siding with their invaders was


    something that he couldn''t allow. That was because her help would inevitably harm him and his own chances in the future.


    If he had sensed that there was a chance to change her mind, he would have taken it. But, their rtionship had already been harmed by how long it took Ss to return. And, the hatred in her heart had only grown since thest time Ss had seen her.


    Although it seemed like Ss was just willing to allow anyone with talent into his fold, he actually had a standard of trustworthiness that had to be met first.


    Professor Fembroise was a ticking time bomb. She was enough of a danger to be rated so highly by the Grimdes, so it would be the height of hubris if Ss believed that he would be able to control her with 100% effectiveness... especially since he already knew that he couldn''t stay by her side.


    So when he said that he would kill her... he wasn''t saying this to give her a final chance. In fact, the only reason he spoke at all was out of respect for the rtionship they had once had as fellow professionals.


    There was definitely a part of him that didn''t want to do this, but that didn''t slow his arm down in the slightest.


    His fist had already exploded forward with such speed that he had no doubt in his mind that even if Professor Fembroise had only a particrly powerful armor, all the bones in her chest would shatter from the reverberating impact. The gap between their stats while Ss was fused with the Basilisk King was far too wide.


    And yet, just as Professor Fembroise''s life shed before her eyes, something unexpected happened.


    [Quicktime Event Triggered]


    [Enemy of Earth]


    [Level Rmended: 40]


    [Description: An Enemy of Earth has been detected. Wreathed in Demerits, Ss Grimde has begun to target the future seedlings of your world. Take up the mantle as protectors of Earth and im the head of this Traitor.]


    [Event Type: Merit Blitz]


    [Time Limit: 00:12:00:00]


    [Clear Requirements]


    >[Kill Ss Grimde]


    >[Protect the Seedling of Earth]


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist crashed into a barrier.


    The pale-faced Professor Fembroise copsed to her knees in shock and horror, only to realize that she was surrounded by a protective, transparent barrier.


    A reverberating impact rebounded against Ss'' arm, nearly fracturing his wrist. However, he could hardly focus on the spike of pain before Professor Fembroise vanished, teleported away to some unknown location.


    shes of notifications danced across Ss'' screen. He calmly read the Quicktime Event, and by the time he finished, a pulse came from him.


    Aether was projected out from him, rippling through the undergroundwork and alerting many to his location.


    Byparison, Ss himself had no idea where Professor Fembroise had gone.


    Ss closed his eyes.


    This time, the system was really screwing him over. But he had been waiting for this sort of thing to happen for a while. A Silver Demerit needed 10 Bronze Merits, 100 True Merits, or 1000 Hollow Merits to clear. Until now, Ss had only gathered two True Merits thanks to the deaths of two Bronze Beasts, but he had also conquered several System Cities.


    When everything bore out, he still needed over 970 Hollow Merits before he could undo what Lucius had done to him.


    The fact that the system hadn''t screwed him over more was already a miracle.


    But then again, he had just spent a lot of his recent time in a Split Realm where the modern system didn''t have much sway or power. That was the only reason he had been left rtively unscathed for so long.


    Now, however...


    [You have displeased the system, System Rebel]


    [The system is watching you]


    -


    [System Curse Received]


    Ss exhaled a breath. The steadiness of his heartbeat was eerily mechanical.


    ''Twelve hours? That''s too long, especially since I am in the middle of Lone Star City. But...''


    [Clear Requirements]


    ...


    [Protect the Seedling of Earth]


    ''... If I kill her this will end early.''


    Ss looked back toward where the Second me gang was, but he didn''t sense Professor Fembroise or the energy pod she was in toward that direction.


    In that case...


    He shot off down the cave tunnel. Why would he allow himself to be entrapped if she wasn''t even there?


    ...


    Masquerade was taken aback by the notification. But the instant he finished reading it, he understood the problem.


    Ss wasn''t a man of his word. He had tried to kill Professor Fembroise and the system had


    saved her.


    His head snapped toward Ss'' location.


    The system was giving them a chance to kill him.


    "Wait!" Masquerade roared. "Not yet."


    Not yet.


    ...


    [Linzie Han (FFF+)]


    [Level: 33]


    [Physical: 1125]


    [Mental: 1155]


    [Will: 894]


    The notification shed across Linzie''s screen. When she saw the name, she immediately stood to her feet, gripping a long, flexible spear and a green wind kicked up around her.


    She knew that name well. It was a name that kept her up at night.


    Every time she saw news of him, she would feel an aching pain in her heart and an even worse


    sense of guilt and loss. She had had the best chance out of anyone to kill this monster before


    The grew up, but she had failed.


    Back when Ss was in the volcano, she was precisely among the agents that he had escaped from. In fact, she was the one who had thrown the wind javelin at him just before he escaped


    with the military jeep.


    Knowing that, it was no wonder why she reacted like this... Ss had killed Joel, the very man


    he gained the Path of the Mancer ss Quest Destiny from, a man that had been by her side


    for over a decade.


    Linzie began to roar out orders. This time, Ss'' head would be hers.

 Chapter 695: Treasures

    Chapter 695: Treasures


    ?


    Ss zipped down the corridors. He had no easy way of finding where Professor Fembroise had been teleported to, what he did know was that usually, a Quicktime Event would have a


    limited range.


    The system almost certainly wouldn''t let him leave this region until the Quicktime Event was over. In which case, for the sake of maintaining what little fairness there was left, Professor Fembroise should be in this region as well.


    If she was outside of it, then the system might as well act to kill him now.


    The question was... howrge was this range?


    That was Ss'' first thought. He wanted to figure out how much room he had to work with.


    With his memory, winding through the tunnels he hade from was easy. But the issue was that when he took Professor Fembroise away for their talk, he had picked a random tunnel he had no familiarity with.


    It was a minor mistake, but right now it was costing him. For all he knew, there was a dead end waiting for him.


    Ss'' feet came to a grinding halt.


    A group of three men appeared before him, but they seemed just as shocked to see him.


    ''Why didn''t I sense them?''


    This was the only thought Ss could have before he was suddenly attacked.


    His tail whipped out in response, knocking the poison-tip bolt from a hidden crossbow away.


    The man seemed shocked that Ss had been able to react to it at all, but he wasn''t slow to back away, drawing his weapon. Unfortunately, not being slow wasn''t enough when Ss was so fast.


    CLANG! CLANG!


    A twin pair of ss des rebounded against their defenses, but the cracks that formed in their armors caught them off guard and filled their eyes with horror.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss'' body shed forward, leaving trails of ice behind as he curved up the side of the cave wall swiftly, appearing to their backs.


    They spun around, but they lost control of their bodies on the now slippery floor. BANG!


    One of their heads fell right toward Ss'' fist. With their armor already cracked by Ss'' initial attack, they couldn''t resist this time around.


    The man''s nose was driven into his brain as his forehead deformed.


    Another ss dagger shot out, rebounding against a de that shed down toward Ss'' neck.


    With a side step, a re of red-gold wings appeared to Ss'' back, allowing him to elerate to an extreme in a shortened burst.


    He drove a fist into the side of the man''s gut, shattering his ribs and tearing his heart to pieces with its shards.


    Thest of the group was the only one that Ss hadn''t managed to crack the armor of earlier. He was the fastest to retreat, and he was also the one who used the crossbow bolt earlier.


    Now, he had finished charging up a skill, shing it down toward Ss'' back.


    And yet...


    Ss side stepped as though he had eyes in the back of his head. With his back still to the man, he used the torque of his hips to drive an elbow toward his temple.


    The man unleashed a defensive Skill that made Ss feel as though his attack hadnded on a soft cloud. However, the feeling was brief before he exploded through, pushing beyond the limits of the defensive skill.


    But the man was clearly already expecting this, using the missed swing of his own weapon as momentum to duck beneath Ss'' elbow, sweeping to thetter''s front to attack him once


    more.


    However, before he could even finish the maneuver, Ss'' free hand spread out, a ckened aura surging from it.


    <Vortex Capture>.


    The swinging de suddenly faced a strong suction force from Ss, and the momentum the man was using was suddenly stifled as he found his weapon going in the opposite direction. Off-bnce and taken off guard, the man mistimed his dodge, allowing Ss'' elbow to drive right into his head.


    BANG!


    The armor of the man rippled and dealt with a vast majority of the damage. Unlike hispanions, between the armor and his earlier defensive skill, there was no crack. However, that didn''t stop his head from spinning with dizziness.


    The man''s grip on his own weapon loosened and he found it vanishing into Ss'' hand. At first, he thought it was an illusion... until a cloud of ash obscured his vision.


    Dead.


    The series of events was too smooth and suffocating. The moment the blurred vision from this ash and his dizzinessbined, the man knew that he was finished.


    PUCHI!


    A ss de tore through his throat as he had this final thought, his body convulsing once before copsing.


    Ss stood amongst the three corpses, his brows tightly wound into a frown. These three weren''t particrly powerful, only being in the high Level 20s. But aside from thest one, the other two were only FF+, while the final one was an FFF-threat. Considering how rare it was for people to reach the high Level 20s, and the fact Grades were all rtive to the standard of Earth, the fact their Grades were so low meant that they were among the weakest high Level 20s there were on Earth.


    Yet...


    ''Their armor and other treasures...''


    Ss knew that as time went on, and more people gathered Treasures and Leveled their items up, he would only struggle more and more because of these Scorned Wraps.


    What did it matter if his enemies had stats weaker than his own by several hundred if they had Treasures that gave them double that in additional stats and defenses?


    Against stronger opponents, this would only be worse.


    Ss'' gaze coldly shed. He took the three corpses with him, tossing them into the Madness


    Key.


    If he wanted to survive, he was going to have to be even more merciless. He had no doubt that the Terranova government would be sending quite a few people if they had a chance.


    ''Here.''


    Ss finally found the limit of the Quicktime Event as he pressed a palm against the barrier.


    ''The entire underground world, it seems... In that case, we''ll have to go deeper.''

 Chapter 696: Under and Sky [Bonus]

    Chapter 696: Under and Sky [Bonus]


    ?


    [Under Brown (FFF+)]


    [Level: 33]


    [Physical: 1303]


    [Mental: 935]


    [Will: 912]


    A man with buzzcut hair and what looked like a dozen daggers strapped onto various locations on his body-from his waist, to his chest, to his ankles-pushed a naked woman off of him, standing abruptly as he saw the notification.


    ''Ss Grimde...''


    Under picked his pants up off the floor, gaining another half a dozen daggers from the action of pulling them up alone.


    Frustrated by the fact his member was still standing at attention and wouldn''t fit, he forcefully tucked it into his belt, tightening it.


    "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"


    He regretted the action immediately and did a little dance trying to untighten it as he rushed out.


    The underground encampment was already bustling. Under didn''t need to give out any orders, everyone already understood the assignment.


    His tent ps rippled, and the sight of a naked woman bent over caught the attention of the men rushing by. They couldn''t help but pause their steps, trying to catch a glimpse past Under.


    Under wasn''t the burliest of men. In fact, he was quite anky sort of powerful. At 5''10" or so, he wasn''t a single pound over 150 or so, and that made him quite easy to look around.


    "Keep looking and I''ll have to cut a few cocks off," he growled.


    A giggle came from the woman he had thrown off of him not too long ago. She wiggled her hips as though to give everyone a little show before sliding her panties on.


    Whistles came from the surroundings, and Under could only roll his eyes.


    "Treat me with more delicate care in the future or I''ll have to choose someone else," the woman chortled.


    "Piss off, vixen. We''ve got work to do. Forget your looks for a second, there''s a big payday on the horizon."


    [Sky Texan (FFF+)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Physical: 422]


    [Mental: 1637]


    [Will: 977]


    Sky pushed her way out of the tent, rolling purple lipstick onto her plump lips.


    "This won''t be easy. Handsome will be immune to my poison."


    "Can''t you call him by his name like everyone else? And how can you even know that?"


    "Does it matter if you know who I''m talking about? I can just feel it."


    "You''ve never met him."


    "But do I need to?"


    "If your poison won''t work on him, this will make things more dangerous."


    "You know, it''s possible to just ignore the Quicktime Event," Sky chortled. "I was just getting in the mood. Maybe you should start calling him Handsome too since you abandoned me to go chase him."


    The men burst out intoughter as ck lines appeared on Under''s forehead.


    Under took a breath and exhaled. "This shindig is really going to be a blender. We''re not going to get directly involved, we''re just going to see if there''s an opportunity. Call the scouting units back. We''ll move as a single unit."


    After Under handed out his orders, theughing atmosphere faded and they all burst into action.


    "How sure are you?" Under asked Sky again, more seriously this time.


    "The poison weapons I''ve helped us make will definitely be worthless. As for my more unique poisons... well, he will at least have to put some effort into dispersing them, but I''m not even sure about that. If you really want to deal with him, we''ll need time to n. But the nature of a Quicktime Event doesn''t allow that."


    "Hm..." Under''s eyes narrowed. "... How do you feel about doing the opposite?"


    "As in helping him?"


    "Yeah. Our methods might not work on him, but what about the government? The Snail Queen trump card might be worth using right now."


    Sky showed some hesitation. "Didn''t you read the Description?"


    Under didn''t answer immediately, looking off into the distance.


    "Do you think the system is infallible? If it was, why would there be alien Races here in the first ce? A bit unfair, don''t you think. A little fledgling world having to face off against things that were only in your fantasy books a year ago."


    Sky''s expression suddenly changed as she realized something.


    "They approached you!"


    Under grinned. "Those bastards had quite a good offer."


    "Where''d you tell ''em to shove it."


    "Up that plump ass of yours."


    Skyughed. "A bastard like you really would say that."


    "But I did find out something. Second me ispromised. What are the odds that Ss Grimde would appear here and suddenly be targeted for wanting to kill a ''Seedling'' and have it bepletely unrted to them?"


    "Pretty good, actually." Sky replied.


    "Yeah, but it''s 50/50. Either he''s targeting a member of the government, or Second me. And even if it was the government, those bastards are just as dirty."


    "So what? We''re putting our necks out to help him?"


    "Of course not. Like I said, we''re looking for an opportunity. Even if he''s on Earth''s side, if we can benefit from this Quicktime Event, why not kill him? Did you see the Event Type? Merit Blitz? We might shoot to the top of the Merit Leaderboards if we killed him. How much


    money is that a day?"


    Sky''s eyes sparkled.


    "But, we can also take an opportunity to help him if it presents itself. But that will depend. The highest odds right now... is that we do nothing."


    Under''s gaze zed with a fiery light. This was an opportunity for his Grimy de gang for


    sure.


    **


    Ss could feel the walls closing in. Although he hadn''t run into another group after the first three, he felt as though someone was breathing down his neck.


    His Luck was constantly pinging him to the danger, but he had no choice but to ignore it. At this point, the danger was everywhere and there was no escaping it.


    And then came the heat.


    The deeper he went, the more oppressive it became. He knew that he was closing in on the


    volcano Portal.


    Thest time he was here, he had been the enemy of the world. And now it seemed that


    history would repeat itself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss inhaled a smoldering breath that threatened to char his throat.


    Before him, there was a forest of trees with thick red foliage that stretched as far as the eye


    could see.


    ''There''s no barrier here... the Quicktime Event extends into the Portal... could she be on the


    other side?''


    Thest time Ss had participated in a Quicktime Event, it had also urred through a Portal. It seemed that the system was truly intent on screwing him over this time. Would it use his System Curse to turn the snail into a Bronze beast like it had the Violet Rose


    Heart if he tried to pursue this route?


    Ss clenched his jaw.


    He already had his answer.


    The ring warnings of his Luck only sparked more fiercely, echoing in his ears like the roars


    of a nagging mother.


    Ss took a step forward, his Will zing like a torch in the middle of the night. By the time


    he took his second step, he had already elerated to his top speed, streaking across the


    forest in a line of ck.


    Thest time he was here he cowered.


    This time... he would permanently erase that stain.


    The system, the government, alien Races...


    No one would stand in his way.

 Chapter 697: Panic [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 697: Panic [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Ss dashed ahead, weaving through the trees as the sense of danger bloomed fiercer in his heart. He knew that even if he had eyes on the snail, its danger wasn''t it alone. Unless it had changed its path since thest time he had seen it, its greatest strength was its ability to control other beasts.


    On top of that, Ss was certain that this beast had trump cards he hadn''t seen yet. Otherwise, after so long, it wouldn''t still be alive.


    Back then, the government hadpletely surrounded the portal and sent several powerful individuals, only one of whom Ss had killed. As for Linzie and the other, they should still be alive.


    Even if they died, why wouldn''t the government have sent more powerful existences?


    They had every incentive to try and control such an area, yet they had failed to do so even after so many months.


    The more Ss thought about it, the more he felt the pressure of the situation. His breathing became somewhatbored as beads of sweat began to trickle down his body.


    The heat prated through his Aether skin and even seemingly down to his very soul. A shortness of breath overwhelmed him, and no matter how deep he tried to breathe, it didn''t seem to be enough.


    Ss'' steps came to a grinding halt. He stood there in the middle of the forest, heaving.


    No matter how he looked at it, it felt like he was having a panic attack. This sort of heat shouldn''t be enough to impact him so much, especially not with how powerful his ss Aether was, immature or not.


    ''Am I really so weak?''


    The thought echoed in Ss'' mind and he felt his stomach lurch. He bent over, heaving, but nothing but small droplets of spittle and acid came out.


    He had been too busy to eat much of anything recently outside of pills he formed with his Transmutation Beast Skin.


    ''No...''


    The feelings of danger pinged again and again and Ss finally looked up.


    There was nothing at all above his head... except for Runes.


    That was when Ss remembered another oddity. He hadn''t sensed the three men he fought in the cavework earlier despite having been on high alert.


    ''Domain.''


    Ss finally understood that it wasn''t that he was running right toward danger, but rather that he was already in the middle of it.


    With a push of his feet, Ss dove to the side as an arrow whizzed over his shoulder. The feeling of panic in his chest was only growing.


    The timing couldn''t have been worse. Just as his rapidly beating heart hit a new stage of agitation, another ripple of Aether came out from him, alerting everyone to his new location.


    Ss found his body overheating. His heart was beating too fast and his blood rushed through his veins as though it was racing to find a way out of his pores.


    shes of red danced in the trees, blending in so perfectly with the foliage that Ss couldn''t even see them clearly. Worst of all, he couldn''t trust his visualization to pick up on them. It was as though they were all fleeting.


    But the arrows they fired were very real.


    Ss was forced to duck and roll again. He hadn''t realized just how much he relied on his visualization until now. Without it, he couldn''t read the trajectory of the attacks ahead of time and react fast enough to block or dodge them precisely. His best course of action was just to try and leap his entire body out of the way.


    Unfortunately, that was bound to only have limited effectiveness.


    A piercing pain shot through Ss'' body, apanied by a searing pain. It felt like a scolding iron had been pressed so deeply into his skin that it was branding itself right onto his bone itself.


    Thoughts didn''te straight and clean. The panic in his heart was only increasing as the danger around him likewise grew more suffocating.


    The world spun and his vision blurred. The blood vessels in his eyes dted and goosebumps flooded his skin.


    His heartbeat soared to over 200 beats a minute. He could practically hear it hitting overdrive in his ears. If this continued, he would just directly die. There was no way his body could take this level of stress.


    But he wasn''t even thinking straight enough to see things so clearly.


    All he could feel was that fear.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The feelings of that day amplified in his mind. It was like he was right back there, stuck in a world of endless mes andva, thinking that the next step he took might be hisst.


    All the bravado he had had just seconds ago was lost to space and time, buried within him.


    THWACK!


    An arrow pierced into his shoulder. His body was beginning to slow down, overheating from the excessive use of his heart. He almost couldn''t feel the searing paining from his arm at


    all.


    Everything just felt numb.


    ...


    Linzie mmed a foot to the ground, bending down low and changing direction so fiercely to round a corner that she almost looked like a motorcycle gliding around a curve.


    Her flexible spear was held out from her body as a counterbnce, and with an explosion of strength from her quads, she shot up and around the corner, entering the forest of red as they colloquially called it.


    At that moment, a pulse informed her of Ss'' new position and the intent in her gaze zed as her squad rushed in an attempt to keep up with her.


    She had originally nned to cut through the forest of red as a shortcut despite the danger. But who would have thought that Ss would actuallye closer to her of his own volition.


    She pivoted again, rushing toward him.


    "Captain! The Fire Monkeys!"


    Linzie''s only response was a flicker of her spear.


    TA. TA. TA.


    Three arrows shattered in the air as Linzie burst through their splinters.


    Nothing would stop her from taking Ss Grimde''s head.


    A ne danced around her neck as she sprinted forward like a cheetah through the wild ins, rebuffing the effects of the Domain in the region.

 Chapter 698: Laughter [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 698: Laughter [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    The searing pain in Ss'' shoulder couldn''t seem to reach his mind at all. His vision looked zed over as he saw more red than anything else, but his mind was more focused on the fear erupting from deep within him.


    He hated the feeling. He hated the feeling of helplessness, but there was no escaping it. It was everywhere he looked, suffocating and ubiquitous.


    The worst part was that he knew why he couldn''t shake it off.


    Maybe there was something external triggering these emotions, but he knew deep inside... that they were real.


    There was a gap between what was truly resolved and what was suppressed. Ss'' solution to his plight was to be strong, but was he strong yet?


    Even if he one day became invincible on Earth, what about in their sr system? What about their quadrant? Their gxy? Their gxy cluster? Beyond?


    Would he ever be able to get rid of this feeling of inadequacy until he was unbothered and unaffected by the threat anyone in existence could provide?


    What sort of life was that?


    THWACK!


    Ss tried to dodge again, but he ended up diving into the path of an arrow instead of away.


    This one was luckily a ncing blow that stuck so heavily into the tree behind him that the tail of the arrow whipped back and forth viciously, but that didn''t stop a deep gash from appearing in his quad. It looked like it was only another inch or two from unearthing bone. The pain finally seemed to reach Ss this time as his vision cleared slightly.


    No, it wasn''t the pain. It was a change to the cadence of his Luck''s warnings. There was a new danger pinging him.


    This awoke Ss slightly as his mind felt the new stimulus. He tried to grasp this light at the end of the tunnel, but the feelings of fear came swifter and harsher.


    ''Am I really going to die here?''


    The thought reverberated like a rock through into arge, empty corridor. It rebounded and echoed, bouncing around his skull as it made its presence known and forced itself into his reality.


    A flicker of light pierced through the blurriness of Ss'' vision.


    He stumbled to the side out of instinct, the whizzing of a spear vibrating his eardrum as it sliced by his head. A new feeling of heat burned the side of Ss'' face as he became vaguely aware that someone had almost cut his ear in two.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Die!"


    Linzie''s voice roared.


    ''Die?''


    Time slowed for Ss.


    He felt that scent of death more clearly now than even that day in the volcano. He couldn''t see properly, he knew he was being attacked, but there was nothing he could do about it.


    That feeling of helplessness was even more severe now than it ever had been before. Everything vanished and he felt like he was standing in an abyss of endless darkness.


    A droplet of water fell from an undetectable ceiling, rippling across the surface of the water he seemed to be standing on, but couldn''t quite make out either.


    ''Too weak... so... so... so... weak...''


    A voice that sounded like it came from a throat filled with gravel echoed out.


    Somehow, it felt like the Greed Seed and not like the Greed Seed at all. Subconsciously, Ss understood.


    This voice didn''te from the Greed Seed. But the origins of the two... were quite simr. Ss understood that this voice was actually him. A part that he had buried... born that day he faced his death for the first time and the reaction that he had to it.


    Since then, it had been lingering in him, reminding him of his inferiority, his weakness, his unworthiness of his own confidence and arrogance.


    Deep down, he was the man that feared death... feared the ultimate loss of control that it represented.


    Feeling it, Ss found himself calming.


    "You''re right..."


    These were the only words he said because there was nothing else to be said.


    He was weak.


    The gravel-filled voice began tough. Itughed andughed, pouring a ckness out from within it and toward Ss. The pure, reflective ss-like me that was Ss'' Sparked Will became corrupted.


    There was a sh of ckness in Ss'' eyes, one that tainted the pure green of his irises, and in an instant, something that he hadn''t been able to understand at all solidified in his mind.


    His strength didn''t seem to change at all, and yet everything changed.


    Ss'' mind snapped back to reality and the blurryyers of his vision fused into a single solid image...


    Just in time to see a spear aiming for the space right between his brows, whistling wind howling around it.


    BANG!


    The spear ran right through Ss'' forehead, but Linzie couldn''t celebrate before Ss'' body became a burst of ss sand.


    Ss'' body reformed behind Linzie, sending out a fist of Aetherflow as he rapidly retreated. All the wounds he had suffered began to make their presence known, but he wasn''t slow in his actions at all.


    A fierce desire for survival bloomed within his heart, and the fear that bloomed within him seemed to be like a burning light that tore through the effects of the Domain.


    His head snapped in a certain direction and he finallyid eyes on the Fire Monkeys. For the first time, they looked like something more than a blur of red in his eyes.


    PUCHI!


    A de of ss tore one right in two.


    What chance did they stand against him with ss Monkey yer active?


    A path was opened up behind him as he continued to elerate backward. Linzie suffered a point-nk blow to her back. The reflection of her armor''s defense deflected the blow, but she was still sent flying, crashing through a rtively thin tree.


    Ss didn''t linger, pivoting and elerating into the distance. His visualization had finally started to work again and he knew that he couldn''t afford to be surrounded here.


    But at the same time, there was a circting energy in the depths of his right hand.


    The ckened w.


    For some reason... Ss felt like he had a perfectprehension of Demonic Runes now.


    SHIIIIING!


    Three ck ws extended from his hand as the Demonic Treasure was sessfully repaired.

 Chapter 699: Army

    Chapter 699: Army


    ?


    Linzie coughed as all the air in her body seemed to be forcefully expelled by a single blow. PENG! PENG! PENG!


    Three Fire Monkey arrows crashed into her body. Luckily, her armor saved her life, but the dimming of the energy seemed to awaken her to her situation.


    She sensed several more arrowsing her way, but she didn''t have the time to orient herself.


    Luckily...


    PENG!


    A burly man appeared behind Linzie, raising a shield to block the oing rain of arrows. Linzie fell to the ground, gasping for breath for barely a split moment before she hopped to her feet.


    "He went that way! I almost had him!" She roared out and then grit her teeth.


    Without giving her team a chance to reject again, she rushed off.


    The burly man looked toward the others and they were forced to follow after.


    It was clear to them that Linzie wasn''t quite in her right mind, but they had also seen the scene from before. She really had almost killed Ss. If not for the fact he had used a rare Skill, his head would have already been pinned to the tree.


    They didn''t reject Linzie this time because her battle sense was clearly still there. And next time, she would be ready for that Skill and wouldn''t fall for the same trick.


    Plus...


    They all wanted Ss'' head too.


    This sort of person was the kind that disgusted them the most. They were soldiers, putting their life on the line for the sake of themon people. And yet the likes of Ss only seemed out to fight for themselves.


    He deserved the worst kind of death.


    "Let''s go, Butch." A skinny man shot off after knocking the burly man''s shoulder. "We have heads to hunt. The Fire Monkeys are yours."


    Butch mmed his tower shield onto the ground and a ripple of light shot out in all directions.


    The screeches of the Fire Monkeys filled the air as they were sent flying away. Then with a stomp, he rushed to catch up with everyone.


    ...


    Ss dashed through the forest toward the location he felt the Portal in. His gaze had already long regained itsposure, but the erratic beating of his heart was taking time to calm, not to mention the overheating of his body.


    Keeping up this pace for even several hours shouldn''t have been a problem for him, but right now, it felt like his body had already been pushed to its limits and couldn''t take much more.


    It felt like hot coals were running down the length of his throat and his body''s efficiency was down in the dumps.


    ''I need a solution.''


    He didn''t even have the time to consider what it meant that he could feel Demonic Runes now. Instead, he pivoted his attention and knew exactly what he needed.


    ?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    BADOOM.


    Ss'' heart nearly exploded, but he stripped down the technique of its poison and focused entirely on the ice meant to cool himself down.


    Almost instantly, a frosty fog exhaled from Ss'' mouth as his body temperature plummeted.


    The soft soil deformed beneath the sole of his feet as he erupted forward with even greater Speed.


    Ta. Ta. Ta.


    With quick taps, Ss zigzagged up a tree, jumping between three of them until he soared into the dense foliage and vanished with them.


    Almost instantly, a dagger came for his head, but the calmness in his irises didn''t fade in the slightest. His hand was already grabbing forward as though he had already predicted the future.


    He caught the de in the palm of his Scorned Wraps, ripping it down and driving his knee right through the face of the Fire Monkey. The feeling of its skull deforming across his bone echoed through his body with a hair-raising hollowness.


    The dagger burst to ashes, but Ss had already let go and continued to dash forward. Gathering Ice Aether in this region was many times more difficult and Ss realized that he was going to be at a disadvantage.


    ''They''re still not caught up. They''re slower than I imagined.''


    It wasn''t that they were slow, but that Ss was much too fast. Defensive Treasures were quitemon, but more auxiliary ones that could boost Speed or Dexterity weren''t as sought after. They weren''t necessarily rare, but they weren''tmonce amongst those without certain sses.


    Ss had already felt that Linzie had control over Wind Aether, so he thought that her Speed would be troublesome to deal with, but she seemed to have ced her greatest emphasis on


    attack.


    That and...


    ''It''s possible that they''re bing more cautious.''


    The number of Fire Monkeys was only increasing. Although they didn''tst more than a single hit against Ss, if this continued, he would eventually be overrun.


    When Ss felt his body temperature had returned to normal, he activated in full force. Now that his Will had a ss character to it, there was no longer an imbnce in the activation of this Gene Skill. As such, his Speed shot through the roof without the same overheating issues.


    However, this didn''tst for long.


    Ss suddenly came to a stop.


    Danger.


    The rustle of leaves echoed behind Ss as he felt Linzie quickly closing in the gap, but the main issue was actually ahead of him.


    The Portal was surrounded by an encampment of beasts. They were mostly made up of Fire Monkeys, which sounded like good news. But the main issue was that...


    They were an organized army.


    There were Fire Monkey archers, Fire Monkey dagger and short sword wielders, and most shocking of all, Fire Monkey cavalrymen who rode on the backs of two types of beasts.


    One of them was a Fire Wolf that had shocking crimson fur. The other was a Fire Rhino that stood at over three meters tall. The Fire Monkeys that rode on their backs looked a lot more like Fire Apes and wielded anything fromrge clubs to long spears.


    This wasn''t a beast tide. It was an organized army.


    And theirmander lingered right near the entrance of the Portal.

 Chapter 700: Already

    Chapter 700: Already


    ?


    Linzie dashed out from the brush, appearing behind Ss as though she didn''t see the danger ahead at all. Her spear carved through the air, thrusting right for the location of Ss'' brain stem.


    Ss didn''t even have the chance to scan therge snail BOSS in the distance. Truthfully, he hadn''t expected this woman to be so reckless. She had a hatred for him that went beyondmon reason. Clearly, he had done something to her.


    As for what it was, Ss couldn''t be bothered to care for it.


    A shield of ss appeared behind Ss'' neck.


    CRACK.


    The spear throttled right through it, but it still weakened enough to give Ss the time to p his tail at the body of the spear and send it over his shoulder rather than through his spine and brain.


    Ss'' grappling instincts kicked in as he executed a hip throw in a single fluid motion.


    Linzie crashed into the ground so heavily all the air was knocked out of her for the second time in what felt like just as many seconds.


    Ss raised up his foot, sending it smashing down toward her head. A frosty ice pulsed through his heel and Linzie found herself in a daze.


    The Ss she had faced earlier was so much weaker. Why was he suddenly so sharp and powerful? If she had known this would happen, she would have never overextended herself like this.


    What she didn''t know was that the Ss she had "faced" was in the middle of an all-out assault on his mind. He couldn''t even gather enough focus to deal with the monkeys around him that were weakened to half their stats, let alone deal with her properly.


    PENG! PENG! PENG!


    Ss'' gaze sharpened as several ss barriers appeared around his foot.


    The barriers shattered one after another in quick session, but the powerful arrow was enough to push Ss'' stomp off course.


    BANG!


    Ss'' hit drove into the ground and ice exploded around it. Half of Linzie''s face was covered in that instant, but she still managed to roll away.


    CRACK.


    Linzie''s armor''s energy finally gave way as sparkling ice fell. The poison had corroded thest of her defenses, and the durability of her armor hit o. Now it was nothing more than a heavy mass hanging uselessly from her torso.


    Ss'' head snapped toward a direction, but he couldn''t see the archer clearly, and they were also outside the range of his visualization. However, he could feel several gazes on him as Butch lumbered out from the forest line.


    A charge-type Skill activated as Butch stormed toward Ss.


    Ss took a breath, realizing that this situation would only quickly grow out of hand. The only reason that they were so confidently attacking him here was probably because they knew something that he didn''t. Judging by the fact the snail still hadn''t made a move, that likely meant that it wasn''t going to anytime soon.


    If Ss had to make a guess, the snail probably took a "don''t provoke me and I won''t provoke you" approach. But that left him between a rock and a hard ce.


    The number of government officials would only increase, and now they knew exactly where he was. While to his back, there was an army that he couldn''t even begin to provoke.


    Ss'' gaze seemed to solidify as he made a decision.


    BOOM!N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Butch didn''t know what happened.


    In one moment, he was charging toward Ss, ready to send him flying into the army of Fire Monkeys.


    But in the next, he was sent flying back even faster than he came. As his vision blurred, all he could see was a wall of ck scales.


    Ss stood on the Basilisk King''s head, his Beast Totem forming a pair of golden eyes to his back as he loomed over ten meters above everyone else.


    The Basilisk King''s Strength and Constitution both soared over 3000, but Ss'' mind seemed elsewhere.


    He pressed his hands together in a focused push as one Rune after another formed around him. Without the Scorpion King''s Blood Essence, it took much longer for him toplete it. But did it matter when he had the support of a Legendary Contract?


    SHOOM!


    Thest of the Runes took shape and Ss'' Scorpion Warlord Armor solidified.


    Large amounts of Aether rushed toward him as his 40% Mastery armor bloomed with life.


    "Go."


    The Basilisk King swayed its tail, pping it against the ground and then shooting toward the army of Fire Monkeys. Its powerful abdominal muscles left deep trenches in the ground with every slither, and in a moment, they had already crashed against the first line.


    Fire Monkeys, Fire Rhinos, and Fire Wolves alike found themselves flying through the air.


    Ss'' gaze focused as several ss daggers appeared around him. With an intent of his telekinesis, they rocketed forward, piercing into the bodies of one Fire Monkey after another.


    Under the effects of ss Monkey yer, the 1000 Attack limit of Ss'' ss was more than enough to shred them to pieces, and in just a few breaths, it looked as though Ss had already carved over 30% of the way to the Portal.


    But it was then that, like an awakening dragon, the army stirred.


    The snail seemed to have been in a dormant state earlier, but when it was disturbed, its eyes snapped open.


    WHOOSH!


    CRACK.


    The dome of the sky shattered and the Runes that Ss had seen above his head earlier weren''t able to sustain themselves any longer.


    But the moment this domain copsed, a new, surging pressure took form.


    The antenna of the snail swayed as its eyes snapped open. Its shell, glowing like resplendent rubies, danced withplex Runes as it turned its attention toward Ss.


    It took no more than a nce for Ss to feel as though his entire body had frozen over.


    The snail didn''t need his System Curse to be a Bronze King Beast.


    It already was one.


    [System Curse Activated]

 Chapter 701: Overlord Quest [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 701: Overlord Quest [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    [You have be the Target of an Overlord Quest]


    [Your Destiny hangs in the bnce]


    This was the only notification Ss received. He had no idea what an Overlord Quest was or what it represented. All he knew was that the moment this notification appeared, the snail locked eyes with him and unleashed a howl that filled the skies.


    Somehow, it sounded like a cross between a whale''s mourn and a wolf''s howl to the moon, prating through his Aether skin and battering against his eardrum with every intent to shatter it.


    [What is an Overlord Quest?]


    [An Overlord Quest is a Destiny-changing Quest. The mostmon application of it is giving a non-Overlord Race a chance to be one. Usually, it is applied on a small scale, allowing one such member of a non-Overlord Race to disce an existing member of an Overlord Race. On thergest scales, it allows an entire Race to be reced.]


    Ss'' pupils trembled as he understood what was happening.


    The snail had been given a quest to snatch his Overlord Race status away from him.


    Ss'' jaw clenched. Without the status of an Overlord Race, you would lose the favor of the system entirely.


    This wasn''t just about losing the ability to Level up either. Most of the functions of the system would be unavable. If one already had a ss, you would lose much of its abilities. To make matters worse, if you lost about 50% of the capabilities of a ss, then you would lose as much as 70% of a Profession''s abilities.


    Even things like Mounts wouldn''t work as well anymore.


    How much of Ss'' Vipermancer Profession was automated by the system? Without its favor, how far would his strength plummet?


    A guillotine suddenly hung over Ss'' head once again and the undtions of the snail''s howl buffeted against his mind.


    It was happening again. That fear was sinking in, wing its way into the very depths of his soul.


    What made it so powerful was that it wasn''t trying topete with his Will. It was preying on weaknesses and insecurities that already existed.


    His fear of this region, the stain of that day, the shadows lingering in his mind...


    Those were all things that he had yet to purge.


    A mad cackle echoed through Ss'' ears again and his mind seemed to clear up. His Will fed on the negative energy and a pulsing feeling thrummed through his right arm right in the location the ckened w was hidden in.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ss'' gaze regained its focus and he locked eyes with the howling snail.


    He didn''t understand what was happening inside of his body. This odd Demonic Will that was rooting itself in him should have been a negative. He innately wanted to feel like it was a negative.


    So why was it helping him?


    SHU! SHU! SHU!


    Arrows filled the skies and copsed onto Ss'' position. His mind had cleared fast enough for him to dodge, but how could the Basilisk King with howrge its body was?


    However, at that moment, Ss felt a swelling of strength within his chest as a me that was half ss and half darkness surged.


    BANG!


    He held out a hand and all of the arrows came to a freezing stop at the same time. Over three dozen of them stopped in their tracks as Ss'' fist clenched.


    SHU! SHU! SHU!


    The arrows reversed course, plummeting down from the skies and ripping through the bodies of the Fire Monkeys that had fired them.


    "Let''s go." Ss said coldly.


    Since he couldn''t figure it out now, there was only one thing to do.


    Kill.


    The strength of his telekinesis skyrocketed, doubling in power output. Now, it could exhibit equal power on over 400 pounds without losing a single Physical stat point.


    In the past, Ss wasn''t able to stop arrows in the air because their force per square inch was too high. But between the effects of his Title and this new Demonic Will, his ability to exert influence on the world shot through the roof.


    Ss borrowed a portion of Nosphaleen''s Charisma stat to bnce out his own Charisma and Will and suddenly his telekinesis could exhibit over 500 pounds of power without losing a single Physical stat point.


    Over 2000 Physical stat points, to be exact.


    Ice Bolts appeared in the skies by the dozens, raining down in a violent upheaval. Ss didn''t seem to care for quantity and barely cared even if his enemies managed to dodge.


    In a relentless barrage, he littered the battlefield with sheets of ice that were immediately assaulted by the oppressive heat in the region.


    ...


    Linzie and the others gathered at the edge of the forest, their eyes bulging at the raging battle. As Ss had guessed, they were confident in attacking earlier because other than sending out a few scouting units of Fire Monkeys, the snail was usually quite dormant. Through trial and error, though, they hade to understand that dormant or not, the snail couldn''t be provoked. Doing so would bring the entire wrath of its army down on you.


    They thought they would have to push or trick Ss into it, only for him to enter the fray on his own.


    But now they were hesitating. Should they go and risk being attacked themselves?


    At that moment, Fire Monkeys started flying out of the forest, catching them off guard. They prepared to attack, only to realize that the monkeyspletely ignored them, shooting into the battlefield to assault Ss.


    They looked at one another and seemed to understand something.


    The snail was going all out to kill Ss for reasons they couldn''t quite understand. However,


    this was a good thing for them nheless.


    Wouldn''t this give them an opportunity if they just bided their time?


    ...


    In the corners of the forest, two familiar powers had already made their presences known. Among them were, of course, Under and Masquerade. Under''s expression was unreadable, but Masquerade''s carried a hint of shock on them.


    The Second me gang head looked at the device in his hand as his heartrate shot through the


    roof.


    ''Overlord Quest! This is huge! I have to inform them!''


    Somehow, the little device in his hand had picked up on the fluctuations in thews, decoding


    the encryptednguage of the system and deciphering its intentions.


    Now, it wouldn''t just be the backup of the governmenting.


    This matter would truly blow up.


    The enemies of Earth themselves couldn''t possibly sit still in the face of such an opportunity.

 Chapter 702: Another

    Chapter 702: Another


    ?


    Ss forgot about everything but the battle before him.


    They said that there was something particrly primal that one could tap into when faced with a situation of fight or flight. Some told stories of mothers lifting cars off of their children, others told tales of entering a state of hyper-focus and adrenaline that fueled athletic feats they never thought possible...


    Ss didn''t feel anything so mystical. All he felt was an intense drive inside of him, a Demonic sort of instinctual desire.


    It wasn''t one that he could exin properly, but it made his Will sharper, finer, more potent. BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ice Bolts fell from the skies in sparkling rains of blue. Mist filled the air as the heat and cold collided, obscuring clear vision of the battlefield.


    It wasn''t clear if this was Ss'' initial intention or not, but what was clear was that it didn''t impede his own movements in the slightest. In fact, the billowing mist only increased the concentration of Ice Aether in the region, allowing Ss'' Skills to flow more smoothly than ever before.


    When Ss felt that the stage was adequately set, he pressed down on the Basilisk King''s head with a foot and rapidly shot out, moving with such Speed that the Basilisk King''s head was almost pushed into the ground from its once lofty position.


    The Basilisk King, though, didn''t miss a single beat, using its body and Constitution like a sledgehammer against their opponents.


    Ssnded on the ground in the midst of the carnage wrought by the Basilisk King''s enormous body. A menacing light flickered in his eyes as he elerated once more, grabbing a Fire Monkey sent flying out by its tail and whipping it toward another.


    The two creatures mmed into each other before one burst into a rain of ash.


    A me more powerful than anything the volcano''s heat could produce sprung upward and caused the second Fire Monkey to shriek. But it hardly mattered as the collision alone shattered all the bones in its body.


    Ss side-stepped the charge of a Fire Rhino, diving to the side as the Basilisk King''s tail mmed into its proud horn.


    The creature surely had powerful Constitution, but it was nothing before the Beast Totem buffed Basilisk King. Its horn pierced back and into its skull, and it died before it even finished gliding through the army.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    More Ice Bolts were summoned from Ss'' Madness Key and he didn''t seem to care how many he used up or wasted. They fell in an endless, perpetual rain, leavingrger andrger blooming tforms of ice in their wake.


    PENG!


    Ss heard the howling wind before it evennded, but the Basilisk King had summoned a <King''s Shield> and he cast right afterward.


    The sudden, Aether-fuelednce that tore toward the pair shattered the Basilisk King''s shield before stopping dead in its tracks at Ss'' own.


    The two worked together seamlessly, and the attack of the snail that should have ripped through both of them was instead resolved with ease.


    Ss tore through the stragglers the Basilisk King missed while the Basilisk King itself was akin to a battering ram through the army, and soon, the Portal was within their sights. But by extension...


    So too was the snail.


    Or, rather, the Snail Queen.


    [Snail Queen (Bronze)]


    [Level: 41]


    [Physical: 1453]


    [Strength: 634]


    [Constitution: 3999]


    [Dexterity: 510]


    [Speed: 669]


    [Mental: 3999]


    [Intelligence: 3999]


    [Wisdom: 4027]


    [Charisma: 3971]


    [Will: 999]


    Seeing the Snail Queen from afar and facing her might within dozens of meters was apletely different experience.


    It felt like there was a veil permanentlytched onto the surroundings, digging into one''s very psyche.


    It was a strong Charisma that made one want to bow in inferiority. And Ss had no doubt that it was even stronger than what he was seeing through his ...


    That was because he was 100% certain this Snail Queen had a Comprehension.


    Its name was different from thest time he had seen it, but it only seemed natural. It was no longer that obscure snail species, named by the scientists of Earth.


    No... it had now be somethingpletely different, somethingpletely unique to its own.


    The antenna of the Snail Queen shook and ripples spread out in all directions. Ss felt the oppression on his mind strengthen.


    His gaze suddenly sharpened and he sent out a palm at the same time.


    BANG!


    A sh of telekinesis rippled through the skies as an invisible tug of war shook the space. The heavy mist in the surroundings bent and twisted, bing the only evidence of their sh.


    Ss sent out a fist with his other hand,manding the Basilisk King to attack with an all-


    out swing.


    Unfortunately, as easy as it was for Ss to split his attention, it was even more so for the Snail Queen. At the same time as he was sensing new Fire Monkeys surge in from the surroundings, Ss could also feel the Snail Queen conjuring up a defensive skill, all while it was still shing with his telekinesis.


    It was overwhelming. Especially when Ss realized this was far from the only thing the snail was doing. It was still maintaining a Domain over the region, albeit in a much shorter range than earlier, all while directing some more finger details of therge army around them. Compared to the first time Ss had faced off against this beast, it was truly akin to night and


    day.


    However, in this realm of telekinesis...


    Ss refused to lose.


    ''Shatter.''


    Ss'' Aetherflow activated. By now, he could already feel that this Bronze Unique Gene wasgging behind too much. It was still powerful, but it felt far toocking when facing off


    against enemies like this.


    However, the Unique Gene was one matter...


    His Will was another.


    CRACK.


    The invisible sh suddenly solidified as fragmented ss appeared in the middle of the air,


    looking as though reality had just cracked like thin ice.

 Chapter 703: Free

    Chapter 703: Free


    ?


    Ss'' telekinesis gained form and substance to it, his Will reflecting across the air like sparkling shards of ss as the Snail Queen''s own Will bent and bowed against it.


    He felt every moment of the Snail Queen''s telekinesis bending to his Will, and then he felt it shatter.


    Judging by the Snail Queen''s stats, Ss knew better than anyone else that it was facing great trouble right now. Its Charisma was overwhelming, but its Will was almost a mere fourth of it.


    The imbnce between the two stats meant that the Snail Queen''s telekinesis might be strong, and with its Comprehension, it was almost certainly more than a match for most others...


    But in front of Ss, who had Nosphaleen''s Charisma to supplement himself, it was too imbnced to do much of anything.


    The hollow echo of the snail''s howl resonated through the air as a painful bacsh hit it. Ss could even see faint lines of ice and poison Runes appearing in the depths of its eyes as it struggled to shrug it off.


    This was the first time Ss had seen someone''s telekinesis shatter as though it was a Skill, but he hadn''t even met more than a couple telekinesis wielders to begin with. It was only natural he learn new things in the midst of one of his first all-out battles against a fellow expert.


    None of this slowed Ss down in the slightest. The moment he saw the chance, he took it.


    As the Basilisk King swung out another tail, swatting the next surge of the army from closing in, Ss'' Aether surged.


    By now, thanks to, his Will had already recovered from the ss Monkey battle. And now, he was peeling away even more of it.


    With Madness activated, his Will was over 9000, and he sacrificed over 3000 of it in a single breath.


    [Your Will has been tainted]


    [-600 Will (Temporary)]


    Ss felt his mind almost split in two beneath a shearing pain, but at that moment, a Demonic energy surged up.


    Fear. Angst. Doubt.


    Negative emotions that had been constantly lingering in the back of his mind since he entered this Domain surged forward and began to fill more and more of his mind.


    Ss realized then that it wasn''t that his Will was too weak to deal with this assault on his mind, but rather that it was precisely because his Will was so powerful that he had managed to hang on at all.


    A new sort of imbnce rampaged through Ss'' heart, but he pushed through, casting.


    An icy, humanoid figure ejected itself from Ss'' forehead, charging through the air and toward the howling Snail Queen.


    The Snail Queen seemed to realize that something was wrong, but the moment it urged its Will to purge the assault on its psyche, another attack came.


    The Frosted Nightmare avatar dove into the Snail Queen''s head and it froze for a moment.


    At that instant of time, Ss could already feel that the Snail Queen was about to shatter his Frosted Nightmare Skill...


    But not before his true goal was achieved.


    The Domain high in the skies finally shattered. But more importantly than that...


    The Fire Monkeys, Fire Rhinos, and Fire Wolves jolted. Their focused eyes zing over for a moment before they regained a different sort of rity, one that was far less controlled... The Snail Queen had lost the control it had over its army.


    "Go." Ss growled through the pain, leaping up tond on the Basilisk King''s bowed head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Basilisk King didn''t need to hear another word. It pped its tail against the ground, jetting forward.


    Ss bent forward, bncing on the balls of his feet and one hand as he raised his Scorpion Warlord tail high in the skies.


    CHING! CHING! CHING!


    The crackle of ice echoed as a drill of ss began to form around the tip of Ss'' tail. It doubled in size three times over until it was over a meter in length and half a meter at its very thickest.


    Runes danced across its surface, and though they were only 40 Foundation Runes, the power they exuded shook the skies.


    The Scorpion Warlord Tail had one main ability... and that was to raise all Poison-based Runes to Breath Mastery. Meaning, Ss could use this to mitigate the weakness of hisck of Mature Aether.


    CHING!


    Mist danced across the formation of the ss drill. The reflective lights of the red-gold atmosphere danced across its surface as it began to rotate.


    And then Ss'' tail flexed and whipped out.


    The drill shot through the air as the Basilisk King rushed past the screeching Snail Queen.


    The Mature Aether in the air surged toward the spinning drill. It was an almost beautiful sight as the mist was pulled toward its body, sending spiraling swirls of frosty blue churning through the air.


    BANG!


    The drill collided with the Snail Queen''s head, but Ss didn''t even check to see the result. He and the Basilisk King had already pushed through, vanishing into the Portal.


    The pain in Ss'' head was pulsing, but the moment he entered the Portal, the assault of the Snail Queen on his mind vanished in a puff of smoke.


    Despite the Domain having been shattered earlier, the Snail Queen''s Charisma alone was so oppressive that it came with a passive pressure on his mind.


    Now, however... he was free.


    Or so he thought.


    Returning to this location hit him in ways he never expected it to. Maybe if his Will hadn''t suffered a temporary -600 buff, it wouldn''t have felt like this, but there was no use in considering such a thing.


    Ss gritted his teeth, grabbing his head with a hand as he tried to focus. He repeated the same mantras he usually did. The importance of discipline, the importance of self-control.


    A maddened cackle echoed in his ears, reverberating endlessly. He felt as though a hand was tightening around his throat.

 Chapter 704: 100 000 000 [Bonus for Top Five Golden Tickets]

    Chapter 704: 100 000 000 [Bonus for Top Five Golden Tickets]


    ?


    "Why are you still fighting it? I thought we already agreed that you were weak."


    Theughter continued to echo in Ss'' ears, but rather than feeling worse...


    It actually made him feel better.


    Ss realized that the pain wasing from fighting against the reality. But it was easier said than done to just stop.


    On the one side, there was his idealized version of himself... the strong, capable man he wanted to be, or rather, thought he was.


    And on the other, there was a mirror being held to his face, one that reminded him of his failures, his inadequacies.


    Ss struggled to lift his head, unable to make a decision as he gazed out into the world ofva.


    Endless rivers of red gold spread out as far as the eye could see, sparse rock formations appearing from time to time. High above, the gaping opening of the volcano loomed, but the heavy soot that rose made it difficult to see the skies above. Whatever time of day it was, though, it would hardly matter because the shimmering shine of theva would overwhelm both the day and night.


    However, none of this was what Ss was focused on. That was because in the distance, he found exactly what he was looking for all this time.


    Professor Fembroise.


    Hovering above a rock formation, Professor Fembroise was trapped in an egg-shaped, translucent gold barrier. She had just been sitting there previously, a hint of nervousness on her face. But she couldn''t help but stand to her feet the moment Ss appeared.


    The Basilisk King understood Ss'' intentions without him saying anything. With a sway, it shot across the sea ofva, closing the distance between them and the Professor.


    ...


    Outside the Portal, Ss'' drill of ssnded.


    The tipnced into the snail''s head, twisting violently and erupting with a shuddering might. The pained howl of the Snail Queen filled the skies, ripples of Aether spreading out in all directions.


    BANG!


    The head of the Snail Queen exploded.


    The screeches of monkeys filled the skies as they pounced. They had no loyalty to the Snail Queen. All they knew was that they were now free and such a powerful creature had died right in front of them. If they could take its Gene Core, they would be the next King Beast born.


    Unfortunately...


    A ripple came from the Snail Queen''s shell. A cancerous mass of cells bubbled up from the split in its head.


    The Snail Queen had sacrificed its head on purpose. Between all the poison surging through it, and the addition of Ss'' attack, there was no easy path forward.


    40 Foundation Poison with the support of Mature Aether was already incredibly difficult to deal with, even for this King Beast.


    So it sacrificed over half its store of Aether, and in the blink of an eye, its head popped back up, a mass of flowing liquid oozing out from its pores as though to lubricate this newly grown body part just in time for the Fire Monkeys to pounce.


    The Snail Queen howled and the Fire Monkeys all froze in the air at once before being forcefully ejected.


    They shot out from the mist that hung over the battlefield, leaving streaks in the air before they exploded into a rain of blood and flesh.


    Crimson sprinkled down from the skies as the powerful push of the Snail Queen''s Skill cleared much of the battlefield in an instant.


    The spectators in the shadows were shocked. It had been difficult to see what was happening earlier, but the sudden dispersal confused them.


    Why were the Fire Monkeys attacking their master? Where was Ss? He couldn''t be dead because the Quicktime Event was still active.


    The Portal!


    ...


    Linzie came to the same conclusion as everyone else. She gave Butch a nce and grit her teeth.


    "We have to go."


    "Calm down, Linzie. He can''t escape."


    The archer that had saved Linzie from Ss'' stomp earlier appeared.


    "Tim, I know what you''re thinking. But don''t you think he knows he can''t escape from the range of the Quicktime Event if he''s the target? So why do you think he thrust himself headfirst into danger he could have avoided? Why didn''t he spend his time scurrying like a rat, hoping to avoid us in theplicated tunnels for half a day? Why did hee here?"


    Linzie''s rapid-fire list of questions was filled with agitation and rage, but they spoke to an underlying calmness. She might have been enraged, but she hadn''tpletely lost her head. Tim and Butch''s eyes widened as they came to a realization.


    In order to clear the Quicktime Event, they had to either kill Ss or protect his target for 12 hours. So what happened if Ss killed the target ahead of time?


    Seeing that they understood, Linzie shot into the chaos. With the Snail Queen distracted, this was the best time to take action.


    ...


    Under watched this from the side, his eyes narrowing. He hesitated for a moment before he turned toward a certain direction.


    Taking a breath, he exhaled. This wasn''t as clean as he wanted it to be, but it seemed that in this world, nothing woulde easy.


    He stood to his feet.


    "Let''s go boys. We''re cutting up pretty governmentdies today."


    The members of the Grimy de gang lifted their weapons without hesitation, charging out


    with Under.


    The only one who didn''t move was Sky, but that was because she understood what Under''s decision meant. It seemed that she would have to trigger their trump card now.


    She shook her head and chuckled to herself. "He really does like Handsome more than me. Is it worse to lose my man to a woman? Or like this?"


    Under, who wasn''t far, pretended like he hadn''t heard anything, howling out instead.


    "Hey! Hey! Hey!" he roared out, cutting Linzie and her party off. "Where do you guys think you''re going?"


    **


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist crashed against the barrier. Professor Fembroise rushed into a retreat, but her back crashed against the other side of the egg-shaped vessel.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    BANG!


    The Basilisk King''s tail whipped against its side, but the result was the same.


