Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1382: Stack

ʼIʼm close…ʼ Sylasʼ gaze flickered again.

His face had been pale and drained of blood for a long while now, beads of sweat rolling down his brows. But he was as calm as an immovable glacier, the sharpness in his intent forcing the Strokes hovering before him into absolute obedience. It was as though it was their pleasure to be observed and comprehended by Sylas.

They wouldnʼt rather have it any other way. This was what they wanted more than anything.

Not long ago, Sylas had already thought of a method of improving [Madness Control] that took advantage of the intervention of the system to help him make space in his body to absorb powerful Genes that he wouldnʼt otherwise be able to.

Essentially, when he formed his powerful Warlord Armor, the system started priming his body for the arrival of a new Gene. The moment an Armor took shape for the first time, the slot for the Gene was already there—it was just about timing the absorption for when the time was optimal.

Sylas figured that if he went around learning Rune Armor, he could force his body to make more space for more powerful Genes, and thus he would eventually be able to absorb Genes he shouldnʼt be able to using a combination of the system, [Madness Control], and likely the prowess of Taboo Bond as well.

This principle was similar.

If those higher powers could abuse the system, then he too could also abuse the system. So long as he was smart enough to do so, who would stop him?

Why was it that Sylas could now instantly draw his Emerald Scorpion Armor?

On the surface, the answer was his Gene. Now, the Armor was a part of himself, his Genes, and as such it wasnʼt an external part of him anymore. Using his Armor was now like an extension of his limb. Did you have to unsheath your limbs first before you used them? Of course not.

While this was all true, it was only part of the answer.

The other, more in-depth answer was the system. Or, at the very least, the systemʼs input. It was the system, in the first place, that created such a perfect Gene for Sylas to absorb.

Even Sylas had never successfully crafted himself a Gene. The best he had done was perfect a Gene Talent that already existed based on his observations of a template that was already right in front of him.

Genes were no longer so complicated to him that he couldnʼt even look at them like before. But it was still a huge ordeal to draw and manage them. Sylas had yet to even make an attempt.

The Gene was crafted by the system itself, and thus the root ability to form such a complicated Armor instantly and without pause was likewise due to the input of the system.

What Sylas wanted to do was simple. Using his F-Grade Armor as a skeleton, he wanted to form his E-Grade Armor around it, using the former as a foundational scaffolding and the latter like a branching network of muscle fibers, nerves, and organs that grew from it.

If he could do this, then he could offload the computational pressure of forming a lot of the Armor to the system and focus on the finer details.

Sylasʼ eyes slowly closed and he remained like this for another three days before his eyes suddenly shot open.

In a flashing instant of time, a resplendent emerald armor formed. The shingles snapped into place, a tail flickering with dense lightning, and a set of six pairs of eyes forming a helm that seemed to fuse and combine with Sylasʼ own gaze.

Illusory as it seemed to be, it was somehow even more real than true armor, impacting the air and reality with a roaring aura.

The world trembled and then one violet Stroke after another began to form over the Armor.

The cold sweat on Sylasʼ brows deepened, his expression only growing more pale, but even so, it didnʼt stop. In fact, it accelerated.

A powerful rush spread out in all directions.

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In a beautiful harmony, green and violet intertwined around one another, the Strokes seeping into one another in a fascinating array.

And then there was a rush of wind. It all came to a sudden and forceful stop.

Sylas exhaled a breath.

His head, obscured by a helm of twelve radiant eyes, looked out into the world as a long tail swayed to his back.

He clenched his fists and space seemed to crackle. Sparks of lightning, twisting with emerald and violet, spontaneously shattered Runes apart.

The world around Sylas seemed to become a vacuum, one where life was whittled away and his Will was all that remained. A Will truly Marked by the system itself.

ʼThereʼs… a synergy when I draw them like this…ʼ

Unknowingly, Sylas had stumbled onto a technique of the Emperor Sanctum. But even there, it was almost unheard of for it to be used. That was because unless one reached a threshold of perfection that allowed instant formation of a lower Tier armor, it was impossible.

Strictly speaking, this was just barely possible at 95% perfection. However, if you tried to stack too many 95% Mastery Armors together, the tiny mistakes would inevitably stack up.

But… if all of your Armors were of 100% Mastery…

Then there were no mistakes to stack up.

Meaning, if Sylas continued to reach 100% Mastery before learning a new Armor, he could be the first of not just the Warlord Sanctum, but the Emperor Sanctums as well to stack multiple Armors into one.

At first, Sylas was just learning this E-Grade Armor for future reference, not expecting that he would stumble onto something that would well and truly change everything.

He didnʼt have to ignore and forget previous Armors now. His Armors worked in unison.

From 10,000,000 additional Physical stat points…

Sylas hadnʼt even yet drawn his E-Grade Armor to Breath Mastery, but he already had 20,000,000 additional Physical stat points now.

He had suddenly not just become an undefeatable F-tier, but he was also among the strongest E-tiers in the entire Sector.