Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2027: Dowry [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to chronotitan <3]

Sylas frowned when he saw the notification. He had never actively had to do anything for his Virtue Madness Key before.

This was a problem.

The last time he had pissed off his Madness Key, it was Fanelei who had weathered the issues for him and eventually stretched out the time he was given. So, Sylas had no experience with what would happen when a Madness Key was enraged.

To make matters worse, the only reason he wasn't worried about the Lust and Gluttony Virtue Seeds was because his Pride Virtue Seed was taking the helm, suppressing their needs and practically forcing them to be satiated.

But if his Pride Madness Key was demanding more of him, that meant that it wasn't being fed. And if it wasn't being fed, that meant his Pride Seed was gravely weakened. And if his Pride Seed was gravely weakened, it wouldn't be long before his Lust and Gluttony Seeds bucked the current system.

The only reason they hadn't already was because it had only been just over a day since he had them. Assuming the Pride Seed fed them on the first day, that meant that Sylas only had whatever the rest of this day.

A spike of pain pulled at Sylas' chest and he pressed a palm to it.

He stood up, his heart beat running out of control again.

He had faced this feeling before earlier in the day. He hadn't known what to do with it then, and he didn't know what to do about it now.

His body should have been in complete, 100% control of him. There wasn't a single aspect of it that he couldn't draw or redraw with Runes.

So why wasn't it listening?

No... that wasn't true... his Seeds, he still couldn't draw those.

Had his heart been racing out of control because his Pride Seed was running to the end of its patience.

Sylas' claws dug into his skin, trying to breathe but almost feeling like he was sucking in nothing but hot air.

"Sylas?" Cassarae let Elara go and stepped forward with a worried expression. She reached for his forearm, lightly pressing her hand down on it. "What's wrong?"

It wasn't that Cassarae didn't know what might cause this, it was instead that it seemed to be stretching beyond the issues of before. Was Sylas panicking about Elara? Or was it Nosphaleen again?

Sylas frowned. He couldn't seem to form the words.

It was like speaking about his troubles was forming a pasty glue in his mouth. His mind wasn't functioning properly.

Elara seemed to not be worried at all, but equally worried that it was her fault, she didn't dare to say too much. She stood to the side, trying to be as small as possible.

"I need to go." Sylas eventually said.

He built a move to turn away and Cassarae took her hand back. She hesitated for a moment.

But then her worry gave way to a frown. Something felt unsettling about just letting Sylas go like that, but she couldn't go with him. The restrictions on her now that Earth had been fully integrated were too great. That was the problem that came with being a City Lord.

"Sylas, wait."

Sylas' steps paused and he looked back. What he didn't expect was for Cassarae to simply hug him and say nothing else.

She stayed like that for a long while, and he found the erratic beating of his heart to slow considerably.

Time slowed as well, and he could finally find the right cadence for his own breath. The air became thicker with oxygen and thinner in heat. Finally, his lungs seemed to respond to what was happening and his veins pumped what he needed to the rest of his body.

"I can't leave to help you, but I have a large network already set up. The Petals of the Seeing Thorn have been strung along and they still think they'll receive the Legendary City Stele. I don't know what you want to do with that, but the opportunity is still there if you want it."

Cassarae didn't even know if anything she was saying was helping, and she was pretty sure that under normal circumstances she wouldn't need to remind Sylas of something like that at all, but right now she was saying it anyway.

"I also think that you've been neglecting Alex too much, and you can use Old Brama more than you have. I've learned a lot about the Gold Races from Megean, but I was kind of waiting for you to need it before I said anything to prove a point, but I'm trying to be nicer now.

"There's a lot, but I think what will probably be most interesting to you is that the Gold Races are both multiple and yet one. They're technically registered as the same Race, but they're vastly diverse between them."

Sylas frowned for a moment. Distracted enough by Cassarae's warmth, his brain seemed to be flowing right again. But he still didn't grasp immediately why this would be so interesting to him in Cassarae's opinion... Until it hit him.

The Thryskai.

Weren't they very much like this as well? They were one Race, supposedly, but every one of their Clans was divided into different abilities differentiated well enough from one another that they might as well have been vastly different Races.

Yet everyone treated them as one.

But the Gold Races rose and fell as one. They were all bottom of the barrel now, and when they were at their peak, they had all been elite.

The Thryskai, however, were somehow divided between the Mortal, Demi-God, and God Realms.

How could that be possible?

Sylas' pupils constricted into pinholes and he looked down at Cassarae.

Surprise wasn't an expression Cassarae saw on Sylas' face very often. But this time, she had expected it. In fact, she was smiling brightly right now, a beautiful smile touched by a hint of mischievousness, almost like a queen seated upon her throne amused by the gestures of her people.

"You're welcome. Take that as a dowry." She said sweetly.

This changed everything.