Chapter 521: The Treasure [Bonus]
Even before the Summoning, Sylas' memory was on a completely different level compared to others. With his Wisdom increasing to its current point, it was only more exaggerated.
He could remember the exact configuration of the tattoos on Ragnar's body, even the ones not readily visible through his clothing. That was because when he almost killed Ragnar through the Scorned Wraps, he had sensed the clear fluctuation of the tattoos, or rather, what Nosphaleen called Rune Etchings.
Because of that, even in the darkness, he had been able to feel some of the same fluctuations coming from this statue. When he felt them with his palms, he was even more certain of the similarities.
He noticed that Ragnar had made mistakes in several locations, and it shocked him that he was actually able to get his tattoos to work with so many flaws built up over them.
Maybe it was even a good thing for him that he had made so many mistakes. If the tattoos were as powerful as they should be, it was hard to say if Ragnar's body could even withstand them.
Looking at them now, Sylas even began to wonder if he could withstand them.
This must be what Nosphaleen was talking about. Being able to use Rune Flesh was one thing, but being capable of actually withstanding the power of the Runes was another.
Some of the Runes on this statue only had 20 or so Foundations, which was manageable enough. But if one looked deeper, many of the Runes came together to form a network. By the time you looked at the whole picture, you were gazing at a manuscript that required thousands of Foundations.
To put this into perspective, Sylas' Freeze and slow Ice-Poison Runes were already enough to overwhelm the affinity of the spider queen. If not for his weakness in Aether, he could have killed the spider queen in a few minutes at worst.
Yet, they only had a little over 50 Foundations each.
What sort of concept was it to be two orders of magnitude beyond that?
In Sylas' opinion, even his Dual Class Constitution couldn't bridge the gap he would need to accomplish this.
Suddenly, something sparked in his mind as he made a connection.
"You said that the Dogons likely received help to accelerate their progress?"
Nosphaleen didn't expect Sylas to suddenly start talking and was taken aback. But she replied quite quickly.
"That's the only way they could have replaced us as the overlord race after just one Summoning. Logically speaking, we should have been the overlord race of both the Second and Third Summonings, but they took over the latter."
"Did your elders ever tell you why they thought that?"
"... We didn't know any specifics," she replied after a while. Honestly, she was a bit embarrassed. She accepted everything her elders told her without hesitation, but she was also a grown woman now. How could she not understand the hatred and animosity of her people and what kind of biases that would cause in them?
It made her wonder if Sylas had noticed something contradictory about her statements. She really shouldn't speak about unverified matters like they were facts.
Luckily, Sylas' next words made her calm.
"Have you ever seen a Rune system this complex?"
Nosphaleen blinked. "I..."
She didn't know how to answer.
Sylas looked over at her with a frown. "Do you not have Rune Enlightenment?"
"I do, but... I can't see anything right now."
Sylas frowned. "What do you mean you can't see anything?"
"It's too dark."
"Use your visualization."
"Visualization? You mean Sixth Sense? I can't use that to observe Runes, not unless I have Rune So..."
The realization overcame Nosphaleen, and she looked at Sylas like she was looking at a monster.
Her lips were slightly parted, and she didn't know what to say.
She had been around for long enough to learn several things about this world... like the fact the Summoning only began less than a year ago.
How was it possible for anyone to master Rune Soul that quickly?
Seeing her reaction, Sylas too understood the disconnect.
"Use your hands and see what you can make out."
Nosphaleen was starting to get more and more embarrassed as their interactions went on. Her elders had always said she was one of the best geniuses of their race, and if they were still the overlord race, she would have a chance to unlock the Progenitor Path.
Yet, why was it that she felt she couldn't compare to a man her people only referred to as cavemen and apes?
She did as Sylas described, but she was having a hard time.
Even the blind needed to be taught how to read braille, and that was a language specifically designed to be easier to feel out. How could she be expected to piece together the complexities of the Runes with just the feel?
"I can't do it," she finally admitted.
Sylas fell into silence, but he wasn't really thinking about Nosphaleen; he was still focused on these Runes as though he was trying to piece something together.
Suddenly, he remembered Nosphaleen was by his side and spoke again.
"This statue, from what I've seen, is broken into three layers. The first foundational layer is formed from Runes with 20 or so Foundations. There are 68 for the limbs and 32 more just for the torso alone. Between it all, there are probably around 2300 or so Foundations.
"The second layer is a linkage between them that's formed of at least that many Foundations
on its own.
"And then on top of that, there's a mesh layered over the top that combines with the rest to form a grand total of over 9000 Foundations."
Sylas didn't seem to notice that the more he spoke, the more frozen Nosphaleen seemed to
become.
It wasn't just the shock of such an intricate array of Runes... But...
How was it even possible for someone to analyze them all so fast? Even figuring out the exact number of Strokes and Foundations in one Rune should take dozens of minutes even for one
as simple as just 20 Foundations.
How did his brain work?