Genetic Ascension

Chapter 605: Long Time

Sylas had been asleep practically the entire time, so he was sure that he wasnʼt the first to think of this. The others may have already guessed at such a thing, but they didnʼt know what to do about it. Should they try to knock one another off? But what about the family? What if this statue only wanted one person to remain?

That was enough to explain why Cole and his family hadnʼt acted. Well, that and the fact Cole was bound to listen to Sylasʼ orders for the next three years, and that also stipulated him not doing anything to harm Sylas.

Alex was the true wild card, but he hadnʼt acted either, just standing in silence. And with his face covered by the mask, he was difficult to read even for Sylas.

ʼHm?ʼ

Sylas looked up to find something interesting.

ʼWeʼre closer to the statue now than we were before. Higher as well. Is this a boiling frog situation?ʼ

Sylas liked to think that his observation skills were sharp enough that he would have noticed if he remained awake the entire time. But he had been awake for about an hour before he fell asleep, and he hadnʼt picked up on anything at all.

Unless their platforms had only moved while he was asleep, that meant that he had missed it too.

Sylas also realized that he was feeling quite refreshed right now. That seemed only natural since he had woken up from a deep sleep, but given the fact that Alex had felt his stamina draining faster when he sat down, this was definitely not something that Sylas could take for granted.

ʼInteresting...ʼ

Sylas gave a look toward Cole. ”Do you have telekinesis?”

Cole was somewhat slow to respond, the sudden words in the endless silence still not enough to shake his fatigue.

”... Telekinesis? No.”

”Mm...” Sylas nodded. With a wave of his hand, he sent out a casual pulse of his own.

He had tried everything during the first few minutes of being in this world, including using his telekinesis, but nothing had worked. The Aether in the air didnʼt respond to him, the Enlightenment Rune couldnʼt be drawn, Skills couldnʼt be cast, and his telekinesis didnʼt properly respond.

But properly responding versus not responding at all were obviously two completely different things.

He had felt his telekinesis; it just wasnʼt good enough to do anything.

This time, nothing had changed. The pulse was still weak.

When he tried to use his telekinesis on the platform under him once again, it hardly budged.

But...

ʼSo it did move. Itʼs just that the increments were so weak I couldnʼt even pick up on it.ʼ

The platforms were moving slowly on their own, and he could speed it up by a small margin with his telekinesis. But at this speed, it would take years to reach the statue. And over that course of time, the pressure would only grow great in all likelihood.

Was this task really meant to be so difficult?

Sylas looked back toward the other floating platforms, and he noticed that they were moving at different rates in relation to one another as well.

He didnʼt pay much attention to this at first because the placement of the platforms was a bit erratic. It didnʼt have rhyme or reason, and initially, they were practically in a semi-circle around one another, with each of them separated by about three meters or so.

However, now this semi-circle had blurred somewhat and looked more distorted than Sylas remembered.

ʼMountains of Giza...ʼ

Sylas still recalled that it was plural, but he still wasnʼt sure what that meant.

ʼUnless multiple people were supposed to be here?ʼ

He was always obsessed with finding the perfect solution all on his own. But what if the solution was actually to work together?

But the question was... how?

He had already asked Cole, and though the man had strong enough Will to send a System Contract, he didnʼt have strong enough Will to use telekinesis.

Or maybe that wasnʼt the right way to look at it...

Sylas had met plenty of people with strong Wills and Charisma, but only Nosphaleen of them all had telekinesis like he did.

Reaching out with his telekinesis, Sylas targeted one of their platforms and pulled. He observed it silently and found that it was still moving at the same rate his was.

ʼHm...ʼ

Sylasʼ gaze suddenly sharpened, and he looked off into the distance as another group appeared.

ʼLauren.ʼ

Separated by about ten meters or so, Lauren and a group of four others appeared on their own sets of platforms. Their platforms were just as small, and the trouble they were facing was

just the same.

This group was a little behind Sylas and the others, and this seemed to show how far forward they had moved. But it was so incremental, over such a long time, that none of them had

noticed.

However, they were now facing another problem.

Alex and the others were immediately on high alert, but Sylas didnʼt bother to move an inch. All he did was observe, waiting to see if Lauren had another card up her sleeve.

Laurenʼs pupils shrunk when she met Sylasʼ gaze. However, after a moment, she relaxed and then gave him a light smile.

”Long time, no see.”

Sylas didnʼt respond, his gaze descending to Laurenʼs chest. It was covered by tight leather armor, and he couldnʼt tell whether she was wearing the necklace or not. With something so valuable, he wouldnʼt find it too shocking for her to hide it at all cost, especially if that cost was just some slight discomfort to her skin.

Lauren didnʼt mind Sylasʼ lack of a reply as she looked around, observing Alex and the others. But maybe to Alexʼs credit, she didnʼt seem to recognize him at all.

”Youʼve only made this much movement in a week... It seems that though weʼve split our first two battles, I will be the victor of this one,” Lauren said lightly.

Sylas inwardly sighed. As he had feared. There was yet another time dilation here.