Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1181: Chains

Sylas stared at the obelisk, his eyes narrowed. So it was trying to resist the impotent system.

These rewards were from the All-Seeing Eye, but the All-Seeing Eye was now gone. This meant that anything that had to be carried forward—like a Destiny Quest, or something like this map—would actually be seamlessly handed over to the Crimson Eye to handle.

This must have been part of why Sylas had to be cut just now. It was part of a complicated handover procedure that he didn’t quite understand.

But this was exactly what the obelisks didn’t want. Connecting them to the impotent system would mean endangering everything they had built until now.

‘This is a bit… complicated…’

The obelisks looked like they would rather be destroyed than allow Sylas to take this path. Of course, the so-called “emotion” wasn’t actually real—it was just Sylas actually listening to the Runes and deciphering why it was they were rampaging.

Now that he understood the “emotion” of the Runes, everything else fell into place, and he was able to deduce a great deal about what was going on. Things that hadn’t quite made sense in the past also began to make more sense as well.

But that left one question…

What should he do now?

The obelisks didn’t even look like they would survive for much longer like this. They were already on the verge of destruction. If not for the Madness Key acting as a bit of a barrier to what was happening in the outside world, it was possible that they would have already self-destructed rather than be compromised.

If Sylas actually did go through all the trouble of getting to the end of the map and laying hands on whatever it was he was supposed to get—presumably to improve or evolve the obelisks—then it would all be for naught.

By then, this fleeting connection with the impotent system would become solid, and the obelisks—Madness Key filter or not—would certainly crumble.

‘Would it?’ Sylas’ eyes narrowed.

Technically speaking, the actual connection to the impotent system was the map itself, not the item Sylas was meant to retrieve. So, if Sylas found the item and the map disappeared, would the obelisks return to normal?

But how much longer could they endure this shaking without shattering to pieces first?

“How long can it endure?” Sylas asked.

“Maybe three months if you leave it there.”

“Can I extend that time if I become a Tier Four Madness Disciple?”

“Yes.”

“Mm…” Sylas nodded. “And how much time would that give me?”

He had a feeling that whatever it was that he needed to get to wasn’t going to be easy.

By now, he had a strong frame and understanding of the systems and how they worked. When they gave rewards, they were all at about the same level of value.

Sylas had gone through so much in the last month just to stand here today, and the All-Seeing Eye had truly tried to ruin him in more ways than one. There was no mystery that it had tried to target him, and it had had no intention of allowing him to succeed… just the fact that he had already cleared the Tier Four Demerits he needed to reach his next stage of Madness Disciplehood spoke to that.

But in return, he had been rewarded in equal measure.

And yet, the ending footnote of everything was… just a map? Not the treasure itself, but a map?

That could only mean one thing.

The map itself was just as valuable as any one of the other Treasures that Sylas had received—which meant that the Treasure itself was likely on a level all its own.

If Sylas were naive, he might hope that that meant smooth sailing ahead, especially since maps were designed to give an advantage. But he knew far better than that.

There was no way that this would be easy. Not by a long shot. It might even be more dangerous than what he had faced here.

He needed more time than just three months.

“Oh, if you can do that, then you’re golden. Suppressing it for another three years after that wouldn’t be all that difficult. In fact, if you feed me some good stuff, I might be able to broker a better deal for you.”

She spoke with a sickeningly sweet smile as she licked her lips. Sylas couldn’t help but wonder if the little girl’s mouth was always that wide. Had her jaw unhinged or something?

But as though some sort of optical illusion, she was back to normal in a flash.

Sylas nodded slowly. It seemed that within three months’ time, he needed to figure out a way to get his hands on a Legendary F-Grade Gene, a Gold E-Grade Gene, or… a Bronze D-Grade Gene.

He could do it.

Once he was a Tier Four Madness Disciple, his Scorned Wraps would also upgrade again, and that would be interesting.

Having a thought about the Scorned Wraps, Sylas’ gaze flashed.

“If the Madness Disciples are so obsessed with barring their descendants from using Treasures, why the Scorned Wraps?” Sylas asked.

“Do you think those things are Treasures? Interesting,” the little girl replied, swinging her little legs on her bench.

“They effectively are.”

“Have you seen the limitations being unable to use Treasures has brought you? That will only grow worse. Those little kids on that so-called Combat Matrix Index Leaderboard—do you think they’re able to exhibit all that power based on their own Will alone? They have staffs, amulets, braces… all things you can’t use.

“Of course, being able to use so many Treasures is its own form of Talent.”

Sylas’ eyes narrowed. He had learned about Treasure Limits during his time in the Golden Grove. They were actually a lot like the limits on Mounts. The buffs from Treasures were mostly helped along by the system’s administrations. If you went beyond that capacity, you were on your own.

“The sooner you realize those things are chains, the better.”