    The barrier only sparkled slightly both times and didn''t even show signs of deformation. Byparison, Ss felt like he had almost shattered his own fist and wrist.


    Ss stopped punching, heaving out heavy breaths that came with a panting heat.


    It seemed that the system had screwed him over again.


    His gaze shifted up andnded on a status bar.


    [<99 997 201>/<100 000 000>]


    Even if he had infinite Aether and stamina, and could deal 10,000 Damage a second, it would


    take him almost three hours to shatter this barrier.


    Worse than that...


    It was regenerating at a rate of 1000 Defense a second.


    [<99 998 201>/<100 000 000>]


    That wouldn''t add much time if he could maintain 10,000 Damage a second? But could he?


    Between himself and the Basilisk King, they could probably maintain that output if they ignored reserving any Aether. But that was impossible.


    If they conserved their Aether, they could probably only maintain around 3-5000 Damage a second. Even on the best side of things, that would take almost seven hours.


    [<99 999 201>/<100 000 000>]


    [<100 000 000>/<100 000 000>]

 Chapter 705: Myself

    Chapter 705: Myself


    ?


    It wasn''t even worth making the attempt. Even if he was lucky enough that everyone was stalled for that long, would he even be able to fight at the end of those seven hours?


    Ss didn''t even bother to try and observe the Runes. What a joke. The standards of Rune Mastery were based on what the system was capable of drawing. How was he supposed to manipte the perfect Runes of a barrier formed by the system?


    There was no shortcut here.


    The feelings that Ss had pressed down began to bubble up again. He had run into a wall again.


    Ss closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.


    Professor Fembroise pressed a hand against her chest, having her own small panic attack before she realized that she was safe for the moment.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And then she felt a swelling of anger. Ss didn''t even care about their previous rtionship, directly attacking to kill her. He was just like everyone else in this world, only out for his own interests.


    She grit her teeth. Her mouth opened as though she was about to say something, but that was when Ss seemed to look right at her for the first time.


    Her heart froze over.


    There was something particrly dark about Ss'' gaze right now. It carried emotion he didn''t usually have, a struggle deep within, but more importantly, a deep disgust with who she was.


    If not for her, he wouldn''t be in this situation. If she tempered her selfishness, if she picked a different path, if he didn''t have to kill her.


    Ss mmed his eyes shut once again.


    Those thoughts... they were unlike him.


    He wasn''t the type of person to me others even when they wronged him. He preferred to take control of the situation himself. The basic assumption he made about the world was that everyone was out for themselves.


    Even when he thought about Lucius, he felt that he had to kill the man eventually, but he didn''t feel the same anger and rage someone who had had an attempt on their life should have.


    But right now, he was feeling endlessly frustrated.


    It had been bubbling up ever since he stepped foot into the Snail Queen''s territory, and it was only growing worse with time. His Will was being chipped away at again and again, but... It was his fault.


    That thought kepting up again and again, drilling itself into his mind.


    This Demonic Will was a part of him. It wasn''t targeting him, nor was it an outsider trying to infiltrate his psyche. It was him and he was it.


    The reason he was struggling so much was because he kept trying to reject it. He didn''t want to ept the mirror it was holding up to his face even though he knew he should.


    Even if a person knew they had self-destructive behaviors, would they be able to pivot on a dime and change everything about themselves on a whim?


    ''I''m weak... I don''t want to be weak... I''m weak...''


    The thoughts oscited back and forth, and with every cycle, Ss clenched his jaw harder and harder, to the point he began to feel like his own teeth might give way to the pressure.


    Spiking pain ran through his jaw and the muscles of his face fatigued. It felt almost like acid was running beneath his skin.


    It just kepting back up. All of the usual tactics of discipline and self-control he had built up over his lifetime just felt entirely worthless right now.


    He could no longer suppress it.


    Ss gripped his shirt as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest again. He tugged so hard that he almost tore the fabric entirely.


    It suddenly dawned on Ss that this was the path he had chosen. The mirror he was trying to avoid so fiercely right now, wasn''t it the very path the ss Pinecone had opened up?


    He could have set himself up as a savior of Earth, sitting on a Throne of ss that reflected the sacrifices of his ancestors that came before him. But instead, he chose himself.


    ''I chose myself...''


    He had made the same choice Professor Fembroise had, they just chose two different paths. At that moment, Ss ruthlessly suppressed the hatred he felt for Professor Fembroise. Those emotions had left him feeling disgusted not at the Professor, but himself. He didn''t need such weak, hypocritical emotions.


    Once more, the cycle reverted and Ss felt hints of rity. The darkness dissipated somewhat and his blurred vision cleared enough for him to notice the Basilisk King was looking toward him with one part worry, and another part confusion as it waited for his instruction.


    Ss exhaled and felt that rity be a sharp focus once again. His eyes began to dart around the region, looking for a way out of this situation.


    Thoughts shed by Ss'' mind one after another, his speed of jumping from idea to idea seemingly surpassing what his Wisdom should be capable of.


    This odd rollercoaster that his mind was on still inexplicable to him, but he knew that he couldn''t spare the thought to figure it out... especially not when an idea suddenly came to mind.


    Ss took a step forward and pressed a palm against the egg-shaped barrier once again. His eyes zed over, entering an unprecedented state of focus, one so deep that even the Beast Totem could no longer sustain itself.


    The Basilisk King stood in a protective posture, ready for an enemy to appear. When


    suddenly...


    CRACK.


    The barrier that hadn''t even shuddered under their earlier barrage of attacks suddenly had a


    huge fissure run through it.


    In a single bound, it lost over a million Defense.


    A billowing ck fog came from Ss'' hand.


    ''It worked.''


    CRACK.


    The barrier lost another over million Defense, and then another.


    The Runes of the system were practically infallible. But what Ss had noticed during his excursion to the Demonic World Gate was that... the system really hated Demonic Runes.


    CRACK.

 Chapter 706: Fork in the Road

    Chapter 706: Fork in the Road


    ?


    Ss had no ability to draw Demonic Runes normally. This was because Earth didn''t produce Demonic Aether naturally.


    All Runes required Aether to function. So logically speaking, if there was no Demonic Aether, then there was no way Demonic Runes would work.


    However, who said there was none? Wasn''t the ckened w in Ss'' right hand precisely a mass of Demonic Runes and Demonic Aether?N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss flipped over his other palm, splitting his mind to activate Extricate. He pulled the Blood Essence of a random beast from his Madness Key, pouring it into the ckened w and supplementing the Demonic Aether it was using up.


    CRACK.


    In just three seconds, the barrier had already suffered over four million Damage, and it was only elerating.


    Ss was drawing the very same Poison Demonic Runes that he had seen in the Woond Territory, and every time he drew a new one, he became more proficient.


    The Poison Demonic Runes seeped into the barrier and began interacting with it in ways that his normal Poison Runes hadn''t been able to.


    ck veins scoured the golden barrier, elerating its corrosion. But by the same token, the Durability of the ckened ws was quickly plummeting as well.


    The Greed Seed took advantage, sucking up all that it could.


    CRACK.


    Professor Fembroise watched this scene in horror. She could feel every crack as though it was resonating with her soul.


    Soon, the barrier had already lost over 10 million Defense, and then over 20 million.


    Fatigue began to dig at Ss'' mind. The constant stream of mental anguish he had been suffering had taken its toll, but even if it hadn''t, controlling so manyplex things at once was bound to be a strong drain on his Wisdom. He wasn''t the Snail Queen who seemed to have practically endless supplies of it.


    To make matters worse, he had yet to recover from the debuff to his Will. His mind simply wasn''t in a good state, and the passive effects of weren''t good enough to keep up.


    It also had to be remembered that much of Ss'' strength came from his Comprehension. He was used to keeping it almost constantly active these days, and its now Legendary Mastery made that far easier than it had once been in the past.


    But that didn''t mean that it didn''t still take its own toll on his Wisdom as well.


    All of these issues wereing to a head, ruthlessly mming against his skull like a sledgehammer time and time again.


    However, his attention was entirely focused on the task at hand.


    It was the only thing he could do.


    Focus on the task.


    It was what he did best.


    When he thought of things he didn''t like, when he ran into problems he didn''t want to face, when he felt like the world wasn''t being as honest with him as he wanted it to be.


    It was the reason he stopped doing his best in school when he felt like powers beyond his control were trying to tug him in directions he didn''t understand, bing a simple, ubiquitous cog in a wheel.


    It was why he had run from his rtionship with Cassarae when she made him feel things he couldn''t control.


    It was why the Summoning was so appealing to him. Do this, earn that. Take this, gain that. Snatch Genes, raise your stats.


    Orderly. Focused. Disciplined.


    Every action was clearly exined, marked out by numbers and tracked by an overlord eye in the sky...


    Did he really love the Summoning because he was free and unfettered, able to control his own life?


    Or did he love it because it was like everything else in his life until this point, except it gave him the illusion of freedom.


    Why had he shied away from Legacy? Wasn''t it also to give himself the illusion of control?


    If he hadn''t been such a coward, wouldn''t he have faced it head on?


    How much more prepared for the Summoning would he have been had he joined Legacy long ago?


    He had always been weak.


    CRACK.


    The emotions fell heavier and heavier, but it only made his Demonic intention all the more potent. The gashes in Defense increased from over a million to over two a second, and then from over two to over three.


    By this point, the barrier was filled with so many cracks that it was shuddering almost as much as Professor Fembroise was.


    Tears streaked down the Professor''s face as she realized that these would likely be thest few seconds of her life. She couldn''t even think straight.


    She was just a Professor. She hadn''t been able to adapt to this new world like everyone else did. All she was good for was her Profession, something everyone seemed to want to get a


    piece of.


    In the face of Ss, her Will seemed to crumble... but maybe that was because despite her earlier fury, she understood exactly why Ss wanted to do this. And deep down, she maybe


    felt like she deserved it.


    CRACK.


    Pale-faced, Ss pushed as the barrier fell below 10% of its original Defense. The flow of Demonic Aether was beginning to slow from the ckened w, but he continued to furiously press, relentless and undivided in his attention.


    CRACK.


    Ss unleashed a roar that drained all the blood from Professor Fembroise''s face.


    The once golden barrier had be nothing but a sea of swimming ck lines.


    And then itpletely shattered.


    Ss reached out and Professor Fembroise attacked at the same time. But thetter''s attempt couldn''t even seed before <King''s Bind> descended from the Basilisk King.


    Professor Fembroise''s fragile neck was caught by Ss. She struggled, but it was to no avail, the tears streaking down her face doing nothing to perturb Ss.


    "Ss, please..." she squeezed out. "... My husband... my son... I can''t... die..."


    Ss hardly heard a thing, squeezing down on her neck with a force that could have snapped a


    beast''s neck, let alone this middle-aged woman''s.


    However, he soon found himself frozen.


    [Quicktime Event Triggered]


    [Event Type: Fork in the Road]


    [Choices]


    >[Kill Vesta Fembroise]


    OR


    >[Spare Vesta Fembroise]


    Ss was stuck in time, the world greying around him as this notification screen hovered


    before his eyes.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 707: Kill or Spare

    Chapter 707: Kill or Spare


    ?


    The first thought Ss had was...


    Is the system serious?


    He just went through all of this, put his life on the line, was still in the middle of suffering what was probably some warped form of PTSD, all to get this sort of ridiculous choice?


    It was clear that the system was obsessed with sparing Professor Fembroise, and it found her to be extremely important, but Ss simply didn''t know whether the system was even trustworthy in this situation.


    Even if it rewarded him for sparing her, would it be worth it?


    But what almost made him lose control of his temper again was that this very same Quicktime Event could have been given to him the first time. But instead, he had be public enemy number one and wasbeled as a traitor by the system.


    Even if by some miracle he managed to survive all of this and carve a path out of here, thatbel wouldn''t just vanish. What happened here would be spread to the rest of Earth, and those that wanted to take advantage of it would do so to suppress him, while there would surely be arge number of individuals targeting him because they blindly believed the system.


    Ss usually thought himself to be a cool and level-headed person, but this matter was well and truly testing his patience.


    The system had long proven itself to be fallible. Ss had benefited from its protection greatly before, but he had also suffered at its hands several times.


    It was exactly what one might expect a robot or an AI to be like. It was very good at very specific tasks, but it could easily find itself tricked and muddied by things that humans or other intelligent species with more mental sticity could easily see through.


    Now, it had screwed him over and it hade back with hat in hand to try and make him reconsider his decision.


    The worst part of all of this was that even if he decided to spare Professor Fembroise, there wasn''t likely to be any reprieve. The system wouldn''t just cancel the other Quicktime Event, at least Ss didn''t think so...


    That meant that saving Professor Fembroise now meant that he might actually have to go as far as to protect her and ensure that nothing went wrong.


    That was the worst-case scenario, anyway. Considering the choice was to "spare" her and not "save" her, it was much more acute in function.


    But that would still mean that for the next 11 hours or so, he would have to protect himself while trapped in this cage while there were surely more experts on the way.


    And then there was thest matter to consider...


    What if he ignored the system again and chose to kill? Would it really end just like that? Or would he gain another, heavier demerit?


    Would he be punished not just once, but twice over?


    If it wasn''t for the fact he was frozen in time, Ss might feel as though his entire body was overheating. The mixture of rage, frustration, and indecision was truly irritating him.


    It was that feeling ofck of control again.


    The system was having the wool pulled over its eyes by an outside party, and between that and his Silver Demerit, Ss was just running into brick wall after brick wall.


    ''I really... really want to kill him.''


    The stray thought, in another urrence of this odd feeling, cleared Ss'' mind once again. It was as though every time he epted the truest feelings he had buried deep within him, the cognitive dissonance shing in his mind would vanish.


    Anger that he had suppressed toward Lucius bubbled up and the shes of the man''s face in his mind filled him with thoughts of violence and destruction.


    He had never wanted someone to suffer more in his life than at this moment. And yet, instead of clouding his thoughts, those emotions made him sharper.


    He could think more clearly, even see more clearly, and somehow he felt that even his control over his body was rapidly increasing.


    Ss tried to suppress it. ''I can''t, not yet. The Grimdes-."


    The moment Ss tried to temper his own emotion, the dissonance in his mind shed again, bringing that feeling of difort back.


    His expression would have changed had he not been frozen in ce. Vaguely, he seemed to understand something about Demonic Will, and it made him apprehensive.


    But sometimes... always doing the smart thing just felt...


    Heavy.


    Ss turned his attention back to Professor Fembroise. This time, was killing her the smart choice? Or was sparing her the smart choice?


    Ss couldn''t tell. But what he did know was that he didn''t have the same fiendish desire to kill Vesta as he did Lucius. However, by the same token, he was already painted into a corner here. How was he supposed to hold on for 11 hours in a situation like this one if he couldn''t run away?


    If he did spare her, there was no way he would allow her to go for free. He would definitely have to take her with him, and that would onlyplicate things further.


    But no matter how many times Ss'' mind flipped, turned, and rotated this problem, he found himself hesitating, something that he never did once he had already made a decision.


    Before, he had already resolved himself to kill Professor Fembroise. So... why was he hesitating now?


    Part of it was that his mind was experiencing such a constant rollercoaster of emotions, but


    that wasn''t all.


    Something else was tugging at him.


    His Luck.


    It was usually amorphous and hard to pinpoint where its nudges wereing from. But when ced with a right or wrong decision like this one, it was as clear as day.


    Spare.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss made the decision and his grip slightly loosened around the Professor''s neck. But that was when something unexpected happened.


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Enemy of Earth - Completed]

 Chapter 708: Could

    Chapter 708: Could


    ?


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Enemy of Earth - Completed] [Winner: Ss Grimde] [Top Dog Reward Received]


    [Against All Odds Reward Received]


    [Merit Reward Received]


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Fork in the Road has be a single path. You cannot harm Vesta Fembroise''s life for <30> days]


    [Merit Reward Received]


    Ss was taken aback.


    He had been almost certain that the system wouldn''t give him such a good deal. He hadn''t been able to use the Madness Key to ask questions while he was frozen in time like that, but he was quite confident in his assessment.


    At least he had been...


    Ss exhaled a breath, realizing that maybe he had been in such a wound-up state of mind that his base assumption had just been to prepare for the worst, but in the end, the system hadn''t decided to screw him over in the worst possible way.


    Still, there were still several other issues with this problem, like how he was going to get the weak Vesta out of here, and that problem reared its ugly head immediately.


    Vesta''s Aether skin was already rapidly deteriorating. In another few seconds, she would probably be charred to ash by the heat in the surroundings.


    It couldn''t be forgotten that they were in an active volcano, and since thest time Ss hade to this ce, the heat was even more potent as Earth matured. It was just that his defenses right now were insane.


    Because he wore the Scorpion Warlord Armor, his base Defense not including his Constitution was 1500. That meant that someone needed an Attack of at least that much before they could even do Damage to him.


    But the best part was that his Scorpion Warlord Armor, after reaching Breath Mastery, so long as the Runes weren''t entirely destroyed, could self-replenish with Mature Aether.


    Because of all of that, Ss hadn''t thought about his Defense a single time since he entered this volcano, while byparison Vesta had previously been protected by the system''s barrier which replenished faster than the magma could harm it.


    But now, Vesta was relying on nothing more than her own strength to protect herself.


    It seemed possible to just let her die here like this, but the moment Ss had this thought, he shook his head. Much like the Scorned Wraps could read his intention, so too could the system.


    Functionally, if he could act to save her, within the next 30 days, he was obligated to do so.


    ''Her Will is too weak to sign a System Contract.'' Ss said with a shake of his head. ''We will have to do this the old-fashioned way.''


    Professor Fembroise had squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for death. But it didn''te.


    For a moment, she wondered if it had all happened so quickly that she was already dead and just didn''t know it.


    But then she heard a rip.


    Her Aether skin shattered and her clothing was peeled off of her. Horror filled her mind as her eyes snapped open. Her own instincts kicked in as she began to scratch and w, but to her horror, she couldn''t even make it through Ss'' defenses. Every attempt just hurt her small hands and narrow wrists all the more.


    Tears streaked down her face, Ss'' cold gaze making her shudder from the very depths of her soul. However, not a single one of her reactions seemed to change Ss'' movements at all. Without her Aether skin, the heat already began to leave severe burns on the Professor''s body. She shrieked out in horror as thest bit of her clothing was peeled away and she was left with nothing.


    Then, as he had done several times before, Ss formed a ss dagger and drove it right through Vesta''s hip.


    This sort of injury was too devastating to deal with in short order, and it likewise had a somewhat low morality rate. It was the perfect sort to use to control someone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But what Ss did next was unexpected.


    He tossed the Professor up and the Basilisk King swallowed her.


    Vesta''s shrieks filled the air before they were sealed away by a mp of the Basilisk King''s mouth.


    This was the only method Ss could think of. Vesta was too weak, and he couldn''t spare the Aether to try to protect her, nor was he sure of how to do so. Casting Aether skin on himself was simple enough, but giving a continuous stream of Aether to a third party sounded like a nightmare.


    But like this, she could rely on the Basilisk King''s ridiculous Constitution to survive. Ss gave his beast construct a once-over and shook his head. Because he had been so focused on the task earlier, the Beast Totem had faded away. Though the Basilisk King''s Constitution was high, it wasn''t high enough to sit aboveva for so long and remain unbothered without the support of Ss'' buff.


    Because of that, the Basilisk King had burned through what looked like 80% of its Aether reserves in a short time.


    ''I guess this is the only way we''re going to survive...''


    Ss'' eyes shed and the Beast Totem appeared once more. He felt a pang in his head as hiscking Wisdom began to rear its ugly head again, but he took deep breaths, circting in full


    force.


    With his focused attention, Ss found his mind recovering much faster than before and the pain slowly receded.


    Over 10 minutester, he opened his eyes.


    Now that the Quicktime Event was over, he could escape.


    The obvious choice was to run into this volcanic Territory, but Ss couldn''t do this for


    several reasons.


    For one, he didn''t know where this ce was. It wasn''t among the Portal maps that the Grimdes had given him. He couldn''t find himself stranded in another country so soon after he had just returned. Castle Main''s situation was perilous and they needed him. Second... he couldn''t allow the Snail Queen to keep living when it had grown so much since thest time he had seen it. Not when it had an Overlord Quest for his head. Something also told Ss that this Overlord Quest was a huge deal. If he was careless, who knew if others had abilities like his Madness Key to "steal Destiny." At that point, would something even more dangerous than the Snail Queen being after him?


    No. He needed to end these matters today.


    But first, he would need to disappear, and all of this trouble the magma had just given him likewise gave him the best way to do so.


    "Let''s go." Ss said.


    With a stomp of his foot, he pierced through the sea of red and gold beneath his feet, diving


    into the magma.


    When everyone above thought that he had already vanished or escaped into the Territory, he would return when they least expected it, from the location they least expected.


    And while he was doing it... he wouldn''t mind gathering uprge amounts of what was now


    the most valuable ore on Earth.


    As much Metarock as they had managed to gather in the underground space, Ss'' rudimentary geomancer knowledge, gained from the booklet, told him that there was most definitely far more hidden in locations others couldn''t easily get to.


    But he could.

 Chapter 709 Threshold

    ?Chapter 709 Threshold


    Ss pushed his way through theva, feeling like he had to push every muscle of his body to get deeper.


    He immediately noticed that the damage to his illusory armor had increased substantially, but at least for now, the cost was still low enough that it could keep up.


    The biggest issue he faced was actually moving through this molten rock. It was far harder than he thought it would be, and he soon found his already fatigued body aching.


    But he pressed on.


    The aching pains soothed the thoughts that came from elsewhere, and as though he was on one of his long runs again, he found catharsis in the situation.


    To his side, the Basilisk King was holding up much better. Maybe due to the natural shape of its body, it was far easier for this Serpentes to slither through theva than it was for Ss to swim through it.


    If Ss wanted to make things easier on himself, having the Basilisk King lead the way would certainly be the obvious choice. But for now... he had found a rare moment of peace.


    ''I will kill him...''


    It wasn''t just this familiar pushing of his body that gave him this feeling of catharsis, it was also this one thought.


    Maybe it was the liberation of deciding to do something that went against his logic for the first time, or maybe this wild feeling growing inside of him was only making him think that this was what he wanted to do, but regardless...


    It made him feel good.


    Unfortunately, as with many things in life, there was such a thing as too much of a good thing, and often, what made one feel the best wasn''t necessarily the best...


    Ss couldn''t check on his rewards for the Quicktime Events for now, not while he was in the middle of a pool ofva that would probably destroy them on contact.


    But... wasn''t it about time he asked the Madness Key the questions he had been too distracted to do so already?


    Unfortunately, the moment he had the intention to do so, the result he had been dreading urred.


    Taboo.


    Ss sighed inwardly.


    He had already known that matters rted to Demons were highly likely to be Taboo. Aside from the fact he couldn''t very well ask the Madness Key questions in the middle of battle, another reason he hadn''t was because he knew that this would almost certainly


    be the oue.


    [Madness Key (Treasure)]


    [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <8 Bronze> Genes]


    [Curse Status: Glutton. <32 Bronze> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <5 days> remaining until Hunger increases]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    The current state of the Madness Key was very much still manageable. Ss killed so many beasts every day, and by this point, every beast averaged at least 20 or so.


    A single Bronze Gene gave 20 stat points, so with everyone''s stats soaring into the hundreds and beyond into the thousands now, one could imagine just how many Ss could gather.


    Of course, most of those stat points came from Aether and sses and the like. After all, even Ss had a limit of 40 Bronze Genes per stat, let alone everyone else.


    But the important point was that gathering this number of Bronze Genes was exceptionally easy for Ss. He had so many in excess that he didn''t even think about it


    anymore.


    Still...


    He knew the day the Madness Key would need Silver Genes wasing. And right now, he was well and truly considering biting the bullet and asking this question anyway. But doing so would put him in a position where the Gene requirements would double again.


    After needing Bronze Genes, the Madness Key had slowed down from doubling every week to adding an additional two Genes. But thest time he identally stumbled into a Taboo, it directly increased by a factor of two.


    There were too many ways this could go wrong.


    There was, of course, another option... and that was to ask his Gralith or Szorn. But did he really want to do that?


    [How does the universe treat Demons?]


    [-]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Cost: 10 Silver Genes]


    A nice, short, and sinct answer. It told Ss all he needed to know about the dangers


    of letting others know what was going on in his head right now.


    But could he really afford to not learn about this?


    Ss took a deep breath. ... It seems there''s another problem down here. Oxygen is limited... I''ll have to rely on Aether instead...''


    He had taken the deep breath out of habit, but it was like he was inhaling foul gas.


    "Maybe I can think this through myself... if the Madness Key ends up needing Silver Genes before I have a steady supply of them... it''ll all be over


    But if this Demonic Will was dangerous and he couldn''t deal with it properly, he would suffer for it just the same.


    "What to do...


    As Ss was lost in thought, he found his visualization range bing more and more constrained.


    Oddly enough, when he first entered theva, he actually had a wider range to work with than he had in the ocean. But as he descended, it was like forces were pressing down on him from all sides, constraining his visualization range from about 50 meters to 40, and then from 40 to 30.


    If things continued like this, Ss would be hard-pressed to find anything down here.


    ''I have to ask.


    With how things were going, if he didn''t find a steady supply of Silver Genes soon, Earth wouldn''t stand a chance to begin with.


    Ss pushed through the warning signs of his Luck, but even he didn''t expect what would actually happen next.


    [Threshold Reached]


    [You Have Been Awarded: Tier Two Madness Disciple Rank]

 Chapter 710: Tier Two

    Chapter 710: Tier Two


    ?


    [Threshold Reached]


    [You Have Been Awarded: Tier Two Madness Disciple Rank]


    >[Taboo Threshold Raised]


    >[Madness Key Upgraded]


    >[Scorned Wraps Upgraded]


    There was a sudden glow in the space and the magma around Ss was forcefully dispelled as a halo of light formed around the Madness Key.


    At that moment, a second pair of bloodied wraps descended.


    As though the past was reying once more, Ss had no option to dodge even if he wanted to.


    But this time, rather than aiming for his hands and wrists, they instead moved to his feet and ankles, shattering apart the sneaker he was wearing while somehow leaving the Scorpion Warlord Armor unharmed.


    The second pair of Scorned Wraps didn''t stop until they were about halfway up his Achilles and carried the same air as the first.


    Nothing, if anything at all, seemed to change, other than the fact that Ss felt that his legs were oddly... supported now. He felt more support than he had from shoes in a long while.


    In fact, most of the time these days, Ss went around barefoot. The only reason he had shoes on now was because he had been around his family not long ago and he did it so that his mother wouldn''t worry unnecessarily. After that, he hadn''t bothered to take them off. Ever since his stats reached a certain threshold, normal shoes just couldn''t help him. He wasn''t the only one to face this problem, but unlike others, he couldn''t wear treasures. But this wasn''t just a matter of supportive footwear.


    When Ss gained the original Scorned Wraps, he had some boxing experience, but nothing that was worth writing home about.


    Now, though, he was a seasoned warrior. He understood his body better than anyone else, so he could keenly feel the difference now.


    It seemed that in the past he had severely underestimated just how much the Scorned Wraps protected his wrists. With how much power he passed through them every day, it was a wonder he had never broken them.


    Subconsciously, Ss didn''t use kicks as often as he should in battle because he trusted his fists more. And now, he suddenly understood why.


    He didn''t just trust his fist technique more, but he trusted the support of the Scorned Wraps.


    And now, his feet had them too.


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    [Scorned Wraps (Iplete Treasure Set)]


    [A cursed treasure Scorned by the skies themselves. In its presence, your body cannot be adorned by armor and your hands cannot be graced by weapons. The Madness is relentless and its fury Scorns the world in return]


    [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]


    [+100% Constitution]


    Ss couldn''t help but be shocked by the change.


    He had been so focused on the details that he had almost missed the forest for the trees.


    A surging power ran through him, and for the first time in his life, he felt what it was truly like to be buffed by a Treasure. The Scorned Wraps had gone from a "mere" t 10% boost in Constitution to his fists alone, to a +100% boost to his entire body.


    But what was truly shocking was that it was more than just that. The Scorned Wraps didn''t seem to have an issuemunicating with his Scorpion Warlord Armor and Aether skin at all. Because of that, his 1500 Defense soared to 3000, on top of the doubling of his Constitution.


    In a shocking reversal, Ss had over 4400 Defense right now.


    Against most opponents, he could just stand in ce and they still wouldn''t be able to harm a hair on his head.


    And from what this description said... the Set was still iplete.


    But just what had he done to be a Tier Two Madness Disciple? Was it just asking Taboo Questions? Or was it something he didn''t understand?


    Ss had only just thought of these questions before the halo on the Madness Key slowly faded as it too finished its upgrade.


    The magma came crashing back down around him, but Ss hardly reacted to it as he had all the right in the world to be supremely confident in his Defenses right now.


    Instead, he was entirely focused on the notification screen in front of him.


    [Madness Disciple System Unlocked]


    [Progress to Tier Three Madness Disciple]


    [Feed Madness Key F-Grade Gold Gene]


    [umte 1000 Taboo Points]


    >[<100/1000>]


    [Unlock Tangible Demonic Will (Complete)]


    ''... Is that so?''


    Ss was suddenly curious about that Tier Two requirement. But, he had a very good guess.


    Soon, his guess was proven correct.


    [Progress to Tier Two Madness Disciple]


    [Feed Madness Key F-Grade Silver Gene (Complete)]


    [umte 100 Taboo Points (Complete)]


    >[<100/100>]


    [Unlock Demonic Will (Complete)]


    All this time he had spent avoiding Taboos, it seemed that he was holding himself back. But maybe... that was also a blessing in disguise, because regardless of how many Taboos he tabted, unless he unlocked Demonic Will, it would have all been useless. Now, presumably... he could get the answer to his question with no strings attached.


    [What is Demonic Will?]


    [Demonic Will stands opposed to Will. While thetter exhibits control over oneself and one''s basal desires, the former embraces it and seeks to understand them. Both are just as much a part of yourself, but without a strong understanding of both... they will consume you]


    ''Hm? That cost less...''


    Ss checked his Madness Key again after realizing it only swallowed one Gene, only to find that it had reset to the start once again.


    It was now asking for Fragmented Genes to fuel it once more. However, because Ss only had Bronze Genes to give it, it took one of them instead.


    This was huge. If a part of the game was umting Taboo Points, then logically, he should umte them now while the cost was the lowest.


    Or could it be that that factored into how many Taboo Points he would get as well?


    Time would tell, but there was something that he could find out right now... Just how high was that threshold raised? What could he ask now with greater ease?


    [How do youplete a Summoning without System Cities?]


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 10 Silver Genes]


    Ss'' brows jumped. Even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn''t think that the difference would


    be so stark. From a cost of 10,000 Silver Genes or 1 Gold Gene, it now only cost a fraction of


    that!


    But that immediately made his heart start thumping. In that case, what about the Genesis


    Forge?


    [What is this item?]


    [¨C]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Cost: 300 Bronze Genes]


    It actually plummeted from 300 Silver Genes to just 300 Bronze Genes!


    He could finally have an answer to this question that itched at the back of his mind.

 Chapter 711: Worldshard Jade

    Chapter 711: Worldshard Jade


    ?


    Ss'' eyes sharpened, forgetting for a moment that he was in the middle of such a dangerous excursion.


    This change was simply too huge.


    ''Do I have 300 Bronze Genes right now?''


    Ss hurriedly checked through his inventory and confirmed that he did. After a moment of hesitation, he pressed forward and asked the question.


    The only reason he hesitated was because he didn''t know if it was even worth it to learn the truth right now. It wasn''t like it would be helpful in his present situation.


    But in the end, there was no immediate danger, and even swimming through theva had be a joke thanks to the upgrade of his Scorned Wraps, so there was no need to do everything by the book.


    [What is this item?]


    [This jade is made of a precious material known as Worldshard Jade. Worldshard Jade is known for being capable of storing exceptionally powerful Aether Treasures, the kind that normal storage devices cannot withstand the power of, but this is just the mostmon use. Worldshard Jade is capable of holding the Spark of a World, carrying it and nurturing it until it births a new world of its own. However, Worldshard Jade cannot reach this full potential without first being nted into a worthy vessel.]


    It was a response that was enough to leave a man speechless. This was certainly not what Ss was asking about.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It had to be remembered that Ss'' skill was unable to scan this jade, so he assumed that the jade and the item within it were one in the same.


    But it seemed that this was the incorrect assumption to make.


    The good news was that the Worldshard Jade was probably at least as valuable as what was inside, if not far more so.


    The bad news was that he hadn''t learned what he actually wanted to.


    Ss had learned to strike a bnce with the Madness Key between vague and specific questions. If he was too specific, its response would often miss the forest for the trees. But if he was too imprecise, it would likewise give a short and sinct answer.


    However, if he asked a broad question that was about a specific enough scope, he would often get a great, detailed response, that might touch on things he hadn''t considered before. This was why he had asked such a "vague" question, because this was the perfect situation to do


    So.


    Although he had thought about directly mentioning the Genesis Forge, he had no idea if that was referring to an external item that wasn''t here or the obelisk itself.


    ''I only have 50 or so Genes left... it might be a wasted, but I guess I should check first.''


    [What does this Worldshard Jade store?]


    This time, Ss well and truly almostughed at the absurdity of it all. That wasn''t because the response was too expensive... but rather because it was far too cheap.


    It cost the same as a normal question. With the reset of the Madness Key, it only required Fragmented Genes.


    He was right. The Worldshard Jade was actually far more valuable than the Genesis Forge within.


    [What does this Worldshard Jade store?]


    [This Worldshard Jade stores a Worldroot. A Worldroot is a treasure forged at the heart of a World, tempered by Progenitor me. This Worldroot, known as Genesis Forge, serves one particr function, and that is to spark the evolution of its holder, advancing a user''s Race from F-Grade to E-Grade.


    This Worldroot, however, seems to be iplete, missing two pieces. Should it bepleted, there is potentially a path to advancing one''s Race to D-Grade.]


    Ss'' eyes practically zed like radiantnterns when he read this. This was huge.


    Maybe to the Madness Key, the Worldshard Jade was more valuable. But as things stood right now, Ss couldn''t even think of how to maximize it outside of storing living creatures in there.


    Of course, he couldn''t do that with the obelisk within. Last time he went in there, he felt like his entire body was almost crushed. In fact, now that Ss thought about it, it must be thanks to the Worldshard Jade that this was even possible. The reason his physical body had been harmed was because his physical body had been what went inside!


    That said, others might struggle with storing something as powerful as the Genesis Forge obelisk, but didn''t Ss have the Madness Key? Could he put the obelisk within and then use the jade freely?


    ''Easier said than done. I would have to be able to envelope the obelisk in my telekinesis to take it out, but I couldn''t even look at it without almost dying before...''


    For now, Ss could only slot this matter to the back of his mind. A chance to upgrade his Race was too shocking.


    He had asked the Madness Key before about what the difference between F and E-Grade Races were, and the list was too long to ount for entirely.


    But the main points were that E-Grade Races had a much easier time progressing to E-Grade strength, they had a more forgiving State of Wealth versus State of Expenditure, and their Stat, Gene, and Gene-Stat Limits were likewise higher.


    Taking Ss as an example, if he was an E-Grade Human before absorbing any Gene Crystals, even with de Aura nerfing his stats, it wouldn''t be a surprise if his base Stat Limit had been 100 instead of 50.


    A high Race Grade would mean that his Dual ss Constitution would stretch further. Essentially, Race was located deeper in the body than his Constitution was. As such, his F- grade Race was actually limiting just how good his Dual ss Constitution really was.


    Elevating his Race would raise the tide for his entire body.


    This was only the first point.


    If he was able to be a D-Grade Human while still F-Grade in strength, that sort of advantage would start impacting even his Genes themselves directly.


    If he was a D-Grade Human, he would be able to absorb F-Grade Gold Genes even without a corresponding Gene Crystal to allow it.

 Chapter 712: Apprehension

    Chapter 712: Apprehension


    ?


    The higher your Race Grade was in rtion to your strength Grade, the more rules within said Grade that you could "break". Though technically, this wouldn''t constitute breaking rules at all.


    For Ss, who had a Dual ss Constitution, he would be able to "break" even more than the usual individual.


    For some Races above D-Grade, it was even possible for them to use Mature Aether even before leveling up a single time.


    This was the disparity between Races.


    Now, Ss just had to know... what was the method to use the Genesis Forge?


    Thest time he went in there, he felt like his life was truly on the line. This was why he hadn''t even attempted to go again.


    But was there a method that he was missing here?


    [Why did the Genesis Forge harm me?]


    [The Genesis Forge did not harm you. Breaking through the restriction of a Race by unconventional means is particrly difficult and cannot be done without persistent refinement and pain. The Genesis Forge is named as such because beneath its pressure, your body is treated no differently from any other metal. You are tempered and forged.]


    Ss took a breath when he read this, only to remember that he was deep within this pool ofva still.


    It was no wonder his injuries were so odd before. He had felt like his body hurt, but he had also gone into the battle with the ss Monkey shortly afterward. There also weren''t any lingering effects.


    ''In that case...''


    [How many sessions will this take?]


    [The number is variable and also depends onprehension. However, if taking your progress on the first as a measuring stick, it will take exactly 1 272 710 sessions with about a three-day waiting period in between to allow your body to recover and adapt.]


    Ss'' lip twitched.


    That was ten thousand years. He was sure that his lifespan would be extended the stronger he became, but he couldn''t even fathom living that long... nor would he even if couldn''t be an E-Grade Race first at the very least.


    ''Comprehension... is it referring to the Runes on the forge? But I couldn''t even observe them for long before I was nearly crushed to death...''


    [How do I improve the benefits of my sessions?]


    [You will need stronger Will. But it is also inadvised to use the Genesis Forge with the current state of the Worldshard Jade. Without sufficient Aether, you are bound to receive diminishing returns.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Aether...''


    Ss suddenly understood. Maybe the Worldshard Jade wasn''t just an extra add-on after all. In fact, maybe whoever retrieved the Genesis Forge to begin with realized that it couldn''t be used as is without the support of the Worldshard Jade. Otherwise, no one would be able to sessfully upgrade their Race Grade, at least not before they died.


    But considering theplexity and value of the Worldshard Jade, if it was just as simple as cing it in a location with a great amount of Aether, then it would have already been filled up long ago.


    [How do I saturate the Worldshard Jade with Aether?]


    Ss was a bit worried that this would cost a pretty penny. After all, information about the Worldshard Jade had stalled him for so long. But luckily the Madness Key didn''t price gouge him.


    [A Worldshard Jade''s Aether concentration can only be improved much the same way a world''s can: with appropriate Aether Treasures. Otherwise, any Aether ced within it will dissipate into the void.]


    Ss shook his head.


    He had had the perfect Aether Treasure for this, but unfortunately, it was now fused into his Will. There was no getting Mancer''s Blossom back now.


    He would need to find another Aether Treasure. But he had simply never seen an Aether Treasure that he could buy from a Nexus. In fact, even Mancer''s Blossom had to be upgraded from a Treasure to an Aether Treasure to begin with, and that took clearing an extremely difficult Dungeon and also giving up the chance to improve to Level 50.


    It was an enormous price, all things considered. There wasn''t a single Level 50 on Earth after over a year, but that reward would have gotten him there in a single bound from Level 0.


    That said... there were two very good pieces of news.


    First, Ss had an opportunity waiting for him. He still had the Ticket he had received from the Quicktime Event in the Evergreen Territory. That off-world market just might be able to allow him to exchange for what he needed.


    And second...


    He had reached the bottom of the volcano.


    Ss'' feet touched down and he could immediately feel that the rock down here was far from ordinary. Scanning it with his visualization, it also matched up with the descriptions that he had gotten of Metarock in the past.


    There was such arge deposit here that it was mind numbing. This store of Metarock... it was probably more than the hidden families had in their own coffers, right?


    ''Something is wrong here...''


    Ss'' eyes narrowed as he thought through some things.


    He couldn''t possibly be the only one who had thought to check the depths of the volcano. While he was in a state of confusion, his mind wasn''t working quite right, so he just made the assumption that there were very few that had the Defenses necessary.


    But just because you didn''t have the natural Constitution, didn''t mean you couldn''t rely on Treasures. After all, wasn''t it because of a Treasure that Ss himself had been able to make


    it down here so easily?


    So why was this deposit just sitting here untouched? He also couldn''t seem to sense anyone else in the vicinity either.


    Ss'' pupils constricted as he looked up. He focused on the Basilisk King''s mind and felt that


    it was actually agitated by something. It was fighting against an urge to turn tail and run.


    He had been so distracted by the questions he was asking that he wasn''t paying attention to


    his Beast contract. And the Basilisk King was trying to regain its original pride and didn''t want


    to embarrass itself in front of Ss.


    As such, they both were locked away in their own heads.


    What Ss found when he did focus on the Basilisk King was quite a shock, though.


    ''There''s a Dungeon down here... but it actually repels beasts instead of attracting them?''

 Chapter 713: Familiar [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 713: Familiar [Ko-fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    ''Is it a Dungeon?'' Ss frowned.


    The Basilisk King was quite intelligent, and Ss could read its thoughts and intentions quite well, but there was something off.


    When the Basilisk King mentioned the word "Dungeon", it was doing so vaguely as though that was just the best method it had to describe it, but it also knew that this wasn''t exactly urate either.


    Ss did some more thinking, and dug through the Basilisk King''s memories a bit before he found the issue.


    He kicked off the bottom of the volcano and soared upward until he found was he was looking for.


    ''There''s a barrier here. But how did I pass so smoothly?''


    Ss'' expression couldn''t help but change. The barrier was powerful, exceedingly so. So powerful that even his own Rune Essenceprehension wouldn''t be able to manipte it like he had the Grimde formation.


    The only reason he had been able to manipte that formation so easily was because it was simply too weak. The number of the Foundations was only 30, and it wasn''t forged to a Breath Mastery level, so it was very malleable.


    Formations of that scale that weren''t formed to at least Breath Mastery had to rely on Aether Stone deposits to function. Because the power of the Runes was external rather than internal, it left them very susceptible to being pushed and pulled by a more direct force.


    Byparison, a Rune with Breath Mastery was self-sustaining. If part of arge meshwork of Runes like they would be in arge formation, it could push against the intentions of an outsider and stop outright maniption.


    This barrier that Ss had passed through without even noticing, was forged not only of 40 Foundation Runes, but about 40% of it was forged to Breath of Mastery levels.


    This was almost enough for nearly every other Rune in the mesh to be self-sustaining, so it was likewise far more resistant to outside interference.


    There was no one on Earth who should be capable of this... at the very least, Ss doubted that there was someone on Earth capable of this that wasn''t also part of a massive power. And such a massive power would have already locked this entire region down. Why set up a formation like this instead?


    In that case, there seemed to only be one exnation for it all.


    Ss'' palm suddenly flipped over and a badge he had all but forgotten about appeared in his palm.


    This badge... he had found it on Azrael''s body, the Level 15 that had almost killed him back when he tried to clear his first Demon Vige all on his own.


    As expected, not only did the badge not disintegrate beneath the heat, but Ss sensed a resonance between it and the barrier.


    Never did Ss think that this badge would be so useful to him. But by the same token, became unprecedently serious.


    The Sylphs should already know that Azrael was dead. It had been more than just a handful of months since that incident. How could they not prepare for this? Were they so ipetent? Or...?


    ''As free as the Sylphs seem on Earth, they are restricted by many things. Why did they set up such arge formation instead of just directly mining it all?''


    All signs pointed toward things in the Sylphs'' upper echelon being far moreplicated than Ss knew.


    When he had gone to the Sylph Dungeon, Sylphs had inexplicably ended up dead. It was clear there was some internal strife going on here, and there seemed to be various parties of the Sylphs all vying for Earth.


    An ore deposit as valuable as Metarock should be precisely the sort of thing outsiders would want from Earth to begin with. So what would happen if it was jointly found by Sylphs of several different factions? How would they divvy it up?


    Or maybe... they would hide it away from the pitiful humans first, then decide how to divvy it up once Earth was well and finally conquered.


    Ss felt that this was at least 50% of the story... but he knew that there was likely another twist hidden within. After all, the Sylphs didn''t seem to be the only Race vying for Earth with what he had learned about the Thryskai. And,pared to the Thryskai, the Sylphs themselves were just as pitiful as the Humans were.


    It might very well be the case that something as valuable as Metarock... the Sylphs weren''t even allowed to partake in.


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    [How do I mine Metarock safely?]


    [Metarock is a very benign, soft metal and is well known for its ease of extraction. However, because of its uniquew absorbing quirks, it often acts as a foil for far more dangerous ores. Namely, Aether Stones oftene hand in hand with Metarock, and it isn''t rare for miners to lose their lives after digging an inch too deep.]


    ''Aether Stones!'' Ss understood what the Madness Key meant immediately.


    Aether Stone mines were formed when Aether became trapped beneath the surface. It tried to push its way through to the air, but ended up saturating the normal rock around it instead. This was also why so many Aether Stones were highly pressurized. A single wrong move and it could implode in your face.


    It was no wonder Metarock would force the creation of so many. When Ss was done there just now, it hadn''t even felt hot to stand on the Metarock because it had repelled even thews of heat around this region.


    The Aether couldn''t make it through because it was being blocked by the Metarock.


    With such arge deposit of Metarock, Ss had a feeling that he would find the Gold Aether Stones he needed right here.


    No, more importantly than that... he could upgrade the Basilisk King right here and now!


    Ss dove down to the Metarock again. His visualization rebounded off of it, as expected. Unless the Metarock was properly primed by a cksmith Profession of adequate skill, it wouldn''t start absorbing thews around it. So of course it would reject even his senses.


    However, Ss had an idea.


    He summoned Szorn.


    "Szorn, do you have the ability to scan and deduce the situation in a mine?"


    Szorn bristled, a rippleing from it to protect it from the heat.


    "Yes, that is within my capabilities."


    "How much do you know about mining?"


    "I am a Familiar designed to aid Rune Masters. I am capable of aiding with all tasks simr and rted to relevant Professions. Alchemy and cksmithing are, of course, part of this."


    It was a long-winded way to say yes, but Ss actually quite appreciated the answer. This meant that not only could he rely on Szorn to identify ores and navigate mines, but he could do the same with Aether Herbs and things of the like.


    Considering Szorn had also been able tomunicate with the Rune Mastery Guild that was who knows how far away to get a copy of the current Breath Master List, Ss knew that it was about time he lean on this Familiar a bit more.


    Within reason, of course... that was because Ss had a feeling that Szorn would definitely put anymand Gralith had given him above his own.


    "Guide me here. There is likely an Aether Stone mine below this Metarock deposit that I need


    to get to."


    "Metarock!" Szorn finally paid attention to its surroundings and was taken aback. However, it quicklyposed itself, but this alone told Ss all he needed to know about the value of this ore. "There''s no need for you to worry about this, young master. If you supply me with Aether Stones, I can do these sorts of tasks for you. But since there is likely a deposit here, I will handle everything."


    Ss'' brows raised as Szorn actually got to work. He had never thought that this was possible because Szorn was more illusion than real. In fact, if he reached out, he could probably pass a


    hand right through this Familiar.


    Szorn disappeared, passing through the Metarock as though it wasn''t even there and confirming Ss'' spection, but a momentter, there was a calm and even hole formed, so perfect it lookedpletely unnatural.


    Theva tried to rush into it, but it was seemingly blocked by Szorn itself.


    Then, the Familiar appeared once more, holding a bundle of shimmering gold Aether Stones.


    Ss'' pupils constricted. He had severely underestimated the value of this casual gift GralithN?v(el)B\\jnn


    had given him.


    What he didn''t know was that there were only a handful of Rune Masters in this gxy with a Familiar. In terms of value... they were worth about the same as an entire World of equivalent


    Grade.

 Chapter 714: Familiar Woes

    Chapter 714: Familiar Woes


    ?


    Ss watched with shock as Szorn did things that didn''t make sense.


    Every so often, the Familiar would pop back up from the depths of the mine with a neatly shaped cube. It looked like a masterful artisan had carefully chiseled out all six smooth sides by hand, leaving a reflective surface that Ss would have practically been able to see his face in if not for all theva floating around.


    But the changes to theva were probably one of the most shocking parts about it all.


    Szorn seemed to have the ability to repel theva away quite well. The moment it started to power itself up with Aether Stones, the abilities it disyed only grew likewise.


    It wasn''t even an hour before 17rge cubes of Metarock wereid out neatly, revealing a pulsing mass of Aether Stones beneath.


    "I''ve finished, young master. Metarock is about as dense as a resource the people of your world would call coal. These are 17 equally sized pieces of 10 meters cubed and weigh approximately one and a half million kilograms each by your metrics.


    "By convention, about 0.5 meters cubed of F-Grade Metarock is worth a hundred billion F- Coins. Functionally, young master has now earned 3400 trillion F-Coins. However, this is just the base price as 0.5 meters cubed is the lowest threshold necessary to guarantee a sessful Treasure formation.


    "That said, I would not advise young master to sell. Metarock cannot have a true value ced on it. If such a piece appears in an auction, it isn''t umon for it to go for ten times that price if the market is particrly vtile. Metarock is one of the few resources that retains value to higher Grade existences.


    "As for the Aether Stone mine beneath, I''ve already analyzed it properly. There are about 1.7 million Common Aether Stones, 213,000 Bronze Aether Stones, 76,000 Silver Aether Stones, and 16,000 Gold Aether Stones. This, though, already adjusts for how many Aether Stones I would need to sessfully mine this treasure trove. Otherwise, the number of Gold Aether Stones would be about ten times this amount.


    "Would young master like me to proceed?"


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. "There are more Gold Aether Stones than Silver?"


    "Yes. Due to the peculiar nature of Metarock, rather than being buried deep, Gold Aether Stones could be found both above and below the Aether Stone deposit. Mining Aether Stones is much more difficult than mining Metarock. By my calctions, I will need about 140,000 Gold Aether Stones to finish properly."


    By any metric, it was a ridiculous ask.


    For each leap in Grade, there was a 100x difference in the value of Aether Stones. That meant that a single Gold Aether Stone was already worth a million Common ones, while a single Common Aether Stone was worth about 100 F-Coins.


    One could easily do the math and see that a single Gold Aether Stone was worth a nine-figure


    sum.


    The cost to Ss to dig up this minepletely was trillions of F-Coins.


    "And is this the optimal route?" Ss asked.


    "Yes, young master. Despite the differences in Grade, the difficulty of unearthing Common Aether Stones and Gold Aether Stones is negligible. Though, if there is a mistake, a Gold Aether Stone is thousands of times more likely to kill you. But this Szorn will not make a mistake."


    "If the difficulty is the same, then the cost per stone should also be the same. Why would it not be more cost-effective to focus on Gold Aether Stones?"


    "This is because of the uniqueyout of this mine, young master. The Gold Aether Stones are not concentrated in one location and there are odd cascading effects due to the reflection of Aether triggered by the Metarock. The result is the erratic formation of stones though there is arger concentration near the top and bottom."


    "And if we just focus on the topyer, then?"


    "I see. My assumption was that young master wanted to take away all of the Gold Aether Stones. There are about 40,000 or so Gold Aether Stones concentrated on this topyer alone. I would need about 2,000 Gold Aether Stones to mine them, leaving young master with 38,000."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss frowned when he heard this because... this was too stupid on Szorn''s part. Why couldn''t it see that this was the obvious choice even after Ss directly asked?


    Suddenly, it clicked for Ss.


    He had neglected to ask about the number of Common Stones and others. The numbers that Szorn had given him were what would be left over after it mined it all. It had never said that it would only absorb Gold Aether Stones.


    When it said it assumed Ss needed all of the Gold Aether Stones, it had probably only told him about how many of them it was taking because it felt that this was the most pertinent information.


    "You... are working on aplicated set of parameters right now. True?"


    "Yes, young master. My settings have been configured long ago and this Szorn has not been calibrated in a long time."


    Ss suddenly looked at the perfect cubes by the side and he realized something.


    "... How much extra energy did you use making these perfect cubes aspared to how much you would have had you just mined them normally?"


    "The difference is about 50%, young master."


    Ss shook his head inwardly and realized the problem. It had taken Szorn about 17,000 Gold Aether Stones to mine this Metarock. That meant that it had wasted 8,500 on something so


    trivial.


    It was enough to drive a man mad.


    It seemed that Ss would have to take his time to tinker with Szorn''s settings. Otherwise,


    who knew how many ways he would be screwed over?


    An AI was only as good as the prompts it was given. A Familiar was clearly valuable, but not to


    the point of being its own being. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be a Familiar.


    "Mine the Gold Aether Stones alone. No need to neatly arrange them."


    "In that case, this Szorn only needs 1,000 Gold Aether Stones!"


    Ss shook his head once more. He would have to watch this Familiar like a hawk.

 Chapter 715: Ash

    Chapter 715: Ash


    ?


    Szorn finished quite quickly. The Metarock mining had taken almost an hour, but this took barely ten minutes. Of course, the scope was far lesser, so it was to be expected.


    Shimmering light came from the Aether Stones that remained and Ss took in his now 39,000 Gold Aether Stones. This was perfect. With this, he could use his Time Lock Treasure three times. If he handed in the head of an A-level threat to the Grimdes, that would be enough for a fourth.


    He wasn''t even sure if he would need it so many times, but it was invaluable nheless.


    Ss was sure that these Aether Stones had more value than could be easily described. He hardly extricated all the value he could out of Common Aether Stones, so it was hard for him to truly understand just how much better Bronze and above Aether Stones were.


    What Ss didn''t know was that deposits of Aether Stones in suchrge quantities, and with such great quality, could only happen in worlds in the middle of Summonings like Earth, and worlds in the process of evolving to the next Grade.


    In worlds where Aether had already settled down, the phenomena necessary to forge these mines was likewise much rarer. There was a reason why Coins were the default currency of the universe and not Aether Stones.


    They were too rare.


    But by the same token, the methods that required their use were likewise great as well. It would just be up to Ss to figure it out.


    At least in one aspect, though, he already had.


    "Come."


    The Basilisk King obliged, moving toward Ss.


    "You may go now, Szorn."


    "Does young master not need my help storing these materials?"


    "There''s no need."


    Szorn nodded itsrge eyeball and then vanished.


    Of course, Ss would send Szorn away for this. After all, what he wanted to do next wasn''t something he was willing to allow Szorn to see.


    It was time for the Basilisk King toplete its next evolution.


    Taking advantage of the repelling character of the Metarock, Ss took out the Basilisk Skin Armor and a familiar Gene Core.


    This Gene Core was none other than an item he had been given by a Sylph while in their Race''s Dungeon in exchange for sparing her. The moment he had touched it, he knew that it was thest piece of the puzzle he needed to help the Basilisk King.


    However, there had been a change.


    Because he sessfully leveled the Basilisk King up to Level 29, evolution wasn''t so easy anymore. While he wouldn''t need more items, he would need arge deposit of Aether.


    And that was what these Aether Stones were here for.


    ording to Ss'' Insight Path Talent... this should be just enough.


    "Ready?"


    The Basilisk King was still feeling apprehensive. That difort that came from the Sylph formation hadn''t vanished, and it had been dealing with that constant attack on its mind the entire time.


    Ss realized this and pulled back somewhat.


    His gaze met the Basilisk King''s in silence, and neither moved.


    Ss'' rtionship with this Beast Contract of his had grown, and there was even some mutual trust between the two of them now. But, the respect between the two was very one-sided.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Basilisk King had a great deal of respect for Ss, but Ss... didn''t really share that same level of awe.


    Much of that was because unlike his other contracts, the Lineage of the Basilisk was very blurry to Ss. But even if it hadn''t been... Ss really wasn''t the sort of person to feel that sort of awe toward others. He didn''t even find the objectively impressive things he did to be all that, either.


