Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1367: Chink

Sylas stared out ahead. His eyes were still dim, his focus so trained on what was happening with the very next step he wanted to take that he seemed to have phased out the entire world from his psyche.

Nothing else mattered but the muscles he needed to control his gait and the road right in front of him.

This weak, pitiful road that he could have crossed in a single bound.

There was not a single thing about this so-called Spark Mastery Secret Realm that was even remotely a challenge. The others couldn’t sense the Runes because they were so perfect that there were none to see.

The world itself was built on a foundation of Runes. Rune Masters didn’t normally see Runes when they gazed at trees, or shrubbery, or their fellow man or beasts, but everything in this world was built on those same fundamental laws.

So why couldn’t they?

It was because they were too weak.

Sometimes, Runes could be seen in things like Aether and the like, but those Runes were by definition imperfect. They had less than 100 Foundations in the F-Grade, and as such could be seen by weaker Rune Masters.

But this road... it was formed entirely of 100 Foundation, perfect F-Grade Runes.

It was no wonder this Spark Secret Realm was so difficult to even create the test for.

Even for high-tier Rune Masters, drawing a perfect Rune for any level was impossible. To forge an entire road of them such that this road was as natural as the world around them itself... that was nigh impossible.

The reason they couldn’t sense any Runes no matter how hard they looked was exactly because of this, but even though this road was "natural," walking down it was anything but.

The "natural" laws this road was imbued with rejected everything it came into contact with. It was constantly blowing back on you and trying to throw you off of it. In order to move forward, one needed to be able to read and counter the laws of the world of this road itself...

Something that only a Spark Master could possibly ever do.

For Sylas, this was a walk in the park. He shouldn’t have been struggling at all.

But the fact he had coughed up a mouthful of blood seemed to paint a completely different scene.

To the world, though... they had no reference for this sort of thing. They thought that Sylas struggling this much was only natural.

To them, this simply illustrated the enormous gap between Spark Masters and everyone else. Even if one could easily crush a Vitality Master, struggling with a Spark challenge made perfect sense.

At this point, no one dared to make fun of Sylas. Only the world’s greatest fools would ever do such a thing.

The only thing they wanted to see was if he could really make it to the end or not.

However... while that was what everyone was waiting to see, there were some with other thoughts on top of this as well.

The odd glitching that seemed to be occurring... was that really natural?

What Urolius didn’t know, though, was that he and the elder stuck in the realm with them were the only ones that could sense this at all. Everyone in the outside world just saw Sylas continuously and randomly teleporting.

The memory rewriting... only seemed to be happening to those in the world with Sylas.

This difference wasn’t something they would catch onto until it was far too late. By that point, Sylas would have already accomplished what he wanted to...

If he managed to survive, that is.

...

The Beast Warlord Sanctum was in a different state as well. Even the members of the Core Sanctum were watching the events, let alone the disciples and Warlord Lineage Heads.

Prione, much like Urolius, was thinking of something different as well.

Yes, Sylas was a Spark Master, that much was without a single doubt now. It was shocking, truly. But... this scene was reminding everyone of something very important.

Until now, Sylas had seemed completely invincible—and that he was. But this struggling, even if it was in the Spark Secret Realm, was still a sign of weakness.

The weakness wasn’t what was really important. What was important, though, was reminding them all that Sylas was still an F-tier.

If he was invincible through every round, even the Spark round, then this would be far harder to argue. The first Spark Master of a Sector was a Title that weighed far too heavily.

But the humanoid mind was too easily manipulated.

No one could see the Runes Sylas was fighting against or comprehend their greatness. And that left room for doubt.

There was nothing laymen sitting on their couches liked to do more than criticize the experts and athletes they watched on their televisions. So long as there was the smallest chink in Sylas’ armor, it could be taken advantage of.

Prione had actually been weighing his options until now. Sylas’ performance was too grand. Was it worth it to alienate him so much if his goal was really the progression of the Sanctum?

But this scene had also reminded him of something quite clearly...

Sylas was just an F-tier. And even if he reached his utmost potential, there was no evidence that he was from a great Race. In fact, from reports...

He was a mere D-Grade variation of the weak Human Race.

His foundation would limit him eventually, and he seemed to lack any truly powerful Unique Genes.

Prione had also rewatched the replay of what happened back then through the item spirit. Sylas had had a chance to absorb the Legendary Gene...

He just failed to.

What Gralith hadn’t mentioned was that this was the true reason they hadn’t been obsessed with paying Sylas back.

So what if his Rune Master talent was shocking? It didn’t rewrite his starting position, and compensating him might put a target on their backs from the Emperor Sanctum.

Now...

Prione had found another chink in that armor, and his decision became firmer.