Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2236: Never [Bonus]

Bonus thanks to Eeshoo <3]

It was rare he got a challenge, so much so he actually felt a slight hint of excitement when they appeared. But now Sylas felt as though that challenge had been completely ruined for him.

He was looking forward to trying to figure it out, but the woman just wouldn't stop talking for some reason until she just gave away too much.

If Vaelith knew what Sylas was thinking of her, it would be hard to say how she'd react. She wasn't the sort to speak much to anyone at all. Her words were precious, as would be expected of a woman who didn't even take the time to look at people in the first place.

It could be said that Sylas was one of the few people other than her family who had ever heard her speak so many words in a row. Rather than feeling grateful about it, he felt that she actually spoke way too much.

Vaelith half realized that this might have been the problem. But maybe due to pride, or maybe other factors, she didn't manage to take the final steps toward the conclusion.

Even so, the Rune Path had truly been fascinating. And once again, it used concepts so impossibly simple in practice that Sylas couldn't help but feel like he wasn't even remotely reaching his full potential.

If the fire Rune Path had been shocking enough, this one was built on something even simpler than that…

Geometry.

Combustion was still somewhat hard to control. It could start eating away at things you didn't mean it to, it could rage out of control. Anyone who ever had to cook on an offset smoker could tell you that controlling fire, even when you had absolute command over the vents, wasn't easy at all.

But this couldn't have been simpler. It was just shapes and where they fit. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rather than using some lofty comprehension like time or space, the creator of this Rune Path was an artist. They understood Runes by their lines, their characters, the creation of their Foundations and the ultimate result of the Rune itself.

Anyone could just draw a Rune. Sylas hadn't had to actually struggle to perfectly copy a Rune's form in a very long time, not since he first started with Runes.

What higher level Rune Masters struggled with was the substance that underlaid that, wrangling together the Will they needed to command things into order properly, and maybe on the largest of scales they might struggle with shape—but even then, it was only in those circumstances.

This Rune Master didn't learn about an element, didn't learn about some powerful law… all they did was learn how to draw.

To draw so perfectly that they could perfectly replicate the universe without missing a single line or molecule.

What was so fascinating about this path was that if you understood the geometry of Runes to such an extent, you didn't have to change or understand every law in order to prime a region at all.

All you needed to do was shape your own Will such that only one kind of Stroke could fit into a certain location.

Sylas was wrong. While on the surface it was true that there were only so many ways you could draw a Stroke, each one had small, tiny deviations to them that represented not only in their Wills, but their actual physical form.

Anyone could write a name, but everyone's handwriting was different. When a Stroke was painted by a different Will, that character would be reflected in its artistry… in its geometry.

One might wonder, then, why Vaelith's words had revealed this to Sylas.

Well… if one could theoretically account for every variable to such an unimaginable degree, wouldn't reading the future be a simple matter of computing the most logical outcome?

Even the human brain was little more than a series of binary signals, synapses that were either on or off. On a deeper level, it was formed of organic material, chemicals with repeatable, predictable actions.

If one had such a perfect grasp of geometry, not only would they be able to paint any aspect of the world…

They just might be able to paint the future.

Such a simple concept on the surface, and yet its power was so unimaginable even Sylas couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

And yet, Vaelith had comprehended it to the point that she could shatter its Will Priming within fractions of a moment. In that brief instant, she had used her own comprehension and future sight to paint the rest of the Rune, understand it, and stop its progression.

But Sylas wouldn't have had to do all of that at all.

His Will was too powerful for this level of test. If he wanted to win, all he had to do was forcefully twist the frame of the geometry and he would win.

What a worthless win that would be.

The challenge set before him was to grasp a concept someone else had learned better than they could and defeat them. That exam had been completely ruined for him now.

He hadn't understood the Rune Path on his own. Vaelith had all but explained it to him.

Vaelith was still standing there, still just as speechless. She had seen many prideful men in her life… she had seen the strongest geniuses of the Demi-God Plane, interacted with many of them.

Not a single one was like this. Not a single one had Pride on this level.

She suddenly found herself wanting to call out to Sylas to get him to stop, to come back. Part of it was more curiosity about him, but another part was a bit of anger, an emotion she hadn't known she could feel in such a situation.

Sylas was… looking down on her.

When was the last time that had happened?

'… Never.' She concluded. She had been untouchable since the day she was born.

A beam of light descended.

Just as Sylas was about to leave the exam, he was trapped by a barrier and ripped out of the space.

However, soon after he disappeared, a similar beam landed on Vaelith, tearing her out of the space as well.

Silence fell in the small library.