    Looking at the Basilisk King now, Ss could tell that the reason his attempt to pat thispanion of his before had failed so miserably was because that wasn''t the kind of affection the Basilisk King wanted.


    It didn''t want to be coddled or babied. What it wanted most was Ss'' respect.


    But it couldn''t have it.


    Ss looked away from the Basilisk King and toward the formation high above them.


    "Do you know why that formation makes you feel fear?"


    The Basilisk King shook its head no.


    "It''s a little trick. The Runes on it y tricks on the mind, subtly influencing the Will so that even if anyone came down here, they would panic, thinking that their treasures were being burned too quickly by theva. Then they would retreat before even making it to the barrier." The Basilisk''s gaze flickered as it seemed to understand.


    But understanding was one thing.


    Having it change something was another.


    "Do you know why it works on you?"


    The Basilisk King shook its head no once more.


    "Because your Will is weak."


    The Basilisk King''s slit pupils pulsed, but it had no way to refute.


    "Although I had the badge to allow me through, the badge was in the Madness Key. It only activated because the Madness Key has evolved and seems to now be able to reflect some of the abilities of the items stored within it.


    "I didn''t notice the change because... this sort of influence on my Will is entirely too weak to be able to make me notice in the first ce."


    The pulsing of the Basilisk King''s eyes only grew, but it stayed perfectly still, continuing to stare at Ss.


    "I don''t know what your origins are truly, and I don''t know why you''ve regressed so much. But what I can tell you is that you''ll never be able to achieve much of anything if you rely on me so heavily. If you want to respect me, fine... but you should also be striving to surpass me. "If you cannot do that, one of these days, I''ll truly abandon you."


    The Basilisk King had such a high Will stat, and yet it was all but worthless as it didn''t even have a Flexible Will.


    But now, staring at Ss, it felt the weight of its inferiority even more clearly than before.


    The Basilisk King turned and slithered its body into the crevices of the Aether Stone mine. Then it turned a heated gaze toward Ss as though it was ready to go through fire. Ss had only barely begun before the violent trembling of the Basilisk King returned. This time not out of fear... but pain.


    Its scales burst apart and blood flowed out only to be burned to ash by the heat in the


    surroundings.


    As painful as the Basilisk King''sst evolution was, this would be even more so.


    ''Show me why your Lineage is so special...''


    What Ss didn''t know was that while he was hidden away down below... the upheaval in


    Lone Star was not small. In fact...


    Almost the entire poption of the city had been wiped out.


    ...


    High in the skies of a Lone Star City burning in an endless inferno, two figures stood.


    Their skin was an unnatural white ash as though they had covered themselves in chalk, ragged


    and torn strips of beast cloth coated their bodies, and jewelry carved from bone adorned their


    bodies.


    The Dogons had appeared.

 Chapter 716: Motivation

    Chapter 716: Motivation


    ?


    Ss'' gaze seemed to prate into the very soul of the Basilisk King.


    He had seen this sort of look many times before.


    Motivation.


    Some people thought that this was all you needed to make it through life. You would feel some acute painful or embarrassing situation, then you would swear that you would change your life from that point onward.


    But that wasn''t how real life worked.


    Motivation was fleeting. It came in spurts and could just as easily vanish, overshadowed by much harsher and less idealistic emotions.


    This was why Ss had always built his life around Discipline instead. This was what drove him to aplish what he had, to reach the heights he had.


    The determination in the Basilisk King''s eyes didn''t move Ss at all. He had seen it in too many people.


    But soon enough, those same people who swore to his face that they would be better would end up sinking back into their same habits again.


    It was an inevitable cycle.


    The Basilisk King could feel Ss'' indifference to the fire in its belly, but it could only clench its jaw, seemingly forgetting that the Professor was in its mouth.


    The fire of its Will flickered in the midst of a buffeting storm.


    "Let''s begin, then."


    Ss didn''t say anything else. Whether the Basilisk King could change... that would be up to it.


    Reaching out a palm, the Gene Core and the Basilisk Skin Armor floated forward.


    There was a sh of intent from Ss'' gaze as the Runes of the Basilisk Skin Armor were suddenly activated.


    At that moment, Ss'' One Kind For Me Path took the reins.


    The procedure from this point was highlyplex. It required transferring the Runes of the Basilisk King Armor to the Gene Core, evolving it.


    However, as one might expect, if Ss couldn''t even analyze a simple Gene, he certainly couldn''t modify a far moreplex one.


    This Gene Core was from a Level 35 FFF- beast of the outside world. While this didn''t sound impressive to the current Ss, it had to be remembered that this Grading system was scaled to the world of the Sylphs and not that of Earth.


    The Sylph world was one where most were of an E-Grade Race. Not only this, but their world had cleared their Summoning long ago, and as such, their hierarchy had likewise settled down properly.


    An FFF-existence in this world would make an FFF+ beast of Earth look like aplete and utter joke. To have such a Grade in a world of E-Grade Races, it wouldn''t be a surprise if this beast had stats that overshadowed Bronze Beasts.


    Of course, there was more to being a Bronze Beast than just stats. This was why they were also known as "King" Beasts.


    But this wasn''t what was important now. What was more important was the fact that this Gene Core almost certainly had Silver Genes in it. The reason Ss had never even thought to use it was because the moment he got his hands on it, he realized just how valuable it was.


    If he foolishly tried to use it to answer a question or two he had, then he might never be able to help the Basilisk King evolve.


    This was all to say that it was beyond Ss to manipte these Genes. And the Runes of a Silver Grade Legendary Path Treasure were likewise tooplex for him.


    He was proven correct instantly. The Silver Grade Basilisk Skin Armor was forged with 40 Foundation Runes drawn to 50% Mastery, or in other words, Flesh Mastery.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    And those were just the ones that Ss could actually decipher himself. There were clearly much moreplex ones hidden deeper.


    So if all of this was so far beyond Ss, how was he managing it? ...


    The Runes flowed smoothly, the overlyplex Gene Runes bing like ydough in Ss'' hands as he shifted and twisted their Foundations and Strokes, sliding the Runes of the Basilisk Skin Armor in ce to rece them.


    ... The answer to that was obvious.


    He didn''t need to think about it at all.


    His Legendary Profession handled everything.


    Runes that he wasn''t able toprehend fed their information to his mind as he entered a trance.


    When it came to helping Serpentes Beasts evolve, Ss could naturally do it with ease because the system was supporting his efforts.


    While he wasn''t able to understand these Runes personally or use them outside of this application, for this moment...


    He didn''t need to.


    In just a few minutes, the Basilisk Skin Armor had lost all of its luster, falling into theva as aplex Gene Rune hovered before Ss.


    In the eyes of others, this might look infinitely close to a Gold Rune, and it was maybe the most valuable Gene on Earth right now.


    However, Ss intuitively knew that this wasn''t an additional Rune for the Basilisk King...


    It was actually nothing more than a key.


    Ss pressed his palm forward and the world shook just the slightest bit before he pushed the Gene Key into the Basilisk King''s body.


    For a moment, there was nothing but silence as Ss stumbled back, his mind being hit with waves of fatigue. It was only after he awoke that he realized his Rune Essenceprehension had helped him greatly.


    While the system could help him, it couldn''t make ame duck a phoenix. It still had to control things through his body. If the Runes rejected him too much, the system wouldn''t have been able to seed, at least not without his Wisdom being substantially higher.


    Luckily... Ss was aplete anomaly himself.


    Ss stabilized himself, shaking his head as he looked forward. The world still seemed to be


    silent.


    Too silent.


    But very quickly, that changed.


    BANG!


    Ss was sent stumbling back once again, his vision going ck as something heavy and stick


    sttered against him.


    His pupils constricted.


    ''Blood...''


    Suddenly, he was soaked from head to toe.

 Chapter 717: The Opposite

    Chapter 717: The Opposite


    ?


    Ss hurriedly wiped his face, not having time to care that this blood showed no signs of evaporating beneath the oppressive heat. In fact, he found that the empty space at the bottom of the volcano had grownrger.


    Thanks to the cubes of Metarock, there was some reprieve from the constant oppression of theva. But it was still in a rtively small region.


    Now, however, it was evenrger. There was a great pressure pushing out, and it only took Ss a moment to realize that it...


    ''Telekinesis!''


    Ss'' pupils trembled.


    Just how strong did one''s telekinesis have to be to push away this muchva? You didn''t just have to carry the weight of the surroundingva, but all of theva above as well. To say it was millions upon millions of kilograms of weight didn''t do it justice.


    However, Ss barely had time to dwell on this before he locked eyes on the current state of the Basilisk King.


    If it wasn''t for the fact Ss could feel their connection, he wouldn''t have thought that this was his contract at all.


    The Basilisk King didn''t have more than a few sparse scales remaining on its body. The rest of it was a mass of flesh with bone sticking out in several locations.


    It writhed there on top of the Aether Stone Mine, its skin bubbling up and even foaming in some locations as though blood far too hot for it to manage was rushing through its veins.


    When Ss saw this, his expression sank.


    Much like with all things rted to his Serpentes Contracts, he knew exactly what was happening.


    The evolution hadn''t failed, it had seeded. But the Basilisk King still wasn''t able to take that final step, not because there weren''t enough resources, but because its mind wasn''t strong enough.


    Its Will was too weak.


    Ss stood there, watching in silence as the Basilisk King struggled. He could feel that its zing motivation from earlier had already dulled to a barely perceptible ember.


    It was easy to have motivation before rubber met road. But many shied away when they realized just how difficult things were.


    This time, however, Ss wasn''t even sure he could me the Basilisk King.


    Was this even something that he could deal with?


    Not only had the Basilisk King basically had all its skin peeled away in such a forceful manner, but it felt like it was burning from the inside out.


    Ss was about to reach out to put the Basilisk King in the Hibernation Realm to save it, but then he hesitated.


    If he did that, the Basilisk King would be healed, but would that fix anything?


    No.


    There was no sense of awareness in the Hibernation Realm, which was why Ss wasn''t sure if Nosphaleen could both be inside of it and take part in her Trial.


    This was to say that if the Basilisk King was suffering because of a mental block, it wouldn''t be able to fix it in the Hibernation Realm. If anything, it would be entirely useless because Ss would never be able to take it out to battle again.


    Ss hesitated again.


    He might not be able to take it out to battle, but he would still be able to fuse with it, probably. He could probably also level it up from there if he ran into more Mature Aether as well.


    All things considered, that was a better oue than the Basilisk King dying right here and now. The losses would be too great.


    After all, Ss had just spent a Silver Grade Treasure and an outer-world FFF - Gene Core. If the Basilisk King just died, then his losses wouldn''t be small.


    As great as the gains here were, Legendary Path Treasures weren''t things that you could just buy on the outside market. It was no less difficult to find on the open market than Metarock.


    The mournful cries of the Basilisk King continued to echo and it seemed like it would run to the end of its life very soon.


    Ss was about to make a move when a sh of inspiration hit him.


    His Beast Totem appeared high above his head once again, but this time, instead of buffing the Basilisk King, he used Beacon.


    At that moment, something inside the Basilisk King stirred.


    The call of a master spread across a six-kilometer range, and the Basilisk King was obviously no different. It could sense an arrogant gaze looking down on it from above, presenting it with a suffocating presence that beckoned it forward.


    For some reason... that feeling pissed the Basilisk King off.


    It was in so much pain. Who was calling it now? And why was the presence so powerful?


    The Basilisk King reached out to Ss, seemingly wanting some help. It was trying to focus on saving itself, but now so much of its mind was upied with fighting off this call. How could it fight against it and save itself at the same time?


    It was impossible.


    But it was coldly rebuffed by Ss.


    The Basilisk King was struck with terror. It couldn''t open its eyes or even control its body very much, but it could still see the vision of Ss very well...


    Because it had seen it before.


    That single nce before Ss turned his back on it, leaving it to.


    The mind of the Basilisk King returned to that day it was left with Grin... how that knife felt slicing into the gaps between its scales, that light smile as he carved it up as though it was already meat on his tter.


    The anger the Basilisk King had forgotten bubbled back up.


    This wasn''t the first time it had suffered such humiliation, it wasn''t the second time either, it wasn''t even the third.


    Time and time again. The same weakness, the same loss of face, the same humiliating dereliction of duty to the blood running through its veins.


    That was when the Basilisk King felt it.


    Rage.


    It wasn''t rageing from him, but rather his bloodline.


    The bubbling blood within him finally seemed to pierce through the veil separating them.


    At that moment, the Basilisk King could hear the fury of its Ancestors. It was still faint, and most of it was muffled through countlessyers ofplexities and seals...


    But it finally heard it.


    And that fury wasn''t toward the humiliation the Basilisk King had faced, or toward the voicen/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    distracting it from saving itself...


    But rather aimed toward it.


    Its Ancestors were furious with him.


    The Basilisk King shook from head to tail, a radiant light suddenly pulsing out from its body.


    It was the feeling of expectations being let down, the feelings of the weight of a Lineage being ced on his shoulders, and yet having been ignored for so long.


    Suddenly, the Basilisk King couldn''t hear the call of Beacon anymore, or even his own memories. It could only hear the cry of his Ancestors...


    Tears brimmed in the Basilisk King''s eyes.


    He had a thought at that moment that he couldn''t recall thest time he had had...


    What was his name?


    He didn''t even remember...


    At that moment, the Basilisk King made a choice directly opposing Ss.


    He couldn''t fall here.


    Not for himself...


    But rather his Race.


    A radiant golden light spread out in all directions.

 Chapter 718: 2999 [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 718: 2999 [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    Ss protected his eyes with a forearm, a tingling sensation spreading across his arm as goosebumps erupted across his body.


    The feeling was very peculiar, because it felt like danger, and yet not quite like that.


    It wasn''t long before he felt what this mysterious feeling wasing from... something within the Basilisk King''s body was warning him.


    It didn''t like his Profession, not in the slightest bit.


    It was the first time Ss had experienced such a thing.


    In reality, he had faced Serpentes that were able to resist him before. After all, before One Kind For Me got to Level 10, he was only able to suppress Serpentes in part and not fully.


    But right now, it felt different from that. Rather, it felt not like his Profession''s Level was inadequate, but rather that no Level would be appropriate...


    Not unless he could make the Profession truly his own.


    The thought left just as fast as it came. It wasn''t because Ss was distracted by something, but rather because he had sensed something he probably shouldn''t have.


    The system opened the corner for just a moment before it was snapped shut. Then, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t pull the curtain back at all.


    At the same time, the feeling of danger disappeared like it was never there.


    Ss wasn''t to think about it some more, but he didn''t have the luxury. The Basilisk King''s aura was steadily growing and therge deposit of Aether Stone found itself being quickly sucked dry.


    The process was so fast that several feet of the Aether Stone mine had already turned to ash, crumbling and being set flying into the air.


    Though Ss had predicted that the Basilisk King would need the support of this mind, the violence of it all was beyond his expectations. Absorbing such arge amount of Aether should have made the Basilisk King implode from the inside out. Just where was it all going?


    And this was just the first of the Basilisk King Gene Locks. If just the first needed this much Aether, then what would the next need?


    Something told Ss that the Basilisk King would undoubtedly be by far the hardest of his contracts to raise.


    Themotion was so great that it almost surely reached the surface. Large waves began to form in theva, but Ss could only stay pat, hoping that no one would think toe below.


    The good news was that this formation left behind by the Sylphs should be on his side.


    All of a sudden, it all came to a stop.


    The vibrations, the undting Aether, the pressure...


    It all vanished.


    Ss slowly lowered his forearm from his eyes, looking ahead to see what was waiting beyond.


    His eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    The Basilisk Kingy there in silence, its body tightly coiled. But it had grown visibly smaller.


    It had already been over 50 meters in length before, but now it was barely half that.


    Its scales had regrown, but more importantly than that, there were several more lines of faint gold.


    When Ss first met the Basilisk King, it had had a brown array of bone on its head that formed a crown, and golden Runes covered its body.


    After it was expelled from the Dungeon, it lost much of this. It had be almost a normal ck snake aside from its shocking size and strength.


    Now, some of that previous aura was returning, but it seemed to only be in part. There were some bumps on its head like its crown of golden bones might be returning in part, but it was a long way from a full reformation.


    But, somehow... Ss felt that its aura was several times more dangerous than it had ever been in the Dungeon.


    If he had topare the two, it was like the Basilisk King of before was a fake imitation, and though this version looked less appealing... it was infinitely closer to the real deal than that Basilisk King had ever been.


    And then there were its stats.


    [Basilisk King (Bronze)]


    [Level: 30]


    -


    [Physical: 2999]


    >[Strength: 2999]


    >[Constitution: 2999]


    >[Dexterity: 2999]


    >[Speed: 2999]


    [Mental: 2745]


    >[Intelligence: 2999]


    >[Wisdom: 2238]


    >[Charisma: 2999]


    [Will: 3003]


    Ss couldn''t help but stare at this screen for a long while in silence. The change was enormous, so much so that it was hard to evenpare the two.


    It didn''t even feel like they were the same creature.


    [Path Quest "Raise a Bronze King Beast" Completed]


    [+2 500 000 050 Experience]


    It had been a very long while since Ss had acknowledged a Path Quest. He hadpleted quite a few on his journey, but they were so negligiblepared to clearing Demon Viges and System Cities that he hadn''t cared.


    But this wasn''t a reward he could ignore at all.


    However, the amount was negligible.


    If the Experience required to level up his Profession Paths kept doubling every time, and having as much as a 10x leap every 10 Levels like it had until now, two billion Experience was a drop in the bucket.


    Even counting the Experience he would need in the quintillions probably wouldn''t be enough.


    Even now, it was something that Ss didn''t think much about because it would do him no good. But at the very least... this would be very helpful Experience for now.


    If he strengthened the Hibernation Realm any more, he might be able to add Nosphaleen and the sirith baby to his team right this moment.


    But things wouldn''t end here.


    [Path Quest "Rekindle Basilisk King''s Pride" Completed]


    [+1000 000 Experience]


    [Quest "Sorrow of the Basilisk King (Silver)" Completed]


    [Clearance Level: Silver]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [Rewards]


    >[Basilisk''s Crown (Gene Lineage Form)]


    [Basilisk''s Crown (F+) (Gene Lineage Form)]


    [Forcefully elevate all King Skills to F+ Gene Skill Tier]


    This wasn''t a Gene Lineage Form that Ss could use. Rather... it was made specifically for the


    Basilisk King. And now, whether it was <King''s Shield>, <King''s Bind>, <King''s Shift>, or


    <Voice of a King> they could all be forcefully elevated.


    But... this mirror of a Gene ss Form didn''t seem to be so simple.


    That was when it clicked for Ss...

 Chapter 719: Extricate...

    Chapter 719: Extricate...


    ?


    The secrety in the fact that was limiting Ss again. It wasn''t as simple as what was described here.


    Basilisk''s Crown not only elevated the Basilisk King''s King Skills, but made them functionally Skills that were directly activated by its bloodline. Not only did this allow it to trigger these Skills near instantaneously, but it off-loaded much of the burden onto its Blood Essence.


    As a result, the Aether requirements for the skills plummeted off a cliff.


    Gene Skills were well known for their steep costs. Ss himself had seen this personally especially with his movement methods. If not for reaching Progenitor Mastery, he wouldn''t even have the right to cast them.


    But while was active, the Basilisk King could practically use these skills with impunity, and at an elevated level on top of that...


    [Basilisk King]


    [Status: Healthy]


    [Loyalty: 7/10]


    [King''s Bind (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [The gaze of a Basilisk King is supreme. Freeze, mere mortal]


    [Cost: 20 Aether Unit per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    [King''s Shift (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [Laws of the world do not bind the Basilisk King. Bend to my whims, be suppressed beneath my Will]


    [Cost: 10 Aether Unit]


    [Limit: 2000 Physical]


    [King''s Shield (FFF+) (Skill)]


    [You are unworthy to even touch the Basilisk King. My defenses are unmatched]


    [Cost: 10 Aether Unit]


    [Defense: 2000]


    [King''s Bind (F+) (Gene Skill)]


    [The gaze of a Basilisk King is supreme. Freeze, mere mortal]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit per second]


    [Limit: Decided by every 10% gap in average of Will and Charisma]


    [King''s Shift (F+) (Gene Skill)]


    [Laws of the world do not bind the Basilisk King. Bend to my whims, be suppressed beneath my Will]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit]


    [Limit: 20 000 Physical]


    [King''s Shield (F+) (Gene Skill)]


    [You are unworthy to even touch the Basilisk King. My defenses are unmatched]


    [Cost: 1 Aether Unit]


    [Defense: 20 000]


    The difference was shocking, and the fact these Gene Skills could be cast near instantly and at almost no cost was shocking.


    Ss wasn''t naive. He knew there were drawbacks.


    cing the burden of such powerful Gene Skills on the body meant that the Basilisk King would tire quite quickly. Plus, given that this Gene Lineage Form relied on Will, even if the Basilisk King ran itself dry, it would onlyst for 30 seconds.


    It would be one thing if the Basilisk King had powerful attack Skills. But unfortunately, it didn''t.


    On top of that, even if it used these Gene Skills continuously and endlessly during that 30 seconds, the pressure on its body would be so great that it would be gasping for breath at the end if it made it that far at best, and at worst it might directly lose consciousness from fatigue.


    Organ failure or aa were very much in the cards if this was abused.


    However...


    Ss had the Hibernation Realm.


    There was certainly a degree of freedom here that just might allow Ss to use this ability more than once in battle if he was really backed into a corner.


    Especially if he upgraded them.


    [One Kind For Me]


    [Level: 23]


    [Experience: 0/1 677 721 600] [Path Talent: Beast Totem Lv23; Insight Lv23] [Beast Totem


    (Path Talent)]


    [>Suppress Serpentes Beasts by <100%>]


    [>Forms Hibernation Realm where recovery increases by <1 677 721 600%>]


    [>Hibernation Halo] (NEW!!)


    [>Fusion is instant]


    [>Buff Contracts by <300%>]


    [>Beacon of <40> kilometer radius]


    [Insight (Path Talent)]


    [>Comprehend Gene Sequence of Contract]


    [>Sense Evolution Triggers]


    [>Comprehend Contract]


    [>Sense nearby Paths] (NEW!!)


    [Were-for-the-Invincible]


    [Level: 23]


    [Experience: 0/1 677 721 600] [Path Talent: Fuse Lv23]


    [Fuse (Path Talent)]


    [>Fuse with one Contract and gain <100%> of their stats]


    [>Fuse with two Contracts and gain <50%> of their stats] (NEW!!)


    [>Fuse with <2> Contracts at a time]


    [>Semi-Fusion]


    [>Comprehension Share] (NEW!!)


    [Taboo Bond]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [Level: 20]


    [Experience: 0/1 024 000 000] [Path Talent: Extricate Lv20]


    [Extricate (Path Talent)]


    [>Extricate Genes]


    [>Extricate Gene Talents]


    [>Extricate Blood Essence]


    [>Extricate Bone Essence]


    [>Extricate Comprehensions]


    Ss spent as much Experience as he could in one go, but he was still left with an embarrassinglyrge amount. He still had 214 164 850 remaining, and yet nothing to spend it on. It could only sit there, waiting for him to hit another jackpot.


    To his surprise, it dide.


    [Path Quest Completed]


    [+1500 000 050 Experience]


    The sirith had hatched in his Hibernation Realm at that moment, but it shouldn''t have


    been a surprise with the shocking boost of the Hibernation Realm.


    With a recovery boost in the billions, the equivalent of 10 years passed in just under 19


    seconds. Had Ss been at this level from the start, the sirith would have hatched in just a


    few minutes.


    However, for now, Ss chose not to Summon it. The environment was too vtile for a


    newborn. Bronze Beast or not, it was still a Level 0.


    Instead, he looked through the changes.


    ''Hibernation Halo... I see, I can project the recovery effects of my Hibernation Realm now, but


    it''s significantly weakened. There''s a drop off by a million, so there''s only around a 1677% boost to recovery, because it appeared at Level 20, it''s leveled up three times, so it''s over 13


    000% now. ''Comprehension Share is interesting... odd, it seems I can''t fuse with my contracts'' Comprehensions, but I can gain insights on their Comprehensions. With the synergy between that and Insights, I can practically grasp itpletely...


    ''As for this new sensory ability of Insight, it''s the oddest. But it seems I won''t have toy eyes


    on a treasure to know it''ll be useful for my contracts'' evolutions now, I can sense it from a distance, and even feel it through time somewhat...''


    The exnation was hard to exin, but Ss had a natural understanding of it. The fact this


    Legendary Path Talent actually allowed him a peek into the future was mind-breaking even


    for Ss.


    And then there was the elephant in the room.


    Extricating Comprehensions.

 Chapter 720: Ready

    Chapter 720: Ready


    ?


    Bone Essence and Comprehensions had both been added. The former confused Ss, but thetter made his gaze quite intent. It changed everything.


    Didn''t this mean that he wouldn''t need to be as careful from now on?


    Until this point, Ss had been holding back on his second and third Comprehensions because he thought that he would only have a single shot at it. As such, it could be said that he was holding himself back from a great deal of possibility.


    It had to be remembered that thanks to the Fusion Crystal, he could have an additional Comprehension, but thanks to his Dual ss Constitution, the Crystal was doubly effective on


    him.


    Still, even with this leeway, Ss hadn''t been willing to take risks with what Comprehension he chose next because his recent experiences had made it clear to him just how rare Fusion Crystals were.


    Although they were weak, he could still find Gene Crystals on the market from time to time, likely being sold by people who they were no longer useful to.


    But he had never seen a single Fusion Crystal on the market.


    This was the obvious dividing line between something truly valuable and something that was just rare.


    Of course, this wasn''t to say that Fusion Crystals were definitively more valuable. It was just that while Gene Crystals had several tiers of grade to them, a Fusion Crystal either helped you or it didn''t.


    Its grades were much more acute in nature, whereas a Bronze Gene Crystal might have a wide range to them, a Fusion Crystal only had a few types.


    This aside, Ss realized now that he would no longer have to be as careful.


    ''Fragmented Comprehension...? What is that...?''


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. His Comprehensions were only ranked from F- to FFF+. Could it be that all of these were Fragmented?


    There was only one way to find out, so Ss turned Extricate on himself again.


    It didn''t even take a moment before he confirmed it.


    Indeed... it seemed that hisprehension was Fragmented.


    Ss frowned. If it was possible to get Comprehension above FFF+, then why was it that even after the Fusion Crystal had followed him for so long, he hadn''t raised a single one to above FFF+?


    [How do youprehend an above Fragmented Comprehension?]


    Ss'' gaze sharpened. ''Taboo... push through.''


    Hunger increased.


    [How do youprehend an above Fragmented Comprehension?]


    [The Legendary Path of Comprehensions had long been cut off. Unless you are a descendant of an Ancient Race, forming a Common, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Legendary Comprehension is impossible.]


    Ss'' brows raised.


    He didn''t like this the slightest bit.


    On the one hand, it was good news. His Taboo Bond Path was even more broken than he knew.


    If these Comprehensions were something you could only be born with, but he now had the ability to steal them, he had all the ingredients he needed to break free of the limits of his Race and soar beyond.


    But...


    Setting aside whether these Races would have the same protections against such things that the Sylphs had back when they managed to stop Ss from stealing their Unique Gene, what good was taking another''s Comprehension?


    Ss really liked Madness. Unless Madness was also a Comprehension passed down by one of these Ancient Races, how would he improve it to the level he wanted?


    Did that mean that he would be stuck abandoning Madness in the future for something stronger?


    ''Wait...''


    A thought came to Ss and he pulled on his Madness Comprehension again.


    Soon, he felt like he had lost arge piece of himself as his Will began to waver.


    Ss realized that he couldn''t keep it out of his body for long. His Comprehension wasn''t an external part of himself at all, it was like a valuable inner organ. If he lost it, his entire path would crumble.


    Knowing this, Ss only looked at it for a moment before quickly putting it away.


    ''As expected... a Rune...''


    Ss'' gaze zed like a pair of torches.


    Not only was it a Rune, but despite itsplexity, Ss could fullyprehend it.


    And why wouldn''t he be able to? He had already brought it to Legendary Mastery. However, contradictorily, if he had to draw his Comprehension now, not only would he not have nearly enough Wisdom to seed in one go, but he would also not be able to draw it so perfectly.


    The system obviously drew his Madness Comprehension Rune to above Sparking Mastery. But Ss, even if he had infinite Wisdom, would only be able to draw it to maybe 60% Mastery, or in other words, Soul Mastery...


    That was a full three levels before Spark Mastery, which was still beneath the capabilities of the system.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That said, Ss wasn''t discouraged. Instead, he felt something bubbling up inside of him.


    If there was any Rune in the world Ss could break free of the human constraints with, it was his own Comprehension.


    But deeper than that, what sort of changes would happen to his Comprehension if he could draw it with better efficiency than now? Could he use it as a shortcut to raise his Rune Mastery from Rune Essence to Rune Vitality? Or maybe even beyond to Rune Spark?


    And on the most fundamental level...


    If he could learn to manipte his Comprehensions like this, then would it be possible for him to use Extricate to steal Comprehensions from these powerful Races and build a new Madness Comprehension for himself that broke free of the Fragmented Grade?


    The moment Ss had the idea, he could no longer hold back.


    However, there were no such Races here outside of maybe the Basilisk King itself. But Ss had no intention of harming his contract right now, the potential the Basilisk King had shown today made him realize that it would be an invaluable partner in the future.


    But...


    It was about time he fused with his new Comprehensions.


    For now, he would only fuse with one instead of the two he could because he had the Durability of the Fusion Crystal to worry about. It couldn''t be used continuously, having the


    same weakness as the Gene Crystal.


    But much like with Gene Crystals... Extricate would make itst for longer.


    Ss pulled out the Fusion Crystal and took the Comprehension right at the very top.


    [Mixed Martial Arts (F)]


    [A sh of Earth''s cultures shapes your every move, each strike a testament to the world''s martial spirit. You mold your body into a weapon forged from unity, discipline, and relentless will. In your hands, the art of war bes anguage that all of Earth speaks as one]


    [+150% Dexterity]


    [+100% Will]


    [Your Comprehension of Mixed Martial Arts has deepened]


    [Mixed Martial Arts has reached Gold Mastery]


    [Mixed Martial Arts (F)]


    [A sh of Earth''s cultures shapes your every move, each strike a testament to the world''s martial spirit. You mold your body into a weapon forged from unity, discipline, and relentless will. In your hands, the art of war bes anguage that all of Earth speaks as one]


    [+550% Dexterity]


    [+300% Will]


    Ss was surprised by the result. He had expected huge boosts to all his Physical stats, but the


    moment he felt the Comprehension fill his body, he grasped something profound.


    ''I don''t know why it feels like a great danger is bearing down on me right now, but...''


    Ss gripped his fists, the light in his eyes zing.


    He was ready for it.

 Chapter 721: Vaekra

    Chapter 721: Vaekra


    ?


    Ss stood in silence for a long while, gathering his thoughts anding to an understanding about his new Comprehension.


    He understood at that moment that was what was holding him back once again. If Comprehensions were just a mere boost to stats, then they wouldn''t be Comprehensions.


    There were many aspects of Madness that he just took for granted. His telekinesis only appeared after heprehended Madness, for example, and that was back when his Will was incredibly weak.


    What about his ability to target the minds of others with Madness? That too was an odd external ability.


    He hadn''t used it in very long because he learned to control and restrain his Madness so as not to impact allies. In addition, he picked Unique Genes that turned away from this method.


    But who was to say that he needed external Genes to help it along further?


    Much the same way, the abilities of Mixed Martial Arts weren''t as simple as a boost to his Dexterity and Will either...


    Ss'' mind suddenly shook and his gaze snapped back toward the Basilisk King. It was still in a slumber, but just now he had felt it stir.


    ''No...''


    A burp came from the Basilisk King''s mouth and a pressure was suddenly released. ''Trouble.''


    Ss didn''t even think. He stomped a foot and shot forward.


    At the same instant, a powerful pressure came from the Basilisk King''s mouth.


    BANG!


    A shockwave bombarded against Ss. Theva that had yet to settle down from the Basilisk King''s earlier sput of telekinesis, but it was disturbed once again.


    CRACK.


    Ss felt his Scorpion Warlord armor almost give way as he was sent flying.


    The pressure of theva to his back and the wave of strengthing from the front made him feel like his body itself was about to copse. Compressed from both sides, his chest shook and he coughed out a mouthful of blood that was instantly eviscerated by the heat in the surroundings.


    BANG!


    A grunt came from Ss'' lips.


    The volcano churned and a pir of red gold pierced upward, so high that it almost burst through the canopy of therge mountain itself.


    However, while it didn''t, Ss did.


    The pressure sent him into the skies, a wave of vertigo and disorientation rocking his mind as he still hadn''t quite grasped what was happening.


    CRACK.


    The sound echoed in Ss'' ears, barely snapping him awake. He realized he couldn''t afford to allow his armor to shatter, not now. Given the situation, he wouldn''t have the time to draw it again in short order.


    His Wisdom surged and he forcefully reached out with Rune Essence, stabilizing the cracking Runes.


    But he was only able to save a majority of them.


    CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.


    CHI.


    It was impossible to stop. A few of his Scorpion Warlord Runes cracked, and his +1000 boost to Physical dropped to just 900, cutting his Scorned Wrap''s boost as well.


    At that moment, Ss found himself slowing down. His vision just barely cleared, the pulsing, billowing soot in the air making his eyes water.


    He stared through it just as he began to plummet through the skies.


    His telekinesis red and he caught himself. By now, he was more than strong enough to hold himself in the air. In fact, fusing with Mixed Martial Arts made him even stronger. With his Demonic Will stacked on top, he could exhibit his telekinesis with about 550 pounds of weight behind it.


    Not only could he carry himself now, but he could do so with ease.


    ''What happened?''


    Ss gasped for breath, still feeling like his inner organs were doing flips in his body. If he hadn''t had his Scorpion Warlord Armor active, he would have lost his life just now.


    ''Dammit.''


    There was no time to figure it out.


    Ss stomped on the air and a tform of telekinesis shattered behind him as he shot forward.


    His telekinesis borrowed the power of gravity and he elerated even faster, wrapping around the pir of red gold and squeezing himself through a small gap in the volcano''s


    opening.


    The Basilisk King''s consciousness was still dormant and there was no feedbacking from


    it at all. He had no way of knowing what was happening down there.


    But he didn''t realize until it was toote that he wouldn''t have the luxury.


    ring danger sirens shook his mind.


    He suddenly came to an abrupt and forceful stop, arching his back in the wrong direction as he pulled on his own head with telekinesis.


    CHI!


    A burning pain came from Ss'' throat as a sharp pain ripped through it.


    Blood spurted as a deep gash almost ripped his neck apart.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The arrow whizzed right by Ss, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.


    BANG!


    The inner wall of the volcano shattered, arge mass with the weight of a small hill being cut out of it. Bouldersrger than even Ss'' body fell from the chipped pieces, plummeting through the air and kicking uprge waves in the sea of red gold that were quickly swallowed up by the earliermotion.


    Ss'' head snapped toward a certain location.


    A young woman wrapped in beast furs and adorned in bone held up a bow twice the length of


    her body.


    She stood in the skies just like Ss did, her bare feet tiptoeing across the air in an elegant, graceful dance as she fired a second arrow.


    [Vaekra Zyrakhn (FFF+)]


    [Level: 9]


    [Physical: 1222]


    [Mental: 1582]


    [Will: 997]


    The cracks in Ss'' armor, especially the one now in his throat, were quickly healing as it greedily swallowed up the Aether in the surroundings. But the arrow was faster.


    It felt like Ss only blinked once, but it was already upon him.


    But Ss took a step forward through the skies, red-gold wings spreading out to his back as


    his hand curved through the air.


    Time slowed.


    The tips of his fingers slid beneath the body of the arrow, and a slight change in the angle of


    his wrist sent it flying over his shoulder.

 Chapter 722: Spear

    Chapter 722: Spear


    ?


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Ss'' body suddenly elerated, his arms doing full moon-like arcs through the skies as he almost gently parried three in a row.


    Each one left gaping holes in the volcano''s inner walls, carrying a power that shook Ss''


    arms.


    But his control over his own body at this point was beyond reproach. The only problem was that his telekinesis wasn''t strong enough to keep himpletely still in the air against these arrows. If they were, he could just use his telekinesis to directly deflect them instead of having to use abination of martial skill and it.


    Thoughts swirled in Ss'' mind.


    He didn''t know how to deal with this situation. He could handle the arrows, but he couldn''t get closer. And he couldn''t run, or else that would mean leaving the Basilisk King behind.


    Right now, he had invested too much into his contract to allow it to just vanish now. Ss was about to parry the next volley of arrows as he figured out what to do when another overwhelming sense of danger practically pierced through his mind like a spear.


    A bone spear appeared by the side of his head, silent and deadly. It carried so much strength that the shudder Ss felt went through to the depths of his soul.


    He tried to form a quick barrier of ss, not having enough time to cast <Ice Banned Shield>. Unfortunately, the concentration of Fire and Earth type Aether in the surroundings was too heavy. He couldn''t gather what he needed to form a full barrier of ss Aether either.


    CHI.


    The barrier shattered from the pressure of the spear alone, and in a blink, it was already piercing through the outeryer of his Scorpion Warlord Armor, barely having been slowed at all.


    The scent of death bore down, drilling its way into his nose and saturating his very soul.


    However, when it buffeted against Ss'' Will, it found a chilly wind that iced it over into submission. There was a deathly stillness in the depths of Ss'' eyes as he felt his Will solidify.


    His mind seemed to have undergone a baptism and the earlier indecisiveness had vanished into the wind.


    He had to kill Lucius. How could he die here?


    The Dogon hidden in the shadows suddenly found a tail piercing toward it. The Bone-Tailed Lizard''s tail had appeared out of nowhere, being wrapped by the Scorpion Warlord''s tail. Mutual destruction.


    There was a snort that echoed out. The young Dogon seemed very confident in his defenses.


    But it was at that moment that the Bone-Tailed Lizard''s poison was ejected into the Scorpion Warlord''s tail.


    It whirred with life and the Runes solidified into a dense ckness that etched goosebumps into the body of the Dogon.


    Danger.


    No matter how powerful the spear, even with the weakening of Ss'' armor, he still had over 4000 Defense. It had visibly slowed down.


    It became a matter of Will.


    A Martial Will stirred deep within Ss and he seemed to be holding the weight of all the martial artists of Earth on his back.


    Mixed Martial Arts activated and his Will took a step forward, solidifying in the air with a great pressure.


    Runes filled his eyes and pressure lines pulsed in the surroundings.


    At the same time, Madness fused into his Mixed Martial Arts Aura, battering against the Dogon''s mind.


    Ss felt it clearly when his Will broke.


    The spear''s momentum was shattered and Ss'' palm caught it the instant it pierced the skin of the side of his head.


    His grip tightened down and a surging might came from him as he pivoted, throwing out a palm.


    Tail and palm moved in a synchronized cadence, the former reaching the target long before thetter.


    CHI. BANG!


    The tail was stopped by a barrier, but as though Ss had already expected this, his palm only elerated, carrying with it a rhythmic cadence that vibrated and shook the air.


    The backward momentum of the Dogon was mitigated by the Skill and Ss'' telekinesis at the same time.


    Their gazes met and a look of horror seemed to set in for the young Dogon as Ss'' palm mmed through thest of his Defenses, crashing into his chest.


    A powerful hidden Rune triggered, but Ss pushed through it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    BOOM!


    A hollow echo of palm meeting chest was followed by the sickening sound of shattering bone.


    A pressure wave of telekinesis mmed into the Dogon''s back at the same time as Ss'' palm burst almost through his chest.


    Blood spurted from the Dogon''s mouth as he was sent flying into the distance, finally losing grip on his spear.


    Ss stood high in the skies, suddenly reaching out with his free hand and catching an arrow aiming for his still-bleeding throat.


    The arrow burst into mes, but the spear in his hand remained just fine as though his Scorned Wraps hadn''t noticed it at all.


    [Dragon Bone Spear (Gold)]


    Ss'' eyes narrowed. He raised his gaze from the spear and toward the Dogon that crashed


    into the sea of red-gold.


    [Kyreth Zyrakhn (¡ª)]


    [Level: 9]


    ''... Warlord... They killed the snail...''


    Ss understood why this young man was so powerful now. Not only did he have these shocking treasures on his body, but they had killed the Snail Queen in advance, gaining


    Warlord status.


    Meaning... on top of their stats, Kyreth was the equivalent of a Quasi King Beast in this


    Territory.


    A wave of fatigue hit Ss as the weight of having two Comprehensions active at once hit


    him.


    ''Not good...''


    BANG!


    Kyreth shot out of the sea ofva, coughing up a mouthful of blood.


    Runes danced around the concave dent in his chest, seemingly mending it in real time. But


    this was obviously not an instantaneous process.


    What was instantaneous, though... was the crown that appeared above his head.


    ''... I miscalcted.''


    He hadn''t thought that the Snail Queen would fall in such a short time. He didn''t even know


    why or how the Dogons could be here all of a sudden, otherwise he would have never made


    such a mistake.


    ''... The Overlord Quest!''


    Ss realized then that he hadn''t gotten a notification that the Overlord Quest was over


    despite the death of the Snail Queen.


    His eyes widened just as his stats plummeted by 50%.


    [The Warlord of the Ruby Territory has Cursed you]

 Chapter 723: Eye [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 723: Eye [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    There was a pulse of mark imnting itself onto Ss'' forehead and for the second time in his life, he experienced a suffocation of his stats.


    But for some reason...


    He was shockingly calm, so much so that judging from his expression, one would never guess that such a thing had happened at all.


    At that moment, Ss'' body began to change once again. The bone armor that coated him due to his fusion with the Bone-Tailed Lizard changed and morphed, bing more crystalline.


    A cascade of reflective gems seemed to rece the armor.


    The sharp bone tail became crystal as well, and Ss'' yellowed, slit eyes changed, reflecting sky blues, bright pinks, and shimmering amethyst.


    Ss'' aura changedpletely as hebined the sirith and the Bone-Tailed Lizard into


    one.


    At that same moment, he activated his Beast Totem and Hibernation Halo.


    A pair of golden eyes and a ring of gold rippled outward with Ss at the center. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the bleeding wound on his neck began to close.


    The pressure on his mind increased, but the focus in Ss'' eyes was absolutely unprecedented.


    When he chose his three Legendary Paths, he hadn''t just chosen the Paths that sounded the sweetest. He had specifically chosen them so that they could synergize.


    As the Paths grew in Level, the benefits of this only became more and more obvious.


    Were-for-the-Invincible and One Kind For Me yed off of one another.


    Because Ss was fused with two beasts at once now and not just one, he received not just one +300% boost from his Beast Totem, but two, one for each of his Contracts. In an instant, not only did he w back his lost stats, even with the Level o status of these two Contracts, he gained on average 500 stat points from each after gaining half of their stats.


    But this was still just the start.


    Not only did he gain a +1000 on average to all of his stats, but Hibernation Halo also applied two times over as it targeted both of the Contracts in his body right now.


    This meant that whether it was Ss'' injuries, his Aether, or his mental fatigue, they were recovering at over +26 000% right this moment instead of the around +13 000% it should have been.


    Even with this recovery pace, having so many abilities active on top of two Comprehensions was still draining Ss'' Wisdom and Will faster than they could recover.


    But, what it did allow him to do was slow it to almost a crawl.


    If he could hold on, he could end this battle.


    And thanks to the sirith, he could do exactly that.


    [ss Edge (F-) (Gene Lineage Form)]


    [Anti-Aether de. Negate all Aether thates into contact with ss Edge within 10 F- Grade Levels.]


    [Limit: 30 Foundations]


    Ss held out a hand and half a dozen crystalline kunai appeared to his side. His palm faced Vaekra and her arrows while his second hand raised the Dragon Bone Spear, aiming toward Kyreth.


    ss Aether surged through the air as a ripple sent out a silent wave from Ss'' body. A shimmering crown appeared above his head, and at that moment, even to Ss'' surprise, the Curse seal on his forehead shattered to pieces.


    Ss'' stats soared as ance of ss took shape, hovering before the tip of the Dragon Bone Spear.


    SHIIING! SHIIING! SHIIIING!


    The howl of des filled the skies as both Dogons felt their hearts constrict.


    Vaekra unleashed a volley of arrows, but Ss'' kuani moved at the same time, slicing through the air with a whistling cadence.


    CHI! CHI! CHI! CHI! CHI! CHI!


    The kunai and arrows met in the air, but thetter found themselves shattering on contact along with the ss kunai.


    The Aether that wrapped them was sliced to pieces.


    If every arrow was a Treasure, the cost of being an archer would be far too high. Unfortunately for Vaekra, because of this fact of life, her arrows were sturdy, but not enough to survive for long without the protection of her Aether Skills.


    She could only watch as her arrows were rendered useless, falling to theva below in pieces, and at that very instant, a pulse of light came from thence.


    ck Runes hovered out of Ss'' Scorpion Warlord tail, fusing into thence.


    Kyreth''s face fell, his body shaking violently beneath the pressure. But for some reason, after his Curse on Ss'' body shattered, he found himselfpletely frozen in ce.


    To his horror, he realized toote that the Bone-Tailed Lizard''s poison had already entered his body, etching itself into his bone.


    He couldn''t control his own body anymore even if he wanted.


    The horror set in for both Dogons...


    When had such a powerful Human appeared?


    BANG!


    Thence erupted, practically blinking through the air as it arrived before Kyreth.


    "Kyreth!" Vaekra roared.


    Toote.


    ss Edge collided with Kyreth''s protective Runes.


    The Rune Flesh abilities of the Dogons were well known. And Kyreth''s own were actually drawn with 40 Foundations, beyond the 30 Foundation limit of ss Edge to negate even though they were within 10 Levels.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But...


    Not only had Ss already damaged them, but he was also synchronizing with his own on top of using a potent 40 Foundation Bone Poison.


    He didn''t stand a chance.


    Kyreth''s Defenses were torn through like wet tissue paper, ance-sized hole ripping into his


    caved chest.


    The Dogon stood frozen in shock before he stumbled a step back.


    At that moment, an eye appeared high in the skies as though something had been sensed.


    Vaekra''s face, colored with despair, instantly became an overcast of fear.


    She turned tail and ran away, her body blinking away.


    The eye didn''t seem to notice her at all, pulsing just a single time.


    BANG!


    Kyreth exploded into a rain of blood.


    The eye slowly turned and it looked as though it was about to go after Vaekra when it instead


    locked onto Ss instead.


    Until this point, Ss had faced death a great many times...


    But this was the first time he truly felt so...


    Small.


    Before this eye, it didn''t seem to matter how much progress he had made. It could wipe him


    out whenever it so pleased.


    Ss stared at it, his brow tightly wound into a frown as he tried to stop his hand from


    trembling.


    The eye scanned him and then it slowly turned to where Vaekra had been. But by now, she had vanished into the Portal.


    Lazily, the eye began to fade away. It didn''t seem to care that its target was gone. The only


    anomaly that it had definitely sensed was Kyreth, so now that he was gone, it couldn''t be


    bothered to pursue to ensure there were no others.


    As the eye slowly faded, there was a sudden change in theva below.


    A figure burst through. In the nude, and dripping with droplets of red gold magma, she rushed


    upward.


    Ss'' eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    Professor Fembroise?


    The middle-aged woman turned an enraged gaze toward Ss and then let out a shriek that


    shook the Aether in the volcano.

 Chapter 724: Question Marks

    Chapter 724: Question Marks


    ?


    Ss'' eyes narrowed, not quite understanding what he was seeing.


    Professor Fembroise had an aura that didn''t make any sense. It even felt like her level of threat was beyond the Dogons. But that couldn''t possibly be the case.


    ''Wait, was it really her?''


    Ss had dismissed the thought earlier because it didn''t make any sense at all. If he thought about how much strength it would take to send so muchva flying, almost crack his armor, and even send him so high into the skies from a single push... well, he could only say that someone with that sort of strength should be able to kill him with a single blow.


    There shouldn''t be anyone on Earth right now capable of outputting that level of power. What was even odder was the fact that if that amount of power really came out from within the Basilisk King''s mouth, then his contract should also be dead.


    2999 Constitution or not, there was no way it could survive that kind of blow. But... he was certain that the Basilisk King was alive, and not even very injured at that. In fact, the Basilisk King was still in a peaceful sleep.


    No matter how he thought about it, it just didn''t make any sense.


    The shriek echoed out, and in an odd twist, it seemed to shake a moment of rity out from Professor Fembroise. A hint of conscious intelligence came back to her, and then she was hit with a wave of fear.


    She realized that Ss was above her head and immediately turned to run. But seemingly not understanding how she was standing in the air, she tried to move her feet, only to swipe out at nothing.


    Stumbling oddly, she lost her bnce and then plummeted back down toward theva below.


    Ss'' frown deepened. He would have almost preferred it if Vesta had attacked. But now things were even more confusing to him.


    Maybe this was good news. At first he was wondering how to deal with Vesta while he was still on the hook. It had to be remembered that for the next several weeks, he wouldn''t be allowed to kill her.


    Professor Fembroise shrieked again as she plummeted toward theva, thinking that her life was shing before her eyes. This time however, rather than the call of a banshee, it sounded a lot more like a woman filled with more fear than she knew how to express.


    ''Not good...'' Ss realized the problem immediately, but he was too far away to change anything.


    She fell into theva, but the surface tension kept her upright. However...


    Nothing happened.


    Vesta''s eyes were shut tight, however the horrible pain she was expecting didn''t appear. Slowly opening her eyes, she was shocked to realize that no one had saved her, nor had she been teleported again, but...


    Theva couldn''t harm her?


    ''She''s realized it now.''


    What Ss hadn''t feared was Vesta''s death, it was her realizing that she was far stronger than she had been before.


    He could practically see the change in her eyes change as the confusion vanished and the realization dawned on her.


    Waves of fatigue washed over Ss and he was forced to dismiss his Beast Totem. Without it, the pressure on his mind lessened considerably and his Hibernation Halo began to work in conjunction with to replenish his Wisdom.


    Vesta picked herself up from theva, still somewhat unstable. But by the time she had stood to her feet, her body seemed to work properly again. In fact, she seemed even more confident now than before.


    Thoughts and realizations umted in her mind until she firmly met Ss'' gaze once again.


    In those moments in the Basilisk King''s mouth, especially when its blood began to boil and she experienced heat even greater than what was found in theva, she had truly thought that she was about to die until there was an unexpected change.


    "I don''t know what changes you''ve experienced, but I would advise you think twice before you do what you''re thinking."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss'' words suddenly shattered Vesta''s building confidence.


    "You might think you have strength now, but can you fight?"


    It was a simple question that shook her deeply, but only for a moment.


    Soon afterward, her gaze became sharp again.


    A dark aura began to take shape around her. ck scales cupped her breasts andher regions, covering her decency as a ck tail extended from her back.


    Her eyes became golden slits and a crown of golden bone poked out from her hair as it lengthened. After a moment, her hair, too, became a stream of gold, making it difficult to tell where the crown ended and where her hair began.


    ws grew from her nails, glistening with the sharpness of swords as canines extended from her teeth.


    In fact, even the faint wrinkles of her middle-ages began to fade, revealing the soft and supple skin she had once had in her twenties.


    But none of this was what made Ss truly narrow his eyes. This wasn''t enough to shock him as he had already guessed that whatever changes had urred in Vesta were most likely rted to the Basilisk King''s evolution.


    The real reason his pupils couldn''t help but constrict was another matter entirely.


    Demonic Aether.


    Why was there Demonic Aether?


    BANG!


    Vesta moved so fast that Ss'' eyes almost lost track of her. In a blink, her arm was piercing toward him, her newly formed ws pulsing with Demonic Aether as though a spear slicing through the wind.


    [Vesta Fembroise (???)]


    [Level: ???]


    ''Question marks?''


    There was no other way to describe this. It was ridiculous.


    Thest time he had seen question marks from a scouting attempt was a City Lord. Just what


    had she experienced to trigger this?!


    At thest moment, Ss suddenly side-stepped, unleashing a swift short kick at Vesta''s ankle as he put the Dragon Bone Spear away.


    Vesta toppled over, losing bnce in the air once more as Ss drove an elbow right into her


    back.

 Chapter 725: Now.

    Chapter 725: Now.


    ?


    BANG!


    Vesta was sent plummeting downward so fast that the air split around her, plumes of smoke and a billowing smog separating as shended into theke ofva.


    Ss frowned, looking at his arm. ''... Her Constitution is actually so high...''


    He had felt not only some pain from that strike, but if he had struck any harder, he might have cracked his own Scorpion Warlord Armor.


    But as he had said, Vesta might be strong, but herbat experience was worse than pitiful. All her weight was forward on that strike, and she had left herself no way out. Not to mention the fact she had leapt into the air without hesitation when she had just proven to herself that she had no confidence in the skies.


    It was the epitome of foolishness.


    Ss was already someone with great battle experience by now. He had lost count of the number of life and death fights he had been in. Comparatively, Vesta was a nk te. And while she was strong... it wasn''t to the point where Ss couldn''t react to her, especially not with Mixed Martial Arts active.


    He had severely underestimated this Comprehension of his.


    Mixed Martial Arts didn''t just embody a fighting method, it absorbed the fighting spirit of Earth itself. When it was active, he wasn''t just Ss Brown, he was a representative of Earth. His thoughts flowed far more smoothly, but more importantly... he could see through his enemies with much greater ease. If not for the fact Professor Fembroise had no such skill to speak of, even swallowing her martial abilities and incorporating them into his own could be done at a nce.


    Of course, that didn''t refer to a literal swallowing.


    BANG!


    Vesta shot out from the waters, her gaze one part realization that Ss hadn''t been lying just to avoid a fight with her earlier, and another part realizing that she really did have the


    strength to fight back if she needed to.


    Ss'' mind was still whirring with thoughts, trying to figure out how to deal with this situation. He certainly couldn''t leave her be. He refused to allow this sort of threat free reign to go about as she pleased, especially now that she had power of her own.


    But at the same time, he didn''t even know how he would go about restraining someone so powerful.


    ''Her Will... is it strong enough now?''


    The thought had only juste to his mind when Vesta attacked again.


    ''Fast...''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She seemed even faster now than before, her ws ripping toward his throat.


    Ss side-stepped again, but Vesta was more ready now than before. Her bnce was still off, but her tail swiped toward Ss'' counter.


    Without a choice, Ss was forced to pull back and step out of the way again. Vesta''s tail carried even more strength in it than her legs did, it had almost double the Attack of her arms, and even if thetter was adorned with des for ws, the blunt damage might be even more substantial in this case.


    Whistling wind stung against Ss'' face as though a rain of hail had fallen from the skies. The tail just barely missed his cheek, soaring over his head.


    Vesta had gone all out for this attack and the result was her losing her bnce again, but before she could fall, Ss caught her by her tail.


    It would be so easy. Just a single swing and the Scorned Wraps would activate. She was so foolish that she didn''t even understand that her life was in Ss'' hand right now.


    A part of Ss wanted to test it to see what the system''s bottom line was. But when he thought of that eye in the sky... he dismissed the idea outright.


    CHI. CHI. CHI.


    Vesta swayed up to try and regain control of herself, swiping out a w at Ss'' leg.


    The danger sounds red warnings in Ss'' head, but he grit his teeth. He didn''t want to wait for Vesta to regain enough rity to realize that she could just run away from him. This was the only shot he would have at this.


    A sharp pain cut into Ss'' quad as his Defenses were shredded to pieces. A casual swipe of Vesta''s w from an off-tform angle had decimated what was left of his Scorpion Warlord Armor in that location, and still had enough left over to pierce the crystal bone that coated him.


    However, at the same moment, the Dragon Bone Spear appeared and tore into Vesta''s tail with a tremble of Ss'' telekinesis.


    Before Vesta could even scream out in pain, Ss'' own tail shot forward, piercing into the wound and pumping Vesta full of his poison.


