Genetic Ascension

Chapter 652  Problem

1. [Sylas Grimblade - 92%] 

[Grade - SSS+] 

2. [Archibald Flowning - 23%] 

[Grade - AA-] 

— 

[Split Realm Dungeon <The Mountains of Giza> Cleared] 

— 

[Rune Enlightenment (Gold) (Chain Quest)] 

[The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of its language encompassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations. 

[Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this story's heritage. As an Earthling who has rekindled that flame, you share part of this responsibility.] 

[Rise up and claim your Rune Enlightenment] 

— 

[Fragmented Requirement Cleared] 

— 

[Common Requirement] 

[>Use entry into System City's Library to find information about Lost Civilizations and clues about an Ancient Dungeon] 

— 

[Common Requirement Cleared] 

— 

[>Deduce the location of Ancient Dungeon] 

— 

[Bronze Requirement Cleared] 

— 

[Silver Requirement] 

[>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza] 

— 

[Silver Requirement Cleared] 

— 

[Gold Requirement] 

[>Discover the City of Gold] 

— 

Under normal circumstances, the Quest would have already been cleared had Sylas not received the golden token from the family of three. But now, he had a Gold Leg of the Chain Quest. 

Its description wasn't much, just a single line. Discover the City of Gold. That didn't give Sylas much to go off of, so it seemed he would have to return to a System City Library to see what he could find. 

He did have some other things to take advantage of, though. For example, he was very much interested in the place Jake had mentioned. If that was really where they had received their Class and the golden token, it just might have more secrets. 

Normally, Sylas might assume that the family had already gained everything there was to gain. But judging by how unwilling Lana had been for their son to tell Sylas about the place, he thought differently now. 

That, though, was a matter for another time. 

From what he knew, the family was from the Eurpeia government. This country encompassed what had once been Europe and Russia. 

In order to flee persecution from their government, they had crossed a river to make it to the Africor Continent on their own. 

Going back, then, would obviously come with its own logistical issues. 

Sylas was already an enemy of the Celestial Republic, and now he was certainly at odds with the Africor Constitutional Monarchy. His list of enemies would only grow if he insisted on returning to Eurpeia now… 

That said, he knew that he would have to eventually. The only reason that he didn't commit to it was because he knew that the time dilation was active. 

Who knew how much time he had lost in the outside world this time? Who knew how many things had changed? He had to make sure the situation was still stable; otherwise, if he was too busy running away from his enemies, it would be too late to regret it if anything happened to Cassarae or his family. 

Sylas took a breath and exhaled, pressing down those thoughts just the same as he had done with Archibald. 

The mysteries of Earth only seemed to be growing deeper, but what the Split Realm made clear was that maybe the enemy in the dark that he had been facing off against this entire time was none other than the Thryskai. 

After Gralith used Szorn to check the rankings, so too had Sylas. He had seen many Races listed there, but the most frequent most definitely came from the Thryskai. 

There was no doubt that whatever this mysterious Race was, their influence was grand. 

Sylas' gaze became more focused as he exhaled a slow breath. 

Much like this Dungeon, there was only one way to deal with this situation… 

Be Strong. 

Sylas finally focused on the world around him only to find that he was in a world of white. Although there didn't seem to be any defining characteristics to it… it felt familiar. 

This space had the very same feel as the world he had entered just before the Trial and just after. 

The first time he came he was able to decide between three Treasures, a City Stele, a Gene State Elixir, and a weapon. 

The second time, his Trial performance was assessed and he was able to trade for several things that ended up being a good help to him. Though, unfortunately, many of those things were no longer so. He was especially disappointed in his kunai. They were probably his best, most reliable projectiles, but with their Durability now so low, he didn't dare to use them. 

And now, he had appeared here a third time… but it was completely unrelated to the Trial, at least it seemed so. 

Sylas looked around, but there didn't seem to be anything at all coming. 

And then came the change. 

A rush of Mature Aether came for Sylas, sweeping toward him with great ferocity. 

'It is enough.' 

Sylas realized immediately that this Mature Aether would be enough to help the Basilisk King leap over the Level 30 hurdle. Until now, even with the powerful Rotten Python he had just killed, none of the Mature Aether was enough. For whatever reason, the Basilisk King had reached a bottleneck it couldn't plow through. 

But by the same token… 

'This should also be enough to get Nosphaleen beyond Level 10…' 

After realizing the Mature Aether he gathered wasn't helping the Basilisk King much, Sylas began diverting it all to Nosphaleen. But at some point, she became stuck at Level 9 and showed no signs of improvement as well. 

After realizing the Mature Aether he gathered wasn't helping the Basilisk King much, Sylas began diverting it all to Nosphaleen. But at some point, she became stuck at Level 9 and showed no signs of improvement as well. 

This was a clear difference between the Grades of these two Contracts of his. 

'I will give this Mature Aether to Nosphaleen. According to my calculations, the higher the Basilisk King's Level, the more supplemental Aether Stones I will need to help it succeed in its evolution. If I push it beyond Level 30, the Aether Stones in the only mine I know of might not even be enough anymore. I'll find a way to get it beyond Level 30 after a successful evolution…' 

Sylas made his decision and poured it all toward Nosphaleen, but he was left speechless in the next moment. 

That was because even after giving all of the Mature Aether to Nosphaleen, she still hadn't broken into Level 10. 

'Oh… I see. So that's the problem…'