[Author's Note: I made some minor changes to the names of things in the Runeweaver Profession. If you read the chapter early, be sure to clear your cache in settings to check. If not, feel free to ignore this]
Were they well and truly on the same level? Honestly, Sylas wasn't sure. But according to the system at least, they were both FFF+ Professions.
He didn't know how this breakdown worked when Vipermancer was a fusion of three Legendary Paths. But if he was judging by the usefulness of Profession alone…
Sylas couldn't help but feel that its potential was no less than that of Vipermancy. Not only that, but he had a feeling the leveling up would be far easier.
This wasn't because the Experience requirements were lesser. In fact, the requirements seemed to scale at the same rate as Taboo Bond if not more.
The reason it would be easier for him was because all of the Quests were related to things that he did on a daily basis. Comprehending Runes, mastering them, making them his own, forging new ones, deciphering old ones…
It was almost a shame that these would be normal Experience points and not Free ones, so he wouldn't be able to transfer them to his Vipermancy Paths.
But the ease of leveling up had nothing to do with why Sylas was so floored right now.
The two Path Talents were just… broken. There was no other way to explain them.
Unravelling Pupils was almost exactly what it sounded like. He could unravel Runes with a glance, deciphering them and breaking them apart.
In combat this would make Rune Masters impotent before him. If he was stuck in a formation he could break his way out just by looking in the right location. Even if he just needed to better understand a complicated Rune, or magic circle, he could use this ability to break it up into smaller, more manageable pieces.
It was almost like a one-size-fits-all ability, allowing him both methods of study and combat in a single package.
But as broken as the Unravelling Pupils were, the Weaving Irises were arguably even more so.
Weaving Irises did the exact opposite of what the Unravelling Pupils did, combining Runes instead of breaking them apart. But the shocking part was that because it was a Profession, all of the computation was taken off of Sylas' shoulders.
To put this matter into perspective, had Sylas had Weaving Irises when he was first learning how to draw his Scorpion Warlord Armor, he wouldn't even have to bother trying to figure out how to fit all the Runes together.
He could focus on learning every individual Rune to the best of his ability and then piecing them together. Without having to consider the fit, he would practically be able to succeed instantly.
And something told him that this was just the beginning. As Weaving Irises leveled up, would he be able to do the same for Foundations? Strokes, even?
In that case, would he only need to master a Stroke and then fuse it into a Foundation? And then fuse those Foundations into Runes?
At that point, how easy would it be to draw Runes to high levels of mastery?
It would be like if you only had to learn the alphabet of a language to become a legendary poet, your name passed down through the annals of history.
To others, they might have easily dismissed this sort of Profession. Maybe some Rune Masters would be able to see through just how shocking it had.
But Sylas… he saw even further than just that.
This wasn't just a Profession, it was a silver platter. If he had known it was like this, even if the system asked him to give up Vipermancy, he would have very seriously considered it.
The growth potential was absolutely ridiculous.
There were only two things Sylas didn't understand.
Was this well and truly just an inferior version of the real thing?
And… what was with this odd separation?
Why were Unravel and Deconstruct separated into two? And by extension, why were Weave and Combine separated as well?
There definitely had to be a reason for this…
From what he could feel innately, Deconstruct was inferior to Unravel, and Combine was inferior to Weave. Were they just there to help save energy on his Will? So he could use the inferior version in case he wanted to? Or…
Sylas had a feeling that there was a secret to this that went beyond what he could understand.
However, he wouldn't have the time or information to understand it now, especially as the next System Reward activated.
—
[System Reward Activated]
—
[Weakness Detected]
—
[Realmweaver Profession Downgraded to avoid Damage]
—
[Evolution Triggered]
—
There were a rapid series of changes.
The first thing Sylas felt was a stinging pain in his eyes, and he understood the issue immediately. This new Profession… it relied heavily on his eyes, but they didn't seem strong enough to withstand it.
Was this the real reason there were two versions? Were his eyes not strong enough to use it to the full extent because he didn't claim the full Inheritance?
But then the pain vanished as Realmweaver Downgraded…
And then there was yet another change as the System Reward activated.
A rushing power surged into his eyes.
For a long while, Sylas was blinded and couldn't see a single thing. He didn't know how long this lasted, but the changes to his eyes…
It was as though lines of emerald were intertwining in his irises. Slowly, like weaving cords of fate, they wiggled about in gorgeous shades of green. It didn't feel like one was looking into eyes at all, but rather the start of the very universe.
However, inwardly, Sylas knew that it wasn't enough. It would allow him to use Realmweaver at Level 1… but what about at Level 10? Level 20? 50?
—
[System Reward Activated]
—
[Sacred Oculum Transmutation (???) (Secret)]
[???]
—
Sylas' mind was filled with a new refinement method, one that poured into his very mind. However, the requirements for use and reaching the new tiers…
The good news was that the system had perfected the first tier for him. In addition, this first tier seemed more than enough to just barely perfect Realmweaver to the F-Grade.
The bad news was that the next tiers not only required a ridiculous amount of resources, but also danger.
'I need to gather the eyes of Races with powerful ocular abilities, hm? It's a good thing the Thryskai are so useful, then.'