    The Professor shuddered, not quite understanding what was happening to her.


    ''Her Constitution is so strong!'' Ss was taken aback, but he didn''t pause, pouring more and more of the Bone-Tailed Lizard''s poison into her body.


    Vesta barely had an understanding of how to form Aether skin. If not for her overwhelming Constitution, she would have already lostplete control over her body. At that point, Ss would even be able to make her bones explode from the inside out and she could only watch on in horror.


    But right then, something even odder happened.


    The scales faded from Vesta''s body and her aura plummeted once again.


    Ss was taken aback and was forced to hurriedly pull back the rest of the poison.


    Although the Bone-Tailed Lizard''s poison only gave him control of bones and didn''t necessarily kill, at the end of the day, it was still poison. If Vesta''s Constitution was too overwhelmed, she could die.


    ''Was this a temporary change? Just what is happening here?''


    [What odd changes triggered this?]


    [¨C]


    ''Another Taboo?''


    Ss was about to ask the question again and take the hit when there was a change at the


    Portal.


    A flood of special ops appeared, holding up guns toward Ss.


    ''... Metarock...''


    This wasn''t good at all.


    CRACK.


    Thest of Ss'' Scorpion Warlord Armor crumbled as blood trickled down his leg.


    ...


    Vaekra shed into the forest of red, her jaw clenched and fury in the depths of her eyes. She coughed up a mouthful of blood and then wiped it away with a forearm.


    They were too arrogant. The battle with the Snail Queen had been so difficult, but their timer had been running low. They thought they could deal with the Snail Queen and Ss back to back, only to suffer for it.


    To be fair, with the Warlord status at their fingertips, they thought they had enough capital to deal with Ss. Who would have thought that Ss would be capable of fusing with a True King Beast, making their Quasi King status worthless?


    In fact, the act of trying to suppress Ss in the first ce triggered a bacsh that stopped Kyreth from being able to deal with the Bone-Tailed Lizard''s poison in the first ce.


    Now, Kyreth was gone and she was the only one left.


    However...


    Ss still hadn''t received a notification that the Overlord Quest was finished for a reason.


    When he saw that he was going to die, Kyreth risked being exposed to transfer the Destiny of the Quest to her. This was why the system detected him and wiped him from existence.


    Vaekra''s jaw clenched so tightly her teeth creaked.


    BANG!


    She ripped a hole through the ground and uncovered a hidden passage way.


    Masquerade stood right below her feet.


    "Bring out everything. Now." She growled.

 Chapter 726 No Suspense

    Chapter 726 No Suspense


    Ss took deep breaths.


    Today, he had already been through far too many battles. Just getting to this point required going through seas of government officials and literal monkeys, not to mention a Bronze King Beast.


    He barely got a short break before Vesta''s change had forced him to suffer a terrible injury, all before he was thrown into a battle with the mysterious Dogons.


    Now, his Scorpion Warlord Armor had shattered, the Basilisk King was still in slumber deep under the bed ofva, and the Metarock Szorn had dug up had yet to be stored away either.


    He had left it out because their repelling effect on the heat andva gave the Basilisk King a better environment for a breakthrough. But the result was that he had been caught with his pants down¡­ and for not even the first time today.


    He still had no idea how those changes had happened to Vesta. The worst part was that even if he had had an idea of what might happen, which he certainly didn''t, what else could he do?


    Because of the Quicktime Event, he wasn''t allowed to kill her for the next 30 days, and that included roundabout methods.


    Letting her die would count just as much as killing her, and the system would punish him severely for it. And back then, the only method he had of saving her life was the Basilisk King.


    All of this culminated in a moment where Ss found himself in yet another relentless barrage of danger. He was¡­


    Tired.


    Ss looked up to the skies high above his head. He could barely see it through the smog and billowing smoke. The entire volcano seemed agitated as though it might blow at any moment, but judging by his expression, one would have never guessed it.


    Was he tired of the constant battles? The constant tiptoeing between the lines of life and death?


    "No¡­"


    Ss'' voice was soft, so much so that he didn''t even hear himself very well.


    He looked down from the skies, locking eyes with Linzie. She stood at themand position of the group of what must have been about 50 or so elite special corps. By now, she had already abandoned her spear, or rather, it was strapped to her back. Instead, she held a rifle and Ss could see at a nce that she had a pistol strapped to her thigh though it was hard to spot.


    Her gaze was malevolent, her anger not having faded in the slightest. But for some reason, when she met Ss'', she shuddered.


    Those green eyes, filled with just the slightest hint of darkness, not carrying the slightest hint of emotion¡­


    They seemed to pierce right through her soul.


    Ss suddenly vanished.


    There was a blur in Linzie''s eyes and for a moment she felt her heart leap into her throat. But when her vision cleared, she realized that Ss'' body was rapidly soaring through the skies, drawing a straight line toward the exit of the volcano.


    "FIRE!"


    Linzie was caught off guard for just a moment before she raised her rifle to unleash a hail of bullets.


    Ss hurriedly cast <Ice Banned Shield>. However, it onlysted a single bullet.


    BANG!


    The first bullet seemed to self-destruct with the shield of ice, a rain of frost and hail of ice falling from it in bits and pieces.


    Ss winced as a second bullet ripped through his shoulder and another ran right through his hip.


    In an instant, he seemed to be riddled with holes.


    There must have been at least 200 meters between himself and the special corps. It was a distance that only the best of marksmen should be able to hit, yet one would have thought that they had a homing device strapped to his body.


    Linzie seemed to sense the opportunity.


    "FLYERS, DISENGAGE! SEAL OFF HIS ESCAPE ROUTES!"


    A group near the back of the special corps did as they were told, retreating from the battle for only a moment before they summoned their flying Mounts. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A small, half a dozen number fleet of bald eagles the size of two human men appeared.


    Their talons sizzled against theva as theyunched themselves into the air, zipping toward the opening of the volcano.


    The rumbling of the once dormant natural phenomena became more obvious as Ss hacked up a mouthful of blood.


    The bullets had hit him with so much force that his telekinesis was thrown off bnce. His path swerved and he found himself falling further away from his target.


    Thoughts of summoning the peacock swirled in his mind, but there had never really been a chance. Unlike those eagle riders, he didn''t have the luxury to disengage. If not for his crystal bone armor, he would have already been torn to shreds by the bullets.


    A shadow passed over Ss'' head and he suddenly found his escape route cut off.


    However, he didn''t seem to waver. He knew by Linzie''s earlier words that those weren''t Combat Mounts, they were normal Mounts. So long as he engaged them in battle, they would fall from the skies.


    But the problem was that things weren''t so simple.


    BANG!


    A bullet ripped through Ss'' kneecap.


    A grunt left Ss'' lips, his body convulsing beneath the pain. He forcefully kept it together, but at that moment, the eagle riders had movement.


    Three of them leapt from the backs of their eagles,nding on the backs of three others as they unholstered their weapons.


    Ss'' expression flickered.


    It was too much. They had too many abilities, too many people¡­ they were too skilled, too prepared¡­


    The guns trained on him from above and below. Their metal parts reflected the red gold of the surroundings.


    This flicker seemed to be thest he would see.


    Linzie''s pupils trembled, tears falling from her eyes as she could practically see the sight of her revenge already.


    The triggers squeezed down.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    There was no suspense.


    Ss'' body was littered with holes, chipped pieces of his crystal bone falling from the skies.

 Chapter 727: Failure

    Chapter 727: Failure


    ?


    Linzie felt a weight on her heart finally fall.


    Their orders were to capture Ss if possible, but she had disregarded them immediately. Someone this dangerous couldn''t possibly be caught. Giving him a chance to escape in the future or deal more damage to them was uneptable to her.


    The idea that the higher-ups wanted her to risk the life of her men more just for the sake of them getting a new shiny toy to y with was ridiculous.


    Since they had said "if possible", she took creative liberties with her orders. Later, she would just write that it was impossible as the target was too uncooperative.


    Her gaze shifted and itnded on the naked woman Ss had dropped when he attempted his escape. Although Linzie had seen her before, she directly ignored Vesta. The reason for that was because she wasn''t about to allow Ss the chance to use a hostage to slip out of this matter, not to mention the fact that the government of now didn''t work like it did before.


    Anyone that was here was already ignoring thews of the government, and were thus also targets to be killed.


    However, when she saw the woman, her expression changed. Something was odd. She was floating very weirdly in theva, almost as though that specific area of the world had forgotten how physics worked.


    If Linzie had to describe it, it was like the AI craze of a few years ago... back then, AI artwork became a huge deal, and it could create a great many things, but sometimes, when it was forced to use logic humans took for granted, it failed at it miserably.


    Just as she had this thought, the naked woman flickered and then faded away.


    Linzie''s eyes widened and a bad premonition hit her. Her head practically snapped up with such speed that her vision spun and her brain rattled in her skull.


    She locked eyes with the location Ss should be falling from, beaten and riddled with holes...


    But he too began to vanish.


    An illusion?!


    Linzie''s gaze turned red. "FIND HIM!"


    Rumble.


    The volcano shook.


    ...


    Linzie had no idea that Ss was right beneath her feet. At the moment <Ice Banned Shield> shattered, he used and split himself in two, hiding his real body beneath arge piece of falling ice.


    Masked by the copse of the hail of ice into theva, he surged into theke once again. In his hand, he dragged Vesta''s paralyzed body with him, his gaze sharp.


    This wasn''t a battle he could win. Even if they didn''t have guns, there were too many of them. He had only swept through them once, but not a single one was beneath Level 30. They were also elites that had been training both individually and alone for likely over a decade.


    The only path was to run.


    Ss passed through the formation of the Sylphs with a frown on his face.


    It was about to copse.


    He had thought about hiding out here until he recovered, but the eruption of the volcano was clearly on the verge of ruining everything here.


    It wasn''t just that, but without the Aether Stones that supported the formation, it was bound tock the flexibility needed to survive this.


    Running was the only way.


    Ss found the Basilisk King through their connection after he got close enough. It was still in a deep slumber and one would have never thought that it had just suffered an explosion in its mouth.


    Even now, Ss still didn''t quite understand. Logically, the Basilisk King''s head should have been blown to pieces, but there wasn''t time to think about it.


    With a touch, he pulled the Basilisk King into the Hibernation Realm.


    Now, a second of time was equivalent to half a year of recovery. In that state, the Basilisk King would wake up very soon, but whether he would be in a state to make use of it with Fusion was another matter entirely.


    Ssnded by the Metarock and pressed a palm to it, trying to envelop it with his telekinesis to pull it into the Madness Key.


    Failure.


    The frown on Ss'' face deepened. He needed to be fast. If he was quick enough, he might be able to sneak a path beneath the portal and escape into it.


    If he could manage it, he would prefer not to run away into the Ruby Territory. Not only would its exits still be guarded right now, but that would leave him stranded away from Casstle Main


    again.


    Just as Ss was about to ask the Madness Key what to do, there was a pulse of light that came from it and the Metarock was instantly swallowed up.


    Without the time to consider what happened, Ss moved to the next Metarock cubes until he had gathered them all. Then, dragging Vesta by her foot, he rushed out.


    Rumble.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Theva churned and the heat was beginning to pierce into Ss'' skin. Without his Scorpion Warlord Armor, he could only rely on his normal Constitution and Aether skin. If not for Fusion, he would have probably already been fried to ash.


    Ss'' jaw set.


    He would definitely make it out of here.


    ...


    Linzie''s eyes were practically zing, like water sizzling in a pot of hot oil, she hardly knew


    what to do with herself. Where could Ss have possibly-


    Her eyes widened. "THE PORTAL! PROTECT THE PORTAL!"


    It was toote.


    Ss pierced out from the churningva. They couldn''t even aim their guns before he was already sucked into the vortex of the Portal.


    "AFTER HIM!"


    Rumble.


    The volcano seemed to have finally had enough, its bubbling spilling over until an eruption exploded forth from its very heart.


    ...


    Ss coughed out another mouthful of blood, his inner organs churning thanks to the


    violence of the ejection.


    His vision hardly cleared before his expression changed once again.


    Ahead, he could sense that he had been targeted by something dangerous once again and the


    arrow was already loosed.


    But what shook him was the eruption of the volcano.


    What would happen if a portal was right above the sputtering mouth of an erupting volcano?


    A pir ofva shot out from the pulsing spatial warp, a rain of hellish fire falling from the


    skies.

 Chapter 728: Tired [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 728: Tired [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    ''Dammit.''


    Ss looked down at the woman in his arms and made a decision.


    He held Vesta up, brazenly using her as a shield.


    The Professor''s eyes could only open wide. She tried to scream, but with her jaw fused shut under the effects of the poison, she couldn''t even do that much. All that came out was a strained shriek locked away in her throat.


    BANG!


    The arrow pierced into her body, but only by a small measure.


    Ss was so confident in it that he didn''t even spare her a nce, his palm having stretched out toward the ball of mes flying toward him.


    A strong pulse of telekinesis came from him, diverting it just enough that it felt beneath his feet.


    ''Not good.''


    Ss felt the Scorned Wraps stir and he hurriedly threw Vesta into the air before she was scorched to ash.


    It seemed that they wouldn''t even let him use a defensive item. If not for his sharp control of his intentions, Vesta would have already crumbled to ash.


    But who said that he had to carry her around.


    His telekinesis caught Vesta and he swung her down toward the second arrow. This time, because he added quite some force behind Vesta, he shattered it to pieces.


    BOOM!


    Molten rock fell from the skies as Ss was surrounded by enemies.


    One after another government officials shot out from the portal, half chasing after him, and another half trying to escape from a sure death.


    The random pulses of the Portal separated them through the air, while the eagle riders had no shot at making it to the Portal in time, so they were likely stranded in the Ruby Territory for the time being.


    Ss'' gaze shed and he reached out with his intention toward three figures within his telekic range.


    With a violent tug, he sent them crashing into the rain of molten rock. None of them even had a chance to scream before they were torn to pieces. Their weapons, however, were another matter entirely.


    With part of his mind using Vesta as a shield, and the other portions holding up rifles, he faced off against the world with a rain of fire as his backdrop.


    ...


    In the far-off distance, Vaekra felt danger lock onto her. Her eyes widened and Runes immediately lit up across her body as she dove to the side.


    PUCH. PUCH. PUCH.


    Three bullets appeared, one ripping through her leg and shattering the Runes there.


    As good as the special ops were at aiming, Ss was even better.


    ...


    ''Too far.'' Ss thought to himself.


    <Maddened Enlightenment> activated, causing arge amount of Aether to surge toward himself. Heyered Hibernation Halo on top of it as he thought about his next move.


    Unfortunately, there wasn''t much of a choice.


    No matter what, Vaekra had to die.


    Now.


    He was certain that she was the one who had his Overlord Quest and he couldn''t allow that to keep looming over his head.


    BANG!


    A bullet shot through the air and ripped a hole through the forehead of a special op setting up a shot.


    Ss pierced through the air.


    He hadn''t been able to truly bask in the feeling before, but flying through the air under his own power...


    It was truly freeing.


    Arrows pierced through the air toward him, their bodies ripping through the skies with far more Aether than ever before.


    Danger signs red in Ss'' mind, but he knew that it wasn''ting from the arrows.


    ''Distraction.''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss came to an abrupt stop, his eyes releasing a pulse of light. Soon, a of Runes appeared right before his eyes.


    ''Trap.''


    BANG!


    Ss cast <Ice Banned Shield> with a thought, his speed so fast that it was near


    instantaneous.


    A bullet ripped through it, but by the time it had, it had slowed enough for Ss'' tail to p out, knocking it out of the air.


    A second bullet fired... but this one was from Ss himself, ending in another hole through the head of a special corps member.


    ...


    ''He saw through it.'' Vaekra grit her teeth.


    A pulse came from her leg and the bullet was ejected. With another, the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    She had thought that she could lure Ss in with this injury, but in the end, she had failed.


    If tricks weren''t going to work... then she was just going to have to do things the old fashioned


    way.


    Originally, this was supposed to be used to give her the final push she would need to escape from here. The action of the Dogons would certainly alert the stronger organizations of Earth to take action when they normally wouldn''t.


    But... this was too important. And with Kyreth''s death, they had already lost too much.


    Vaekra pulled out a vial and downed it in one go.


    There was a ripple of vitality that extended from her, and her waning aura seemed to increase


    by leaps and bounds.


    The weakness of her body vanished and all of her wounds healed in the blink of an eye.


    Runes began to rise from her skin, mending themselves.


    Quickly, Vaekra was back to her peak condition and she exhaled a breath.


    This wouldn''tst for long and she knew it. Such powerful healing Elixirs rarely came without side effects, and benefiting from Elixirs while not a member of an Overlord Race was several


    times more difficult.


    Using it now, her escape would be several times more dangerous. But if she could manage to gain Overlord status, there would be many options that opened up to her.


    She would go out right here and now.


    ...


    Ss stood in the skies facing off against the barrier blocking him from getting to one of the exits that would lead him out of here.


    His eyes bounced back and forth between the Runes, scanning them with such speed it didn''t


    look like he was reading at all.


    ''There.''


    Ss was about to act when he frowned.


    "I''ve had enough of you."


    His body vanished in a swirling mass of ss Aether. Ice blue sand danced through the air.


    Bullets ripped holes through the cloud, but there was already no Ss to speak of.


    Ss himself had already appeared on the ground.


    Linzie reacted quickly, having already seen this skill of Ss'' before. She swung out with the


    butt of her rifle, kicking her heel up toward her back and sending her spear flying up and out of


    its holster.


    She had the practiced actions of a veteran.


    The moment Ss appeared, the rifle was already swinging toward him. It was an odd movement choice when firing would have been more effective, but the fear of Ss had already been ingrained into her very psyche. She didn''t feel like simple tactics would work


    anymore.


    A pulse of wind had already wrapped around her soaring spear, redirecting and pointing its de down toward Ss'' head.


    Wind Aether picked up the Fire Aether in the arm, fueling it with a cyclone of mes that shot


    down toward Ss'' head.


    Ss blocked the butt of the rifle with an elbow, his gaze almost dull as it met Linzie''s.


    "DIE!"


    PUCHI!


    Linzie froze as her own spear tore through her upper back, sting a hole through her and


    spearing her into the ground.


    She coughed up a mouthful of blood and her legs gave out from underneath her, but her spear


    held her up.


    Ss'' gaze shed, his head leaning backward as an arrow whizzed by.


    With a sharp intent in his eyes, he looked toward a location as dense smog and smoke


    separated to reveal Vaekra.

 Chapter 729: Fluid

    Chapter 729: Fluid


    ?


    Ss could hear the sound of his breathing in his ears, the hollow beat of his heart echoing from time to time.


    He could feel the hairs on his body tingling, a far greater pressureing from Vaekra now than ever before.


    Somehow, she had recovered, but he...


    Something stirred within Ss. It was a feeling like self-preservation, but far deeper than that.


    This battle, no matter what, he couldn''t run, and he couldn''t lose.


    Ss'' Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension seemed to activate on its own, lines of foging from his eyes as his focus seemed to haze over.


    BANG!


    Ss vanished, the location he had been standing on erupting with piles of loose soil and shards of ice that came from his movement skill.


    Vaekra nimble feet tapped at the ground. It looked as though her toes alone carried more strength than an entire system of quad and hamstring might. Every shift caused her to glide several meters as though she was riding the wind.


    The movement of her arms were no less graceful. She pulled toward the quiver on her back in a single fluid motion, not wasting the slightest hitch between the pluck of her arrows and that of her bowstring.


    Ss'' telekinesis wrapped around his body. Even without <Cryobane Elevation> and his Scorpion Warlord armor, his Effective Speed was over 3000 when his legs and mind worked as one. In fact, with how powerful his telekinesis was now, it was a waste of his time to use Aether on a movement skill at all in normal circumstances.


    He left a blur of jagged, zig zagging lines through the smog-filled forest of red foliage, but the distance between himself and Vaekra wasn''t closing. As fast as he was, he had to cover too much distance between running toward her and dodging her arrows. At the same time, her Speed and Dexterity were both approaching 2000, and that didn''t include the boosts her Flesh Runes were giving her.


    However, Ss didn''t seem to notice the problem in the slightest.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He dodged behind a tree, his tail suddenly wrapping around its body.


    An arrow whizzed by the location Vaekra thought he would exit from, only for his tail to flex and send him back toward the direction he had juste from.


    ''100.''


    The number shed in Ss'' head just as Vaekra''s toes tapped the ground again.


    He reached out a hand and violently ripped it back.


    Vaekra felt a powerful telekinesis suddenly envelop her, violently tugging her toward Ss.


    Her reaction was fast, a burst of Will shattering Ss'' attempt. But despite that, her backward momentum had been stalled.


    Knowing the situation had just changed, Vaekra stomped a heavy foot toward the ground, Runes lighting up her leg.


    BANG!


    A curtain of soil blocked out both of their direct lines of sights.


    SHU! SHU! SHU!


    Three arrows ripped through the curtain, leavingrge, gaping holes in the rain of ck and brown.


    They curved through the air, converging onto Ss'' position.


    There was a deep resolve that shed in the depths of Ss'' mind.


    He cast <ssveil Shift> once again just as the arrows were about to rip through him.


    The homing arrows lost their target and Ss shed forward ten meters, entering Vaekra''s range.


    Danger signs red in Ss'' mind.


    But he was already prepared. He knew that he would never get a one on one battle with this


    woman.


    Someone had to have called her here, and from the very start...


    He was ready for that.


    A roar echoed through the air and the Basilisk King appeared. Its head snapped up toward the air and took the immobilized Professor Fembroise into its mouth once again.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Explosions erupted across the Basilisk Kings body, but it only seemed to be annoyed by the process, whipping out a tail and sending figures hiding away in the shadows flying.


    At the same moment, Ss burst through what remained of the curtain of soil.


    On the other side, Vaekra was charging up a powerful attack. Concentric circles of pulsing Aether gathered, expanding and contracting beneath her control.


    It was clear that she expected Ss to be dyed for longer. But without a choice, she could only unleash the attack ahead of time.


    A burst of green light came from Ss'' eyes. His every movement felt magnified in his brain as his all-out sprint ground to a halt with a stomp of his foot.


    His heel drove into the ground so heavily that the soft soil buried his foot into its density. The weight of his hips dropped and his torso tensed.


    All of his former forward momentum was transferred perfectly to his fist, a pulsing might transferring from the base of his foot to the eleration of his arm.


    .


    Ss'' fist seemed to roar, a pair of golden, slit eyes appearing to his back.


    BOOM!


    A fist imprint and arrow met in the air, shing for a moment that seemed to extend to


    infinity before they both exploded.


    Pain erupted up Ss'' arm, but Hibernation Halo pulsed with life.


    He drove his other foot forward, ripping his sunken heel out of the ground and cutting right through the vtile ripple of Aether.


    The ripples cut across his body, but much of it bounced off of his crystal bone.


    BANG!


    Vaekra hurriedly raised her bow to block, Runes pulsing across her body as she repelled Ss'' blow to make some more distance.


    But the fist she thought wasing turned into a grab at thest moment. Ss gripped the body of her bow and yanked.


    Vaekra reacted swiftly, twisting and pulling back as she unleashed a vicious kick. She had already seen through Ss'' injured arm, and aimed high and powerfully for that very sake.


    Ss'' moves, however, were even more fluid.


    Rather than retreating or letting go, he took a step forward, rolling his shoulder toward


    Vaekra, and with a pivot of his hips, he blocked the kick with his rear delts and swept a hooked foot toward the back of Vaekra''s nted heel.

 Chapter 730 Return

    Chapter 730 Return


    BANG!


    Vaekra''s footnded on Ss'' back just as she had her foot hooked.


    The grappling maneuver sent Vaekra off bnce, her body being swept off her feet and sent into the air in one fluid motion. The rebounding power of her own kick had her iling.


    However, the grip Ss and she both had on her bow kept her from falling entirely.


    Her back arched and she pulled, trying to use Ss'' grip to pull herself back up, only for Ss to suddenly violently push.


    Vaekra crashed into the ground hard. If not for the soft soil, the damage certainly wouldn''t have been light.


    Without losing her bearings, however, she sent a shin right up toward Ss'' crotch.


    This time, Ss was forced to let go, moving his uninjured hand to block her kick.


    BANG!


    Ss almost felt his wrist shatter beneath the impact. If not for the reinforcement of the Scorned Wraps, they really would have. But that didn''t stop him from grabbing her leg and mming them toward the ground.


    Red gold wings appeared to his back and he elerated in a ground-passing maneuver, forcing Vaekra''s leg to the side as he mounted her from a side position.


    Vaekra tried to sit up but found her bow and arms pinned to her body.


    After a single useless struggle, Ss'' illusory wings pped once and Vaekra found her vision spinning.


    Ss gained back-control, his arms wrapping around Vaekra''s neck and his legs controlling her hips.


    A choked spurt of air came from Vaekra''s lips, veins popping up across her forehead.


    From the moment Ss got close, it was as though she had lost all right to resist. She could already feel her vision going ck as the blood flow to her brain had been swiftly cut off.


    She didn''t want to die here¡­ she really didn''t want to die here¡­


    There was too much she hadn''t done, too heavy a burden that was still weighing on her shoulders.


    However, that Will to live was being savagely suppressed by Ss'' Martial Will, Sparked Will, and Demonic Will all at once.


    He was like a towering behemoth that crushed her from above.


    Her brother''s gaze shed in her eyes. Had she made a mistakeing here? Was it her fault for wasting theirst opportunity like this?


    She had let down her brother''s belief in her.


    "No¡­"


    Vaekra drew weak w marks across Ss'' forearms, trying to free her neck.


    "No¡­"


    She dug deeper, barely drawing blood. But it was clear that with most of her Physical stats being put into Speed and Dexterity, Constitution and Strength weren''t her strong suits.


    "NO!"


    BANG!


    Ss'' pupils constricted as the danger came out of nowhere, but there wasn''t any time.


    Bone spikes suddenly grew out from Vaekra''s back, piercing into his chest several millimeters before he was forced to let go of her neck and his Constitution won out. In the end, he was sent flying back instead.


    He rolled on the ground, his pupils constricting as he watched bones grow out from Vaekra''s body in wild patterns.


    That was when he remembered something Nosphaleen had said very clearly¡­


    ~


    "If you run into a Dogon with odd bone growthsing out of them, however¡­ Run the other way."


    ~


    Vaekra grabbed her head, a banshee-like screeching from her as a pair of bone wings ripped their way out from her back, shredding her upper garments to pieces.


    Runes pulsed into being across these bones like chiseled patterns into jade ivory.


    Ss could feel that Vaekra''s strength had suddenly pierced through a thin paper veil, exiting on the other side as something that had undergone aplete metamorphosis.


    Looking down at his body, Ss found half a dozen heavily bleeding holes in his chest. He was already gasping for breath. The wound in his leg, left behind by Vesta, was only not slowing him down thanks to his telekinesis. But no amount of telekinesis would help if he was bleeding out.


    At some point, it really was too much. Half of him couldn''t help but wonder if this was really all just a coincidence¡­ or if it was because of the system''s distaste for him right now.


    Just how many things could possibly go wrong on what was supposed to be a routine recovery mission?


    Ss coughed up a mouthful of blood, wiping it away with a forearm as Vaekra stood.


    She turned toward him, bones extending from practically every part of her body. Her gaze was as dark as an abyss, the whites of her eyes having vanished in favor of an endless ck.


    ¡ª


    [Vaekra Zyrakhn (???)]


    [Level: ???]


    ¡ª


    The sound of his breathing echoed in Ss'' ears again. He had already thought it once before. But, he was just¡­


    Tired.


    He wasn''t tired of the constant dance between life and death. Not tired of the injuries or the pain. Not tired of the constant targeting or feeling like the world was against him¡­


    He was tired of the fact he had to face death at all. Tired that he was capable of being injured or feeling pain. Tired that these people and the system dared to target him in the first ce.


    But in the end¡­ he was still just far too weak.


    These were thoughts he wouldn''t even be having had he not formed Demonic Will.


    For as long as he could remember, he was an extremely pragmatic individual. He didn''t like wasting thoughts on useless matters. What good was this unwillingness and arrogance? Would it make him stronger?


    No.


    It wouldn''t.


    There was one person at fault for all of it.


    But¡­


    It would make him feel better.


    These issues he was facing. Every road block, every tweak of chance, every serendipitous twist of fate that weaved together to make his life just that little bit worse¡­


    There was one person at fault for all of it.


    Lucius Grimde.


    BANG!


    Vaekra suddenly appeared before Ss, swiping an open palm with a bone de sticking out from the center of it toward his neck.


    But Ss didn''t move.


    BANG!


    The Basilisk King''s tail sent Vaekra flying into the distance.


    Ss turned his gaze toward the Basilisk King, frowning when he noticed several bones sticking out of its body. Obviously, that tail whip hadn''te without a price.


    "Let''s go."


    Ss put the Basilisk King away, catching Vesta as she fell out of the skies.


    With a swift motion, he summoned the Violet Rose Peacock, wrapping it in his telekinesis and shooting off toward the tunnels.


    In the distance, Vaekra''s body pinballed through the forest before her bouquet of bones lodged themselves into a particrly thick tree.


    She tried to pull herself out, but it was obvious that she was having trouble properly controlling her new abilities.


    By the time she managed to pull away from the tree, Ss was gone.


    ¡­


    The night air wasn''t as cool as it should have been with the billowing heat from the Portal.


    Ss stood on the peacock''s back in silence.


    There was a deep dissatisfaction within himself that he couldn''t easily get rid of. He had aplished so much, and yet felt like it was still so little.


    But in the end, he had felt it¡­ he just couldn''t hold on anymore. His body had hit a wall his Will couldn''t drag him past.


    He was proven correct very soon.


    The moment the peacock zoomed out of city limits with the support of Ss'' telekinesis more than tripling its Speed, thest bit of Ss'' Will blinked out.


    His vision swam and he copsed onto the peacock''s back. Down below, Vesta''s paralyzed body hung from a long vine that wrapped her up tightly.


    However, if one paid any sort of attention to the peacock''s direction, it became clear that upon re-entering Paradise, Ss wasn''t returning to Casstle Main at all.


    He was returning to the Grimdes.


    A murderous aura billowed from Ss'' unconscious body, the dense ckness causing Vesta''s pupils to tremble with fear.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 731: Aura

    Chapter 731: Aura


    ?


    Vaekra''s body shook and the bones protruding from her finally receded. The process was slow, and somewhatbored, but without Ss'' threat, she was able to focus on it.


    As for the others in the region... she didn''t take them serious in the slightest.


    When the bones were forced back into her body, her skin shuddered and a slight moan left her lips. She looked toward the skies, the bits and pieces of her ragged beast fur clothing barely holding on.


    The feeling of evolution came with euphoria that could hardly be put into words. Ss had experienced it several times now, and Vaekra was no different.


    Slowly, the goosebumps on her body receded and the light of lust in her eyes faded as well. Then, her new form was bared to the world.


    Her ck hair became an ashen white that matched her skin, her brown eyes bing a subtle grey color.


    A pair of bones curled back and across the top of her head, almost looking likeplex braids. Her bone wings had receded into tes that looked like extensions of her shoulder de.


    Bones curved up from her ribs and out from her pelvic bone, covering her decency as she pulled out a new set of beast skin clothing from her spatial device.


    The final touches were a lot more subtle. A nose piercing, a pair of Venus piercings for the small of her back, and one in her belly button. They looked no different from sparkling jewels, but no one would ever guess just how deadly they were.


    Vaekra took a breath and exhaled slowly, suppressing the turmoil in her heart.


    For all their lives, the Dogons chased after this evolutionary state. She was the first to step across that threshold in a very long time... but it was sure that with the Summoning here, maybe her other brothers and sisters scattered across Earth would make the same leap.


    ''But... why did the system help me?''


    She looked up into the skies, feeling apprehension.


    Although her thoughts were filled with optimism, she knew that unless one was born as a Blessed Dogon, evolving into one was basically impossible. It was worse than one in a million.


    She was certain that she was going to die just now, but something inside of her clicked in a way that didn''t make sense.


    It seemed that... Ss was very much correct that his bad luck wasn''t a coincidence.


    But why the system would harm one deemed "Traitor" by helping another made little sense at all.


    Even Vaekra herself didn''t understand it. Unless...


    Vaekra''s gaze shed. ''Earth''s downfall is imminent.''


    With a strong stride, her bow in hand, she vanished, appearing before a litter of corpses. In fact, even calling them corpses felt inappropriate. They were more like strewn pieces of flesh and bone, unrecognizable.


    The remnants of Second me were torn to shreds by the Basilisk King. There was such arge gap between them that there was no suspense at all.


    Seeing this scene, Vaekra felt a hint of fear creep into her heart. Had Second me not forced Ss to use the Basilisk King to deal with them, and Ss had instead turned his beast contract onto her, she would have likely died before the system could even think to interfere. The shadow of Ss loomed over Vaekra. And for a moment, she wondered if she could win against him even with herrge leap in strength. There was something about Ss that felt... unfathomable.


    Almost as though he would always be just as strong as he needed to be to survive.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Vaekra had only just had this thought before an Ancient Will red in the depths of her soul.


    The insecurity and confusion vanished, a dark aura billowing out from her.


    Her head snapped in a certain direction, a malevolent pulse radiating. However, that was when something within her shook.


    Vaekra frowned, but in the end, she looked away, rushing off into the distance. In a few leaps, she too had vanished from the underground space.


    ...


    Under slowly calmed the rapid beating of his heart. Even after Vaekra''s gaze left him, and she turned her back, he still felt as though a venomous predator was eyeing him.


    It wasn''t until several minutes after she left that he was finally able to regain any semnce of calm.


    "Son of a bitch..." he cursed beneath his breath.


    A light chuckle came from his side.


    "Did you piss your pants?" Sky teased from the side.


    Despite her words, theck of color on her face betrayed her inner heart.


    "Luckily that woman took that ridiculous recovery medicine earlier. It must have run out, otherwise I don''t think we would survive."


    Sky grinned. "But in the end, aren''t we the biggest winners?"


    Under gave her a sidelong nce. "Did you ever have any doubt? When have I ever made a wrong decision?"


    "Do I need to start listing them."


    "Hush, woman. If you have so much shit to talk, how about you start helping me pick up all these corpses. How many Genes do you think these government big shots have on them? Think we can get any Unique Genes?"


    Under was practically drooling.


    "Why are you so focused on the small fry? We don''t have time to pick up all these corpses. In case you forgot, there''s a damned volcano still erupting. We''ve gained enough."


    As though to prove her point, a boulder of molten rock soared over their heads.


    Under looked over to Sky, a wide grin spreading across his face.


    "It''s never enough."


    Sky rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable."


    Pat.


    Under gave her ass a tight p. "Let''s go! There''s wealth lying everywhere!"


    Sky shook her head and then obliged. But those that knew her likewise knew that there was something on her person that wasn''t usually there.


    A backpack.


    And if one looked into this backpack, one would find a unique space within.


    Deep inside, a reflective crystal that exuded a very familiar aura shimmered.


    The aura of the Snail Queen.

 Chapter 732: Bring

    Chapter 732: Bring


    ?


    The peacock soared through the skies for hours. Although its Speed cap wasn''t very high, because it wasn''t limited by the ground''s terrain, the time it was making was exceptional.


    Ss slowly stirred awake, a sharpness glistening in his pupils.


    The benefits of Hibernation Halo shouldn''t have been able to trigger while he was asleep. It needed his Wisdom to keep it active.


    However, this was yet another benefit of Synergy. Hibernation Halo came from One Kind For Me, but thanks to his Fusion ability from Were-For-The-Invincible still being active, there were parts of Ss'' brain that were still active even while he was unconscious.


    Of course, that activity came from the Bone-Tailed Lizard and the sirith.


    The Bone-Tailed Lizard was too simple-minded, but the sirith, even as a newborn, was anything but. It still didn''t haveplex thoughts, but doing something as simple as ensuring his Fusion didn''t cancel and Hibernation Halo remained active was easy enough.


    And once again, because Ss fused with two of his Contracts, the recovery he benefited from was double, approaching 30 000%. That was already better than the vast majority of Elixirs. These three hours of sleep he had was the equivalent of almost a month of recovery time.


    But the fact he needed this much sleep in the first ce just showed that he had maybe pushed his body much too far.


    ''No, it isn''t my body that suffered the most. My wounds healed well enough already. It''s the pressure on my mind...''


    Even if his mind had been a rubberband it should have snapped by now.


    First he suffered the continuous attacks of the Snail Queen, then experienced several mental breakdowns before he suddenly unlocked Demonic Will. But rather than making him feel better, Demonic Will ced even more pressure on his Mental stats. He chewed through his Will faster, and the constant introspection sapped up his Wisdom like a desert might a drop of water.


    Before he could even get used to that, he formed yet another Will.


    This Martial Will was odd... it felt like it was both a part of him, and yet not at all.


    And its abilities had a great deal of potential. Experiencing it, Ss felt that it was foolish of him to ignore it for so long.


    If he had had his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension with him the entire time, hisbat prowess would be leagues beyond what it was now.


    The more powerful opponents he faced, the more powerful his Martial Will would be, and the more skilled he would grow inbat.


    If Madness gave him his telekinesis and the ability to target the minds of others while controlling his own...


    Then Mixed Martial Arts allowed him to grasp thebat style of the opponents with great ease and even incorporate their abilities into his own. This allowed him not only to grow stronger inbat, but also helped him in seeing through the ws of his enemies.


    But much like Madness, it had another ability as well.


    Supression.


    ''There are parallels here... Telekinesis and this Martial Sense are more tangible abilities, while thetter two abilities are both mental attacks. Do all Comprehensionse with a set of one each?''


    After having this thought, Ss tossed it to the back of his mind.


    A Demonic Will stirred in his body and he became iparably focused.


    The snow capped mountains of the Grimdes familypound flew past beneath him.


    Ss stood to his feet and took a step forward.


    He began to plummet from the skies, the harsh, cold winds slicing against his skin.


    When he was just 30 meters from the ground and it seemed like he would stter across the mountains, he slowed until his toes lightly touched the iced soil.


    At that moment, Ss wore nothing but the seal skin skirt of the Clypsians. All of the rest of his clothes had already been torn to pieces, leaving him with nothing but this.


    But theck of clothes didn''t seem to bother him at all... neither did the new scars that littered his body.


    Beneath the reflective moonlight, the silvery blue hues, they were pop from time to time. Discolored trenches and bumps in his skin that painted the picture of a man who had been through life and death time and time again.


    There were too many new additions this time around to care to count them all, but maybe the two most gruesome was the one on his neck and the one in his quad.


    The first was from Vaekra''s arrow. Even now, there was a dull ache that came from it, a phantom pain that reminded him of how he had almost lost his life.


    The second was from Vesta who still hung high in the skies, the peacock hovering high above the Grimde''spound, following after Ss'' gate inplete silence.


    One after another, Runes began to appear, hovering above Ss'' body. With a pulse of light,


    they formed the tes of armor and clinked into ce like real metal fixtures.


    A violet hue poured out into the night, fluttering snowkes gliding down from the skies and vanishing from sight the moment they touched Ss.


    WHOOSH!


    A tempest of wind kicked up when the armor waspleted.


    CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.


    50% Mastery. +2000 Physical. Flesh Mastery Scorpion Warlord Armor.


    The Scorpion Warlord Armor darkness, a ck Demonic Will pulsing.


    There was a flicker before Ss, and 50 meters ahead of the path he was on, a shadowy figure appeared.


    "Turn back."


    The voice only spoke two words, simple and in. Ss recognized the emotionless voice quite well. It was the very same man that had protected by Lucius'' side thest time.


    The husk of a man, carrying not the slightest bit of Will of his own.


    Ss could remember feeling a great amount of pressure from this man. And yet...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    BANG!


    Ss appeared before the man in a crouched position, his palm driving forward with such


    force that wind whistled between his fingers.


    The heel of his hand mmed into the man''s chest.


    The sickening crunch of bone echoed as the man was sent flying backward.


    "Bring me Lucius Grimde''s head and all of this can end right now."

 Chapter 733: Environment [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 733: Environment [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    The husk rebounded against the ground heavily, blood flying from its mouth.


    Ss continued walking forward, crossing by his side as though nothing at all had happened.


    A sh came from the eyes of the husk, suddenly reaching out toward Ss'' leg.


    But...


    PUCHI!


    Its arm went flying.


    A single whip of Ss'' tail severed it at the elbow.


    There wasn''t a single groan of pain that came from the husk. But this didn''t surprise Ss in the slightest. How could something that wasn''t even really human possibly feel pain?


    Ss'' gait remained steady, but when he got to the end of the path, he paused.


    A group of several dozen shadows stood, their gazes just as empty and vacant. Some of them held cold weapons, and the others held pistols and rifles.


    They didn''t seem very organized, and yet there wasn''t a single gap between them to be exploited.


    Ss didn''t know how they knew he wasing... but that answer hardly mattered to him.


    SHIIIING.


    The skies were suddenly filled with ss des.


    With a step, Ss shot forward, his green irises leaving streaks in the air.


    ...


    Ss'' little sister, ra, sat on her balcony, unhappily staring out at the moon.


    The faint sounds of an argument could be heard from a distance away, reverberating through the walls. Her parents probably thought that she was already asleep, though to be fair, she should be.


    But, she was already at the age where she felt a slight rebellious spirit in her heart. Plus... what was the point?


    They weren''t letting her go to school anymore, and she felt isted with the other families subtly distancing themselves from their little group.


    There already weren''t very many children her age around here, and she missed her friends greatly, but now it was far worse than it had ever been before.


    The argument her parents were having was much the same as it had been thest handful of weeks.


    Should they leave? Should they not? Where would they go if they did leave? Was it even possible to leave?


    Her grandfather had mostly been silent about it all. He was the calmest aside from ra herself. That calmness of theirs came from their belief in Ss...


    Of course, that wasn''t to say that her parents didn''t believe in their son. It was just that... the environment that the two of them had grown up in was far different.


    Her parents were very simple people, and neither of them seemed to show the same sort of sharpness that she or Ss had.


    It was odd, even ra felt it so. In this case, the apple falling far from the tree seemed to be apliment to ra and Ss, and a disparagement of their parents.


    ra remembered bringing this up to Ss when she was seven years old. She had always felt like her elder brother was the only person she could show her true face to.


    Still, she had expected to either be scolded or agreed with. What she instead received was insight that made her respect her brother''s mind all the more.


    "Your environment decides just as much about the person you are as your innate tendencies do..." ra muttered under her breath.


    Her parents were people who had grown up in the normal world, managing to build up great businesses.


    But her father had lost his mother at an early age and felt abandoned by his own father even though Magnus hade back into his life.


    Her mother lost both parents before she even met Cedric.


    Because of this, the two of them took family to be their number one priority. If they really forewent everything else, they would have likely also built a billion-dor business together.


    But instead, they had no-work-from-home policies instead.


    ra and Ss'' parents were the slowest to adapt to this new world because they were still chasing after the simple warmth they had fought so hard to earn...


    Not realizing yet that this world was a ce that chewed such kind hearts up and spit them -out.


    Of course, they still had some awareness of it all. That was why they understood the implied threat to stay within the Grimdes... and that was also why they had all tacitly agreed not to mention their struggles thest time Ss visited.


    ra leaned her cheek on a palm, shifting her gaze toward a pair of men.


    Her grandfather and another man she didn''t recognize at all.


    ra sighed with a tone that seemed much too mature for her age. "It seems that that time hase already."


    BANG!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A once invisible dome flickered with life as a shadowy figure mmed into it.


    ra watched indifferently as the man slipped down the barrier like a bird that had just crashed into a window.


    Indeed... Your environment decides just as much about the person you are as your innate tendencies do...


    And ra''s environment was decided by Ss.


    ...


    Lucius'' gaze was frighteningly cold and bloodshot. He learned about what was happening practically before anyone else.


    He tossed his sleeping robes to the side, revealing a body toned, robust, and filled with scars of its own. But it was quickly covered up by armor.


    He picked up a sheathed sword by his bedside table, walking down the hallway with vigorous


    steps.


    Soon, he had made it to the foyer of his home, but his gaze sharpened as he looked to the side and found Nathan leaning on a pir.


    "What are you doing here?" Lucius asked.


    The family took back control of talents, so he hadn''t seen Nathan in a long while.


    "This is an unexpected change." Nathan said instead of responding. "What did you do to piss


    him off?"


    Lucius'' expression changed. "I''ve done nothing."


    "Is that so? I hear his little sister isn''t going to school anymore."


    "She disrespected the teachers several times and has shown no promise."


    "Or, she has a badass for an elder brother and didn''t want to ept the trash Professions


    you''re handing out."


    Lucius'' eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to stand against the Grimdes?"


    "You were intelligent." Nathan said slowly. "Although I didn''t agree with your decision, I could see the logic behind it. But thesest few weeks, you''ve slowly sunk into depravity.


    "Maybe that''s only natural. It''s easy to be calm until the reality of your failure truly sets in."


    "I''ll ask you again. What. Are. You. Doing. Here."


    Nathan didn''t reply, instead tossing something over.


    "Maybe if you use it, you''ll have a chance of surviving. Good luck."


    With that, Nathan disappeared.


    ''... A hologram?''


    Lucius caught a cube out of the air, his brows furrowing.


    What was Nathan ying at?

 Chapter 734: Solution

    Chapter 734: Solution


    ?


    The sound of bullets echoed through the air, but the swift movement of a shadow of violet seemed to cut through them all.


    Ss directly ignored bullets that came from handguns. They nced off and crashed against his Scorpion Warlord Armor, unable to make the slightest dent.


    His base Constitution was 760. With his Flesh Mastery Scorpion Warlord Armor, it was 2760. With the Scorned Wraps, it was over 5500... and that didn''t include the 1500 Defense he gained from his ss Aether skin.


    Normal guns were unable to harm him.


    Rifle and sniper bullets certainly could...


    If they could touch him.


    Ss was worse than a moving target. One might want to call him as fluid as water and as free as wind. But even nature wasn''t so erratic.


    Despite moving full speed in one direction, Ss seemed capable of stopping on a dime, abruptly changing his target. Sometimes it would be to theplete opposite direction, but most often it would seemingly be entirely random.


    If one looked at the battlefield from above, it would be possible to draw jagged lines of violet through the darkness, its sharp edges denoting yet another casualty.


    Every time Ss changed directions, another shadow would fall.


    He wasn''t ruthless in his strikes, most maintaining at least one breath. But whether they would be able to move even within several months would be entirely dependent on just how willing the Grimdes would be to put the necessary resources up for them.


    BANG!


    Ss'' head ducked, reacting to the pull of a trigger instead of a bullet in the air.


    His visualization epassed the entire battlefield, timing the aim and trigger-pull of every man and woman present.


    He pressed a palm into the ground as a bnce and swept his leg out, knocking a shadow off bnce.


    With a flex of his torso, his hips spun and his legs followed, raising into the air as he bnced on a single hand.


    His tail whipped out at the same time, crashing against the bullet of a handgun as his heel cracked against the side of a shadow.


    BANG!


    Ss''s arm flexed and his head almost touched the ground as he sent himself flying upward.


    His arm should have only had enough Strength to send himself up a few meters at most. But when his telekinesis activated, he soared up to over 10 meters before he righted himself in the air, sending out a meteor shower of punches.


    A greenish ss Aether shaped into fists rained down from above.


    Ss'' body vanished into a storm of ice-blue sand just as three sniper bullets ripped through his position.


    Appearing on the ground, he had already appeared behind a man, his gaze pulsing with a malevolent light as his arms wrapped around the shadow''s neck.


    Pa. Pa. Pa.


    The man''s body convulsed as bullets ripped through him, but the sound of his neck snapping followed quickly after and didn''t sound much different from the echo of bullets in the air.


    Ss'' tail wrapped around the shadow''s ankle, ripping thetter out from his own arms and sending him swinging backward.


    His intention dulled the active abilities of the Scorned Wraps for just long enough for the shadow to block another hail of bullets and then burst into a poof of ash.


    Ss'' gaze shed as he pulled on an ability he very rarely used.


    Winter''s Edge.


    The fall of snow in the air suddenly became a sharpened hail.


    <ss Prism Art> and <ss Edge> activated at once, thettering from a pull on Semi- Fusion.


    CHI! CHI! CHI! CHI! CHI!


    Ss stood in the center of a rolling storm of des.


    Blood flew as cyclones of snow ripped the remaining shadows apart.


    One after another, they copsed.


    BANG!


    A final bullet hit Ss'' chest, but he only looked down casually as his armor rippled just the slightest bit, dispersing the impact across his body.


    The coldness in Ss'' eyes only deepened. He turned away from the group, then with slow steps, he continued toward the Grimde familypound.


    ...


    Lucius stood at one end of the Grimde family''s personal airstrip, his jaw clenched so tightly that its muscles spasmed.


    Around him, there were several guards standing, but it didn''t make him feel any safer. For some reason, the weight on his chest was only growing.


    He didn''t expect that Ss would ever dare to go so far. Whether it was because of his family or just the sheer danger of it all, it seemed like the absolute most foolish thing to do.


    And if he was going to do it... then why wouldn''t he have done so when theyst met? Why would he wait until now to start his revenge?


    Could it really be he had heard what was happening with his family and felt that the final straw had already broken the camel''s back?


    At that moment, Lucius'' vision blurred and he found that at some unknown time, a man wreathed in an illusory violet armor had appeared at the other end of the airstrip.


    He walked forward slowly, every step like another hammer on Lucius'' chest.


    "Raise your weapons." Lucius said, his voice still surprisingly calm, a far cry from the true state of his heart.


    Where were they? Why hadn''t theye with Ss'' family yet? What was going on?


    ...


    "You''re really going to let this happen?" A voice echoed in Mortimer''s office once again.


    "And what would you have me do, exactly?" Mortimer replied, the smile in his eyes having


    long vanished.


    "Kill him."


    "And how would you suggest I do that?"


    "Bring out the weapons."


    "You want me to unveil our trump cards for the sake of a single child who''s already lost his


    way?"


    "You will lose control of the other vassals like this."


    "Lucius'' actions would have lost us more."


    "And your solution is to let him die?"


    "He won''t necessarily die." Mortimer replied indifferently. "Regardless, when the timen/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    comes for me to step out of this office, the boy will dearly pay for his choice today."

 Chapter 735: Monster

    Chapter 735: Monster


    ?


    Ss walked forward in silence.


    Was it a foolish choice toe here today?


    Maybe to others.


    In reality, Ss was a man who had always prided himself on preparation, on discipline, on refining his every action so that things would always work out perfectly for him.


    The fact of the matter was that he had already prepared for the worst-case scenario. After the Trial, he had had no chance to do so because he didn''t understand the depths of the Grimdes family. Even now, he was sure that they had trump cards he couldn''t fathom...


    But what he also knew was that they had no ability to bring them out right now. If they could have, they would have already.


    The moment he saw the quality of the barrier they used to protect themselves, he understood that he had more than a slight chance today.


    If Lucius thought he just came here on a whim... he was sorely mistaken.


    The real reason he hadn''t wanted to execute an exit n until now were for two main reasons.


    First, he didn''t have an easy method of bringing his family away. And second... he didn''t want to fall out with the Grimde family just yet.


    He had too many enemies around him. Even if the Grimdes weren''t necessarily allies with him, one less enemy was still better than none.


    However, after his interaction with Mortimer, he had a good understanding of the kind of man he was. If the opportunity presented itself... Mortimer wouldn''t hesitate to take his head. Such an ally, he might as well not have at all. His hostility was much better hidden than Lucius'', but it was precisely because of that that it was the most fearsome.


    He had already not wanted to leave his family here. Although they hadn''t said a word about their troubles during Ss'' visit, how intelligent was he?


    How could he not see his sister had stayed home on a weekday instead of going to school? How could he not see that she didn''t have any friends to talk to and rely upon?


    How could he not see that his parents were spinning their wheels trying to make it in this new society? That they felt left behind and unable to catch up?


    How could he not see the pride in his grandfather''s eyes, the hope... not in the fact he had returned to the family that rejected his wife, but in that he had a grandson that was rapidly


    growing?


    From the beginning, his grandfather hadn''t wanted to return to the Grimdes for the sake of this family and what it represented.


    He wanted to return for the sake of giving his descendants a chance.


    And now, he was hoping, praying that Ss would grow faster so that he would be able to protect them all while he shouldered the weight he could.


    Ss could see through all of that, but he had buried it, suppressed it, feeling that it wasn''t the right time, that there was a more perfect, more opportune moment waiting for him in the future.


    But enough was enough.


    BANG!


    A violent, tempestuous aura surged out from Ss, a rotating storm of snowy des slicing the air around him apart.


    Ss raised a palm and pushed out.


    Lucius'' eyes opened wide as he found himself standingpletely alone.


    The guards around him felt as though a sledgehammer had ripped into their chests. A telekinesis with a weight of over 500 pounds mming into them with Physical of over 2000. SHIIING!


    Lucius quickly unsheathed his sword, his Will pulsing around him in a preventative defense. "You have no idea what you''re doing." Lucius growled. He raised his great sword, facing off against Ss.


    Years of training pumped through his veins and made his de far steadier than his heart. Ss didn''t reply, a Demonic Will stirring in his eyes.


    Right now, there was nothing he wanted to see more than Lucius'' head on a pike.


    Ss took a step, his heel flexing up from the ground as his quad seemed to double in size.


    He shot forward with such Speed that the snow that once covered the tarmac was sted into the air, bing a part of the des that spun around Ss.


    For the past day, Ss had been fighting in an area that heavily suppressed his Aether. But now...


    It was the direct opposite.


    This was his domain.


    BANG!


    Lucius swung his sword down, but Ss'' fist only came into brief contact with it before it was sent flying back.


    A second fist descended, crashing right onto Lucius'' chest.


    Ss didn''t give him even the room to breathe and one would have thought that Lucius was


    an untrained amateur. The gap between their Physical stats was so vast that Ss didn''t even waste his Wisdom to scan Lucius in the first ce.


    It was entirely beneath him.


    CRACK.


    Ss drove a fist right into Lucius'' gut, shattering his Aether skin. His torso flexed and his hips dropped into a crossing elbow that shattered Lucius'' cheek bone just as easily.


    More and more defensive items bloomed out from Lucius'' repertoire, quickly replenishing the ones that he had lost, but Ss'' momentum was relentless.


    One action flowed into the next, and as though he was undergoing a baptism of catharsis, his Demonic Will was only growing stronger as well.


    It was as though it could finally taste satisfaction. It had only been satiated for a small while when Ss made the choice toe here and kill Lucius. But now it was well and truly


    feasting.


    Rather than Ss losing more of his mind, he became shockingly focused.


    His fists followed his legs and his legs followed his palms. He swapped from one style to the next until Lucius looked like nothing more than a punching bag.


    CRACK.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    PUCHI.


    Lucius coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body mming into a helicopter.


    BOOM!


    The flight craft went up in mes, its propellers twisting beyond recognition.


    Luciusunched himself out, his body littered with wounds, but his armor just barely holding on. The cracks on it began to fuse, and now, one of his hands gripped onto a cube tightly. With a roar that could only havee from a man who had lost his mind, a jarbled echo produced from a shattered face and jaw, Lucius poured all the Aether he had into the cube.


    Ss paused as he realized something.


    Lucius, carrying the eyes of a wild beast, continued to roar. But then...


    CRACK.


    It was a sound that had filled this battlefield more than once already, so much so that even


    Lucius almost ignored it...


    Until the cube in his hand crumbled apart.


    Lucius'' roar froze and he looked at the cube as though he had lost his soul.


    It shouldn''t be like this... where was the trump card that Nathan promised him? Did he lie to


    him?


    Ss walked forward and pulled on Lucius'' hand as though the other didn''t even have a de in it. He took the bits and pieces of the cube that remained, staring at it for a moment before


    tossing it to the side.


