Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1372: Two

The Thryskai, once more, only sent two in: Magnus, the E-tier that Sylas decided against fighting the day the Bat Lineage first descended onto their Sanctum, and Vaernon.

The latter seemed to have already completely forgotten what happened just moments ago, his expression calm.

The Leava, Venom, and Mancha Clans all sent representatives this time as well. This time, Sylas wasn’t familiar with their names because he hadn’t paid any attention to the E-tier Rankings just yet.

However, the number one on the Matrix Index Rankings this time was Uowen Leava. He had no relation to Furon, at least not directly. But the relations he did have in the Leava Clan were quite... something.

Fowler Leava, their former Dominus Paragon Contested Title holder, didn’t officially have any wives. But what he did have was many illegitimate children. It was said that he was far more focused on his experiments than siring any children, feeling that such a thing was only done by those who had already run to the end of their potential.

He still had aspirations of reaching B-tier very soon, and probably even beyond knowing his arrogance, so he didn’t feel a need to build a family yet.

Uowen was one such child, and amongst them all, he happened to be one of the few true talents.

Living up to such a father was near impossible, but there were a few of them that had managed to do so. Uowen still had a long way to go to reach the levels of some of his half-brothers and sisters, but he certainly had a start as good as any one of them.

Number one on the Matrix Index Rankings and number one on the Rune Master Rankings of the E-tier.

The second on the Matrix Index Rankings was someone that Sylas was actually quite familiar with: Morvok Arothe.

The third... that was none other than the second person here. Once again, the Venom Clan took their rightful spot near the very top: Nenabri Venom, Aira Venom’s elder sister—though the woman blossoming into maturity didn’t carry any of her little sister’s chipper personality.

She was cold and practically oozing a darkness out of her.

The fourth ranked on the Matrix Index Rankings was none other than the firecracker by Sylas’ side, Gwenu. Though, she didn’t seem like much of a firecracker right now as she reached toward an absolute state of focus.

It was rare she became so serious at all.

Then there was the fifth ranked...

Yinxin Mancha.

She was a young and delicate woman for the most part. The stone chin of her Race gave her a bit of an exotic look but didn’t functionally ruin her beauty. Instead, it was less exaggerated than Vidu Mancha’s, looking more like a delicately sculpted piece of shimmering marble.

Of the top five, the Sanctum actually had two, but this wasn’t a surprise. The Sanctum heavily skewed toward Rune Mastery combat. The only reason they didn’t have anyone in the top rankings of the F-tier was because their Lineage Heads had stopped taking disciples.

Though now... they almost certainly had one. It was just that Sylas had never taken the test.

But at a moment like this one, no one was thinking about Sylas’ F-tier performance... not just everyone in the Secret Realm was staring at him incredulously, but those watching in the outside world couldn’t really understand what they were seeing.

Why the hell was an F-tier here? What was going on?

The elder above wasn’t outside, so he expected what was happening even less.

"Is this the Sanctum’s final team?" he asked slowly.

"Yes."

Sylas had already reached a state of absolute focus the moment he finished saying these words. His mind was like a dried well, his Will having been plucked completely dry. But he still took slow, deliberate breaths.

He would be ready.

"... You’ve heard the rules of the F-tier already. The rules for the E-tier are the same, we won’t be going over them again. We will begin with the Sight Round."

After his voice fell, Sylas was actually the first to light up.

Vaernon couldn’t help but chuckle. It seemed that they would be able to get past this farce immediately. To think they wouldn’t even have to wait.

Considering how fast this round normally went by, though, one way or another they wouldn’t have been waiting long anyway.

Sylas’ body was shifted forward and he found himself standing in an empty space.

Soon, a Rune began slowly shaping, one Stroke after another becoming a complicated mesh that was hard to even properly see through.

The base of an F-tier was a single Foundation which could be made up with as little as two or three Strokes. But an E-Grade Rune?

The weakest Rune had a thousand Foundations, each of which could have anywhere from two to as many as five Strokes.

Just memorizing these numbers of Strokes was ridiculous. But Sylas realized something else.

In the F-tier Sight Secret Realm, the Rune already appeared. Why was it slowly drawing it this time? That was odd.

Didn’t that make it easier than it should be? What was the purpose of this? Wasn’t this Secret Realm supposed to be for training?

Suddenly, Sylas felt he understood why Rune Masters in this Sector were so weak.

’No... that’s not why...’

Sylas frowned. Maybe it was because he was tired, but he wasn’t seeing clearly right now. No, not that he wasn’t seeing, but that he wasn’t as sharp as he usually was.

His eyes... they were seeing something that should have happened instantly over a long, extended time period. It broke it down, reverse engineered it, and then his mind pieced it together on its own.

Sylas closed his eyes and then shook his head. He took a breath and opened his eyes. The Rune was finished—or rather, it had already been for a while.

The Rune rewound in Sylas’ mind, and then he began to draw, slowly.

He finished one Stroke after careful Stroke, taking his time as though he had all the time in the world.

And yet, it felt to the Rune Masters around him like they were watching something absolutely horrifying.

An entire half a day later, Sylas finished drawing the final stroke.

—

[Sylas Grimblade]

[Time: 12:01:22]

[Half Points Rewarded]

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