Chapter 627: Sylas Brown
Sylas gasped for breath, looking at the gross state of his arm. It was hard to tell what was his blood and what wasn't, because just the act of entering the chimera's body with an open
wound had opened him up to all sorts of infections.
The yellowed blood of the chimera began to taint his body and it was beginning to overwhelm him.
The poison of the chimera wasn't exactly like the poison Sylas was used to. It was more demon than it was anything else, and Sylas had already shown himself to struggle with poison like that a great deal, even when it came from Runes he intimately understood like the Woodland Poison, let alone ones he didn't like this one.
Right now, it seemed that accidentally Leveling up was going to be the least of his concerns. If this continued, he would die.
However...
There was an eerie calmness to his gaze as he inhaled. Rather than pushing the Aether away, this time he swallowed it all, allowing it to rush into his body.
He wasn't sure if it was the gap between the Rotten creatures he had fought before and this chimera's in Grade or if it was the difference in Level, but the sheer amount of Mature Aether this Rotten Chimera had was easily ten times more than any Sylas had ever seen before.
In fact, he was even somewhat disappointed. If Aki's real body was here... maybe this would be his best chance to deal a death blow to him.
But he knew that was mostly going to be a pipe dream. If Aki could control this chimera without even his real body being here, then it was only natural that he be able to easily resolve any attack that came from what was ostensibly just a small part of the Rotten Chimera's body.
Whenever Sylas was granted Mature Aether from a kill in this world, he could sense the Legendary Path System cleansing it. That did away with the harm of absorbing another's Aether, but it also weakened it.
This was why Sylas didn't even try to fight the Level up this time.
He had been trying to find his wall, and this was it. This fight was too difficult, and the next time, he wouldn't have a set of golems to sacrifice to bridge the gap.
He had to Level up now and consider other matters later. What good was a solid foundation if he got killed before he even managed to make use of it?
There was no need for reluctance. It was a useless emotion to him.
However, what Sylas didn't expect was that when he began to absorb the Aether, he would feel something else.
'I... can do that?'
Sylas had been looking for methods to help his Contracts for months. However, it almost seemed easier to increase their talent than it was to get them to Level up.
The Basilisk King was still Level 5, as was Nosphaleen. The poor Bone-Tailed Lizard was still a measly Level 0.
Sylas didn't think that he would stumble into the method of Leveling them up like this. Seeing another path, he didn't hesitate.
His body had already grown substantially more powerful. Between his new stats, his deeper comprehension of his Taboo Bond Path Talents, and his Dual Class Constitution-not to mention the increase to his Fusion Talent's Level-he felt that he could now fuse with the Arctic Emperor Cobra of the past without bursting apart at the seams.
So... why wouldn't he increase the strength of his fused creatures?
The question was... which one?
The moment he had the thought, the answer was obvious.
The Basilisk King.
Although Leveling up the Bone-Tailed Lizard might gain more immediate rewards because it was FFF+ to the Basilisk King's FFF-, the Basilisk King already had a Legendary Path Talent within it, while the Bone-Tailed Lizard at best had a Bronze Lineage within it.
The longer the Bone-Tailed Lizard stayed Level o, the better, because it would be easier to upgrade it in the future.
But the Basilisk King would not only be able to be upgraded now, it would Level further because of its lower Grade, and on top of that, it had to be remembered that Sylas already had everything on hand for its next Grade upgrade.
All he needed was the Basilisk Skin Armor in Cassarae's possession.
The only trouble was that he had no easy way to return. The only portals he knew of to get to Cassarae were now across an ocean from him.
But that time would come.
As for why it couldn't be Nosphaleen, that was because he couldn't fuse with her right now because she was combined with the cancer Gene, and he couldn't summon her either.
So that only left one obvious choice.
Making his decision, Sylas canceled his Fusion and poured everything into the Basilisk King.
Then he sat and watched in anticipation to ensure that he was correct.
The Basilisk King was injured during their Fusion, as expected.
Fusions were canceled due to high injury, but that was only before the Fusion occurred. During the Fusion, they both shared the burden of injury. If Sylas died, then the Basilisk King would die as well.
However, unlike Sylas, the Basilisk King had the Hibernation Realm.
Sylas completely forgot about his own injuries as he watched the Basilisk King like a hawk.
And then it happened.
From Level 5 to 6, and then from 6 all the way to 10 in a sudden burst, and then from 10 to 16, and then from 16 to 23.
All the while, it didn't seem to show any signs of stopping.
As the Basilisk King Leveled up, Sylas realized that his Insight Path Talent was being
tweaked.
He realized that in this state, he would need a great number of Aether Stones alongside the three items he had already connected to allow the Basilisk King to Grade upgrade now.
But that was just fine by him.
It was worth it.
The Basilisk King only came to a grinding halt at Level 29.
"SYLAS GRIMBLADE!" Aki roared, his fury from being ignored boiling over.
"My last name is Brown," Sylas said casually as Aki faded away.