    "No... haha..." Lucius chuckled bitterly. "... he didn''t lie to me... you''re just... a monster..."


    Without a word, Ss drove a fist right through Lucius'' gut, shattering what remained of his


    armor and grabbing a hold of his spine from the front.


    With a heartless tug, he ripped it out.

 Chapter 736: Isnt [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 736: Isn''t [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    The bits and pieces of the cube crumbled between Ss'' fingers. It was as though he didn''t sense Lucius falling to his knees before him at all as he focused his senses onto it.


    In a pathetic attempt to keep himself alive, Lucius grabbed onto Ss'' beast skin skirt, but the grip he could manage wasn''t very strong and his blood made his fingers slick.


    Unable to manage it, he fell forward, his face bumping into Ss'' thigh before he crumbled to the ground.


    Blood pooled, fusing into the disrupted snow and painting it crimson. But all the while, Ss didn''t give him another nce.


    With a squeeze of his fist, thest of the cube crumbled, the metal casing it was formed of having be particrly brittle.


    When Lucius activated this thing, he felt something touch his Will. It was incredibly subtle, to the point that it had felt not too dissimr from a mosquito bite.


    With the rolling changes taking ce in his Will, especially right now, Ss almost missed it. Had Lucius not made what he was doing clear and obvious, he wouldn''t have noticed at all.


    What Ss was trying to understand was if this was by design, or if this thing was truly so weak.


    If it was the former, then he had reason to be wary. Just because it felt so subtle and it ultimately failed, didn''t mean that it wasn''t close to seeding.


    But if it was thetter... then as Lucius said, maybe he was just too monstrous for it to have meant much of anything.


    However, in the end, Ss didn''t understand what was in his hand. There were no Runes to study, and it looked like a "normal" piece of technology.


    ''Technology, huh...''


    This all but confirmed that it could onlye from one person.


    [What is this?]


    [A destroyed device created by Nathan Grimde, named "Modelling Agent 3.0". It is designed to attach to a person''s Will and detail their quirks and fighting habits, as well as pointing out their weaknesses and ws. When oveid onto a user''s Will, it can optimize one''s personalbat capabilities to counter an enemy.]


    ''Is that so...''


    Ss flicked his fingers and thest of the cube was thrown away by him.


    It was an interesting device to be sure. But clearly... entirely useless on him.


    Ss couldn''t help but wonder. Was he immune to its effects because his Will was truly so strong? Or was it because of his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension?


    Turning toward the familypound, Ss walked forward, his steps still slow and steady.


    ...


    "Are you sure that you want to do this, Magnus?"


    A calm voice echoed through the night. It came from a man who seemed as wizened as Ss'' grandfather. He too had regained some of his youth through the Summoning, but it was clear that both were nearing their twilight years.


    Unless they gained an opportunity to break into the E-Grade, maybe they would only extend their lives by a few decades at most before going to meet their father.


    This man was Philman Grimde... Magnus'' elder brother and Lucius'' father.


    Until now, the man hadn''t made a single appearance. But tonight, he did. As for his reasoning, it was all too obvious.


    Magnus didn''t reply, looking up toward the stars.


    "Why did you bring me out here, Philman?"


    "Can an elder brother not want to speak with his little brother?"


    "How many times have you wanted to do that in thest five-odd decades?"


    "Times change."


    "Is that so? And it''s not just that you want to make sure I''m out of the house while you target my son, daughter-inw, and granddaughter?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Philman''s expression didn''t change in the slightest. "If this is the road you want to go down, Magnus. There''s only one path, and it leads to a dead end."


    "If I''ve already chosen the road, of course there''s only one path. You''ve never been as smart as you think you sound."


    There was a hint of darkness that shed in Philman''s gaze, but it faded away as he too looked up at the stars.


    "It should be about done, then." He said lightly.


    "Indeed. It should be about done." Magnus nodded.


    But whether the two of them were speaking about the same thing... that was entirely up to interpretation.


    The crunch of snow echoed beneath the cool night air and they both turned to see a figure slowly walking toward them.


    Covered in blood from head to toe, Ss'' glowing green eyes seemed to be the only part of him that wasn''tpromised.


    Philman''s pupils constricted, not expecting to see such a thing. This was certainly not the oue he expected.


    Only Magnus smiled slightly, feeling that the decision he made all those years ago was the right one. The only mistake he had made was ever leaving his wife in the first ce. But back then... he had thought that he was protecting his family.


    There was no better way to grow strong than being a member of the Grimdes, and he forewent the formative years of his son because of that.


    But with his grandson...


    He didn''t make the same mistake a second time.


    "Your tactic was clever," Magnus said lightly. "Even if I knew what you were doing, I have no choice but toe. After all, there''s no one in my family capable of dealing with you aside


    from myself.


    "But you underestimated my grandson a little bit too much. My son might be a useless sack of


    bones, but luckily this apple fell closer to my tree."


    Magnus beamed like any proud grandfather would.


    Ss didn''t react very much aside from a slight softening of his gaze. The glow in his eyes


    dimmed and the murderous air around him receded.


    He gave his grand uncle a nce and spoke a simple line. "This blood isn''t my own."


    Then, he walked past them and toward their family home.


    He had grown tired of this ce.

 Chapter 737: Impression [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 737: Impression [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Philman''s eyes bulged from their sockets as he seemed to grasp Ss'' meaning.


    He opened his mouth and a mournful cry came out, his temper ring to his head as he exploded.


    But his path was blocked by Magnus.


    "My grandson, um... doesn''t have the best way with words. Forgive him for my sake and let''s have that talk you wanted to have."


    "Get out of my way!" Philman roared.


    de Aura pulsed around Philman and a sword sheathed to his side rattled in its casing, seemingly about to erupt out on its own.


    Magnus'' gaze darkened. "Let''s be clear about something here, elder brother. Don''t think that I''m unaware of the fact your son tried to kill my grandson. Although I haven''t said anything, don''t think that I''m ignorant.


    "Drop the distraught father act. If you want to fight, pull out your weapon."


    ...


    Ss shed forward, not looking back. He assumed that since a battle hadn''t already erupted between his grandfather and grand uncle, there must have been a reason for that. The most obvious one being that they were evenly matched.


    He didn''t know much about the earlier generation. And quite frankly, he didn''t know much about his father''s generation either other than the fact Lucius needed to die. But this much should be a safe assumption.


    It was also probably safe to assume that unlike the branch family members, the main members of the Grimdes had been preparing for the Summoning since they could walk.


    His grandfather had always been extremely active, participating in half marathons even into his 70s. At first, Ss just thought he was a health junky and he ended up picking up a lot of his grandfather''s habits as a result.


    But now that he thought back... his grandfather was almost certainly preparing for something muchrger than himself.


    Ss'' body shed to a side and he suddenly caught something out of the air.


    It was a neck.


    A shadow had appeared near his home and was trying to find a method of making their way in. But obviously... they had found themselves blocked by barriers continuously.


    Ss didn''t have a functional understanding ofrge-scale formations and how they worked. His training in Rune Mastery could be said to be all over the ce.


    However, what he did have was a great ability to read and copy.


    On hisst visit here, he had seen the dome of protection around the Grimde familypound and simply...N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Copied it.


    It was rudimentary, so simple he hardly needed to think about it. The number of Foundations wasn''t very impressive to begin with.


    The onlyplicated part was figuring out how to turn it off and on without others noticing. So... he decided to not have it turn off at all.


    The barrier was continuously active. It was just that he taught his little sister how to flip the Runes just like he had.


    Of course, ra didn''t have the same Rune control he had, so he had to weaken the barrier at certain points he just colloquially called "doors".


    Technically speaking, if their enemies found these doors and just focused an attack on them, destroying the barrier would be exceptionally easy.


    But how difficult was it to find an invisible door in an invisible barrier? To even begin you''d have to have some level of Rune Mastery to be able to interact with the barrier, and the shadows that were sent didn''t even have Wills of their own, so how could they?


    As for where the power wasing from since Ss had yet to reach Breath Mastery with these Runes, that was even simpler...


    The entire Grimde Family Compound was filled with Aether Stones.


    Ss flickered around the house like a shadow, killing everything in sight.


    Until now, he had been quite soft-handed. Maybe it was foolish of him, but he was so focused


    on Lucius that he didn''t care about ensuring that the others died.


    But these people trying to invade his family''s home in order to threaten him...


    Unforgivable.


    ...


    Thest of the shadows fell, and judging by the silence of the night, the battle between Ss'' grandfather and grand uncle never erupted.


    Ss let thest corpse drop from his hand, looking up to see his little sister staring down at him from above. Her cheeks were squished up between her palms as she rested her elbows on the ledge. Somehow, she almost looked bored.


    Shaking his head, Ss looked away. It was nice that she could be so casual while others were ving away on her behalf.


    ra grinned as though she could read Ss'' thoughts.


    "If you''re here, thene out." Ss said casually.


    A figure of Nathan stepped out from behind a tree.


    Ss sent a nce over and shook his head. Unlike Lucius, he could tell immediately.


    "Where is your real body?"


    The words Nathan had been about to speak froze.


    "You haven''t been in the Grimde Compound in a long while, is that it? I assume that Archibald also isn''t here?" Ss asked. "No, probably not. He''s definitely here. That man allowed himself to be caught for a reason, which more than likely means that he either needs something from the Grimdes.


    "Or...


    "That he is a Grimde."


    Ss looked Nathan up and down as though he was trying to catch something. To his credit, Nathan didn''t show much of a reaction after the first initial wave of surprise.


    "How would he be a Grimde?"


    Ss looked away and toward the moon high in the skies, the blood that caked him reflecting beneath its silvery lights.


    "I met a man simply named Masquerade today. Nost name. He''s probably dead by now. A traitor through and through. Do you think his parents named him that? I don''t know much about history, but I''m also fairly certain that a name like Grimde was notmon even


    before the Sixth Summoning."


    Nathan fell into silence.


    "The little AI you''re working on isn''t bad." Ss said calmly. "A bit brittle. But I guess Metarock from thousands of years ago probably won''t have much Durability left."


    This time, Nathan''s pupils visibly trembled.


    He took a deep breath and steadied himself.


    "Ss. This isn''t a battle you have to fight. The Metarock you have would be invaluable-."


    The glow in Ss'' eyes returned with a violent tempest, so bright it nearly outshone the


    moon.


    "The Metarock I have? What gave you the impression of that?"

 Chapter 738: Pliant

    Chapter 738: Pliant


    ?


    Nathan found himself feeling absolutely suffocated. The projection shook in the air almost like a television struggling to establish a connection.


    A cold sweat poured down Nathan''s back. It felt almost like his Will was being pulled through the hologram, forced to stand before Ss and bear the weight of his rage.


    He forced himself to take a shaky breath. But before he could speak, Ss still took the initiative.


    "I don''t know what you two want to do, or why you''re hiding yourselves away in the Grimdes. Maybe there was a fissure in the family long ago. Maybe there are enemies on the outside you don''t want to know about your ns. But what I can say is that the truth doesn''t matter.


    "Today, I came here for one reason.


    "Kill Lucius Grimde.


    "If you cross my bottom line, the next time Ie to murder someone it will be you." Nathan took another breath. He hade to understand why Ss was being so aggressive. He knew about the AI.


    But he also realized something else... Ss had changed.


    The Ss he had modeled would have nevere here for the sake of killing Lucius. The change had caught him off guard, which was why he had miscalcted, making a decision he shouldn''t have.


    Ss was already resistant to being used by Archibald, directly rejecting his asks. However, even back then, Nathan had felt that there was a chance that Ss might side with them, it would just take some convincing and someying out of benefits.


    The man didn''t want to be the pawn of ns he had no understanding of. That much was understandable and there was no reason for them to have a falling out about this.


    Unfortunately, he seemed to be toeing exceptionally closely to Ss'' bottom line.


    The Ss he knew might shrug this off for the sake of potential benefits, and maybe he still might in the future. But right now, Ss was drawing a very clear boundary.


    Something had truly pissed him off this time and the man had reached his breaking point. When Nathan came to this point in his thoughts, he calmed downpletely.


    This Ss was wilder and more unpredictable... but in Nathan''s opinion, he was far less dangerous.


    Before, he didn''t know where Ss'' bottom line was, he didn''t know if Ss was capable of a breaking point.


    But now he knew that it existed. And for someone who nned out his every step, this was the greatest gift he could be given.


    "I understand." Nathan said after a long while. "In that case, I will not say anything more on the topic. But I will give you two tidbits of advice as an offering of peace. I hope that can help us smooth some things over.


    "First, Astrid and Mchi do not have a particrly close rtionship with Lucius, but this event will inevitably reach their ears. I''m sure you understand what that means."


    Ss didn''t reply, but he understood what Nathan meant.


    Those two were the only ones left and they were currently fighting it out for the heirship position. It was clear and obvious to Ss that the Grimdes likely wouldn''t start disying their true strength until they had a head they could all rally behind.


    The limitations of Mortimer spoke for themselves. If the man could have taken action, he would have already. The fact he didn''t meant that he was likely suffering the same restrictions the trio of Clypsians on the Celestial Wall had.


    Until they could decide their leader, there were many hidden underworkings of the family that wouldn''t be able to trigger... and Ss had suddenly be one of the best opportunities to prove themselves.


    Not only would Ss surely have a great deal of Treasures on him, his head would prove theirpetence.


    But ultimately, this wasn''t news to Ss. These were things he could guess on his own.


    Nathan''s second point, though, was far more interesting.


    "Second, if, hypothetically, there was a deposit of Metarock under a volcano, and this deposit was protected by a formationid by an unknown Race of people and was the subject of treaty agreements. This deposit would also, hypothetically, be highly guarded, wherein every key to such a location would be carefullybeled so that anyone with ess to it would be carefully monitored."


    Ss didn''t react once again.


    These were both things that he had already figured out. They were much too obvious.


    Why would Archibald be in the same Demon Vige as Azrael if not to find a way to steal his badge and gain ess to the deposit of Metarock?


    The reason Archibald asked Ss to go was probably because he knew that the key would be on Ss'' person.


    What was more curious was why Archibald hadn''t taken it for him, and the answer to that was just as evident as why Mortimer didn''t take action.


    He couldn''t.


    Ss turned away from Nathan, walking right through the barrier that had been so good at stopping everyone else.


    ss Aether shed and all the blood that coated him iced over before shattering to pieces, falling to the ground in a murderous rain.


    Nathan could only watch in silence until his hologram also slowly faded away.


    ...


    Nathan''s eyes opened to find his body drenched. All around him, bits of pieces of tech, tubes, and stainless steel were either strewn about or the key part of fixtures.


    He pressed a hand on his chest, feeling that his body really didn''t want to cooperate with him today. Even long after Ss was no longer in front of him, the imprint was practically seared onto his mind.


    Finally, he looked up to find a man tinkering. He hadn''t even reacted to much of anything.


    "It failed." Nathan said.


    "''Tis a pity."


    Nathan fell into silence, not knowing how to follow up.


    "What should we do now?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "We wait. In time, he shall have need of us. Elsewise, the Metarock shall find itself in hand


    more... pliant."

 Chapter 739: Calm

    Chapter 739: Calm


    ?


    The peacock soared through the night skies.


    Ss'' family followed along with him, their bodies bundled up in winter clothing they had luckily had with them. When they originally came to the Grimdes, it was already the dead of winter and they knew they were going up the mountains.


    By now, Earth had already traveled around the sun once over, so they were right back in the dead of winter and these garments came in handy.


    The peacock''s Level was too low to carry so many people at once, so it was actually Ss offsetting their weight with his telekinesis. This was actually quite easy for him now.


    As his Wisdom increased and his telekinesis strengthened, the number of ways he could divide his mind became quite variable.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t straightforward. The stronger his telekinesis, the more Wisdom it needed to apply its full Strength.


    That said, he could peel back the strength of his telekinesis a bit for the sake of splitting his mind more ways.


    Right now, with Madness activated, he could apply the full strength of his telekinesis about a half dozen times.


    His family obviously didn''t need even half his full telekinesis. Even his father, the heaviest of them all, wasn''t even 200 pounds unlike Ss who was not only a bit taller than his old man, but had also put on quite a substantial amount of muscle since the Summoning began.


    Though, in this number, there was an... uninvited extra.


    Aside from his grandfather, parents, and little sister, Vesta had been brought up to the back of the peacock, making the area to maneuver quite limited.


    Unfortunately, this was at the insistence of his mother.


    For obvious reasons, the matriarch didn''t like the idea of her son carrying around a naked woman dangling from a vine. On top of that, Isolde had had some correspondence with Professor Fembroise in the past.


    That said, Ss knew that it wasn''t that his mother was so soft-hearted. She trusted him, so she knew that if he was treating Vesta like this, there was probably a very good reason.


    Instead, it was because she didn''t want foul rumors about her son to start spreading.


    Isolde gave Ss a stern talking to about the value of perception and disying a positive outward image.


    "... Even if you don''t care about what most people think, you will inevitably turn off some people who you could have otherwise worked with. You have to be more mindful of your image."


    Ss listened to his mother''s scoldings quite calmly.


    They rarely happened to him. But as one might expect, he never reacted as usual children


    might. Coupling that with the fact he was an adult now and it was even more unlikely that he would snap.


    "Do you understand me, young man?"


    "Yes, mother." Ss nodded.


    "Good. Now we''ve got to get you some better clothing. My boy used to dress so well, but now you look like a street hoodlum. Even if you get into battles all the time now, I''m sure we can figure something out for you."


    Ss smiled lightly and didn''t say anything.


    His mother tended to scold when she was in a high-stress situation.


    Flying a thousand meters above ground on the back of a creature she didn''t understand and without a visible barrier to protect them definitely fit the bill.


    That said... it didn''t mean that she was wrong.


    ...


    The peacock shed over the ocean, soaring through to the ind that Cassarae had cornered off for herself.


    But as they were going to enter the portal, Ss suddenly spoke.


    "Hold."


    The peacock obeyed, slowing down until it hovered in ce.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ever since Ss got Demonic Will, his ability to suppress and control the peacock was easier than ever before. He had always been able to suppress it with his Will, but now it didn''t feel like it was an effort at all.


    It was like the difference between walking and breathing, the former being the effort it used to take, and thetter being the current state.


    Not only had the peacock understood hismand, but it also stopped gently, taking his intention into consideration. After all, Ss had to think about his family as well.


    "Is something wrong, Ss?" Cedric asked with a frown.


    Ss didn''t answer his father immediately, his gaze focused.


    "... The waters, they''re too calm."


    This was the ocean, not ake. Even if one discounted the portal, ocean waters should almost never be this calm. If one remembered that there should be a portal thatpletely disrupted the ecosystem of this environment, then it was even more impossible that the surface would be this calm.


    However, Ss couldn''t immediately figure out why.


    Did Cassarae close the portal in his absence?


    No way, it had barely been more than a day since he left, although he had been through a lot and it felt much longer.


    A glow pulsed in Ss'' eyes as he searched for something.


    ''No Runes either... the Rotten Wolves are still patrolling... I can see militiamen... Nothing is wrong at all...''


    The more Ss couldn''t find something, the more he felt that there was something off.


    ''The Sperm Whales from the Den should be patrolling this area too. How could something of thisrge a scale happen without anyone noticing? Impossible.''


    Ss began to wonder if he was overthinking things. Even his Luck hadn''t alerted him to anything. But... after his Luck failed to warn him properly that one time in Split Realm Dungeon, he had realized that it wasn''t some nket protection. He needed to think for himself.


    Luck was a stat just like everything else for a reason. It would have its limitations if it wasn''t


    high enough.


    Even after several minutes, Ss couldn''t figure it out. Without a choice, he could only fly down to the Portal entrance with his family, stepping into it soon after a check-in with the


    militiamen.


    However, when he stepped into the familiar underground basement they housed the Portal in, the full force of it hit Ss.

 Chapter 740: Offset [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 740: Offset [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    ''Warlord. There''s a Warlord of the Amazonian Wilds.''


    Ss'' gaze shed.


    It was a very subtle feeling, and one that he might have grasped had he not already been the Warlord of two Territories now. But when he felt it, he knew what it was immediately.


    But what did that have to do with the stillness of the ocean?


    ''Could I control the Portal of my Territory if I wanted to?''


    Ss had never tried... but logically speaking, controlling one''s Territory meant also controlling its entries.


    Cassarae''s Portal was unnatural. Because she used her City Lord abilities to open it, it wasn''t necessarily one to one coordinates with Earth.


    But... this was precisely the reason why Ss hadn''t seen through it.


    If the Portal at the bottom of the ocean was opened up with a method simr to what his nar Convergence Gate had used before its Durability ran out, then that Portal was a one to one coordinate with the Amazonian Wilds.


    The trouble was that that made little sense.


    Why would this northern point of the United Coalition of Terranova be connected naturally with a rainforest?


    Unless, of course, it wasn''t natural and the portal was opened up through different means.


    The trouble with this conclusion was that all such Treasures should work the exact way the nar Convergence Gate did.


    Opening up a Portal to the wrong coordinate would require a scheme as borate as the one used to screw Earth over in the first ce.


    Ss doubted so many resources would be poured in just to target Cassarae.


    But... if a City Lord used their ability as one to open up a Portal to their city in the middle of the ocean, would it work then?


    The answer was yes. But the coordination required would be ridiculous.


    How else would there be a city that appeared without Cassarae noticing? If there had been a city in that location before, so close to a System City, even Ss would know about it, let alone Cassarae.


    In that case, the city had to have only appeared for a short while, and that would require coordination from both sides...


    ''I''m getting lost in the plot. This isn''t what''s important. What''s important is the fact that there''s a Warlord now and they''ve decided that the calmer waters are to their benefit...''


    Ss took a step and suddenly shot out. Not speaking to anyone, he hurried out before shooting into the skies with a quick summon of the peacock once more.


    Finally, he spotted what he was looking for from a far off distance.


    The Portal.


    It was still drizzling out with water, but...


    ''It''s slowed down. It looks like arge amount is stilling out, but it''s far less vtile and the stream is far steadier. Someone manipted it.''


    But why would they do that...?


    ''... I bet moving things in and out is far easier now... They''re preparing for something.''


    Ss understood immediately.


    He dove down from the skies, his gaze indifferent.


    For a city to appear out of nowhere and then vanish just as quickly required someone who could move to and from the Amazonian Wilds back to York City in an instant.


    The only person who would have that capability would be someone with ess to Cassarae''s Portal.


    But... this was a benefit that only Trail taker City Lords had. Which meant that this scheme was put in ce long ago...


    ''Gregory again...''


    Ss had wanted to kill this person long ago, but it was too difficult.


    Before, it was impossible to force Cassarae to waste one of her valuable spawns on a conjecture, and by the time he was certain he had to die he had already firmly entrenched himself in the workings of the city.


    Gregory almost certainly had a contingency n for if they decided to tear the thin veil of cordiality they had and kill him directly, otherwise he wouldn''t dare to be so brazen all the time.


    He was a true infestation, and he likely wasn''t the only one.


    ''A Warlord... okay.''


    Ss calmly entered the City Lord''s mansion and went straight to his room. He needed focus and he also needed rest.


    As he crossed the foyer, he spotted Professor Fembroise''s husband and son, not to mention Carter.


    Before he left, he had sent Cassarae after them, and obviously, the people she sent didn''t end up finding Vesta, but rather them instead.


    As for Vesta herself, Ss was certain that Cassarae would understand what to do without him saying anything. For now, she would be locked away in a cell somewhere.


    Ss didn''t say anything to them either. That headache... Cassarae would have to deal with it. He had done enough for today.


    ...


    Ss entered his room and closed the door behind him.


    It was about time he see what rewards he received for the Quicktime Event. Well, the two Quicktime Events.


    The notification had been blinking at him for hours now, but in the volcano he couldn''t summon them without fear of the heat destroying whatever it was, and after he left, he was too focused on either rest or killing to mind it.


    Now, he finally had some time.


    But the actual reward left him surprised.


    [Merit Reward Received]


    [Choice Rewards]


    [Offset ALL Demerits]


    OR


    [Progenitor me Quest]


    These were the rewards for the Traitor of Earth Quicktime Event.


    Ss didn''t expect the rewards to be incorporeal, otherwise he would have already epted them long ago. But the choice was even more confusing.


    Giving him a Progenitor me Quest while he was in a State of Demerit didn''t even make any sense. It was as though the system wanted him to stay with these Demerits hanging over hisn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    head.


    However, even if he felt this was the case, the second option was hard to turn down.


    If he was correct, a Progenitor me was sparked from one''s Will... which meant that this was


    a direct Quest to improve his Will.


    How could it not be tempting?


    But then Ss recalled the ss Pinecone.


    If the reward for the Quest was an external item boosting his Will...


    He didn''t want it.


    Ss chose the first option with little hesitation.


    [Offset ALL Demerits]

 Chapter 741: Offset

    Chapter 741: Offset


    ?


    [Offset ALL Demerits]


    A rush poured through Ss. It was an interesting feeling, one that he had all but forgotten. It became obvious to him that this Demerit State was worse than what he had assumed.


    It had festered and grown within his body, slowly raising the temperature as though he was a frog in boiling water. It wasn''t until it was suddenly erased in a single go that he could truly feel the difference.


    To his astonishment, this difference was not too dissimr from being in a State of Expenditure.


    But it wasn''t really a direct impact on his strength like such a thing should be. Instead, it was more like Ss was having his connection with the system strained and weakened.


    Although it was a less obvious problem, as a result of it Ss was suffering from a ubiquitous impact across all of his skills, from his Profession all the way to his Rune Mastery itself.


    The only reason it wasn''t even more obvious than it was happened to be because Earth was a constant subject of subterfuge. So much of its system and itsws were tweaked, rotted, and inwardly destroyed that much of what Ss had grown used to in this State of Demerit was moremonce for all the powerhouses of Earth.


    It was just that he experienced this on a level that was orders of magnitude greater, especially since he had grown so much stronger since being saddled with these Demerits.


    Finally, though... he was free.


    Ss exhaled, basking in the feeling for only a moment before he moved on to the next. He didn''t have the time to consider these matters in too much depth.


    His body felt much better now than ever before, and that was what was the most important.


    The second reward he received, though, was just as odd and shocking. And once again, he found himself in a state of not quite knowing how to react.


    [Choice Rewards]


    [Gain a Silver Merit]


    OR


    [Progenitor me Quest]


    The rewards seemed to be a perfect mirror, but the first... it left Ss staring at it for a long while.


    Something about this just felt... off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But now that Ss thought about it, the problem was all too obvious from the very start.


    The first reward struck clean a Silver Demerit. All things considered, this was the same value as granting him a Silver Merit.


    To put this matter into perspective, Ss would need to kill a total of 10,000 Quasi King Beasts or a thousand True King Beasts just to gain a single Silver Merit.


    This was how valuable it was, and it was also the reason why Ss was spinning his wheels so much when it came to offsetting these ill effects.


    It could be said that though Lucius had fallen hard during the end of his life,pared to any other individual that Ss had met in this world, Lucius had given him by far the most problems.


    And if the Leveling Leaderboard was anything to go by, Lucius was only the middle rank of the three heir candidates, with Astrid suppressing him by far.


    Mchi was ced third amongst them. But... Ss didn''t n on using his Level to measure just how much trouble he could give him.


    All things considered, Lucius shouldn''t have had any business giving him any sort of issues. Yet in the end, how many times had he almost died because of this one scheme on Lucius'' part?


    Now, not only was he being given the opportunity to erase that failure, he was even being given the chance to reverse it entirely, turning his previous misfortune into fortune.


    It was a no brainer, especially since he didn''t like the possibility of the second reward at all. This time, though... Ss chose to ask the Madness Key.


    No matter what, the Demerits had been too much. He had to deal with them regardless of whether he understood the value of a Progenitor me Quest or not.


    But did he really need Silver Merits?


    Probably.


    As harmful as a Silver Demerit had been, Ss had enjoyed a short stint of what it meant to have a Merit surplus. His Merit status was probably one of the main reasons why he had been able to survive the Sylph Dungeon in the first ce.


    He would have certainly lost his life without the system''s opportunity. Back then, he had used up all of his Genes on unlocking Winter''s Edge, so he couldn''t ask the Madness Key about the ndestine Ape.


    Without the system''s hint, the odds of his survival would have been zero, if it wasn''t the case that he would face a certain death.


    The chance to be in the system''s good graces, gather these Blessings, and use them at opportune times couldn''t be ignored.


    But...


    [What is a Progenitor me Quest?]


    [Progenitor me Quests appear when one''s Will has reached the Sparked Realm. At that point, it has reached the bare minimum requirements to be a Progenitor me but has yet to truly bud into its own.]


    [epting a Progenitor me Quest means signing a contract of equals with the system wherein you must make good on an unknown requirement set in the future.]


    [Should you seed, your Progenitor me will sessfully form and your Will will reach untold levels.]


    ''A promise in the future? What does that mean?''


    From the implications, it didn''t seem like the system would give him this Quest right now. Instead, it was storing it away and triggering it at some unknown time.


    Ss wasn''t sure how he felt about this. Unless...


    ''Is it waiting for the Summoning to be over?''


    Now that Ss thought about it, what good was being a Progenitor to a failed world? In fact,


    it was probably impossible to truly ignite a Progenitor me unless the world had reached a


    certain stage.


    These two things went hand in hand.


    Should he take it? But if it was so rare, why would it appear like this twice...


    Ss thought for a long while before he made a decision.


    [Progenitor me Quest epted]

 Chapter 742: Imminent

    Chapter 742: Imminent


    ?


    There were several main reasons why Ss chose to do this.


    The first was that the rarity of this Quest wasn''t decided by the fact it had appeared twice. That would be asinine.


    These rewards appeared while Ss was in a State of Demerit. If anything, the system was looking for reasons and ways to screw him over, and yet it had still been forced to hand out this sort of reward.


    The fact it appeared twice wasn''t a measure of how insignificant the reward was, but rather instead...


    Of just how valuable Professor Fembroise was.


    The system was going above and beyond for the sake of this woman, and if what she had been able to do with the Basilisk King was any sort of indication, then maybe it wasn''t wrong for doing this either.


    The first Quest was triggered only for the sake of killing Ss for having the audacity to target Professor Fembroise, and the second Quest was basically triggered by the system going as far as to beg him to spare her life.


    What did this mean?


    It meant that if one of the participants of the Quicktime Event had managed to kill him, they would have received the equivalent of a Silver Merit as well.


    The system saw Professor Fembroise''s value to Earth as the equivalent of killing a thousand Bronze King Beasts!


    It shouldn''t even be said that the system was lowering its head to Ss when it triggered the second Quicktime Event. The system was an emotionless husk that only acted based on a certain set of rules and principles. The fact that its eye had appeared that day and practically almost killed Ss with a nce showed that clearly.


    If Ss reframed things this way, then since he was dealing with Choice Rewards right now, both choices had to be of about equivalent value.


    In that case, the Progenitor me Quest was no less difficult to trigger than earning a Silver Merit might be!


    Ss had undergone a shocking ordeal just to make it through and safely return to Casstle Main. Surviving the government, two gangs, a Bronze King Beast that could control an entire army, not to mention the appearance of not just one, but two Dogons...


    It could be said that he had bled for every drop of these rewards. And as valuable as a Silver Merit would be... something told Ss that he didn''t want to miss out on this Progenitor me Quest.


    Ss wouldn''t know just how right he was about this decision for a very long while. That wasn''t because of all this analysis, but rather because of one simple reason...


    Only one Progenitor me Quest would be activated at a time.


    The value of a Progenitor me Quest was far beyond a Silver Merit. The only reason it was the equivalent of a Silver Merit on Earth was because Earth was a Grade 10 Bronze World. Had the situation been any different, there wouldn''t even be a need to speak about it.


    And now that Ss had imed this Quest for himself, until the day he failed it...


    Another one would never appear.


    Ss, though, didn''t know any of this just yet. The scope of the Madness Key''s answer didn''t touch on this. Instead, he was focused on the calming feeling in his heart and a sense of closeness and intimacy he had for the world now.


    He almost carelessly drifted off to sleep. If one woke him up right this moment, he wouldn''t even be able to point out the exact moment he fell into the embrace of rest and slumber.


    And it was during that sleep that the world gently caressed Ss... and his Rune Mastery seamlessly progressed from Rune Essence to Rune Vitality.


    ...


    Ss awoke the next morning feeling truly refreshed.


    There was silence all around him. Even if the world was on fire right this moment, he would have no idea.


    What he didn''t know just yet was that this wasn''t too far from the truth.


    He stood, pulling himself to the side of his bed to begin some stretches. Ever since he learned the value of flexibility, he had gotten himself into the routine of doing this at least once a day, usually twice.


    It was in the middle of these stretches that Cassarae burst into his room.


    Without a care for the fact he was half-naked, she kicked it closed behind her.


    "It''s about damn time you woke up."


    Ss stood straight from a bent-over position.


    "Have I been asleep for long?" Ss asked.


    With his recovery abilities, he probably wasn''t asleep for more than three hours at most. It had to be remembered that thanks to Hibernation Halo, his body had already had the equivalent of a month to recover.


    But when he checked the time, not waiting for Cassarae''s answer, his eyes couldn''t help but narrow.


    "Three days?"


    "Three days!"


    They spoke out at the same time, one confused and the other exasperated.


    "Why didn''t you wake me up?" Ss asked.


    "Don''t bullshit with me, Ss Brown. Why would I do that?"


    "You seem quite anxious, so that seems like the logical thing to do."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Cassarae held up two middle fingers. "That''s thest time I do something thoughtful for


    you."


    "I somehow doubt that."


    "You''re such an insufferable little prick, do you know that?"


    "You''re not all sunshine and rainbows either, City Lord."


    "City Lady." Cassarae corrected, taking a fierce step forward and pulling on Ss'' Madness


    Key again.


    But this time, Ss didn''t budge.


    Cassarae''s Strength might be above his, but could shebat his Strength and telekinesis at


    the same time?


    "Sexual harassment doesn''t look good on you." Ss said calmly.


    To his surprise though, Cassarae didn''t miss a beat, standing up to the tips of her toes to steal


    a kiss...


    The ended up in a fierce bite to his lower lip.


    There was nothing sexy about it. She took what she wanted, and then had a piece of revenge.


    "You taste like you haven''t showered in days." Cassarae said calmly.


    "So why does it look like you want round two?" Ss asked, bringing up two fingers to his bottom lip and drawing the blood away.


    He looked at the droplets that fell and shook his head. This woman really was a firecracker.


    "Enough chitchat. This City Lady is here to order her subordinates around. We have work to


    do?"


    "Work? What happened?"


    "Well, for one, we''ve been screwed."


    "How so?"


    "The Terranova government suddenly appeared in Guiz City. The situation isn''t very good


    right now. War is imminent."

 Chapter 743: Secret Tryst

    Chapter 743: Secret Tryst


    ?


    "Oh?" Ss replied calmly.


    "You know, this is a big deal. Not everyone goes out on a Tuesday and bes the enemy of yet another government, thenes back to nap away his days as though nothing


    happened."


    "News spread?"


    "Of course news spread! You told me to handle the Professor Fembroise situation, so why did you end up going yourself?"


    "There were some... changes. Originally, I went to the Grimdes because the sensationalized headlines were a major red g that something was going on. It feels like Earth is very close to reaching its bursting point. But I ended up receiving a list that had Professor Fembroise''s name on it."


    "So instead of contacting me about the changes you decided to go personally. Typical."


    "It worked out in the end."


    "You call this working out?"


    Cassarae projected her notification screen with a push of her intention and yet another bold sensationalized headline appeared before him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Yet another secret tryst?! The Story of a Traitor and a Married Mother of Two.''


    Seeing the headline, Ss shook his head inwardly. This was almost certainly proof that his mother had been correct.


    All things told, this headline would have likely been written no matter what. But the fact that it headlined with a censored image of Vesta hanging from the end of a vine definitely didn''t help.


    There already wouldn''t be much of a benefit of the doubt when it came to these matters, but now it was even less so.


    Even Ss'' own mother might do a double take when she saw such a thing even if she was quite confident in her son.


    But therein lied another problem.


    How had this journalist even managed to get this picture in the first ce?


    It felt to Ss that if it was possible to get this photo, then it also shouldn''t have been hard for this person to continue following him. So why did they act after he passed out?


    Could they not fly, maybe? But even then, if this person was part of the undercurrent that Ss thought they were, then they would certainly have people under their charge that would be capable of doing many things that they couldn''t.


    "God this is so embarrassing. You''ve made an enemy of all the women in the world."


    "Is that so?" Ss asked casually, his eyes scanning back and forth as he speed read through the article.


    It didn''t take him more than a few seconds, and despite the ridiculous things he read about him being a jealous lover who was infuriated by the way an affair ended, he really couldn''t be bothered to care.


    His personality was already quite level-headed and unbothered by most things. But after killing Lucius, he seemed to have transcended into an even calmer state.


    It was odd and hard to exin... but what he did know was that the improvement to his resonance with the system thanks to the activation of the Progenitor me Quest and the loss of his Demerit status was a huge part as well.


    "Let''s go, then."


    "Aren''t you going to put clothes on?"


    "I don''t have any outside of this."


    Ss pulled a seal skin skirt out of his Madness Key again.


    "Your mom is right. We really do need to get you better clothes."


    "I think she''s right too. That''s where we''re going right now." "Huh?"


    Ss didn''t reply as he stepped past Cassarae.


    -


    Withrge strides, Ss walked through the City Lord Mansion, Cassarae quickly catching up to him.


    "You know, you can''t just walk around here like you own the ce."


    "What happened to what''s yours is mine and what''s mine is yours?"


    "Why are you pretending like we''ve already taken marriage vows?"


    "I''m not pretending."


    Cassarae grit her teeth as she recalled something. She never mentioned it to Ss because she felt that he would get too much satisfaction from it, but the system certainly no longer called her Cassarae Hale.


    Clearly, Ss was smart enough to figure that out without Cassarae having to say it so


    explicitly.


    "In that case I just might have to divorce you and take half. All you do is smear my name out


    there."


    A light smile curled Ss'' lip, but he didn''t reply.


    The two made it out of the City Lord Mansion.


    The tension was palpable as every hand on deck seemed to be busy with something. People zoomed by, and were unsurprisingly quite organized.


    As much trouble as Cassarae ran into because of her peculiar ss, it meant quite a bit that she had managed to hold things together for so long.


    Though arge part of that fell on Ss'' shoulders and the aid he provided, he was so hands off with how things worked in the City that it would be foolish of him to take all the credit for


    it.


    Not that he ever had such intentions.


    Ss walked right toward what was maybe the busiest intersection of the vige, passing by several unfamiliar faces as he appeared before Maya Sinir''s seamstress shop.


    Maya was Cassarae''s very first spawn, and from the looks of it, although her personality was a handful to deal with, she was one of the few spawns that hadn''t beenpromised, likely because Cassarae hadn''t even been targeted so early on.


    If Ss were to have any merits listed for his contributions to Casstle Main, thergest piece


    of that pie would certainly be bringing Maya back over to Cassarae''s side.


    And it was quite simple at that...


    All he needed to do was provide high quality beast skins.


    And other than Genes, that was the one thing Sscked the absolute least of.


    Cassarae and Ss walked in quite easily.


    The small shop was filled with hustle and bustle as Maya shouted out orders. Right now, they were absolutely swamped with repairs, trying to get the army up and going for the inevitable


    battle.


    Maya scowled slightly when she saw Cassarae, but to her this might as well have been a polite


    greeting.


    "City Lady, I really don''t have the time to take on any more projects right now."


    Ss didn''t say anything. Instead, he took out a piece of raw hide.


    The moment it appeared, a thick stench filled the air.


    Maya''s pupils trembled.


    But before she could even react, Ss took out a second, much smaller hide and her breathing


    becamebored.

 Chapter 744: Upgrade

    Chapter 744: Upgrade


    ?


    The two things Ss had taken out were the thick hide of the Scorpion King and the small husk that remained of the ss Monkey after it had been sucked dry of all its Essence.


    The Scorpion King was basically no more after Ss used it to protect his life against the Rotten Serpent in the Split Realm. Back then, it had been sted to pieces and Ss hadn''t been able to scrounge up much of it at all.


    However, given howrge the creature had been, just having a pierce or two of its remains was invaluable.


    By extension, the fur of the ss Monkey spoke for itself. It was beautiful, like millions of tiny little fiber optic cables weaving together to form a soft mesh in one direction, and a prickly death trap in the other.


    "You are close to a breakthrough, right?" Ss asked.


    Maya was heaving for breath, looking at the hides as though she might make sweet love to them right in front of everyone''s eyes.


    Rather than replying to Ss, she looked toward Cassarae. Ss didn''t mind it, just waiting patiently.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What do you want to do, Ss?" Cassarae asked.


    "I just want some normal clothing. No need for Runes or to forge it into a treasure. I just want you to weave out some normal wear for me."


    The more Ss learned about the Scorned Wraps, the more he understood about intention and the value of it. In fact, there mighte a day where his Will was strong enough that he could overwhelm the rules of the Scorned Wraps entirely.


    Somewhere deep inside, he even felt that that was the original purpose of the Scorned Wraps. By the time he was strong enough to ignore it, it would have already done its job of making him strong.


    This was all to say, the dividing line between what was clothing and what was considered Treasure had blurred considerably.


    Would the Scorned Wraps consider ker a Treasure? Technically, it shouldn''t. But a bullet could harm the current Ss, while a ker vest could block one. Who was to say it wasn''t a Treasure?


    In the end... all it came down to was intention.


    All this time, Ss had been restricting himself to clothing that had basically no Durability of its own. But this seal skin skirt wasn''t rejected by the Scorned Wraps, and it had alsosted the longest out of all his clothing.


    When he realized this, the answer was obvious.


    However, when Maya heard his exnation, she actually became disappointed. What was the point if she didn''t go so far.


    Rather than trying to convince her, though... Ss said something unexpected.


    "Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward."


    Maya''s head ripped toward Ss'' direction, confusion and a fiery light in the depths of her eyes.


    With only a brief instant of thought, she rushed up, snatched the work pieces from Ss unceremoniously, and charged over to her workbench, not caring who she knocked over in the


    process.


    "What did you just do?"


    "It wasn''t me." Ss said lightly. "It was Morgan."


    A realization came over Cassarae.


    Morgan had only been here for a little over a day so he had yet to integrate properly into the vige. But if Ss was telling the truth...


    It seemed that other than Tasia, Ss had brought her another valuable asset. It was just that Tasia was far more proactive than Morgan was.


    Without the restriction of having to make it a Treasure, Maya was lightning fast. As she moved, Ss'' eyes glowed and he felt the changes taking ce within her in real time.


    In not even 20 minutes, she stood, mming her small palms onto her workbench with a reverberating BANG!


    "Come,e,e. You''re a man right, try it on right here. Don''t be shy. Hurry. Hurry."


    Maya threw thepleted work at Ss'' face.


    Catching it out of the air, Ss gazed at it for a moment and then obliged, slipping on the pieces.


    Without even having to measure him... the fit was absolutely perfect.


    Cassarae''s eyes glowed, seemingly having a hard time hiding how much she liked it. It certainly was better than Ss walking around like he was a equipmentless hobo.


    It also helped that Ss was still mostly shirtless, but she would never admit that. Not out in the open, anyway.


    The top of Ss'' body was adorned by a single sleeve and pauldron, a leather strap crossing his chest to attach it securely to his body. The sleeve was formed of the thick, dark, red-violet hide of the Scorpion King, a joint at the elbow and shoulder allowing Ss free movement while almost giving the sleeve a half fantastical, half futuristic look to it.


    The pauldron itself was formed of a bright white fur that clearly came from the ss Monkey. Ss''s legs were covered in the same almost mechanical joints that his single sleeve had, formed by the Scorpion King Hide as well. A white fur belt wrapped his waist, and a heavy leather apron fell between his legs from the front and back.


    Ss nodded. It passed the test and did what he needed of it. It would definitelyst much longer than his other clothing. As for how long that wouldst...


    That was a different matter entirely.


    ''Seems about time.'' Ss thought to himself.


    Instead of thanking Maya, he brought out another set of beast hides. This time, the smell was even more suffocating, some of Maya''s workers directly passing out.


    Rotten Beasts.


    Two of them.


    "I don''t think I need to-."


    BANG!


    A rush of Aether swirled around Maya. Just staring at the two corpses, she seemed to have grasped something and the world became brighter to her.


    This breakthrough was witnessed by all those surrounding the shop, eagerly waiting for their


    turn.


    But instead of gaining what they thought they would, they instead saw a spectacle they never thought they would.


    [Maya Sinir (FFF+)]


    [Level: 37]


    [Profession: Armored Seamstress (Silver)]


    Her Profession upgraded from Bronze to Silver in a single bound.

 Chapter 745: Minimize [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 745: Minimize [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    [Special Talent: Maximize]


    [Sacrifice 50% Durability to raise level of treasure to its maximum potential]


    [Special Talent: Minimize]


    [Durability Points are worth double that of usual]


    Maya gained a new ability that synergized with her first one. Together, they allowed her to raise the standard of a Treasure while not sacrificing much of anything.


    But more importantly than that...


    The seamstress shop began to glow as well.


    Cassarae was inwardly taken aback, but she was smart enough to keep aposed expression. Although this was mostly Ss'' doing, for things to work she had to be the one to take the credit or at least pretend as though she was the one directing things.


    She had learned during her time shepherding this vige that oftentimes perception was all that truly mattered.


    She didn''t like it because that meant she had to rein in her temper a lot of the time... but it was a necessary evil.


    Still, her shock was causing waves in her heart.


    The seamstress shop upgrading was huge, so much so that between its waves of shock, her heart was also doing cartwheels of happiness.


    Specialty shops like this one were the toughest to upgrade because they not only required the city to reach a certain level, but they also needed spawns or Professionals that had reached appropriate levels as well.


    The military encampment building, for example, was useless unless she had powerful enough officials, which was why Veron wielded so much authority in her city. By extension, this was also why Mathilda''s role as an alchemist was so important as well.


    But as difficult as it was maintaining the encampment and the alchemy shop, the seamstress shop was especially difficult because it was a unique Profession.


    Every vige had an encampment, and quite a number had alchemy shops by now even if they were inferior to Mathilda''s. But seamstresses were often cksmiths instead and it was much


    rarer.


    As time passed, Cassarae realized that she had actually understated just how lucky she was to spawn Maya. She thought that the great thing was that she was an FF+ Professional, not realizing that the value of this seamstress would present itself very evidently.


    To understand why, one only needed to acknowledge one thing and ask oneself a single question...


    How much easier was it to gather beast pelts than mine for ores?


    Now, this trump card of Casstle Main was about to disy itself in the truest sense.


    ...


    The upgrade of a building was sensed by everyone. Although there were options to hide it for


    a price, Cassarae understood that Ss hade here so openly on purpose.


    He wanted everyone to see it.


    WHOOSH!


    The pir of light shot to the skies, reaching a peak before it began to slowly shrink into a broken line of Aether that blinked out.


    When everyone''s vision cleared, the seamstress shop had doubled in size, and the number of spawned workers had also seamlessly increased.


    But it wasn''t just this.


    Maya stood in a daze for a while as though she was integrating with her new insights. When she finally regained some focus, in true Maya fashion, she immediately began to bark out orders.


    "What are you all standing around for?! This granny''s fingers are itching, line up! Everyone to a station! CHOP! CHOP!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss and Cassarae watched in silence as the repairing speed elerated.


    If before there was basically no chance at getting everything done, now they would finish with time to spare.


    On top of that, the impact to the psyches of the vigers couldn''t be understated.


    As important as Mathilda was, Maya had been around for the longest. She was known for her fiery temper, but she was also the type of true in mind and spirit that small-town folk could ingratiate themselves with.


    Byparison, Mathilda gave off an air of superiority that was rooted in a very different way. It made many feel ufortable.


    Thanks to that, even though an alchemy shop upgrade would probably enhance their lives more, the vigers felt more genuine happiness seeing Maya progress.


    When Cassarae finally stepped out of the shop, she noticed this as well. The air in the city seemed to have returned to a calm.


    The timing couldn''t have been better. The anxiety of the people had been soothed...


    For now.


    ...


    "Is there anything else you want to prepare?" Ss asked.


    Cassarae shook her head. "No. I haven''t even been able to burn through the money you sent mest time. I didn''t expect that having too much money would be a problem too."


    In truth, she felt disappointed in herself. Having excess money sounded good, but in reality, that was proof that her management skills weren''t good enough.


    The worst thing an investor could do was leave their money sitting in a pile of nothing. Like this, the money would only suffer from intion and endlessly lose value.


    A billion coins would never be worth more than it was right now, but it was hard to find


    methods of using it that didn''t also feel wasteful.


    Unless, of course... they went as far as to disce the city like some had suggested.


    "Do you know the main problem you''re facing right now?" Ss asked.


    Cassarae looked off into the distance, half feeling apprehensive, but half feeling some sense of security with Ss by her side.


    "... Thisnd has no potential and it''s only being suffocated more. Even if we can survive this, the salt water has really fucked everything up. Expanding from this point feels impossible."


    Ss nodded. "Discement doesn''t seem like it can be avoided. It''s just that we have to do it


    the smart way."


    Cassarae sighed, but Ss shook his head.


    "Why are you sighing? What damage can your City Stele take that a System City''s Stele


    wouldn''t shore up and then some?"


    Cassarae looked over to Ss. She reached up, cing a palm on his forehead.


    "Do you have a fever? I feel like you''re going crazy."


    Ss'' reply, though... was very straightforward.


    "Set Guiz City as your next Cult. I''ll help you destroy them within three days."


    Cassarae''s heart shot, her eyes locked onto Ss'' side profile.


    Ss was never the type to brag. But what he was saying was too crazy.


    The top figures of the Leaderboards were already approaching Level 40. That meant that City Lord Guiz was approaching Level 50. This didn''t even include the fact that he was near invincible within city limits, or the fact he had a cohort of thousands that were deep into the


    40s in Level as well.


    None of this considered the involvement of the government or the appearance of a Warlord


    either.


    To say that he would destroy them in three days...


    Ss didn''t seem to see Cassarae''s shocked gaze at all. Instead, he was focused on a stirring


    within himself.


    Nosphaleen was about to awaken.

 Chapter 746: NEW

    Chapter 746: NEW


    ?


    Cassarae fell into silence, allowing a long pause to linger in the air before she finally spoke again.


    "Alright. Tell me if you need anything."


    "What Tasia''s already done is likely enough."


    "Are you the one who sent her to me?"


    "No. But I know that she wouldn''t miss this opportunity. And judging by your answer, it seems that I''m right."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes, but she had no way to refute.


    In the past, she had been able to keep up with Ss'' banter at least to some extent, but these days, she found herself on the losing end more and more often.


    She wondered if that was because of his stats or if it was because he was just bing more famous.


    "Since you''re so smart, tell me what she''s already done."


    Ss'' lip curled into the slightest of smiles.


    "It''s not about what she''s done. It''s about her presence alone. It is enough for me to gain the opening I need."


    "She''s only been here for a bit over three days now, if I include the time you were out."


    "That''s enough. In fact, if there was more time, it would have the reverse effect."


    Without saying much else, Ss took a step and vanished into the corridors of the City Lord Mansion, his thoughts only known to himself.


    Cassarae shook her head. This insufferable bastard was lucky she trusted him.


    "How did I end up like a pitiful housewife. This won''t do. I''ll have to get his mother on my side. That''ll set him straight."


    There was no one in this world that could put Ss on a straight and narrow path aside from his mother.


    Neither his grandfather nor father ever scolded him, mostly because he was such a model child that he never had need for such things.


    His mother, however, seemed like an exceptionally nice woman-and that she was-but Ss knew that of his rtives, she was probably the most demanding.


    In fact... much of his strict, rigorous adherence to discipline didn''te from watching his grandfather''s workouts or watching his father''s work ethic. It was from his mother drilling him to be the best that he could be.


    Of course... even then it wasn''t necessarily enough. Otherwise, Ss would have aplished more than just bing a tenured Professor.


    That said, when his mother''s wishes most aligned with Ss'' goal, that was when her words were the most potent.


    Cassarae grinned. Wasn''t Ss'' goal to get into her pants? His mother had always had a fondness for her because their personalities were very simr.


    Although Isolde wasn''t nearly as crude with hernguage, their hearts were colored the same.


    It was time to recruit some people in this battlefield of hers.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Somehow, Cassarae felt this was far more important than theing battle.


    At some unknown time, she had already forgotten her worries as though she was confident that Ss would be able to handle it all seamlessly.


    **


    Nosphaleen appeared before Ss, wrapped in a delicate light of an array of colors. Delicate pinks, sky blues, and dreamy violets swirled about her body, protecting her decency as she slowly awoke from a deep slumber.


    The lights slowly faded and shended on the ground with a gentle sway of her body.


    A wind kicked up as her wings red out and settled down.


    Soon, her body was revealed to the world. Her face seemed more beautiful, the curve of her body enticing one''s sight. Her pair of breasts hung somewhat smallpared to the well- endowed Cassarae, but the sweep of their dew drop shape, and the exotic gentle grey-blue they exuded more than made up for it.


    However, below her waist, there was no longer the body of a humanoid. Instead, it had been reced by the powerful scaled trunk of a Serpentes.


    She loomed over Ss now when she had once been far shorter, a light of lust pulsing in her eyes before she slowly controlled it.


    It wasn''t yet time for her heat cycle, but this urge to procreate was always strongest after an evolution. Between that and the strong connection she felt with Ss, she truly wanted to bed him now.


    But seeing the indifferent coolness in his eyes despite her beauty was like a bucket of cold water over her head.


    When they first met, Ss was still quite influenced by her Charisma. Now, she had grown substantially stronger and even had a Legendary Comprehension to match with it.


    And yet, somehow, he felt even more immune to it now than he had been before. Despite all the advantages she had gained, this now master of hers was still growing much faster than she was.


    "The Frost Bane Armor," Ss said. "Where is it?"


    Nosphaleen blinked in realization and looked down at herself. After noticing her nude state, she wasn''t embarrassed, but instead just a bit surprised. More than that, she was shocked by


    the state of her tail.


    "This... I am not certain, master."


    Nosphaleen was taken aback again. The word master flowed from her mouth so naturally that it was almost scary.


    Ss was a bit surprised as well, but thanks to Insight, he quickly understood. This was probably a natural inclination of all of his Contracts. It was just that Nosphaleen was the only one who could speak so clearly for now.


    Though he didn''t like the loss of another Legendary Path Item, Ss also felt that since its disappearance went to good cause, it was still eptable.


    Now, it was time to see if he would be able to keep his three-day promise or not.


    [Nosphaleen Tideborn (Bronze)]


    [Level: 10]


    -


    [Physical: 999]


    >[Strength: 999]


    >[Constitution: 999]


    >[Dexterity: 999]


    >[Speed: 999]


    [Mental: 1999]


    >[Intelligence: 1999]


    >[Wisdom: 1999]


    >[Charisma: 1999]


    [Will: 999]


    -


    [Skills]


    [>Projected Shift] [>Dreamy Pupils]


    [>Double Vision]


    [>Charm Veil]


    [>Charm Pulse]


    [>Glide]


    [>Charm Counter]


    [>Mesmeryx Fog] (NEW!!!)


    [Gene Talents]


    [>Compelling Gaze]


    [>Siren''s Call]


    [>Mesmeryx Mimic] (NEW!!!)


    -


    [Comprehensions]


    [>Mesmeryx Totem]


    A glint lit in Ss'' eyes. It seemed the answer to that question was yes.

 Chapter 747: Mimic

    Chapter 747: Mimic


    ?


    Ss stood before the gates of Guiz City, his gaze calm.


    He could feel that several had their attention ced on him. But did it matter...?


    The General of Guiz City had returned.


    With a step, he crossed the threshold, directly bypassing the waiting line of people eager to make it into the city.


