Genetic Ascension

Chapter 779  The Golden Grove [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus]

There was no surprise that Sylas had failed. The task was to tame the beast, not kill it. If it was just a matter of killing it, considering it started off chained, anyone who was able to make it to the ninth door in the first place would be able to easily handle the task.

However, despite this being the case, there wasnʼt a single person here who dared to take the word ”Failed” at face value. Every single one of them had seen that crown, and they were all aware that the fact that Sylas could even stand before them right this moment was a testament to the kind of talent he was.

The eyes of several hidden figures in the crowd couldnʼt help but glow.

Sylas was already a prime target after his ranking on the Breath Master leaderboard was made public. The sheer number of Guilds that had tried to solicit him was a testament to that.

But a Rune Master was one thing. A Rune Master with such flexible thinking, fast hands, and sharp senses… that was another thing entirely.

Given the talent Sylas had just displayed, he was very likely to break free of the Breath shackles…

If he hadnʼt already.

It had to be remembered that only a very small minority managed to reach Breath Mastery in the first place. Over 99% of those that started on the path of Rune Mastery were stuck at Rune Enlightenment and were unable to cross that threshold.

This was why despite Breath Mastery being the lowest tier list available to under-50s, it was still such a shocking matter that Sylas appeared in the top 400 at all.

Of course… these people could have never imagined that Sylas had not only surpassed the Breath bottleneck, but he had surpassed the even more difficult Rune Essence bottleneck and took a step further beyond even it, crossing into Rune Vitality.

Even Sylas didnʼt understand how shocking this matter was. As for why it was shocking, that was because of one very important fact…

In the whole of the Skai Galaxy…

The number of F-Grade Rune Soul Masters could be counted on two hands. Amongst trillions upon trillions of people, there were less than ten of them total.

As for the number of F-Grade Rune Essence Masters…

There wasnʼt a single one.

In fact, there wasnʼt a single under-50 Rune Soul Master. The best under-50 Rune Masters were at the level Ulrik had only just reached: Rune Flesh.
If one took a step back and looked at things from the perspective of the E-Grade, in this entire Skai Galaxy, most of the very best E-Grade Rune Masters werenʼt even at Rune Flesh, but were instead stuck at Rune Breath—only a handful, not even five, had managed to make it to Rune Flesh.

Those here could never imagine that even though they overestimated Sylas to such an extent, they were still undershooting his value by so much.

One would have to go to neighboring galaxies and maybe take this Galaxy System as a whole before one could find another talent on Sylasʼ level.

The middle-aged manager-type dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. The man had red skin and his sweat had a slight sheen of gold to it that made it look like he was beaming lava out from his pores. Even the handkerchief began to smoke, but the manager seemed so flustered that he didnʼt notice.

When two giants fought, it was the little guy that really got harmed in the end.

Between a young elite and the mysterious figure in the background, he didnʼt even know what he should do.

”I… this…”

The manager became more and more flustered beneath Sylasʼ gaze.

Before, Sylasʼ Will had already been exceptional. But now, he was akin to a towering mountain. Just staring into his eyes could make one feel as though their souls were collapsing.

For someone without even a Flexible Will, meeting Sylasʼ eyes was simply far too difficult.

The pressure was crushing him.

The fact that Sylas didnʼt even try to speak again to alleviate the situation only made it worse.

”I can… I can… I can give young elite a 10 million Hero Point voucher and a ticket to the Beast Master Garden, how does that sound?” the manager squeezed out a smile.

Sylas continued to stare at him for a long while before his lips slowly parted.

”10 million Hero Points? What is top three on the FF- Beast Master under-50 leaderboard worth to you?”

Sylas looked up toward the Fail notification that hung in the air, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

”Also, a ticket to the Beast Master Garden is worthless to me. I already have one.”

The manager almost collapsed. He had given the best offer he could, but somehow he had ended up shooting himself in the foot.

Although a Beast Master Garden ticket sounded great, it was very manageable for the Tower to hand out an extra ticket. In fact, it was almost at no cost to them as usually, the entry limit was artificially suppressed by them to bump up the prices of tickets.

But the fact that Sylas already had one meant that using this as a negotiating piece had actually ruined things. A usual ticket would easily go for billions at an auction.

Unwittingly, the price to appease Sylas had suddenly gone from a few million and an entry that was worthless to them, to a new baseline of billions of Hero Points.

If the manager tried to undershoot his initial price now, Sylas would surely grab a hold of his weakness.

And all of those problems were before considering the first matter Sylas mentioned.

Because of this mistake, Sylas had missed out on a Secret Realm ranking. Such a test could only be taken a single time. Now that he had lost the chance, there was no getting it back.

The manager had overlooked this because with how well Sylas performed, he could easily rank on the FF leaderboard…

But why should he?

If an entry to the Beast Master Garden was worth billions, what was a position of young elite worth?

If one just considered entry into this city alone, that was already 100 million Hero Points—points that were waived just by virtue of being a young elite.

It was over. His little life was finished because of a decision that wasnʼt even his own.

The more the manager thought about it, the more beads of sweat pooled across his body. Smoke came out from his ears and nose until he eventually overheated, fainting.

Workers rushed forward to help the manager, but Sylasʼ own reaction was placid. Instead, he looked toward TongueʼHead and Voxena, both of whom were staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

”TongueʼHead, what are my options for redressing this grievance?”

TongueʼHead snapped out of his stupor and stood at attention.

”Replying to young elite! The Bazaar is under a large conglomerate known as The Golden Grove! They are well respected across our Galaxy System and beyond. Should you need a grievance redressed, it is a simple matter of filing a complaint!”

Voxena burst out into a cold sweat when hearing these words. It seemed that it was truly smart of Sylas to bring a Familiar along. Because… she would have never dared to say these words aloud.

Everyone knew that Mospheral was the District Head, a District being a large segment of a Galaxy. Obviously, The Golden Grove was on a far larger scale than a District, so going above Mospheralʼs head was easy…

But not everything that was easy came without consequences.

Consequences that Sylas didnʼt seem to care about in the slightest.

”The young elite will be awarded 10 billion Hero Points and a universal 80% discount in the Rune Master Tower.”

The voice came from nowhere like a final command before vanishing into nothingness.