Chapter 907 Mad Ape
The head of the final Great Ape dripped with blood from the tips of Sylas' fingers. It lasted for a few seconds, as though it were grieving its impermanence before it vanished into motes of light just like all the others.
This last battle should have been difficult, it had all the markings to be. The Great Ape had stats approaching five figures, which was a huge leap from the second-to-last that only had stats around 7000 or so. But it hadn't mattered at all in the end.
'I didn't know that Comprehensions… had such weaknesses…'
Sylas had always thought of Comprehensions as just straight boosts to stats; there was nothing you could do to counter them if someone activated them. At best you could avoid some of the added effects, but you would be forced to deal with the actual stat boost no matter what.
Given the strength of this Great Ape, and its base stats, the stats to which its Comprehension gained a boost must have put him in another stratosphere.
He almost certainly hit the Comprehension Stat Limit at 19,999 points without a doubt.
But it hadn't felt like he was nearly that strong at all. Sylas completely toyed with him, and it wasn't until after the battle was finished that Sylas understood why.
Comprehensions weren't stat boosts; they were more like Effectiveness boosts. It was just that the Effectiveness boost was so substantial that it manifested like a real stat boost.
If Sylas was correct, this might be another mistake by the system, similar to how it couldn't quite gauge one's Will properly. There was a reason why two people with the same exact Will stat could have vastly differing strengths in the stat.
In this case, if one understood an opponent's Comprehension, the ins and outs of it, it was possible to nullify that Effectiveness boost entirely, making it so that it wouldn't even feel like they had a stat boost at all.
Sylas wasn't yet sure how you might do this for more intangible Comprehensions, but against tangible, physical Comprehensions like those of the Great Apes, it was very straightforward.
Simply put, by the end of all of this, he had understood their Comprehension so much more thoroughly than even they did that they gained no stat boost at all, and the external effects of their Comprehension just stopped working.
At that point, Sylas was just facing off against a "normal" opponent with 9000 or so stat points, but with his own Mixed Martial Arts comprehension activated, it was child's play to crush him.
'I'll have to be careful for that in the future. If someone counters my Comprehension, it could be bad…'
Sylas relied on Comprehension maybe more than anyone else on Earth. His stats were low compared to his real strength, and this was one of the main reasons for that.
Caution would be the name of the game.
But by the same token, this was an opportunity. If he could feel out someone else's Comprehension and crush it, then wouldn't he be able to claim the same advantage?
Sylas was a bit distracted by his own thoughts, but that didn't stop him from feeling the change ahead of him before it happened.
He looked up.
Now, there weren't five statues at all, but just one of them.
The Great Ape.
Its face looked more real to him now than ever before, and whereas in the past it was just formed of a plain blue stone that melded well into the waters, it was now vibrant with colors.
He could tell that the man had fierce black fur going down his long, almost double-jointed arms. His sideburns were just as fierce, and his hair was even wilder than Sylas' own now.
Straps went across a chest bulging with muscle, striations, and vascularity. There were a pair of tusks coming out of his lips, but his face was almost oddly very human. He didn't have an underbite at all, and his lips and nose were defined.
Then there were those striking eyes. Of everything about the statue, Sylas found himself looking at them the most.
They carried a wildness to them, a defined sort of madness that reminded him of, well… Madness.
It was so real, so visceral, Sylas almost missed the echo of laughter in his ears once again.
They were only deep black eyes. There were no special colors or hues to them. And yet, they felt unfathomable.
'A Madness Disciple? No…'
Sylas could remember asking such a question and getting a scoff in return. They weren't True Madness Disciples, not yet…
He could only wonder what happened to this man in the past.
A shimmer came from the statue and a notification popped up on Sylas' screen.
—
[Trial of the Great Ape Passed]
[Participant: Sylas Grimblade]
[Grade: SSS+]
[Reward]
[Mad Ape (Gene Class) (Silver)]
OR
[OTHER]
—
Sylas raised an eyebrow. Gene Class? What did that mean?
He asked the Madness Key and quickly found out.
A Gene Class was a Class unique to certain Races. It could only be accepted by those that had the prerequisite Genes and Unique Genes. Usually, the higher the prerequisite requirements, the more powerful the Class.
In this case, the Grade of the Class was actually less important.
If you had a Bronze Gene Class for an A-Grade Race, it could wipe the floor with even Legendary Classes depending on the situation.
'The Great Ape is an E-Grade Race?'
Sylas was surprised once again. This… he did not expect.
Why were they so weak, then? Something odd was going on here.
'An opportunity…'
That was the best way to describe it. This was set up meant to be one of the last bastions of hope for Earth. In fact, from what Sylas had deduced, if he accepted this Mad Ape Gene Class, then his entire being would be improved.
By extension, the number of temperings he would need to complete his ascension to E-Grade Race would plummet and he wouldn't even need the items he had lost out on. In a handful of days, he would be a member of an E-Grade Race too.
That was also just the tip of the iceberg. This Silver Gene Class just might be more powerful than his current Legendary Class right now. Though, that wasn't to say that it could match the growth potential of a Legendary Class through the Grades.
But…
What was "OTHER"? And why was it so vague?