Chapter 591: Perpetrators
'Passively...?'
Sylas was surprised. The Gene Skill worked without his input at all. As he moved around, slept, or even took a break, it worked all on its own. This was a complete change from what he was used to.
7% of his Aether and six Aether Units. That wasn't a ton, but it also wasn't anything to sneeze at either.
In addition, this skill scaled with Wisdom and didn't seem to have a limit on his Intelligence either. That meant that so long as he continued to grow the two, he would be able to benefit from this for as long as he was in the F-Grade.
But this was still what Sylas felt was only the tip of the iceberg. That was because he sensed something else hidden within the skill, something vague and almost intangible, but something that was certainly there nonetheless.
Sylas was certain that when he actively circulated <Maddened Enlightenment> now, he would actually be training his Wisdom like a muscle.
He didn't know what to call such a thing, but he was absolutely certain that it wasn't just a "mere" Gene Skill. It felt like it was something beyond that.
However, his current <Master Scouting> Skill wasn't good enough to see through it. Either that, or the Skill itself hadn't truly budded into what it was meant to and designed to be.
The ground suddenly rumbled beneath Sylas even as the headache he was experiencing subsided.
He opened his eyes and a sharpness gleamed within. It seemed like it was time.
He stepped out of his tent and waved a hand. The black, irregularly shaped vessel folded itself up magically into the form of a small pyramid that hovered above Sylas' palm before disappearing into the Madness Key.
Items like this were what Sylas spent much of the rest of his money on. This tent alone cost over ten million. Not only did it isolate sound, it alerted him of threats, and it also concentrated Aether to help speed up recovery and better sleep. With it, you could get three hours' worth of sleep out of just one, and with Sylas' current Constitution, that was more than a full night's rest...
If he wasn't holding off on sleep for days at a time, that is.
His water bottle was another item that cost over ten million. It concentrated Aether as well, speeding up natural Aether recovery with every sip and refreshing you.
These were certainly extravagant purchases that Sylas believed he would outgrow in less than a couple of months at worst. But he was in line with most business-savvy people. If your money wasn't working for you, you were losing it.
Over time, the value of Coins would only further depreciate, and this tent might be common that even the weakest of warriors could buy it.
If he didn't benefit from it now, when would he?
But therein lay the crux of the matter. If this tent, capable of isolating all noise and sound, rumbled...
Just how bad was the situation outside?
The bright lights of Cairith in the distance were already flickering as the earth swayed from side to side.
Screams echoed through the night and Sylas could see buildings beginning to fall and crumble.
The population density of Cairith was far higher than it was anywhere else that Sylas had seen. There was no doubt that there would be a great number of casualties as a result.
Alex stepped out of his own tent and gave Sylas a look before nodding.
Both of them shot off into the distance.
Blades of ice appeared beneath Sylas' feet and he shot by Alex, moving so fast that the latter's lip twitched.
Wasn't this guy super slow?
Alex looked down to the ice covering Sylas' feet, feeling something speechless. But then scales covered Sylas' body and Alex found himself looking at the former's back from a far-off distance.
"Shit! Wait for me!"
There was a flare of darkness around Alex and he seemed to become three times lighter. Like a rocket from a cannon, he shot out, leaving trails of wispy blackness behind him.
The two, one streak of icy blue and another of dark black, surged across the desert, appearing near the city line swiftly.
The defensive perimeters were already in shambles. The appearance of a Quasi King was enough to force an all hands-on-deck sort of situation. Even if they could guess that this was some sort of enemy ploy, there was no easy way to deal with the situation.
Most people weren't even Level 10. And even if they were Level 20 or closing in on 30, a creature of the Glass Monkey's caliber would only need to breathe in their direction for them to die, even as a mere Level 22.
When you factored in the change of landscape on top of that, it was like hell on earth.
Sylas had realized after interacting with the Glass Monkey that his Ice Aether only flowed so smoothly because the Glass Monkey was actually a Path of the Mancer creature of Sand and Ice. Unfortunately, it was only Level 22 and not Level 40. Otherwise, it might be a perfect candidate for his Silver Class Upgrade.
However, seeing its abilities had tickled something deep within him. That was because, much like Wood, Sand was an Earth Variant Aether...
And this variant was about to become a headache for the Africor Continental Government.
**
Deep within Cairith, a group of government officials woke from their slumber, gathering together quickly.
"It's just as the Kings and Queen said, there's movement."
"A Quasi Bronze Beast is trouble. How did they manage this?"
"Do we have any idea who the perpetrators are?"
"Stop!"
A growl came from a stalwart woman with a waist as thick as a man's. She had wild hair that looked as though she hadn't washed it in years, and her thick forearms were actually covered in a mesh of hair itself.
She stood at only 5'10", which though tall for a woman, seemed short compared to the sheer width and mass of her body.
The Kings and Queen had already gone ahead to complete the task, leaving behind their trusted generals to man the situation, and she was none other than one of them...
General Thora.
"The first priority is to kill that damned monkey. As for the obvious intruders, there's only one place they could be heading. All hands on deck."