Chapter 198 Pathways
Sylas' Gene State was Quasi Brittle right now, allowing him a 20% chance of success in absorbing Genes for the next week. What he didn't expect was that he would succeed with that 20% chance.
The problem was that his Bronze Gene Limit had already been reached. So the moment Extricate pressed through with success, it met another restriction that made Sylas' body convulse.
His body collapsed and his bones rattled. It felt like a hidden organ system within himself was being shredded apart, but it simultaneously felt clearer to him now than ever before.
A battlefield suddenly began raging through Sylas' body. Blood leaked from his ears and eyes, and Sylas realized that the Gene was slowly failing to be pushed out of his body.
Sylas immediately thought of a solution. If he used Extricate on himself, he could reverse this situation.
But when he sensed the state of his mind, he felt reluctant.
He was like a man observing the secrets of the universe for the very first time. The pain was inconceivable, but the result was that the process of sensing the Intelligence Gene was prolonged as well.
The damage to his body was slowing as though it had reached a cap, but the pain was only increasing again and again.
Just as Sylas was going to follow through on his plan, he grit his teeth and closed his eyes, curling himself into a ball.
The memories of what happened in the world of lava were still rolling around in his mind. He seemed to have forgotten, but he certainly had not. He was just forced to press it down.
No one had been there but himself, but he remembered the humiliation of that moment so very clearly. It was the greatest moment of weakness he had ever had in his entire life.
And he refused to experience it again.
They say you only knew a person when they faced unimaginable benefits or unimaginable horrors. Sylas had faced death and didn't like the person he saw looking back at him.
So now, curling up here and remembering that moment, his gaze flashed with coldness.
He activated <Maddened Enlightenment> and his mind became unprecedentedly focused. The mysteries of Aether opened up to him. He could sense its flow even clearer than he could the Runes earlier.
Finally, he could sense the Aether organ system in his body. His visualization extended and he could finally see it moving around in his organs rather than just having a vague feeling.
At that moment, controlling his Aether felt like forcing yourself to burp, which is what Sylas would have described it like before, to instead feeling more like taking a breath.
The difference was like night and day and Sylas focused on that difference. He knew that once the Bronze Gene was forced out of his body, he wouldn't feel it nearly so clearly, so he had to imprint the feeling into his mind right here and now.
Ironically, the pain helped him. Everywhere his body hurt was like another stamp and reminder. He could feel the cycle all throughout his body.
Slowly, a new change began to occur.
Sylas could feel the runes of the outside world and how they interacted with Aether.
He remembered how there were so many more runes where there was Aether, almost like the Aether needed another layer of complex laws to exist and interact with the world.
Sylas felt a unique connection between the two, and how those odd laws could be interacted with, how he could use his telekinesis to communicate with the two…
Then Sylas remembered how he had felt that there were different types of Charisma… was there really different types of Charisma? Or was there Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence?
Suddenly, by understanding Intelligence so deeply, Sylas came to grasp something else.
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, these three were like three sides of the same coin. They were all types of senses.
The Intelligence stat might incorporate how much Aether he had, but it was likewise a measurement of control. It was similar to how Speed might incorporate Strength as well. After all, wasn't mass and acceleration the definition of power?
Sylas had already realized that stats were more complex than it seemed, which was why <Madness Control>, which allowed him to forcefully increase his Efficiency, was so important.
But now, he was starting to gain a different understanding of Efficiency as well. It wasn't just about maximizing individual stats, but allowing them to feed off of one another properly.
Sylas felt a tug and caught a faint trace of the Flow of Battle once again. But once again, his Comprehension ran into a barrier. Recalling the Quest that he had yet to finish, Sylas didn't mind it. Now was not the time anyway. He was completely focused on his Aether and how to maximize it.
As the pain began to recede from his body, his calmness was slowly becoming unprecedented.
Soon, the cool sensation of Voice of a King became clear to him once again and the final leg of his comprehension completed.
If Intelligence was part sensing Aether, Wisdom should be related to Voice of a King, the calming sensation that helped him to focus. And, of course, Charisma should be related to Will.
The three layered atop one another and were difficult to parse apart, but all three could work together nonetheless.
He could fuse his Charisma and Intelligence to send out fists of telekinesis powered by Aether.
He could use his Wisdom to supply his Charisma with lanes of activity, allowing him to split his Will into several pieces to be used at the same time.
He felt that there were other secrets as well, but because he was only focusing on the Intelligence Gene right now, they were still far from him.
But as the pain finally subsided, his comprehension solidified.
Finally, Sylas' body relaxed. However, the burning pain in his body didn't disappear.
In return for this comprehension, it felt like he had ruined his Aether pathways.