Chapter 381: Possible
[Arctic Emperor Bear]
[Genes Detected]
[Bronze Gene: (7) Constitution (F); (7) Intelligence (F)]
[Attempt Assimilation?]
[Yes][No]
'It should be possible. There's no reason for it not to, I've done it before.'
Sylas began to use Extricate on the Arctic Emperor Bear. His target, obviously, wasn't the Gene Talent, but rather the Genes themselves. Every time he extracted one, he poured it into the Gene Crystal.
In the past, Sylas had used Extricate on Gene Crystals to extend their life. It was a smoother process, so he could use the Gene Crystal more often before it shattered. That was why his 70 Capacity Gene Crystal was still alive and kicking.
So why couldn't he do a simpler thing? Instead of fusing the Genes together and then Extricating the completed Gene, why not use the Gene Crystal as a Gene storage device instead?
This would add some wear and tear to the Gene Crystal, certainly. So he couldn't do it with impunity. But that would only be a problem if he was constantly pulling Genes out and pushing them in.
'I guess we'll see how much durability this uses up for sure if this works...'
Once he had extracted all the Genes from the bear, he reached another threshold. Would the system still allow him to try an assimilation now that all the Genes were gone?
Sylas turned his focus inward. He was completely focused on trying to grasp the Gene Talent that may or may not be there.
With a breath, he moved his intention toward [Yes].
It was oddly vacant. The system moved, but there were no Genes to grasp onto.
'Is it gone?'
Sylas sighed inwardly. Extricate was certainly powerful, it allowed him to control Runes more complex than he could even begin to study and move them around as he pleased. But it clearly wasn't omnipotent-.
Just as Sylas had this thought, he felt something.
It was so impossibly subtle that if not for his comprehension of Rune Soul, he would have missed it. In fact, Rune Soul wasn't solely to thank.
After comprehending Rune Soul, Extricating Bronze Genes gave Sylas the same level of insight a Gold Gene would have given him. But he had only experienced that once. Comparatively speaking, he had absorbed 20 of each of the Physical Genes. They were all Common, but they still gave him far more insight than his Bronze Genes did previously. And because he had experienced each one so many times, Sylas' control over his body had reached an unprecedented level.
That skill had displayed itself against the Arctic Emperor Bear. The gap in combat skill between himself and the bear was so overwhelming that it hardly touched him. If not for the fact its stats were so far beyond his own, it would have only taken a few exchanges for Sylas to kill it.
Now, Sylas' State of Wealth was coming in handy again. That was because the appearance of the Gene Talent wasn't nearly as obvious as Genes themselves.
'I see... so that's how Gene Talents work...'
Gene Talents could be tied to specific Genes, but they didn't need to be. Instead, they were more of a method of using the Genes that already existed in your body. Genes gave you talents that you didn't have, Gene Talents used the Genes you did have to perform tasks you weren't otherwise familiar with. It was like giving yourself muscle memory you didn't have to train yourself.
Unique Genes that came with Gene Talents weren't much different. These kind of Unique Gene reliant Gene Talents just needed to use Genes you didn't already have to function. That was the only difference.
The Arctic Emperor Bear's Gene Talent, as such, was spreading all throughout Sylas' body. It was trying to form a ubiquitous net that combined several factors of Sylas' Genes into one ability, and that was why it was so hard to sense.
It was practically working on a cellular level, across several organ systems. Without his high understanding of his body, Sylas wouldn't have noticed it at all.
But now that he had...
'It's about to fail... my Ice-Poison affinity isn't as high as the Arctic Emperor Bear's so it's difficult for my body to trigger its success.'
Sylas frowned. It didn't look like there was anything he could do. If his body was too weak, then trying to gain this Gene Talent or forcefully activating it would only end poorly. Was this a wasted effort? Well, he had at least saved the Genes so it wasn't all bad.
'Wait...'
Sylas began to work quickly. He took out his Transmutation Beast Skin and expanded it until the entire bear corpse could fit on it. At the same time, he had a portion of his mind focused on the Gene Talent so that the feeling wouldn't fully disappear.
He pulled out his Gene Crystal and began to Extricate the Genes one more time, pouring them back into the body of the polar bear Emperor.
CRACK.
Sylas couldn't help but cringe. His 200 Capacity Gene Crystal had actually shown signs of breaking down already. It seemed that this wasn't a viable long-term solution for storing Genes. If this Gene Crystal broke before he could upgrade Aetherflow, he wouldn't even be able to describe his regret.
Still, he pressed forward, Extricating the last Gene. Then, he poured his Aether into the Transmutation Beast Skin.
WHOOOSH!
A strong energy pulsed, and the bear's corpse was compressed and compressed until it formed a beautiful icy pill with blue runes etched across its surface.
'That took 7 Units of Aether although it didn't have a single Silver Gene... these half-Bronze beasts are no joke...'
Though he had these thoughts, it didn't slow his action. Sylas swallowed the pill in one go.
Since his body didn't have the support structure the Gene Talent needed to take root, then he would just have to supplement it in another way.
A body-wide massage thrummed through Sylas' limbs. A great amount of nutrients filled him
to the brim.
Sylas' gaze flashed. 'It's working.'
[Gene Talent Detected]
[Trade 5 Bronze Intelligence (F) and 5 Bronze Wisdom (F) to unlock: Winter's Edge?]
[Yes][No]
Sylas was speechless... all of that to still be one Gene short.