    However, he had hardly taken this step when he could feel several powerful auras descending toward his position. In the blink of an eye, three Generals had appeared, two women and a man, all wreathed in the same crimson armor.


    It was clear... that they had been waiting for this.


    Maybe it wasn''t to the point that they had been waiting since the moment Ss disappeared, but it was clear that with the sound of war drums approaching, it was inevitable that they would be more alert these days than any other.


    [General Bergouse]


    [Level: 46]


    [General Broussard]


    [Level: 39]


    [General Versaille]


    [Level: 46]


    The anomaly among them was clear. It was a young woman with ast name that Ss recognized quite well.


    Broussard. That was the very samest name as the man who had almost gotten Cassarae''s mother incarcerated, the very same madman responsible for the current salinated state of the Amazonian Wilds and a traitor to the Human Race.


    It seemed that they had infiltrated quite deeply into this city. Ss wasn''t sure how they managed to get a General, but honestly speaking...


    It didn''t matter.


    That was because he was certain that the method they had used wasn''t the same as he had. If this person had directly killed a General like Ss had, this would be news and Cassarae would have definitely mentioned it.


    "General Grimde. Pleasee with us."


    Ss walked right past, ignoring them. He didn''t even bother to say a word, nor did he feel the need to.


    Did it matter if they brought one General or three?


    "Stop right there!" General Broussard barked out, reaching for Ss'' shoulder to stop him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    However, the instant she did, she found herself being flipped over, the world spinning around her.


    Before she could react, her armor burst into ash, spikes of danger overwhelming her. She barely managed to use her Will to protect her body from Ss'' intention at thest moment. But that didn''t stop her armor from crumbling.


    Ss didn''t even pause.


    His fist descended down from above and General Broussard''s eyes opened wide in her final


    moment.


    BANG!


    Her head sttered like a copsed watermelon, blood and gore spilling out in all directions and painting the cobbled stone red.


    The world froze.


    It all happened so quickly. Not a single person expected to see a murder ur just like this in the middle of the street. But Ss stood to his full height as though nothing at all had happened, stepping over the female General''s body and continuing into the distance.


    ''Learning grappling is definitely one of the best decisions I''ve ever made...''


    The Scorned Wraps were a curse, but they were probably also one of his greatest weapons. So long as he could catch someone off guard, it was a one-way ticket to hell.


    Controlling someone''s body against their Will allowed him to trigger the effects of the Scorned Wraps without fail. In the past, the only way to do that was to overwhelm them with power. But now, it wasn''t nearly as difficult.


    General Broussard was certainly not weak. Unfortunately for her, a single mistake around Ss had cost her, her life.


    The two remaining Generals hesitated, their gazes still filled with shock. General Broussard was still weaker than them, and between there was the Level 40 demarcating line between them¡ªsomething that existed every ten Levels-it was an evenrger gap than their 7 Level difference would assume.


    But... even they wouldn''t dare to say that they could kill her with a single strike.


    In fact, they were very much hesitant to even try and stop Ss again.


    In the end, though, they had no choice.


    "Stop!" General Bergouse roared out. "We are under orders of City Lord Guiz to escort you back!"


    Ss'' steps paused finally and he looked back. "For what purpose?"


    The two Generals felt their brows twitch. Shouldn''t the fact you just killed a General without


    reason be enough?


    However, Ss just stood there, waiting.


    "You are being Court Martialed for neglecting your duty."


    "Is that so?"


    Ss didn''t seem surprised.


    Thest time General Guiz had fallen into his trap easily.


    It seemed that this time he would do so again.


    It was quite literally the most foolish angle toe at Ss with.


    While it was true that military officials weren''t as free as Nobles, and even had to spend Merit Points in order to take leave of absences, Generals weren''t subject to the same conditions. This was why Ss was able to leave for so long, seemingly without consequence. However, it was also obvious that if this was the only n City Lord Guiz had, it wouldn''t be enough. No matter how ipetent the Sylph, there was no way he wouldn''t know this as


    well.


    In that case, there was definitely something else waiting for him. Maybe they wouldn''t even try to go the normal route and go as far as to take whatever punishment came with killing him


    directly.


    Thistter situation was definitely the worst-case scenario for Ss, but given his calm expression, one would have never thought that he had already considered it.


    "Okay."


    Ss stunned the crowd when he allowed himself to be taken away. Shouldn''t he at least try


    to run?


    But in the end, he did nothing at all...


    General Bergouse and Versaille inwardly sighed a breath of relief. So long as they did their job,


    the rest of it should be easy enough.


    However, what no one saw was that as the trio, two Generals and a prisoner, walked by an


    alley, another figure appeared...


    It was none other than Ss.


    As for the individual who was captured.


    That was Nosphaleen.


    At some unknown point between Ss killing Broussard and being taken away, they had


    swapped.


    Mesmeryx Mimic.

 Chapter 748: Kill

    Chapter 748: Kill


    ?


    Ss calmly slipped into the city, his movements unhurried.


    Mesmeryx Mimic was the staple Gene Talent of the Mesmeryx Golden Lineage, and its potential here was actually the lowest it would ever be.


    Right now, the fact that Nosphaleen only registered as a Bronze creature meant that much of her abilities were still heavily suppressed. If not for this, she wouldn''t be dealing with so many clear Gene-Stat Limits-the real reason all of her stats looked like mirror images of one another.


    However, even without having reached nearly its full potential, the illusion capabilities of Mesmeryx Mimic were powerful. Something like disguising herself as Ss was


    extraordinarily easy.


    As one n was set into motion, Ss calmly swapped out his clothing for something more ubiquitous to the city and ced a simple half-mask over the lower portion of his face.


    The city was in a peculiar state, aspared to what Ss expected to find, that is. Rather than the tension that was in Casstle Main, the city was going about business as usual. No one seemed to realize that there was anything wrong with the current state of things.


    Ignorance was bliss.


    The saying came to mind as Ss strolled through, but he had a feeling that things weren''t so simple as they seemed.


    It took a great deal of power to suppress information and control the morale of such arge number of people so expertly. It was either something beyond his understanding was forming the undercurrents in the ce, or thepetency of his enemies was beyond his expectations.


    ''I may have to adjust some of my ns because of this...''


    Ss'' steps paused as he stood in the middle of a bustling street. Something in his gaze flickered as he looked up and around.


    For a moment, he felt like a lone weed swaying in a field, his mind grasping something that had just been out of his reach.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''... So that''s what''s going on...''


    He began to move again. This time faster.


    Despite his speed being beyond that of the normal traffic, he weaved in and out of people seamlessly, and they almost seemed to ignore his presence.


    Ss had learned something quite interesting from observing Alex for so long. While it was the case that Will could bolster and make one''s presence bolder, the opposite was possible as well.


    When one''s Will was refined to a deep enough extent, vanishing from the perceptions of normal day-to-day people was possible as well.


    ''There.''


    Ss swept a gaze over a new outpost casually. Printed newspapers with various headlines took up the bulk of its front facade, painting an illusion ofpetition.


    However, if Ss had to guess.... every one of those headlines was controlled by the very same group of people.


    Most in that had to rely on a System City wouldn''t have easy ess to a Nexus. But further than that, if this System City made information that could normally only be found in a Nexus more essible to the masses, then many would likewise feel less inclined to pay the hefty fees to use Temporary Nexuses.


    As they were lulled into this false sense of security, they would be more likely to take information they saw in passing as the truth.


    By the time anyone realized anything was wrong, it would already be toote because they were now even controlling the flow of information in real Nexuses as well.


    Ss hadn''t taken notice of these news stands before, but if he had to bet, they had probably been around for a long while.


    If you wanted to control the people...


    Control the flow of information.


    ''Interesting. Unfortunately, it won''t matter in this case.''


    **


    "Ss" walked with his hands chained, silently waiting.


    The disguise was nothing more than a false skin over Nosphaleen''s body, but part of tricking the world was tricking oneself. She was having a hard time not focusing a little too much on the things swinging down there.


    CLINK.


    The cell door''s gears began to turn and soon a pair of familiar faces appeared. Duke Kraga and Duchess Ravene.


    The votes of these pair of Dukes were the reason why Ss had sessfully gotten the right to challenge General Aleen as a mere Baron. It was precisely because he was a Noble, though, that they had given him special treatment.


    Nosphaleen had followed Ss'' n to a T, strong-arming the System City officials to grant him an audience with these two Dukes.


    After a moment, Nosphaleen parted her lips, or rather "Ss''," and began to speak.


    **


    "Is that so?" Plinli took in the news that Ss had called for the Dukes quite calmly. In fact, he had already expected this.


    The System City had three Dukes. Other than those two, Duke Guiz was thest. Just by thest name alone, one could imagine whose side he was on.


    However, they only controlled one Duke amongst the three. As such, the majority rule wasn''t in their perfect control...


    Or so Ss thought.


    After suffering at the hands of these Dukes once before, how could plinli make the same mistake twice? If Ss thought that relying on his Noble Title would be enough this time


    around, he was sorely mistaken.


    Lucirius grinned after the attendant left with the report.


    "This isn''t something to grin about." Plinli said, still calm.


    "That arrogant bastard is finished. What is there to not be happy about?"


    "We have to keep news of the General''s death away from prying ears. If he finds out, it can cause problems. We shouldn''t underestimate this Ss. Thest time we did so, we suffered


    for it."


    "What problems can it cause? That man is just as pragmatic as we are. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be working with us in the first ce."


    "Pragmatic is one way to put it. Selfish is another."


    Plinli stood to his feet. "We need to handle this delicately. Kill everyone who witnessed the event. Put out a report that General Broussard went on a mission."

 Chapter 749: Ghost Man

    Chapter 749: Ghost Man


    ?


    Ss slipped into an inconspicuous shop. Wares lined the walls, disyed quite crudely. The shelves they sat on looked like they might copse at any time, but there was a steady flow of customers in and out. There might not be arge number of them, but they were consistent, and each one had a small conversation with the middle-aged woman behind the counter that warmed the atmosphere and made it clear they were repeat visitors.


    This was a shop that exuded a quaint sense of peace, a mom-and-pop shop that formed the heart of a neighborhood.


    But rather thanfort foods or simple dry cleaning services, this shop sold Elixirs and various consumable items at an extraordinarilypetitive market price.


    "Oh? I haven''t seen you around here. New?" the middle-aged woman smiled.


    She had the valiant air of a middle-aged housewife, but the kind smile of a mother. She was overweight in the she-knew-her-way-around-a-kitchen sort of way, carrying an amiable smile that made her both want to protect her and not disappoint her at the same time.


    "I''ve been here for a while," Ss said softly. "It''s just that I haven''te here before. I''ve heard many good things so I thought I should."


    "Oh! You must be the mysterious ghost, haha!" the jovialughter of the middle-aged woman filled the store.


    "The ghost man?" another middle-aged woman in the process of cing her items on the counter looked over toward Ss with a chuckle. "Are you really?"


    "Ghost man?" Ss asked, pretending not to understand.


    "We live in a small little neighborhood and most people who live here can''t afford to live anywhere else. Even so, amodations are very scarce and we''re often packed together tight like sardines. But your apartment is the only one that''s vacant. Let alone vacant, yours is the only one that doesn''t have at least four people sharing it."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The confusion that yed in Ss'' eyes belied the calmness of his heart.


    In a smallmunity like this one, anything that was out of the ordinary would stand out. Ss had bought this shabby apartment months ago with the money he had scrounged up. It cost him 10,000 F-Coins at the time, and now, it was even more expensive than that, easily being ten times the price.


    He then used the fact he ownednd in the city as a springboard to earn his way into the military and rank up, not to mention get himself a Noble Title.


    All of these actions seemed benign enough. But in a small littlemunity like this one, anomalies stick out like sore thumbs.


    Ss'' "confusion" was slowly ebbing away as he eked out the details.


    "Ah, I see. Yes, that apartment is mine. I only return to rest every few months. Most of the rest


    of the time I spend in the wilderness hunting and looking for opportunities."


    Thedy behind the counter smiled a bitter, understanding smile. Her chubby hands ran through her greying hair, a sigh escaping her lips.


    "I know you''re young, but you''ve got to take care of yourself better. Sometimes ambition isn''t enough to get you through in life."


    Ss nodded. "Yes, ma''am."


    "So polite, hoho. Why don''t you give the young man something nice, Eness?"


    "Look at you, always trying to get free stuff."


    "Hey, hey, hey," the middle-aged customer rebuffed. "I''m just trying to help a struggling boy out."


    "Yeah? And then if I give him something for free, you''lle wringing your handster." Aughter filled the small shop.


    "Tell you what, young man. You look like you''ve got a strong pair of shoulders. I''ve got some inventory in the back that I need help sorting out. Can you do that for me? I''ll pay you well."


    A Quest window popped up before Ss and he casually epted it.


    "No problem." Ss said with a nod.


    ...


    The day waned and Ss finally finished up on the inventory when Eness was about to close up shop.


    "Oh! You''re finished for the day?" Eness asked. "You cane back tomorrow to finish up. I know it can be tiring. My brain isn''t what it used to be, Ipletely forgot you were working back there."


    "Nono." Ss shook his head, a bit of fatigue between his brows. "I''ve already finished everything."


    Eness'' brows shot up, feeling somewhat skeptical. She was also a little bit worried. She really had forgotten Ss was back there.


    She might be kind, but she wasn''t a fool. Letting someone she didn''t know fiddle around with her inventory for so long without supervision was a recipe for disaster.


    Especially when it was a recluse like Ss.


    But when she went to check, she was floored.


    Not only was everything meticulously organized andbeled, but she didn''t see a single cobweb or speck of dust. The ce waspletely spotless.


    She was so stunned that tears began to brim in her eyes.


    Ever since her husband died, she hadn''t had much help running the shop. Between staying on her feet all day and actually forging the Elixirs and consumables, she didn''t have any time to keep things organized and clean like she liked.


    In the end, her shop became more and more shabby until she didn''t even recognize it


    anymore.


    Just Ss'' act of diligence had moved her so much that she forgot to actually check if he had stolen anything. Quite frankly, even if he had, she might look at it as repayment for a job well


    done.


    But by the time she actually did go on to check, she found that not a single thing was missing and her heart was more moved.


    "... What a good kid..." she muttered.


    Eness suddenly shook awake and she rushed out of the inventory room to find that Ss was already gone. Not only that, but even the outer facade of her little shop had been cleaned just


    as beautifully.


    She patted her somewhat wrinkled forehead, cursing to herself about being muddled with age


    again.


    "I''ll have to give him a good reward next time hees. Hopefully he was happy with the Quest rewards, though."


    Eness smiled and rolled up her sleeves. She was going to make a nice little care package for the


    ghost man.


    Their littlemunity had been gossiping about him for so long. Who knew that he would suddenly appear and then disappear inexplicably like a real ghost?


    What Eness never expected, though, was that she would never get the chance.


    Two dayster, news that left the littlemunity shell-shocked spread.


    General Broussard led an expedition against the Demons encroaching into their Amazonian


    Wilds Territory, conscripting arge number of eager young men.


    Today, a list of the dead had been returned.


    Most didn''t think much of it...


    Until news that the ghost man had been among the dead spread through the quaint littlemunity of stacked apartment boxes.


    ...


    Eness sat behind her counter, shell-shocked when she heard the news. A little gift basket had been sitting on her counter for thesest few days already, but never did she think that it


    would be a reminder of a lost chance at life.


    Tears fell from her cheeks, following the deep trenches of her lines of age.

 Chapter 750: Eness [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 750: Eness [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    An unexpected mourning took hold of the smallmunity.


    They had spent the better part of thest year building up this legend of the ghost man. Without them knowing, this urban legend that had started off as little more than a joke had be a part of their daily lives. For these people that didn''t have much, the simplest of things could rule their worlds.


    The fact that Ss had made the life of one of their most treasured neighbors better had made them all quite happy as well. Eness was like a mother to them all, and the light pep in her step in thest couple of days had ced down a weight on all their hearts.


    How could they not know just how much the widow had struggled in the absence of her husband?


    Unfortunately, there hadn''t been much that the few of them could do outside of supporting her small business.


    Things had taken a small turn for the better when Ss appeared. It was a small gesture, and seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was also this gesture that made them feel as though Ss was truly part of theirmunity.


    He was just like many of them, trying to survive in this cruel world. Maybe it was only a matter of time before he didn''t return... but no one ever thought that thest risk they took would be exactly that...


    Theirst.


    ...


    Eness walked through the streets, pulling on the somewhat shabby shawl that hung around her plump shoulders. This was the best dress she had, but even while wearing it, she feltpletely out of ce in this district.


    Still, she trudged along, her skin spilling out of the low profile heels she had squeezed them into.


    Soon, she made it to a building, an off-shoot of the military encampment.


    ording to System Cityw, any citizen of the city was allowed the right to ask for the public record of military exploits. This was actually one of the many methods the system used to keep the City Lord and his cohorts under control. But it was also something that was still rarely used.


    Eness hadn''te here for this, though. She hoped that there were some remains of the ghost man that she could take back with her.


    Considering how he was living, she doubted that he had any family to speak of, so she took it upon herself.


    ...


    "Hello, I''m here regarding thest expedition General Broussard led against the Demons. My adopted son was a part of the list of dead. I would like to see if he left any remains that I can take back with me."


    The expression of the woman at the desk softened when she heard this.


    "Yes, right away. May I please have your son''s name?"


    Eness looked a bit troubled when thedy asked this. Of course, she couldn''t say ghost man. That wasn''t the young man''s real name, and she had no idea what it was.


    But she had also already expected this. This was why she had lied about her rtionship with the ghost man. If she told the truth, they would likely just shoo her away.


    "Is something wrong?" thedy asked, her tone still soft.


    "... I''m a bit embarrassed to say, but... I do not know. At least, I do not know what name my son chose to register himself as here. We are a poor family and don''t have ast name. My son was always embarrassed of this and had dreams of one day bing a General. I''m not sure if he used the same name or not. But he probably used some variation of his first name... it was Shai."


    Thedy at the desk nodded with understanding. This wasn''t an umon practice.


    With the system, citizens could be distinguished at a nce, so there was no need for rigorous paperwork. This made situations like this moremon than one might think, especially since not many dared to go around scanning everyone-that went doubly so for those at the bottom rung of society.


    Who knew who you might identally offend?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    For a conscription event like this one, the rules were obviously much morex than usual.


    Luckily, Eness had heard through the grapevine that the ghost man used a name simr to this. It was just that she wasn''t sure of the spelling, or thest name, so this was the best approach to take.


    "I see. I will take a look for you."


    A few seconds ticked by and the receptionist began to frown. She had scanned the list several times now, but she didn''t find a name that was very simr at all.


    A hint of guilt flickered in her eyes, but she had no choice but to break the bad news to Eness.


    "I''m sorry, I think your son may have taken a very different name. I don''t see any names simr to Shai here."


    Eness'' heart sank. "I..." she took a breath. "I know that it might be a lot to ask, but is it possible for me to see the report? Maybe I can guess at when my son died by reading it back."


    "Nono, there''s no need to be so polite. This is your right as a citizen. I will go and check with the higher-ups and get you the clearance you need right away."


    Eness bowed. "Thank you, thank you..."


    The youngdy behind the counter rounded to the front and helped Eness to a seat before hurrying away.


    What Eness didn''t expect was to spend the next three hours there.


    When thedy at the counter returned, she had guilt written all over her face as she avoided eye contact with Eness, but the middle-aged shopkeeper could only continue to wait.


    An entire two hourster, a stern-faced Colonel walked into the wide corridor with a brisk pace. Soon, he loomed over Eness, casting a shadow over her.


    "You are the one asking for records of someone whose name you don''t even know?"


    Eness'' brows shot up. Why was there so much hostility?


    "I-."


    Eness was roughly taken by the fat of her arms and pulled to her feet. She couldn''t even resist


    as she practically spilled over herself beneath the man''s grip.


    The world spun around her as she was suddenly thrown out onto the busy street.


    "Don''t cause problems for my government with your nonsense. Scram."


    The door mmed shut behind the Colonel.

 Chapter 751: Odds

    Chapter 751: Odds


    ?


    Eness winced on the ground,nding on her tailbone heavily. A sharp ache tore through her spine and she let out a small whimper, rolling over to her side.


    The passersby looked over in shock and hesitation.


    Most wouldn''t recognize the faces of Colonels by look alone, but they would recognize their uniforms. The Colonel had only appeared for a short time, but the style of his pauldrons and the bright red of the emblem on hispel told them everything they needed to know.


    There were only a hundred Colonels in the entire city. Their standing didn''t need to be discussed; it was inherently known and understood.


    But even so... for the life of them, they couldn''t understand why they had targeted a woman like this.


    Fear gripped their hearts and many just didn''t want to get involved, but when they saw the tears brimming in Eness'' eyes and how she couldn''t seem to move on her own anymore, their hearts won out.


    A pair of young men double-checked the door before rushing forward, slowly helping Eness to her feet.


    "Eness? Eness!"


    A familiar middle-aged woman pushed her way through the crowd. She was none other than the very customer that had been at the counter when Ss arrived that day-Da.


    She was dressed not too dissimrly from Eness herself. Clearly, she had had a simr idea, but was a stepte.


    "Are you alright? What happened?" Da''s question came out in rapid fire.


    Click.


    The doors to the military office opened and a man stepped out. It wasn''t the Colonel, but everyone was already walking on tenterhooks.


    "Clear out the area. This isn''t a ce you all cang around in. I''ll give you three minutes. If not, I''ll charge you all for inciting a public disturbance."


    Eness'' lip trembled and she lowered her head.


    With the help of the two young men and Da, she managed to slowly waddle away.


    A cold light shed in the man''s eyes, but he didn''t say anything more, just sweeping a gaze through the rest before he turned and vanished into the building once more.


    **


    Plinli frowned, looking at the report. What were the odds of this?


    Those that needed reports of military exploits were almost non-existent. The history of the city was so limited that this had only happened a handful of times, and most often it was just for the sake of court orders to sort out wrongdoing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But when Plinli read this report, he could only shake his head. Eness hadn''t directly asked for the report. Apparently, she just wanted it to try and figure out who her son was.


    However, how were they supposed to produce a report for a fake mission only held as a facade?


    Everyone on that mission had died because General Broussard wasn''t meant to be a participant in the first ce. They didn''t want anyone who knew this to spill the beans ahead of time.


    It should probably be fine, but Plinli was getting an uneasy feeling.


    He stood to his feet, pacing back and forth as Lucirius strolled in.


    "Is it done?" Plinli looked toward his younger cousin.


    "Yes."


    "Cleanly?"


    "They were just normal witnesses. The situation by the gate is tightly managed, so the in- flow and out-flow is well documented. We know who they were, who they''re affiliated with, and what they did after entering the city. Anyone who was there has been dealt with aside from the two Generals."


    Plinli bit at his lip, his mind whirring, but he was unable to figure out where he might have gone wrong. Was he just overthinking it?


    "Kill the Generals too."


    Lucirius'' brows shot up. "... Are you sure? That''s a huge loss."


    "I''m sure. No chances. Once this is finished, we won''t need them anyway. No need to take the risk."


    "Alright." Lucirius said evenly.


    "Kill the widow and the few that helped her today too. She wouldn''t have told the others her story, but she might have told them."


    Lucirius nodded, not thinking much of it.


    **


    "... I''m sorry, everyone. I think I''ve broken something, I can''t move very well." Eness said softly.


    Because of how slow Eness was moving and how they had to basically carry her, it had taken over two hours just to get back to their littlemunity. It would probably take another 15 minutes at least before they could make it to her home.


    She felt terrible taking up so much of their day, but even worse about what the future held. Maybe one of her Elixirs could help, but she would definitely be bedridden for at least two or more weeks.


    If that happened, she wouldn''t be able to refine anything. She had no idea how she would survive theseing days.


    The two young men shook their heads. Who could me Eness for what happened?


    Da had tried to question her about what happened, but Eness remainedpletely tight- lipped. The widow might not be a seasoned veteran of politics, but she had enough life experience to know that she had identally stepped over a line she didn''t know existed.


    If she told others about it, it would just drag them into her mess.


    Who knew... maybe she would be going off to see her husband very soon.


    If not for the fact these three insisted on escorting her back, she would have already shooed them away. Unfortunately, she really didn''t have the strength to be more demanding.


    "Eness?"


    "Eness? What happened?"


    As they entered their littlemunity, a ce where not much happened on the daily basis,


    there was an overturning of shocked exmations.


    Many rushed out to see what happened, but they were stonewalled by Da.


    "Make way, make way! Get the doctor over here!"


    They gave way to Da''s barking orders.


    Soon, they had helped Eness back to her little shop and into her apartment on the floor above.


    However, as the group of four entered the room, they froze as they found a masked man standing there, waiting for them.

 Chapter 752: A Sliver

    Chapter 752: A Sliver


    ?


    Eness'' heart leapt into her throat. She didn''t know who this man was. No one had been in her apartment aside from herself in so very long. There was no reason for that to change today, unless...


    The man only gave them a casual nce before tossing down a ticking device. Then, he calmly turned toward the window, cing a foot on the ledge as he pulled himself out.


    Their eyes widened as they locked eyes with the bomb.


    00:05


    00:04


    00:03


    They turned away, rushing out of the room. The two young men hauled Eness with them, far less delicately than they ever had before. However, deep inside, they knew that they wouldn''t be able to get away.


    Despair colored their gazes, and heartache and guilt painted Eness'' own.


    She should have done more to push them away, more to get them out of this situation... more to save their lives.


    But never did she think that the ce she called home... was actually so cruel.


    The man on the ledge remained calm as though an explosion wasn''t about to erupt to his back. In his mind, the thoughts were flowing quite smoothly.


    ''The story will be clean. An alchemist''s experiment gone wrong. A group of amateurs tried to help an Elixir maker heal her injuries but identally chose the wrong mixture.''


    BOOM!


    CRACK.


    The sound was heart-pounding, but the eruption of mes and the billowing heat that should havee with it did.


    The shockwave rippled out, sending the group sprawling down the hallway and shattering the windows and mirrors in the small space, but it was greatly suppressed, a little stronger than a forceful gust of wind.


    The man had already leapt out of the window and scaled a nearby building when he realized that something was wrong.


    BANG!


    The roof of the small building shattered to pieces, spiraling out in all directions in a rain of hay, tile, and brick. But the man''s heart shook.


    Something was wrong.


    Others wouldn''t be able to tell the difference in the aftermath, but he could tell that that destruction had nothing to do with the bomb he had left behind.


    There, standing on the edge of what once had been the location the roof began in, a man wearing a half-mask stood, his hand sped behind his back.


    Eness, Da, and the others slowly propped themselves up, their hearts beating out of their chest.


    When Eness saw the back of this young man, her eyes widened. "Gho-!"


    She hurriedly stopped talking. She recognized the young man, but she couldn''t believe it. Wasn''t ghost man supposed to be dead? What happened?


    A groan left her lips as more waves of pain hit her.


    Ss turned back and his palm flipped over. With a wave of his telekinesis, he sent the widow a shimmering Elixir before turning back to the man dressed in ck in the distance.


    The man was someone Ss recognized immediately despite the disguise. He might be able to hide his presence from others, but Ss had learned how to identify people by their Wills long ago.


    Lucirius Guiz.


    [Lucirius Guiz]


    [Level: 30]


    [Physical: 647]


    [Mental: 803]


    [Will: 877]


    A re of violet spiraled around Ss as his Scorpion Warlord Armor took shape. Lucirius'' eyes opened wide. "YOU-!"


    BANG!


    Ss'' foot crumbled the failing wall beneath him, crossing the distance between himself and Lucirius in an instant.


    Lucirius'' body swayed back, reaching toward empty air and seemingly pulling a spear out from the shadows.


    de and fist met, but Lucirius was sent rocketing backward, his arm snapping in the wrong direction.


    Ss looked down on the man from above as he crashed through several buildings,nding on the wide, unkempt roads of the slums and drawing a deep trench.


    Lucirius'' stats were incredibly weak, so much so that Ss felt he could pinch him to death with a single thought.


    But he knew that things wouldn''t be so easy. Nor did he want them to be.


    If he killed Lucirius too easily, he wouldn''t be able to execute thetter half of his n with


    ease.


    He could have killed Lucirius in the first exchange just now, but he chose not to on purpose. Luckily, Lucirius didn''t disappoint him.


    Chi. Chi. Chi.


    Lightning sparked around Lucirius as Runes that bound him shattered one after another.


    A strong force of oppression descended from above as Ss sensed a familiar presence. Thest time he felt this... the System Eye descended, eradicating a Dogon in the blink of an eye. However, just as it was about to fully form, Lucirius coughed up a mouthful of ckened blood.


    As though the sacrifice was enough, the oppressive might slowly vanished, leaving a man wreathed in lightning.


    "I''ve wanted to kill you for a long time. Today, I''ll show you a small bit of the Guiz n''s power, you insufferable ant."


    Lucirius'' hair sparked and seemed to be just as much hair fments as it was streaks of golden lightning.


    His aura pierced toward the skies and storm clouds brewed.


    BANG!


    An arc of lightning came from the skies and struck Lucirius'' body. But instead of writhing in pain, he greedily consumed it, whipping out his arm and snapping his broken bone back into ce in a single fluid motion.


    Streaks of gold overwhelmed Lucirius'' eyes and body as he pointed his spear forward.


    He took a step and vanished, bing nothing more than a bolt cutting through the wind.


    In a blink, his spear appeared before Ss'' throat.


    Ss side-stepped with a single fluid motion as though Lucirius'' speed didn''t bother him in the slightest, erupting with a vicious hook toward the Sylph''s liver.


    However, the Lucirius that Ss had fought in the past only seemed awkward and unskilled because he was fighting with four hands tied behind his back.


    How difficult was it to battle with the same fluidity when 99% of your skills were locked?


    Now, however...


    He had regained a tiny sliver of his real ability.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Lucirius Guiz]


    [Level: 45]


    [Physical: 1529]


    [Mental: 3729] [Will: 1372]

 Chapter 753: Lucirius (1)

    Chapter 753: Lucirius (1)


    ?


    The Sylph roared, his spear spinning and knocking Ss'' fist to the side. Then in the same sweeping motion, he cut toward Ss'' thigh.


    Ss raised his leg, kneeing the body of the spear upward and erupting with his own counter.


    Streaks of violet and gold danced through the city streets and the booming cadence of their battle began to spread far and wide.


    The two unleashed a flurry of attacks and counters, neither seemingly wanting to waste any time on defense.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Lucirius'' lightning rebounded off of Ss'' armor, unable to prate. But Lucirius was too slippery and fast for Ss tond a good shot on him.


    The two weaved in and out of one another''s attacks, dancing on the de edge of death as though it was their mistress.


    The longer they fought, the more flips Lucirius'' heart did. Just when had Ss grown so powerful?


    BANG!


    The Sylph quickly blocked a sudden tail attack, only to find it wrapping around his spear. At the same time, Ss pulled on its body with a second hand, almost ripping the weapon out of the Sylph''s control.


    Lucirius wanted to focus on keeping his weapon, but he was forced to release a single hand, mming out a palm to block an oing fist.


    DENG. DENG.


    Both took a heavy step back, but still connected by the spear, they snapped back toward one another.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Their foreheads shed and their palms struck out at the same time.


    A three-pronged struggle shook the air around them, rippling Aether spreading out in all directions.


    The shock in Lucirius'' heart only grew deeper. This armor of Ss'' was too strong. It felt like he couldn''t even make a single dent into it-


    BANG!


    Ss'' fist suddenly changed, his wrist flexing downward and parrying Lucirius'' palm up. He released his hold on Lucirius'' spear at the same time, a pair of red-gold wings appearing to his back as he controlled the Sylph''s free arm.


    His hips torqued in a sudden bursting movement, his eleration reaching its peak in a single instant of time.


    Lucirius found the world spinning around him. Before he could register what was happening, his back mmed heavily into the ground and all the wind was knocked out of him.


    He barely had time to feel Ss'' heel mming down toward him from above.


    With a rush of his intention, he poured Lightning Aether into a shield, blocking the guillotine-like ax kick.


    A reverberating impact shattered the shield as Lucirius rolled to the side, and Ss'' foot stomped right onto the cracked, unkempt roads of the slums.


    The ground shook and the already damaged concrete fractured.


    A jolt ran up Ss'' leg, but his Scorned Wraps held true. In a fluid motion, his body leaned back, dodging out of the way of a spear that jetted toward his throat.


    The spurt of sharp lightning passed overhead, piercing toward the clouds and causing the steadily darkening overshadow to spark with a brilliant light.


    A thrum of thunder echoed through the skies as Lucirius used the awkward angle of his strike to rise to his feet once more. Seemingly not wanting Ss to observe what was happening overhead any longer, the Sylph hurriedly closed the distance once again, his spear erupting in a flurry of fluttering strikes.


    Streaks of lightning peeled through the air between the two of them, jagged lines of unpredictable, winding and turning bolts ripping through the air and attacking Ss from all sides.


    However, there was a depth of calmness in Ss'' gaze at the moment, one that was rooted in a confidence born from more battles than he cared to count.


    There was no doubt that Lucirius was essing far more of his skill now than he had during their first battle...


    But so what?


    Ss'' palm struck out, finding the spear body amidst the storm of lightning and pping downward.


    Lucirius'' eyes sharpened, angling his de up. But Ss didn''t change his trajectory in the slightest, meeting the de head-on.


    CHI.


    The de cut through the gauntlets of the Scorpion Warlord Armor, but found itself stalled soon afterward. And, as powerful as Lucirius'' Mental stats were, his Physical stats were far from up to par with Ss'' current own.


    It was clear that the Sylph was using Lightning Aether to keep up, but with that approach came its weaknesses.


    Like now.


    Ss'' overwhelming power drove the spear down, bending it out of his way.


    Its forward momentum continued and sparks flew as it grazed against the leg tes of his Scorpion Warlord Armor, but that only diverted its path further. In fact, Ss had so much confidence in his Defenses that he didn''t bother to dodge at all, immediately lifting his leg in a torrential kick.


    The wind whistled and Ss'' leg howled, a torquing power that started from the base of his feet, through to his torso, mming against the side of the Sylph''s head.


    Lucirius'' head was almost kicked off in that single motion, the vertebrae of his neck bending like a rubber band beneath the pressure.


    Ss felt a jolt course through his body, the slight crack in his armor providing an avenue for the lightning to course through.


    His heart almost seized and his body froze for a slight moment as Lucirius was sent flying.


    A sh came from his ss Aether skin and the slight Earth characteristics of his ss Aether countered it, grounding him.


    Ss adjusted and the crack in his armor healed, the swirls of Aether around them surging into their body.


    The Amazonian Wilds had a particrly high concentration of Poison Aether. So though his Ice Aether was a bit limited here and he hadn''t bothered to use it in the battle, his Scorpion Warlord Armor was able to recover much quicker here than it had in the volcano.


    Now, he was used to this Lightning Aether and knew exactly how to counter it. That, and...


    ''This should be enough. Time to end this.''


    A greenish glow fused into Ss'' surroundings, melding into his armor. Fogs of emerald emitted from their violet depths.


    Just as Lucirius pulled himself to his feet, a trembling weight came from Ss'' leg as he rocketed forward, crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 754: Lucirius (2)

    Chapter 754: Lucirius (2)


    ?


    Lucirius coughed up mouthfuls of blood that were sparked to ash by his lightning. His footing stumbled as the world spun around him. Even now, his brain was still rattling around in his skull and showing not the slightest sign of stopping.


    BANG!


    A fist drove into his gut and his tongue almost went flying out of his mouth. It didn''t feel like a man had hit him at all. Instead, it felt like a raging beast had suddenly rammed right through his torso, the power so great that he could feel his spine almost give out.


    He thought he would be sent flying into a building, but instead he was met by three powerful forces to his back, strong pulses of invisible power that rammed into him again and again.


    Ss'' telekinesis jetted out like powerful waves ofpressed air, keeping him in ce as a second and third strikended on his body.


    In a single barrage, Lucirius felt all his inner organs shred to pieces. Ss'' control was so fine and perfect that his bones weren''t interfered with in the slightest, and yet damage was maximized.


    The situation turned around so fast that Lucirius didn''t even know what to think. He didn''t know that he could think at all right now.


    There was a might pressing down on his psyche that burdened his Will, making him feel small, inferior, insignificant...


    Like the outsider he was.


    He had stepped into the territory of Earth, not as a predator, but as prey.


    And he had pissed off the wrong person.


    Ss felt the Will of Earth wrap around him as his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension red with life and vitality. It seemed even stronger now that it was facing an outsider, triggered by the grievances of Earth''s people.


    And with his Will suppressed, Lucirius didn''t have the strength left to use his Will to counter Ss'' own...


    The Level o he had once looked down upon had grown too powerful, too strong. Ss'' Will was no longer something that could be so easily dismissed with a pulse of Aether or surge of intent... not with his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension active.


    A heavy foot stomped down on Lucirius from above, cutting through his lightning until it met skin. What was left of the armor he had used to protect himself outside of his Aether had long been torn to pieces by Ss'' blows.


    Aside from his spear, he didn''t seem to have any other Treasures to rely upon.


    Time slowed for Lucirius and he whiffed the scent of death. A scythe hung to his neck, slowly piercing into his skin and flooding him with a sense of loss.


    Ss wasn''t one to speak, nor did he care to. The moment he got Lucirius in this position, he stomped down, his quads flexing as he pushed through.


    The position of his foot was perfect. With this blow, and if he applied his strength just right, Lucirius'' heart would be skewered at least a half dozen ways by his own ribcage.


    But it was then that a slight change took ce.


    The skies rumbled just as the sickening crunch of Lucirius'' bones echoed.


    A wheezing, painedughter came from Lucirius.


    "... Fi... na...lly..."


    A bolt as thick as a small hill descended from the skies, crashing down and tearing the slummunity into two. It enveloped the two men and all one could see from the outside was a pulsing pir of gold.


    And then it vanished as soon as it appeared.


    Ss stumbled back, his armor filled with cracks. A pressure weighed down on his mind, but it didn''te from the lightning. Rather, as his armor tried to quickly mend itself, it seemed to be trying to rely on him to supply the Will of the Scorpion it needed.


    Ss had never experienced this before and he wondered if it was because he had reached Flesh Mastery.


    BANG!


    He was just trying to figure it out when a spear pierced through the cracked shards in his chest, sending him flying back.


    His Scorpion Warlord Armor broke into shards. As the world spun around him, he barely saw a giant wreathed in lightning, standing at over three meters tall.


    Lucirius had disappeared, or maybe this was Lucirius himself.


    "I cannot believe that that didn''t kill you... Maybe Plinli was right, underestimating you was a mistake. But that all ends-."


    Ss stood, looking down at his chest that was now coated in ck scales. There was a barely perceptible white mark where Lucirius'' spear hadnded, and he couldn''t help but shake his head.


    ''About five seconds... it''s enough.''


    Ss vanished.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Lucirius snapped his head from side to side, trying to pinpoint where the blurring images started and ended, and which of them was Ss'' real body, but in the end, none of it mattered.


    BANG!


    A powerful force struck his wrist, knocking his spear out of his grasp. The gap in Strength was so high that Lucirius didn''t even have the right to fight back, almost like an adult had ripped his de out from his child-like hands.


    The spear pierced into the ground with such strength that the streets were overturned, a crack as thick as a man''s waist racing to the left and right, before veering and crashing into the foundation of a building that sent it crumbling to the ground.


    It was then that Lucirius finally spotted Ss. At some unknown time, he had appeared, standing on the butt of his spear and staring at him at eye level.


    Lucirius'' body shook from head to toe when he saw those golden slit eyes. He felt so small, so insignificant.


    What he had experienced before wasn''t the reaper''s scythe at all. It was something more arrogant, more primal. It wasn''t a supernatural force, but was rather just Ss'' Will alone.


    He wanted him to die.


    So today... the Sylph would die.


    Ss'' tail, as ck as night, and pulsing with faint Runes of gold, casually whipped out.


    Another blow hit the side of Lucirius'' head in the very same spot Ss'' earlier kick had. But


    this time, his spine snapped.


    Like a deformed ball, his head caved into the side of Ss'' tail, the G-forces on it so great that it couldn''t escape.


    Lines of pressure distorted his features as his eyes dimmed in thest moments.


    And then...


    BANG!


    Ss'' tail came to a stop, snapping back as Lucirius'' head fell into a rain of flesh, blood, and


    gore.

 Chapter 755: Perfect [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 755: Perfect [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    Ss dismissed his fusion with the Basilisk King, a string of pulsing pain erupting through his body. His muscles spasmed and it almost looked like cramps were continuously forming beneath his skin.


    It was a gruesome sight saved from being worse by theck of blood. It wasn''t until Ss took several deep breaths and massaged his body through a series of flexes that the pain slowly subsided.


    The drawbacks this time were minimal, mostly thanks to the fact Were-For-The-Invincible had Leveled up considerably, increasing his control.


    Because he could now Fuse with two beasts, the limit for the stats he could take when fusing with just one had gone up. But the gap between his stats and that of the Basilisk King''s were still too far apart.


    He could maintain the Fusion for more than five seconds, but over that threshold would be the point where terrible harm would start being inflicted onto his body.


    Only the first leg of his n wasplete for now, so he didn''t want to end up in a partiallyatose state just yet, at least not until he could guarantee that there would at least be a victory waiting on the other side for him.


    ''Should be about right...''


    Ss looked up from his position on the flickering lightning spear. Indeed, there were several spectators around, most of which were many hundreds of meters away.


    This sort of battle wasn''t the sort that most could be nearby for. His strength had already reached the point where even if he couldn''t level a small town to the ground, he could still definitely destroy a street or two.


    Well, his personal strength wasn''t capable of that just yet mostly because he was stillcking in offensive repertoire. But his enemies were clearly already capable of such a thing.


    The fact Lucirius could call down lightning from the skies made him feel that this world was truly more fantastical than he knew. He thought that he had already gotten used to it, but clearly there was much more to learn.


    That fact made his blood boil.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss reached down a hand and tried to test to see if he could take Lucirius'' Genes. He was honestly just wasting time. Thest time he tried to take Genes from a Sylph, he was stonewalled. But he thought that he might as well try now.


    ''Hm?''


    Ss'' gaze flickered.


    That was when he recalled something.


    Back when he killed Azrael, his Taboo Bond Path was at just Level 1. It was before he had ever gotten any Free Experience. Because of that, it only worked on Fragmented Genes and mostly ended up being worthless.


    After all, beasts with Fragmented Genes had already stopped beingmonce after Ss exited the Slithering Madness Dungeon.


    But now, the situation was different. He didn''t have to rely on the system anymore. Azrael''s body had ended up atrophying after the failure by the system. But this time, when Ss used Extricate, he could feel some resistance... however, this resistance meant two things in particr.


    First, it meant that his Extricate Path Talent had actually sensed something.


    And second... he felt that he could actually pull it out.


    But this was still odd for Ss. That was because in the Frostbane Dungeon, he had tried to


    use Extricate on the Sylphs there as well, but he had been stonewalled too.


    Could it be that Taboo Bond had leveled up enough that the protections the Sylphs had against this sort of thing weren''t effective on him anymore?


    A bundle of lightning came out from Lucirius'' body and Ss looked at it curiously, his gaze flickering.


    It felt like a Gene and yet not like a Gene at the same time.


    Ss had seen Unique Genes before, but they felt nothing like this one.


    ''Is this the difference between being born with a Unique Gene and fusing with one after the fact? It feels like this is much more a part of Lucirius'' body than the others had been...


    ''No, it''s not just this...''


    Ss took out Lucius'' corpse and used Extricate on it as well. The Grimde family''s Unique Gene appeared, twirling with a red light as it spontaneously twisted into des from time to time.


    While he had had Lucius with him for a decent while now, Ss hadn''t felt the need to take the Grimde''s Unique Gene from him.


    ''It''s a Silver Gene...'' Ss realized. ''... But this feels deeper than that...''


    After a few seconds, Ss grasped what was going on here.


    Lucirius'' Gene wasn''t just an F-Grade Unique Gene. It was an F-Grade Unique Gene with an evolution path to the E-Grade.


    In fact, it seemed that for talented Sylphs, they would be born directly with an E-Grade Unique Gene. But Lucirius was likelycking in this respect, so he would have to hope for an upgrade in the future.


    That said, it was still very rare for a Sylph to be born with an E-Grade Unique Gene directly. So this wasn''t to say that Lucirius was ipetent, just rather that he wasn''t lucky enough. Ss finally grasped the difference. His Extricate Path Talent wouldn''t work on E-Grade Unique Genes as it was limited to the F-Grade. But this was a fascinating boon.


    ''But this Unique Gene is very clearly tied to the Sylph Race, or rather, the Lightning Sylphs, or whatever they might call themselves. It''s not very useful to me. As for the other Genes in this Sylph''s body... I cannot take them.''


    Ss realized why this was.


    Lucirius wasn''t an F-Grade existence.


    He was an E-Grade one.


    Almost all of his Genes outside of the F-Grade Unique Gene were E-Grade!


    The others were foundational Genes that seemed to have sunk in deeper than Genes usually did. As a result, Ss couldn''t reach them unless he raised Taboo Bond to Level 50.


    ''Interesting. I''ll study this moreter...''


    Ss slipped the Genes back into the corpses of the two bodies and stored them away. Looking up again, he knew that the time hade.


    The streets rumbled as Ss received a message from his notifications. He took a nce at it


    and nodded.


    "Perfect."

 Chapter 756: Clever [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 756: Clever [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    ?


    Ss didn''t seem to linger on the fact that he had killed an E-Grade existence for very long at all. Part of that was because he didn''t care, but thergest part of it was that he didn''t


    understand just what the significance of it was.


    The gap between Grades was more astronomical than any demarcating line previously. As enormous a leap as there was between Level 9 and Level 10, or Level 19 and Level 20, it paled inparison between the gap between Level 50 and Level 51.


    Even so heavily suppressed, the fact Lucirius tapped into a small bit of his true power for this battle, prepared for the bacsh that came, meant that Ss should have had no business beating him-especially not so easily.


    Yet...


    The Lightning Sylph became like a footnote in Ss'' thoughts and memories.


    But maybe that was because Ss nned on killing another E-Grade before the day was through.


    As powerful figures converged on Ss'' position, an undercurrent that had already been set in motion through the city was stirring.


    -


    The citizens of Guiz City were in an uproar. Harrowing news of subterfuge, a genocidal leader, and the deaths of innocents spread like wildfire.


    As for the reason this was happening...


    It was none other than Tasia.


    It was thanks to Tasia that Ss knew exactly what part of the slums to target. Although the idea wasn''t her own, the interesting tidbits of the ghost man urban legend was what had given Ss his idea.


    If Ss was just a normal existence that appeared for a day and then died the next, it wouldn''t have had the impact he wanted. But, because his life had been tied to a warm tale spread by themunity, the moment he appeared, it was like he had instantly be one of theirN?v(el)B\\jnn


    own.


    When he was also embraced by the mother of these slums, Eness, it became even more natural.


    But this was only the first leg of Ss'' ns. Stirring up the sentiments with him alone wasn''t enough. While the slums carried thergest poption of citizens, there were many of them, and they were divided across the city.


    Managing to influence one didn''t mean that he would benefit from the influence of another. Unless he could nudge them in that direction.


    Themotion kicked up by the battle between himself and Lucirius was one of these methods, and the timing between it and the rumors on the outside reaching a fever pitch all culminated in one, penultimate moment.


    An attempted assassination of a beloved member of themunity.


    The bomb might have been stopped by Ss, but there was a reason he had sted the roof off nheless. In situations like these, optics were the most important.


    What others saw wasn''t a failed nting of a bomb. Instead, they saw that Eness'' home had practically been razed to the ground.


    When this was matched with proof of the deaths of so many under the hands of Guiz City''s Lord, a boiling discontent bubbled over.


    ...


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Several generalsnded all around Ss, their heavy armor cracking thend. Among them, Ss immediately recognized General Bergouse and General Versaille.


    There was a wariness in all of their eyes now, but they still acted to block his paths of retreat, their gazes sharp.


    Ss stood on the lightning spear calmly. The irony of it all was that the Generals didn''t even dare to approach it very closely at all. The sparks were dangerous, scorching the cracked, paved roads and making their hair stand on end even from several meters away.


    "Present yourself for arrest or face the consequences!" General Versaille barked.


    He looked bold and imposing, but Ss could feel the fluctuations of his Will quite clearly. This was mostly an act, an attempt to make himself look far more confident than he really


    was.


    However, to their surprise, Ss just hopped down and held out his wrists, presenting himself as asked.


    General Versaille seemed taken aback, but then he snorted, stepping forward to take Ss down.


    "Wait-! Wait!"


    Eness hobbled forward. Her injuries were mostly healed thanks to Ss'' Elixir, but still not quite.


    "This man is innocent! Someone tried to kill me in my home and he saved-!"


    "SILENCE!" General Bergouse barked, taking a step and looming over the middle-aged woman. "This is official business. Scram back to where you came from."


    Tears brimmed in Eness'' eyes, but she had a staunchness to her that could onlye from a mature woman that had experienced many things. Her body might be smaller than the man in front of her, but her heart certainly was not.


    "How can you do this?! I''m telling you we were-!"


    It was too fast. Eness couldn''t even register the palming for her face before it was already upon her.


    PA!


    The sound came from an unexpected ce.


    Ss stood by the General''s side, holding onto his wrist. A strong wind buffeted Eness'' cheeks, and the arm of General Bergouse couldn''t help but tremble beneath the strain.


    "You shouldn''t be so heavy-handed, one would almost think you want to kill her right here to silence her."


    Ss spoke these words calmly, his tone not very loud, but the implications made the crowd almost bubble over.


    It was unknown who did it first, but a piece of trash soared through the air,nding amidst the


    Generals.


    "You corrupt bastards!"


    "Let him go!"


    "How many have you all killed in secret?!"


    "My son! Give me back my son!"


    Ss gave the crowd a nce, noticing that several that had acted just now had a ze over


    their eyes that could have onlye from Tasia.


    A clever woman indeed.


    Why wait for it to happen naturally? The things that had urred were well documented and spread. All they needed to do was apply some pressure and it would boil over.


    The hail of trash came faster and faster, the insults growing bolder.


    However, in the end, it didn''t seem to matter. The Generals, furious, ended up using ruthless means to suppress the people, forcefully taking Ss away.

 Chapter 757: Not Fit

    Chapter 757: Not Fit


    ?


    It was quite amusing. Ss found himself sitting in a cell across from, well, himself.


    Nosphaleen was chained up and still pretending to be him. The two looked toward one another calmly before returning to their own thoughts.


    Time ticked by, and as Ss expected, the restlessness of the city caused them to have to take drastic measures. Otherwise, wouldn''t it be a shame if he missed out on his three-day promise because some bureaucrats decided to take their sweet time?


    Soon, his cell was rattling and tworge figures in hoods appeared. They had the solemnity of death about them, a thick scent of blood wafting from their hoods, into the air as though they had just had a feast of raw meat.


    Maybe it was supposed to be intimidating, but Ss couldn''t find himself caring at all.


    This was what he had expected. They came to execute him, likely in a public forum. Since they were losing control of the city, the best way to manage things now was to rule by fear.


    This wouldn''t work for the long term, but because they had a short-term goal of dealing with Cassarae as quickly as possible, they probably thought that this would be enough to silence people for the time being.


    Plus...


    The Guiz City Lord certainly wasn''t thinking very straight right now. After all, it was his younger cousin, a man that was no different from his own little brother, that Ss had killed.


    If he wasn''t absolutely furious right about now, he might as well not be a creature of flesh and blood.


    Ss was ripped up from his feet.


    What neither of these two bloodied reapers noticed, though, was that as Ss moved past Nosphaleen''s cell, she vanished.


    ...


    After so long in the dark, the blinding rays of the sun made Ss squint a bit.


    It was high noon the day following as he was brought to the tform in a public square packed to the brim like rows of sardines in a line.


    Unlike what one might normally expect from a public execution, no one was moring for better seats. In fact, it almost felt like they had been forced to be here.


    And that was actually precisely what had happened.


    Many would havee to this execution anyway, but City Lord Guiz, who stood on a high- rise building not far away, didn''t just want them toe of their own volition.


    He wanted them to understand that their lives weren''t their own anymore.


    High above the ground, his hands sped behind his back, and his gaze filled with a deep, brewing darkness, City Lord Guiz watched as Ss was forced to his knees, his head tilted forward.


    "Today." City Lord Guiz began to speak coldly. "We will be executing a traitor of our beloved city."


    Silence returned his words.


    "Dessifying secret military procedures without permission, killing government officials, and causing millions in property damage along with traumatizing the most vulnerablemunity among us-the poor and the disenfranchised.


    "Your crimes are punishable by death.


    "Kill."


    The speech wasn''t very long, nor did City Lord Guiz have any intention of dragging it out.


    A collection of mourning took hold of the crowd, but none of them were strong enough to do anything. Those that had dared had already all been savagely beaten and thrown in a jail cell.


    All they could do now was feel a suffocating burden on their hearts, their chests pounding with agitation and unwillingness.


    Among them, Eness was at the very first row, not by choice, but by design. In fact, she had already long kicked up a fuss and should have been in a jail cell right this moment.


    Observing her for a moment right now, other than the tears brimming in her eyes, it was as though her expression was frozen stiff. She couldn''t even move her fingers like she wanted to.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Time froze as the reapers moved, the stench of blood they came off rippling out in a nauseating aroma.


    Many vomited on the spot, unable to watch.


    But the moment the bloodied reapers raised their rusted scythes and began to swing down, City Lord Guiz felt that something was very wrong.


    The de passed through Ss'' body as though he wasn''t there at all.


    There was a flicker and the kneeling man disappeared, reced by a man standing just two or


    so meters in front of the reapers and looking up at City Lord Guiz''s position.


    But now, Ss'' mask was nowhere to be seen. He stood there calmly, his short brown hair shifting in the wind along with the white fur of his outfit.


    City Lord Guiz''s pupils constricted as the bad feeling overwhelmed his heart.


    "Trying to secretly kill a Noble and your own General without due process... as expected of a man who wants to rule with an iron fist. Today, it seems like I don''t have much of a choice but to counter you in such a public fashion."


    There was a tremble in City Lord Guiz''s heart as he felt a bacsh hit him. It was hidden away deep in the depths of his heart, but it was undeniable.


    Ss had done this on purpose.


    A City Lord couldn''t act with impunity. He was already overstepping his bounds by killing citizens, but he had managed to find a loophole to take advantage of. Since they had witnessed the death of a General, he had been able to stretch the truth a bit to im they were part of the conspiracy that killed General Broussard.


    Because they were neither Nobles nor military officials, it was easy.


    When it came to killing Eness, this was a bacsh they had already been willing to take, which was why Lucirius had acted personally though he inevitably failed.


    But something like this... was particrly bad.


    Suddenly, City Lord Guiz realized that he had fallen for a trap, an borate one with webs that stretched so far he could see through them at all.


    "You are not fit to be City Lord. Today, I will represent the people and challenge you."

 Chapter 758: Grabs

    Chapter 758: Grabs


    ?


    The rapid beating of City Lord Guiz''s heart thrummed in his ears like thunder. For a moment, his thoughts went nk and he didn''t know how to respond.


    He was still dealing with the bacsh of overstepping his bounds. He could feel that his connection with the city had been weakened considerably and his City Lord Title was no longer as effective.


    But as an extension of that, he was also very close to being sensed by the system. Without the shroud of his City Lord Position, he would end up not much different from the Dogon.


    The panic of watching everything crumble before his eyes was hitting him like a continuous sledgehammer to the chest. No matter how deeply he breathed, it didn''t seem to be enough. Then came the hatred. He had lost his family, and now he was he was on the verge of losing everything he had sacrificed just to stand here today.


    All because of this damned Human ant.


    Rage billowed in his chest, a storm brewing in the depths of his eyes.


    He didn''t know what to do- until he suddenly did.


