Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1159: Peak

It could be said that in Sylas’ entire life, Pride had been the one root cause of all his actions. Whether it was times he chose to be his best, or times he couldn’t be bothered to do that, they were all dictated by Pride.

He felt that it was only natural he felt this way. Was he not better than most he came across in most things? Was it truly a Sin to feel Pride for such things?

The problem with Pride was when it was steeped in arrogance—an overblown sense of worth that tried to uplift skies that were well beyond your height to reach. What was wrong with Pride in itself?

It could be said that this was the same for all the other Sins, no? Wasn’t the problem that they were taken too far sometimes and not that they existed?

Everyone needed Greed. If you wanted for nothing, what purpose would you live in life? Even if you just hoped to live out your days in peace, wasn’t that still a form of Greed? It was just an accepted form.

Everyone needed Gluttony. If you didn’t eat, how long could you even live?

Everyone needed Sloth. If you never took a rest, wouldn’t you run yourself into the ground? How long could you keep up a fervent pace without pause?

Everyone needed Lust. Was living out your days with a partner by your side not the best hope anyone could have? How would you pass on your genes? How would you allow the fiery wills of your ancestors—who struggled to allow you the breath you have now—to live on?

Everyone needed Envy. Whether aimed toward yourself or another, to seek more, to reach benchmarks others before you had, and to surpass them just a little bit more so that those who came after you could benefit and raise the bar a little higher too…

Everyone needed Wrath. If you didn’t have your own bottom line, if you didn’t know how to protect yourself and your own peace, were you still living for yourself? Or were you living for someone else?

No matter which one of the Sins Sylas looked at, they all played important roles in everyone’s lives. When measured, focused, and limited, they weren’t just Sins… they were Virtues.

When Sylas had this thought, he stared out into the world in a bit of a daze. He couldn’t seem to focus on the evolution Cassarae was undergoing at all, and he couldn’t seem to focus on his own either.

Was it really a Sin to allow Pride to consume him? Was he not the very best? Would he not prove that in the future?

‘I’m not the best… not yet…’

The thought was almost like a calming stream in Sylas’ mind, a cool river passing through his thoughts and smoothing over the fiery pain in the depths of his brain—pain that he hadn’t even noticed was there until just now.

‘… But I certainly will be.’

BANG!

The world around Sylas seemed to shatter, collapsing into the Runes that formed it as though chaos had swallowed it up.

The enraged voice of a little girl in Sylas’ mind began to speak again, but it was so far-off and easily ignored that Sylas tuned it out this time, basking in the feeling of what was…

Pride.

He had listened to the little girl and chosen Lust before. But this time, he didn’t feel like listening to her at all.

Was she more experienced than he was? Probably.

But like she had said, he almost moved to his own rhythm.

He didn’t know everything about this world, but what he knew now was certainly well beyond what he knew before. It was enough for him to not be nearly as ignorant.

Sometimes, one didn’t need to have all the information in the world to be able to make informed guesses. There were a lot of scientific principles back on Earth that Sylas was able to intuitively understand simply because he had come across them in more dumbed-down or abstract ways at other times.

These Seeds… as Sylas saw it, they existed between Will Core and Race Quintessence, carrying heavy hints of Will Manifestation as well. Born from his Will, they were extensions of himself.

His True Pride Seed was the closest to him because, rather than coming from a gift granted to him by another, this one formed all on its own—likely triggered thanks to the existence of the other two and the fact the All-Seeing Eye was still present.

Something told Sylas that if the All-Seeing Eye wasn’t overseeing this galaxy currently, he wouldn’t be able to reach this step. But now that he had, he had no intention of going back.

As with all things in this world, there were two sides of the blade to consider. He trusted in his gut more than the words of a little girl he didn’t quite know, especially since her words implied that she had already lied to him before.

Maybe it was true that Lust had better synergy with Gluttony and thus that was why she had him pick it before. But it was also clearly just a half-truth.

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The real reason she didn’t want him to pick Pride was because she was afraid of it consuming him.

But clearly, she didn’t understand him as well as she thought at all.

The problem with Pride wasn’t Pride itself—it was arrogance. And Sylas…

Was not arrogant.

In fact, there was no one harder on Sylas than Sylas himself. That internal struggle, that constant need to supersede limits he saw in himself and shatter those barriers—that was a constant battle in the depths of his soul that no one but he…

No one but he and Cassarae could see.

So what if Pride consumed him? So what if this True Seed took root in his deepest depths?

Would it matter if he had the strength in the future to stand by it?

Would it matter if he stood alone at the peak of his universe?