Chapter 339: Because
In Alex's spatial ring, there had been two three-day Brittle Gene State Elixirs. Sylas had still never used them because he wasn't in strong need of them. He knew that Gene Elixirs were rare, and unless he could find a method of getting a steady supply of them, he didn't want to use them willfully. Plus, if he really needed one, he would just likely use his Merit Leaderboard reward Elixir.
Now, it seemed that his choice was correct as he handed Cassarae's mother and father one each.
They looked at it curiously. They didn't understand much about this world yet, so Sylas had to break it down to them. It was only then that they understood what the Rigid denomination of the Gene State meant.
With Sylas waving down Cassarae's next tirade, the middle-aged couple swallowed down the Elixir as though it was only natural. They didn't seem to have as many misgivings as their daughter about Sylas' kindness.
Part of that was likely because they still didn't quite understand just how valuable the Elixirs were, and it was another part because they seemed to be far more comfortable with Sylas than their own daughter was.
What happened afterward was even more of a surprise to Cassarae. That was because Sylas began to use Extricate on her parents, and the very same shock and awe of insight he was familiar with began to come at them in waves.
They had never experienced the normal absorption of Genes, so they had no idea just how amazing what they were experiencing was.
The situation left Cassarae feeling confused. Since when was absorbing Genes such an out- of-body experience? If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Sylas had drugged her parents somehow.
It wasn't long before the middle-aged couple hit their Gene Limits. They could barely absorb five Common Genes, and they had long since reached their Stat Limits.
Most of their Physical Stats had limits of around 25 or so. Paul was a bit different, actually having a Strength Stat Limit of 32, while his wife was more on the normal side, being about average for everything.
For someone who didn't have a special Gene Talent like the Grimblades did, Paul's 32 Strength at Level o was nothing short of exceptional. All things considered, his basic Strength was probably near the pinnacle of what was possible for Humans.
Had he trained in it properly, he probably would have had a place in a strongman competition on Earth, but he instead chose to become a businessman.
Knowing that Mental Stat Limits were overall rather than individual, Sylas tested if either of the two had the talent for telekinesis, and realizing they didn't, he just directly pumped everything they had into Intelligence. This would be the best for them starting out.
Their Mental Stat Limit was 25, but what left Cassarae speechless was that thanks to Sylas, her parents both ended up with Intelligence around 60 before they capped out.
Of course, this meant that their Wisdom and Charisma were both below 10 points, but this could be fixed in the future when they decided what sort of path they wanted to take. But who would turn their nose up at having more Aether?
Cassarae thought it was finished here... but then Sylas actually took out a cracked Gene Crystal. She was entirely floored. How far was Sylas planning on going today?
Luckily, the Gene Crystal didn't work because neither of her parents had a Catalyst. They had no Gene Talents, no Skills, no Classes, or anything else of the sort to give the Gene Crystal a foundation to work with, so how could they benefit from it?
Sylas thought that maybe he could get something generic for them, something to at least help them break free of some of these Stat Limits, but it seemed that that wouldn't be possible. Instead, he chose to help them start leveling up instead.
The Madness Key had long since confirmed for Sylas back when he first met Alex and the others that bringing out as much potential from his Level o state as he could would be the best for his future. But he couldn't possibly give everyone else that same burden... nor did he want to take on such a burden.
It was already so difficult for him to come so far. Although he was more than willing to give up these many resources, if he tried to help them take the same road he was, rather than helping himself, he would surely be harming himself and slowing things down too much.
There were already many times that Sylas himself wanted to level up. He wasn't living in an environment where he could afford to take the perfect route. But at least for now, he had managed to hold on.
As for this middle-aged couple... it was best they gain the ability to defend themselves as quickly as possible.
Thanks to Extricate, they were probably already better than many semi-professional athletes and martial artists at controlling their bodies. All that was left was for them to have the power to back it up.
Plus, he was curious about how the level-up process worked. He had never experienced it before in any capacity.
Sylas stood by the side and watched silently, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Cassarae was getting closer and closer to blowing her top.
Finally, after her parents seemed to have become completely lost in the intoxication of their bodies seemingly becoming younger and healthier, Cassarae finally couldn't hold it back
anymore.
BANG!
She stood up with the ferocity of a lioness, her eyes bloodshot.
"What the fuck, Sylas?! Why are you ignoring me like I'm not even standing here?! Why are you doing this?! Why are you investing so much?! Do you not know how valuable these things are?! Do you not know that they can save your life at a crucial time?!"
Sylas looked at her with a deadpan expression and spoke his next words so casually and blandly that Cassarae almost thought she heard wrong.
"Because you're my woman."