    Exhaling a breath, Plinli closed his eyes. He had almost forgotten that he had already been prepared for this inevitably.


    "I will be adding evading arrest to your list of crimes. Challenging the City Lord position isn''t so easy, fool. You will not be able to gather the support you need. Kill him."


    Since he had already suffered the bacsh, he might as well follow through with Ss'' death.


    However...


    "Is that so?" Ss asked. "What do you think, Duke Kraga? Duchess Ravene?"


    City Lord Guiz felt his heart skip another beat, suddenly remembering that Ss had called for the two Dukes a couple days ago.


    No, that''s not possible. He had already dealt with the situation perfectly.


    Much like he had when he challenged the General, Ss needed majority support of the Dukes toplete his challenge. The only other way was to be to be a Duke himself and then levy a challenge.


    Obviously, he wasn''t a Duke, so he had no choice but to rely on the Dukes.


    Duke Kraga. Duchess Ravene. Duke Guiz.


    Duke Guiz was obviously a member of Plinli''s family and was firmly in his camp, and since thest failure, Plinli and Broussard had put a great deal of effort into pocketing the others.


    It was impossible for-


    "We stand with General Grimde." Duke Kraga and Duchess Ravene said at the same time. The two had a hardly hidden fervor as they stared toward Ss. It looked like they would kill themselves promptly if he asked them to. Their loyalty stretched as far as their lives did.


    City Lord Guiz froze.


    A fluctuation rippled around Ss, one violet Rune after another taking shape.


    With a step, he rose into the skies.


    BANG!


    The two reapers felt their chest explode. They copsed to the ground, their eyes zing


    over.


    Their hoods fell from their faces, and one of them was one that was very familiar... a particrly distasteful Colonel.


    The shock of watching a man rise into the skies was palpable for the citizens of Guiz. This was clearly not something that they were used to, but it only made Ss'' position in their hearts skyrocket.


    The clinking of armor rang out as Ss'' Scorpion Warlord Armor took shape, a beautiful cascade of flickering violet colors radiating beneath the rays of the sun.


    Soon, Ss stood on the same height that City Lord Guiz did. But the difference between them was clear and obvious.


    One could only rely on a building.


    The other called the wind itself his tform.


    The formations of the city trembled as though it sensed something. The acquiescence of the Dukes had sealed a contract in ce.


    The City Lord position was now up for grabs.


    **


    Professor Broussard sat behind his desk.


    The man could only be described as elegant and noble, carrying a refined air to him that exuded from a ce of confidence, self assurance, and discipline.


    He wore a pair of clear framed sses, a perfectly pressed and fitted suit clinging to his shoulders.


    His hair looked slightly moist, carrying a natural sheen to it that made it look almost as though he had only just stepped out of the shower although this wasn''t the case.


    A report sat on his desk and he shifted through the papers one after another, reading with an inhuman speed. One would think that he was skimming and skipping a bunch, but those that knew him knew that this wasn''t something he would ever do.


    Meticulous to a fault... that was how many described him.


    He finally put down thest page of the report.


    "Something is wrong." He said lightly.


    His secretary froze, her body shivering. She tried her best to stay in ce, but the fear was practically oozing out of her.


    Professor Broussard adjusted his sses.


    "They''re hiding something from me."


    The secretary exhaled an internal sigh of relief. By the words, this shouldn''t be her fault. Hopefully that would mean that she was safe.


    "Indeed, it seems that these Sylphs cannot be trusted. They will ruin everything if you let them. It''s a good thing that I have my own ns."


    A crown flickered above the Professor''s head before it vanished. His moist looking hair shifting positions naturally into a new style that fit his new mood better, but no less elegant


    than thest.


    He stood to his feet, unzipping his pants.


    "Bend over." He said calmly.


    The secretary hurriedly nodded, hiking up her skirt and not daring to dy. The rip to her pantyhose came not even secondster and she felt a rod pierce her through.


    She clenched her jaw as her eyes rolled with pleasure. The Professor didn''t like her to make noise, feeling that they would interrupt his thoughts, so she could only do this. "Cassarae Hale..." Professor Broussard spoke slowly with a glint in his eyes, his hips moving in an almost absent minded rhythm. "Your mother didn''t want to cooperate, but I''m still very much looking forward to tasting you."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 759: Glass

    Chapter 759: ss


    ?


    Ss stood across from Plinli, his gaze calm and his breathing unhurried. Thetter was livid, his hair and own breathing tainted by a haggard cadence.


    They stood in the very same arena General Aleen had lost his life in. The scent of blood filled the air.


    If one looked at the stage beneath their feet, the tiles were filled with grout lines of flesh.


    It was hard to tell just how many life and death battles had been fought here, but onergely loomed over all the others, and it just so happened to be the only other one that Ss had been a part of.


    Plinli flipped over a palm and a spear appeared. Sparks of lightning coursed through his veins until suddenly...


    Ss tapped a foot.


    Arge amount of Aether rushed out from Ss and in the blink of an eye, he had used up over 80% of his reserves. But in return, the entire arena was coated in a thin sheet of ss.


    The lightning that sparked and crackled around Plinli shattered the sheet that tried to form around him, but to his surprise, he also found himself feeling constrained and limited, suffocated by the continuous grounding of his lightning. Then...


    Ss stepped into the air.


    Plinli''s eyes widened, all of his rage and fury deting.


    The skies above rumbled, and just then, a bolt of lightning cut toward Ss, only to have its path diverted.


    It hit therge arena below, and Ss'' hair barely ruffled in response.


    During his battle with Lucirius, Ss had learned a great deal about the man and his habits. Most notably, the lightning generated by the Sylphs used up too much Aether too quickly, and it was especially vtile and difficult to control.


    The real reason they couldn''t use their Lightning Aether abilities beforehand was because they would probably spark for just a few seconds before their bodies gave up, wrung dry by their own methods.


    In order to counter this, they had their Unique Gene which allowed them to borrow power from the skies, but triggering this took time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Obviously, though... Plinli was far more skilled than Lucirius was.


    This sort ofrge-scale method relying on the environment was part of what made the Lightning Sylphs so shockingly powerful. Lucirius had had pitiful statspared to what were now over 6000 Defense on Ss'' part.


    His Constitution alone was almost 3000 just with his Scorpion Warlord Armor and base stats taken into ount. With his ss Aether and Scorned Wraps added on top of that, he could brush off the bullets of a handgun without the slightest care.


    And yet, Lucirius had been a great danger to him nheless.


    But likewise...


    This was also their greatest weakness.


    The lightning was too difficult to control. Wielding it to strike what was a rtively small target like Ss was nearly impossible. If there was an added interference... like say an entire arena that had suddenly be the perfect insted region...


    Plinli found his lightning constrained, and as a result, he couldn''tmunicate with the clouds above as well as he might normally be able to.


    It was a simple concept learned in grade school...


    There were few things that were a better instor than ss itself.


    However, Ss'' Aether was normal ss, it was ss Aether, capitalized to denote its difference. It carried not just aspects of Earth, but also aspects of poison and ice, thetter of which was far more susceptible to being used as a passageway by lightning.


    It was because of this mixture that Ss had suffered at the hands of Lucirius at first. It wasn''t until he adjusted the consistency of his Aether and tweaked the Runes to rely more heavily on the Earth Aether aspects that he was able to force a result that was much more like real ss.


    Like this, he was able to form the perfect domain for this battle, using abination of heavily ice-leaning ss Aether for good conductivity to act as a lightning rod and divert lightning away from himself, as well as heavily earth-leaning ss Aether to tighten his hold on the surroundings.


    It could be said... that Ss was the perfect counter to the Lightning Sylphs.


    All of this was bad enough without Ss having stepped foot into the skies.


    With a re out of his hands, six stones appeared. They were neither perfectly smooth nor round. They looked like normal rocks one could easily find lying around in a forest somewhere, jagged, imperfect, and natural.


    However, each and every single one of them was 500 pounds heavy.


    Plinli''s pupils trembled fiercely. He could already see exactly how this matter would go.


    He hade here for a battle, a world toppling event where he could get revenge for his fallen brethren. But instead...


    The stones fell through the skies like shooting stars, streaking with a green Will that matched the glowing indifference in Ss'' eyes.


    Plinli leapt to the side in an attempt to dodge, then quickly changed direction.


    He slipped.


    BANG!


    A stone mmed into his head with more than 2000 Physical of power, nearly snapping his neck in two.


    He slid across the surface of the iced arena. He should have been able to use his Aether to maintain his footing, but how could a tform formed by Ss'' own Aether be so simple to counter?


    BANG!


    He barely stabilized himself when a second stone fell, and then a third.


    Plinli''s head spun in a daze, despair taking root deep within his heart. He caught glimpses of Ss'' cold gaze from time to time and for a moment... he felt that it wasughable he had looked down on this tiny so much.


    The young man he thought would only take a matter of patience to crush, was toying with him, humiliating him, crushing his soul and his spirit.


    BANG!


    Plinli''s skull fractured and blood spilled out from his shattered jaw. He fell to the ground, the world dark around him.


    All six stones fell from the skies in a straight line, sttering his brain across the arena.

 Chapter 760: Mandate

    Chapter 760: Mandate


    ?


    Silence fell over the arena.


    It didn''t feel like a City Lord had been just killed at all. It felt like they had just witnessed the true execution of the day.


    So simple, so direct, so unfeelingly careless that it didn''t feel real at all.


    Until, that is, Ss raised his hand and the stones revealed the headless corpse of the former City Lord.


    His blood spilled out into the arena, pooling into the cracks and crevices.


    Plinli never got to disy any of his abilities. Even his City Lord Title had beenpletely useless. What good was that boost of strength if he couldn''t even hit his opponent?


    But from the very beginning, he had lost the battle.


    CRACKLE.


    In the silence, the sound was quite audible. There wasn''t a single person who didn''t hear it, but their gazes were already trained on precisely where the sound hade from.


    Plinli''s corpse.


    The skies shuddered and a familiar oppressive aura descended from above, forming an eye that looked down.


    Ss'' gaze narrowed. Why did the System Eye appear? Plinli was already dead. Unless, it was something else going on?


    Could Plinli still be alive, maybe?


    The eye pulsed and then suddenly pivoted, looking to Ss.


    Ss'' blood ran cold. It almost felt as though liquid nitrogen had been poured into his very veins, his heart beat entering a state of tug of war where it wanted to beat harder, faster. And yet, it was constrained by this chilling wind that forced it to slow.


    The power gap was simply too enormous. Standing beneath the eye, even Ss couldn''t help but feel so very small and insignificant.


    [You have pleased the system, System Rebel]


    [System Reward]


    [System Reward Activated]


    Plinli''s corpse convulsed and then arge number of Runes began to be pulled out from his body.


    Ss'' eyes widened. Others might not recognize what was happening here, but he certainly did.


    Those were Genes.


    Silver Genes.


    Plinli''s body was sucked dry and he was left with nothing more than a husk.


    Then, all of the Genes condensed. By the end of it, there weren''t just Silver Genes there, but also an evenrger number of Bronze Genes, Common Genes, and even Fragmented Genes.


    Soon, though, what was left of them was a crystal ball of swimming Runes.


    The ball floated up and thennded in Ss'' hands before the system vanished.


    [Gene Storage Crystal (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Capacity: 10 000 E-Grade Genes]


    Ss hardly paid attention to this at all. Gene Storage wasn''t a problem for him.


    If corpses were left alone, their Genes would decay. But with the Madness Key, this wasn''t an issue as they would be preserved. He had a lot of excess space in his spatial device others wouldn''t have, so this crystal wasn''t appealing to him.


    The best ability of the Gene Storage Crystal in Ss'' estimation was that it could also extract Genes with the system as a conduit. Meaning, if he came across any E-Grade Genes he couldn''t use Extricate on, he could use the system to take them into the Gene Storage Crystal and store them.


    But again, this was uninteresting to him for the same reason. If he came across such a thing, he could just store the E-Grade corpse much the same way.


    The real use of this Gene Storage Crystal was the fact that it could ess the Gene buried deep after their evolution into the E-Grade.


    Ss wasn''t exactly sure what happened after evolving to the E-Grade, but it seemed that the body took the F-Grade Genes one used to build their way to Level 50, and then converted into a deeperyer of the body''s foundation, one even deeper than the Comprehensions Layer Ss currently had ess to.


    Because of that, Ss couldn''t even Extricate F-Grade Genes from these E-Grade corpses.


    But now, with the Gene Storage Crystal... he could.


    And maybe just as shockingly as that...


    Was what was inside.


    427 F-Grade Silver Genes.


    17 279 F-Grade Bronze Genes.


    More Common and Fragmented Genes than he cared to count.


    A full four E-Grade Silver Genes.


    17 E-Grade Bronze Genes.


    And no E-Grade Common or Fragmented Genes...


    For the first time in a long while, Ss thought of a Treasure that had been rotting in hisN?v(el)B\\jnn


    Madness Key.


    [Gene Talent Crystal (Silver) (Treasure)]


    [Capacity: 450]


    He had gotten this Gene Talent Crystal from the slot machine reward, but he hadn''t even been able to think about using it. The capacity was far too great. Where would he find 450 Silver


    Genes to feed it?


    But now, he was suddenly just 27 away.


    And more tantalizing than that was...


    [How do youplete a Summoning without System Cities?]


    [¨C]


    [Cost: 10 Silver Genes]


    He had over 40 times the amount he needed now. And it was an answer to a question he wanted to know right here and now.


    [How do youplete a Summoning without System Cities?]


    [The Progenitor me of a World must be lit.]


    All of that work, all of that effort, for just a single line in response.


    But it was enough.


    Ss found that he already had what he needed. The Progenitor me Quest was already in his possession. Now... it was just a matter of waiting for it to trigger and then seeding.


    Failure was not an option.


    This was thest chance Earth had, but more importantly, it was thest chance he had, his family had, his loved ones had.


    Ss looked to the skies, taking a long, slow breath as Runes danced around him.


    [Title Unlocked]


    [Title: City Lord of Guiz]


    [You now have a stake in the territory of Guiz City, and your power should reflect that]


    [+100% to ALL stats while within 50 kilometers of Guiz City]


    "Three days. As promised." Ss whispered softly.


    He hadn''t said it in so many words, but he could have killed Plinli immediately. The reason he


    hadn''t was to make him feel the very same despair Cassarae had under his constant targeting.


    Now, this threat at the very least, was gone.


    No one could touch the things that he didn''t want touched.


    A darkness red in Ss'' eyes.


    But it was right then that he felt a sort of constraint locking him down.


    [You have beenmanded by your Warlord]


    [Mandate Quest Received]

 Chapter 761: New Era [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 761: New Era [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    Ss looked at the change calmly.


    If Professor Broussard thought that he could catch Ss off guard with such a thing, he was sorely mistaken. But Ss also had a feeling that that wasn''t really the point.


    If they were sitting across a chessboard, this was nothing more than an opening move. But the fact this move had been yed told Ss all he needed to know about the opponent he was facing.


    Sharp. Cunning. A man with backup ns for backup ns.


    And maybe that was only natural.


    This Professor Broussard had what seemed to be an unnatural control over the government of Terranova. His means were unordinary, and because of that, he was someone that Ss always nned to take seriously.


    However, this move was entirely unnecessary on the Professor''s part. That was because... Ss never nned on trying to use Guiz City as a leverage y or for some extra strength.


    Quite frankly speaking...


    He simply didn''t need it.


    With a step, Ss crossed the skies,nding in the City Lord Mansion. Soon, he had made it to a familiar fathomless room. Even now, it still looked like the cooling cores of a nuclear waste facility, its glowing waters seemingly carrying the weight of the City Stele floating above it. Ss descended the winding stairs and calmly chose to im the City Stele and move it. This time, he didn''t sacrifice it for Free Experience. After all, they would need this City Stele in order to mitigate the losses they would suffer from moving Casstle Main.


    The city rumbled and then lost most of its functions. Its walls remained intact, and the homes didn''t vanish, but the system oversight crumbled right before their eyes.


    Now, it was not much different from a city before the Summoning.


    This would put those in the slums in an even more vulnerable position, but Ss could only ce this to the bottom of his priorities list. Whether they could do anything for them would be decided on Cassarae.


    Beyond this, Ss didn''t feel much of a burden to help them. At most, he would allow them to use his name as a deterrence.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The moment the city was moved, the mandate Ss was under vanished into wisps of smoke. He no longer feltpelled to do anything.


    ''A Mandate Quest, huh...? Interesting.''


    Ss left the City Lord Mansion and leapt into the skies. His peacock unfurled out from a vine beneath him and shot into the distance toward Casstle Main.


    **


    Cassarae stared at the City Stele before her, her eyes bouncing back and forth between her notification screen and the cube. She had to double, triple, quadruple check the date.


    "Three days..." she mumbled beneath her breath.


    Eventually, she looked up at Ss. He sat there calmly as though he hadn''t aplished much at all. There was even thiszy look in his eye that left her halfway between wanting to tackle him to the ground and well... wanting to tackle him to the ground.


    She stood to her feet, rounding her desk. She kicked out at Ss'' chair, forcing it to roll back on the hardwood floors.


    Ss raised an eyebrow, but didn''t stand.


    "How did you do it?" She asked.


    Ss shrugged. "Not much. Tasia deserves a lot of credit. She did a lot of the information groundwork I needed. If not for the fact I wanted to finish quickly, I might not have had to fight a single battle. We would have won a Culture Victory."


    With the way the city was on his side, a Culture Victory was certainly in the cards. But instead, it was more efficient to use a near Culture Victory to weaken Plinli''s City Lord Title and kill him in one fatal sweep.


    After all, one way or another, Ss had to kill him.


    Cassarae stepped forward and took a seat on Ss''p.


    "What''s this?"


    "Shut up." Cassarae grabbed Ss'' face and tasted his lips. She lingered for a moment, breathing in his scent.


    She pulled away to find a calm pair of green eyes staring back at her. But for some reason, theck of passion in them only made her more feverish.


    This time, however, she controlled herself.


    "You can be useful." Cassarae nodded as though she needed to kiss him to confirm them.


    "Can be?" Ss asked.


    "Only sometimes. At other times, you''re more annoying than you''re worth."


    "Is that so?" A light smile tugged on Ss'' lip.


    Cassarae stared into Ss'' eyes. "Tell me the truth, Ss Brown. What is it that you like so much about me?"


    Ss paused, his thoughts moving in slow motionpared to what his mind should be capable of.


    "Hm. I don''t know." Ss finally replied.


    Cassarae shook her head. "You don''t see that as a problem?"


    "Not really."


    "You overanalyze everything, and then suddenly the one time something all men can''t seem to controles to life and you''ve lost that ability. How do you think that should make me


    feel?"


    "You''re far from the only beautiful woman in the world."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. She knew that these words weren''t a threat, they were a simple statement of fact. Ss was saying that if it was just about that, then he would have fallen for some other woman long ago. Why waste time chasing after her?


    "And here I thought you had learned to be romantic. You''re still an insufferable asshole." "Some things shouldn''t need to be exined so clearly. Humans are fallible creatures, and a lot of what we think doesn''t have a single, pinpointed reason for it. Someone who can distill their feelings in such a way is either lying through their teeth or has a mental capacity far beyond my own."


    "So that''s it? You want to get off with a "just because" answer?"


    "I mean, I have an answer. You probably just won''t like it any more than the one I''ve already


    given."


    "Let me hear it."


    Ss shrugged. "I met you first."


    Cassarae''s eyes flickered. "You lied."


    "About?"


    "I like that answer far more."


    Cassarae gave Ss a cheeky tap on the cheek and moved to stand, but she had hardly done so


    when she found herself pinned between her heavy desk and Ss.


    She leaned back, almost falling over. Luckily, Ss caught her waist with an arm.


    "Hey, I didn''t consent to this."


    Though she said this, her blue eyes bounced between Ss'', their noses practically touching.


    She licked her lips as their breaths intertwined in a steamy heat.


    "You don''t seem to care very much about consent." Ss said, a fire lighting in his eyes.


    "Well I''m a woman. That''s allowed in only one direction. City Lady, remember? Get with the


    times."


    "It''s a new era."


    Their noses touched.


    "And who dictates the rules of that era? You?"


    An overbearing momentum came from Ss.


    "That''s right."


    There was a deep cadence to his voice that made Cassarae almost melt into his arm. The heat


    built up in her chest, a fire practically sparking between her legs.


    "Kiss me already, you fucking-."


    Ss pressed his lips to hers, pulling her body so tightly into his that they practically melded into one. Their tongues found one another''s, intertwining in a rough dance.

 Chapter 762: Cute

    Chapter 762: Cute


    ?


    Cassarae melted into Ss'' arms. She had never thought that a kiss could taste so good.


    She had kissed Ss before, but this was probably the first time in their lives that he had actually taken the initiative to do so of his own Will.


    He wasn''t holding back anymore, unleashing that bestial desire he had always had, but also wanted to rein in and keep under control.


    And Cassarae could only say that she was too attracted to it. So attracted that she had practically no physical resistance to it all. When Ss was like this, she felt like she would be willing to let him do whatever he wanted, no matter how embarrassing it was.


    Of course, she would make him pay for itter quite dearly. But for right now...


    Cassarae shivered as she felt a strong pair of hands grasp her ass, lifting her up and onto her desk. She barely managed to wrap an arm around Ss'' back as a cascade of unlocking buckles and unwinding strings filled her ears.


    Ss'' telekinesis seemed to have a mind of its own, pulling her clothing off with a practiced ease as though he had watched it hundreds of times before when in reality... it had only been


    once.


    But for him, just once was enough.


    Cassarae lifted her arms into the air in a rare showing of obedience. Their lips separated for a brief instant as her armor was pulled over her head, before greedily snapping back together. Ss only caught a glimpse of the healthy bound of her chest, a proud bust that stood much too perkily given their size, the gentle blush of her caramel skin, and just the slightest darkened down of her nipples.


    But what he failed to see in sight was more than made up for by their feel against his chest. There was a rush in his breath. Maybe the Scorned Wraps weren''t so bad after all. Thanks to them and his restrictions in clothing, he was able to feel such a softness flesh to flesh.


    Ss'' thumbs pushed their way into Cassarae''s waistband. He pulled her up with a strength that pulsed from his biceps, almost tossing her into the air.


    Her pants were pulled away by a single strong tug of his telekinesis, almost sending them ripping through the wooden boards and down to the first floor below.


    Cassarae''s hands greedily scoped out Ss'' body. Her words about all men in this era having chiseled bodies having already long since been flung to the back of her mind. She simply couldn''t get enough of it all.


    BANG!


    Her desk trembled as she was pushed into it, her eyes zing over as she looked up at Ss. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, inviting him in with a parting of both lips, both moist, but only one inhaling and exhaling in a feverish cadence.


    "§´§¡. §´§¡. §´§¡.


    An awkward clearing of a voice came from the other side of Cassarae''s closed office door.


    "I have do not want to see what''s going on behind this door right now," Olivia''s voice came through the gaps in the door, "but you two know we''re kind of, sort of, just maybe, in the middle of a war, right?"


    Ss and Cassarae looked toward the door at the same time, both of them slightly peeved.


    "Hey, hey. I can feel your res from over here. Don''t think I can''t. But this really isn''t my fault, okay? News came. The two other System Cities are moving their armies toward us, and there''s movement from the other side of the portal as well. They''reing and we kind of need you two."


    "Yes, dear!" Geraldene''s voice came causing Cassarae to almost faint from exasperation. "You had months to lock him down like this, you can''t me us."


    For some reason, Cassarae''s mother sounded a bit disappointed.


    At this point, even Ss'' face became a bit weird. How long had they been out there?


    "Hey, this doesn''t change anything." Paul''s voice came. "I won the bet."


    "You did not!"


    "I did. I did."


    How many people were out there, exactly?


    All the heat that had been in Cassarae''s eyes faded with the tide. She covered her breasts with


    an arm and pulled herself up, pushing at Ss'' chest with a hand.


    She looked quite fed up. "... And just when I was finally about to get some dick," she


    mumbled.


    Ss shook his head, his lip quirking slightly. He reached forward, pulling Cassarae''s arm


    down. Her breasts fell in a healthy jiggle.


    "What are you doing?" Cassarae hissed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ss didn''t reply, just looking at their plump swaying.


    Cassarae was speechless for a moment, then angry, and then she began tough.


    Seemingly finally satisfied, Ss nodded and then his telekinesis red, quickly putting Cassarae''s clothes back on much faster than she could on her own.


    However, deep inside, he was still greatly unsatisfied.


    Cassarae hopped down from her desk, moving to Ss and leaning forward. She looked a bit adorable, sping her hands behind her back and looking up at his face as though she was trying to study it intimately.


    "You looked like a little boy at the candy store. That was cute." She said with a bright smile. She didn''t seem to be teasing him, she seemed genuinely happy. It was rare Ss brazenly showed his desires like that. "But if you think this means I''m yours, you have another thinging."


    "Is that so?" Ss asked.


    "You told me the truth, but now you have to learn how to lie."


    Ss fell silent. "... What?"


    Cassarae beamed. "I can let you into my pants, but you''re not going to get into my heart like that. My body doesn''t know how to control itself when it''s around you, but my heart, you


    see... it''s still not very happy with how you left us."


    Ss met her gaze, she seemed to be smiling, but he could tell that she was very serious about this. The hurt from then was very much still there.


    "Okay. I understand."

 Chapter 763: This.

    Chapter 763: This.


    ?


    Thest time Ss left Cassarae sexually frustrated, a General had died in bloody fashion. This time, he didn''t expect things to be different. If anything, he was even more infuriated now than before.


    His mother''s happy smile and giddy enjoyment seemed to offset that somewhat. It was clear that Isolde had been hoping that this would happen for a long time, but didn''t want to interfere in her child''s love life-a far cry from how Cassarae''s parents did things.


    But his mother''s joy didn''t have much of a dampening effect.


    The problem they faced now, though... was the fact that there were too many enemies. He wasn''t even sure where to target.


    And the bigger problem than even that was the fact that the reports were almost certainly underestimates.


    Before things even began, Ss knew that it would be tricky to deal with this. That was because they weren''t just facing off against the Generals, Colonels, Captain, and soldiers of the various System Cities, but rather the people within as well... the people of Earth.


    The fact Ss had imed the System City for Cassarae would almost certainly stir discontent. He had seen it y out exactly like that before, it was just that he was the Warlord of those Territories, so the discontent couldn''t stir up many winds.


    But now, their enemies would almost certainly use this to their advantage.


    The reason Ss had decided to go through with it anyway was twofold.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    First, it didn''t make much of a difference anyway. No matter what, this would happen. Cassarae herself had already mentioned how part of the troubles they dealt with came from the useful idiots of the city.


    All they knew how to do was to ept Quests and gather resources for themselves. It didn''t matter who they targeted to do that or who was handing out the rewards.


    They couldn''t really be med for that. All of them were just trying to do their best to survive.


    But this made things more difficult on Ss and Casstle Main as this meant that the number of their enemies far outnumbered them. To say it was ten to one might be an underestimate. The good news was that even if this was the case, they were just a pile of loose sand. If this Professor Broussard was as smart as Ss thought him to be, these people wouldn''t be a foundation of his ns. They would be the cherry on top or useful cannon fodder.


    But now, as expected, all of these pawns had been given a Quest not too dissimr from Ss'' previous Mandate Quest. The only difference was that it wasn''t a Mandate, as such, they couldn''t be forced to act on it like Ss could have been as the City Lord.


    Still... Mandate or not, with such lucrative rewards being ced in front of them...


    How could they not greedily snap it up?


    ...


    Ss stepped out from the City Lord Mansion to find that Cassarae was already handing out orders.


    "Looks like you did a good job. She''s so fiery." Oliviaughed by his side.


    Ss raised an eyebrow. He hadn''t gotten to do much of anything. In fact, he was still feeling frustrated.


    "Ai, you really don''t get women at all, do you. You think everything starts and ends with pration. For us, forey is everything-especially forey of the mind. Don''t me us. me yourselves for always disappointing when pushes to shove. We have no choice but to treasure the idea of things rather than the actual thing."


    Ss gave her a look but didn''t reply. He didn''t have the patience for Olivia''s past baggage.


    Olivia rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what she sees in you, you brick wall."


    "This."


    It was the only word Olivia heard before Ss vanished.


    No one managed to react before Ss had grabbed Gregory''s throat.


    The slimy steward had just appeared with an ingratiating smile on his face before he found his legs dangling from the skies.


    Cassarae paused, her words catching in her throat as she looked over with wide eyes. "Ss, stop!"


    CRACK.


    Gregory''s smile had winced, but he was ready to put on a happy y. He didn''t think that Ss would actually kill him now. He had all sorts of contingencies in ce for a covert death. But the one thing he didn''t properly prepare for was for Ss to wait all this time...


    Only to kill him out in the public like this.


    And that was precisely why Ss had done it.


    Gregory''s smile froze and his eyes slowly dimmed.


    The steward fell from Ss'' hand and thetter raised a foot, driving a heel through the dead summon''s head.


    Silence.


    No one knew what to say or what to think. Those that could move covered their mouths, their hearts trembling.


    "Nosphaleen."


    A beautiful snake woman appeared, standing tall and looming over everyone.


    "Handle it."


    "Yes, master."


    A rainbow mist spread over the region and people found themselves calming.


    "Steward Gregory was a blight on this vige. He embezzled funds, stole from the people, and lined his pockets. Today, his role will be reced by Tasia. She is not only more qualified, but she is almost solely responsible for the fall of Guiz City."


    Nosphaleen spoke in a slow, sultry voice. And then Tasia appeared.


    In these days, she had already ingratiated herself with many people and it made things far easier for everyone.


    The mist vanished and then so too did Nosphaleen. It looked as though she had never been there in the first ce.


    In fact, if one looked toward where Gregory''s corpse had been, he was gone as well. It was like Ss hadn''t just killed someone in broad daylight.


    Olivia watched in a daze. Ss had just dealt with a problem that had gued them for so


    long with embarrassing amounts of ease.


    Just...


    She let out a hollowugh. "I really hate this guy."


    ...


    In an unknown world, an unknown distance away, a man that was deep in a vat of thick oil


    suddenly jolted up, gasping for breath with a pale face.


    "... Ss Grimde!"


    His roar echoed through the ins.

 Chapter 764: Javier

    Chapter 764: Javier


    ?


    Cassarae was caught between two conflicting emotions.


    On the one hand, she was pissed. Ss shouldn''t have done something like this without even speaking to her. Although she was smart enough to realize that that was the point-byN?v(el)B\\jnn


    catching her off guard, he would certainly catch Gregory off guard-ultimately, it was definitely crossing over a line.


    But on the other hand...


    Damn, that was satisfying.


    This asshole had been giving her nothing but trouble for months on end. At first, he had started off as a minor annoyance until he began to worm his way into every facet of her life.


    It was getting to the point where she spent more time managing the internal structures of her city than actually expanding and capitalizing on their strengths.


    The fact they were back in the top ten at all was a miracle. Though, the funding that her father and Ss were able to provide were an enormous part of that.


    But the other muchrger reason was that despite her personality, Cassarae was very good at meeting people where they were. It was why she was epting of Ss'' personality despite all the reasons it should have shed with hers. It was why she had scolded Olivia for taking a private matter and using it as a reason to target Ss for, albeit small, losses. It was also why she didn''t hesitate to use Tasia even though she could see at a nce that she was pining after her man.


    Now, though, that infectious cancer was finally dead.


    The Sergeant and the Alchemist summons were still present, but without Gregory, Cassarae could already feel that they had lost much of their teeth.


    Without having to worry about Gregory, his ns, and his schemes, things had suddenly be several times easier.


    After a long while, Cassarae exhaled and gave Nosphaleen a nce. She had heard of this woman before, but she hadn''t had a tail for legs before. It seemed that thepetition had taken itself out.


    **


    BANG!


    A man kicked at the back of a couch so hard that the wooden frame inside shattered to pieces and its body was sent flying into a wall.


    The drywall broke apart, the studs behind it rattling and shaking down to the very foundation of the house.


    "FUCK! ALL THAT WORK DOWN THE FUCKING DRAIN!"


    He roared out to the top of his lungs, a violent swirl of Aether buffeting against the windows and sending them bulging and bowing in and out. If not for the fact they were somewhat reinforced thanks to the region of Guiz City he lived in, they would have long since shattered.


    [Javier Munich (FFF+)]


    [Level: 35]


    Javier wasn''t the only pissed off party in the room. There were three other individuals, each one clenching their fists and jaws.


    They had put in almost a year of hard work and effort, scratching and wing for every little thing.


    Finally, Javier managed to be a Viscount and they became Noblemen and women...


    All for Ss Grimde to swoop in and destroy their hard work in just three days.


    At first, they didn''t think things would be so bad. Even if they failed to be the City Lord, bing Dukes wasn''t a bad goal either. At the very least, they could use it as a jump-off point for bigger and better things.


    But in the end, to their shock, Ss Grimde just directly disbanded the city, leaving them stranded and their Noble Titles utterly worthless.


    The value of the Title was in far more than what they could do in the city alone. The range worked 50 kilometers out of city limits, and that had helped them a great deal in hunting, gathering resources, and clearing missions for Merits, F-Coins, and Treasures.


    Without it, it was like the floor had been pulled out from underneath them. And it wasn''t just them either that would suffer, but their subordinates under them, and their families beneath even them.


    A sigh came from a woman as she unclenched her fists. She had some age showing at the corner of her eyes, but she had a rare spryness and vitality in her body.


    Not that she could disy much of it now.


    [Rosa Vellen (FFF+)]


    [Level: 34]


    She stood to her feet. "I do not know about the rest of you all, but I will not be joining this mission."


    After saying these words, she made to leave. But it was Javier that caught her by the crook of her arm.


    "Where the hell do you think you''re going?" he growled out between his teeth.


    Rosa ripped her arm out of his grasp. "Watch yourself, Javier. I came to this meeting to see if we could lean on one another to make it through the next wave, but it''s clear that you''re not in the right head space for that. If you make a decision out of rage and fury, you wille to regret it."


    "Do you have any idea how much we''ve lost?! And you want to skip out instead of wing it back?!"


    "Wake up, Javier!" Rosa suddenly raised her voice, something she almost never did. "We are nothing but pawns in this game! Do you know how long ago it was Ss Grimde killed a General? It was over seven months ago! What were you doing seven months ago?! Were you even Level 10 yet?!"


    Veins bulged across Javier''s forehead, but he had no rebuttal.


    "If you want to form a temporary alliance between our parties and head toward another System City, away from all of this, I will agree. But if you want me to go and throw my life away for a suicidal Quest, you''ve got another thinging."


    After saying this, Rosa continued on her way out. But she had only just been about to make it to the door when two burly men blocked her path.


    Her expression changed. "What is the meaning of this?"


    "If you want to be a cowardly little ant for the rest of your life, fine." Javier growled. "But you can leave everything you have here first. Then, we''ll lock you up until this battle is over."

 Chapter 765: Duke

    Chapter 765: Duke


    ?


    Ss stood on the peacock''s back high in the skies. He was looking down toward a city that wasn''t too familiar to him.


    He knew quite well that every Territory had three System Cities-or at the very least, this was a pattern he had picked up on. But this was still the very first time he had been to this Sarap City.


    As far as he could tell, only Guiz City had targeted Cassarae outright, so this meant one of two things. It was either that there were no Sylphs in this City at all, or, they were a trump card lingering in the shadows, ready to strike.


    It was hard to tell what the truth might be without personally investigating it. But even then, had it not been for Lucirius, Ss probably wouldn''t know with any certainty about Guiz City either.


    As far as he could tell, at least from the outside, Sylphs looked no different from Humans here. The fact they could hide from the system said everything that needed to be said.


    However...


    Ss took a step, falling from the skies.


    BANG!


    Hended heavily, slowing himself just enough to not harm himself, but not enough to fail to leave asting impression.


    A squad of four horses reeled back beneath the sudden change, and Ss calmly locked eyes with a man protected in the middle of them.


    Duke Guiz.


    This man was the one member of the Guiz family that Ss hadn''t interacted with at all. From the start, he had been silent, and even after the deaths of Lucirius and Plinli, he seemed to have vanished into thin air.


    Logically speaking, Ss should have definitely been able to cut him off long before that. The only way for Duke Guiz to have seeded in vanishing was if he had escaped before the battle between himself and Plinli even began... as though he knew what the oue would be ahead of time.


    Ss had managed to find him thanks to the bird''s eye view ability of the Guiz City Stele. But...


    "It looks like I failed." He said softly.


    There was a reason Ss hadn''t gone after the Duke immediately. The bird''s eye view City Ability was only usable before the System City was conquered. That meant that Ss had already found this man, but then ended up returning to Casstle Main instead of dealing with him immediately.


    The reason for that was inly evident to him the moment he stopped this group.


    It was a facade. This man wasn''t Duke Guiz. Ss could easily tell by the fluctuations in his Will, or rather,ck thereof.


    This was a husk, though a different sort than the ones he had seen in the Grimde family. This was a clone meant and designed to distract.


    It was very difficult to find individuals with the bird''s eye view method. Findingrge deposits of Aether or resources was still well within their means, but people were too small. If you zoomed in enough to find them, it would take forever to scan the entire region, and by the time you got to the next location you wanted to scan, you had no way of knowing if the section you just went through now had who you were looking for.


    The bird''s eye view method was also limited. There was only one camera angle, and it couldn''t see underground. Hiding from it wasn''t impossible if you knew what you were doing.


    The only reason Ss had been able to "find" the Duke was because he checked the obvious routes he would take, one to Sarap City, and the other to Ulite City.


    Obviously, though... Duke Guiz hadn''t taken the obvious route.


    In fact, if Ss had to guess...


    He ignored the group of four before him, his eyesnding on the portal in the far-off distance.


    ... Duke Guiz had probably already escaped to Earth and was meeting up with Professor Broussard.


    Ss had onlye here for two reasons. The first was to cover all his bases. After all, if this really was Duke Guiz, it would be idiotic of him to not at least check.


    And secondly, since he was here, he might as well deal with Sarap City.


    "Kill them." Ss said.


    A ck tail came from nowhere, and in a blink, the group of four had be a misty trail of blood in the forest.


    Ss reached out a hand and a small wooden box shot into his hand.


    ''Interesting.''


    He tossed it into his Madness Key, not caring much for it. It was this Treasure that allowed Duke Guiz to disguise himself, but with Nosphaleen, Ss was unlikely to need to crude methods.


    The Basilisk King vanished into Ss'' Hiberation Realm before he shot into the skies and back onto the peacock''s back.


    With a p of the broad peacock''s wings, they elerated toward the horizon.


    ...


    The sounds of Sarap City were odd. It should have maybe been that of nging armor, sharpening des, and discipline. But instead, it sounded more like a flea market crossed with a concert hall before the music began.


    Squadrons of Humans ranging all the way from Level 15 up to Level 35 formed little cliques, findingfort in their numbers as they prepared to march off for Casstle Main.


    It was clear at a nce that they had no idea what they had gotten themselves into.


    It was under these circumstances that Ss appeared high in the skies.


    He didn''t say a word, his peacock Symbiote just calmly pping its wings in the air, its violet,


    dark blue, and ck tail feathers leaving a trail of brooding darkness in its wake.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    And yet, one after another, more people began to notice his presence until...


    An eerie silence fell over the city.


    When the quiet was to Ss'' satisfaction, he opened his mouth and spoke slowly.


    "This will be the one chance I give you all. If you step into Casstle Main territory... I will kill


    without mercy."


    The peacock soared into Sarap City.


    [Ss Grimde has imed a Commerce Victory]


    [Sarap City has been Conquered]

 Chapter 766: Ticket [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 766: Ticket [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    ?


    The peacock soared into the skies and shot into the distance, leaving a trail of shocked warriors in their wake.


    How long had that taken?


    Two hours? At the very most?


    And yet, not longter, they would receive news that Ulite City had also been conquered in much the same way.


    Suddenly, the situation seemed to have changed once again. Just as they made a move to attack, the support they should have gained from the Generals and the soldiers under them vanished in a puff of smoke.


    The soldiers were still there, but they couldn''t bemanded with nearly as much ease. And now that Ss controlled themerce of not just one city, but three of them, they suddenly realized that it was in their best interest if things continued in peace.


    ...


    Conquering the two cities with a Commerce Victory wasn''t difficult. Paul and the Memory Merchant had had a far easier time establishing their businesses there. They already controlled more than 30% of the market share.


    In order to secure a Commerce Victory, though, one needed to control double that.


    It would obviously be far more difficult... if not for the fact Ss had pockets deeper than he cared for, it would have taken much more time.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ss had an entire mine of Aether Stones to work with, and exchanging them for F-Coins in the Nexus was very easy.


    The result was tanking the economy of the cities with a great deal of intion, buying up properties and businesses at way over market value, and the odds that he would make his money back in short order was next to zero.


    Now, he had also basically used up all of his Aether Stones outside of his Gold Ones. After selling them all, at an unfortunate discount, he was able to scrounge up over 70 billion F- Coins in capital, which allowed him to execute this maneuver with speed and efficiency.


    Of course, he had already set Tasia on this task when he left for Guiz City three days ago, ready for this oue.


    There was a very good reason why he didn''t fear the Professor in the slightest. As prepared as he was... Ss didn''t feel like he would lose to anyone in a battle of wits.


    Especially not when he had such an advantage on the ground.


    Did his resources match up to that of the entire government?


    Almost certainly not.


    But one would never guess by his demeanor that he was worried about in the slightest. Thanks to his efforts now, the already loose pack of sand that was theseing armies had been knocked down another peg.


    **


    Ss returned to Casstle Main, his mind still whirring with thoughts.


    ''I guess that it''s about time... I go and see what my rewards have to offer me...''


    Ss hadn''t forgotten about the ticket he received to an out-world market. Now that he had the Aether Stones he needed to trigger his timelock treasure, there was no better time than now to leave.


    There would probably never be a point where his life was fully at ease. This calm before the storm was definitely the best chance he would have.


    Professor Broussard would probably take some time to adjust the changes in the situation. While he was stabilizing him, Ss needed to go.


    ...


    "I''m not sure if my body will disappear or not, and I''m not 100% certain ifmunication will be possible, but if there''s a problem..." Ss waved a hand and Szorn appeared. "... I think Szorn should be able to contact me."


    "Yes, young master!" Szorn floated, itsrge eyes shining. "Also, young master, master is wondering when you will being to learn the Second Layer."


    "Once this battle is over." Ss responded. "For now, stay here and help Cassarae with anything she might need. Watch over the city and follow the parameters I''ve set."


    "Understood!"


    Ss hadn''t had the time to go back to study the Second Layer. A part of him was also resistant to doing so since he had yet to master the First. Something was telling him trying to learn too much would hinder his progress instead.


    It wasn''t that Gralith didn''t understand this, but rather than the number who truly mastered the Scorpion Warlord Armor was next to nill. In fact, in the history of the Scorpion Warlord Lineage, the number who reached even Ss'' current Flesh Mastery level of the First Layer were not even 30%.


    And even then, it was after a long, rigorous training process where most of them had already grasped the Third Layer in some fashion.


    Still, even if Ss knew this... he was only measuring himself against himself.


    "Okay," Cassarae nodded. "Don''t do anything fucking retarded that gets you in trouble. 80%


    of Earth already wants you dead, we don''t need intergctic headaches now too."


    "Toote." Ss mumbled.


    "What was that?"


    "I''ll be heading off now."


    Cassarae rolled her eyes. "Where are you going? Come here."


    She took Ss'' hand and then led him out of her office and down the halls. They reached the basement again, but this time, they went even deeper.


    "This is a training room I created with the money you gave me. Use it since we aren''t sure what will happen. I will keep it sealed."


    "Got it."


    Cassarae nodded and then headed off as Ss took a seat in meditation.


    With a thought, a silvery golden ticket appeared before Ss, looking a lot like a movie ticket from the olden days except for the fact it was covered inplex, almost unnoticeable Runes.


    [Quicktime Event Cleared]


    [Future of Orciulius City - Completed]


    [Contribution Leaderboard]


    [Ss Grimde - 47 472 723 Hero Points]


    -


    [Lv30 ess Ticket Received]


    The ess Ticket rippled through the air, but before it activated...


    [Temporal Lock Point (Gold) (Gateway Treasure)]


    [Exchange 10 000 F-Grade Gold Aether Stones to set Temporal Lock on a region]


    [Durability: 999/999]


    A flood of Aether Stones pooled out from the Madness Key and something that caught Ss


    off guard happened.


    Time truly froze.


    It was hard to describe how it felt other than Ss could tell intimately from the feeling of his


    Rune Vitality Mastery.


    The Runes in this space almost seemed... dead.


    Ss'' eyes zed over as he seemed to beprehending something.


    He didn''t even know how much time passed by the time he awoke, but deep inside, he knew


    that it didn''t matter.


    That was because this Temporal Lock didn''t just allow him to go to another space off-Earth without worrying about time dtion.


    It literally froze the time he was experiencing, allowing him to return to the very same instant


    as though no time had passed at all!


    This was huge. Ss had been worrying that even if time was one-to-one, he might still end up missing something important. But it seemed that he had vastly underestimated the value of this


    Gateway Treasure.


    However...


    [Durability: 998/998]


    It seemed that once the Durability was gone... there was no getting it back. Ss exhaled a breath and calmed him. Looking around, he realized that the Golden Aether


    Stones he had used already showed some signs of dimming.


    It seemed that he had to get a move on.


    With a thought, he activated the silvery-gold ticket.


    The world around him shed, and before Ss could even see anything, he heard a sound of hustle and bustle that made what he had experienced at Sarap City feel like a joke.


    When his vision did clear, he found an enormous, pockmarked red tongue dangling before his face, the foul stench of rotting meat hitting him in a wall of heat.

 Chapter 767: TongueHead

    Chapter 767: Tongue''Head


    ?


    The creature roared, its breath mming into Ss and almost sending him a step back.


    A sharpness came from Ss'' eyes, but it only appeared for a moment before he calmed, a cool indifference exuding from him.


    He looked up and past the open maw before him, his gazending on the oddly pill-shaped pupils of the creature before him. The snap and crackle of ice danced in the air, his hair kicking up in its winds as a dangerous momentum gathered within him.


    But even then, he didn''t move.


    It took Ss not more than a moment to understand what was happening here. He had randomly been teleported to the center of what looked like a packed bazaar. And yet, the moment he did, there was someone, or something, trying to intimidate him.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 768 Odds

    Chapter 768 Odds


    "Dear traveller, there are many things to know. But the problem is that your ticket will expire before I have had the time to exin them all to you. You can check your timer whenever you so need to." Ss checked his notification screen. However¡­ ¡ª [00:23:59:59] ¡ª The screen was entirely frozen. It wasn''t ticking down like it was meant to, which could only mean that his timelock was still active and giving him far more time than should have otherwise been suggested. However, Ss didn''t mention this. He didn''t need to be wise to everything happening in this outside world to know that it would be foolish. Legendary Path Treasures were incredibly rare, so much so that he had run into none at all in the Frostbane Dungeon despite those geniuses being their best. A Gold Grade Legendary Path Treasure was surely on another level entirely. He didn''t need to be a genius to know that a Treasure that could stop time was shocking. Plus, if this Tongue''Head character was telling the truth, then this timelock wouldn''t be all that helpful at all. After all, it wasn''t like he could stop time indefinitely. If it took more than a day to exin everything, it wouldn''t be worth it. Instead, he would have to ask pointed questions. "Lead me to a location appropriate for Beast Masters." "Right away, dear traveller!" Ss fol


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 769 Ulrik

    Chapter 769 Ulrik


    Ss barely saw the notification before he was whisked away. When he appeared again, he was assaulted by beaming rays of sunlight reflecting off tall city walls coated in a thick metallquer. The shine was so blinding that it took several more seconds before Ss finally adjusted and realized that he wasn''t quite standing before a gate, but rather in a special region under it. A line far longer than Ss would have expected for a ce so difficult to enter extended to near infinity. At the very least, he couldn''t see the end of it all. It was no wonder Tongue''Head hadn''t even bothered to bring him here. If he had to enter through normal means, just waiting in the line alone would have used up all his time. Ss shook his head and looked before him, only to find a woman with a single horn curving from her forehead bowing deep and low to him. Even after several seconds, she showed no signs of rising from her head being perfectly parallel to the ground. If not for the size of her horn, Ss wouldn''t have been able to see it at all. Realizing what was happening, Ss spoke. "Are you here for m


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 770 First Entry

    Chapter 770 First Entry


    The first thing Ss noticed were the tall ceilings. The lobby region was like the inside of an enormous mall walled with curved ss. However, whilepared to the ces he had already been, this region was very much sparsely popted, its size was shocking.


    The ceilings above seemed to extend to the full height of a skyscraper, reaching beyond a hundred meters. The ss fixtures of light that hung from it sparkled like stars beneath the beaming sun, while every speck of marble that coated the ground was spotless and clean.


    All around Ss, people were dressed in formal wear and garbs. Although they weren''t wearing the suits and dresses of Earth in most respects, Ss could tell from the look alone that these were all either business men and women, or nobles.


    This region waspletely different.


    Several careless ncesnded on Ss, and most didn''t think much of it or even thought to dismiss him after seeing his crude style of dress. It was likely that in this entire mall, he was the only one wearing beast skin like he was. Or rather, he was the only wearing such unrefined beast skins. He looked far more like a barbarian than


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 771 Millions of Items

    Chapter 771 Millions of Items


    Ss kept waiting for the pressurized wave toe, but it never did.


    He found himself walking, and walking, and walking, down an endless corridor that didn''t seem to have any intention of ending¡­


    Until it abruptly did.


    A set of three wide stairs appeared before him. Upon it, there was another ss tform.


    Ss looked back with a questioning gaze to Voxena, but she was looking at him with trembling pupils. It was clear that even she didn''t understand what was going on. In fact, even the silent Tongue''Head found itself shaking, a light of excitement in its eyes, but for some reason, it still didn''t dare to speak.


    There was a sh and the eyepatch-wearing man appeared again, this time behind this final stage.


    "You''ve received the highest honors. Please ce your palm on this tform."


    Everything was happening too fast and Ss didn''t like not being able to analyze the situation he was in. It felt like too many outside factors were driving him.


    He hade here for the sake of buying and trading for things, but now he felt like there were too many external forces he didn''t understand at y here.


    He almost didn''t want to put his hand forward at all. But in the end¡­


    He took the three steps and ced his hand down.


    It was already toote to take things back now. If he had known that he could freeze time entirely, he would have just taken Szorn with him. Then maybe he could have avoided a lot of these things.


    He felt like something had plucked at ayer deep within him.


    ¡ª


    [Ss Gr


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 772 Dilemma

    Chapter 772 Dilemma


    Ss was facing a dilemma.


    While the evolution of the Bone-Tailed Lizard was important to him, and the potential of Spine Coil Poison was exceptionally high as well, he already had three Bronze Beasts under his care. Would one more make such arge difference, especially if he couldn''t level it up easily in the short term?


    "Is there any way to make these prices cheaper?" Ss asked.


    Voxena''s eyes zed as though she had been waiting for this opportunity. But her words were caught in her throat when Ss'' gazended on Tongue''Head, who had been silent all the while.


    The Familiar was caught off guard for a moment before eagerly nodding itsrge head.


    "Yes, young elite! There are many ways, but the easiest methods are tailored to the Beast Master Tower itself. The trial young elite just underwent is only the entrance exam. If you make it onto the under-50 Beast Master rankings, there are discounts avable, but only starting at the top 100.


    "You can get all the way up to a full 80% discount on items for being in the top three."


    Ss raised an eyebrow. He was expecting something like this, but 80% felt¡­ exaggerated. What reason did they have to give such benefits?


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 773 How Far?

    Chapter 773 How Far?


    Ss realized that standing around wasn''t going to get him the answers he wanted, so he took a step forward and entered the first of the nine doors.


    A row of nine eggs sat before Ss on cushioned tforms when he entered. Theyy there, a silent mass of swirling colors about half the size of his head.


    There was no other exnation given.


    Ss stood there for a long while. He had already asked about Tongue''Head for all of the exnations he needed in advance.


    For all Beast Master Secret Realms, the nine challenges were the exact same. This first challenge was a selection challenge. Based on the eggs alone, he had to point out which creature had the highest potential.


    It seemed that the first challenge was, indeed, tailored to his specialization because he could tell at a nce that they were all Serpentes. But the problem was¡­


    His Insight was far beyond what the Secret Realm could match up to.


    The one with the greatest potential was actually¡­


    Ss'' head turned toward an egg with a murky brown surface. Blue clouds were matted onto the brown hue, floating around with a hint of mysticism.


    Although it was a beautiful egg,pared to the others, it was still greatlygging. Once it was born, Ss could see how this creature would be F- at best in the eyes of many.


    However, if it was raised with his methods, it could


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 774 Freeze and Slow [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]

    Chapter 774 Freeze and Slow [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]


    Ss stood in silence.


    It was hard to assess where to draw the line when you knew so little about the world. It was even more difficult when you had to make sure that you not only passed, but did so to a standard that would actually help you.


    For a moment, Ss wondered if he should simply fail on purpose and forget about helping the Bone-Tailed Lizard at all. Or, maybe he should pretend to join one of these factions with his Breath Master ranking as a lure.


    Something told him, though, that it wouldn''t be very easy to trick these Guilds. The moment you were bound to them, it would either be for life, or until you grew strong enough that you could wipe them out on your own¡ªand even then they might have something in the cards that could hold you down for a while after.


    Ss made a decision.


    There was a sh in his eyes and suddenly, the burden on his Mental went from a light breeze to a heavy mountain.


    Rune Vitality was pushed to its extreme limits, and right then, from an expanse of cloudy white that looked plucked right out some dystopian depiction of heaven, Runes th


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 775 Shaping [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]

    Chapter 775 Shaping [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]


    Ss felt his Will pouring into the surroundings. Rune Vitality sparked all on its own and the Runes that were dodging just out of his attention found themselves frozen in time much like what he had experienced in the midst of Temporal Lock.


    All of a sudden, what had been an extremely difficult process seemed to click into ce for him.


    The swimming Runes, once constantly changing, morphing, shapeshifting, slowed to a crawl until it looked as though they weren''t moving at all.


    Though Ss could tell that they were still moving, they were doing so at such a crawl that they reflected in his mind with ease.


    The burden on Ss'' mind plummeted as though he had crossed over a threshold.


    ¡ª


    [Title Upgraded]


    [A Sparked Will > A Shaping Will]


    [Your Will is truly one of a kind and has begun to not just forge its own Path, but it has also begun to take a True shape. While immature and still growing, it has carved out its ce in the world. Continue to forge it, young man]


    [+100 Will]


    [+100% Will]


    [+200 Charisma]


    [+200% Charisma]


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Throne of ss Heir (Silver)]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 776 Fission

    Chapter 776 Fission


    Ss crossed into the third door, his eyes calm and cid. He measured the Runes in the surroundings. They fell in a silence, ss Will crackling around them and solidifying them into ce as Ss observed them. After a quick nce around, Ss nodded. Then he looked toward the challenge before him. There were a series of beasts, a single nest of snakes wrapped, wound, and twisted around one another. It was a mating ball and it was something that Ss was quite familiar with even back on Earth. His task was to deal with this mess and pair the beasts that had the best Genes together. Expectedly, there were two paths he could take for this. The path they wanted for him to take, and the path his Legendary Profession showed him. Of course, he easily took the former. He cleared the room swiftly and then moved on to the next. The rooms alternated between challenges tailored to general Beast Master tasks and challenges that were more focused on specializations. After yet another specialization challenge, this general task was more difficult for Ss, at least normally. It projected an imag


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 777 Silence

    Chapter 777 Silence


    Ss watched on coldly as the beast rattled against its chains, snapping them.


    ¡­


    In the outside hall, a crowd had long gathered. In fact, this matter was projected through the whole Rune Tower, not just the Beast Master Tower section.


