Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2230: Priming Battle

When Sylas' vision cleared, he found himself in the grandest library he had ever laid eyes on. Beneath his feet was a glowing path of bronze.

He tried to reach a hand out, but he found it reflecting back. This must be the warning Old Man Shah was speaking of?

It felt like he could push past if he really wanted to, but it was probably best not to.

Sylas started to walk forward, his eyes sweeping the books and the endless shelves.

He saw a lot of books to a similar ilk of what he had seen in the Weaver Guild, but there were so many more varieties of them, and just by the aura of their Wills alone, Sylas felt that they also went a lot deeper whether it was in terms of details or foresight.

However, as Sylas continued to walk, he began to wonder where exactly the challenge was. He continued to follow along the bronzed road, but there was nothing here… Until he was suddenly directed into a private reading room.

Across from him, a woman sat on a chair. She had her legs crossed and she seemed lost in the book that she was reading, so much so she didn't even notice Sylas phase through the door that should have kept her room private.

But all Sylas could see to notice were the wings on her back and the horns on her head.

Thryskai.

The room shook and the woman looked up, suddenly startled that someone had appeared in her space.

Her gaze immediately became dangerous.

"Who are you?"

Sylas didn't reply. He was busy scanning this woman, trying to understand why he was here and how much of a challenge she would be.

He could immediately feel that she was a B-tier, and that alone was probably a huge issue. But as far as he could tell, this world of Rune Masters had stripped away a lot of the meaning behind your foundational tier.

For example, Old Man Webb was an A-tier. That didn't exactly mean much, did it?

There were certain things about this world that made it so that any intention of attacking power you used had to be rooted in Rune Mastery first.

That, of course, didn't mean that Sylas was invincible. For one, he was fairly sure that Old Man Shah was stronger than just D-tier in Rune Creation. Sylas couldn't tell with 100% accuracy, but he was fairly sure that if Shah wasn't in the B-tier, then he was very, very close.

But even if he wasn't, Old Man Shah was certainly close to Spark Mastery of the S-tier. This wasn't someone Sylas could defeat in Rune Mastery.

And if Old Man Webb hadn't triggered a Rune Duel in specific, he could have probably defeated Sylas with his raw Rune Mastery abilities as well.

That was to say that the real issue wasn't her tier, but rather what her being here actually meant.

The woman looked around and her gaze sharpened as she sounded to realize something. It seemed she didn't need Sylas' explanation after all.

"You?" she scoffed. Nyssenne had never felt more insulted in her life. They sent a little D-tier without even a Creator's Robe to face off against her?

The tower had its way of doing weird things when it was testing people. It saw everyone and everything within it as part of its own cohesive organism. So if it wanted to use you for its tests, it was either you agreed or you would be kicked out.

Well, there was no chance of disagreement, really. It was more like if you didn't like it then you should leave.

But the idea of having her reading session interrupted by a wet-behind-the-ears boy completely infuriated her.

A Rune suddenly appeared between the two of them. Sylas watched as it formed and sensed that it was interesting as well.

This Rune wasn't of Nyssenne's or his own Path. Instead, it was probably of the Hell Path and seemed to be… heavy.

It anchored down the world around it, attracting Runes as though through magnets.

What was interesting about this magnet was that it could be shaped and changed, forcing only Runes of a certain type forward.

It was less overbearing than Webb's path, but it was more complete and perfect as well.

Sylas assumed that the task was the same. Comprehend it, overwhelm it, shatter it.

He was already reaching a finger forward.

Nyssenne, by comparison, understood why she was chosen now. This was a path that she had been studying for the past two years because she felt it might be able to help her break through into the C-tier.

At first she was stunned, and then she was furious again. The tower did this on purpose. It was giving her an advantage against Sylas? Did it look like she needed it—?!

Chi.

Sylas shattered the Rune and Nyssenne's eyes went wide. She watched as the sparkling motes fell.

'No, it doesn't make sense.' Could it be that Sylas had been studying this Path as well? No, that didn't make sense either. After all, how could Sylas study it better than she could?

But what other choice was there?

It was either Sylas studied it better than she had… or despite her advantage he was still somehow faster.

Impossible. It was impossible either way.

Another Rune began to form and Nyssenne threw all her extra curricular thoughts away. She wasn't going to lose to this man no matter what.

The weaving lines danced through the air. Her mind kicked into overdrive and she immediately dismissed several possibilities in a single sitting before she reached forward.

These Rune Duels were the simplest in the Creation World. They were known as priming competitions, ones where you faced off against a Rune of a certain path and then deconstructed it using your own Runes as a primer to counter this.

Essentially, you were disrupting the environment just right so that the Rune collapsed on its own.

This time, Nyssenne was ready.

But this time, she also failed.

Chi.

Sylas' gaze only flashed and the Rune collapsed. Nyssenne's finger hit nothing but air.