Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2226: Rune Duel (2)26

The crowd fell into a silence, their peanut gallery dulling in the face of a Rune Creator.

They were used to having Old Man Webb on this street. So much so that they didn't even give him the appropriate "Heaven Creator" title that his robes deserved.

Old Man Webb was one of the very few Rune Creators that just paced out and about, and it was usually because he was hunting another rookie to devour. Sylas just happened to give him a very good reason for once.

It was rare Old Man Webb even had the crowd on his side in the first place.

But for someone like Heaven Creator Medeit, they were an especially rare occurrence. Usually, the Rune Creators wouldn't appear for the festival for another little while.

What the crowd didn't know was that the appearance of a Creation of Key had changed things substantially. Even Sylas wasn't aware of this.

Sylas thought that most people who entered this odd guild used something similar. After all, the description of the key only explained that it was what gave the access he was looking for.

But that was then, and this was now.

Sylas had gained his Creation of Key before the impotent system was even formed. Many things had changed since then. Creation Masters were a lot rarer now than they had been in the past, and the rules had melded with the times.

Now, it was possible to enter through hereditary means, wealth, and even recommendations.

Still, a Creation of Key was the highest measure of a person, which was why the usage of one had caused such a commotion, and even more still after Sylas managed to hide himself so well despite it being his first usage.

This had drawn the Rune Creators out a lot earlier than usual, thus leading to someone like Heaven Creator Medeit appearing and walking the streets.

What was so funny about all of this was that Heaven Creator Medeit almost certainly agreed with Sylas. The inheritances framed in the skies now would have, at best, been forged by F-tier and E-tier Rune Creators like himself. Why would he have any interest in an inheritance from someone who viewed the world on the same level as his own.

Of course, what Heaven Creator Medeit didn't know was that Sylas would have likely disdained even much higher level inheritances. Who grasped what his standards were.

Medeit didn't mind the silence his words had created. In fact, he much preferred it this way. The endless peanut gallery would trigger him to no end.

What he was more curious about was the fact that Magnus had only given him a glance before looking away. Even more interestingly… Magnus didn't seem worried at all. He seemed… Frustrated?

Frustrated by what, exactly?

This made Medeit more curious.

A grandfather on the verge of watching his grandson's Rune Path be shattered shouldn't be frustrated. He should be distraught.

Everyone here could tell that Magnus probably wasn't lying. Despite his youth, they could tell the young from the old. They were all Rune Masters with exceptional senses, and Rune Creators or not, many of them had reached at least Spark Master in a few tiers.

This wasn't the Mortal Plane anymore.

Magnus was definitely Sylas' ancestor.

So why wasn't he worried?

Sylas stood in the bubble, really not paying attention to anything going on around him.

The first thing he realized was that this was a duel.

The second thing he realized was that the foundation of this duel was built on the peculiar robes the man was wearing.

The third thing he noticed was that these robes radiated the aura of the Heaven Path and the F-tier. Was that supposed to mean this man was an F-tier Heaven Rune Creator?

This was the first time Sylas had met another Rune Creator, at least one he was actively aware of.

The fourth thing Sylas realized was that this duel arena seemed to have very high stakes. It had dug deep into his body, gripping onto a seed that had long since bloomed within him.

The first time he had sensed this seed was when he was taking the test at the Weaver Guild. And now, it was even more prominent to him than ever before.

The seed that bloomed when he formed his Rune Creator Path and fully comprehended Fathomless Rune Creation.

By extension, this also meant that the man across from him was also connected through this.

But since the arena had formed, Old Man Webb had been completely frozen in place. A cold sweat fell down his brows, and when Sylas finally cared enough to look up and meet his gaze, his pupils trembled.

The moment the duel arena formed, he could feel the vastness of Sylas' path.

Sylas was a Rune Creator, and one that had far surpassed the F-tier.

Old Man Webb had tried to speak several times, but his throat had gone dry, his tongue hanging heavily to the bottom of his mouth as though pressed down by a vast magnet.

The barrier suddenly whirred to life and a Rune suddenly manifested before them.

Sylas' head tilted to the side a bit as he lost interest in Old Man Webb. He watched as the Rune took shape, the method completely foreign to him. It was so different from Fathomless Rune Creation.

The Rune also carried a destructive weight to it. It rampaged through the Runes in the air, grabbing control of them, shattering them into their Strokes, twisting them into the form that best suited them, and then slamming them back together.

That was when Sylas understood. This Rune… it represented Old Man Webb's path, didn't it?

Interest.

Such an overbearing Path for someone so utterly incompetent, pathetic, and weak.

A pity.

Sylas reached a finger forward and the Rune shattered.

The dome shattered soon after and Old Man Webb fell to his knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood as a deathly black aura began to radiate from him.

"We can go now." Sylas said to his grandfather.

Magnus nodded.

"Wait." Medeit suddenly called out, his pupils constricted into pinholes.