    When those watching saw the crowd, they became horrified. Then there were those among them who had weird, contemtive expressions as though they understood something.


    Among this number was a certain young woman in a heavy cloak. But she was far from the only one.


    ¡­


    Ulrik nced at the screen above him and sneered. By his side, standing in disheveled clothes and trying to mask the puffiness of her eyes with makeup, there was Eliza.


    This was what happened when certain people didn''t know their ce.


    Uninterested in the happenings, Ulrik turned away and returned to his task. He had already vented his needs, so it was about time he dealt with the true purpose of his visit.


    What he was preparing for was too big and too important to screw it up. He didn''t have the time to care for someone who had passed him up on a mere Breath Master list, not when he had long since risen beyond that list.


    ¡­


    The attenda


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 778 Cost [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 778 Cost [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    The silence was heavy.


    It didn''t look like Ss had done anything impressive. And yet, they felt shell shocked.


    The solution should have been obvious to them all. They were all masters in their own right to even be able to afford to enter this city in the first ce. So, they could obviously tell that Ss was manipting the Runes of the chain.


    It was somewhat difficult, and it was impressive how smoothly he had been able to do it. But anyone on the Breath Master list would be capable of such a thing.


    The chains weren''t like the hidden Runes in the Secret Realm, they were simr to the beasts. Although they were constructed of Runes, they were designed to be manipted as well. If all the Runes in the Secret Realm were locked down like the foundational ones were, then no one would be able to pass them at all.


    However, in the midst of battle, to figure this out and then reverse the situation so easily¡­


    It was then that they recalled something.


    Ss Grimde.


    He was a man of a Summoned World.


    When they understood this, everything only seemed natural.


    Contrary to what one might expect, not everyone in the universe spent their days


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 779 The Golden Grove [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]

    Chapter 779 The Golden Grove [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]


    There was no surprise that Ss had failed. The task was to tame the beast, not kill it. If it was just a matter of killing it, considering it started off chained, anyone who was able to make it to the ninth door in the first ce would be able to easily handle the task.


    However, despite this being the case, there wasn''t a single person here who dared to take the word "Failed" at face value. Every single one of them had seen that crown, and they were all aware that the fact that Ss could even stand before them right this moment was a testament to the kind of talent he was.


    The eyes of several hidden figures in the crowd couldn''t help but glow.


    Ss was already a prime target after his ranking on the Breath Master leaderboard was made public. The sheer number of Guilds that had tried to solicit him was a testament to that.


    But a Rune Master was one thing. A Rune Master with such flexible thinking, fast hands, and sharp senses¡­ that was another thing entirely.


    Given the talent Ss had just disyed, he was very likely to break free of the Breath shackles¡­


    If he hadn''t already.


    It had to be remembered that only a very small minority managed to reach Breath Mastery in the first ce. Over 99% of those that started on the path of Rune Mastery were stuck at Rune Enlightenment and were unable to cross that threshold.


    This was why despite Breath Mastery being the lowest tier list avable to under-50s, it was still such a shocking


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 780 Either...

    Chapter 780 Either...


    Ss looked up indifferently and then watched his notification screen as the rewards were applied. After it was done, he turned and walked toward the counter, trading for the items he wanted and then leaving.


    Unfortunately, this Level 30 Bazaar didn''t have any more of what he needed for his Contracts, but this made sense. After all, he was trying to raise Bronze Contracts right now. The fact he had managed to find what he needed for the Bone-Tailed Lizard in the first ce was its own small miracle.


    In the end, he didn''t even spend 10 million thanks to the discounts. Although he was sure that he could find some more useful stuff if he looked around for longer, the fact his Insight hadn''t triggered on the first go-around would mean that he needed to take much more time.


    And time was something that he had wasted enough of here already.


    Now it was time to see if he could find the treasure he needed for the Genesis Forge. It seemed that this time¡­ he was well and truly in luck.


    Something told him that before this little excursion, he wouldn''t have nearly been able to afford what he needed. But now, things just might change.


    "I need an Aether Treasure that can incre


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 781 Except For...

    Chapter 781 Except For...


    There was a dense hustle and bustle in the region. It was an auditorium with a ring of seating arrangements surrounding a single tform. But high in the skies, there were pods obscured by fluttering clouds that housed even more people.


    It was clear that those hidden behind these clouds were the true elites of the region, and their seating arrangements came with an expense that reflected that.


    For the moment, the stage was still very much empty. The participants hadn''t appeared yet¡ªor rather they had yet to be introduced. That said, the atmosphere seemed to already be reaching a peak.


    ¡­


    "It''s unfortunate. There doesn''t seem to be anyone of interest joining this time around."


    A young woman wearing a particrly thin dress spoke after taking a sip of wine. Her tongue forked as she licked her lips of the droplets, her pupils bing slit for just a moment before fading away.


    Oddly enough, despite how sheer her dress was, it felt like one couldn''t focus well enough to see her delicate regions. The more one squinted, the more blurry it all became.


    ¡ª


    [171. Erythra Zalyn (Lv38) | Nythseran (F) | Seran (Grade 2 Sil


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 782 Lorien Myst

    Chapter 782 Lorien Myst


    "Let''s give a very, very warm wee to the first of our participants!" Chase''s voice boomed across the arena floor. There seemed to be Runes amplifying his voice, echoing out from the three microphones he held¡ªnot that he needed them.


    The announcer was nothing if not good at his job. The weight of his voice was as heavy as a mountain, almost as though it was doubled over, not much unlike his duo set of arms.


    "We''ll start today off with a bang! An unexpected participant, flying into the void of danger at the veryst moments, raising up his weapon and¡ªexcuse me," Chase coughed. "Forgive me, I''m very used to announcing for bloody conflicts, but today is actually a meeting of intellectuals, a scrying of future pirs of the world of Runes! But my blood boils just the same and my tongue outruns my mind!


    "Without further ado, I introduce you to a man you''ve all been wanting to meet for a very long time, a bachelor the fascination of countless young maidens, an elite risen from the obscure ashes of a world not yet known to the wider universe.


    "Ss Grimde!"


    The name was responded with by a stunned silence for a moment before there was


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 783 For Nothing

    Chapter 783 For Nothing


    An uproar jostled the arena.


    They never thought that such a big shot would appear. Even the two women high in the artificial clouds found themselves bing serious.


    It didn''t need to be said that the Flesh Master list was on apletely different level than the Breath Master one. For a Flesh Master to appear here, it was shocking enough. But for it to be Lorien Myst of all people¡­


    Erythra and Nyssa looked toward one another with bitter smiles.


    They knew what this was.


    It was a set-up.


    Lorien Myst was from the Mist Race, a weak Race that was doubly screwed because of their difficulty in reproducing.


    The problem wasn''t their reproduction rate. They actually had children just as easily as all low-level races did.


    The main problem was their Gene Pool.


    Because of an odd quirk of their bodies, they birthed females more than 60% of the time, leading to a shocking imbnce of their poption.


    As a result of this, their Gene Poolcked diversity and they were losing their roots generation by generation.


    The Mist Race had been doing everything they could to stave off these problems, and as a result of those efforts, they had produced an action n to start incorporating outs


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 784 Place in the Universe [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 784 ce in the Universe [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    "This round will eliminate two of our young elites, so stay on your toes!


    "This is a game you''ve all heard of before, Rune Bump. Prepare yourselves!"


    Ss'' eyes narrowed.


    There was no exnation, no setup, no warning. He was left stranded, and a part of him had the feeling that it was donepletely on purpose.


    Maybe it was only natural that the other participants know, but how could he be aware of such things?


    However, before he could even begin to grasp what was happening, Chase had vanished and the five participants faced off against one another, each taking up a section around the outer ring of the arena.


    The cheers of the crowd faded from Ss'' ears as he reached an unprecedented state of focus. The reality of the gap between him and the group around him settled in.


    But rather than carrying away, he leaned into it, his gaze reaching an unfathomable depth.


    There was only one path that he would choose here.


    Sess.


    Unbridled, uncontested, unfettered sess.


    There was a sh before his eyes and a Rune appeared. It wasn''t tooplex, just 40 Foundations. Compared to Ss who had seen 7


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 785 A Shocking Reversal

    Chapter 785 A Shocking Reversal


    Ulrik''s eyes narrowed, and Lorien couldn''t help but look over.


    What just happened?


    "¡ªA SHOCKING REVERSAL!"


    Chase''s voice finally faded into Ss'' subconscious once more. The four-armed man had been speaking all the while, but this was the first time Ss even cared to listen.


    Because of that, he had missed Chase''s own surprise, how his voice had choked in his throat and how his foretelling of Lorien and Ulrik''s dominance was wrung out from his lips, tarnished and dashed.


    The four-armed announcer had no choice but to speak on Ss'' achievement, but he wasn''t a fool either. He knew that this matter¡­ had just gotten several orders of magnitude trickier.


    The tform rumbled and the Aether supporting the Runes vanished.


    Just like that, just three were left.


    Ss looked down at the tform. ''¡­ Interesting¡­''


    His gaze seemed to peer through the stone, seeing the hidden formations beneath and spotting the uniqueness that triggered the foundations for the first round.


    It seemed that this was another way to get Mature Aether to naturally power Runes. It was a weaker method than just drawing Runes to Brea


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 786 Difference

    Chapter 786 Difference


    Chase continued to drag out the excitement, peppering inmentary from the first round. However, the crowd was quickly getting restless, wanting him to continue with the next round already.


    If nothing else, Chase was a professional. He turned a deaf ear to the murmurings in the crowd even when they became a tidal wave of annoyance.


    Minutester, as though finally receiving a message on what to do, he continued as though nothing at all had happened.


    "And without further ado, we''ll progress right to the second round!"


    Attendants began to appear on the stage, each rolling forward with a steel case on wheels that looked like it came straight out of an airne. They wheeled them into ce and then locked the wheels.


    The steel cases shook.


    At first it was subtle, but by the time Chase began speaking again, they were vibrating so fiercely that the loud racket almost overwhelmed the announcer''s booming voice.


    "Rune Monsters! I''m sure many in the crowd have a love-hate rtionship with them, and many have died under their hands! The task is simple. Survive under the Rune Monster''s onught!


    "BEGIN!"


    Theck of an exnation was once again ring. What was a Rune Monster? How did you surv


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 787 True Member

    Chapter 787 True Member


    It wasn''t just the pain alone. Or rather, the pain was just too difficult to describe.


    What did it feel like when one part of you felt like it was being electrocuted, while another part was being crushed in stone? What if one aspect drilled needles into your mind and another burned through your inner organs?


    It felt like the worst sort of tug of war, violent, abrasive, andcking inplete regard for his life and survival.


    In just three attacks, Ss found himself on the brink of death already. Without his Scorpion Warlord armor, his Constitution was far too inferior to the geniuses here, and even if it wasn''t, he wasn''tpletely certain that it would make much of a difference.


    As the Rune Monsters limated themselves to thews around them, their firing became faster and sharper, their Rune Foundations slowly increasing from 10 to 11, and then from 11 to 12.


    Aether swirled about in a tempestuous storm and formations were activated to protect the spectators from harm for the first time in thepetition.


    Ss hacked up a mouthful of blood that came out in sparkling shards of rouge foggy mist, an attack of ice ripping up his thr


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 788 CHI.

    Chapter 788 CHI.


    Ss was finding it hard to focus on anything other than the pain. If it wasn''t for the fact his Will was so strong, he would have long since already copsed, fallen to the wayside and unable to prop himself up.


    This time, though, it wasn''t a matter of Will. The Will attacks Nyssa thought he was suffering from were no more than a joke. Although they were steadily growing more powerful, Ss felt that he could still continue to shrug them off with ease.


    The real reason he was suffering so much was because those watching had vastly overestimated what his Constitution was. They could never imagine that this shocking man before them didn''t even have 1000 Constitution.


    It was only thanks to the Scorned Wraps that Ss had double his 760 Constitution right now, but even then, it wasn''t nearly enough to stack up to what these geniuses were capable of.


    Although they hadn''t noticed it just yet, they had all subconsciously stopped looking down on Ss long ago. Or, rather, it was more urate to say that none of them ever had. Even Voxena, who had all but bet everything against Ss, wasn''t making this choi


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 789 Ninth [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]

    Chapter 789 Ninth [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]


    Mospheral clicked amunication device close.


    He was a man that liked to be prepared. Although there was a hint of self-satisfaction as he saw Ss about to fall, he had still ended up making the call nheless.


    It was best to have contingency ns for contingency ns, and something like dealing with a potential Progenitor needed to be done ahead of time even if that meant getting an edge by a mere few seconds.


    The fact that the a potential Progenitor was on the rise was enough for him to act like this, but the fact that a certain change had urred not long ago told him that this had to be handled with an extra depth of care.


    Bringing out that Ancient Aether Treasure for this event was definitely not something that they would do normally.


    All Golden Grove Bazaars were given certain quotas for raising geniuses, and a Treasure at this level was something they might only be granted once every millennia, if that.


    This one in particr had been sitting in their District''s Treasure Vault for 1287 years before it was finally taken out this time.


    It was odd. Ulrik''s standing in the Thryskai wasn''t particrly high, and there were many talents beyond him in the


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 790 Lorien [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]

    Chapter 790 Lorien [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]


    The tenth Rune appeared, but this time, Ss'' Rune crashed into it, countering it when it was just halfway to him.


    Then the eleventh came, but this time, it hardly formed and the Rune Monster didn''t even have the chance to spit it out before it shattered.


    Ss'' eyes darted back and forth as he watched thews umting around the Rune Monster.


    ''A heated steam¡­ hardened earth¡­ another Will attack¡­''


    Ss'' Rune formed before the Rune Monster even finished this time, jetting forward and entering its vague, amorphous maw.


    Thews coalesced at the same time Ss'' Rune appeared.


    The Rune blocked the formation of the Foundations and suddenly, the Rune Monster shuddered.


    BANG!


    The Rune Monster''s body shattered apart, scattering into the wind.


    Silence.


    The Natural Rune Monster''s foggy bits trembled and tried to pull themselves back together, but one after another, dozens of tiny 10 Foundation Ice-Poison Runes shot out from Ss, forming in the air and colliding against the attempts to reform itself.


    CHI. CHI. CHI.


    Ice crackled and popped, sp


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 791 Pink Mist

    Chapter 791 Pink Mist


    Ss reyed the events in his mind, slowly reconstructing things in an attempt to understand what happened. But even after a long while, although he knew that Lorien had somehow used him as a cover to eliminate Ulrik, he still couldn''t quite grasp it.


    That pink mist she was emitting¡­ it wasn''t simple at all.


    Originally, they just seemed to have a slowing effect on the fired Runes. But this clearly wasn''t the end of it at all. It seemed that, rather than just slowing Runes, it instead manipted thews and the way thosews interacted with said Runes.


    Essentially, she was almost casting an illusory world around the Runes that forced them to act differently. On the one hand, this could make them far weaker, but on the other¡­ it could do the exact opposite as well.


    While everyone here probably thought this Unique Gene¡ªor maybe it was a Racial Trait¡ªonly had one simple ability. But with his senses, Ss was fairly certain that it was not only far moreplex than any of them assumed, but¡­


    Even he couldn''t see through theplexity of its depths. It went far deeper than even his perception could track.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 792 Dangerous Charisma

    Chapter 792 Dangerous Charisma


    Nyssa stood frozen in the air, stunned. However, as time ticked by, and the rolling emotions in her heart slowed, she slowly began to lick her lips.


    There was a light of desire in her eyes that hadn''t been there before. When she looked at Ss'' almost bestial form, his wild aura, and his calm, cold confidence, she found herself having to snap out of her own thoughts.


    ''This man''s Will is dangerous¡­''


    Before, Ss'' shocking Will was suppressed because his Charisma wasgging much too far behind. For as long as he could remember, he had always had superior Will to Charisma.


    But after forming Shaping Will, he took another step forward. Now, his Will practically took permanent, tangible form, causing his Charisma stat to act far more like its namesake suggested it should.


    Clearly, though, it wasn''t just a matter of feeling that he was attractive. What attracted Nyssa most wasn''t even just Ss'' strength either¡­


    It was his potential.


    There was no reason for Ss to take such blows, not if he wasn''t going to finish off the battle so easily anyway. That meant that he adjusted mid-battle and somehow surpassed all expectations.


    What these people feared the mo


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>

 Chapter 793 Impossible (1)

    Chapter 793 Impossible (1)


    A beam of light shot out, piercing toward Ss with harrowing speed. It felt as though Lorien wanted to end this as quickly as possible.


    And she was right to do so.


    Every step until now, it was them giving Ss a lull that allowed him to reverse the situation. This time, she didn''t n on giving the breathing room at all.


    Her pink mist solidified into a long, whipping line thatcked any sort of flexibility at all. It shot across the bowel of the empty world, appearing so fast that Ss could hardly react to it at all¡­


    Or so it seemed.


    In an instant, the piercing line was at Ss'' throat.


    CHI.


    A violet wreathed arm reached out and caught the line of pink out of the air. Sparks flew and Ss'' avatar was pushed a heavy step back, the line even cutting into his throat somewhat¡­


    But no further.


    The crowd fell into silence as Ss stood there, his Scorpion Warlord Armor flickering with life and vitality. His tail swayed slowly and his avatar squeezed down.


    BANG!


    The line of pink mist shattered and this time, it was Lorien''s avatar that was forced a step back.


    ¡­


    Mosphe


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 794 Impossible (2)

    Chapter 794 Impossible (2)


    Lorien took a breath and exhaled slowly.


    Looking at Ss now, she realized that if she wanted to win this, it seemed that she would have to show much more of her abilities. If not¡­ it would all be lost.


    Her aura changed, and the obscuring lights around her faded somewhat. From a seductive woman ready to open her legs to the highest bidder, she became eerily calm, calcting, sharp.


    And yet, there was a calming effect to her gaze. On the one hand, it seemed there only to lull one into a false sense of security. But on the other, it was like she was a loving wife, a silent head of the household who might have stood to her husband''s back, but would likewise decide all the most important matters.


    All of these thoughts shed in Ss'' head one after another before Lorien''s mist coated her body.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 795 Hated [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]

    Chapter 795 Hated [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]


    Ss felt his Will faltering.


    There was a sh in his eyes and the Will pressuring Runes appeared once again.


    This time, however, Lorien was ready for it. Her pink mist changed again as she poured more Will. From only gathering small tidbits of Foundations, it suddenly began to form outright true Runes. They only had three to four Foundations between them and couldn''t even meet the standard of lowest ss Runes, but this change was still enough.


    Ss felt his Will rebuffed by something.


    But Lorien felt like she had just been hit with a truck.


    Her eyes widened. Just how powerful was Ss'' Will?!


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 796 I Trust [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 796 I Trust [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    Ss'' eyes snapped open.


    The first thing he felt was the waves offort, and then came the confusion. He shouldn''t have felt sofortable right now, all logic told him that it was simply impossible.


    What happened to him?


    His vision slowly cleared and he found himself looking through a sheer violet gauze that barely covered the embroidered ceiling beyond it. Ambient, warm lighting filled a dim room and a delicate fragrance hung in the air.


    A soft and pliable bedy beneath him, and his head was cushioned by an even softer pillow.


    Ss shifted ufortably. He wasn''t a fan of soft beds and had always preferred hard mattresses. Still, he couldn''t help but admit that this was the mostfortable bed he had everid in.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 797 Caliber

    Chapter 797 Caliber


    Nyssa''s refined smile didn''t falter when Ss didn''t reply. In fact, this was the sort of response she expected.


    Despite the fact he was naked, she only seemed to have eyes for his own, staring into the depths of his soul as though on a mission to find out exactly what made him tick.


    "Your reaction is about what I would expect of a man of your caliber. You like to analyze, and you''re not nearly as wild as you seem on the outside. If I''m correct, you''re probably a man of education on your world, but the Summoning unleashed quite a wild side of you¡ªmaybe a side you''ve always had but learned to suppress to fit in with the cards you were dealt.


    "Your tale isn''t a unique one. Men like you tend to either die in a supernova of their own glory, or stamp their own legacy onto the world. Today, you very nearly became the former. I stuck my neck out to save you."


    Her words were very straightforward. Since she had already chosen to be herself around Ss, there was really no need to tiptoe around things.


    Someone with Ss'' personality and intelligence wouldn''t easily fall for cheap tricks, so she hadn''t used any of them.


    She could have easily filled this room with the scent of aphrodisiac, she could have tried to shackle his soul while his Will couldn''t resist, she could have even used several means to test him here and find where his world was.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 798 Tense

    Chapter 798 Tense


    Nyssa hade here expecting to receive at least some pushback. She had some understanding of Ss'' character and knew him to be someone who was smart¡­ but he had also disyed some reckless tendencies.


    It was just that in Nyssa''s eyes, she had always seen this reckless disregard in some eyes as calcted risks. Although he had ended up losing the bet in the end, it had been a close shave¡­


    Sort of.


    "My mother and father have quite some mutual respect for one another, andter in their lives, that built into love. I hope that we might have the same thing one day, but I will spare you the love-sick fool act. Though, I will tell you now that out in public, this is exactly the type of woman I will be for you.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 799 No Matter the Place, No Matter the Cost

    Chapter 799 No Matter the ce, No Matter the Cost


    Ulrik didn''t give Ss a single nce, he might as well have been air. Instead, his target was very obviously not Ss, but Nyssa herself.


    Or so it seemed.


    He could havee to confront her at any time, but he chose to do it at right this moment while Ss wasn''t unconscious, but was rather very much present.


    That was on purpose.


    Only a toddler would think it to be any different.


    Ulrik came to a stop just two meters from Nyssa''s back and simply waited there. He didn''t say a word, he didn''t have to. Nyssa knew what she should do.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 800 System Oath

    Chapter 800 System Oath


    Laws spontaneously rippled through the world, an oppressive Will drawing a line.


    The skies shuddered and the ss casing that formed the tall, curved ceilings of the Rune Tower cracked.


    BANG!


    Shards of ss fell in a torrent, a hail of sharpness sprinkling down from above in a fine mist.


    And then thew took shape, condensing into aplex Rune swirled with a dense darkness.


    But no one could pay much attention to it, not at all. Not when high above, right through the shattered ceiling of the tower, there was an eye that froze them all in ce.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 801 Dustspark [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]

    Chapter 801 Dustspark [Top 5 Golden Ticket Bonus]


    The fact that he was unable to get the Aether Treasure was a huge blow that he wouldn''t be able to easily get over. But truth be told, he should have already epted this.


    He had entered with only 40 million or so Hero Points. Just entry to gain ess to an Aether Treasure had cost over 10 billion, and even with how much she was willing to spend, Nyssa certainly couldn''t afford such a caliber of Treasure.


    Aether Treasures were too powerful and important, let alone Ancient Aether Treasures.


    The more Ss learned about these matters, the more he found it odd that the Thryskai had made this apetition instead of just handing it to Ulrik. And all that considered, why Ulrik in the first ce?


    Everything seemed to suggest that Ulrik wasn''t a big shot amongst the Thryskai, so why was so much effort being ced on him?


    Could his lineage outstrip his talent? Maybe Ss was underestimating just how much the Thryskai were willing to invest into one of their own regardless of rank? Or maybe¡­ there was something going on here that he didn''t have fullprehension of.


    Ss pressed these thoughts down.


    He didn''t have the time to waste on them.


    A focused me flickered in his eyes as he focused on the first treasure.


    ¡ª


    [Dustspark Viper Dungeon Key (???) (Dungeon Key)]


    [???]


    [???]


    [???]


    ¡ª


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 802 Glassvolt Heir [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 802 ssvolt Heir [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    [ss: Throne of ssvolt Heir]


    ¡ª


    Ss didn''t even bother to look at the details of the ss. He was sopletely focused that even the tingling sensation of ssvolt Aether shooting through his body didn''t faze him in the slightest bit.


    From the moment he saw the abilities of the Lightning Sylphs, he knew that this would be the final step of his Path of the Mancer.


    Until now, what hecked the most in was raw attacking power. ss Aether was very good at area control and defense, but what itcked in the most was offensive prowess.


    Now, he had finally found the perfect method ofpleting this step.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 803 Doubled

    Chapter 803 Doubled


    Ss took a seat. He didn''t even look at the chains again. He wouldn''t need them.


    If this rage in his heart couldn''t anchor him down, then he would be even more pathetic than he felt.


    His Demonic Will stirred, an eerie darkness seeping out from the corners of his eyes with sparks of emerald mes.


    Then his body suddenly flexed.


    The ancient rock stirred to life and tendrils of blood mixed with bony solids pierced into Ss from all sides.


    Anyone who had heard of Body Essence Refinement would know that this Secret Realm had no business being so cheap.


    In truth, this was also an Ancient method, from the very same era as the Ancient Aether Treasure that Ss had missed out on.


    It had passed through many hands, and there was more than just a few in cirction. They still sold for a pretty penny, but it was still a far cry from their worth in the past.


    This was because of two main factors.


    The first was that, as Nyssa had said, gathering Blood Essence and Bone Essence was incredibly difficult. Blood Essence was still alright, as there were some Rune Masters that could buy them in small quantities for the sake of drawing talismans and things of the like.


    However, these small vials of Blood Essence could easily cost tens of thousands of Hero Points each, and would be nothing more than a drop in the bucketpared to the amount you would need to make it feasible.


    Just in order to make this Secret Realm even the slightest bit useful, one would have to spend at least as much as one had bought it for on Blood Essence alone before beginning.


    As for Bone Essence¡­ it was hundreds of times more expensive than Blood Essence.


    Unless one had hundreds of billions of Hero Points to burn, it simply wasn''t worth it.


    The only geniuses that could afford such a thing were the truest cream of the crop. There weren''t more than ten in the entire Skai Gxy.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 804 Glassvolt

    Chapter 804 ssvolt


    There was a deep trembling hidden in the depths of Ss'' aura, the kind that carried a momentum that belied its silence. Deep, resonate, reverberating.


    Each stint crackled like thunder. It felt like there was an armageddon taking ce in the depths of Ss'' blood and bones.


    The pain that it came with was hard to describe, but maybe that was because the man himself wasn''t making much of an attempt to describe it either.


    Ss had entered a state where it didn''t seem to matter what kind of pain he was experiencing at all. His Will was too firm, too unshakeable. Even the furious roars of his Demonic Will fell on deaf ears, its attempts to get him to go back, to go and reverse things right this moment, unable to move him.


    Instead, that fury only further fueled his Will.


    Body Essence Refinement didn''t have distinct and easy to distinguish stages like one might see from normal Leveling or even moreplex power systems like Comprehensions.


    This wasn''t just because it was an ancient method either.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 805 Beacon

    Chapter 805 Beacon


    [Throne of ssvolt Heir (Gold)]


    [The bedrock of your Monarchy starts in your heart and extends to yournds. Should your Will remain firm, you will rule for an Eternity. But a darkness lingers in your heart that suffocates your growth, only to be shredded apart by a deathly bolt from the Heavens, a wrath from a sky lord. A True Emperor has no need of Strength but His Own.]


    [+220 Mental]


    [+220 Constitution]


    [Stat Limit Increase: +50 per Level]


    [Free Stats: +25 per Level]


    [ss Modifier: 0.62 Intelligence; 0.62 Wisdom; 0.62 Charisma; 0.62 Constitution]


    ¡ª


    [Name: Ss Grimde]


    [Species: Human (F)]


    [Affiliation: Grimde Lineage]


    [ss: Throne of ssvolt Heir (Gold)]


    [ss: ¡ª]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 806 Feel the Difference

    Chapter 806 Feel the Difference


    Ss met the ssinox''s gaze and it was as though he had been hit with a wall of wind. Lines of pressure filled the skies and blood leaked out from the corner of Ss'' eyes.


    This gap here¡­ it couldn''t be exined in terms of simple stats.


    After his Body Essence Refinement, the one change that Ss hadn''t expected was his Will jumping from 1999 to 3999 in a single bound. It was like his Dual ss Constitution was only now finally flexing its true might.


    And yet, right now¡­ it still felt like it was going to crumble to a single touch.


    But Ss just stood there.


    He didn''t move forward, he didn''t flinch, his body just stood¡ªhis heart a bit tensed, but its beating even.


    He basked in the feeling of weakness, of inferiority, as though he wanted to remind himself of what it felt like.


    It was hard to remain angry for so long. A burst of motivation could happen to anyone, and he had been riding on that wave long enough to make it through his Body Essence Refinement, but as his strength increased, it was inevitable that he would start to feel some calm, some reflection of contentment, some feeling that maybe the sacrif


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 807 NEW!! (1)

    Chapter 807 NEW!! (1)


    Ss froze in the skies.


    Too fast. Too sharp.


    The gap was actually so suffocating. It was like he didn''t have the right to even stand before this ssinox.


    His eyes began to dim and his life was quickly slipping away.


    But his Will held on strong.


    Unmoved.


    Hibernation Halo.


    SHUUUU!


    A rippling ring of gold spread out from Ss with him as the very center. Under the shocked gaze of the ssinox, the hole that should have taken his heart recovered in real time.


    A Serpentes'' attack was already extraordinarily weak to Ss. The moment it touched his body, the Will of the ssinox shattered to pieces, leaving it as nothing more than a mere flesh wound.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 808 NEW!! (2)

    Chapter 808 NEW!! (2)


    For the first time, Ss activated his ssvolt Comprehension and his body seemed to spark with life. Lightning twitched within his body, forming a connection with the foundation he hadid with his Blood and Bone Essence.


    There was¡­ a very good reason that he had used the Dustspark corpses to finish his Body Essence Refinement.


    It wasn''t just a matter of having powerful Blood and Bone Essence to use.


    It was also a matter of having the right type.


    And due to that, the moment his ssvolt Comprehension activated, the bolt of rainbow lightning that descended from the skies seemed to change in character.


    ¡ª


    [>Semi-Reversal] (NEW!!)


    ¡ª


    This new ability had a simple function. It was used to revert Serpentes back to a previous state, undoing an evolution in order to give them a chance at advantage again in a more perfect way.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 809 Legendary [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 809 Legendary [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    Ss'' roars spread out for countless miles.


    The entire region had been cleared out of all beasts but Serpentes, not a single one of the other powerhouses, even of the E-Grade, were willing to get involved.


    In that moment, Ss might as well have been the True Emperor of the region. So long as he said the word, he could force anything, trigger anything.


    ¡ª


    [Your Comprehension of ssvolt has deepened]


    [ssvolt has reached Legendary Mastery]


    ¡ª


    [ssvolt (F)] (Legendary)


    [The war of earth and sky has been fought for countless millennia. Those that worship the avatars of both are endless, each one leading crusades in their name. But in a distant past, the earth and skies were never such rivals¡­ but rather existed in a resonant hum ofradery and bnce]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 810 Titans

    Chapter 810 Titans


    Ulrik stared at a screen, not quite believing what he was seeing.


    ¡ª


    [Dustspark Viper Dungeon]


    -


    [1. Ss Grimde - 00:32:01]


    [2. Ss Grimde - 00:43:22]


    [3. Ss Grimde - 00:49:31]


    [4. Erec Vaul - 13:27:29]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 811 Help

    Chapter 811 Help


    The change to the Titans Leaderboard was akin to a boulder falling into a calmke. If before the name Ss Grimde had only really been known to the Ninth District, and even then only to a limited extent, it could be said that there wasn''t a single soul in the Skai Gxy that wasn''t aware of him now.


    It wasn''t like there were no low-leveled individuals on the list. In fact, the current top four rankers had all managed to get in with their Level 10 ss evolution.


    However, not a single one of them had been so high on the list.


    And not a single one of them had been Level 0 at the time.


    The upper echelons of the Thryskai stirred, and the name of Ss Grimde spread far and wide.


    It was then that they all made a sudden realization.


    This young man¡­ was from a world that had yet toplete its Summoning.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 812 Worry [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 812 Worry [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    Casstle Main.


    The situation didn''t seem as bad as one might expect. The operative word being "seem."


    There weren''t soldiers knocking down the gates, nor was there the scent of blood or a heavy somberness hanging in the air. But there was no denying one difort.


    Everything just felt the slightest bit off.


    When Ss walked out from the basement, he found himself greeted by a pair of militiamen who immediately went off to report his arrival to Cassarae.


    He didn''t say a word, his expression as cool as ice, his hair almost stiffly swaying in tight, thick curls that carried the heft of a mountain.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 813 Javier [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 813 Javier [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    "He still hasn''t appeared?"


    Professor Broussard reclined on a love seat, a hand on an armrest and his otherying t across its headrest. He crossed his legs in azy sort of posture, everything about his expression reading either confidence or the need for a nap.


    "There is no news."


    "Is that so¡­"


    Professor Broussard found it odd. ording to his understanding of Ss, he would have definitely appeared by now. With his calctions in ce, this would have given him just enough time to deal with everything appropriately.


    What he didn''t expect was for Ss to hand him such a victory on a silver tter without even an attempt to fight back.


    The longer Ss took to appear, the better it would be for him.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 814 Drill Sergeant [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 814 Drill Sergeant [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    It wasn''t until a full five minutester that it all sank in for Javier. He chuckled bitterly, tears of rage spilling down his cheeks.


    Even if he was the only one awake, so what? Would they let him live?


    Almost certainly not.


    What good was his breakthrough now?


    He hade all this way to die.


    Javier grit his teeth so hard that blood seeped through his gums. He had never been so angry in his life.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 815 Fifth

    Chapter 815 Fifth


    The gurgling that came from Veron''s throat chilled the heart. No one knew or understood what had happened¡ªexcept Ss himself.


    The abilities of Madness were powerful, extraordinarily so. When matched with a Shaping Will and a Will stat that was almost 20,000 when Madness was activated¡ªnearly at his Comprehension Limit of 19,999¡ªwhat chance did a mere Drill Sergeant have at resisting?


    Ss could tell that Veron was just ackey. Whether it was him or the alchemist, they were merely cogs in Gregory''s ns. This was the real reason why Ss hadn''t cared to kill them immediately, like he had the former.


    But since they chose to overstep their bounds once again, Ss chose to oblige.


    Ss held out a hand, his green eyes radiating with a deathly cold as he aimed it toward the front lines.


    He must have been over 200 meters away, and despite all the increases to his strength, the range of his visualization was still half that. It was impossible to increase it much further unless his Luck also improved.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 816 Warlord Veil

    Chapter 816 Warlord Veil


    Ss exhaled a heavy breath, the strain pulling at his mind as though he was being stretched out by a gang of horses rushing in the four cardinal directions.


    However, it didn''t slow him.


    His body flickered and vanished, appearing high above the battlefield and pressing a palm against the smooth ball. There was a pulse of Madness in his eyes, and a furious, tempestuous rage almost took tangible form.


    His Demonic Will red, and his arm flexed.


    The press was slow to begin with, but then it suddenly exploded forth.


    BANG!


    The ball of smooth grey must have been just shy of two meters in diameter. Large, but notrge enough to make one feel true despair¡­ not until you felt the extent of its weight for yourself.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 817 Food [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 817 Food [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    [Quicktime Event Triggered]


    [Plight of the Amazonian Wilds]


    [Level Rmended: 50]


    [Description: The sea level has inexplicably risen while thend has begun to erode. The only way to save this beautifulnd is hidden away deep within the earth. Find it and im supremacy.]


    [A Warlord has triggered this Quicktime Event, and thus their Veil has been ced on it. Join only at your discretion.]


    [Event Type: Warlord Veil]


    [Clear Requirements]


    [Survive]


    OR


    [Kill Amazonian Wilds Warlord Broussard]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 818 Such Information

    Chapter 818 Such Information


    Blood and flesh fell akin to a hail and rain of crimson. The sshing along the ground and the heavy thuds drew a grotesque squishing sound that made one''s skin crawl.


    Ss lowered his hands, looking at them for a moment as though he found it hard to believe what he had done as well. But even so, it didn''t reflect in either his expression or his eyes.


    Telekinesis was a manifestation of Will, and because of that, it was particrly difficult to use on living beings. Usually, when Ss pushed or pulled at someone inbat, it had to either be in a short spurt or in a sudden attack they weren''t ready for. And, just as limiting, he could only use such tactics against those with Wills far inferior to his own.


    The closer one''s Will was to their body, the greater control and effect it had. Likewise, the vice versa was also true.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 819 Arcane

    Chapter 819 Arcane


    SHIING.


    Professor Broussard pulled at his side, unearthing a thin rapier that reflected beneath the crystalline lights of the shining gems in the surroundings.


    Rumble.


    The shaking in the ground was growing more and more feverish.


    --


    [Elen Broussard (¡ª)]


    [Level: 30]


    [Physical: XXX]


    >[Strength: XXX]


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 820 Arcane Madness [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 820 Arcane Madness [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    The mighty, oppressive aura bore down. It didn''t feel like one was facing a single entity any longer, but rather a behemoth that epassed an entire world.


    Part of Ss even felt that this creature''s body was rooted in the very depths of Earth, starting at the core and drawing power from its might.


    And yet¡­ Ss didn''t seem very surprised.


    This was the Amazonian Wilds. To others, this ce might not be very special, but to Ss, what it represented was somethingpletely and wholly different¡­


    This was the ce the Slithering Madness Dungeon had spawned from.


    Sometimes, Ss wondered if it was random or if there was something special about the Amazonian Wilds specifically. But he wasn''t sure, mostly because he simply didn''t have the time to mind such minor details. He had enough on his te as it was without trying to figure out the mysteries of every little thing.


    But that didn''t mean that the thought wasn''t lingering in the back of his mind.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 821 Tug-of-Wars [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 821 Tug-of-Wars [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    The creature of ck and red swayed its long tail a single time before jetting off into the distance, so fast that it was above Professor Broussard''s running form in a single breath.


    The Golden Armor he had worn so proudly looked chipped and shattered in many ces, his rapier nowhere to be seen.


    Honestly speaking, even Ss didn''t expect this sort of damage from a single attack. However, he still observed for a moment from above before raising a hand.


    Arcane Madness'' maw didn''t open this time. Since Professor Broussard had been so nice as to give them a chance to reset the Amazonian Wilds, why take the risk of burning it to the ground?


    A few heavy stones Ss had stored away in his Madness Key from the earlier destruction manifested.


    With a downstroke of his finger, one of their over-thousand-pound forms shot down with blinding speed.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 822 Unfortunately [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 822 Unfortunately [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    [Rune Enlightenment (Gold) (Chain Quest)]


    [The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of itsnguage epassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.]


    [Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this storied heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that me, you share part of this responsibility.]


    [Rise up and im your Rune Enlightenment.]


    ¡ª


    [Fragmented Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Common Requirement]


    [> Use entry into System City''s Library to find information about Lost Civilizations and clues about an Ancient Dungeon.]


    ¡ª


    [Common Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Bronze Requirement]


    [> Deduce the location of Ancient Dungeon.]


    ¡ª


    [Bronze Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Silver Requirement]


    [> Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza.]


    ¡ª


    [Silver Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    [Gold Requirement]


    [> Discover the City of Gold.]


    ¡ª


    [Gold Requirement Cleared]


    ¡ª


    The golden coin in Ss'' hand began to glow with a bright light. For a moment, even Ss couldn''t look at it directly, feeling as though his eyes were being burned from the inside out, almost like an image was trying to embed itself into his mind.


    A city¡­


    Ss grunted, blinking his eyes closed.


    "Unfortunately, it doesn''t seem like you were able to upgrade the Quest to the Legendary level," Arcane Madness sighed. "If you had, maybe you would stand a chance. I cannot help you any longer. Now that I am not in a position to suppress it any longer¡­ it ising."


    Slowly, Ss regained his calm.


    He didn''t bother to argue with Arcane Madness. It would be nothing more than a waste of time. Instead, he asked something with unexpectedposure.


    "I believe I have been targeted by another Madness Disciple. My body has not one Seed, but two. What do you know about this?"


    "Hm?" The ancient voice hummed, and for the first time, its neck craned, turning back to look at Ss.


    Rather than exining again, Ss used his Vipermancy to project his understanding of his current situation directly to Arcane Madness. Not only was this much faster, but it also removed every hint of misunderstanding such aplicated matter might cause.


    What Ss didn''t expect was for Arcane Madness'' body to suddenly quake¡ªnot with fear, but with fury.


    "RAT! You''ve grown bold!"


    Blood began to ooze from Ss'' eyes, his pupils constricting into pinholes. The power Arcane Madness was exuding now was so far beyond what its stats and even its Silver Grade origins should suggest that even Ss himself was shaken.


    Suddenly¡­ he felt that maybe he should take the words of the creature far more seriously than he had before.


    He raised a hand, wiping a line of blood from his nose.


    It took several seconds before Arcane Madness calmed, and it was only because he realized that Ss had been so direct and to the point because he knew they likely didn''t have much time.


    And he was very much correct.


    "¡­ The Scurrying Madness Disciple. You seem to have dealt with it for the time being, but it''s hard to tell how long you will be able to suppress it. Your Will has far outstripped it in speed of growth, which is why you are so careless and nonchnt with it, but it''s impossible to guarantee that you''ll never reach a bottleneck. And until the day your Will surpasses The Rat, it will be impossible to deal with itpletely."


    "His name is Rat?"


    "The Madness Disciples have seven streams, each one represented by a creature you likely have no fond feelings for: The Rat, The Boar, The Crow, The Spider, The Tortoise, The Monkey, and¡­ The Snake.


    "Greed is represented by The Rat¡­ and you have fallen into his schemes, in part."


    "And there is no way to destroy it?"


    "You can never destroy a Seed. It is ingrained into your Will Core. The only way to destroy it is to destroy yourself."


    "And if I have a method to manipte my Will Core?"


    The eyes of Arcane Madness narrowed.


    Eventually, it shook its head.


    "It still wouldn''t be enough. The Seed manifests in the Will Core, but its roots sink far deeper."


    "And if I can reach those roots?"


    "¡­ Then I assume that¡­ yes, you could remove it from yourself¡­"


    "If such a thing were possible, is having a stronger Will than Rat still the only way to deal with it?"


    "Young one, the weight of a Seed is heavier than you can imagine. I can see that you are prideful, and maybe you would have been better suited to be Monkey, but I have seen many fall¡­ even those with Legendary sses."


    This time, it was Ss'' turn to narrow his eyes. But he didn''t refute it.


    "Setting aside whether you will survive the hurdles of progressing a Legendary ss and not revert, a ss is only one aspect of one''s strength. There are those who exist at Level 0, just like you, who could kill you with a mere Bronze ss simply by virtue of the Race they were born into. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The system is fair, and it lowers the difficulty for those at a lower starting position. But this also breeds weakness, and that is why the Ancient System was far superior. It was far crueler, but cruelty is the way of the world.


    "If you becent now because of these small aplishments, you will die."


    Ss didn''t reply, and Arcane Madness'' stance softened.


    "Though, I am speaking too much. I can also tell that you aren''t the sort to grow so careless, but sometimes being clever is not enough."


    The creature''s scales bristled, lifting and then gentlyying themselves down as though breathing.


    "What is the most efficient way to level up the Scorned Wraps?"


    Arcane Madness chuckled. "Haven''t you already figured it out? The best way is to piss off that impotent system, and then piss it off some more."


    "But I had several Demerits and didn''t benefit from them. What distinguishes that from a Taboo?"


    "The difference is that your Demerits were for this enclosed system alone. Demerits once the impotent system has integrated your world will count for far more.


    "Byparison, a Taboo is a Taboo no matter where it is.


    "You want to improve to Level 3? A Gold Demerit in the outside world should do¡­"

 Chapter 823 Arcane Telekinesis [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

    Chapter 823 Arcane Telekinesis [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]


    Ss didn''t even know how to reply to this.


    A Gold Demerit? That was 10 Silver, 100 Bronze, 1,000 True, and 10,000 Hollow Merits. He would have to defeat 10,000 Quasi King Beasts to offset that one Demerit.


    And obviously, that would be by the standards of the outside world. If Arcane Madness wasn''t lying about lowering the difficulty, this would obviously be a whole new can of worms.


    If the weight of the F rankings was so different in the outside world, then it was only natural that the weight of what Quasi King meant was also heavier.


    Right now, Ss didn''t even fear a Quasi King Beast. He could probably kill any within the F-Grade in a few exchanges at most, if that.


    But given these parameters¡­


    Ss opened his mouth to ask another question, but this time, Arcane Madness shook his head.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 824 A Warning

    Chapter 824 A Warning


    The ground became a glowing dark, the green leaves painted like golden leaflets, and even the white clouds above were spindled out from a long, thin wire of radiant gold as well.


    Ss continued to stare at the pir it came from, his expression cid. There was definitely something wrong, as though the pir of zing fire wasn''t enough to prove that. But it was something deeper than what was obvious on the surface.


    He could feel a strong Will pervading the region, one that seemed toe from Professor Broussard, but was also much stronger than he should have been able to manage.


    Ss was certain that Professor Broussard''s Will shouldn''t be this strong¡ªnot just in terms of stat scaling, but in terms of quality as well. At best, the man should have been at the Sparking Will level, but this felt like it was a half-step above even Ss'' own Shaping Will.


    But it also wasn''t natural, at least notpletely. The source wasing from elsewhere, almost like¡­


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 825 Ceded

    Chapter 825 Ceded


    [You have entered the Dynamic Field Dungeon <Lost City of Greed>]


    ¡ª


    Ss barely had time to read this when another stream of notifications hit him in a torrent.


    ¡ª


    [Your <Woond Territory> is under attack]


    ¡ª


    [Your <Woond Territory> has been Corrupted]


    ¡ª


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 826 Mine [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 826 Mine [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]


    Ss didn''t seem very surprised as Cassarae walked in, mming the door behind her. She took off the long sword by her side and drove it right through the door, half as a veiled threat to Ss and another half as what seemed like a protective measure.


    A rippling barrier of blue and red formed from her sword and enveloped the roompletely.


    Then, as though she hadn''t just impaled a door, she turned to where Ss was sitting on the edge of his bed, took a step, then mmed a foot down between his legs, barely a centimeter or two from a particrly vulnerable ce.


    She looked down at Ss, almost growling, her discontent and dissatisfaction radiating in waves. It looked like she had truly reached her boiling point, and she wasn''t going to calm anytime soon. "Yousted all of two days after sticking your tongue down my throat. How chivalrous of you, fucking asshole. What? Did your dick go limp again?"


    Cassarae had already said that she regretted those words years ago, but when she saw red¡­ well, she saw red.


    Now, back in what felt like the same exact situation again, she thanked her brain for being smart where her damn womb refused to be.


    He was still the same guy who had abandoned her all those years ago, the same guy whose emotions flipped on a dime just because, the same guy who, even if he had a reason, would probably refuse to voice it in any way that wouldn''t piss her off.


    Ss looked up at her, meeting her eyes. Even now, his expression hadn''t changed much at all, as though she could have said whatever she wanted and it would never faze him.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 827 Big Deal

    Chapter 827 Big Deal


    Ss gazed toward the woman sitting on top of him. She might very well be the only maiden in the world capable of ring in such a situation. One would have thought that he was her enemy rather than a man she was, well¡­ quite connected with right now.


    For a moment, Ss couldn''t help but try and angle his eyes down, only to feel another strong yank at his Madness Key.


    "No, no, no. I''m still very mad at you. You don''t get to look." She continued to re down from above, an arm crossed over her chest and seemingly fighting for its life as her breasts still threatened to spill out.


    Ss met her gaze again and then slowly sat up.


    Cassarae winced, then quickly tried to hide it. But it distracted her enough that she didn''t react in time to Ss wrapping his arms around her waist and flipping their positions.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 828 Control

    Chapter 828 Control


    The light in Ss'' eyes almost bordered on madness. It wasn''t that he looked manic; his face was still the picture of sharp calmness. But all his insanity was buried deep within his eyes, almost as though he was hypnotizing even himself to believe in his current thoughts.


    There was a dense Demonic Will stirring within his chest.


    After being suppressed once by him not long ago, it came back with an even more furious vengeance now, pulsing through his body in dense tendrils of darkness that ebbed and flowed with the very same cadence as his blood.


    It wasn''t a System Oath, and yet it felt no less potent. He wasn''t going to let Cassarae die, not like this.


    He was already weak enough tond himself in such a situation to begin with. All he had to do was win ¡ª just winning would have been enough. But not only did he lose, he lost consciousness in enemy territory.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 829 Show Me

    Chapter 829 Show Me


    Cassaraey there sprawled, her face buried into a pillow and her ass hanging in the air. Of course, she didn''t have the strength to keep it there. She was just lucky there were enough pillows left over in the room to cushion her hips and belly.


    Her legs twitched, her breathing haggard. Inwardly, she felt like she was going to pass out, and yet she somehow wanted more, while also knowing if she really did have any more, her heart might give out.


    Ss sat in silence at the edge of the bed, staring off into space. His skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and his expression was obscured by the thick curls of his hair.


    At some point, Cassarae finally stopped gasping for breath. Well, the wheezing stopped. The heavy breathing was still very much there despite her Constitution stat.


    Even so, she didn''t have the strength to turn at all, so she just spoke directly into the pillow.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 830 Purvon

    Chapter 830 Purvon


    Hours ago


    A gasp echoed, and a man was ripped up from a vat of water. He shook violently, his hand almost instantly shooting up and ripping at his own throat.


    It was only after he awoke that he barely managed to dodge to the side of his own attack. But he was still a hint too slow, his nail cutting across the side of his throat and nearly gashing an artery.


    Blood drizzled out, and the man was fully awakened by the pain. And then came the confusion.


    Where was he? How was he here? Wasn''t he dead?


    This man was none other than Drill Sergeant Veron, and he noticed far toote that he was actually very much not alone here.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 831 One Task

    Chapter 831 One Task


    Ss and Cassarae walked out of the room together what must have been the next day.


    Judging by their bodynguage, it was hard to tell that anything of significance had happened at all.


    Ss had a focused gaze that seemed capable of boring through a wall. And Cassarae, having long since regained her footing, had likewise returned to her usual self.


    If there was anything wrong at all¡­ it was that they were cordial, too cordial.


    However, by the time they made it downstairs, even that oddity was gone. Cassarae was already making snide remarks, and Ss, though focused, had his own quippy retorts belied by his stone-cold face.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 832 Arcane Telekinesis

    Chapter 832 Arcane Telekinesis


    Leveling to a Grade 1 Rudimentary Town when they weren''t even yet an Elite Vige in just a handful of days sounded impossible. But it was something that both Ss and Cassarae had agreed was strictly necessary.


    It had taken almost a year to make it to Grade 9 Common Vige, and now they wanted to jump more than a full realm up.


    But it was also clear that Cassarae had a n ¡ª a n that might have involved Ss'' wealth, but wouldn''t require his direct action nheless.


    Ss had already used up all of his money on conquering the three System Cities quickly. However, that was only the money that he could liquidate quickly.


    Very soon, it would be clear that that was far from the end of just how vast his stores were.


    However, due to Cassarae''s orders, that would have little to do with Ss.


    ¡­


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 833 Arcane Telekinesis (2) [Top Five Golden Tickets Bonus]

    Chapter 833 Arcane Telekinesis (2) [Top Five Golden Tickets Bonus]


    Ss mulled over several things in his mind before he eventuallynded back on that statue they faced off against before entering the Split Realm.


    He could remember that it was impossible to move there until he managed to find a way tobine his Aether and Telekinesis. But back then¡­ he hadn''t really understood it.


    Since then, he had had no need to use such an ability because it didn''t seem like it had much use. It didn''t increase the weight of his telekinesis at all, though now that he thought about it, it did make controlling his Aether itself quite easy.


    But the advantages he gained in control could be easily matched by raising his Mastery as well.


    Now, however, he was wondering if he had missed something quite big.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 834 Arrogant

    Chapter 834 Arrogant


    Ss'' eyes opened to a familiar world. Though, there was a distinctck of a floating eye this time.


    That much, at least, was by design.


    Truthfully, Ss should use Szorn more than he did, especially after he learned just how useful it could be. But he still had some reservations about this world and what all of this was about.


    He wasn''t naive. In fact, he was the furthest thing from it.


    The question of how this Scorpion Warlord had even managed to infiltrate Earth in the first ce, and why they were here, loomed over him.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 835 Foundations

    Chapter 835 Foundations


    Ss didn''t say anything for a long while. And when he finally did, it wasn''t with his mouth, but rather his Runes.


    Zin.


    Ss'' wrist moved vigorously, and in what felt like a single downstroke, elerating, he was finished.


    A strong, rippling light spread out in all directions, exuding a thick, poisonous stench.


    Gralith''s eyes widened, but Ss had already flipped the paper over, suffocating the light and moving again.


    Vak.


    He moved again.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 837 White-Hot

    Chapter 837 White-Hot


    Gralith sat in silence as Ss closed the tome, thetter''s face marred with sweat and fatigue. By the time they got to the tenth or so page, Ss had a hard time even breathing properly. It was so terrible that he found himself only vaguely looking at the pages for the longest time, and rather than observing along with Gralith, it became apetition of trying to hold himself up until the end.


    And he just barely made it.


    After a long while, Gralith''s gaze flickered upward to find Ss staring down at the table, heaving for breath in a mock sort of silence.


    ''Truly arrogant,'' Gralith chuckled to himself.


    "It is unfortunate," Gralith finally spoke, though Ss didn''t seem to realize that it wasn''t that it took him so long to gather his thoughts, but rather that he was allowing Ss the time to gather himself.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 839 Grade Slayer

    Chapter 839 Grade yer


    The wind billowed around Ss fiercely, kicking his own hair up as well and separating it at a seam right down his brows, through his forehead, and down toward the back of his skull.


    And then, right there in the middle of his forehead, something seemed to be taking shape¡ªa strong, pulsing power of radiant green.


    It took the shape of a seed or the tender slope of an almond.


    As the wind grew stronger, the pulse of light became less erratic and more controlled, until it solidified like a sparkling emerald gem. It pressed into the center of Ss'' forehead. Or, rather, now that it was truly solid, it became obvious that it had already been.


    Gralith watched all of this in silence, seemingly not in very much shock at what was happening.


    Rune Spark¡­ it was known as the pinnacle of Rune Mastery. That was something that even Gralith felt was the truth for a very long time.


    But after reading some ancient texts, and now having the pleasure of personally experiencing the growth of a Spark Rune Master, he realized that this might just be the beginning.


    The fact that it was a seed wasn''t the reason he felt this way. Instead, it was because all of the ancient texts he read had always been so vague about the Rune Spark level.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 841 Stages

    Chapter 841 Stages


    Ss'' brow furrowed, not quite understanding. It was a rare thing for him, but as far as his understanding went, he couldn''t quite see how slowing his perceptions and peeking into a Rune''s past and future could be rted.


    And then it suddenly clicked.


    "The reason it is so difficult to increase one''s Micro Rune Mastery is because there are too many changes to ount for. Rune Masters often treat Runes as though they''re static existences, with rigid forms to be drawn the same way again and again.


    "But, with this sort of philosophy, you can only get so far. You certainly cannot make it past Soul Mastery, that is for sure. In order to reach the final three stages of Mastery, at least on the Micro level, you need to have some understanding of the flexibility of Runes.


    "With your ability to slow your perception, you are able to slow the changes to the Mesh of Reality and also draw Runes near instantly. Because of that, the Runes that you do create within that state tend to have higher Micro Rune Mastery because there is very little time between your intent to draw a Rune and your sess in drawing it.


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>

 Chapter 842 The Very Man

    Chapter 842 The Very Man


    [Thest chapter has been reced. If you can''t see the new chapter, go to profile, click the little settings icon in the top right, then clear cache and it should appear]


    Ss slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a breath. There was a mark of fatigue between his brows, but it hardly dulled the sharpness of his gaze.


    After checking how much time he had left, he nodded to himself and did something he hadn''t had the opportunity to do in a very long time¡­


    He closed his eyes and went to sleep.


    **


    This is the end of Part One. Upgrade Premium to read full content:


    Upgrade Now


    </a>


    </a>


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!