Genetic Ascension

1576 Aware

"I'm aware."

The voice didn't seem particularly imposing. It was the sort of voice you could easily forget-not particularly masculine or feminine, forgettable in its presence, though soft in its delivery. It wasn't quite lazy, but it erred on the side of it nonetheless.

The youth that sat on the throne was equally as forgettable. In fact, looking at his face, a single blink could seemingly wipe it from your memory.

Hard to grasp, ethereal, almost ghost-like.

And that was precisely how this young man was known.

Ghost.

If one wasn't speaking to him with esteem and reverence, this was the name they used. But what was shocking about all of this was that while a Thryskai with wings bowed to this young man... The young man himself didn't have a pair of wings at all.

He was no Demi-God. He was a Mortal Thryskai.

The Thryskai remained kneeling with his head low. Without the express word of the youth on the throne ahead, he didn't seem to have the courage in his heart to raise his own gaze.

"It's alright," the youth eventually said, allowing the Thryskai Demi-God to relax just the slightest bit. "Earth has already played out its purpose. With the death of the Myrrakhael, a path toward Demi-Godhood has been opened. Maybe it's simply time for my Purvon Clan to step into this role."

The lazy, languid speech of the youth made it sound as though he could have done this long ago but was biding his time for something more.

"This was Sylas Grimblade's doing, correct?"

The tension of the Thryskai returned. "Yes, my King."

"The one you mentioned had the smell of the Rat on him?"

"Yes, my King."

"Mm. Anyone who can survive the schemes of that cancer is worth some extra attention. You were right to flag him. Unfortunately, he seems clever enough to have avoided the obvious pitfalls, and his skills are not small. If the Professors were a more cohesive unit, this would have never happened."

The youth shook his head-or rather, barely did. He had his chin leaning on a palm that was propped up by an elbow on the throne's armrest. As though he wasn't comfortable enough, he had swung a single leg over the other armrest as he stared out into the distance, his face still hard to spot through a malaise of foggy Will.

Of course, he was correct. The Professors were an unpredictable group. But they were also amongst the few that the youth had no choice but to respect intellectually speaking.

Anyone who could become a Professor had great intelligence. The problem was that they had severe underlying character flaws as well. The few able to overcome this were the truly fearsome ones among them.

But such people were so rare that they had no choice but to take in anyone with the faintest chance and sieve through the rest until they were left with gold.

The youth's options decades ago weren't as expansive as they were now. If he had the choice, he wouldn't have taken such gambles on a variable like this. Now he had an annoying enemy like Sylas to be wary of.

"List the Grimblade as a top-priority target."

The pupils of the Thryskai constricted into pinholes.

There were only three other people that this youth had ever given such an assessment to, and two of them were Gods. However, the Demi-God Thryskai also didn't dare to refute.

"Of course. Is there anything else you would like of me, my King?"

"No. If you personally target him, you will just lose."

The Demi-God's eyes flickered.

"With someone like him, you strike once and kill once, or you let it be. The universe is more than large enough, and I have yet to reach the top. Why should I waste my time going after a difficult enemy?"

"I understand, my King."

"However, he has quite some grudge with the Beast Emperor Sanctum. This may be troublesome, as they are still key to the next phase. The Scorpion Emperor Lineage, was it? Let him destroy them if he can."

"Yes, my King."

"You may go."

The Demi-God Thryskai finally made a move to leave, his wings regaining life as he stood to his full height. It was only at this moment that the momentum of a Demi-God became clear and obvious.

However, just as he was about to vanish, the youth spoke again.

"The Rat is still healing his injuries, correct?"

"There have been no notable movements. This should be the case, yes."

"Have you noticed that there's something interesting in the air?" the youth said with a smile.

The Demi-God froze, not knowing what to say to this. The level his King thought on wasn't something he could comprehend.

In the past, knowing it would be useful, the youth created a system for tracking Madness Disciples. It was actually easier than it sounded-according to the youth, anyway.

Madness Keys were essentially walking signal blockers. The stronger they were, the more resistant to detection by the system they became. Someone with a strong enough fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms that allowed it to function could measure out these peaks and valleys, cross-referencing them with the system's usual interference patterns, thus tracking the movement of Madness Disciples.

For the youth who had been in the process of building out the Purvon's own personal system for decades already, it was only natural he would have such intimate understanding of the system.

Whenever someone like the Rat or the Sloth was making a big move, it was all too easy for this youth to track.

So he knew that the Rat was definitely still injured due to Sylas' actions. He even knew that Sylas had already faced and defeated the Sloth.

The question was why was he bringing up an odd smell in the air now of all times?

Was the Rat about to come out of seclusion? It hadn't been long enough, though... What was behind that smile?

The Demi-God knew better than to ask.

If there was one thing the youth hated, it was the time wasted explaining himself.