Chapter 715: Ash
Szorn finished quite quickly. The Metarock mining had taken almost an hour, but this took barely ten minutes. Of course, the scope was far lesser, so it was to be expected.
Shimmering light came from the Aether Stones that remained and Sylas took in his now 39,000 Gold Aether Stones. This was perfect. With this, he could use his Time Lock Treasure three times. If he handed in the head of an A-level threat to the Grimblades, that would be enough for a fourth.
He wasn't even sure if he would need it so many times, but it was invaluable nonetheless.
Sylas was sure that these Aether Stones had more value than could be easily described. He hardly extricated all the value he could out of Common Aether Stones, so it was hard for him to truly understand just how much better Bronze and above Aether Stones were.
What Sylas didn't know was that deposits of Aether Stones in such large quantities, and with such great quality, could only happen in worlds in the middle of Summonings like Earth, and worlds in the process of evolving to the next Grade.
In worlds where Aether had already settled down, the phenomena necessary to forge these mines was likewise much rarer. There was a reason why Coins were the default currency of the universe and not Aether Stones.
They were too rare.
But by the same token, the methods that required their use were likewise great as well. It would just be up to Sylas to figure it out.
At least in one aspect, though, he already had.
"Come."
The Basilisk King obliged, moving toward Sylas.
"You may go now, Szorn."
"Does young master not need my help storing these materials?"
"There's no need."
Szorn nodded its large eyeball and then vanished.
Of course, Sylas would send Szorn away for this. After all, what he wanted to do next wasn't something he was willing to allow Szorn to see.
It was time for the Basilisk King to complete its next evolution.
Taking advantage of the repelling character of the Metarock, Sylas took out the Basilisk Skin Armor and a familiar Gene Core.
This Gene Core was none other than an item he had been given by a Sylph while in their Race's Dungeon in exchange for sparing her. The moment he had touched it, he knew that it was the last piece of the puzzle he needed to help the Basilisk King.
However, there had been a change.
Because he successfully leveled the Basilisk King up to Level 29, evolution wasn't so easy anymore. While he wouldn't need more items, he would need a large deposit of Aether.
And that was what these Aether Stones were here for.
According to Sylas' Insight Path Talent... this should be just enough.
"Ready?"
The Basilisk King was still feeling apprehensive. That discomfort that came from the Sylph formation hadn't vanished, and it had been dealing with that constant attack on its mind the entire time.
Sylas realized this and pulled back somewhat.
His gaze met the Basilisk King's in silence, and neither moved.
Sylas' relationship with this Beast Contract of his had grown, and there was even some mutual trust between the two of them now. But, the respect between the two was very one-sided.
The Basilisk King had a great deal of respect for Sylas, but Sylas... didn't really share that same level of awe.
Much of that was because unlike his other contracts, the Lineage of the Basilisk was very blurry to Sylas. But even if it hadn't been... Sylas really wasn't the sort of person to feel that sort of awe toward others. He didn't even find the objectively impressive things he did to be all that, either.
Looking at the Basilisk King now, Sylas could tell that the reason his attempt to pat this companion of his before had failed so miserably was because that wasn't the kind of affection the Basilisk King wanted.
It didn't want to be coddled or babied. What it wanted most was Sylas' respect.
But it couldn't have it.
Sylas looked away from the Basilisk King and toward the formation high above them.
"Do you know why that formation makes you feel fear?"
The Basilisk King shook its head no.
"It's a little trick. The Runes on it play tricks on the mind, subtly influencing the Will so that even if anyone came down here, they would panic, thinking that their treasures were being burned too quickly by the lava. Then they would retreat before even making it to the barrier." The Basilisk's gaze flickered as it seemed to understand.
But understanding was one thing.
Having it change something was another.
"Do you know why it works on you?"
The Basilisk King shook its head no once more.
"Because your Will is weak."
The Basilisk King's slit pupils pulsed, but it had no way to refute.
"Although I had the badge to allow me through, the badge was in the Madness Key. It only activated because the Madness Key has evolved and seems to now be able to reflect some of the abilities of the items stored within it.
"I didn't notice the change because... this sort of influence on my Will is entirely too weak to be able to make me notice in the first place."
The pulsing of the Basilisk King's eyes only grew, but it stayed perfectly still, continuing to stare at Sylas.
"I don't know what your origins are truly, and I don't know why you've regressed so much. But what I can tell you is that you'll never be able to achieve much of anything if you rely on me so heavily. If you want to respect me, fine... but you should also be striving to surpass me. "If you cannot do that, one of these days, I'll truly abandon you."
The Basilisk King had such a high Will stat, and yet it was all but worthless as it didn't even have a Flexible Will.
But now, staring at Sylas, it felt the weight of its inferiority even more clearly than before.
The Basilisk King turned and slithered its body into the crevices of the Aether Stone mine. Then it turned a heated gaze toward Sylas as though it was ready to go through fire. Sylas had only barely begun before the violent trembling of the Basilisk King returned. This time not out of fear... but pain.
Its scales burst apart and blood flowed out only to be burned to ash by the heat in the
surroundings.
As painful as the Basilisk King's last evolution was, this would be even more so.
'Show me why your Lineage is so special...'
What Sylas didn't know was that while he was hidden away down below... the upheaval in
Lone Star was not small. In fact...
Almost the entire population of the city had been wiped out.
...
High in the skies of a Lone Star City burning in an endless inferno, two figures stood.
Their skin was an unnatural white ash as though they had covered themselves in chalk, ragged
and torn strips of beast cloth coated their bodies, and jewelry carved from bone adorned their
bodies.
The Dogons had appeared.